Softwood lumber deal in the works?

Terror trial..........

Preparing for disasters....

Border security........

" Americans sitting in the heartland may not be sweating over border issues but Webb County, Texas, Sheriff Rick Flores thinks they should be.

"Any sheriff, whether they are in Dallas, Iowa or even Nebraska, would much prefer that we squash a threat at the border than force them to deal with it after it gets through us," the sheriff told me in his office here.

"Smugglers have a ready-made infrastructure in place ... and they are just waiting to substitute terrorists and their cargoes for drugs if the price is right."...

...Talk of a terrorist pipeline is not paranoia. If criminals can smuggle drugs, gang members and illegals, what would stop them from importing members of al-Qaida or Hezbollah?"

Three explosions rock Egyptian resort town

John Hawkins- The Fox News effect

Maintiens le droit- the mandate is to catch the crooks not merely use bureaucratic lexicon nor shuffle paper

"Cooper uses his study to make another important point about the RCMP: like the armed forces, it is taking on too many "corporate" trappings like cost-recovery, commercial partnerships and marketing, and is being forced to downplay its true purpose: fighting crime."

The full report is here

MEMRI

Walid Phares- OBL's 20 "marching orders"

Technical difficulties over......resumption of posting

Kate has some good comments about the media.

A lot of them have an elitist attitude and figure they know best for the great unwashed and can filter, manipulate ,slant their stories accordingly to suit their own agendas.The reason people turn to blogs and other new media is to get other opinions and maybe a few facts that might have been left out of a story. The papers can print something but only produce 1 or 2 letters to the editor that are contrary to the opinions expressed by the papers' writers when there might in fact be a hundred dissenting opinions.Readers can get their own content by checking a number of sites instead of being force fed comments .Bloggers that run comments sections don't limit their readers unless it is abusive. In fact the commenters often add to a post by bringing new info or links in a timely fashion.

A lot of the media in Canada bolstered the Liberals( and are now whining about less access to Conservative Ministers).At one time they were supposed to represent the public. They chose their side, readers now have other sources to turn to for differing opinions. Most bloggers are more interested in actual news in a democratic society than in being pseudo "jouralists".When everybody runs to one side of a ship, it can capsize.

As one columnist regularly says to readers who disagree with his opinions via email- we agree to disagree.

WSJ- Sharansky supports Bush's resolve

"Critics rail against every step on the new and difficult road on which the United States has embarked. Yet in pointing out the many pitfalls which have not been avoided and those which still can be, those critics would be wise to remember that the alternative road leads to the continued oppression of hundreds of millions of people and the continued festering of the pathologies that led to 9/11.

Now that President Bush is increasingly alone in pushing for freedom, I can only hope that his dissident spirit will continue to persevere. For should that spirit break, evil will indeed triumph, and the consequences for our world would be disastrous."

Generals...

Doubletalk............

Checklist for emergencies or pandemic

Fallen Canadian soldiers on their way home........