I’ve been reading some conservative web sites and I thought our country had just been attacked.

I had to have a portrait taken for our church directory and on the way back the host of the talk show on at the time must have had every vein in his head and neck bulging to the point of bursting because cloture passed. Oh, and all those Republican senators should be voted out.

Then I heard the news and I heard Harry Reid say in order for the immigration bill to pass he needed 25 Republican votes. I went over here and counted twice. If my eyes haven’t deceived me I have counted 24 Republicans who voted for cloture. That’s one shy of what Harry Reid says is needed, and many said they would vote for cloture but not vote for the bill.

So, the bill hasn’t come up for a vote except for cloture, some Republicans who voted for cloture will vote against the bill, and we still have to get it passed in the House if it passes the Senate.

Am I missing something here?

Someone please tell me if I should be upset over a cloture vote when no final vote has taken place and when the House hasn’t taken up the bill yet. I’m all eyes and ears.

The Anchoress is asking for help for a family which certainly seems to be in need and also for a good friend.

It is the type of help which I am certain will be offered by many of us who read, comment and write here at “J’s.”

Not much time for commentary but this piece linked to from Drudge Report is something any animal lover should indulge in. The accompanying pictures make me wish I had the courage to do what this man does.

The king of the jungle doesn’t frighten the lion whisperer

Animal behaviourist Kevin Richardson has such an intimate bond with big cats that he can spend the night curled up with them without the slightest fear of attack.

Richardson, 32, who is based in a wildlife conservation area near Johannesburg in South Africa, works his unusual magic on other species too. Cheetahs, leopards and even unpredictable hyenas hold no threats for him.

Michael Yon is not a newspaperman or reporter hired by any news organization. He has gone to Iraq and been embedded with units to report on what is going on there, whether it’s good or bad news for us.

Here is a teaser from his latest dispatch:

On 19 June American forces sealed off Baqubah and began attacking targets within the city. The immediate goal of Arrowhead Ripper was to free Baqubah of al Qaeda, by trapping and killing its members, but according to American officers here, public remarks by senior military officials may have flushed many AQI leaders before the attack. Despite this frustrating and significant setback, progress toward the end-state goal of Arrowhead Ripper—turning over Baqubah to Iraqi government control—appears to be working, at least in terms of the removal of the current AQI leadership and its quasi-government. There are conflicting signals about how many of the AQI leadership escaped before Arrowhead Ripper launched. This weekend’s capture of a possible high-value target in Baqubah indicates that not all AQI leaders successfully fled the city before the attack.

Media reports indicating that many top leaders escaped before Arrowhead Ripper began appear to be mostly true. But other information suggests some AQI leaders are trapped just down the road from where I write. In addition to the seven men who were caught trying to escape while dressed as women, there is information that some AQI leaders remain trapped in a constricting cordon.

Please go over and read the rest and look at the photos he has in the post.

59 year old Carlo Ventre was testifying in an Italian court about the death of his girlfriend, whom he was accused of killing, when he said he didn’t feel well and died of an apparent heart attack.

Ventre had been testifying calmly for 10 or 15 minutes about the first fights he had with girlfriend Toni Dykstra when he suddenly said he did not feel well, Leonardo said. A few seconds later he was dead, he said.

“It’s a terrible story, with a tragic epilogue,” he said.

Ventre, who had suffered a heart attack in 2002, was charged with killing Dykstra in his Rome apartment in 1998.

Dykstra, who lived in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, had traveled to Italy to retrieve the couple’s daughter, Santina. When she found the girl and Ventre, she obtained an Italian court order requiring Ventre to hand over the girl so she could return to the United States with her.

The day before they were to leave, Dykstra, 29, was found dead on the floor of Ventre’s apartment. Ventre told Italian authorities Dykstra struck her head on a fireplace when he shoved her in self-defense after she attacked him with an ax.

A day before his court date in Rome, Ventre had told Leonardo he feared he would not feel well when he testified, the lawyer said. Ventre arrived tired and sweating, after traveling an hour on public transport in nearly 95-degree heat Monday, Leonardo said.

Ventre appeared to be doing well while testifying in the air-conditioned courtroom, Leonardo said. “He was very calm, secure, detailed and very credible,” but then suddenly stopped, said he didn’t feel well and leaned back in his chair, the lawyer said.

I guess he meant it when he said he thought he wouldn’t feel well that day and after being in that heat for so long I could see how it would have put a strain on his heart if he wasn’t otherwise healthy.

There hasn’t been much news lately that has excited me . A hit piece on the administration is commonplace these days. Republicans and Democrats at each others throats in Congress is becoming a yawn and all the polls on endless subjects just leave me feeling empty. The Presidential race beginning immediately after the midterms even took the edge off what was once one of the most exciting events in our country.

