Putie Just Can't Help Himself

Soviet Russian president Vladimir Ilyich Paranoid just couldn't help himself yesterday. Discussing his missile defense brain fart, Putie opined that,

"In this case, there will be no need to build a radar in the Czech Republic and deploy missile interceptors in Poland," Putin said. "They could be deployed in the south — I'm speaking hypothetically since it's necessary to conduct talks with relevant nations — possibly in U.S. NATO allies, such as Turkey."

"Or it could be Iraq — what they have waged the war for? There would be at least some benefit coming out of it," Putin added on a sarcastic note.

How about somewhere in northern Afghanistan, Putie? Didn't you fight a ten-year war to bring peace and stability to the Afghan people? Shouldn't you get at least some benefit from those glory days?

And wouldn't it be better to have a facility where it could keep an eye on both Iran and Pakistan?

Screw your idea about Iraq, Putie. A radar and interceptor base in northern Afghanistan makes much more sense.

Especially if each were heavily staffed with former members of the Northern Alliance.

G8 Leaders Agree To Climate Deal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the G8 would negotiate within a UN framework to seek a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2009.

No mandatory target was set for the cuts, but Mrs Merkel's preference for a 50% emissions cut by the year 2050 was included in the agreed statement.

UPDATE: Bush agrees to CO2 cut, with strings attached

· US will consider deal to cut emissions by 50%
· China and India must be included, says president

George Bush last night pledged the United States to a "substantial" cut in greenhouse gas as the west's leading industrial nations agreed to negotiate a new climate change deal within the next two years.

After strong lobbying from EU leaders, Mr Bush agreed to "seriously consider" a proposal that would result in a 50% cut in carbon emissions by 2050 but made it clear that US involvement depended on India and China being included in any agreement.

Long forgotten is the fact that William Jefferson Clinton never submitted the Kyoto Accord to the Senate for ratification. Never, the Goracle notwithstanding.

Scattered Protests Reveal Uncertainty

Curiously, the Bush is Eeeevil US media didn't report this one.

Despite pledges of mass protests, only several hundred opponents of the planned U.S. missile base in the Czech Republic briefly gathered at key sites in Prague Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

[....]

Monday evening, some 200 protesters, most organized by the Communist Youth Union, waved flags and chanted slogans in front of the U.S. Embassy but promised mass demonstrations like those that filled Wenceslas Square with 2,000 people May 26, never materialized.

With no mass uprising of the proletariat, Soviet Russian president Vladimir Paranoid must be --- seething.

Just Another Inconvenient Truth

We've all heard about how Bush is Hitler, America is Eeeevil and how Republicans want to starve the children and kill off all the old people, blah, blah, blah. Then there's the hysterical screeching over 'global warming' and that Dubya is intent on poisoning the planet and other such nonsense.

In spite of the shrillness emanating from the Leftisphere's echo chamber, David Blair, diplomatic correspondent for the UK's Telegraph newspaper, puts things in perspective.

At present, coal-fired power stations account for more than half the electricity generated in the US. As coal is the dirtiest way of producing electricity, many of these power stations would have to close.

Cleaner, gas-fired plants would be their obvious replacements. But with only three per cent of the world's gas reserves, building more would probably render the US dependent on imported supplies, which would go against the central aim of Mr Bush's energy policy of making his country self-sufficient.

Russia is better endowed with gas than any other country, while the Middle East holds 34 per cent of the world's total reserves. These are the last places that Mr Bush wants to depend on for future energy needs. Moreover, comparisons of the relative performances when it comes to combating climate change are often misleading.

Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said yesterday that the EU's carbon emissions had fallen by 4.8 per cent since 1999 - while the US's had risen by 15.8 per cent. But Mr Barroso failed to point out that the US has a rapidly rising population and a high level of economic growth - neither of which is true of the EU.

Oops.

Since 2000, the US's population has risen by 9.5 million, or by the equivalent of Sweden. So it comes as no surprise that it faces a much harder task in reducing carbon emissions than Europe.

Who is this guy to place facts and reason in the way of progressive problem solving hysterics?

Estonian President: Moscow Sees Democracy As A 'Threat'

During an interview in Prague with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves discussed the problems with the Soviets Russia and Vladimir Paranoid.

RFE/RL: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday gave an interview to "Corriere della Sera," an Italian newspaper, in which he was asked his reaction to the missile-defense system that the United States is seeking to install here and in Poland. And, of course, he said that Russia would react. And they asked him, "Does that mean you'll be pointing missiles at European cities?" And he said, "Yes, naturally." Given those kinds of comments and some of the comments and actions that have happened in Estonia, how do you react to that?

Ilves: I gave a long talk on that last night. Briefly, democracies don't go to war with each other. Democracies don't make warlike threats against each other. Either that truism is false or the notion of a G8 of the industrialized democracies getting together is based on a false premise. I mean, democracies don't behave like that. [It's] one or the other. Either we chuck out the premise, or we have to rethink what the G8 stands for. Which is not to mean that anyone's going to throw the Russians out of the G8.

RFE/RL: Some people are calling for that.

Ilves: That's true, but...if you're not a member of the G8, it's not difficult to call for anyone to be thrown out. But I certainly wouldn't call it the organization of industrialized democracies anymore.

RFE/RL: What would you call it?

Ilves: Seven industrial democracies and one country brought in for reasons that have lost their relevance.

Chalk up another one for New Europe.

Read the entire interview. You won't be disappointed.

Peaceful Progressives

They're probably just misguided youths.

Militant opponents of this week's Group of Eight summit claimed responsibility Tuesday for a firebomb attack on a Mercedes car dealership in Zurich.

