Economy grew at 3.5 percent rate in 4th quarter
Gross domestic product expanded more than economists expected

And:

An AP-Ipsos poll in early January found that 55 percent of Americans disapproved of the president’s handling of the economy, while 43 percent approved.

UPDATE: Here’s a couple of more links with more on the economy.

Power Line – The Untold Story

In some respects, the current expansion is more impressive than that of the 1990s. Wage growth has been stronger.

US News & World Report – Is the Unemployment Rate About to Collapse?

I am starting to lend more personal credence to the theory that a combination of strong growth, fat corporate profits, and already tight labor market might push the unemployment rate to lows we have not seen since the 1960s.

Both links via Instapundit.

Air Force Posts Request for Proposals for Tankers

DefenseLink News Release:

The RFP stipulates nine primary key performance parameters: air refueling capability, fuel offload and range at least as great as the KC-135, compliant communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management equipage, airlift capability, ability to take on fuel while airborne, sufficient force protection measures, ability to network into the information available in the battle space, survivability measures and provisioning for a multi-point refueling system to support Navy and allied aircraft.

Payton stressed that the department has gone through a rigorous review process for KC-X and has validated that the RFP accurately reflects the requirements as laid out by the warfighter.

The final RFP defines an integrated, capability-based, best-value approach. It includes specific factors for assessing the capability contribution of each offeror. Along with cost and assessments of past performance and proposal risk, these factors provide the source selection authority with excellent means to determine the best value between proposals of significantly differing capabilities and cost.

All sorts of documents are available here.

UPDATE: More at Strategy Page: KC-135, KC-767, KC-30 or KC-777?

UPDATE 2: Good summary found in the comments: Air Force tanker request gives Boeing edge, for now

This is the DirecTV info blurb for the PBS American Experience episode on the The Berlin Airlift:

The United States initiated a massive airlift of supplies to Berlin in 1948, causing a hostile relationship between the US and the Soviet Union.

The US “initiated”? And “caused”?

Just…wow.

For the record, what I’ve seen of American Experience has been generally positive and the web sites with additional info and teaching guides are pretty good. This is probably just a DirecTV bit written by an ignoramus.

Also for the record, my great aunt received a medal (I think from the government of West Germany) for her service during the airlift. Murdoc really should find out more about that. I didn’t learn of it until after her death.

Pentagon investingating Iran’s Qods Force role in Karbala attack

This may have been a badly miscalculated move by the Iranians. Or a very carefully calculated one.

When fighting a war that’s going badly, it’s going to be tough to find enough recruits to fill the pipeline.

Budgets are tight. The number of dead and injured is growing. Promises of easy victory have been proven to be lies. Times are tough.

Mixed emotions greet Taliban recruiters

Those that joined the Taliban for education benefits are royally screwed for sure.

Hat tip: Donovan

Qods Force, Karbala and the Language of War

I’ve meant to link to this for a couple of days, but I wanted to get my own two cents in as well. As I’m not having any luck getting the time to do that, just head on over and check it out. Excellent summary and analysis by Steve Schippert.

When will the “rush to war” cries begin?

UPDATE: Sheesh. A Reuters Alert dated yesterday:

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 (Reuters) – The United States appeared to rule out on Monday a proposal by the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency aimed at helping the West and Iran avert a rush to war over Tehran’s nuclear program. [emphasis Murdoc's]

I spent a lot of time, much of it before I opened Murdoc Online for business, arguing that the whole “rush to war” accusation about Iraq was a verifiable crock of spit. And we’d only been at war with Iraq since 1991. Iran has been at war with us since 1979.

Remember all those victorious “Rumsfeld shook hands with Saddam” and “the US gave Saddam weapons” and “we gave the Iraqis satellite intel in the 1980s” from the anti-Bush and anti-war crowd? What do they think that was all about?

Well, okay, they think it was because Bush is a Nazi and we loved Saddam, but doesn’t most everyone else accept, whether they agree with the policy or not, that we were helping Iraq contain Iran? I mean, isn’t that pretty much a given?

So I’m not understanding this whole “rush to war” thing. They openly declared war in 1979. We less-openly (but not terribly secretly in many cases) started fighting back in the early 1980s.

Iran is a key piece in the War on Terror and everyone knows it. Nuclear weapons or not.

My guess is that nuclear weapon development is going to play a similar role in the justification for our Iranian policy that WMD played in our justification for our Iraqi policy. A real, justified concern, but only one of many and not even necessarily the most important. But one that critics of other reasons will have trouble ignoring.

Fort Pickett, Va. (Jan. 23, 2007) – Sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron One (RIVRON-1) participate in a combat evolution, during a unit level training exercise. RIVRON-1 is part of the newly formed Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC). NECC integrates all warfighting requirements for expeditionary combat and combat support elements. This transformation allows for standardized training, manning and equipping of Sailors who will participate in the global war on terrorism as part of the joint force. It also results in more capable, responsive and effective expeditionary Sailors. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Mandy McLaurin (RELEASED)

Three Former Terrorists to Speak on World’s Greatest Threat

News Release:

Zachariah Anani, a former terrorist-militant and refugee from Lebanon, will join two other former terrorists, Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem for “Terrorism: The World’s Greatest Threat,” a presentation at the University of Michigan on Tuesday, January 30 at 7:00 p.m.

All three former terrorists risk their lives daily to relay their important message. See: http://3xTerrorists.com. Recently, Anani has been targeted by Islamist groups because he lives near the event. These groups have mounted a public witch hunt against him.

Apparently, these guys are “reformed” terrorists now speaking out against the terrorist threat. Directions here.

Michael Totten notes that some Lebanese bloggers caught Hezbollah reutering photos.

What’s double dog hilarious is that the original photo that was used to reuter the new one was itself the center of criticism because the caption was wrong when it was first published. Yes, folks, it’s Burning Tire Guy:

Plus, he’s gone Christian. Note the cross on his sleeve.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

UPDATE: At Totten’s site, he’s got a helpful animation.

ExPat Yank comments on the growing British Muslim counterculture.