When the city of Costa Mesa decided to allow its police to enforce violations of immigration law found in the course of other police work, it provoked quite a controversy.

Activists clashed in Costa Mesa on Tuesday night over the city's decision to become the nation's first authorizing its police department to enforce federal immigration laws.

A 3-2 vote last month to train police officers to work with federal immigration officials and sheriff's deputies to determine the immigration status of suspects arrested for other crimes has made the city a battleground in the national controversy over immigration policy.

Mayor Allan Mansoor, who proposed the idea, has stressed that enforcement will focus on those accused of serious crimes and that no random sweeps will occur.

"The public has been demanding this," said Mansoor, who is also an Orange County sheriff's deputy.

About 80 activists massed before Tuesday's council meeting, singing in Spanish and carrying hand-painted signs reading "Nobody Is Illegal" and "Mansoor Is a Bigot." Other signs proclaimed the United States the property of Mexico and Americans as the interlopers.

Some 40 opponents of illegal immigration also gathered, some shouting, "America is a nation of laws!"

I have only one thing to say to the border jumpers and their supporters -- INTERLOPE THIS!

Posted by: Greg at 01:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What will this mean?

One of the most controversial figures on the world stage, Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, has suffered a massive stroke and is undergoing surgery to deal with a cerebral hemorrhage.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a "significant" stroke with "massive bleeding" in his brain late Wednesday night, according to an official at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem and Sharon's authority has been transferred to Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Sharon was rushed to the hospital shortly before 11 P.M. Wednesday night after complaining of chest pains, less than three weeks after suffering a mild stroke and the day before he had been set to undergo a heart procedure.

In a brief statement outside the Jerusalem hospital Wednesday night, Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef said Sharon had suffered "a significant stroke," adding that he was "under anesthetic and receiving breathing assistance."

A few minutes later, Mor-Yosef emerged to say that initial tests showed Sharon had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding inside his brain. Addressing reporters in English, Mor-Yosef said Sharon had "massive bleeding and was being transferred to an operating theater."

Channel 2 television said Sharon was suffering from paralysis in his lower body. Analysts on local television stations speculated that his life could be in danger.

According to one senior doctor, who based his diagnosis on the information released by Sharon's doctors, the prime minister's chances to return to full functioning are not high.

The doctor said that in many similar cases, a cerebral hemorrhage means the patient's life is under significant threat.

Let us offer prayers for his recovery.

This article looks at the political implications.

Others commenting include GOPBloggers, Blogs for Bush, All Things Beautiful,. The Political Pitbull and Allison Kaplan Sommer of An Unsealed Room

UPDATE: When you see this headline, you know that things look really bleak.

Sharon Reportedly Alive After Surgery

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive, life-threatening stroke Wednesday and underwent lengthy surgery to drain blood from his brain after falling ill at his ranch. Powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert.

Israeli TV stations reported that Sharon was alive after an operation that lasted more than six hours. At daybreak, Army Radio reported that Sharon was undergoing a CT scan to determine if the bleeding in his brain had been stopped.

An ambulance brought Sharon to the Jerusalem hospital only hours before the hard-charging, overweight, 77-year-old Israeli leader had been scheduled to undergo a procedure to seal a hole in his heart that contributed to a mild stroke on Dec. 18.

Israel Radio quoted an unidentified Israeli health official as saying that Sharon's prospects of a full recovery were slim.

Posted by: Greg at 01:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Nah -- they were just bored. So even though the engaged in an assault on the religious symbols, beliefs and sentiments of the community, they will only get lesser charges.

Four teenagers charged yesterday in the destruction of a 15-foot crucifix at a borough cemetery and the theft of more than 25 infant Jesus figures from manger scenes "wanted to see the baby Jesuses burn," police said.

Police were still digging for information yesterday, but two of the suspects told them they did it out of boredom.

"They were looking for things to do. They told us, "We were going to have a baby-Jesus-burning party,' " said Detective Ken Kelly of the Sayreville Police Department. "The reason they picked (the Jesus figures) was because they looked real."

He recalled another statement by one of the suspects: "We just wanted to see their heads burning."

Nope, no hate there.

Posted by: Greg at 12:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess that when ACORN calls for justice for workers and the poor, they donÂ’t mean to include their own employees.

According to a Dec. 25 report in the Boston Globe, the Democratic Party is joining forces with the activist group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) to place initiatives on state ballots this fall to raise the minimum wage. The idea is to energize the poor to vote for Democratic candidates, as well as the initiative.

ACORN's involvement in this campaign is amusing because a few years ago the group sued the state of California in order to be exempted from its minimum wage requirement, which was higher than the federal government's. In its appellate brief, ACORN acknowledged that the more it had to pay each worker, the fewer such workers it would be able to hire. Of course, the same thing is true for businesses, as well -- something minimum wage advocates refuse to admit.

Furthermore, ACORN argued that paying its workers less than the minimum wage aided its organizing efforts. Said the brief, "A person paid limited sums of money will be in a better position to empathize with and relate to the low and moderate membership and constituency of ACORN." Somehow I doubt that a business catering to those with low incomes would get any sympathy from ACORN if it made the same argument.

Indeed, ACORN has a history of denying its workers rights that it demands from corporations. For example, its "People's Platform" says that all workers have the right to organize. Yet, when its own workers have tried to do so, ACORN strenuously fought them.

In 2001, all of the workers in ACORN's Seattle office signed cards stating a desire to join the Industrial Workers of the World, a labor union with a long history of radicalism. ACORN's management refused to recognize the union and locked out the workers. Eventually, ACORN relented and paid a $20,000 settlement. Afterward, an IWW organizer said, "This underscores further the doublespeak that causes their workers to unionize or resign in disgust, and it shows that (ACORN's leaders) have learned nothing about workers' rights."

That same year, ACORN intimidated and fired workers in its Dallas office for threatening to organize. In 2003, the National Labor Relations Board found that it had violated the law. Said the NLRB, "By interrogating employees about their union activities, by informing employees that other employees have been discharged because of the union, by threatening employees that selecting the union to represent them will be futile and by threatening employees with discharge, respondent has violated section 8(a) of the act."

But then again, we shouldnÂ’t be surprised. Liberals are best known for being generous with the money and property of other people, not their own.

Posted by: Greg at 12:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When I can agree with Charles Rangel AND Donald Rumsfeld on an issue, it must be important.

And this one certainly is, as a matter of justice and historical honesty.

The U.S. secretary of defense and one of the most prominent members of the Congressional Black Caucus, usually at odds over military matters and just about everything else, are on the same side in an effort to recognize the achievements of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

The Tuskegee Airmen were an elite group of 450 African American fighter pilots who broke the military's racial barrier in a training program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, the same year the U.S. entered World War II.

Legislation to recognize the Airmen with the Congressional Gold Medal still needs more than 80 votes to achieve a two-thirds passage in the House. The bill was sponsored by liberal Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York and has been endorsed by Bush administration Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The Senate version has already passed.

According to the House Office of the Clerk, the Congressional Gold Medal was originally meant to recognize those who participated in the Revolutionary War, but "Congress broadened the scope of the medal to include actors, authors, entertainers, musicians, pioneers in aeronautics and space, explorers, lifesavers, notables in science and medicine, athletes, humanitarians, public servants and foreign recipients."

In order to award a Congressional Gold Medal, a bill must be passed by two-thirds of the House and Senate.

At a time when African Americans were not allowed into combat, "the Tuskegee Airmen inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces, paving the way for full racial integration in the Armed Forces," according to Rangel's bill.

These were men my father held up to me as heroes. They were certainly pioneers.

We need to see this honor bestowed while some of them are still left alive.

Posted by: Greg at 12:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If the liberals have an ounce of integrity, this should stop any plans for a filibuster.

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito received a unanimous well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association on Wednesday, giving his nomination momentum as the Senate prepares for confirmation hearings next week.

The rating came after a vote of an ABA committee and will be delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will launch Alito's confirmation hearings on Monday. Alito will face almost an hour of questioning from each of the 18 senators on the committee.

The ABA rating _ the highest _ is the same that Alito received back in when President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, nominated him to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

There was one recusal from the voting committee, the ABA said. The group will testify next week during Alito's confirmation hearing about how it arrived at the rating.

For more than 50 years, the ABA has evaluated the credentials of nominees for the federal bench, though the nation's largest lawyers' group has no official standing in the process. Supreme Court nominees get the most scrutiny.

Samuel Alito should become the next justice of the United States Supreme Court. Any attempted filibuster is now grounds for the nuclear option.

Posted by: Greg at 12:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 215 words, total size 1 kb.

If the liberals have an ounce of integrity, this should stop any plans for a filibuster.

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito received a unanimous well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association on Wednesday, giving his nomination momentum as the Senate prepares for confirmation hearings next week.

The rating came after a vote of an ABA committee and will be delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will launch Alito's confirmation hearings on Monday. Alito will face almost an hour of questioning from each of the 18 senators on the committee.

The ABA rating _ the highest _ is the same that Alito received back in when President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, nominated him to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

There was one recusal from the voting committee, the ABA said. The group will testify next week during Alito's confirmation hearing about how it arrived at the rating.

For more than 50 years, the ABA has evaluated the credentials of nominees for the federal bench, though the nation's largest lawyers' group has no official standing in the process. Supreme Court nominees get the most scrutiny.

Samuel Alito should become the next justice of the United States Supreme Court. Any attempted filibuster is now grounds for the nuclear option.

