Continuing to clean house, Abbas may make peace work.

Abbas Ejects Arafat Old Guard in Security Shake-Up
Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters Original Article

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named three new heads for the security forces and forced hundreds of their men into retirement on Saturday, pushing aside top commanders in Yasser Arafat's old guard.

US Constitution: President nominates judges; Senate votes yes or no. Simple majority wins. Filibuster causes need for Super-majority.

Filibuster myth-busters
Wendy E. Long, Washington Times Original Article

If you were a senator, whose views would be more important to you: liberal special-interest groups, or registered voters? The liberal groups demand that Democrats filibuster (prevent the Senate from voting on) some of President Bush's best-qualified nominees to the federal appeals courts. But a recent Ayres McHenry nationwide survey reveals that 82 percent of registered voters believe well-qualified nominees deserve a Senate vote. That includes 85 percent of Republicans, 81 percent of Democrats, and 81 percent of Independents.

A litany of past failure. It is hard to trust folks in the future that have been so wrong in their views.

Our Not-So-Wise Experts
Victor Davis Hanson, National Review Online Original Article

Brent Scowcroft predicted on the eve of the Iraqi elections that voting there would increase the risk of civil war. Indeed, he foresaw “a great potential for deepening the conflict.” He also once assured us that Iraq “could become a Vietnam in a way that the Vietnam war never did.” Did he mean perhaps worse than ten years of war and over 50,000 American dead, with the Cambodian holocaust next door?

The major reason for high fuel prices-Costly federal regulations.

Is Washington Treating Us Like Chumps At The Pumps?
Ben Lieberman, The Heritage Foundation Original Article

Gasoline is already more than $2.20 per gallon and climbing, and we’re still months away from the high-demand summer vacation season. So why has the U.S. Senate introduced two bills that would raise prices even further?

Why his enemies are desperate to bring him down.

DeLay, Red Statesman
Jeffrey Bell, Weekly Standard Original Article

TWO THINGS HAPPENED LAST WEEK that cast a sharp light on the real impetus behind the Democratic/media effort to bring down House majority leader Tom DeLay. The first was House approval, by a huge margin of 110 votes on final passage, of the permanent repeal of the federal inheritance tax. The second was DeLay's apology for having predicted negative consequences for judges such as those in the Terri Schiavo case who go out of their way to ignore the wishes of the other two branches of government.

Advocates for Democracy Begin to Taste Success After Years of Fruitless Effort

A New Power Rises Across Mideast
Scott Wilson and Daniel Williams, Washington Post Original Article

Early this year, a small group of advertising executives, journalists and political operatives began meeting around the crowded tables of a popular cafe here to plot an opposition media strategy for Lebanon's spring parliamentary elections. Among them was Said Francis, whose urbane crew cut and black turtleneck sweater suggested his position as the regional creative director of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. Employing reams of scratch paper, cigarettes and coffee, the group members argued over color schemes and slogans.

Oil prices, debt, debt relief, and yuan undervaluation.

G-7 Vows to Limit Fallout From Oil Rates
JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Original Article

Amid fresh jitters from Wall Street, finance officials from the world's industrial powers said Saturday surging oil prices could crimp the economy and they pledged to limit the fallout.

The Indian-born Pakistani leader and the Pakistani-born Indian leader are due to hold their main talks on Sunday.

Musharraf Visits India Amid Cricket Diplomacy
Reuters Original Article

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf arrived in India on Saturday with a prayer for peace, urging his nuclear rival to seize a historic chance to end their dispute over Kashmir. On his first visit since a failed summit four years ago and near-war over Kashmir in 2002, Musharraf's first stop was South Asia's most famous Muslim shrine where, dressed in a pink turban and white salwar-kameez, he prayed for peace and made an offering before flying on to New Delhi.