Lots of hostages have been rescued by men in black crashing through the doors. But not many hostages have been rescued by tricking their captors into thinking there rescuers were part of the gang. From BBC….

The infiltrators then herded the 15 still-bound captives, as well as two of the rebels – including the notorious Cesar – onto the chopper.

It was only once the aircraft was airborne that the rescuers – some wearing T-shirts bearing the portrait of legendary revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara – revealed their true identities.

The rebels were disarmed, stripped naked and tied up as the liberated hostages celebrated so jubilantly that, in the words of Ms Betancourt, “the helicopter nearly fell from the sky”.

The Belmont Club and SPIEGEL have more details.

According to the Belmont Club, Israel is mortgaging its future to gain a little diplomatic leverage.

From the AFP….

A Canadian court has lifted a 12-year-old girl’s grounding, overturning her father’s punishment for disobeying his orders to stay off the Internet, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The girl had taken her father to Quebec Superior Court after he refused to allow her to go on a school trip for chatting on websites he tried to block, and then posting “inappropriate” pictures of herself online using a friend’s computer.

The father’s lawyer Kim Beaudoin said the disciplinary measures were for the girl’s “own protection” and is appealing the ruling.

H/T Crunchy Con

From SPIEGEL……

This is why Riedel sees an Israeli military strike, with the US government’s consent, as the most likely attack scenario. But the consequences, according to Riedel, would not differ from those of an American attack. “An Israeli attack will be seen as a US attack. Iran will retaliate against both Israel and the US.” The consequences, says Riedel, would be fatal. “We will see a Middle East in flames.”

Nevertheless, in Israel it is no longer a matter of whether there will be a military strike, but when. It is clear that the attack would be exclusively an aerial strike. Jerusalem recently received approval from Washington for a purchase of F-22 stealth bombers. The centrifuges used to enrich uranium at the Natanz nuclear facility are apparently the main target. According to Israeli information, the centrifuges are kept above ground and are thus easier to destroy. The reactor in Bushehr is seen as another possible target.

And the Iranian air defenses? “We know that Iran’s air defenses are not among the world’s best,” says former Mossad chief Yatom. “They can be overcome.” Nevertheless, many Israelis still hope that the Americans will do the job for them. “It could still be the case,” says Yatom, “that George W. Bush wants to guarantee himself a place in the history books with this last act.”

I have always argued that Israel could not strike Iran without US help because their plans just did not have the range. But F-22’s have a longer range then the F-16’s that Israel has used for past strikes. So if Israel takes delivery of the F-22s they may indeed be able to strike Iran themselves. But that is by no means a done deal as far as I know.

As Spengler points out in this rant, the coming economic problems are going to be a rude awaking for America’s slacker generation. Most of the slackers have never experience a serious economic downturn in their lives and have had their every whim catered to by their wealthy (by historical standards) parents.

But will they respond by saying sir and putting on a tie as Spengler seems to think, or will they respond with the rage of revolutionaries?

I know I do not speak for the entire editorial staff, but I confess a sense of startlement at reading this post. I really ought to check on the various incidents in this story more thoroughly. If they are largely true as presented, as I suspect they are, it would do me well to wake up and realize that quite real, legal persecution of Christians is not just happening far away across the ocean where everything is strange and exotic. Canada is not so far away.

The city of Washington has decided that since they can’t catch criminals they are going to try to control the movements of everyone going into certain neighborhoods. Lawdog lets them have it with both barrels.