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I have to ask -- would the press ever respond to such bigotry with respectful, dispassionate discussion if it were directed at Jews or African Americans?

Is it significant that the five Supreme Court justices who voted to uphold the federal ban on a controversial abortion procedure also happen to be the court's Roman Catholics?

It is to Tony Auth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He drew Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. wearing bishop's miters, and labeled his cartoon "Church and State."

Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters hashed out the issue on "The View," with O'Donnell noting that a majority of the court is Catholic and wondering about "separation of church and state." Walters counseled that "we cannot assume that they did it because they're Catholic."

And the chatter continues, on talk radio and in the blogosphere. In the latter category, no one has stirred it up quite like Geoffrey R. Stone, former dean and now provost of the University of Chicago's law school.

Once again we see, anti-Catholicism, long described as the anti-Semitism of the intellectual (or rather, I would suggest, the pseudo-intellectual) remains the most persistent prejudice in the American psyche.

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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Earth Day by Done With Mirrors, and The Big White Lie by City Journal.  Here is a link to both winning entries and to the full results of the vote.

Here are the full tallies of all votes cast:

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If you are looking for a site where you can meet new folks, then you can find it all at Person.com - webcams, chat, personals. It is a new social networking site where you can make new friends and meet new dating partners, whatever you want. And part of the fun is that many members run their webcams live, so you can engage in live video chat (clean, please) with a real person!

Is it a site that I would spend a lot of time at? Maybe not, being that I'm a happily married guy in my 40s. But I would have loved something like this about 15-20 years ago, before I met my darling wife -- and think it is a great way for meeting new folks in town and around the world. Especially female folks. I would certainly have been one of the online flirts. I mean, it is an impressive social networking site.

If that sounds like it is up your alley, or if you are one of those female folks I mentioned, check it out.

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It will be so nice to have a little sunshine poured forth on the Hildebeast by one of the Left's most beloved journalistic icons -- Carl Bernstein. I may have to shell out for that particular book.

Drawing on a trove of private papers from Hillary Clinton’s best friend, the legendary Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein is to publish a hard-hitting and intimate portrait of the 2008 presidential candidate, which will reveal a number of “discrepancies” in her official story.

Bernstein, who was played by Dustin Hoffman in the film All the PresidentÂ’s Men, has spent eight years researching the unauthorised 640-page biography, A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“Bernstein reaches conclusions that stand in opposition to what Senator Clinton has said in the past and has written in the past,” said Paul Bogaards, a spokesman for Knopf, which publishes the book on June 19.

With the thoroughness for which he is famous, Bernstein spoke to more than 200 of Clinton’s friends, colleagues and adversaries. He stops short of accusing the New York senator of blatantly lying about her past, but has unearthed examples of where she has played fast and loose with the facts about her “personal and political life”, according to Knopf.

The book could revive the explosive charge, made earlier this year by David Geffen, a former Clinton donor and Hollywood mogul, that “the Clintons lie with such ease, it’s troubling”.

I can't wait to see if Bernstein's reputation is impugned by the Clinton spin machine -- or if he ends up having an "unfortunate accident". If I were you, Carl, I'd stay away from Fort Marcy Park.

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This just chaps my behind -- immigration authorities making it easier for kids who don't live in the United States to cross the border to steal a free public education from American taxpayers.

For the past two years, Rachel Ortiz's commute to her El Paso school has begun each morning in Mexico.

As the sun rises over that side of the Rio Grande, the first-grader follows her father from their cinder-block home through the streets of Ciudad Juarez.

Aaron Ortiz holds his 6-year-old's pink backpack and later her hand. At the border they funnel onto the pedestrian bridge alongside dozens of other children with backpacks holding parents' hands. Then they are on the other side, saying goodbye at the gates of Vilas Elementary, where breakfast is served free and special classes are offered for English-language learners.

At that school, Rachel has made friends with American students. She writes reports on butterflies and decides she wants to be a doctor — for dogs — when she grows up. And when the school bell rings at the end of the day, her father is waiting outside, ready to walk her back home to Mexico.

No wonder there are 12-20 million illegal aliens in this country, along with millions of anchor babies. Our own government aids and abets them -- and expects us to pay for it.

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Indeed, this is nothing short of a call for a coup if the President does not capitulate to Congress.

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) said Sunday that Democrats in Congress could consider impeachment as a way to pressure President Bush on his handling of the war in Iraq.

“What I’m saying, there’s four ways to influence a president. And one of them’s impeachment,” Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Excuse me, but "Jihad Jack" Murtha seems to be ignoring a minor detail -- impeachment in our system is reserved for removing an individual from office for "high crimes and misdemeanors". Exercise of the powers delegated to the President by Article II of the Constitution -- such as use of the veto power and the power as Commander in Chief -- is not grounds for impeachment. Indeed, the possibility of such a flagrant abuse of power by the legislative branch is why Article I so sharply circumscribes the power of that branch in this regard.

