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WASHINGTON (AP) - Get real, people.

That is not a naked woman reflected in Vice President Dick Cheney’s sunglasses. Although it kind of appears to be.

If you blow up the picture, you can see it is Cheney’s hand gripping the handle of a fishing rod.

The picture was posted on the White House Web site as one in a series of photos of Cheney outdoors. It created a buzz on the Internet on Friday and some cable television shows. On Friday afternoon, the White House photo office released a high-resolution image showing that it is a hand holding a fishing rod.

Full Story Here:
Naked Woman in Cheney Glasses? No!

WASHINGTON (AP) - A new classified intelligence assessment on Iraq says there has been significant progress in security since the last assessment was delivered in August, a senior military official said.

In most ways the new National Intelligence Estimate hews closely to the one delivered nine months ago. That document spoke of security gains since the increase in troop levels began in January 2007, the continued high rate of violence and uneven progress on the part of Iraqi security forces.

“It does not differ significantly from August’s NIE,” a congressional official said in describing the document.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the report is classified. They noted that many of the conclusions of the report are already reflected in public statements and press reports.

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Report: Security in Iraq Is Improving

This part of the story concerns me, and I have written about these stories in the past, stories that use anonymous sources as the basis for their article, “The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the report is classified.”, IF the report is classified, why is this anonymous official speaking to the press about it? Doesn’t that sort of make the report being classified a bit of a redundancy?

I’m not doubting the accuracy of the report or it’s legitimacy, my question is this, WHY aren’t these leaks plugged? Permanently? A 9mm behind the left ear has a tendency to stop news leaks, but it does seem to cause a bit of brain leakage, that is if the so-called source is actually a real person and has any brains to begin with.

And according to the New York Times, More Than 1,000 in Iraq’s Forces Quit Basra Fight, and they did cite the report on improving Iraqi security, but they also took more than their fair share of digs as well.

If the NYT story is true and correct, would you consider that to be a fair cross section of the views and dedication of the Iraqi forces? Would that desertion be indicative of their desire to actually stand up and fight for a real democracy?

The general consensus among many Conservatives and the majority of Republicans seems to be that we are too far invested in Iraq to stop now, or, so they say, I still think we could cut OUR losses and should issue a hard edict to al-Maliki and Company, ‘you have until such and such a date and time to stand up an effective fighting force that is fully capable of defending the nation of Iraq and providing security for it’s citizens because at this specific point in time, we are out of here, and you people can sink or swim, it’s YOUR choice.’, and then we stick to that time table, right down to the letter, and if Iraq isn’t willing to make that stand on their own behalf, it’s time to place our troops in a more effective theater of operations, doing the job that the Global War on Terror was supposed to do, like maybe place those forces in the hunt for al-Qaida leaders Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama Bin Laden, I mean, it’s a thought.

Remember, if you cut off the head, the snake dies.

Somehow, I believe that part of the war has escaped Bush and his Bots.

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WASHINGTON — The new National Intelligence Estimate — which says Iran had a nuclear weapons development program, but halted it in 2003 — made President Bush’s week play out like a sad country song.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was smiling and called the report a victory. Rush Limbaugh blasted the report as a product of administration sabotage. And Democrats were accusing the president of being a flip-flopper.

The NIE drew fire from nearly all sides, including anti-war Democrats in Congress, foreign leaders the administration needs to hold the line against Iran, and conservatives usually supportive of the administration.

The root issue for many critics comes down to credibility: Credibility of the estimate, credibility of the intelligence community that developed it and the credibility of the administration for whom those agencies work. Bridging that credibility gap might prove difficult for an administration heading into its final months.

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Bush Admin. Credibility Suffers After Iran NIE Report

1. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was smiling and called the report a victory, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a lying little piece of garbage and his regime can’t be trusted any further than they can be picked up and thrown and anyone, read Dems, that would think they can be trusted is an idiot…

2. Rush Limbaugh blasted the report as a product of administration sabotage?? So?? All Limbaugh is, is a political commentator, the same as me and you and most other bloggers, he just has a bigger audience, that’s all, and, he IS the biggest Bush Bot of ALL the Bush Bots, maybe King of the Bush Bots would be a good title for Rush, and maybe he’s not really a Bush Bot at all, maybe he’s just one heck of a good salesman and he sold the Bots a bill of goods, it could happen…

3. The root issue for many critics comes down to credibility… Well, as far as I’m concerned, when the Bush administration pulled a substantial number of troops out of the hunt for Bin Laden and allowed Afghanistan to revert to many of it’s old ways and then declared Iraq to be the new mission, when Bush welcomed the Saudi prince to his home here in Texas and took the Saudi prince by the hand, kissed his cheek and welcomed him as a long lost brother, when Bush tried to force the AMNESTY bill down our throats, when he took the side of the ILLEGAL invaders over that of law abiding, tax paying American citizens, well, along about that time George W. Bush ceased to have ANY credibility in my opinion…

I don’t know the truth of what’s going on in Iran, maybe the Bush administration doesn’t either, all I know is this, I would have thought that by now, after 7 years in office, Bush would have had our intelligence agencies rebuilt to a somewhat credible level, I cut him some slack when 9-11 happened, he hadn’t been in office very long and hadn’t had the time to repair the damage that the Clinton’s had done to our military and intelligence services, but the time for excuses is long past, did our Intel people let the Iranians put one past us?? Did it make Bush look like a numb skull?? Well, it wouldn’t be the 1st time Bush looked like an idiot, and what the heck, he has another year in office, I’m sure there will be at least a few more screw ups before his term is over…

Somehow, I just don’t think history will be very kind to Mr. Bush, and I seriously doubt that we’ll ever hear the words Bush and credibility used synonymously…

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NEW YORK (AP) - The Archdiocese of New York is handing out coloring and comic books that warn children about sex predators, the first such effort by a Roman Catholic diocese in the United States.

