Let's 'Surge' Some More

By MICHAEL YON
April 11, 2008; Page A17

It is said that generals always fight the last war. But when David Petraeus came to town it was senators – on both sides of the aisle – who battled over the Iraq war of 2004-2006. That war has little in common with the war we are fighting today.

I may well have spent more time embedded with combat units in Iraq than any other journalist alive. I have seen this war – and our part in it – at its brutal worst. And I say the transformation over the last 14 months is little short of miraculous.

The change goes far beyond the statistical decline in casualties or incidents of violence. A young Iraqi translator, wounded in battle and fearing death, asked an American commander to bury his heart in America. Iraqi special forces units took to the streets to track down terrorists who killed American soldiers. The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq, and many Iraqi boys dream of becoming American soldiers. Yes, young Iraqi boys know about "GoArmy.com."

As the outrages of Abu Ghraib faded in memory – and paled in comparison to al Qaeda's brutalities – and our soldiers under the Petraeus strategy got off their big bases and out of their tanks and deeper into the neighborhoods, American values began to win the war.

( Read more... )

Who Pays the Federal Income Tax?

From the Tax Foundation's Summary of Latest Federal Individual Income Tax Data
(AGI - Adjusted Gross Income)

Table 1. Summary of Federal Individual Income Tax Data, 2005 (Updated October 2007)

	Number of Returns with Positive AGI	AGI ($ millions)	Income Taxes Paid ($ millions)	Group's Share of Total AGI	Group's Share of Income Taxes	Income Split Point	Average Tax Rate
All Taxpayers	132,611,637	$7,507,958	$934,703	100.00%	100.00%	-	12.45%
Top 1%	1,326,116	$1,591,711	$368,132	21.20%	39.38%	> $364,657	23.13%
Top 2-5%	5,304,466	$1,092,223	$189,627	14.55%	20.29%		17.36%
Top 5%	6,630,582	$2,683,934	$557,759	35.75%	59.67%	> $145,283	20.78%
Top 6-10%	6,630,582	$803,076	$99,326	10.70%	10.63%		12.37%
Top 10%	13,261,164	$3,487,010	$657,085	46.44%	70.30%	> $103,912	18.84%
Top 11-25%	19,891,745	$1,582,445	$146,687	21.08%	15.69%		9.27%
Top 25%	33,152,909	$5,069,455	$803,772	67.52%	85.99%	> $62,068	15.86%
Top 26-50%	33,152,909	$1,475,369	$102,256	19.65%	10.94%		6.93%
Top 50%	66,305,819	$6,544,824	$906,028	87.17%	96.93%	> $30,881	13.84%
Bottom 50%	66,305,818	963,134	$28,675	12.83%	3.07%	< $30,881	2.98%

Source: Internal Revenue Service

Global warming rage lets global hunger grow

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Last Updated: 1:08pm BST 15/04/2008

We drive, they starve. The mass diversion of the North American grain harvest into ethanol plants for fuel is reaching its political and moral limits.

"The reality is that people are dying already," said Jacques Diouf, of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). "Naturally people won't be sitting dying of starvation, they will react," he said.

The UN says it takes 232kg of corn to fill a 50-litre car tank with ethanol. That is enough to feed a child for a year. Last week, the UN predicted "massacres" unless the biofuel policy is halted.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/14/ccview114.xml

Siddur a la Rambam

 

It is our (Derusha Publishing's) pleasure to bring you the premier edition of Siddur Mesorath Moshe, the first prayerbook of its kind to be printed and bound. Arranged according to the original liturgical rite of the Jewish people since the times of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the text (nusach) and arrangement (seder) of Siddur Mesorath Moshe predates the various liturgies of the Oriental, Safaradi and Ashkenazi communities of the Diaspora. The Siddur includes: Prayers for weekdays, Sabbaths, and Festival The original, shorter arrangement of Psalms (Tehillim) in the first section, Pesuqei (Shirei) Zimra The original blessings for Shema and the 'Amidha (Shemone Esrei) as recorded by Rambam Supplications (Tahanun) according to the original formulation Blessings for all occasions *Vowelizations differ slightly in accordance with historical Safaradi pronounciation.	Издательство Деруша представляет первое издание сидура Месорат Моше, первого сидура такого типа в печати. Текст (нусах) и порядок (седер) сидура Месорат Моше соответствует оригинальной еврейской литургии времён Иерусалимского Санѓедрина, и предшествует литургиям восточных, сефардских и ашкеназских общин Диаспоры. Сидур включает: Молитвы будней, шабата и праздников Оригинальный, более короткий набор Псалмов (Теѓилим) в первом разделе (псукей/ширей де-зимра) Оригинальные благословения для Шма и Амиды (Шмонэ-Эсре) согласно записям Рамбама Мольбы (тахануним) согласно оригинальных композиций Благословения по всем поводам * Огласовка слегка другая, согласно историческому сефардскому произношению.
As our chief concern is with improving the current discourse and literary output - and not with exploiting literature for fiscal profit - all our publications are released under an open and liberal Creative Commons License, which allows for the free reproduction and distribution of all our books. [End Derushapublishing.com material] Therefore I make this siddur (621 Kb) available for download here.	Поскольку наша основная забота - улучшение общения и литпроизводства, а не эксплуатация литературы для финансовой выгоды, то все наши публикации выходят под открытой и либеральной Лицензии Creative Commons, которая разрешает свободное копирование и распространение всех наших книг. [Конец материала с Derushapublishing.com] Поэтому я выкладываю этот сидур (621 Kb) для скачивания здесь.