But then again, since when does a corrupt old fart like Murtha give a damn about the Constitution?

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And in the mean time, good news from Iraq in the effort to clean up Anbar Province.

Many Sunni tribal leaders, once openly hostile to the American presence, have formed a united front with American and Iraqi government forces against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. With the tribal leadersÂ’ encouragement, thousands of local residents have joined the police force. About 10,000 police officers are now in Anbar, up from several thousand a year ago. During the same period, the police force here in Ramadi, the provincial capital, has grown from fewer than 200 to about 4,500, American military officials say.

At the same time, American and Iraqi forces have been conducting sweeps of insurgent strongholds, particularly in and around Ramadi, leaving behind a network of police stations and military garrisons, a strategy that is also being used in Baghdad, IraqÂ’s capital, as part of its new security plan.

You know, the US and the Iraqi people might come out of this thing as winners -- if the President holds firm against al-Qaeda, al-Sadr, and the Democrats.

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It's good to know that the Democrats have the terrorists on their side in their efforts to undercut our troops.

"Here are the Democrats calling you to withdraw or even set a timetable and you are not responding," al-Sadr's statement said. "It is not only them who are calling for this but also Republicans, to whom you belong."

"If you are ignoring your friends and partners, then it is no wonder that you ignore the international and Iraqi points of view. You will not benefit from this stubbornness," he added.

And Muqtada al-Sadr would certainly know what is best -- for the terrorists and Iranians.

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It has been years since I have been to Orlando, but I'd love to go back. After all, it is home to the happiest place on earth, Walt Disney World. I mean, my darling wife and I could stay in one of the many Disney Vacation Homes in the area and visit Epcot or Disney-MGM Studios -- or whatever the latest Disney News says is the hot new attraction. We could also go to Universal Studios Florida, or to one of the other attractions in the area.

But to be honest, I'd just like a quiet getaway with my beloved, relaxing and enjoying each other's company -- with maybe a balloon ride thrown in for good measure! And being from Houston, we could also head over to Kennedy Space Center -- sort of as a bookend to our trip back home, just down the road from Johnson Space Center. But regardless, it would be a great getaway for the two of us.

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School administrators have a problem when it comes to criminal conduct by students. They can be by-the-book and support the most severe possible charges against a kid who has broken the law. Or they can call it a school disciplinary matter and never call the cops. Or, as a middle ground, they can arrange with the cops for many offenses to be treated in a less serious manner that results in a ticket rather than an arrest.

Kenneth Trump, a national authority on school safety who testified before Congress on Monday, says the underreporting of disciplinary incidents in area schools is part of "a historical culture of downplay, deny, deflect and defend when it comes to publicly acknowledging and reporting school crimes." It's driven, experts say, by an overarching concern among school principals to protect their image and that of their school.

"If you're the administrator and you report what happened, you may get blamed," said Jean O'Neil, director of research and evaluation at the National Crime Prevention Council in Washington. "If you're the administrator and you don't report what happened, you may get blamed."

And more to the point, that blame does not just come from the general public. A lot of disciplinary decisions get questioned by vocal parents, whose first phone call is to the Superintendent. When it involves an arrest, you can bet that call is going to be made. Assuming, of course, that the parent doesn't call the press and start to cry racism. It is often easier to give the kids a break on lesser offenses and treat them as mere disciplinary matters -- which will have the double impact of keeping the crime statistics down

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About a year ago, I lost it all. Everything. Not a byte of data could be recovered following that hard drive crash. There was no way to access a single bit of it, no matter how hard I tried -- and none of it had been backed up, despite my best intentions. Indeed, I had just bought an external hard drive to do precisely that when everything went away.

I wish I had known about IDrive-E, found at IDrive.com. They have a phenomenal deal there on Online Backup services -- 2 Gigabytes free, $4.95 a month for unlimited online storage. Good grief, if only I had known and availed myself of the service. I wouldn't have lost all of my materials for my college course, or my wife's extensive collection of graphics that she uses for her crafting projects. Indeed, i still regularly get asked if I've backed up her stuff -- because she has a fear of losing so many graphics that she had spent years collecting.

And I'll be honest -- there was very little that my wife and I couldn't do without. Imagine if you were running a business, and lost everything. Say goodbye to your accounts receivable spreadsheets, your other financial records, and your crucial correspondence that you've been keeping an eye on. Imagine the lost good will with customers as orders went unfilled and leads went unanswered. It would be enough to put the small businessman out of business -- or worse. So seriously, you have got to take a look at getting some Online Backup now.

