George W. Bush understands the world in which we live. If ever we have been blessed with a leader, by the grace of God, it is now.

We live in the crossroads of world history. It is a moment that perhaps we do not fully understand. It is moment that George Bush does. Great leaders grasp their moment. They understand that which is bigger than themselves. They almost instinctively know that something larger than themselves is transpiring and that they have been cast on the stage of history by the Director of life to do His bidding. It is His call. George W. Bush gets it. Thank you, Mr. President for standing tall, picking up that mantle, and carrying us forward in the face of our enemies both here and abroad. Thank you for your faith and trust in the Author of Life, your dependence on the One who directs the affairs of men, and your unwavering commitment to the responsibility He has given you.

If you haven’t read the President’s speech at the U.S. Naval Academy please take the time to do so here.

Some excerpts…

These terrorists have nothing to offer the Iraqi people. All they have is the capacity and the willingness to kill the innocent and create chaos for the cameras. They are trying to shake our will to achieve their stated objectives. They will fail. America’s will is strong. And they will fail because the will to power is no match for the universal desire to live in liberty.

This is an enemy without conscience — and they cannot be appeased.

Setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would send a message across the world that America is a weak and an unreliable ally. Setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would send a signal to our enemies — that if they wait long enough, America will cut and run and abandon its friends. And setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would vindicate the terrorists’ tactics of beheadings and suicide bombings and mass murder — and invite new attacks on America. To all who wear the uniform, I make you this pledge: America will not run in the face of car bombers and assassins so long as I am your Commander-in-Chief.

Victory in Iraq will demand the continued determination and resolve of the American people. It will also demand the strength and personal courage of the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform. And as the future officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, you’re preparing to join this fight. You do so at a time when there is a vigorous debate about the war in Iraq. I know that for our men and women in uniform, this debate can be unsettling — when you’re risking your life to accomplish a mission, the last thing you want to hear is that mission being questioned in our nation’s capital. I want you to know that while there may be a lot of heated rhetoric in Washington, D.C., one thing is not in dispute: The American people stand behind you.

Today in the Middle East freedom is once again contending with an ideology that seeks to sow anger and hatred and despair. And like fascism and communism before, the hateful ideologies that use terror will be defeated by the unstoppable power of freedom, and as democracy spreads in the Middle East, these countries will become allies in the cause of peace.

In mourning the loss of our fallen soldiers, Mr. Bush cited the following…

One of those fallen heroes is a Marine Corporal named Jeff Starr, who was killed fighting the terrorists in Ramadi earlier this year. After he died, a letter was found on his laptop computer. Here’s what he wrote, he said, “[I]f you’re reading this, then I’ve died in Iraq. I don’t regret going. Everybody dies, but few get to do it for something as important as freedom. It may seem confusing why we are in Iraq, it’s not to me. I’m here helping these people, so they can live the way we live. Not [to] have to worry about tyrants or vicious dictators_. Others have died for my freedom, now this is my mark.”

There is only one way to honor the sacrifice of Corporal Starr and his fallen comrades — and that is to take up their mantle, carry on their fight, and complete their mission.

Mr. President, thank you. May God continue to guide you in His path. Thank you for your willingness to assume this awesome and incomprehensible responsibility.

May God bless you.

You can read the President’s unclassified strategy for Iraq here.

John Hinderaker takes AP reporting Calvin Woodward to the woodshed.

If you haven’t seen the kerfuffle over MoveOn.org’s use of British soldiers in their American Troops Stuck in Iraq ad, and the subsequent attempt to photoshop pants on the poor chap, check it out here, here.

A US Army Captain responds:

These are not your normal everyday U.S. soldiers though. If you look at the frame they are actually British soldiers. One is in shorts (we don’t have shorts as a normal combat uniform) and the others are all clearly wearing British pattern fatigues. So, my point is that these [turkeys] pretend to argue on my behalf and bash the president in the name of my crying wife, and they don’t even know what an American soldier looks like! Anyway, it really [ticked] me off.

And Generation Why appreciated the timing of the “Where are the Republicans” voiceover in the ad.

More from Michelle, ABP, Mark in Mexico, Yippee Ki Yay, Suitably Flip.