Posted by: Greg at 12:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 220 words, total size 1 kb.

They found one miner dead earlier this evening near Tallmansville. Twelve remained missing.

The body of a missing coal miner was found Tuesday night as rescuers pushed deep underground in a desperate search for 12 other miners trapped by an explosion 2 miles inside the Sago Mine.

And then came the miracle that so many had begun to give up hope for.

THEY ARE ALIVE!

Twelve men walked out of that mine alive tonight.

Twelve miners caught in an explosion in a coal mine were found alive today, more than 41 hours after the blast, family members said.

Bells at a church where relatives had been gathering rang out as family members ran out screaming in jubilation.

To God be the glory -- and to the many who worked to rescue these men, our most heart-felt "Well done!"

And yet we also mourn with those who have lost a loved one or friend -- for we cannot forget that there is the one miner who met his end in this explosion.

UPDATE: And from the great joy of hearing that these men all survived, we now sink to great sadness as we learn that the reports were wrong. Only one survivor has been found, and he is hospitalized in critical condition.

SAGO, W.Va., Jan. 4 -- Great joy turned suddenly to deep sorrow Wednesday morning when stunned family members were told that 12 of the 13 miners trapped 13,000 feet into a mountainside since early Monday were dead rather than alive, as they, and the world, had been told hours earlier.

The first announcement, of a "miracle," was the result of a "miscommunication," a company official said.

I don't understand how this could have happened. How do you "miscommunicate" such news?

And yet I think my closing thoughts from the original post are still valid.

To God be the glory -- and to the many who worked to rescue these men, our most heart-felt "Well done!"

And yet we also mourn with those who have lost a loved one or friend...

And we pray as well for the sole survivor as he fights to live, and for those who still cling to hope that he will survive.

And we just have to ask the question that all such tragedies bring -- "Why?"

Posted by: Greg at 10:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Chris Elam of Safety for Dummies is chasing down news that former congressman Steve Stockman has declared as an independent in the 22nd Congressional District, so that voters have a solid conservative with name recognition in the event that Tom DeLay leaves the House of Representatives for one reason or another.

Props to Burnt Orange Report for breaking this unnoticed bit of news!

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Now Ronnie Earle is filing paperwork to oppose Tom DeLay's expedited appeal.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is trying to bully his way through the court system to further his own political ambitions, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said in court documents that the Republican is "attempting to leapfrog" over the usual court procedures by asking the state's highest criminal court to dismiss all charges against him or to order a trial right away.

DeLay was forced to step aside as majority leader after he was indicted on money laundering and conspiracy charges in September.

He has been pressing the state's highest criminal court to address the charges quickly because he wants to regain his post before his colleagues call for new leadership elections later this month.

The case has been on hold while prosecutors appeal a judge's dismissal of some of the charges.

Uh, excuse me. Where does Ronnie Earle, the politically motivated partisan prosecutor with a history of going after political opponents, have any business criticizing anyone for being a bully who is using the courts to further their own political ambitions? That is the life story of Ronnie Earle summed up in one phrase!

And Dick DeGuerin is spot-on in his analysis of why the case needs to be expedited.

DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin said the case affects voters in DeLay's Houston-area congressional district and Republican members of Congress who elected DeLay as majority leader.

"A county prosecutor has thrown a monkey wrench into the functioning of the United States Congress, and that's something that needs to be resolved," DeGuerin said.

Filing for the primary ended yesterday. Ronnie Earle is trying to keep a cloud over DeLay through March -- and though November, if possible -- in an effort to orchestrate the defeat of a political enemy.

PREVIOUS POSTS:
Anotther Ronnie Earle Fishing Expedition
More Delay In DeLay Case
Latest DeLay Bid For Immediate Trial
No Due Process For DeLay
DeLay Screwed By Judge Priest
Ronnie Earle's Assault On Free Speech
DeLay Team Targets Ronnie Earle's Unethical Prosecutorial Conduct
Ronnie Earle Goes Fishing
So Much For A Right To A Speedy Trial
A Victory For DeLay
DeLay Wants No Delay
Plea Possibility Considered
I Love It!
Earle Offered Plea Bargain
Evidence? Ronnie Doesn't Need No Stinking Evidence!
Unethical Prosecutorial Conduct
Grand Jury Shopping
Liberal Austin Paper Criticizes Earle
A Note On The New DeLay Indictments
"The Law And The Truth On My Side"
Ronnie Earle Whitewash In Washington Post
Prosecutorial Misconduct?

Posted by: Greg at 04:41 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Let no opportunity pass by to throw some more dirt -- that seems to be Ronnie Earle's motto. Now he wants to investigate the Abramoff matter -- with a special focus on his favorite target, Congressman Tom DeLay.

The prosecutor in the Texas money laundering case against Rep. Tom DeLay issued subpoenas today looking for links between lobbyist Jack Abramoff and fundraising by the former majority leader.

District Attorney Ronnie Earle issued the subpoenas in Austin the same day that Abramoff pleaded guilty in Washington to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud.

What does he want?

In the Texas case, Earle sought records from Abramoff's former employers, legal firms Greenberg Traurig LLP and Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, LLP. He also subpoenaed records from a lawyer for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a former Abramoff client, and from a representative for the Barona Band of Mission Indians, a California tribe.

DeLay's attorney knows the score on this one.

DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin said Earle "goes where the fish bite."

"Ronnie Earle is an opportunist," DeGuerin said. "He issues subpoenas to try to make a connection between his case and the latest scandal, whatever it happens to be. The Abramoff thing is the latest he's doing. It has nothing to do with the case in Texas. Nothing. Zip."

Wanna bet he tries to use this new demand for evidence as a reason to abridge DeLay's constitutional right to a speedy trial?

PREVIOUS POSTS:
More Delay In DeLay Case
Latest DeLay Bid For Immediate Trial
No Due Process For DeLay
DeLay Screwed By Judge Priest
Ronnie Earle's Assault On Free Speech
DeLay Team Targets Ronnie Earle's Unethical Prosecutorial Conduct
Ronnie Earle Goes Fishing
So Much For A Right To A Speedy Trial
A Victory For DeLay
DeLay Wants No Delay
Plea Possibility Considered
I Love It!
Earle Offered Plea Bargain
Evidence? Ronnie Doesn't Need No Stinking Evidence!
Unethical Prosecutorial Conduct
Grand Jury Shopping
Liberal Austin Paper Criticizes Earle
A Note On The New DeLay Indictments
"The Law And The Truth On My Side"
Ronnie Earle Whitewash In Washington Post
Prosecutorial Misconduct?

Posted by: Greg at 02:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was never a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but I always admired the skill and class of Lynn Swann, the team's all-everything wide receiver during its glory days. He is now going to enter a new field -- politics.

A big day awaits Lynn Swann on Wednesday.

Swann planned to open a three-day state tour at a rally in Pittsburgh.

Swann, a wide receiver for the Steelers, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

Aides declined to confirm the purpose of the tour, but Swann's political committee -- Team 88, named after his football jersey number -- has been raising money for 11 months. Swann has billed himself as a prospective candidate while courting GOP activists across the state.

"It might be easy to assume" the subject of Swann's announcement, acknowledged his campaign spokeswoman, Melissa Walters, who also referred to the upcoming flyover as an "announcement tour."

The 53-year-old Swann will be the last of the Republican hopefuls to make his candidacy official. Already declared are former Lieutenant Governor Bill Scranton, state Senator Jeffrey Piccola and retired business advocate Jim Panyard.

Good luck, Lynn.

Posted by: Greg at 02:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Police are investigating this act of vandalism against a controversial Catholic religious community.

A religious order's plans to build a community in rural McHenry County were greeted with heated opposition from neighbors before approval was granted last summer.

But even they were shocked by what vandals did to statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary at the Fraternite Notre Dame monastery on New Year's Eve.

Someone spray-painted "Killer," "KKK," "666," "Go away" and "Leave" on the figures. They wrote an obscene message in snow at the base of one statue and stole an American flag.

"It breaks our heart," Sister Mary Valerie said Monday. She is one of a half-dozen priests and nuns who moved into the monastery on the 65-acre site near Marengo last August.

But please notice the downplaying of the incident – whereas if this had been a mosque or synagogue we would be reading about FBI involvement and probable hate crime charges. The same would be true if such vandalism happened at a black church

Bu since this is only an assault on white Christians, I guess it just doesn’t merit such serious treatment.

Posted by: Greg at 10:57 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Police are investigating this act of vandalism against a controversial Catholic religious community.

A religious order's plans to build a community in rural McHenry County were greeted with heated opposition from neighbors before approval was granted last summer.

But even they were shocked by what vandals did to statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary at the Fraternite Notre Dame monastery on New Year's Eve.

Someone spray-painted "Killer," "KKK," "666," "Go away" and "Leave" on the figures. They wrote an obscene message in snow at the base of one statue and stole an American flag.

"It breaks our heart," Sister Mary Valerie said Monday. She is one of a half-dozen priests and nuns who moved into the monastery on the 65-acre site near Marengo last August.

But please notice the downplaying of the incident – whereas if this had been a mosque or synagogue we would be reading about FBI involvement and probable hate crime charges. The same would be true if such vandalism happened at a black church

Bu since this is only an assault on white Christians, I guess it just doesnÂ’t merit such serious treatment.

Posted by: Greg at 10:57 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 207 words, total size 1 kb.