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I'm glad to see this happen -- Kevin Kolb is a fine young man and a fine quarterback. I envy you folks in Philly, because he is going to be fun to watch as he develops behind McNabb.

Early in the second round of the NFL draft Saturday, Kevin Kolb decided it would be best to avoid the television and spend some time outside on his family's farm.

Minutes later, it wasn't the cows that came calling.

It was the Eagles.

Kolb, the record-setting quarterback from the University of Houston, was taken with the No. 36 overall pick and will begin his career learning behind Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb.

"I wasn't outside two minutes when my wife (Whitney) came out with the phone and said, 'I don't know who it is! I don't know who it is!' " said Kolb, the highest UH player selected since Antowain Smith was taken by Buffalo in the first round in 1997.

Tell me -- how many other potential first-day picks did anything other than camp out by the phone and television until their name was called or Round 3 ended? For that matter, Kolb was one of the few to have a team trade up for them on the first day of the NFL draft -- a day on which he became the thrid quarterback picked overall.

And for you Eagles fans who booed this choice, i want you to consider these stats.

A four-year starter, Kolb finished his career as one of the most prolific passers in NCAA history with 12,964 passing yards, 13,715 yards total offense and 106 TDs. As a senior, Kolb led the Cougars to a 10-win season and their first Conference USA title since 1996.

This young man has quite an arm on him -- and as I've said, is a strong leader and quality human being. That is what I hear from several former students (and a teaching colleague) who played with him at UH, so I'm not just believing his press releases. These are the things that come out of the mouths of his teammates in day-to-day conversation.

Good luck, Kevin -- I'm just sorry you didn't somehow end up in Houston.

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Debt is a two-edged sword. It can allow you to acquire things you want or need, but it can also strangle you economically if you are not careful.

I look at the situation some friends found themselves in a few years ago. They were a nice couple -- he in his 50s and her in her 40s, with two wonderful kids. the problem was that they had allowed themselves to live a lifestyle that was well beyond their means. I mean they were in serious trouble. The had lots of unsecured and secured loans -- everything from student loans to car loans to credit cards to a mortgage. And then he lost his job, and they nearly lost it all. Fortunately, a new job for my friend and the use of Secured Home Loans to lower monthly payments and tap into their equity in their house allowed them to recover and live a more scaled-back life by use of this Secured Loan.

If you are facing financial need and you are looking for Secured Loans UK, might I suggest AdvanceStart.com?

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With Brady Quinn still on the board, I expected the Texans to take him or trade the pick. They didn't. Nor did they try to shore up the weak offensive line that was largely responsible for the destruction of David Carr as a useful quarterback.

Instead, for the fourth straight year, they went with a defensive player in the first round. Frankly, I was stunned -- but the more I have researched the player selected, the better I feel about it.

Who did they pick?

Amobi Okoye -- Defensive tackle out of Louisville.

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 302

In four years at Louisville, Okoye started 24 games. He finished with 121 tackles, 10.5 sacks for minus-42 yards and 23 stops for losses totaling 81 yards. He caused four fumbles and recovered three others.

But that isn't the only thing I love about this kid. His story is amazing. Born in Nigeria, he started high school at age 12, played football for the first time at 13, and made his first college sack at age 15. Now 19, he earned a degree in psychology in 3 1/2 years.

One of the biggest challenges was in 1999 when Okoye moved to Huntsville, Ala., from Nigeria. Because he had started school in Nigeria at 2 1/2 , he was in the ninth grade at 12. The principal in Huntsville was skeptical.

"The principal wanted to send me back to eighth grade," Okoye said at the NFL scouting combine. "I disagreed and felt like I was getting pushed back. We came to an agreement. She decided 'I'll keep you here for two weeks and depending on how you perform determines if you stay or not.'

"After the first week, she put me in some classes I had already taken. The reports got back, and the teacher told her I had to be moved to upper classes. After that, I stayed in high school."

Soon thereafter, a substitute teacher saw Okoye's size and encouraged him to try out for football. Okoye played soccer in Nigeria and knew nothing about football.

At 13, he started his first game on varsity and a year later, he was starting on both sides of the ball. By 15, he signed with Louisville and became the youngest player in college football when he enrolled in 2003 at 16.

He played in 13 games as a true freshman, despite then-Louisville coach Bobby Petrino saying Okoye couldn't step on the field until he needed to shave.

"I knew he was serious, but deep inside he wanted to play me," Okoye said. "I went out there and proved myself, and he went and got me a razor."

By his junior season, Okoye was a starter. As a senior, he was the defensive leader and recorded a career-high 58 tackles with eight sacks and 15 stops for losses. He also caused three fumbles.

And at age 20, he will start his first NFL game.

Damn! I may just need to get myself a new Texan's jersey. And I certainly have a role model for my students.

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When boys are more desirable than girls, guess which gets aborted -- and what the long-term demographic consequences are.

