Air of unease across Rust Belt from climate plan

Yahoo News "...Bill Belden's 124-year-old family owned brick company has thrived on the region's rich red clay and shale, and cheap energy from abundant coal. Which he's convinced that a climate bill being considered in Congress will end. A cap-and-trade system forcing businesses away from fossil fuels, especially coal, will mean higher electricity and natural gas costs, he says. And layoffs at the Belden Brick Co." h/t to Lucianne.

Don't Change 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' ;There are sound reasons--unbigoted ones--for our policy on gays in the military.

Weekly Standard "I merely ask those who wish to do away with the prohibition of open homosexuality in the armed services to consider that the more than 1,100 flag and general officers who recently declared their support for the existing law were motivated, as they claim, by genuine concern for national security and not by bigotry. Wouldn't any refusal to do so be tantamount to -bigotry itself? "

A Fitting Prize, in a Way

National Review= "... the Nobel Peace Prize, every year, should be given to the Defense Department: because the American military was the world’s foremost guarantor of peace.A few days ago, there was a rumor that Harry Wu, the anti-Communist dissident from China, would win the peace prize. That was terribly unlikely. Would the committee ever honor Oscar Biscet, the Afro-Cuban political prisoner who is a symbol of hope, defiance, and decency in that country? A virtual impossibility.President Bush gave a Medal of Freedom to Biscet (in absentia, of course); Obama gave one to Mary Robinson. That neatly illustrates the difference between those two presidents, and between types who win the Nobel prize and those who don’t."

Should Obama have accepted the Nobel prize?

UK Guardian "But I do wonder: will being a Nobel peace prize winner limit his range of options as America's commander-in-chief in any way? Can a peace prize winner really then go forward and put 20,000 more US soldiers in Afghanistan? Did those sneaky Scandinavian pacifists have this thought up their Scandinavian sleeves?"

Pak commandos free hostages

Arab News "Pakistani commandos ended a bloody siege at the army headquarters early Sunday after they stormed a building inside the complex and freed 39 hostages. In the battle with the gunmen, three captives, two commandos and five hostage-takers were killed."

Video: SNL’s pitiful Obama Nobel sketch

Hot Air "If the writing’s going to be weak then the impersonation has to be superb, which is pretty much the opposite of Armisen these days."

Time for Tougher Sanctions on Iran's Terrorist Regime

Heritage "There is growing bipartisan momentum in Congress to impose further sanctions on Iran. This long-overdue action, which would strengthen U.S. diplomatic leverage over Tehran, should be welcomed by the Obama Administration and integrated into its dual-track strategy for Iran."

Not a Death Panel, a Death Mandate

By Terence Jeffrey "If you are someone who believes killing unborn children is a right that should be legally protected and made available to all pregnant women, and that the government should eventually take over the U.S. health care system, then you must believe that the government should get into the business of killing unborn babies. And if you believe that, then you believe that the law must compel certain government officials to cooperate in the killing of innocents."

U.S. Blocks Oil Drilling at 60 Sites in Utah

NY Times "The 77 government-owned parcels, covering some 100,000 acres in eastern and southern Utah, were leased in the last weeks of the Bush administration. But the leases were immediately challenged by conservation groups..."

Saturday Night Live Mocks Obama Winning Powerball on First Try

Gateway Pundit "Saturday Night Live sides with the terrorists--Obama: "I won the Nobel for not being George Bush."Sad but true. That's what the Europeans believe.It doesn't matter that George W. Bush liberated 50 million Muslims from two of the most violent regimes in history." Chinese dissidents let down by Obama Nobel Breitbart "Some in China's democracy movement are outraged at what they see as a weak stance on rights by Obama, who the same week as Friday's announcement avoided a meeting with Tibet's exiled Dalai Lama that would have upset Beijing."

Charles Krauthammer: Young Hamlet's Agony

Townhall On March 27, ...the president said this: "Today I'm announcing a comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan." He then outlined a civilian-military counterinsurgency campaign to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan. And to emphasize his seriousness, the president made clear that he had not arrived casually at this decision. The new strategy, he declared, "marks the conclusion of a careful policy review. Conclusion, mind you. Not the beginning. Not a process."

Hispanic Caucus Calls for Ending Program That Identified 100,000 Illegal Aliens, Many With Criminal Records

CNS News Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) “This is just another ploy by amnesty advocates to open our borders and stop enforcing the rule of law. This program has been an effective tool in cracking down on illegal immigration and enforcing our laws. We should make it a nationwide effort instead of shutting it down.”