Looks like he has lost his nerve – and his patriotism.

Rep. John Murtha, a key Democratic voice who favors pulling U.S. troops from Iraq, said in remarks airing on Monday that he would not join the U.S. military today.

A decorated Vietnam combat veteran who retired as a colonel after 37 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Murtha told ABC News' "Nightline" program that Iraq "absolutely" was a wrong war for President George W. Bush to have launched.

"Would you join (the military) today?," he was asked in an interview taped on Friday.

"No," replied Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees defense spending and one of his party's leading spokesmen on military issues.

"And I think you're saying the average guy out there who's considering recruitment is justified in saying 'I don't want to serve'," the interviewer continued.

"Exactly right," said Murtha.

Sort of speaks for itself, donÂ’t you think?

OTHER VOICES: Blogs for Bush, Macmind, A Blog for All, Irish Pennants, Confessions of a Pilgrim, 4thelittleguy, Publius Rendezvous">Publius Rendezvous, Pardon My English, Donklephant, Peat Blog, Tammy Bruce, Conservative Outpost.

Posted by: Greg at 10:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What is being hidden in the Barrett Report, the fruit of the special prosecutororial investigation of Henry Cisneros that has gone on for a decade?

The final report of David M. Barrett, an independent counsel appointed in 1995 to investigate potential felonies committed by one-time Clinton administration Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, is tentatively scheduled for release on Jan. 19, Barrett told FOXNews.com.

However, Barrett and others say, thanks to an amendment to the November judiciary appropriations bill, key elements in the final report, which was completed in August 2004 and has been sitting with a three-judge panel at the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. ever since, may be heavily redacted before its release.

"As it currently stands, the report will not be released in its entirety," said Barrett, who didn't want to speculate why or which portions of the report may not be made public. One decade and some millions of taxpayers' dollars later, he said he is disappointed that the report may not reflect his careful and diligent efforts.

"I believe after 10 years and the expense of $22 million, the public has the right to see the entire report and make their own judgments," he said.

As the contents of the report have been sealed, Barrett is unable to offer details, but sources say the most serious of the allegations concerns, in part, the use of the Internal Revenue Service under the Clinton administration to intimidate political foes. The charges in the report could embarrass former members and associates of the Clinton White House, including former first lady and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., say the sources.

"Some people have said it contains some serious allegations, and when people see the report, they can decide for themselves," Barrett said.

There must be something in there that is embarrassing to someone in the Barrett Report. After all, there are certainly enough motions to redact information being filed.

In October, after voicing concerns that the report had yet to be released, Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa and Dorgan introduced an amendment to the judiciary appropriations bill that would have released all portions of the report, with deletions only for "clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy."

But the language worked out in the subsequent House-Senate conference and in the final bill gave much more discretion to the court to redact individuals' names, which critics contend, ensures that much of Section Five and the most serious charges would be left out of the final report.

Barrett said he is disappointed, but not surprised, at the developments. At least 146 motions have been filed by lawyers connected to the individuals cited in the report, which is reportedly 450 pages long with 2,600 footnotes, delaying its release.

Grassley, in his October remarks regarding the need for the report's imminent release, blamed "foot-dragging" by the lawyers for the individuals named in the report.

"It is the lawyers of the individuals named in the report who have been engaged in one sole pursuit: to foot-drag every inch of the way, filing every motion they can to delay, delay, delay," he said.

Strange, isn’t it, that no one is leaking THIS report, and that the press is not making an issue of the veil of secrecy around this information? It couldn’t be that the fact that this investigation deals with the Clinton Administration – and that Hillary! Is running for president – that causes the deafening silence on the issue?

Posted by: Greg at 10:53 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 585 words, total size 4 kb.

What is being hidden in the Barrett Report, the fruit of the special prosecutororial investigation of Henry Cisneros that has gone on for a decade?

The final report of David M. Barrett, an independent counsel appointed in 1995 to investigate potential felonies committed by one-time Clinton administration Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, is tentatively scheduled for release on Jan. 19, Barrett told FOXNews.com.

However, Barrett and others say, thanks to an amendment to the November judiciary appropriations bill, key elements in the final report, which was completed in August 2004 and has been sitting with a three-judge panel at the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. ever since, may be heavily redacted before its release.

"As it currently stands, the report will not be released in its entirety," said Barrett, who didn't want to speculate why or which portions of the report may not be made public. One decade and some millions of taxpayers' dollars later, he said he is disappointed that the report may not reflect his careful and diligent efforts.

"I believe after 10 years and the expense of $22 million, the public has the right to see the entire report and make their own judgments," he said.

As the contents of the report have been sealed, Barrett is unable to offer details, but sources say the most serious of the allegations concerns, in part, the use of the Internal Revenue Service under the Clinton administration to intimidate political foes. The charges in the report could embarrass former members and associates of the Clinton White House, including former first lady and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., say the sources.

"Some people have said it contains some serious allegations, and when people see the report, they can decide for themselves," Barrett said.

There must be something in there that is embarrassing to someone in the Barrett Report. After all, there are certainly enough motions to redact information being filed.

In October, after voicing concerns that the report had yet to be released, Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa and Dorgan introduced an amendment to the judiciary appropriations bill that would have released all portions of the report, with deletions only for "clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy."

But the language worked out in the subsequent House-Senate conference and in the final bill gave much more discretion to the court to redact individuals' names, which critics contend, ensures that much of Section Five and the most serious charges would be left out of the final report.

Barrett said he is disappointed, but not surprised, at the developments. At least 146 motions have been filed by lawyers connected to the individuals cited in the report, which is reportedly 450 pages long with 2,600 footnotes, delaying its release.

Grassley, in his October remarks regarding the need for the report's imminent release, blamed "foot-dragging" by the lawyers for the individuals named in the report.

"It is the lawyers of the individuals named in the report who have been engaged in one sole pursuit: to foot-drag every inch of the way, filing every motion they can to delay, delay, delay," he said.

Strange, isn’t it, that no one is leaking THIS report, and that the press is not making an issue of the veil of secrecy around this information? It couldn’t be that the fact that this investigation deals with the Clinton Administration – and that Hillary! Is running for president – that causes the deafening silence on the issue?

Posted by: Greg at 10:53 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Roddy Stinson argues that Kinky FriedmanÂ’s 21% showing does not prove any such thing.

The only "serious" point that can be made about candidate Kinky is that he has become the poster child for the crippled Texas Democratic Party.

The most significant number in the Zogby poll wasn't Perry's 42 percent, but the measly 25 percent garnered by the Democrats' leading candidate, Chris Bell.

Whom did other Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents select?

Here's a clue:

Four years ago, in the state's top three races — governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. senator — the Democratic candidates received, respectively, 40 percent, 46 percent and 43 percent of the votes cast.

If you take 46 percent (the number of voters willing to vote Democratic in at least one statewide race) and subtract 25 percent (Bell's support), you get 21 percent ... Friedman's poll number.

Coincidence?

Hardly.

While Journal-Constitution writer Galloway and other reporters and pundits imply that Friedman's popularity signifies Texans' discontent with Republican rule in general and Gov. Rick Perry in particular, the opposite — discontent with the Texas Democratic Party — is closer to the truth.

The question is, will the addition of Carole Keeton McClellan Rylnader Strayhorn [YOUR LAST NAME HERE] to the race as an independent rather than a GOP primary contender take voters from Friedman and Bell – or from Perry. And will her presence bring about a runoff?

Posted by: Greg at 10:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Guillermo Martinez threw a rock at a Border Patrol agent while trying to jump the US border. The agent responded to this life-threatening assault by opening fire. The result? One dead violent immigration criminal.

Now the Mexican government, which protects its southern border, is using the incident to demand that the US not ratchet-up its own border security.

"This occurrence does no more than provide evidence that only a law that guarantees legal entry and is respectful of human rights can resolve the migratory problem both countries face," Ruben Aguilar, the chief spokesman for President Vicente Fox, said Monday.

Many Mexicans oppose the U.S. measure, which would build more border fences, make illegal entry a felony and enlist military and local police to help stop undocumented migrants.

Aguilar said the death of Guillermo Martinez showed that extending border walls will not curb illegal immigration.

Martinez died Saturday in a Tijuana hospital, the Baja California state attorney general's office said. He died one day after he was shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent near a metal wall separating that city from San Diego, according to witnesses cited by Mexican officials.

Raul Martinez, a spokesman for the Border Patrol said the agent had been "assaulted by an individual who threw a large size rock."

"The agent, fearing for his life at that time, fired one round at the individual, who fled back to Mexico," Martinez said Monday.

The spokesman, who is not related to the dead 18-year-old, said U.S. investigators were unsure if the victim had been struck by the bullet because he crossed back into Mexican territory.

Mexico's federal Attorney General's Office said the probe was opened against "whomever is found to have been responsible," but did not name a suspect. Mexico generally does not try to apply its laws to events that occurred in other nations.

Investigate all you want – the government of Mexico has no authority in this case. And please consider Mexico’s own policies before demanding that we open the borders to any Juan, Jose, and Pedro who wants to come to this country.

Mexican officials have grown increasingly vocal in their opposition to the House bill passed Dec. 16, which Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez branded as "stupid and underhanded." Fox has called it shameful.

Officials of Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission have acknowledged that Mexico already employs some of the same methods in its own territory. But Aguilar again attacked the U.S. measure Monday, saying "walls and police crackdowns never will resolve migration problems."