It seems like an ordinary village school, deep in the farm hills of Hainan Island in southern China.

A red Chinese flag flutters in front of the white-tiled building on the village's main street. Outside are rice paddies, water buffaloes, banana trees and grass-roofed houses.

But look more closely at the school's Grade 6 class: row upon row upon row of boys. There are 34 of them in this classroom, and only 20 girls. The same is true across the entire school, where 180 boys vastly outnumber 105 girls.

“It's always a headache to keep order in this school,” said Xing Zhen, the principal of Sanbai Primary School. “The boys are always misbehaving. They run all over the place, climbing the trees and the walls.”

What he really fears is the restless intensity of boys who grow up to become unmarried men. There are already hundreds of single men in nearby villages, an army of unhappy bachelors. “They can't find wives, and it affects the social stability,” Mr. Xing says.

All across China, the dangerous combination of modern technology and traditional beliefs is creating a huge army of single men. By 2020, more than 30 million men of marriageable age will be unable to find wives. Ultrasound machines and selective abortions, combined with China's restrictive one-child policy, are helping parents to skew the gender ratio, with potentially disastrous consequences.

Well, this could go a long way towards reducing the Chinese population -- or make them more warlike, with "excess" men being bled off through wars of aggression.

Posted by: Greg at 01:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Dead Taliban!

Caught in the middle of the Helmand river, the fleeing Taliban were paddling their boat back to shore for dear life.

Smoke from the ambush they had just sprung on American special forces still hung in the air, but their attention was fixed on the two helicopter gunships that had appeared above them as their leader, the tallest man in the group, struggled to pull what appeared to be a burqa over his head.

As the boat reached the shore, Captain Larry Staley tilted the nose of the lead Apache gunship downwards into a dive. One of the men turned to face the helicopter and sank to his knees. Capt Staley's gunner pressed the trigger and the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke and dust.

And that isn't even the good part -- die, terrorists, die!

I am curious, though -- why is this story appearing in a British newspaper, and not an American one? You don't suppose it could have anything to do with the bias of the MSM, do you?

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He says he has no right to interfere in Canadian politics -- and then does so anyway.

The Conservatives' new environmental platform is a "complete and total fraud" that is "designed to mislead the Canadian people," former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said Saturday.

* * *

Gore acknowledged he is not a Canadian citizen and said he has "no right to interfere in your decisions."

However, he said, the rest of the world looks to Canada for moral leadership and that's why this week's announcement was so "shocking."

But the Tories proceeded to bitch-slap the former vice president and noted hypocrite (who still has done nothing to make an actual reduction in his "carbon footprint").

Baird released a statement later in the day Saturday in which he refuted Gore's criticisms.

"The fact is our plan is vastly tougher than any measures introduced by the administration of which the former vice president was a member," Baird said in the statement.

After all, the Clinton/Gore Administration never submitted the Kyoto Protocol for ratification.

Oh, and by the way -- Gore says "intensity reduction" is nothing but a focus-group tested deception by "Big Oil". I suppose that would make it the equivalent of "carbon off-sets", a phrase test-marketed by those who sell them to make a profit off of the failure of Left-wing trendoids to reduce pollution -- by folks like Al Gore, who profits from selling these latter-day indulgences.

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The Raiders will set the tone for the draft.

The Oakland Raiders kept everyone in the league guessing yesterday about what they were planning to do with the top overall selection in today's NFL draft. Many people around the league continued to assume that the Raiders would use the pick on Louisiana State quarterback JaMarcus Russell, but there were conflicting accounts, and Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn apparently remained possibilities.

The rest of the first round, which promises to include runs on wide receivers and defensive linemen and could produce an unusually high number of safeties chosen, hinges on the Raiders' decision. Teams were making contingency plans and lining up potential trades, but everything was on hold until Raiders owner Al Davis and first-year coach Lane Kiffin finally tip their hand.

The Raiders had contract discussions during the week with the representatives for Russell, Quinn and Johnson. NFL rules permit the team with the first pick to sign the player that it intends to choose before the draft, a tactic that eliminates the possibility of a combative set of contract negotiations during the summer that might delay the player's arrival at his first training camp. But as of last night, there was no indication that the Raiders had a deal in place with any of the players.

And who will they pick? ESPN is offering this tidbit.

It appears the Oakland Raiders have made their choice, and it's JaMarcus Russell. According to two sources, one with the Raiders and one close to Russell, the team called the LSU quarterback Friday to inform him he would be the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NFL draft.

We'll know soon.

But my big question is this -- what will my Houston Texans do? And will it help improve a team that was on on the cusp of being good last season?

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This is a personal peccadillo, not a professional one -- will the Democrats try to make a bid deal about it? After all, this is just about sex.