I was happy to see that I was in the company of Rick Moran in feeling almost numb to this one aspect of politics at the moment.

WAKE ME WHEN IT’S OVER

Truth is, I’m bored. And if you’ve been following the race for the presidential nomination in both parties, I’ll bet you a dollar to navy beans that you’re bored too.

Has there ever been such a ponderously dry, stodgy, stuffy, tiresome group of candidates ever assembled? They don’t even make good stand up comedy material. How many jokes can you tell about John Edward’s hair? How many variations of Hillary the Harridan can be photoshopped? How many pictures of an empty suit can you show representing Obama?

The Republicans aren’t any better. Mitt Romney – the Stepford Candidate. The guy is so automatically smooth we should probably cut him open to see if he bleeds or blinks on and off.

And what about John McCain? I’ve seen trees with more animation. “Wooden” doesn’t begin to describe his personality much less his oratorical style.

Rudy is feistier but hardly what I’d call mesmerizing. The guy has been married three times for God’s sake. If his wives don’t find him very interesting, why should I?

And Fred? Thompson is like dark matter – we know he exists but we’re not quite sure what he’s made of. But those of you pining for a reincarnation of Ronald Reagan will almost surely be disappointed. Fred will make “stolid” a new Republican virtue, hopefully replacing “out of control avarice” as a the impression people have of the party.

Perhaps things will improve after the primaries. My sense is by that time we will know all there is to “know” about the next President of the United States.

Former French President Jacques Chirac will be questioned in the next few months over corruption scandal dating back to the days he was mayor of Paris.

Former French President Jacques Chirac is to be questioned in the coming months over a corruption scandal involving fake jobs and linked to the former conservative political party he headed, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Chirac will “very probably” be questioned before Sept. 15 in the long-running case as a material witness, lawyer Jean Veil said on RTL radio. The role of a material witness means that Chirac himself is not under investigation.

The fake jobs case is the most potent of a string of potential legal problems the 74-year-old Chirac faces now that he no longer has presidential immunity. He handed over the French presidency to Nicolas Sarkozy on May 16.

The jobs case dates back to Chirac’s years as mayor of Paris, from 1977 to 1995, when Chirac also headed the conservative party Rally for the Republic, or RPR. Investigators say operatives from the RPR were illegally on the Paris city payroll.

Remember, a conservative in France is about as conservative as Ted Kennedy in the US. I wonder if Chirac will do what he does best and run up a white flag while being questioned?

Despite other stories on this site this morning I am going to attempt to not Bush-Cheney bash, but tell something else of what’s going on in the world.

A six-year old boy (estimated age because birthdays are not kept track of in Afghanistan) was told by the taliban to put on a belt and when he pushed a button the vest would “spray flowers” and when he saw American soldiers he should throw his body at them.

The boy figured something was wrong so he went to the nearest Afghan military checkpoint and asked for help.

Juma said that sometime last month, Taliban fighters forced him to wear a vest they said would spray flowers when he touched a button. He said they told him that when he saw U.S. soldiers, “throw your body at them.”

The militants cornered Juma in a Taliban-controlled district in southern Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. Although he is but an impoverished youngster being raised by an older sister — he proved too street-smart for their plan.

“When they first put the vest on my body, I didn’t know what to think, but then I felt the bomb,” Juma told the Associated Press as he ate lamb and rice after being introduced to the elders at the joint U.S.-Afghan base in Ghazni. “After I figured out it was a bomb, I went to the Afghan soldiers for help.”

While Juma’s story could not be independently verified, local government leaders backed his account and the U.S. and NATO military missions said they believe his story.

Abdul Rahim Deciwal, chief administrator for Juma’s village of Athul, brought the boy and an older brother, Dad Gul, to a weekend meeting between Afghan elders and U.S. Army Col. Martin P. Schweitzer.

Fidgety but smiling during all of the attention, Juma told the AP that he was scared when he was surrounded by Taliban fighters. He cupped his hands together to show the size of the bomb, then ran his hands along his waist to show where it was on his body.

Raised in a country where birthdays are not always carefully tracked, Juma said he is 4. But he looks older and Afghan officials said he is about 6. His brother appears to be a year or so older.

Their village lies in Ghazni province’s Andar district, a Taliban stronghold targeted this month in a joint Afghan-U.S. operation. The region remains dangerous, and Afghan elders worry for Juma’s safety.

The Taliban denies it uses children for these missions, but just last month had a video going around showing a twelve-year old boy severing someone’s head with a sword. Perhaps twelve-year old boys are considered men there.