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Guest Post: Senator John McCain On North Korea — Please welcome Senator John McCain as a guest poster at Captain's Quarters. He delivers a tough, no-nonsense reponse to the latest provocation from North Korea. — Time for Decisive Action on North Korea — Korea doubts the world's resolve.
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Mutually Assured Disruption — THE North Korean nuclear test — if that indeed is what it was — signals the catastrophic collapse of a dozen years of American policy. Over that period, two of the world's most dangerous regimes, Pakistan and North Korea, have developed nuclear weapons and the missiles to launch them.
Discussion:
The Belgravia Dispatch, Orcinus, The Agonist, The Political Pit Bull, The Corner, Blue Crab Boulevard and Cold Fury


McCain criticizes Clinton on N. Korea — SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) on Tuesday accused former President Clinton, the husband of his potential 2008 White House rival, of failing to act in the 1990s to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.


Quake raises fears of 2nd N. Korea test — TOKYO - A strong earthquake shook northern Japan on Wednesday and Japanese media reported the government had detected tremors in North Korea as well, leading it to suspect Pyongyang had conducted a second nuclear test.


In Search of a North Korea Policy — North Korea's declared nuclear bomb test program will increase the incentives for other nations to go nuclear, will endanger security in the region and could ultimately result in nuclear terrorism. While this test is the culmination of North Korea's long-held aspiration …


Foley's Reputed Visit to the Page Dormitory — New Testimony May Pose Problems for GOP Leadership — House speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., tries to change the subject. But the accusations about Hastert subordinates who were apparently told about Congressman Mark Foley's questionable activities keep coming.
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Hastert does press conference about Foley scandal in front of a graveyard — (The video is at the bottom of this post.) — First, Hastert outright lied during his press conference. It is simply amazing that GOP leaders are still trying to downplay the severity of this scandal. More on that below.


Hastert Vows to Fire Anyone Who Hid Page Info — WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe said Tuesday he told the House official in charge of the page program as early as 2001 about Rep. Mark Foley's ''creepy'' e-mail to a former page. — Kolbe, the only openly gay Republican in Congress …

Kolbe: I didn't know details of Foley e-mails
Discussion:
Gay Patriot


Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000 — A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred.
Discussion:
Political Animal, Booman Tribune, Decision '08, Blue Crab Boulevard, Hot Air and Left I on the News
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'SCARY MOVIE' PRODUCER MAKES CAMPAIGN AD; MOCKS DEMOCRATS — The DRUDGE REPORT has obtained an exclusive copy of a "scary" campaign advertisement created by Hollywood producer and director David Zucker that was intended to be used by GOP organizations in the closing weeks of the 2006 campaign.

Republicans Want to Turn Over a New Page — The Foley scandal is no "October surprise" — Leading Republicans, with the support of conservative media outlets, are charging that the Mark Foley scandal was a plot orchestrated by Democrats to damage the G.O.P.'s electoral prospects this November.
Discussion:
The Corner, The Strata-Sphere, The Anonymous Liberal, Macsmind, NewsBusters.org and Hot Air
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History of Foley Messages' Release Clarified by Players — 2 Sources Explain Motives, Citing Concern for Hill's Pages — Two of the news media's sources of Mark Foley's sexually explicit instant messages to former House pages said this week that they came forward to expose …
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere

Massive explosions rock Baghdad! — Over the past 90 minutes or so, massive explosions could be heard in Baghdad and actually I'm hearing more of them while I'm typing. — When the first few bangs happened I thought they were just the usual dose of mortars for the night but more and more explosion kept happening!
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Protesters hurl petrol bombs at Danish mission in Iran —Text+TEHRAN (Reuters) - Dozens of protesters pelted the Danish embassy in Tehran with stones and petrol bombs on Tuesday after Danish television broadcast footage deemed insulting to the Muslim Prophet Mohammad, witnesses said.

Lawmaker fires back at governor's comments on age of Earth — BOZEMAN — A Republican state lawmaker is criticizing Gov. Brian Schweitzer for comments he made to a newspaper here about the lawmaker's belief that the planet is not millions of years old. — Rep. Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman …

Help You, Help Me: The First Blegburst — I guess I wasn't paying very close attention, but at some point yesterday I cracked a million visits on ye olde Sitemeter, a good chunk of which came from this post that took me longer to upload than create. — I think this a milestone of some sort …
Discussion:
Townhall.com Blog's …, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Blue Crab Boulevard and Riehl World View

New Poll: Ford Leads Corker 51-44 — New DSCC Poll Has Ford Besting Corker, 51-44, Bush Has a 35% Approval in Tennessee — If you're wondering why the Republicans have been relentlessly attacking Harold Ford Jr., wonder no more: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) …