Randall L. Tobias, the deputy secretary of state responsible for U.S. foreign aid, abruptly resigned yesterday after he was asked about an upscale escort service allegedly involved in prostitution, U.S. government sources said.

Tobias resigned after ABC News contacted him with questions about the escort service, the sources said. ABC News released a statement last night saying Tobias acknowledged Thursday that he had used the service to provide massages, not sex.

Tobias has been Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's point man in an ambitious effort to overhaul how the U.S. government manages foreign aid, a key part of her "transformational diplomacy" agenda. Just two days ago, President Bush lauded Tobias for his work in the administration leading "America's monumental effort to confront and deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the continent of Africa."

I hope the Democrats wait to pounce until Barney Frank can weigh in upon this matter.

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Most college students today find themselves taking out a student loan. After all, at some schools you will spend more on tuition over four years than you will on your first house! PremierStudentLoan.com can help you find the financial assistance you need to go to college. The specialize in helping you get Florida Student Loans, Nevada student loans or just about any other sort of College student loan you might be seeking. Take a look, check them out, and see if you can finance your college education inexpensively.

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It is one of the uglier parts of early Mormon history -- the murder of non-Mormon settlers passing through Utah. Among the questions in dispute is the role of Brigham Young in the events? Did he order the murders? Did he fail to act to prevent them? Or is there some point in between.

One hundred fifty years ago, a glorious September morning in the Utah mountains morphed into Mormonism's darkest hour when a militia opened fire on a wagon train, leaving more than 120 men, women and children dead in a flowery field.

Now the "Mountain Meadows Massacre" is becoming more than a subject of somber reflection within tight-knit Mormon circles. Two new films and a forthcoming book aim to tell the nation what happened, why and -- perhaps most important -- whether the revered Mormon prophet Brigham Young ordered the killing.

At stake are not just the details of a tragic moment in pioneer history. For the 5.8 million Americans who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon church is officially known, the integrity of one of their most important heroes hangs in the balance. For others, the depictions stand to forge new impressions of a controversial religious minority that has known both violent persecution and substantial influence across its tumultuous 180-year history.

"As a society, we are definitely at a crossroads" in terms of rethinking Mormonism, says Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. "This is a huge moment, because it's a very important religion."

There are three projects in the works. One, a movie, depicts the events sensationally and stakes out the position that this was an act inspired by, if not ordered by, Brigham Young. The second, a PBS documentary, tries to contextualize what happened and does not, in so far as I can tell, really take a clear position on Young's involvement. And an upcoming book by three Mormon historians takes the official Mormon position that Young had nothing to do with the events of that morning at all -- and that he tried to stop it.

What is the answer? In the end, I suspect the PBS documentary may do a great service by contextualizing the events, coming as they did as a part of the "Mormon War" in Utah. And personally, I doubt that Young actually ordered these murders -- but I do suspect that his words, like those of Henry II in the case of Thomas a Becket, could legitimately have been taken by some of his more loyal followers as an implicit call for these events. As such, one might fairly impute an indirect moral responsibility to the Mormon leader, though perhaps not the sort that those who claim he directed the massacre would insist upon. But regardless, the events of September 11, 1857 remain a blot upon the history of the LDS Church -- and will likely continue to be a source of controversy.

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Are you one of the beautiful people? Do you want to be? If so, you need to boogie on over to ElectricLadyLand.com for some of the latest, hottest fashions around. They've got all the latest fashions and trends from True Religion Jeans, Frankie B. Sky, and Twisted Heart -- as well as so many of the other hottest couture names in current fashion. And I won't get into their celebrity client list with you, but I will tell you that if you wander into any of their Arizona locations you will see celebrities taking a break from the high-pressure scene on the coast.

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If you want to decrease dependence upon foreign oil, you must find domestic sources.

The Interior Department will announce a proposal Monday to allow oil and gas drilling in federal waters near Virginia that are currently off-limits and permit new exploration in Alaska's Bristol Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, according to people who have seen or been told about drafts of the plan.

The department issued a news release yesterday that was lacking details but said that it had finished a five-year plan that will include a "major proposal for expanded oil and natural gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf." Department officials declined to describe the plan.

Congress would still have to agree to open areas currently off-limits before any drilling could take place off Virginia's coast. Every year since 1982, after an oil spill off Santa Barbara, Calif., Congress has reaffirmed a moratorium on drilling off the nation's Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Last year, after a vigorous push by drilling advocates, Congress opened new waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Interior Department might still go ahead with environmental and geological seismic studies off Virginia, but the plan does not envision drilling there before 2011, according to a congressional source who saw an earlier version of the proposal. The sources who described the plan spoke on the condition of anonymity because they didn't want to compromise relationships with people who showed them drafts.

