Did The UK Somehow Miss that Act of War?

Good Grief – to look at the websites for the major UK newspapers you would think that nobody there actually caught that kidnapping of 15 Sailors and Royal Marines by Iran.

Daily Telegraph: Sub-head link saying “Iraq says soldiers not in Iranian waters” (Excuse me – Britain now relies on Iraq to stand up for it?)

Financial Times: Not the top story – ties it to a link about Oil prices jump

Guardian: Their main story about Iran is Russia and China pressuring Iran to be a good little boy and mind the Security Council (which they are not really doing). Sub-lead about “Iran Questions Soldiers” hidden.

Mirror: They actually do have a top lead – “Hostages ‘Fit and Well’”. I’m sure that their families will be happy to know that no one will do anything to actually get them out of trouble (and see below for who put them into it in the first place), but that the Iranians haven’t killed them yet.

Independent: They warn the world “US soldiers would have fought back” – being the imperialist warmongers that we in the US obviously are. And the sub-lead blames everything on the US – American raid and arrests set scene for capture of marines.

The Daily Mail: Actually seems concerned that the Marines might be in trouble with “Iranians interrogate captured Marines” as their top story.

The Daily Express: has nothing on their front page about it. They do have a breaking news link that “William chats up a blonde”.

The Thunderer (The Times): also goes with relying on Iraq to save the Brits with “Iraq urges Iran to Release Captured Brits”.

Somehow I don’t think that even the Democrat Party Times newspaper in New York would be burying the story if 15 Americans had been taken hostage by the Persians Islamofascists. But why did this happen so meekly? Well, this from EU Referendum is disturbing:

Our sailors and marines – why did they not defend themselves? They were not allowed to … their rules of engagement did not permit it.

This was raised in Defence Questions today by Ann Winterton MP. She put to the defence minister that “the current rules of engagement that allow no conflict in Iraqi waters with Iranian forces” and thus suggested that “this led directly to 15 of our service personnel being abducted by the Iranians”.

But Winterton was not speculating. Directly from extremely angry servicemen recently back from Iraq, she had received information that boarding parties were under rigid instructions that left no room for discretion. Even though faced with Iranian Republican Guards, every one of the Party knew that to fire a weapon (even a warning shot) would have ensured their personal Court Martial.

Michelle at Hot Air confirms this (actually a link to the Independent above):

Asked by The Independent whether the men under his command would have fired on the Iranians, [Lt. Cdr. Erik Horner] said: “Agreed. Yes. I don’t want to second-guess the British after the fact but our rules of engagement allow a little more latitude. Our boarding team’s training is a little bit more towards self-preservation.”

The executive officer – second-in-command on USS Underwood, the frigate working in the British-controlled task force with HMS Cornwall – said: “The unique US Navy rules of engagement say we not only have a right to self-defence but also an obligation to self-defence. They [the British] had every right in my mind and every justification to defend themselves rather than allow themselves to be taken. Our reaction was, ‘Why didn’t your guys defend themselves?’”…

Yesterday, the former First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West, said British rules of engagement were “very much de-escalatory, because we don’t want wars starting … Rather than roaring into action and sinking everything in sight we try to step back and that, of course, is why our chaps were, in effect, able to be captured and taken away.”

Unfortunately, it looks like this recap from EU Referendum pretty much sums it up:

As it stands, therefore, it looks like the boarding party members were set up like rats in a trap, unable to defend themselves, leaving the Iranians only to say thank you very much indeed for the free hostages. And instead of facing their own military courts, our people are now at risk of being paraded through the Iranian courts, to the utter humiliation of a nation which cannot even safeguard its own troops.

Don’t Expect to Hire Any Washington State Graduates

Kids having problems with math and science – Solution – Just stop testing them in match and science. Step up Washington:

State lawmakers appear on the verge of dumping the math and science sections of the 10th-grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), and replacing them with a very different kind of test.

The idea is to do something about the fact that so few students pass the math and science sections.

And don’t think that the kids in Washington will be able to mask their idiocy in math and science by great communication skills:

If the math and science portions of the WASL are eliminated, it would be the second time the state has dropped part of the exam. A “listening” section, designed to measure communication skills, was removed without controversy three years ago.

Of course, the education establishment agrees that the kids are stupid, but its not the teacher’s fault or anything like that:

“The fact that multiple-choice tests are easier to grade shouldn’t lead us away from our standards,” said Gary Kipp, executive director of the Association of Washington School Principals.

