By Patrick Buchanan: 

After the assassination of the archduke in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, Austria got from Kaiser Wilhelm a “blank cheque” to punish Serbia. Germany would follow whatever course its ally chose to take. Austria chose war on Serbia. And World War I resulted.

On March 31, 1939, Britain gave a blank check to Poland in its dispute with Germany over Danzig, a town of 350,000 Germans. Should war come, Britain would fight on Poland’s side.

Poland refused to negotiate, Adolf Hitler attacked, and Britain declared war. After six years, the British Empire collapsed. Germany was burnt to ashes. Poland entered the slave quarters of Joseph Stalin’s empire. Read more »

Chances are, you love the corner of the nation your family calls home. And that’s exactly as it should be. But let’s face it: Certain towns have more of the things that make a place great for raising a family and building a rich life—like plentiful jobs, excellent schools, scenic beauty and houses that won’t suck away your last dime.

As we do every year, we set out to identify those communities that just seem to have it all. We analyzed the nation’s small cities, those with populations of 50,000 to 300,000. That means you won’t find, for example, Chicago on our top 10 list—but you will find places that offer Chicago-like amenities (such as cafés and culture) plus other benefits the Windy City can only dream of (such as low crime and affordable homes).   MORE>>>

President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.

Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.

“Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready,” the official said. But the Israelis have also been told that they can expect no help from American forces and will not be able to use US military bases in Iraq for logistical support. Read more »

LAS CRUCES - A Mesilla Park woman was indicted Thursday and charged with offering an underage female family member for sex to her landlord as payment for rent. Fabiola Manzanarez, 28, was indicted by a Doña Ana County grand jury on one count of sexual exploitation of a child and negligent child abuse.

According to court records, on June 25, Manzanarez offered a 12-year-old girl to her landlord to cover unpaid rent. The landlord refused and also refused an offer to have sex with Manzanarez as payment for rent, according to records.

Manzanarez was being held at the Dona Ana County Detention Center in lieu of $9,000 bond.

SOURCE>>>

Mexico City - At least 124 people have been killed in just one week in Mexico’s spiralling gang violence, according to media reports Monday.

The most violent area was the northwestern state of Sinaloa, where 43 deaths were reported. In Chihuahua, 40 people were killed over the past week, the daily La Jornada reported.

In Sinaloa’s capital, Culiacan, teachers, students and university employees, dressed in white, protested the increasing violence on Sunday.

They placed white carnations on a symbolic tomb and held 10 minutes’ silence for the more than 500 people who have been killed this year in the state. Read more »

We’ll it’s about that time of year again and we will be hosting our 7th annual family BBQ/Picnic on Sat July 19th from 2pm until dusk in Harrisburg, PA. This event is open to everyone that wishes to attend. There will be plenty of food and drink for all as well as good company and plenty of shade to hide under.

For those of you that have never made it out to one of our annual BBQ’s before, there is a large pavilion, a playground for the children to play on as well as some nature trails to walk along. We will also have games, raffles and plenty of different merchandise available if you looking to get you hands on some of that. Read more »

The Obama campaign is condemning as “tasteless and offensive” a New Yorker magazine that depicts Barrack Obama (D-ILL) in a turban, fist-bumping his gun-slinging wife. An American flag burns in their fireplace. The new Yorker says it’s satire. It certainly will be candy for cable news. The Obama campaign quickly condemned the rendering. Spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.” MORE>>>>>

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A multi-pronged militant assault on a small remote U.S. Base killed nine American soldiers and wounded 15 Sunday in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years, officials said. The militant assault on the American troops began around 4:30 a.m. in a dangerous region close to the Pakistan border and lasted throughout the day. Militants fired machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars from homes and a mosque in the village of Wanat in the mountainous northeastern province of Kunar, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. SOURCE>>>>