So, what's it going to be -- more domestic production, or continued reliance on dictators in the Middle East and Latin America for our oil?

Posted by: Greg at 01:55 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Over at Vonage-Forum.com they have a fantastic VoIP forum that has been around for four years. Once you sign up, you have the opportunity to discuss issues related to Vonage and other VoIP options with others who use such services for voice communication over the internet -- news, reviews, and services. And let's be honest -- given recent legal issues involving Vonage, there is an awful lot to talk about, both technical and practical.

Paid Endorsement.

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Kucinich /Gravel in 2008

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Some headlines just leap out at you.

Polygamous lesbians flee Sharia

Uhhhh -- yeah.

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The sickness of these diabolically-inspired individuals knows no bounds.

Having arranged to meet these three Christians on Sunday morning for a Bible study, they brutally martyred Tilman Ekkehart Geske, Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel.

After Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault reportedly began. "The young men tied Ugur, Necati, and TilmanÂ’s hands and feet to chairs as they videoed their work on their cell phones," ICC said, adding that what "followed in the next three hours is beyond belief."

ICC said the men were "disemboweled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those body parts were destroyed." The group added that "fingers were chopped off" and "their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open" as part of what it called "satanic torture."

It added that "possibly the worst part was watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and UgurÂ’s stabs were too numerous to count."

Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, and their "heads practically decapitated," ICC said.

Such brutality would be shocking – were it not all too common among those who have taken to murdering non-Muslims in the name of the Islamic faith. Let us hope that the government of Turkey will vigorously deal with these perpetrators of these horrific actions. And may the blood of these martyrs be a spring that nurtures the Christian faith in Turkey, and draw more and more to the truth of the Christian faith.

H/T Jawa Report, Christian Persecution Blog

UPDATE: Will there be justice for Christians in Turkey? I think it is doubtful, given the arrest of four street evangelists in Turkey for attempting to spread the Gospel. Especially when you get quotes like this from senior officials of the Ministry of "Justice".

“Missionaries are more dangerous than terror organizations,” Niyazi Guney, Ministry of Justice director general of laws, reportedly commented only a day after the murders.

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Words you never thought you would see on this blog – but which are true in this case.

Legislation that would lift an online gambling ban imposed by Congress last year was introduced on Thursday by the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Calling the Internet gambling prohibition "imprudently adopted," Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts outlined a bill to make it legal again for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.
"The fundamental issue here is a matter of individual freedom," Frank told a news conference, adding his committee would hold a hearing on the matter in June.

The bill includes provisions for licensing and regulating online gambling companies to protect against underage gambling, compulsive gambling, money-laundering and fraud.

I said it was a stupid law when it passed, and I still believe that to be the case. Repeal the online gambling ban NOW!

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I’m shocked by the lack of respect for the US Constitution shown by Dan Simpson, a retired diplomat and member of the editorial boards of both the Toledo Blade and the Pittsburgh Gazette. After all, he proposes nothing less than gun confiscation – and warrantless searches of any person or place without suspicion of any crime.

Now, how would one disarm the American population? First of all, federal or state laws would need to make it a crime punishable by a $1,000 fine and one year in prison per weapon to possess a firearm. The population would then be given three months to turn in their guns, without penalty.

* * *

The disarmament process would begin after the initial three-month amnesty. Special squads of police would be formed and trained to carry out the work. Then, on a random basis to permit no advance warning, city blocks and stretches of suburban and rural areas would be cordoned off and searches carried out in every business, dwelling, and empty building. All firearms would be seized. The owners of weapons found in the searches would be prosecuted: $1,000 and one year in prison for each firearm.

Clearly, since such sweeps could not take place all across the country at the same time. But fairly quickly there would begin to be gun-swept, gun-free areas where there should be no firearms. If there were, those carrying them would be subject to quick confiscation and prosecution. On the streets it would be a question of stop-and-search of anyone, even grandma with her walker, with the same penalties for "carrying."

WhatÂ’s more, he even notes positively that the slowness of the courts would enable many jurisdictions to disarm the citizenry before their rights under the Constitution could be vindicated.

LetÂ’s see, besides the obvious violation of the Second Amendment contemplated under this proposal, there are a number of other abrogations of the Bill of Rights that should trouble even the most ardent gun-grabber. I see violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments as well.

But what is more disturbing is that Simpson has apparently forgotten the history of this country that led to the American Revolution. Indeed, his search proposal is nothing less than the “Writ of Assistance” issued by the British government – one of the abuses of the rights of colonists that helped precipitate the American Revolution.

Indeed, I’m not sure what disturbs me more – Simpson’s un-American proposals, or the fact that a man so disconnected from the fundamental values contained in our Constitution was ever permitted to serve as in any capacity in the Foreign Service, much less at the ambassadorial level.