Alternative post title: “Liar, Liar, Pants on …“

If you haven’t seen it yet, Paul English has a cheat sheet on how to reach a human in the world of Intelligent Voice Response systems. IVR companies react, and Paul responds.

Via Dan Gillmor and KPaul at MFP.

That’s the recommendation of the Arkansas State Police, per KTVE.

If a deer comes into the road State Police say you should not swerve. They say they’ve seen it all too many times the car swerves and hits an immovable object. Police recommend hitting the animal, however if that animal is a horse or cow they recommend you get out of the way.

Hey, someone had to be #2.

Jonah Goldberg has a very interesting discussion here about the use of torture.

I haven’t worked out all the answers for myself, but it seems to me that a great clarifier in this area is to substitute “torture” with “deadly force.” Surely, there’s nothing wrong with shooting a terrorist in the head before he can push the button that blows up New York. Surely, there’s everything wrong with shooting an innocent person for no reason whatsoever. The only way it’s different for torture is if you believe torture is worse than killing. We should greet assertions along these lines cautiously.

More back and forth between Goldberg and Ramesh here and here.

Neither Andy McCarthy nor, I take it, you would countenance the torture of an innocent person under any circumstances, even if that means New York has to go. If that’s not an absurd conclusion–and it isn’t–then why is it absurd to conclude that while there are a great many things we can do to a terrorist who is withholding life-saving information, and we can do more to that terrorist than to an innocent party, there are nevertheless some things we cannot do, even at the cost of New York? And if that’s the case, what’s left of the usefulness of invoking the ticking time-bomb?

And here.

Aerial bombing by its very nature inevitably results in the killing and maiming of innocents and combatants. For some unknowable number of people this means a lifetime of pain, psychological and/or physical. And yet, advocates of an absolute torture ban (or at least the ones who are not complete pacifists) do not argue for a total ban on aerial bombing in all circumstances.

Similarly, I’ve never heard a thorough and succint explanation as to why executing a captured soldier on the battlefield is immoral, but blowing him up in his sleep isn’t. But we can discuss this in the morning.

When life hands you lemonade, make lemons. Apparently that’s the approach the New York Times is taking when it comes to reporting on the economy:

Gasoline is cheaper than it was before Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans. Consumer confidence jumped last month and new home sales hit a record. The stock market has been rising. Even the nation’s beleaguered factories appear to be headed for a happy holiday season.

By most measures, the economy appears to be doing just fine. No, scratch that, it appears to be booming.

But as always with the United States economy, it is not quite that simple.

Consumer confidence is bouncing back from what was arguably some of its worst readings in years. Gasoline prices-the national average is now $2.15, according to the Energy Information Administration- have fallen because higher prices tamped down demand and supplies in the Gulf Coast have been slowly restored. The latest read on home sales, released today, contradicts virtually every other recent measure of housing activity that generally indicate a slowdown. And yes, manufacturers’ fortunes are on the mend, but few besides airplane makers are celebrating.

It all means that the economy is likely to end the year with a splash, but that does not mean the broad economic picture next year will be even better.

“The economy is doing great, but there must be bad news in here somewhere. There has to be, and we’ll find it.”

Cindy Sheehan is upset that the AP published a photo captioned “Anti-war activist CindySheehan waits for people to show up at her book signing near President Bush’s ranch on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005 in Crawford, Texas.”

It’s a great picture.

UPDATE: Rusty has caption contest winners for this picture. More caption contests here and here.

Lawhawk derides: “The Sheehanapalooza Tour comes to a crashing halt as Cindy Sheehan’s book signing event in Crawford, Texas is a book signing consisting of herself and a gaggle of media hounds looking for primo crowd shots.”

And Sweetness & Light has more pictures, including a protectively cropped shot that Reuters used.

Looks like Drudge has taken Ian’s site down with this link.

Is it possible that the kidnapping of so-called peace activists in Iraq was staged? Rush Limbaugh, in his radio broadcast today puts it out as a possibility. He notes that the group claiming credit for the kidnapping, Swords of Righteousness Brigade, is unknown.

Curious too is the fact that the peace activists are associated with a group that has been conducting an “adopt-a-detainee” campaign. This campaign recruits people to write letters on behalf of captured terrorists. Hardly a neutral peace loving group this bunch.