But we really know what the issue is all about. It isnÂ’t one dead border jumpe.

In 2004, Mexican migrants in the United States sent home more than $16 billion in remittances, according to Mexico's central bank, giving the nation its second biggest source of foreign currency after oil exports.

It is all about the cash.

Posted by: Greg at 10:48 AM | Comments (82) | Add Comment
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The Washington Post tells us today that there is a split on immigration.

When Congress returns to the unfinished business of immigration early in the new year, lawmakers will be trying to reconcile sometimes conflicting public attitudes on an issue that has become a crusade to some conservative Republicans but has defied effective solutions over the past three decades.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken in mid-December found Americans alarmed by the federal government's failure to do more to block the flow of illegal immigration and critical of the impact of illegal immigration on the country but receptive to the aspirations of undocumented immigrants living and working in the United States.

"You wonder why politicians are not always consistent," said Republican pollster Glen Bolger. "It's because public opinion's not always consistent."

Immigration still ranks below the war in Iraq, terrorism, health care and the economy on the public's list of priorities, but in many parts of the country -- not just those areas near the Mexican border -- it has become an issue of pressing significance because of its economic, racial and, more recently, national security implications.

If there is any consensus today, it is on the need for enhanced border security, driven not only by traditional concerns about jobs and the strains illegal immigrants put on state and local resources but also by newer worries that the porous border makes America more vulnerable to terrorists. The public and politicians are far more divided on the difficult question of how to treat the roughly 11 million illegal migrants already in the country.

In other words, there isn't as great a split as the Post seems to think there is. Border security and immigration reform are generally supported -- so we want to stop the border hemmoraging that has gone on for years. The only place for division is over what to do with those who have already jumped the fence or breast-stroked across the Rio Grande. We are not sure about amnest or enforcement.

And I understand the ambivalence. My students here in Houston are 50% Hispanic. Of those, at least half are the children of non-citizens, including a number of children who are in this country ilegally themselves. Do I wish to see my students and/or their families deported? For the most part, no I don't (I always have the kid I want deported to the third ring of Hades or beyond the orbit of Pluto) -- my love for these kids as individuals prevents me from taking such a position. But how do we then deal with the issue of their immigration status? That is the sort of issue that confounds American public opinion on the issue.

So I'll ask you -- how do we deal with the 11 million?

Posted by: Greg at 11:36 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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As expected, Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn [YOUR LAST NAME HERE] has quit the GOP and is running for governor as an independent.

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn ended speculation today by announcing she will run for governor against Gov. Rick Perry as an independent.

"It's time to shake Austin up," Strayhorn, who is now serving as a Republican officeholder, told reporters today, the filing deadline for the 2006 elections.

"Governor Perry may be doing the best he can, but after five years, we have learned he is not the strong leader we need to put Texas above politics," she added.

Satirist Kinky Friedman already has announced as an independent candidate for governor.

The major candidates in the Democratic primary are Chris Bell of Houston, a former congressman, and Bob Gammage, a former Houston congressman and Texas Supreme Court justice who now lives in Llano.

Strayhorn, who was first elected comptroller in 1998 as a Republican, had announced in June that she would challenge Perry for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. But last week she refused to dismiss speculation that she would run as an independent to avoid Perry's strong popularity in the GOP primary.

Let's face it -- Rick Perry has long had this thing sewn up. As a result, the only chance that Strayhorn ever had was a three-way primary that included Kay Bailey Hutchison. Kay decided to stay in the Senate, demolishing any chance that Perry would have lost in a primary dominated by the conservative wing of the party. After all, Carole has always been a moderate-to-liberal Republican, and was a Democrat not all that long ago.

I thnk that Chris Elam over at Safety for Dummies puts it best when he makes this observation.

[Y]ou were an opportunist who changed parties when the state's political landscape changed around you. You spent months and thousands of dollars running radio ads against Rick Perry, and his poll numbers went up.

You're in over your head, and you won't admit it. Now you're reduced to splitting the Kinky vote. Republicans won't touch you, and Democrats are unimpressed.

Enjoy retirement. Rick Perry sends his well wishes.

One son has left the Bush administration to work for your doomed campaign. I bet that your other son, Scott McClellan, is glad that he hasn't quit his day job as the president's Press Secretary.

And here are two pieces from Lone Star Times.

Posted by: Greg at 11:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Are we Western infidels supposed to close our eyes while young girls are beaten and abused to force them into unwanted arranged marriages?

DERBY, England -- Lina, a wide-eyed 18-year-old, is still trying to get the hang of freedom in 3-inch heels.

Until a month ago, Lina had never worn Western clothing. Her parents, immigrants from Pakistan, insisted she wear the jilbab, a head-to-toe covering favored by conservative Muslims.

When she turned 16, her parents informed her that she was "engaged" to her first cousin, a 21-year-old man she detested. When she balked, she said, her parents withdrew her from school and locked her in her room, where they told her she would remain until she consented.

"They put two padlocks on the door and they locked the windows," she said. They also installed spikes along the top of the backyard fence so she couldn't climb over.

Lina's imprisonment lasted nearly two years. The only time she was allowed out of her room was to do housework. There were frequent beatings, she said, and endless mental cruelties.

"My mom threatened me with a knife. They also cut my hair off."

One day, Lina saw an article in a women's magazine about a shelter in Derby for women who were victims of forced marriage. She called, and Jasvinder Sanghera, who runs the shelter, helped her plan an escape.

Lina's story is not unusual. Each year, hundreds of South Asian women living in Britain are forced into marriages. It is a growing problem that authorities have only recently begun to tackle.

This is not new, and happens all the time in the United States. I remember a classmate in college, an attractive Muslim girl who was born and raised in this country, facing a similar situation. After semester break, she simply did not come back to school. Some months later I ran into her again, working as a desk clerk at a local motel. She told me that her family had taken her to visit her father’s brother in Central America. She though nothing of allowing her father to carry her passport and tickets, and he always handled the money. When she arrived at the family home, she was informed that it was agreed she would marry her cousin and stay behind. When she refused, she was marooned by her parents in a foreign country with instructions to marry her cousin if she wished to ever see the United States again. Fortunately, the American Embassy was able to help her get home – but her parent’s refusal to allow her to retrieve any belongings from the house meant she had to drop out of school and take the hotel job.

There must be some way to stop such traffic in unwilling brides – in the western world, if not in countries where such barbaric customs remain.

Posted by: Greg at 11:11 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Israel claims that Arab citizens have equal rights in Israel. Now a young man is testing that claim by seeking to join the Israeli military as a pilot.

An 18-year-old youth from northern Israel is an outstanding student who completed his high school diploma with top grades. He is also a gifted civilian pilot. His dream is to become a pilot in the Israeli air force, but one thing may stand in his way: He is an Arab Muslim.

The young and motivated teen has already passed the IDF's first stages of the draft, and recently submitted a request to be recruited to the IAF's prestigious pilot training course, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday.

If he succeeds, he is set to become the country's first Israeli-Arab military pilot.
"I ask that you allow me to fulfill my dream and my civil duty to serve in the armyÂ… my greatest dream and aspiration is to become a pilot. I feel I have the potential, the knowledge and the ability to serve in the IAF, or in any other elite unit," he wrote in his letter to the army.

That this young man is getting special scrutiny is somewhat disturbing. But he has one strong supporter – a major in the Israeli Air Force who was his flight instructor.

Luckily for the teen, he already has one devoted advocate who greatly supports his ambition to be recruited to the air force: Major Michael (res.) trained him to be a civilian pilot and has much confidence in his young student.

"I was amazed by his capability and love of flying. He learned to fly quickly, feels excellent while in the air, and the harder the maneuvers get, the more thrilled he is," Michael wrote in a recommendation letter submitted to the army.

"He functions well, is very bright and highly motivated to succeedÂ… I would very much like to see the army enabling him to make his dream come true and join one of the IDF's elite units, pending of course that he meets the requirements in full equality," Michael said, adding that he believes this move would give the army a chance to exhibit its openness to all citizens of Israel, and to display that equal opportunity is granted to all.

As Michael noted, his young student is bound to face the question of where his loyalties lie.

"I sincerely told him that there is the problem of loyalty. I told him that it would be hard to send an Arab to bombard other Arabs, whether in Gaza or in Lebanon," Michael said.

"But he said, 'I belong to the state of Israel, just try me and you'll see. I live in this country, and am willing to do what is required of me,'" Michael recalled.

Come on, Israel – for years you have talked the talk – now is the time to walk the walk.

Posted by: Greg at 11:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Had we not seen so much of her incompetence during the days around Hurricane Katrina, I would be unable to believe that even the governor of Louisiana could be so self-serving, insensitive, and wasteful with government resources while her people were in need.

Some members of the governor's staff will return from the three-day holiday on Tuesday to newly renovated offices at the State Capitol.

Shortly after the two hurricanes, Gov. Kathleen Blanco decided to renovate some of her staff's offices. At the time of her decision, Blanco also was hinting at deep budget cuts to state programs and the possibility of laying off 20 percent of the state workforce.

The project cost $564,838.

Given the condition in which the hurricane left your state, including the city of new Orleans, don't you think there might be a few other ways to spend over half-a-million dollars?

The newly refurbished office space on the sixth floor of the State Capitol includes hookups and mounts for two flat screen televisions, Swedish granite countertops, walnut paneling and frosted laminated glass. The floor, which will not be accessible to the public, was redesigned to add three new offices, a conference room and file storage areas.