Multiple-choice tests have value, said Paul Rosier, executive director of the Washington Association of School Administrators, but they “test a different skill set.”

“You don’t explain your thinking on a multiple-choice test,” he said. “We have worked very hard to get kids to think mathematically, and we have made great progress.”

Can anyone explain to me just how explaining your thinking makes any difference as to whether you get the wrong answer on a mathematics test?  If its wrong, who gives a rat’s rear end how you came up with the wrong answer.  Of course, if all your teachers do is build your self-esteem at the cost of actually requiring the right answers–then you might want to just give them lollipops and Coke and stop testing them on math and science.

Six or Seven Strikes and We Will Slap Your Wrists

And is it any wonder that illegals feel they can cross our borders with impunity?

Guidelines issued by U.S. attorneys in Texas showed that most illegal immigrants crossing into the state had to be arrested at least six times before federal authorities would prosecute them, according to an internal Justice Department memo.

and the Bush Administration can’t blame this on someone else since:

It is unclear when the memo was written, but the Justice Department reviewed the guidelines sometime after a February 2005 performance review of Carol Lam, the top federal prosecutor in San Diego from 2002 until she was fired last month. Some Republican lawmakers had complained that Lam failed to aggressively prosecute immigration violations.

That whole tough enforcement is really working here:

The memo says one Texas district prosecutes migrants if the Border Patrol catches them at least six to eight times. The other district prosecutes after someone is caught at least seven times.

The San Diego office, which covers an area stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Arizona state line, does not prosecute “purely economic migrants” as a general rule, according to the memo. (apparently here you can break the law forever if you are ‘economic’ – I wonder if I can claim ‘economic migrant’ on my taxes?)

The Arizona district, the nation’s busiest corridor for illegal crossings, “almost certainly” declines to prosecute on a first or second offense, the memo says. The New Mexico district makes decisions based on criminal records in the U.S.

The excuses?  Not enough jail space,  would overwhelm the courts, blah blah blah.  How about the fact that if we started setting up some tent cities and started getting these people in front of judges, this just might discourage everyone and their kittens from breaking out laws.

NPR – Just Some Examples:

Running my wife to the airport this morning, we decided to take a listen to the local National Palestinian Radio and in an hour we got:

• A story about the illegal immigrant convention in Los Angeles.  It had speech quotes from two of the speakers (in Spanish of course), two direct quotes from attendees at the illegal-fest (one actually in English).  There was a mention of the fact that some counter-demonstrations took place, and there was a third-party quote from the director of FAIR.  However, they were very careful to not have his eeeeeeevil voice on the radio – it was just the reporter giving a quote.
• Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 different stories that either focused on Elizabeth Edward’s cancer or referred to it in a major way.
• This being Palestinian radio, there was a story about some Seattle group performing the play “Rachel Corrie” which is essentially Palestinian propaganda wrapped around anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate.  Of course, in this one they did actually allow someone from the Anti-Defamation League to be heard on the radio directly.
• Big sob story from a Doctor who is ONLY making $140,000 a year because she has to do so much insurance paperwork, while trying to get “free” care for her patients who refuse to pay for their parents prescriptions.

Its good to hear what the enemy is saying sometimes.  I just am sad that even one penny of my tax money goes to support this anti-American, anti-capitalism, anti-logical drivel.

Venezuela Falls Apart – Stalinist Actions Destroy

It is interesting to see the continuing deterioration of Venezuela:

President Hugo Chavez announced Sunday that his government’s sweeping reforms toward socialism will include the creation of “collective property.”Vowing to undermine capitalism’s continued influence in Venezuela during his television and radio program “Hello President,” Chavez said.

“It cannot be production to generate profits for one person or a small group of people that become rich exploiting peons who end up becoming slaves, living in poverty and misery their entire lives,” he said.

Since the reform began five years ago, officials have redistributed over 1.9 million hectares (4.6 million acres) of land that had been classified as unproductive or lacked property documents dating back to 1847, according to a recent government census.

Critics say reform has failed to revive Venezuela’s agriculture industry, which does not produce enough food to satisfy domestic demand. The government has been forced to import food amid shortages of staples such as meats, milk and sugar.

“If Mr. Chavez really wants to help Venezuela’s poor farmers, he must offer them technical assistance and sufficient financing because land doesn’t become productive without investment,” said opposition leader Alfonzo Marquina. “We’re only seeing increasing shortages and more expensive products.”

Don’t you just love the “critics say” in presenting the fact that Chavez and his Stalinists are destroying the country? No bias there AP – just move along, ignore that man behind the curtain.

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