An anonymous fax sent to The Associated Press and other media organizations also demanded the release of G-8 opponents arrested by German police. The overnight attack caused about 200,000 Swiss francs (US$160,000; 120,000 euros) in damage.

Someone's Going To Be 'Offended'

Euroweenies and the Leftisphere are sure to call it a deliberate provocation.

If I were to pick two words from George Walker Bush today that characterize our cooperation and friendship, I would call it active partnership. Thank you.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek
June 5, 2007

More Violence In Rostock

The Moronic Convergence in Germany continues.

A protest in Rostock on Monday once again turned violent with black-clad left-wingers flinging bottles at police. More from the so-called Black Bloc have descended on the town just in time for a demonstration on Monday evening.

Watch the video

I'm A True Democrat

Yep. That's how Soviet Russian president Vladimir Paranoid described himself during an interview that was published today in der Spiegel.

We're Getting Close

A near-flying pig moment: UK's Guardian is beginning to get it.

A Bush administration source cautioned against any breakthroughs in US-Russian relations at the G8 summit. Hopes have been transferred to a more relaxed meeting at the Bush holiday compound in New England, scheduled for July 1-2.

. . . US concerns include the crackdown by Mr Putin on pro-democracy activists in Russia, increasing centralisation and the possibility that he will not stand down, as required by the constitution, at the end of his term in office. There are fears that Mr Putin could exploit the showdown with the US as an excuse to extend his stay.

Under Russia's constitution, Mr Putin is obliged to step down next spring after two four-year terms as leader. Mr Putin has always insisted he will leave office on schedule. But over the weekend he said he was too young to retire - a hint that he may be considering a continued political role.

Most analysts believe Mr Putin will indeed leave office unless he is convinced that Russia faces a serious external threat. But Mr Putin's recent attacks on the west - and the sharp decline in US-Russian relations - could be interpreted as a sign that the threat has now arrived.

If SDI isn't enough, there's always Putie's very recent concern about bioterrorism.

The pro-Kremlin United Russia party today said it would discuss with Mr Putin the issue of having longer presidential terms - probably from 2012 - lasting for five or even seven years. "We will have a meeting in early July and I believe we will discuss this initiative in detail,' Boris Gryzlov, the party's leader and Duma speaker said today.

All this and George Soros isn't in Moscow to give moral support to the Soviet Russian paranoid.

Britain & Germany demand UN framework for 'global warming'

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to give them the same prescription for long life and good health that Dick Cheney gave to Loony Leahy.

Britain and Germany yesterday joined forces to warn President George Bush that talks on climate change must take place within a United Nations framework and not in an ad hoc process floated last week by Bush.

As violent protesters clashed with police in Rostock ahead of next week's G8 summit in Germany, Washington was warned that Britain and Europe will not tolerate a separate process.

Cool. Your endless warnings to Iran were so productive, the partner you absolutely must have to finance this mishegas is already shaking in fear.

'For me, that is non-negotiable,' the German Chancellor Angela Merkel said of the need to ensure that climate change negotiations take place within the existing UN framework.

You go, girl.

Merkel underlined deep European unease with the President when she told Der Spiegel: 'In a process led by the United Nations, we must create a successor to the Kyoto agreement which ends in 2012. But it is important that they flow from the United Nations.'

I have a better idea: How about asking demanding that the UN move from NYC to Nuremberg? Zeppelin Stadium would make for the ideal headquarters. Delegates can retire to the Hofbräuhaus for refreshments after a long day of doing nothing.

Such Peace-lovers, The Left

The gaggle of losers congregating in Germany for the G8 Summit claim to be a peaceful group. Facts on the ground prove otherwise.

Protesters have clashed with police, throwing stones and flagpoles at officers during a demonstration against the upcoming G8 summit in Germany.

Officers in helmets and body armour at one point briefly retreated before a hail of stones, while other officers chased down fleeing protesters at the rally in Rostock in northern Germany.

"There are massive assaults on police officers at the city's harbor right now," police spokeswoman Cordula Feichtinger said.

"The situation is currently very chaotic and we have to get it under control before I can tell you how many people have been arrested."

More than 100 officers were hurt in the violence. Some of the injuries were serious, a police spokesman said.

Sounds pretty peaceful to me.

And the summit doesn't begin until Wednesday.

UPDATE: The BBC is now using the "v" word, but cling to their claim that the

Protesters have clashed with police at a largely peaceful anti-globalisation rally in the German city of Rostock.

Well, here's a video clip.

From the BBC.

How To Track Human Debris

The Germans have really come up with a great idea on how to track the garbage that shows up at protests.

German authorities use scent tracking to keep tabs on G-8 protesters (hat tip: 400lb Gorilla).

BERLIN (AP) - German authorities are using scent tracking to keep tabs on possibly violent protesters against next month's Group of Eight summit - a tactic that is drawing comparisons with the methods of former East Germany's secret police.

Scent samples have been taken from an undisclosed number of people believed to be a possible danger to the upcoming summit so that police dogs can pick out the perpetrators if there is violence, the Hamburger Morgenpost reported Tuesday.

Andreas Christeleit, a spokesman for federal prosecutors, confirmed the report but would give no further details.

"This has happened to several suspects," he said.

The use of scent samples was widely known to be practiced in Germany by the East German secret police, the Stasi, who used the technique to track dissidents.

It's like when I worked in NYC and the Grateful Dead came to town. Outside MSG, a wall of stench would hit you square between the eyes when I walked out of my office building. Streams of tripped-out, unbathed types meandering about, wallowing in their own stench.

The anarchist scum who shows up at the G-8 summit aren't that far from those Deadheads; they just have a lot more energy.