I want to start another thread, becuase the other one is too long and has too many people changing the subject.

This guy lays down what is happening. That the NAU is further along than most people realize, and apart from people in Texas, very few Americans know this is even happening.

http://www.youtube.c...

Newsbusters needs to jump on this soon...

Wow...Enrique Iglesias is the first Western pop singer to perform in Syria in over 30 years. Notwithstanding the obvious danger Igliesias faced by traveling to the region, this article (written by the AP's  Samar Kassabli) is laugh-worthy in that it sidesteps reasons why Western entertainers might be avoiding it:

Although Syria is rich with culture, historic and tourist sites, Western celebrities have largely stayed away from the autocratic country for years.

However, Syria has been taking small steps to open up the Socialist-style economy and allow greater opportunities and access to information for young people

London-based New York Times reporter Alan Cowell was no fan of Tony Blair's support for George Bush and the Iraq War -- he particularly enjoyed repeating left-wing anti-war mockery of Blair as "Bush's poodle."

New Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown's milder approach to the terror threat appears to be more up Cowell's alley, judging by his favorable "news analysis" on Brown Wednesday: "Brown's Reaction to Terrorist Threat, So Different From Blair's, Reassures Many."

"Before Gordon Brown took power as Britain's new prime minister, there was much talk about whether the electorate would warm to the dour, methodical and detail-driven Scot, particularly after so many years of soaring oratory from his predecessor, Tony Blair

“If you can find money to kill people [referring to money spent to fight World War II], you can find money to help people,” said Tony Benn, a former Member of Parliament, in Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko.”

Contrast that thought with the eerie statement told to Canon Andrew White , a senior British cleric working in Baghdad, by an al-Qaeda leader in Iraq – “Those who cure you will kill you,” according to the Times (U.K.)

The Times said that the eight suspects involved in the recent British terror plots, “are all young, Muslim and connected to the medical profession. But they come from Jordan, Iraq, other Middle Eastern countries and India …”

Today's release of the Institute for Supply Management's Non-Manufacturing Activity Report, which measures business conditions in the 86% of the economy other than manufacturing, came in with a reading of 60.7, after recording a 59.7 last month.

As has been customary, the report whipped the pants off of "expectations." This Thomson Financial article at Forbes predicted a decline to 58.1 instead of the full-point increase that occurred, as did this AFX piece.

This was the 51st consecutive reported month of expansion for the Non-Manufacturing Index (any reading above 50 indicates expansion). It comes on the heels of Monday's ISM Manufacturing Report, which came in at 56, marking the 47th month of expansion in that index in the past 49 months.

So 14% of the economy is expanding nicely, while the other 86% can fairly be said to be nearly booming. Who knew?

(The rest of the post has the detail, including an era-by-era chart.)

American foolish enough to read anything by the clearly anti-Bush McClatchy news service were treated to an astoundingly disgraceful Independence Day gift Wednesday with an article that blamed all the problems in Gaza on – wait for it – the White House (h/t Dan Gainor).

In this smear piece published on the occasion of our nation’s 231st birthday, the hits started right in the glorious headline: “How U.S. policy missteps led to a nasty downfall in Gaza; Plan to isolate Hamas boomeranged.”

Isn’t that special? Alas, that was only the beginning (emphasis added throughout):

In an interview published today in the Tampa Tribune, Meredith Vieira talks about how wonderful her two jobs are, co-hosting NBC's "Today" and hosting the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." In particular, she loves the "switching gears" aspect of the stories she covers on "Today":

She says 'Today' is a great challenge 'because you can go from reporting on the presidential pardon of Scooter Libby to grilling hamburgers outside on the patio - from one kind of grilling to another - and I love that. Switching gears makes it so much fun.'

Presidential pardon? Pardon me? President Bush did not pardon Libby, he commuted his sentence. There is a huge difference between a pardon and a commutation. The felony conviction is still on his record, along with the huge fine he was ordered to pay, and he still faces the possibility of having his law license revoked. The only difference is that Libby won't have to serve jail time. And while the White House says a full pardon has not been ruled out, it hasn't happened yet.

For general, and not so general discussion.

Is it just me, or did the Bloomberg "news" service just release a hit piece on Senator Fred Thompson disguised as a bio on the Senator just in time for a Michael Bloomberg entrance into the race as an independent presidential candidate? On June 28th Bloomberg writers Kim Chapman and Julianna Goldman brought us "Thompson's Backers Check His 'Fire in the Belly' for 2008 Race", a piece that reads more like a long series of snide undercuts of Thompson than any serious report on his status as a candidate. The duo exploits every single detraction thrown at the Senator since his days in the Senate leaving the speculation that he is left wanting standing like the elephant in the room.

They begin by making Thompson's whole life seem like one undeserved, happy accident after another saying that the man has "ascended without much apparent effort" to his place in life. It doesn't seem to occur to our two intrepid reporterettes that making something seem effortless doesn't necessarily mean it was so. After all, Fred Thompson did at the very least pass the bar exam, not something so easily done by just anyone. (Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley, for instance, took the bar exam 5 times before he passed and his daddy, Richard J. Daley, was the most corrupt and powerful man since Huey Long and could easily have fenagled his son's sudden passing grades if he'd have wanted to, fer gosh sakes!) Someone should inform our feminine cynics that it is usually a mark of excellence when someone makes something look easy, not one of accidental "ascendance."

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