WinkyDog

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has met in Cuba with the island’s former president, Fidel Castro, capping a four-nation tour of Latin America in a bid to bolster ties in the region.

Mr. Medvedev met privately with the 82-year-old Castro for more than an hour Friday.  Russian officials say Mr. Medvedev and the former Cuban president discussed relations between their countries and international policy.  No further details of the meeting were released.

Russia’s Dmitri Medvedev (L), and Cuba’s Raul Castro at the tomb of the unknown Soviet soldier, Havana, 28 Nov 2008

Earlier, the Russian leader laid a wreath at a monument to Soviet soldiers with Mr. Castro’s brother, current President Raul Castro.  

On Thursday, Mr. Medvedev and Raul Castro met privately and also with delegations from each country.  They visited a monument to Cuba’s independence hero Jose Marti and a recently inaugurated Russian Orthodox cathedral.

Mr. Medvedev was visiting Cuba to revive ties with the former Soviet Union’s Cold War ally.

The Soviet Union was Cuba’s main benefactor during the Cold War, but the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1991 battered Cuba’s economy and strained relations between the two countries.

Russian officials said Mr. Medvedev’s tour, which also took him to Venezuela, Brazil and Peru, was meant to boost trade, not provoke the United States in its sphere of influence.

The Russian president’s visit followed a recent trip to Cuba by Chinese President Hu Jintao. Mr. Hu and Raul Castro, both communist leaders, discussed strengthening relations between the two countries.

Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba for nearly five decades, has not been seen in public since undergoing emergency surgery in July 2006.  Raul, who served as interim leader, became president in February.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

Rosie O’Donnell Redefines “Phat and Stupid” to Just “Fat and Stupid“

She may have created a buzz with her wild eyed conspiracy theories online and with her bombastic shouting match with Elizabeth Hasselbeck but in prime-time Rosie O’Donnell delivered some horrific ratings attracting only 5 million viewers for her variety special while her nemesis Barbara Walterssoared in the ratings.  Everyone seemed to notice.

Rosie O’Donnell Ratings Disaster: Nemesis Barbara Walters Soars

The New York Daily News calls it this way,  “Rosie Live ended up dead on arrival.  Rosie O’Donnell attracted big names like Alec Baldwin, Conan O’Brien and Alanis Morissette to her varietytelevision show - but not viewers.  “Live” tied for last place in ratings on Wednesday evening, with 5 million viewers.

E! Online has this, “Rosie O’Donnell didn’t go head-to-head with foe Barbara Walters Wednesday night. Which was a good thing. For O’Donnell.  In the 10 p.m. hour, Walters scored 11.5 million for her ABC interview special with President-elect Barack Obama.

Entertainment Weekly writes, “The media battle between former coworkers Rosie O’Donnell and Barbara Walters resumed on Wednesday night, as each woman rolled out her own TV special. In the end, however, only one stood tall: Walters.  A big loss for Rosie.

Thanks to: nationalledger.com

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — November is a terrible time to be a turkey, but one lucky bird received an unconditional pardon on Thursday.

Gov. Sarah Palin granted the pardon at Triple D Farms in Wasilla.

“We choose a big tom turkey here,” Palin said. “It’s a big one. The pretty one with the red.”

Palin chose one fowl from the flock and gave it the name Thanksgiving.

Palin said she has a lot to be thankful for this season and is looking forward to spending the holiday with her family.

“I’ll be in charge of the turkey!” she said. “My sisters and my mom, they’re all bringing everything else, but I’m always in charge of the turkey, so I’m where I need to be today to prepare for that,” Palin said.

The Alaska Zoo has volunteered to take in the pardoned turkey.

by Lori Tipton

The Mighty, the Terrible, the Unmatched US Marines.  If you see them coming it’s probably too late.  Thinking about ambushing them?  ou may want to read this…

From Military.com

FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan — In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.

Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk district.

The city is home to several major insurgent leaders. Reports indicate that more than 250 full time fighters reside in the city and in the surrounding villages.

Shewan had been a thorn in the side of Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan throughout the Marines’ deployment here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, because it controls an important supply route into the Bala Baluk district. Opening the route was key to continuing combat operations in the area.

“The day started out with a 10-kilometer patrol with elements mounted and dismounted, so by the time we got to Shewan, we were pretty beat,” said a designated marksman who requested to remain unidentified. “Our vehicles came under a barrage of enemy RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and machine gun fire. One of our ‘humvees’ was disabled from RPG fire, and the Marines inside dismounted and laid down suppression fire so they could evacuate a Marine who was knocked unconscious from the blast.”