H/T CaptainÂ’s Quarters, Q and O, No Runny Eggs, The Liberty Papers

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I’ve made no secret of the fact that I am not a backer of Rudy Giuliani for the presidency – and I’ve acknowledged my concerns over his personal life.

But when Howard Dean raises such issues, IÂ’m stunned by the hypocrisy.

Democratic party chairman Howard Dean said on Thursday that Rudy Giuliani "personal life is a serious problem."

Dean sent the warning on CNN's SITUATION ROOM with host Wolf Blitzer.

Chariman Dean said the former New York City Mayor "has a lot of character issues that he has to answer for. And overwhelmingly, Americans are going to vote on honesty and integrity.... We've begun to reach out to evangelical Christians, and that's a real problem for him. His personal life is a serious problem for him."

BLITZER: Well, describe those character issues...

DEAN: No, I'm not going to get into that stuff. I don't like attacking people on their personal lives, but I can assure you that in the Republican primary, given what went on in the 2000 Republican primary in South Carolina between George Bush and John McCain, those attacks will be made in the Republican Party.

For this to come from the leader of the party of Barney Frank, Gerry Studds, Ted Kennedy, and Bill Clinton is rather shocking. After all, Giuliani has never let a prostitution service run out of his home, had sex with a teenage page, left a woman to drown in his car after diving drunk, or committed perjury about his sex life. After all, the familial sins of Rudy Giuliani don't hold a candle to theirs.

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That is the only conclusion possible, if the claims of the Illinois Senator are accurate.

The Senate's No. 2 Democrat says he knew that the American public was being misled into the Iraq war but remained silent because he was sworn to secrecy as a member of the intelligence committee.

"The information we had in the intelligence committee was not the same information being given to the American people. I couldn't believe it," Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, said Wednesday when talking on the Senate floor about the run-up to the Iraq war in 2002.

"I was angry about it. [But] frankly, I couldn't do much about it because, in the intelligence committee, we are sworn to secrecy. We can't walk outside the door and say the statement made yesterday by the White House is in direct contradiction to classified information that is being given to this Congress."

If, as Durbin claims, he knew of falsehoods being given to the American people, he had a moral and Constitutional responsibility to speak out. But he didnÂ’t. And his claims are contradicted by his fellow Democrats on the Intelligence Committee.

That leads me to two possibilities.

1) Dick Durbin failed to do his duty to the American people by not exposing these so-called misleading statements – especially given his statements that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United States.

2) Dick Durbin lied to the American people in making this claim of that the administration lied to the American people.

Only one conclusion can be drawn at this point – Dick Durbin is a liar, and unfit to serve in the United States Senate. He should resign immediately.

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Posted by: Greg at 10:36 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Remember – these are the folks who believe in global warming. You would think they might actually practice what they preach by reducing their carbon emissions and fossil fuel usage. You would be wrong.

A flock of small jets took flight from Washington Thursday, each carrying a Democratic presidential candidate to South Carolina for the first debate of the political season.

For Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, it was wheels up shortly after they voted in favor of legislation requiring that U.S. troops begin returning home from Iraq in the fall.

No one jet pooled, no one took commercial flights to save money, fuel or emissions.

Lifestyle changes to combat global warming? ThatÂ’s for the little people.

Because the politically powerful are different from you and me.

Posted by: Greg at 10:35 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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IÂ’m not a big Oliver North fan, and never have been. I donÂ’t watch his television work, and rarely read his column. However, he does ask a question that we should demand the Neo-Copperhead Democrats be forced to answer.

Reid and his cohorts in Congress who believe "this war is lost" have acted to ensure that it will be. No one asked them: "If we lost, who won?" The answer should be obvious.

So come on, my Democrat friends – if we follow your plan for defeat in Iraq, who is the winner?

Posted by: Greg at 10:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Found in a child's scrapbook, compiled 180 years ago at the time our nation marked the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The letter from George Washington is pasted between poetry and party invitations, stuffed into a dusty scrapbook amid jokes and cutouts of handsome men, and all the highlights of a lucky little girlÂ’s life.

It was written in May 1787 and addressed to Jacob Morris, grandfather of Julia Kean, the precocious 10-year-old who started the brown leather scrapbook in 1826 and put the letter under a portrait of the nationÂ’s first president.

The letter is just 111 words long, a scant two paragraphs, but it mentions a rival of Washington, Horatio Gates, and includes enough hints of intrigue to whet the appetite of scholars. They learned of the letterÂ’s discovery only recently, after it was found among the private papers of one of New JerseyÂ’s most prominent families.

What a neat treasure to find -- and the words of the letter are significant, written during the Constitutional Convention over which George Washington presided.

“The happiness of this Country depend much upon the deliberations of the federal Convention which is now sitting,” reads the second paragraph of the quill-and-ink letter. “It, however, can only lay the foundation — the community at large must raise the edifice.”