Given the leftist bent of this group, it wouldn’t be surprising if deceit is part of their agenda to get noticed. Perhaps the media and the left has made me a jaded skeptic. But it does make for an interesting possibility. Certainly cause for cautious observation.

Rush points out if this is a stunt, the hostages will be released in a few days with a barrage of propaganda. Time will tell I suppose.

In the meantime we can pray that God will open their hearts and minds to a people desiring to be free after years of oppression under Saddam Hussein. And if the kidnapping is real, then let us pray that these naive peaceniks will see the true nature of the beast as well as escape safely.

UPDATE 9/30/2005 by Eric:

Kathryn Lopez over at the NRO points to the CPT’s comment on the situation:

CPT does not advocate the use of violent force to save lives of its workers should they be kidnapped, held hostage, or caught in the middle of a conflict situation.

Glenn Reynolds responds with his own policy:

InstaPundit strongly supports the use of violent force to save lives of its workers (er, that’s me), readers, advertisers, or unrelated onlookers should they be kidnapped, held hostage, or caught in the middle of a conflict situation.

And giving even more credence to Rush’s theory, CPT is blaming Bush. (Via Two Babes and a Brain and SoCal Pundit).

“We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. government due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people.”

Is Harry Reid wrong, and aiding the enemy? Or is he right, and aiding the enemy? John Fund makes the case that right or wrong, Harry Reid is underminig the United States. Harry Reid stated that he has been told that OBL died in the Pakistan earthquake.

Intelligence analysts tell me that the only proper action by a top U.S. Senate leader who has been given such information is radio silence. If the report is true, such information is best released at a moment of the U.S. government’s choosing. For one thing, as long as the information is tightly held, it can be used to sift out electronic intercepts that might lead to other Al Qaeda leaders. On the other hand, if Mr. Reid’s public speculation proves groundless, it only embarrasses the U.S. and contributes to enemy morale.

Meanwhile, DebkaFile reports that he’s still alive and active (via Never Yet Melted).

Gary Miller notes:

No doubt Patrick Fitzgerald will begin issuing indictments on this leaked classified information ASAP…

UPDATE 11/29/2005: John Hinderaker has a somewhat related column up at the Weekly Standard called “Leaking At All Costs.”

Michelle Malkin adds:

Okay, Sen. Lindsay Graham. Now is the time for you and other Republican Senators to tell someone to “shut up.”

BKP links to the video. And Betsy Newmark says:

You know, if the Democrats want to start chanting “culture of corruption,” perhaps the GOP can start chanting “culture of leaks.”

Wow, this is funny.

Business Week has a cover article in the December 5, 2006 edition which is all about Google. Buried in the article I found this fascinating bit of information [Emphasis mine].

Last year U.S. advertising spending was an estimated $300 billion to $400 billion. Just $10 billion of that was spent online, even less than for ads in the Yellow Pages. By contrast, newspaper and direct telephone markets were worth five and nine times as much, respectively. Yet, according to Forrester Research Inc., households now spend at least 30% of their media time online, while the Internet has just 5% of total ad spending. That situation won’t last for long. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, online ad revenue grew 34% in the latest quarter, with total 2005 revenue on track to grow by 25%, to at least $12 billion; newspaper ad revenue, by contrast, is slated to grow less than 3% this year.

AirForceGuy, who was part of the ISG, outlines where the WMDs are and what happened to them.

Rusty Shackleford has the video with the names of the four hostages abducted in Iraq.

My name is Norman Kember. I am 74. I am a member of the Christian Peacemaking team in Iraq.

My name is Harmeet Singh Sooden. I am 32 and I am working..I’m a volunteer for the CPT in Iraq.

My name is James Loni (?). I am 41 years old. I am from Canada and I am part of the Christian Peacemaker team in Iraq.

My name is Tom Fox and I am 54 years old. I am from the United States and I am a member of the Christian Peacmakers team in
Iraq.

Doubletap has uploaded the original video here.

Previous MZ coverage earlier today here. Also covering and linking are: Michelle Malkin, Mudville, Wuzzadem, Hyscience, OTB, Kate, Riehl, Poliblogger, California Yankee, Strata-Sphere, Say Anything.

Brian B reminds us:

Rusty has pointed out in the past why it is important that the names of such hostages be made public and kept public — the more attention they get, the more likely their survival. Let’s keep these four in our prayers, and in our hearts, and in the public eye. They were in Iraq as peace activists, and while I disagree with their political views, I wish no harm upon them.