About 20 members of the governor's staff – who focus on constituent services, children's issues, women's policies and other functions – will work on the newly restored floor

Well, twenty staff members will use the space. It isn't like there are displaced families living in temporary shelter who could use that money. It isn't like there are homes and businesses that need reconstruction. Your aides need fancy-schmancy offices right now. Screw the victims -- Louisiana's corrupt ruling class needs Swedish marble counter tops!

But at least your aides thought about not doing the project -- and then decided to move forward anyway.

Concerned about the perception of fixing up their office space while slashing others' spending, Jimmy Clarke, Blanco's chief of staff, said Friday the governor's top aides considered not fixing the 6th floor.

But the sixth floor project was bid six days before Hurricane Katrina came ashore near Buras on Aug. 29. Clarke said he became concerned that the state could be sued successfully if the restoration project were shut down.

"We certainly would not have initiated this work post-Katrina and Rita," Clarke said. "Given all that the state faces at this time, these renovations would be a very low priority."

Somehow I suspect that there might be language in the contract -- or in state law -- that might have allowed for the project to be terminated due to the situation that existed after Katrina. So tell me -- whose brother-in-law or cousin got the job? I mean, the governor was cutting and freezing elsewhere.

Restoration work began on the sixth floor Oct. 10, two weeks after Hurricane Rita struck Cameron on Sept. 24.

The week before work began, Blanco ordered a spending and hiring freeze to rein in state government expenses.

Three days after crews started tearing out the old offices, the administration announced that the state's budget would be about $1 billion short because of damages caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That day, Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc told a legislative finance committee that the budgets supplying money for public health care and education would need cuts of 20 percent or more and that more than 18,000 state employees would have to be laid off.

I'm glad we had the priorities straight -- office upgrades for the governor's staff certainly trump the students and teachers of Louisiana, as well as those who rely on public health programs. Heck -- I bet that a dozen state employees could have kept their jobs if your staff had just walked on older carpet or kept the space configured in the older fashion. After all, it had only been about twenty years since the last remodeling job.

Now there would have been a press uproar if a Republican administration had behaved in such a disgusting manner. I know that Democrats would have howled over such screwed-up priorities and wasteful spending by a GOP governor. I can't help but notice the relative silence here.

But not to worry -- I'm sure the staff of your Republican successor will appreciate teh fruits of your wasteful spending after your sorry Democrat ass is thrown out of office.

OTHER POSTS AT: Mover Mike, Louisiana Libertarian, You Are A Sissy-Man. The Old Curmudgeon, That Gay Conservative, EU Rota.

TRACKBACK TO: bRight & Early, Uncooperative Blogger, Stuck On Stupid, Wizbang.

Posted by: Greg at 04:34 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Looks like Reggie Bush will be plying his trade here in Space City, as the Houston Texans dropped their 14th game of the season to San Francisco.

The Texans had so much to lose if they won their season finale. They nearly did it anyway.

Instead, the San Francisco 49ers salvaged some pride in their own miserable season — and the Texans got on the clock for the NFL draft in April.

Mike Adams lateraled his second interception to Ben Emanuel for a 35-yard return in overtime, Joe Nedney kicked a 33-yard field goal with 3:52 left and the 49ers earned their first consecutive victories in more than two years with a 20-17 victory Sunday.

But after one last loss, fans of the Texans (2-14) might have felt like the real winners: Their franchise clinched the top pick. Houston now has the chance to choose Reggie Bush, the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback from USC who's widely expected to enter the draft.

"Whatever happens in this game, it won't have any effect on me," Bush said in Los Angeles, where he's preparing for Wednesday's Rose Bowl against Texas. "Obviously it will just (affect) who gets the first pick in the NFL draft. ... Like I said from Day 1, I won't be worried about it until after the season."

My wife and I spent much of the game speculating about possible trades of draft picks. After all, Domanick Davis is a good RB, and the receiver corps is acceptable. We need an offensive lineman -- and Virginia's D'Brickashaw Ferguson would fit the bill nicely, but probably shouldn't go in the first spot.

And sources close to the Texans are reporting that the long-expected firing of Dom Capers will happen tomorrow. But there is a surprise.

Coach Dom Capers' firing has been a foregone conclusion for weeks, but a highly placed team official said today that general manager Charley Casserly will return to the Texans and remain in charge of the personnel department. Capers' firing will be made official Monday morning and announced at an afternoon news conference at Reliant Stadium.

Speculation is swirling around possible head coaches for the Texans.

The Texans are expected to interview, among others, Washington assistant head coach/defense Gregg Williams, Denver offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, Buffalo defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and possibly New York Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis.

The Texans also are expected to interview one or two college head coaches with NFL experience.

I've also heard Wade Phillips mentioned, which would go over well with Houstonfans. After all, his dad was the Oiler's coach for years.

Posted by: Greg at 03:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Above Thy Deep and Dreamless SleepÂ… by Gates of Vienna, and The New, Updated, Alice In Wonderland by Sigmund, Carl, and Alfred.  Here is the link to the full results of the vote

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Certainly there was someone who could have used this surplus material -- homeless shelters or other programs.

One million cans of drinking water donated for hurricane relief have been emptied and recycled because the water was never used at Texas and Louisiana hurricane shelters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.

FEMA hauled the 400,000 liters of water, or 18 truckloads, to a scrap-metal business in the Dallas area last month. The water was dumped into a sewer and the cans sent for recycling.

FEMA spokesman Don Jacks said the cans were given by Coca-Cola and other donors in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. After the evacuees left, the shelters gave the unused water to FEMA, which stored them at its Fort Worth regional distribution center.

"We didn't need it anymore," Jacks said.

In addition, expiration dates stamped on some of the 12-ounce, unpainted cans had expired, said Joe Perkins Jr., foreman of Lake June Scrap Metals.

Water doesn't spoil, but it can take on the taste of its container, said Ray Crockett, a spokesman for Coca-Cola. The company donated about 40 million drinks, mostly water, during the relief effort, he said.

I'd love to say that this is beyond belief -- but it isn't/ The surest way to foul up charity is to put government in charge.

Posted by: Greg at 02:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It seems we are preparing to deal with the Iranian nuclear program. Not is that the only one we need to take out.

First on Iran.

The United States government reportedly began coordinating with NATO its plans for a possible military attack against Iran.

The German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel collected various reports from the German media indicating that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are examining the prospects of such a strike.

According to the report, CIA Director Porter Goss, in his last visit to Turkey on December 12, requested Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to provide military bases to the United States in 2006 from where they would be able to launch an assault.

The German news agency DDP also noted that countries neighboring Iran, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, and Pakistan were also updated regarding the supposed plan. American sources sent to those countries apparently mentioned an aerial attack as a possibility, but did not provide a time frame for the operation.

Although Der Spiegel could not say that these plans were concrete, they did note that according to a January 2005 New Yorker report American forces had entered Iran in 2005 in order to mark possible targets for an aerial assault.

Given the comments of the Iranian president in recent weeks, it might not be a bad thing to have plans prepared. Especially when he continues to make comments like this.

Iran warned Sunday of a "crushing" response if its nuclear and military facilities are attacked by the United States or Israel.

Top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said, however, talk of such an attack most likely is "psychological warfare."

"Iran has prepared itself...they will get a crushing response if they make such a mistake," Larijani said on Iranian television late Sunday.

Larijani said Israel would "suffer greatly" if it launched an attack.

"If there is any truth in such talks, Israel will suffer greatly. It's a very small country within our range."

"Our (defence) preparedness is a deterrence," he said.

He also said a Russian proposal the two countries enrich uranium on Russian territory could not ignore Iran's right to carry out enrichment at home.

"It's not logical for a country to put the fate of its nation at the disposal of another country, even if it's a friend. You can meet part of your fuel needs from abroad."

"But is there a guarantee that nuclear fuel producers won't play with you over price or other things? History and experience show that if you don't have technology, you will damage your independence," he said.

So what we have is an anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying regime making military threats against Israel and the US -- with US troops on its border. These folks are clearly nuts!.

But the North Korean threat cannot be ignored, either.

NORTH KOREA is working to restart a reactor that would produce enough plutonium to make 10 atomic bombs a year, a leading American nuclear scientist has revealed.

Siegfried Hecker, former director of the US governmentÂ’s top secret Los Alamos laboratory, also said the North Koreans reprocessed 8,000 fuel rods to make up to 14kg (30lb) of plutonium last summer, despite taking part in six-party talks hosted by China to end their weapons programme.

“They have the plutonium,” he said. “We have to assume the North Koreans can and have made a few nuclear devices.”

HeckerÂ’s revelations were based on information gleaned during two visits to North Korea, the last in August 2005, in which he met physicists and, in a pure moment from spy fiction, was handed a specimen of weapons-grade plutonium, stored in a marmalade jar.

His findings are being studied with increasing concern in Washington. North Korea further hardened its defiant stance this weekend by ending all United Nations food distribution to its people and by ordering out aid workers, including a British team from the charity Save the Children.

Thousands will be put at risk by the decision. The UNÂ’s World Food Programme had been feeding up to 6.4m of North KoreaÂ’s 23m people since the famine of the 1990s.

Diplomats believe the expulsions are part of a clampdown ordered by Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s “Dear Leader”, as he prepares to stand alongside Iran to confront the Americans over their right to have nuclear weapons.