In the coloring book, a perky guardian angel tells children not to keep secrets from their parents, not to meet anyone from an Internet chat room and to allow only “certain people” like a doctor or parent to see “where your bathing suit would be.”

In a comic book version for children over 10, a teenager turns to St. Michael the Archangel for strength to report that two schoolmates are being sexually abused.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the have been distributed to about 300 schools and 400 religious education programs to use as a resource. They are also free online.

“It’s to help young people to know situations they should not get into,” he said. “How to be safe - but to try to do it in an age-appropriate and sensitive way.”

Full Story Here:
Catholic Comic Books Warn Kids of Abuse

On general principles I really like this idea, kids need to know about predators, perverts and pedophiles, ignoring them won’t make them go away and parents that won’t talk to their kids about perverts, predators and pedophiles aren’t helping the problem either, so, all in all I think this is a good thing, except for one small detail…

I am probably going to piss off a few Catholics with my commentary but that’s the way life goes…

It’s a damned shame that the Church feels obligated to do this because there are so many perverts, predators and pedophiles in the ministry of the Catholic Church itself, they do need to help in this educational process, but they need to make sure that they’re not a part OF the problem…

I have a very special place in my heart that’s filled with rage and hatred for ANY Priest or Nun, or ANY religious leader that would use their position of trust to lure a child into their perverted sickness, and I am still angry at the Church itself for not doing more to remove these perverts, predators and pedophiles from the ranks of the Church hierarchy as well…

And I am not venting rage in an effort to denigrate anyone that IS Catholic, I was raised in the Church and a few close friends already know this so, here it is for everyone to see, when I was 17 I had a pervert Priest try and make a pass at me, I was shocked, I was angered, I felt totally betrayed, but most of all I was consumed by rage, simply because I knew what he was trying to do was wrong, and I punched him, a roundhouse right that put an immediate end to his desires…

I was threatened with excommunication, I was threatened with arrest for hitting the SOB, I was ostracized by the local Catholic Church and I walked away, all because I was never the kind to slink away and not stand up for myself, so I decided that if the Catholic Church didn’t want me as a member, and if they wouldn’t believe me in my accusation that this Priest was a pervert, well, I didn’t need them either, and remember, this was in 1970 and no one believed that there were Priests that were perverts, except for those of us that had been their victims or attempted victims…

I was one of the lucky ones, it didn’t happen to me until I was old enough and big enough to stop it from happening, but there are many kids out there that aren’t that old or that big to stand up to some pervert and they MUST be educated about the dangers they face from perverts, predators and pedophiles, no matter if it’s the perv in the park or the Priest in the parsonage, a pervert is a pervert and ALL of them are sick and worthless individuals…

Now maybe some will understand why I am a supporter of Sues Warriors For Innocence and why I started Vigilante Justice, both sites are dedicated to finding, exposing, naming and warning responsible and decent people of the dangers these perverts, pedophiles and predators present to America and to our most valuable and precious resource, our children…

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NOGALES, Arizona - An illegal immigrant who rescued a 9-year-old after the boy’s mother died in the Arizona desert was honored for his actions Tuesday by U.S. and Mexican officials at a border crossing here.

Manuel Jesus Cordova Soberanes, 26, stood shyly with his mother and stepfather as officials talked about his efforts to save Christopher Buchleitner on the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday.

“The desert has a way of rearranging priorities and to Manuel Jesus Cordova the priority was standing right in front of (him) that day,” said Beatriz Lopez Gargallo, the Mexican consul general for Nogales. “And this man, this hero, did what men of honor do in all nations and in all cultures.”

Authorities say if it had not been for Cordova, Christopher might be dead.

Cordova was two days into his journey from Mexico when he saw Christopher, alone and injured in the desert. He was dressed in shorts despite the desert cold, and his mother had just been killed when their van went over a cliff.

Full Story Here:
Immigrant ‘hero’ honored by U.S., Mexico

The title of this story is a bit deceptive, he’s an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT, let’s start this off correctly…

OK, the guy did the right thing by taking care of the kid, he DOES have some serious human decency in him, but does that change the fact that he is also an ILLEGAL INVADER??

I think not, I think he was faced with a choice when he helped the kid make it through a very tough time and yes, he needs to be thanked and acknowledged for that action but the fact remains, he was trying to sneak into the USA as an undocumented individual, and that is against the law…

I don’t know what the outcome of this is, apparently Soberanes is, at heart, a good guy but where does that figure into the equation of LEGAL and ILLEGAL??

What are your feelings regarding this guy?? How should he be rewarded?? Should he be deported?? Should he get a green card?? I’d be interested in the opinions of my readers on this one, because quite frankly, I have no idea as to WHAT to do with him…

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