Indeed -- the Constitution is mere paper unless We, the People, build and maintain the structure it designs. Have we lived up to that responsibility in the 220 years since that great man wrote those words?

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Lynne Stewart is no longer a lawyer.

he's still out on the street, but convicted terror helper Lynne Stewart is out of the legal profession.

A state appeals court yesterday formally disbarred Stewart, officially ending her 30-year career as a lawyer.

The Appellate Division made the disbarment retroactive to Feb. 10, 2005. That's the date she was convicted of providing material support to terrorists by helping her jailed client, blind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, communicate with his followers. He is the suspected mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing .

The unsigned decision by the five-judge panel also rejected Stewart's bid to resign from the bar, which her lawyer made 18 months after she was convicted.

I can't wait for her to rot in jail after her appeals are over.

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A bit of my childhood has died.

He does the "Monster Mash" no more. Bobby "Boris" Pickett, whose dead-on Boris Karloff impression propelled the Halloween anthem to the top of the charts in 1962, making him one of pop music's most enduring one-hit wonders, has died of leukemia. He was 69.

Pickett, dubbed "The Guy Lombardo of Halloween," died Wednesday night at the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital, said his longtime manager, Stuart Hersh. His daughter, Nancy, and his sister, Lynda, were at Pickett's bedside.

"Monster Mash" hit the Billboard chart three times: when it debuted in 1962, reaching No. 1 the week before Halloween; again in August 1970, and for a third time in May 1973. The resurrections were appropriate for a song where Pickett gravely intoned the forever-stuck-in-your-head chorus: "He did the monster mash. ... It was a graveyard smash."

Rest in peace, and may your family be comforted.

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Do you need CRM software? Well if you do, AIMpromote is a fantastic on-demand lead management program. AIMpromote allows you to track every lead, trace every dollar, and check data on every business campaign in real-time, without having to wait for data to be gathered and reports generated -- because AIMpromote does it all for you! What more can a manager ask for?

One of the nice features about AIMpromote is that you don't need to spend a large number of man-hours configuring software for your company. AIMpromote sets it all up for you, configuring the program to your needs and providing your people with the training that they need to use the program. That is all as part of the cost of the program! You and I both know that is better than most other lead management programs. They sell you the program, and then charge you an arm and a leg for those little necessities that are essential to your business, like technical support. But AIMPromote even has dedicated support representatives to work with you in the event you have difficulties or concerns.

Not convinced? Try AIMPromote free for 14 days.

Paid Endorsement.

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So now the rent assistance will be extended to three-and-a-half years.

Thousands of families displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita will receive housing assistance for 18 additional months but must begin contributing to their rent next year, federal officials said Thursday.

Evacuees, their advocates and local officials welcomed the news as a realistic acknowledgment that many families still need help but must prepare to assume more responsibility for their own lives.

"I want the city of Houston to know that the majority of the people of New Orleans are trying as hard as they can," said evacuee Samuel Pollen, 63, who is taking classes for certification to work as a teacher. "They gave up on us too soon because of the bad ones."

Housing assistance for more than 120,000 displaced families, which was scheduled to end Aug. 31, will continue through March 1, 2009. Starting March 1, 2008, recipients will be required to make monthly payments starting at $50 and increasing to $600 by the time the assistance ends.

Oh, the horror! After 2-and-a-half years these folks will actually be expected to do something to provide for themselves!

Personally, I like this response from a fellow Houstonian.

Instead of endless Federal Emergency Management Agency's handouts, perhaps it's time for Katrina evacuees to take those jobs "Americans just won't do." This seems to be working well for illegal immigrants in this country.

Indeed -- but then again, the illegals haven't been raised with the expectation that the government will support them through some form of public dole, which many of them were on BEFORE the hurricane.

Posted by: Greg at 10:23 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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And the more we know, the more we can do to find a cure.

Researchers said yesterday that they had identified seven new genes connected to the most common form of diabetes — the latest result of an intensifying race between university researchers and private companies to find genes linked to a range of diseases.

The findings, presented in three reports by university scientists and one by a private company, offer novel insights into the biology of a disease that affects 170 million people worldwide.

And the sudden spate of new results mark an acceleration, and perhaps a turning point, in the ability to find disease genes, the long-promised payoff from the human genome project that began in 1989.

YesterdayÂ’s reports bring the number of well-attested genes involved in adult-onset, or Type 2 diabetes up to 10, from the 3 known previously. The new genes do not immediately suggest any new therapy, but may point to a new biological basis for the disease, from which effective treatments could emerge in time.

And in the mean time, I'll just keep taking my pills.

Posted by: Greg at 10:15 PM | Comments (54) | Add Comment
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