Given the clear instability of the North Korean regime, actions will likelyhve to be taken to demilitarize the North Korean nuclear program. the problem is that the North Koreans have already violated agreements on the production of weapons-grade material more than once.

Will we see military actionon one or both fronts in 2006?

MORE AT Blogs for Bush

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I wish that this ban was enforced under penalty of law.

No up-or-down vote necessary: Everyone from persons of interest to first-time callers will agree that 2005 offered more than its share of irritating words and phrases.

Lake Superior State University on Saturday released its 2006 "List of Words and Phrases Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness." But please, don't call it "breaking news."

That and 16 other linguistic nuisances were selected by a university committee from among almost 2,000 nominations. The small academic outpost in the Upper Peninsula community of Sault Ste. Marie has been compiling the banned-words list since 1976 to attract publicity -- and certainly not to offer anyone "talking points."

The committee also targeted such gems as "hunker down," which it noted is used by media "in reports about everything from politics to hurricanes."

Also frequently heard on the news is "person of interest," a favorite of law enforcement agencies. Such a person is "seldom encountered at cocktail parties," the list's authors lamented.

From the field of education comes "community of learners."

"Not to be confused with 'school,'" one critic wrote.

Politics offered plenty of fodder. The committee cited "up-or-down vote," a phrase uttered often in 2005 by Republicans eager to see President Bush's judicial nominees move through the Senate without the threat of a Democratic filibuster.

The committee also banished "FEMA," the acronym for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were widely criticized as ineffective.

"If they don't do anything, we don't need their acronym," wrote Josh Hamilton, of Tucson, Ariz.

Many of the phrases banned this year are not new, but simply got under enough people's skin to finally deserve the dubious honor.

Miguel McCormick, of Orlando, Fla., was fed up with "first-time caller," a designation heard on talk radio.

"I am serious in asking: Who in any universe gives a care?" he asked.

The school has banned nearly 800 words over the years, including "metrosexual" (2004), "chad" (2001), "baby boomers" (1989) and "detente" (1976).

For the complete list, click here.

Personally, I'd support the banning of a particularly annoying line from a commercial for a particularly annoying show about a particularlydisturbing guy named Earl -- "Wakey-wakey, hands off snakey!"

Posted by: Greg at 10:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I had never heard of this before.

This is no ordinary boot camp.

These are no ordinary recruits.

It takes just four days for the U.S. Marine Corps to transform 80 teachers, guidance counselors and principals from South Florida schools into a more patriotic, informed group armed with an attitude to help it recruit students.

Twelve weeks a year, the Marines invite teachers from anywhere east of the Mississippi to visit their training depot on marshy Parris Island in South Carolina. During the all-expense-paid trip, teachers watch recruits at nearly every phase of training, from initial physical-strength tests to a grueling 54-hour segment called The Crucible.

Teachers fire rifles with live ammunition. Alongside recruits, they eat prepackaged meals that can be heated without stoves, the kind eaten on the battlefield. They see recruits reunite with their families. They tackle parts of an obstacle course and battle each other with giant Q-tips called pugil sticks to practice martial arts.

The Marines ask only that they set aside their political views about the current war and their skepticism.

Before the trip, Kane More didn't know a lot about the Marines. "Now I know they are Marines, not soldiers," said More, who teaches at West Boca Raton High. "I now know Marines are more real, normal kinds of people who very much believe in what they are doing."

Although Marines from the Fort Lauderdale recruiting station are regulars at 133 high schools in South Florida, giving teachers a recruit's-eye view of boot camp is a way to create a legion of advocates when Marines aren't around.

Especially when some Iraq war critics are campaigning to bar recruiters from campuses.

"The purpose of the educators' visits is to help our recruiting," said Maj. Guillermo Canedo, public affairs director at Parris Island. "It's such a different world. It's such an insular world to some extent. It's hard for the American public to understand."

I have a couple of questions.

1) Is this program available in other parts of the country?

2) Do the other branches of the military have such programs?

3) Who do I call to apply?

Posted by: Greg at 09:16 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Rather than take a patriotic stand on behalf of Australia, a council in Australia has voted not to fly the Australian flag over a beach pavillion for fear of provoking more violence by Middle Eastern immigrants.

In a decision met with outrage from locals, returned servicemen and ethnic groups, Waverley Council voted 6-5 against the proposal, declaring the popular beach should remain clear of flags to "remove provocation".

Mayor Mora Main and fellow Green George Copeland led a block of Labor councillors including deputy mayor George Newhouse, Peter Moscatt and Ingrid Strewe in rejecting the proposal by Liberal councillor Joy Clayton on December 13.

The irony is that even the Muslim community opposes the flag band.

Islamic Friendship Association of Australia founder Keysar Trad said decisions made on behalf of Muslims with no consultation only caused further division.

"To suggest that Muslims would be offended at the sight of the Australian flag is naive. A great deal of Muslims call Australia home and they are just as happy to see the flag flying high," he said.

Sounds to me like hanging a flaf from the pavillion is the second thing they need to do. The first would be to hang six members of the Waverly Council from it.

Posted by: Greg at 09:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess it depends on whether the leak helps or hurts US national security -- and whether or not the Democrats can use it to bash the Bush administration. Since the security of the United States is degraded by the leak about NSA surveilance of al-Qaeda operatives AND it plays into the standard leftist Bush=Hitler talking point, its a good leak in the eyes of some Democrats. Take this one.

The investigation into leaks about a domestic spying program should determine whether the motivation was damaging security or revealing a potentially illegal activity, a Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday.

"There are differences between felons and whistleblowers, and we ought to wait 'til the investigation occurs to decide what happened," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

On Friday, the Justice Department opened an investigation into who divulged the existence of President Bush's secret domestic spying program. The New York Times reported last month about warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who appeared with Schumer on "Fox News Sunday," urged the Justice Department to "go after those who breached our national security and endangered Americans in the war on terror."

If this program was illegal, then I hope people are prosecuted -- but I don't think it was illegal. But regardless, those who leaked the information to the press for front page publication cannot be seen as acting in a legitimate fashion.The appropriate recipient of those suspicions would have been a prosecutor, a senior law enforcement official, or a member of Congres (which has oversight authority over the NSA). The New York Times has no legitimate role in making the determination of the legality of the program.

MORE AT: My Pet Jawa and Dread Pundit Bluto.

1/2/06 -- Welcome to everyone dropping by from Michelle Malkin's excellent blog. Thank's for the mention!

Posted by: Greg at 07:03 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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We hang now on the edge of a new year. Here are my predictions for what is to come.

1. The GOP will retain control of both the House and Senate at the midterm election, with approximately the same balance between parties.

2. Tom DeLay will be found not guilty, but not soon enough to recover his position as House Majority Leader. He will be reelected by the people of the 22nd District. I will be reelected precinct chair by the people of Precinct 333.

3. Gov. Rick Perry will face a runoff election against Kinky Friedman. Perry will win.

4. Fidel Castro passes on to his infernal reward.

5. Iranian nuclear sites will be bombed by Israel.

6. Judge Alito will be confirmed to the Supreme Court. Republicans will not need to use the nuclear option to accomplish this. At least one vacancy will appear on the court, due to death rather than retirement. Expect a Hispanic replacement.

7. Every state voting on the matter will ban gay marriage. A District Court judge in the Ninth Circuit will rule that limiting marriage to one man and one women violates the Equal Protection Clause. The US Supreme Court will take the matter on an expedited appeal.

8. New Orleans will not have recovered by this time next year -- and those displaced by Katrina will have long since worn out their welcome as they keep demanding special government benefits more than a year after the hurricane.

9. America draws down troops in Iraq as the situation continues to improve -- and Democrats continue to label the invasion and reconstruction a failure.

10. Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban marry. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes marry. Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Anniston marry. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt marry. Nick and Jessica do not reconcile. Brittany and Kevin divorce. Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood have a baby.

Let's look at how I did last year.

1. At least one more state will legalize gay marriages, while at least five will ban them. I don't think California will be the one, rather I suspect that the Minnesota courts will do the deed. And Texas will most assuredly be one of those which formally outlaws such marriages through a constitutional amendment. My longshot prediction in this regard is that a federal court, probably somewhere in the Ninth Circuit, will declare that gay marriage bans contradict the Equal Protection Clause, leading to new momentum for a Federal Marriage Amendment.

Well, sort of. Rulings seeming to favor such marriages took place in New York and California, but have been stayed. The California Legislature tried to circumvent the state constitution to legalize such marriage, but the Gevernator vetoed teh measure on constitutional grounds.

2) Chief Justice Rehnquist will submit his resignation, likely on January 21, to be effective upon the confirmation of his replacement. While much speculation will center upon the elevation of Justice Thomas to the center seat, it will not happen. He will instead seek to move Scalia to the Chief Justice position, and will nominate a sitting state supreme court justice to the high court. My longshot prediction is that the appointee will be California Justice Janice Rogers Brown, whose appointment to the DC Circuit has been blocked by the use of parliamentary tactics by the Democrats.

Well, the Chief Justice left the bench by death rather than resignation. Thomas was not elevated, but neither was anyone else on the high court. Janice Rogers brown was confirmed to the appellate bench and not elevated to the SCOTUS.

3) Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle will prove the old adage that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich if he wants it to. The ham sandwich in this case will be Tom DeLay, and it will come close to the end of the year, shortly before DeLay has to file for the 2006 primary. Facing the potential for a strong primary challenge and a trial during the fall election campaign, DeLay will announce his decision not to run for reelection. My longshot prediction has the Texas Legislature stripping the Travis County DA of its authority to investigate breaches of ethics laws, and invest that power in the office of the Texas Attorney General , where it rightly and logically belongs.

