Bill's Bites -- 2006.10.11
Contributed by Bill Faith
The webmaster's blog-within-a-blog.
Continuously updated, newest items at the top.
Bush: U.S. 'Reserves All Options'
To Defend Against North Korean Aggression
WASHINGTON — President Bush said Wednesday that North Korea's continued threats to peace will result in serious repercussions for Pyongyang, and that the United States "reserves all options" to defend against aggression.
In a press conference in the White House Rose Garden, the president said even if North Korea didn't conduct a successful nuclear test, "this claim represents a threat to international peace and security."
Bush said the United States will cooperate with its regional allies on ballistic missile defense and is working with the United Nations to find the right consequences for North Korea's nuclear weapons test.
The Culture of Corruption in Las Vegas
John Hinderaker
The Associated Press has an exclusive report on a series of real estate transactions by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, in which he parlayed a $400,000 investment into a $1.1 million return in just six years.
The focus of the AP's report is on the fact that Reid mis-reported the transactions in his Senate financial disclosure forms. He made the original investment personally, but transferred his land to a limited liability corportation in 2001, without reporting that transfer. It was actually the LLC that sold the land in 2004, but Reid reported the transaction as if it had been a personal sale of the land he bought in 1998.
Substantively, what happened is that Reid did this real estate deal with a friend named Jay Brown, a Las Vegas lawyer whom the AP describes as follows: ...
Harry Reid And The Culture Of Corruption
Ed Morrissey
Once again, we discover why the Democrats quietly dropped their "culture of corruption" theme for the upcoming midterms. The AP catches Harry Reid without a disclosure on real-estate deals that netted him $700,000 in profit: Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.
In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.
AP Exclusive: Reid Got $1M in Land Sale
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.
In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.
The Nevada Democrat's deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. He's never been charged with wrongdoing _ except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.
Land deeds obtained by The Associated Press during a review of Reid's business dealings show: ...
Surprise! AP exposes Reid’s shady land deal
Allahpundit
This had better not be the big October you-know-what that Rove’s been promising. For one thing, it’s way too complicated — except for this part, which is clear enough: Clark County intended for the property Reid owned to be used solely for new housing, records show. Just days before Reid sold the parcels to [Jay] Brown’s company, Brown sought permission in May 2001 to rezone the properties so a shopping center could be built.
Career zoning officials objected, saying the request was “inconsistent” with Clark County’s master development plan. The town board in Spring Valley, where Reid’s property was located, also voted 4-1 to reject the rezoning.
Brown persisted. The Clark County zoning board followed by the Clark County Commission voted to overrule the recommendation and approve commercial zoning. Such votes were common at the time.
Before the approval in September 2001, Brown’s consultant told commissioners that Reid was involved. “Mr. Brown’s partner is Harry Reid, so I think we have people in this community who you can trust to go forward and put a quality project before you,” the consultant testified. ...
Lancet: 600,000 killed by violence in Iraq since U.S. invaded;
Update: Troops there until 2010?
Allahpundit
Calling this study inaccurate is like accusing the left of playing dirty tricks with Foley: you’re probably right, but it’s largely besides the point. Granted, Lancet is known for scaremongering; granted, their previous body count was also released shortly before an election; granted, the actual number is an extreme outlier among other counts; granted, it appears the study doesn’t account for the number killed during the entirety of Saddam’s reign; granted, it fails to distinguish between Iraqi civilians, terrorists, army, and police; granted, it has a margin of error of about 180,000 people.
Whatever the actual number is (and it’s probably closer to Iraq Body Count’s figure than to Lancet’s), it’s much more than most of us expected and, at the moment, without a lot to show for it. The Commissar’s been working his way towards Sullivanland in his war/torture posts of late, but it’s hard to argue with the implications of this photo. A thousand words indeed. ...
A Most Ghoulish Debate
Rick Moran
It is an unseemly thing to be debating how many Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion and occupation by US troops. I’m absolutely sure that most opponents of the war feel that way. They would, I’m sure, wish that we would all just sit back and accept the politically motivated study released today that purports to show 600,000 more Iraqis have died since 2003 than would have if we hadn’t invaded: A team of American and Iraqi public health researchers has estimated that 600,000 civilians have died in violence across Iraq since the 2003 American invasion, the highest estimate ever for the toll of the war here. ...
First of all, the Times makes a common mistake by lumping civilians, insurgents, and Iraqi Police and Army units all together and simply referring to them as “civilians.” In fact, the study makes absolutely no effort to differentiate between civilians and insurgents, Police and army. All the researchers asked were the number of dead over the last 3 years.
But why is the study politically motivated?
This is the same crew whose 2004 study showing 100,000 Iraqi dead was thoroughly debunked by a wide variety of experts from both sides of the debate.
Fred Kaplan of Slate on the 2004 study: ...
Ted Turner-itis: allergic to patriotism
Michille Malkin
My column on North Korea's favorite media mogul and Fox Derangement Syndrome. A snippet: CNN founder Ted Turner opened his mouth this week at the National Press Club, and promptly demonstrated why America needs Fox News Channel now more than ever.
Three years after the invasion of Iraq, Turner is still pouting about public displays of patriotism on American airwaves: "I mean, I just really wonder during the, during the last war, you know, what business did it have in the news sets to have the American flag flying in the background. Uh, I mean, it was like the news media covered the Iraq war, at least at the beginning of it, almost as like it was a football game with us versus them." ...
North Korean official: Strict sanctions mean war
Allahpundit
Maybe they’re bluffing, maybe they’re not. Good luck!
Seriously, if the UN imposes Chapter VII, why wouldn’t Kim move on Seoul? What’s left for him to lose? Even the doves in South Korea admit that the sunshine policy’s failed. If the Security Council tightens the screws, what’s to gain by waiting around? Japan doesn’t have nukes yet; our military is overextended and morale is low. ...
Bill's Bites --- 2006.10.10 Soft Bites -- 2006.10.10
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