The vicious attack that left the humvee destroyed and several of the Marines pinned down in the kill zone sparked an intense eight-hour battle as the platoon desperately fought to recover their comrades. After recovering the Marines trapped in the kill zone, another platoon sergeant personally led numerous attacks on enemy fortified positions while the platoon fought house to house and trench to trench in order to clear through the enemy ambush site.

“The biggest thing to take from that day is what Marines can accomplish when they’re given the opportunity to fight,” the sniper said. “A small group of Marines met a numerically superior force and embarrassed them in their own backyard. The insurgents told the townspeople that they were stronger than the Americans, and that day we showed them they were wrong.”

During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn’t miss any shots, despite the enemies’ rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

“I was in my own little world,” the young corporal said. “I wasn’t even aware of a lot of the rounds impacting near my position, because I was concentrating so hard on making sure my rounds were on target.”

After calling for close-air support, the small group of Marines pushed forward and broke the enemies’ spirit as many of them dropped their weapons and fled the battlefield. At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.

“I didn’t realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies’ lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us,” the corporal said. “It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured.”
(hat tip: PowerLine)

Tomorrow, we should all take a moment, and give thanks for our brave soldiers.  Many of them won’t be sitting around a table in America.  They’re somewhere fighting to make our Thanksgiving possible.

And oh how they fight….

NOOOOOOOO…..

From The Australian:

GENEVA: Greenhouse gas levels rose to record highs in 2007, leading to a 1 per cent increase in the overall global warming effect, the World Meteorological Organisation says.

Carbon dioxide rose 0.5 per cent from 2006 to reach 383.1 parts per million, while nitrous oxide levels were up 0.25 per cent, according to latest WMO statistics.

Methane, meanwhile, increased 0.34 per cent, surpassing the highest level recorded in 2003.

“Using the NOAA Annual greenhouse gas index, the total warming effect of all long-lived greenhouse gases was calculated to have increased by 1.06 per cent from the previous year and by 24.2 per cent since 1990,” said the WMO.

Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have risen 37 per cent since the 18th century, the WMO said.
(hat tip: Astute Bloggers)

Once again, the United Nations has shown the only thing it does effectively is enable the worst groups and regimes on the planet.  Then blame Israel and the West for the consequences.

From Telegraph:

In a rare speech to a full parliament in Jerusalem, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said that Hizbollah’s rearmament programme meant the group now has three times the number of rockets it had in the run-up to the 2006 Lebanon war.

“The firepower of Hizbollah has grown threefold since the Second Lebanon War,” said Mr Barak.

“It has missiles that can reach the towns of Ashkelon, Beersheba and Dimona [in southern Israel more than 125 miles from the Lebanese border].

“Today Hizbollah has 42,000 missiles.”

The figures supported claims made by Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, a Hizbollah commander, in an interview with The Telegraph in August, when he said the group had built up its military arsenal significantly.
(hat tip: ReportonArrakis)

We saw this one coming.  And it would have been the same if McCain had won.

The Dems will push Amnesty through as soon as possible.  The need the votes, and they need Americans to forget about it, before the 2010 elections…..

From DetroitFreePress: Interview with Harry Reid.

Q: With more Democrats in the Senate and the House and a Democrat in the White House, how do you see congressional efforts playing out on such issues as health care and immigration?

A: On immigration, there’s been an agreement between (President-elect Barack) Obama and (Arizona Republican Sen. John) McCain to move forward on that. … We’ll do that. We have to get this economy stuff figured out first, so I think we’ll have a shot at doing something on health care in the next Congress for sure.

Q: Will there be as much of a fight on immigration as last time?

A: We’ve got McCain and we’ve got a few others. I don’t expect much of a fight at all. Now health care is going to be difficult. That’s a very complicated issue. We debated at great length immigration. People understand the issues very well. We have not debated health care, so that’s going to take a lot more time to do
(hat tip: RightWingNews)

photo: nndb.com

Alan Colmes of Fox News Channel has decided to step down in December as co-host of Hannity & Colmes.

“I approached Bill Shine (Senior Vice President of Programming) earlier this year about wanting to move on after 12 years,” said Colmes. “Although it’s bittersweet to leave one of the longest marriages on cable news, I’m proud that both Sean (Hannity) and I remained unharmed after sitting side by side, night after night for so many years.”

However, Colmes will work as a liberal commentator on a number of Fox News shows, such as The Strategy Room on Foxnews.com. He’ll also keep hosting his radio program The Alan Colmes Show on Fox Talk.

“We value his incredible hard work in making Hannity and Colmes the most successful debate program on cable news,” said Shine. “Thankfully, he will begin developing a weekend pilot for us.”

Hannity himself noted, “Not only has Alan been a remarkable co-host, he’s been a great friend which is rare in this industry — I’ll genuinely miss sparring with such a skillful debate partner.”

thanks to: Radaronline.com