I guess that September/October constitute the end of the year. DeLay has put up a great fight, more than I would have expected at the beginning of the year. Perhaps there will be a stripping of jurisdiction by the legislature this year, during the special session to revamp school funding.

4) Hillary Clinton will announce her candidacy for reelection to the Senate, promising not to seek the Democrat presidential nomination and to serve out her term. Few observers of American politics will believe her. My longshot prediction is that early polls will show her locked neck-and-neck with George Pataki, but defeating Rudy Giuliani.

Pretty good, though my polling predictions are off.

5) This year will see the death of Pope John Paul II. His successor will be a conservative cardinal, who will continue to follow the course set by the current pontiff. He will not be a European. My longshot prediction is that he will not take the name John Paul III. My even longer shot prediction is that he will select either Leo or Benedict.

Mostly right. For all the talk of a non-European, Joseph Ratzinger became a consensus choice prior to the conclave. He is certainly a conservative. And I nailed it with the prediction of Benedict as the name selected.

All-in all, not bad.

We'll review the new predictions in December!

OTHER PREDICTIONS FROM OTHER VOICES:
Adam's Blog
MochaSteak
Fanatical Apathy (Quite funny!)
Three Rounds Brisk
Random Cowbell
Mover Mike
Gahrie's Grumbles and Groans
The Appletonian
The Anchoress
SoapBox Politics
A Certain Slant of Light
The Gilittering Eye
All Things Beautiful
Ann Althouse
Bitsblog
Calculated Risk
Dean Esmay
The Indepundit
Ezra Klein
Arnold Kling
MyDD
Sigmund, Carl, and Alfred
Spoons
The Sundries Shack
Matthew Yglesias
Blogs for Bush
GOPBloggers
RedState
National Review Online

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of my favorite Houston radio personalities, Dan Patrick of KSEV-AM, (no, not Dan Patrick of ESPN, though Houston's Dan Patrick is also a former sportscaster) has filed to run for the Texas Senate in SD7.

Radio talk-show host Dan Patrick signed off the air Thursday when he officially filed in the Republican primary for state Senate District 7.

Patrick's filing makes him the last of previously announced candidates to formally enter the four-way GOP race that also includes state Reps. Peggy Hamric and Joe Nixon and Houston City Councilman Mark Ellis. State Sen. Jon Lindsay is not seeking re-election in the heavily Republican district.

F. Michael Kubosh, a Harris County bail bondsman, has filed for the seat in the Democratic primary.

With the large field, the race is likely to be decided in a runoff between the top two vote getters. Several of Patrick's opponents have conducted polls, and each poll shows its candidate coming in second.

I think it likely that Dan Patrick will not need a runoff to win, given his high name recognition and grassroots support. One poll shows him with 54% of likely GOP primary voters supporting him. In addition, there are other signs of support.

* Of the 125 serving precinct chairs in Senate District 7, over 85 (or 68%) have endorsed Dan Patrick for Senate and have pledged to help get out the vote for Dan. More precinct chairs are expected to endorse after the filing deadline (January 2, 2006).

* More than 700 have signed on to volunteer for the Dan Patrick Campaign.

* The Dan Patrick for Senate Campaign has received contributions from over 800 individuals who support DanÂ’s message for change in Austin.

Here are the six points Dan has been emphasizing for years as a broadcaster, and on which he is running for the legislature.

1. Reduce the appraisal cap to 3% per year on all residential property

Texans are being taxed out of their homes. We must end the stealth 8–10% annual tax increase on homeowners. If local governments feel a need to raise revenue, they should do so by raising the tax rate; not by hiding behind an automatic appraisal increase. Voters can then determine if the increase was necessary and if those elected officials are worthy of re-election.

2. Illegal immigration – secure our borders now

The Federal Government has failed to protect our borders as they are constitutionally required. It is time we use Texas taxpayersÂ’ resources to protect our borders instead of providing services to those that entered this state illegally. It is time for Texans to protect the Texas border.

3. Reduce government spending now

We elected Republican majorities in the Texas House and Senate and expected them to be fiscally conservative. Our legislature has let us down. The most recent state budget includes a 20% increase in spending. We should focus on needs-based-budgeting, rather than revenue-based-budgeting.

4. Responsible education funding

School budgets and administrative positions have increased faster than student enrollment and classroom teacher positions. The legislature should require that 65% of school spending be dedicated to the classroom. We must focus education resources on the classroom instruction of our children.

5. Legislators should put tax cuts before their own pension increases

Legislators found the votes to increase their own pensions in the last legislative session, but after two special sessions could not find the votes to reduce your property taxes or lower the appraisal cap. We should focus first on cutting taxes before we increase legislatorÂ’s benefits.

6. We are the majority party and we should govern as such

I have called for an end to the so called “blocker bill” in the Senate. For years, this Senate tradition helped ensure civility in the upper house, but recently Democrats have used the practice to block meaningful legislation from being approved. We should end the practice of requiring 2/3 of the Senate to agree before a measure can be considered in the Senate.

I live on the opposite end of Harris County, in a different senatorial district -- but as the GOP Precinct Chair for Precinct 333, I would also like to offer my endorsement of Dan Patrick for Texas Senate District 7.

And speaking of my position as precinct chair, I'll be filing for reelection to that position on Monday afternoon.

Posted by: Greg at 06:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Recent days have seen a couple of new twists in Texas politics. One involves the plans of a state officeholder and her lust for higher office at any cost, while the other relates to the DonQuixote campaign of a good conservative in the 22nd Congresional District.

Let's start with Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn [YOUR LAST NAME HERE], our comptroller and mother of former White House spokesman Scott McClellan. This long-time Austin Dem turned RINO announced for governor months ago -- but rumor has it that when she files on Monday it won't be as a Republican. Instead, it is possible that she will be filing as an independent. Strayhorn and her staff are pointedly NOT denying rumors to this effect.

Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders would not answer direct questions about whether Strayhorn will file Monday in the Republican primary or as an independent.

"Carole Keeton Strayhorn is a candidate for governor. She is a Republican. She will be filing for that office on Monday," Sanders said.

If that happens, next fall we will see a race for governor that includes Gov. Rick Perry as the GOP nominee, Kinky Friedman and Strayhorn running as independents, a Democrat nominee (former Congressman Chris Bell?) and the Libertarian candidate. It would not be surprising to see the winner take office with under 40% of the vote -- and the Democrat candidate finish behind at least one of the independent candidates.

And then there is the announcement of another candidate to run against Tom Delay for Congress. This one sounds like someone I could support if the seat were open or held by a Democrat, but not when he is challenging one of the top leaders of the GOP.

A 50-year-old attorney from Sugar Land has filed to run against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay for the 22nd District in the Republican primary in March.

Thomas A. Campbell, who specializes in environmental law, is the third Republican challenger to take on DeLay, who has held the post since 1985.

Campbell paid the filing fee of $3,125 to the Texas Republican Party in Austin on Wednesday and entered his name in the race.

"We need to return some decency and civility to the way we conduct the public's business," Campbell said.

Campbell said he found it has become increasingly difficult for him to vote for DeLay, who was indicted in September and October on charges related to campaign finances. DeLay has since stepped down as House majority leader.

"I wish I had a choice," Campbell said. "And what I am trying to do is provide Republicans who are conservative a choice, an alternative."

Campbell served as general counsel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during the administration of President George H.W. Bush.

***

Campbell, who has never held elected office, said he knows taking on an entrenched incumbent in a race with two other challengers will be difficult.

"It is going to be a hard fight, but it is a good fight and it is one we can win," he said.

He is a partner in the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and said he will take a leave of absence from his job while he's campaigning.

Campbell said he would work toward reducing government bureaucracy as well as regulatory burdens on small businesses.

Campbell, who received his law degree from Baylor University, has been married for 28 years. He and his wife, Shauri, have five children and are adopting another.

The problem with this challenge is that it comes way too late, and at a time when the party needs to rally around a leader who is under partisan attack by an unethical prosecutor and is targetted by the national Democrats, who are bringing in lots of out of state money to influence the results in our congressional district. I'll concede casting a protest vote against DeLay in 2004 out of concern over the ethics charges. However, I have to stand with Fort bend County GOP Chairman Eric Thode on this one.

Fort Bend County Republican Party Chairman Eric Thode described Campbell as a credible candidate but one with low name recognition taking on a popular incumbent.

"He (DeLay) has represented us well, and I am confident he will be re-elected in the primary," Thode said Wednesday.

Thode said Campbell is not well-known among people active in the local GOP parties.

"He has no viable group of supporters," Thode said.

It's sad that Campbell has gotten into this race in a way that makes it impossible to take his candidacy seriously. But then again, if the seat does open up between now and 2008, perhaps Tom Campbell will have gained the name-recognition and respect needed to mount a real campaign. And, as Chris Elam over at Safety For Dummies points out, he could be the ideal"safety net" candidate in the event that Ton Delay is convicted or withdraws from the race.

Posted by: Greg at 04:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Left and the media (two ways of saying the same thing) demanded an investigation when someone legally leaked the name of Joe Wilson's non-covert CIA spouse. The result was a witch hunt which resulted in only a single indictment -- and that raising the issue of perjury rather than wrongdoing in making public Valerie Plame's role in selecting her husband for a trip to Nigeria.