This is truly astounding.

Selectwoman Sarah Peake spun her chair around near the end of the Nov. 14 meeting, gazed up at an oversized oil painting depicting the Pilgrims voting on the Mayflower Compact when they first landed in Provincetown, and declared that she wanted it removed.

…

In other words, William Bradford and the rest of those piggish, prejudiced Pilgrims had the audacity to exclude Indians from their civic affairs and, like the rest of the Western world, had yet to give women the right to vote. So, get them out of here.

The selectmen took a vote, and three of the four supported removal of the painting. By my count, that’s 75 percent in favor of politically correct insanity, 25 percent opposed.

Just a tempest in a tea party?

I’m just glad the statue depicting the flag-raising at Iwo Jima isn’t in Provincetown. There’s not a woman in it, meaning that the selectmen would order it melted down for scrap.

Scott Adams, over at Dilbert.blog, poses an interesting question.

Imagine that lightning suddenly carves into the side of the Washington Monument the words “I am God. I created you. Darwin was a nut.” And let’s say there are hundreds of witnesses who all have video cameras and capture it from multiple angles.

Now imagine that the same phenomenon repeats every day for a month, each time on a different monument. Scientists study the phenomena and conclude that humans probably didn’t cause it, but beyond that, there are no further scientific clues about how lighting could seem so directed.

If I crafted my thought experiment right, no one would have any idea how to devise a test that would confirm or exclude the possibility that God really did it. Hypothetically, being omnipotent and all, he would be capable of leaving no clues, other than signing his name. Therefore, any speculation as to the cause is not science.

Here’s the question: Should teachers be allowed to tell science students about the lightning messages?

The newest version of Firefox is out today. You can download Firefox with the Google toolbar included, here.

Some of the new features in this major update include support for Web standards, adding support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), JavaScript 1.6 and new versions of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). In addition, the latest update would also handle popups in a more efficient manner.

James Joyner has more.

Gold has crossed $500 per ounce. Ok, so it passed printer ink a while back, but it makes for a good headline.

Ben at HammerSwing75 has reminded us of the importance of praying for our troops and hostages, as a family friend (Norman Kember, a grandfather in his 70s) is one of the four civilians kidnapped in Iraq on Saturday (more here).

Via CQ and Eckernet.

UPDATE: It appears he was in Iraq on a peace mission with Christian Peacemaker Teams. And Rusty has more on the situation, including some questions about civilian “humanitarian” missions.

And Bluto similarly has concerns.

Kember’s words show that he was aware, at least intellectually, of the risks to himself. Unfortunately, Kember had no thought about increasing the risks to the “young service men in Iraq”. They are the ones who will be affected directly in the case of a hostage rescue mission, and indirectly, as organizations like the one Kember represents prolong the war by tying up military resources that could be used to put the terrorist insurgency out of action that much sooner. There’s also the possibility of a ransom resulting in a large infusion of cash to the terrorists. It’s doubtful they’ll spend the money on peaceful acquisitions.

Kevin has a bit more, where he notes that Canada is reportedly negotiating with terrorists. And PoliTechnical, like some others, notices a differentiation between humanitarian aid worker and “peace activist.”

Our prayers are certainly for the safe return of Norman Kember and the other three hostages, despite whether or not they are to blame for their predicament.

Rusty digs in even harder.

Confronted by President George W. Bush with the choice: “If you are not with us, you are with the terrorists”, we choose a third option: nonviolence.

Kember is a signatory to this denial of reality, number 21.

Can you say irony? These folks don’t believe in violence, but it appears violence believes in them. The way I see it, that leaves three options to win Kember’s freedom.

First, a ransom can be paid to the kidnappers. The money paid will then be used to purchase the tools of terrorism, ensuring that more people die violently in Iraq. Perhaps the terrorists will buy some toys to booby-trap.

The second option is for Coalition and Iraqi soldiers to rescue them. The soldiers will have to put their own lives on the line to accomplish this, of course, and some terrorists are likely to die in the process. I shed no tears for dead terrorists, but Professor Kember and his mates might.

Norman Kember’s third option is to lie down and die.

UPDATE 2: Changing the title of the post.