Working together….. too bad GW can’t grasp that concept!

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia and Iran are working together to try to calm the crises in Iraq and Lebanon, the Saudi foreign minister said Tuesday, despite Washington’s efforts to isolate Tehran and limit its influence in the Middle East. The mediation is an unusual step by two rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran, that compete for regional influence.

President Bush has rejected calls that the United States win Iran’s help in easing Iraq’s bloodshed and resolve the political crisis in Lebanon that erupted into violence last week. Instead, he has vowed to break what he called Iranian support for militants in both countries.

Saudi Arabia’s willingness to work with Iran likely indicates the growing alarm in the kingdom’s leadership over the two simultaneous crises, which have inflamed Sunni-Shiite tensions throughout the Middle East.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia has given tepid support to a new U.S. strategy in Iraq but has expressed skepticism over whether it will succeed. Besides sending 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq, the new strategy takes a tougher stance on Iran.

Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal of largely Sunni Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that Iran had apprached his country to “cooperate in averting strife between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq and Lebanon.”

Read more here

“Our teams will be safe,” Ahlerich said. “We want the focus to be on the teams on field and not on security.”
Yah, those millionares will be safe……we’re not worried about the fans.

THE National Football League has boosted the law enforcement budget and heightened the security threat level for Super Bowl XLI because of terrorism fears.

The Super Bowl has been raised to a level one national security event, putting it on par in terms of manpower and resources with the US President’s State of the Union speech and the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

“We consider the Super Bowl so high profile that we see it as attractive to terrorists,” Milt Ahlerich, NFL vice-president of security said.

The last Super Bowl to be given a level one security designation was the 2002 New Orleans Super Bowl, held three months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Ahlerich said the league has budgeted $US6 million ($7.7 million) for the event. The money will pay for sophisticated equipment, screenings, background checks, hiring security experts and paying for 3,000 civilian security workers.

Ahlerich said they expect a peaceful event but are preparing for the worst.

“Our teams will be safe,” Ahlerich said. “We want the focus to be on the teams on field and not on security.”

Robert Parker, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said their contingency plans include bringing in officers from all over the state of Florida, backed up by the military.

He declined to say how many law-enforcement personnel would be working at the various Super Bowl events.

“We have envisioned every possibility imagined as far as potential threats,” Parker said.

Part of their preparations has also included what might happen if aging Cuban President Fidel Castro were to die during Super Bowl week.

“We don’t expect anything to happen, but if it did we would be looking at celebrations and people taking to the streets,” Parker said.

Aircraft will also be prohibited from flying anywhere near the Super Bowl stadium, Ahlerich said.

Source: here

I read this article this morning, and man oh man how true it is. I sooooooooo miss Midwesterners. The rudeness level down here is off the scale. And driving down here is a real adventure, to say the least.

“Battle for Haifa Street” appears only on the CBS News website — and has never been broadcast. Lara Logan CBS’s chief foreign correspondent, Logan asks for help in getting attention to what she calls “a story that is largely being ignored even though this is taking place every single day in Baghdad, two blocks from where our office is located.”
H/T Newstandardnews for Youtube video!

I wish they’d put AIPAC Blitzer in the box and bring Cafferty into the Situation Room.

Jon Stewart on the Fox News Lie Factory

This is HUGE!

h/t to ‘QvQ’ for this post!!!

CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chavez has just about everything a president could want: popular support, a marginalized opposition, congress firmly on his side and a booming economy as he starts his new six-year term.

Now, he’s about to become even more powerful — the all-Chavista National Assembly is poised to approve a “mother law” as early as Wednesday enabling him to remake society by presidential decree. In its latest draft, the law would allow Chavez to dictate measures for 18 months in 11 broad areas, from the “economic and social sphere” to the “transformation of state institutions.”

Chavez calls it a new era of “maximum revolution,” setting the tone for months of upheaval as he plans to nationalize companies, impose new taxes on the rich and reorient schools to teach socialist values. With near-religious fervor and plenty of oil wealth, Chavez is mobilizing millions of Venezuelans, intent on creating a more egalitarian society.

Already, profound changes can be seen throughout Venezuela. Those who felt left out of the old system are thrilled at the prospect of having a voice in politics. Others are horrified, predicting that doors will close on their personal freedoms under one-man rule, although exactly what Chavez will do with his power remains unclear.

On a floodlit playground, neighbors meeting to discuss the new mechanics of power are feeling empowered by Chavez. As participants in a new Communal Council, they will get a direct say in spending on projects from public housing to better electricity to fixing potholes — decisions previously made by local governments.

Read more at NCTimes

The blogging community is finally getting the acknowledgment it deserves! A driving force, able to bring important facts to light and sway public opinion… without the filtering seen by traditional media.

And kudos to John Aravosis of AMERICAblog.com!

Pelosi reaches out to blogging community

WASHINGTON - Shortly after her swearing-in as the first female House speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi took time to field questions from a few dozen Internet bloggers on a conference call that was off limits to mainstream media.

Last week, Pelosi’s aides arranged for bloggers to question two Democratic House leaders on another conference call shortly before
President Bush’s State of the Union speech.

Pelosi also hired a full-time staff member this month dedicated to blogger outreach, and is making plans to launch a blog of her own. The day she was sworn in, bloggers were given special accommodations at the Capitol to cover the event, and fed lunch.
…

“They’ve gone from an initial writing blogs off, then moving to skepticism, then moving to, ‘OK, maybe we can find a way of working with these guys,’” said John Aravosis, who runs Americablog.com.

“It’s a power base and it’s influential and it’s an opportunity. And you know what? It exists,” Aravosis added.