So should it be any surprise that the leaking of truly sensitive national security information would be investigated?

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into recent disclosures about a controversial domestic eavesdropping program that was secretly authorized by President Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officials said yesterday.

Justice prosecutors will focus their examination on who may have unlawfully disclosed classified information about the program to the New York Times, which reported two weeks ago that Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to monitor the international telephone calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens and residents without court-approved warrants, officials said.

The Justice Department's decision to reveal the opening of a criminal investigation is rare, particularly given the highly classified nature of the probe. Deputy White House press secretary Trent Duffy told reporters in Crawford, Tex., yesterday that Justice "undertook this action on its own" and that Bush had only learned about it from senior staff earlier in the day.

But Duffy reiterated earlier statements by Bush, who had sharply condemned the disclosure of the NSA program and argued that it seriously damaged national security.

"The fact is that al Qaeda's playbook is not printed on Page One, and when America's is, it has serious ramifications," Duffy said, reading from prepared remarks. "You don't need to be Sun Tzu to understand that," he added, referring to the ancient Chinese general who wrote "The Art of War."

Leak investigations generally begin with a referral to the Justice Department by the agency in question -- in this case the NSA -- which prompts a preliminary inquiry by prosecutors to determine whether a crime has been committed. The opening of a criminal investigation signals that prosecutors believe that laws barring disclosure of classified information by government officials were broken. It is likely to be a full-blown probe involving FBI agents and Justice investigators.

Now that seems perfectly reasonable -- especially given the impact of the leak on national security. Who could possibly object?

The American Civil Liberties Union Friday criticized a new Justice Department leak probe.

The Justice Department announced earlier Friday that it was launching an investigation into the disclosure of a secret National Security Agency domestic eavesdropping operation approved by President George W. Bush without specific legal or congressional authorization.

In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the ACLU has called for the appointment of a special counsel to determine whether Bush violated federal wiretapping laws by authorizing illegal surveillance of domestic targets.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said, "President Bush broke the law and lied to the American people when he unilaterally authorized secret wiretaps of U.S. citizens. But rather than focus on this constitutional crisis, Attorney General Gonzales is cracking down on critics of his friend and boss. Our nation is strengthened, not weakened, by those whistle-blowers who are courageous enough to speak out on violations of the law.

"To avoid further charges of cronyism, Attorney General Gonzales should call off the investigation," Romero said. "Better yet, Mr. Gonzales ought to fulfill his own oath of office and appoint a special counsel to determine whether federal laws were violated."

Mr. Romero, please quit giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States and start giving a damn about the safety and seurity of American citizens during time of war. Attorney General Gonzales is fulfilling his oath of office by conducucting an investigation of the breaking of federal laws -- specifically those which forbid the disclosure of classified information related to national security to unauthorized individuals. The actions of the administration are legal and differ not one bit from activities conducted by every administration since at least Jimmy Carter, based upon the president's constitutional role as commander in chief.

UPDATE: One of the many fine pieces on the net defending the NSA program.

MORE AT Stop the ACLU, California Conservative, Crazy Politicos, Is It Just Me?, Conservative Dialysis, The Museum of Left-Wing Lunacy, ReidBlog

Posted by: Greg at 04:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Massachusets Congressman Barney Frank (D - East Sodom & Gomorrah) has two words for those who want to let the people speak on the issue of redefining marriage as anything other than one man and one woman -- shut up.

That is the only conclusion that can be drawn from his comments regarding those seeking to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot to overturn the dictatorial misinterpretation of the Massachusetts Constitution (written by, among others, John Adams) by the state's highest court.

Massachusetss could face an "angry, divisive" fight if a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage reaches the 2008 state ballot, Rep. Barney Frank says.

The congressman blamed backers of the initiative petition for trying to provoke a new fight despite a lack of controversy over same-sex marriage.

"Basically, they're the disturbers of the civic peace," the Democrat said in a wide-ranging Associated Press interview Thursday. "We now have social peace in Massachusetts. They're the ones who want to stir it up ... This is a non-issue in Massachusetts."

***

"I think by 2008, people will say, 'Do we really need to have an angry, divisive debate over a non-issue,'" Frank said. "The question for the 50 legislators is: Do they want to make this a front-page issue again, leading the TV news?"

But Barney, don't you realize that everywhere in the United States wehre the voters have been given a say on the matter they have supported the traditional definition over the liberal social engineering of renegade judges and homosexual activists? If there is division being sown on this issue, it is by those of you who are seeking to bring about change of a fundamental social institution -- especially when you engage in name-calling against those who are seeking to peacefully use the democratic process to make their voices heard.

And though you claim this to be a non-issue, consider the results of the petition drive seeking to put the amendment on the ballot.

The Massachusetts Family Institute said the 124,000 certified signatures it gathered for the petition, nearly double the number required, was a sign of strong public support for outlawing same-sex marriage.

"All they want is an opportunity to vote on the definition of marriage," said the group's president, Kris Mineau. "Now that the people have spoken, the good congressman has decided this is a divisive issue."

But then again, Barney Frank is one of those whose party has gone from being the voice of the common man to one that seeks to frustrate the will of the people by using the courts to implement policies that are rejected by the American people at large.

Posted by: Greg at 04:24 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I'm curious what you guys think of this bit of political theorizing from Newsday columnist James Pinkerton.

We like to think that we have made progress in the four centuries since, especially here in the United States. But we're up against a basic reality: As populations grow denser, and as technology improves, there's a natural need for more regulation to keep people's elbows, and machines, from banging into each other.

That's the reason why, for example, Wyoming is a more libertarian place than New York City. Out in the West, where miles might separate people, you can pretty much do what you want. But, if millions are going to live in close proximity to one another, then lots of red tape is going to thread itself around each resident, governing not only the obvious concerns, such as weapons and pollution, but matters such as noise abatement and cigarette smoking.

Do you people agree? I don't think it has to be that way. Does society necessarily become less free the larger it grows?

Posted by: Greg at 04:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It seems that American pedophiles are traveling to Mexico in search of victims.

On a sweltering afternoon in this glitzy tourist resort, Alex Fernandez laughed and joked with a group of his fellow homeless teenagers until the subject of prostitution came up. Then his smile disappeared, and the face of the skinny 14-year-old turned to a cold, unblinking stare as he described how grown men, sometimes Mexicans and sometimes foreign tourists, regularly take him to hotels and pay to have sex with him.

"Yes, they buy me. The business gets me food. It gets me clothes," said Fernandez, sitting in the shade of a basketball stand to escape the blazing sun. "No one else helps me. What do you want me to do?"

Despite a concerted effort to crack down on pedophiles in both Mexico and the United States, child prostitution continues unabated in Mexican tourist resorts such as Acapulco and Cancun as well as border cities such as Ciudad Juarez. Investigators estimate the number of Mexican children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation — including prostitution, pornography and human trafficking — has increased to 20,000 from 16,000 in the past five years. Many of those who pay for sex with the boys and girls are American, Canadian and European tourists.

What's more, this child sex trade is also being brought north. We've had several arrests here in Texas in recent weeks related to children being smuggled from Mexico to become prostitutes.

Posted by: Greg at 01:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, it isn't like his name is Tom DeLay or anything like that. He is just one more corrupt cog in the on-going series of criminal activities by Democratic pols.

Former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance walked into a spartan community center Wednesday night a felon who admitted diverting public money to his law firm, family and church.

But the more than 100 people who greeted him there saw him as nothing less than a civil rights hero who has been unjustly sentenced to four years in federal prison.

The event was a fund-raiser to help Ballance pay his legal bills. The former congressman said he had paid all fines and restitution with his own money. A rally held two weeks ago in Murfreesboro drew about 300 people.

The sponsors of Wednesday's tribute called it a "People's Freedom Rally," and it took on the feel of a church service with gospel songs and Bible quotations such as, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Could you imagine the outrage if such a rally/fundraiser were held on behalf of Tom DeLay BEFORE his conviction, much less after it?

Oh, and what was ithe crime of which he was found guilty? Stealing from a charity to enrich himself and his family.

Ballance, 63, is scheduled to begin his sentence Friday at a federal prison in Butner for steering roughly $100,000 in public money from an anti-drug program he founded to his law firm, church and relatives.

The money was among $2.3 million Ballance had directed to the John A. Hyman Memorial Youth Foundation from 1994 to 2003 while he served as a state lawmaker. But the nonprofit foundation failed to file federal tax returns and the required state financial reports. When that became public nearly three years ago, it triggered a state audit that turned up more than $325,000 in questionable spending.

On Nov. 9, 2004, Ballance pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy related to funneling $15,500 to his law firm, $20,000 to his son, Garey Ballance, to buy a Lincoln Navigator, and $5,000 to his daughter for computer services that she did not perform.

Garey Ballance, a state District Court judge, admitted evading taxes on the $20,000, and he received nine months in prison. He also is to report to Butner; the conviction cost him his judicial post.

But we shouldn't be surprised that Ballance would participate in such a fundraiser. After all, he has this to say about his upcoming sentencing.

"I've not done anything that deserves four years in prison," Ballance said.

If that is the case, then why did you plead guilty? Why didn't you stand up and argue that your actions were justified and trust a jury of your peers to bring back a not guilty verdict?

Posted by: Greg at 06:22 AM | Comments (19) | Add Comment
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