“It should only scare you if you’re on their bad side.”
…

“It’s a mistake to think that these people just sit behind their machines and don’t do anything other than talk to each other and send money,” said Joe Trippi, who managed Howard Dean’s Internet-driven campaign. “These people are very active in their precincts, in their communities.”

Source: Yahoo! News

Is this man serious? We’re going to tell China what it can or cannot do? Of course not! A day without a republican sounding a false alarm would be like a day without breakfast. Know this: Without any alarms to sound or sins to battle, there would be no republicans.
I suppose Hu Jintao could look at Jon Kyl and ask; “You, and what army?”

Senator urges robust U.S. stance on China space moves

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China’s test of an anti’satellite weapon this month was a “wake-up call” that should make the United States get serious about threats in space, a Republican senator said on Monday.

Jon Kyl of Arizona said China’s destruction of an aging Chinese weather satellite with a ground-based ballistic missile underscored the vulnerability of U.S. security and communications assets in space.

“Chinese military doctrine and numerous writings make it clear China does not believe space can or should be free of military capabilities,” said Kyl.

On January 11, China used a ground-based ballistic missile to knock out an aging Chinese weather satellite about 537 miles above Earth, scattering dangerous debris that could damage other satellites for years.

China confirmed the blast 12 days later but denied it was seeking an arms race in space.

Kyl told the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank that China posed a multifaceted space threat with broad capabilities. Russia, Iran, North Korea and other states with missile capabilities also could destroy satellites, he said.

Source: WashingtonPost.com

Ahmad Jamal
Darn That Dream

Where’s Condi? Has anyone noticed that all statements from the state department or NSC are from “spokespeople?” Also on this note, the Senate started considering Negroponte’s appointment today.

WASHINGTON - Deeply distrustful of Iran, President Bush said Monday “we will respond firmly” if Tehran escalates its military actions in Iraq and threatens American forces or Iraqi citizens.

Bush’s warning was the latest move in a bitter and more public standoff between the United States and Iran. The White House expressed skepticism about Iran’s plans to greatly expand its economic and military ties with Iraq. The United States has accused Iran of supporting terrorism in Iraq and supplying weapons to kill American forces.

“If Iran escalates its military actions in Iraq to the detriment of our troops and - or innocent Iraqi people, we will respond firmly,” Bush said in an interview with National Public Radio.

The president’s comments reinforced earlier statements from the White House.

“If Iran wants to quit playing a destructive role in the affairs of Iraq and wants to play a constructive role, we would certainly welcome that,” National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. But, he said, “We’ve seen little evidence to date (of constructive activities) and frankly all we have seen is evidence to the contrary.”

Read more at YahooNews

Sure, the banner’s nice, but really, doesn’t the occasion merit a song? And its own comment thread? And is there any pick that could be as perfect - as wrong - or perfectly wrong - as this one?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A former White House spokesman testified Monday that I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby informed him about a CIA operative three days before Libby told investigators he had learned her identity from a reporter.

Ari Fleischer said the revelation came during a June 7, 2003, lunch as he and Libby talked about Fleischer’s departure as President Bush’s press secretary. Fleischer held the job from 2001-2003.

The timing is crucial since Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, is accused of lying about when he learned that administration critic Joseph Wilson was married to CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. (Watch how the timeline is key

Libby is charged with lying to the FBI and a grand jury investigating who leaked the CIA employee’s identity to reporters in 2003. (Full story)

No one has been charged with leaking her name.

Libby has said that he first got the information from Tim Russert of NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Libby told a grand jury that he believed he learned Plame’s identity from Russert on July 10, 2003, according to The Associated Press.

His attorneys blame bad memory for any discrepancies in what he told investigators and the grand jury and say he may have been distracted by urgent national security matters.

Read more here

Ok, this just seems wrong to me on many levels…….

MIAMI, Florida (AP) — The city of Miami is planning an official celebration at the Orange Bowl whenever Cuban president Fidel Castro dies.

Discussions by a committee appointed earlier this month by the city commission to plan the event have even covered issues such as a theme to be printed on T’shirts, what musicians would perform, the cost and how long the celebration would last.

Such a gathering has long been part of the city’s plan for Castro’s death, but firming up the specifics has been more urgent since Castro became ill last summer and turned over power to his brother, Raul.

City Commissioner Tomas Regalado, a Cuban American, came up with the idea of using the Orange Bowl, noting the stadium was the site of a speech by President Kennedy in 1961 promising a free Cuba. (Castro seized power in 1959.)

In the 1980s the Orange Bowl served as a camp for refugees from the Mariel boatlift from Cuba, he added.

“Basically, the only thing we’re trying to do is have a venue, a giant venue ready for people, if they wish, to speak to the media, to show their emotions. It’s not that we’re doing an official death party,” Regalado said Monday.

Former state Rep. Luis Morse stressed the need for an uplifting theme for the party — one not preoccupied with a human being’s passing.

Critics have accused the city of dictating where people should party, with many preferring to celebrate on the streets of Little Havana. The city says the Orange Bowl celebration would not preclude that.

“This is not a mandatory site,” Regalado said of the Orange Bowl. “Just a place for people to gather.”

Read more at CNN.com

FOX and Friends (disclaimer - not my friends) discuss the Anderson
Cooper/Greta ad a couple of times this morning so far.

The first time it was just a little snarky. Doocy says the report is for
people who read trade publications so those of you who read trade
publications this is for you. So they broadcast to trade journal reading
people…that is REALLY narrowcasting!

I find it ironic that Gretchen Carlson calls Anderson Cooper a fabricated journalist in this clip. Actually most NEWS on FOX NEWS is fabricated.

H/T Joe for this post!