A shameful end to a shameful incident.

The British schoolteacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her 7-year-old pupils to name a class teddy bear Muhammad was pardoned Monday by the Sudanese president and left for England later in the evening.

President Omar al-Bashir made the decision after meeting with two Muslim members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament.

The British prime minister, Gordon Brown, said he was “delighted and relieved” at the news and that “common sense has prevailed.”

The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last week for insulting Islam and was to be released next Monday. Under Sudanese law, Ms. Gibbons could have received 40 lashes and been jailed for six months. On Friday, hundreds of Sudanese in Khartoum, the capital, protested what they considered a lenient punishment and called for her to be put to death.

British officials had been ratcheting up pressure on SudanÂ’s government to release Ms. Gibbons, 54, saying she had made an innocent mistake. Muhammad is one of the most common names in the Muslim world, but it is also the name of IslamÂ’s holy prophet.

Frankly, I find the whole incident shameful.

That an innocent action with no malicious intent was treated as a crime is shameful.

That crowds of outraged Muslims called for this woman's death is shameful.

That two Muslim peers traveled asked the Sudanese leader for a pardon is shameful -- they should have demanded an unconditional release and exoneration of Ms. Gibbons.

That Ms. Gibbosn accepted the pardon and its implication of wrongdoing is shameful.

That those who insist that non-Muslims conform to actions to Islamic law and sensibilities won again is shameful.

Posted by: Greg at 12:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It is time for the city of Houston to drop its sanctuary policies, just like Phoenix has.

Under pressure from advocates for stricter immigration laws, the mayor of Phoenix said on Monday that he no longer backed a Police Department order barring officers from routinely asking the immigration status of people it arrested and announced a panel to study a policy change.

A spokesman for Mayor Phil Gordon, Scott Phelps, said the policy was “written for another time” on the belief that the federal government “would fulfill all of its immigration responsibilities, and clearly that has changed.”

But Mr. Gordon, a Democrat, announced the change at a time when sentiment against illegal immigrants has intensified in Phoenix after the shooting death two months ago of a police officer, Nick Erfle, by an illegal immigrant. There have also been weekly protests at a furniture store whose owners have pressed the authorities to arrest day laborers who congregate there and who are believed to be in the country illegally.

These policies effectively aid and abet illegal immigration. And the preferred change is simply to determine the immigration status of those arrested on other charges, not to start broad sweeps through immigrant communities, looking for illegals. And in the end, the result will be the removal of the least desirable illegal immigrants -- the ones who are criminals -- and the creation of a safer community for everyone else, regardless of race, ethnicity, or immigration status.

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Am I the only one who takes offense at this attempt to have it both ways by Richard Cohen?

What could be called "The Huckabee Moment" occurred Sunday morning when ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked the former Arkansas governor, suddenly and ominously the front-runner in Iowa's GOP contest, whether Mitt Romney is a Christian. Mike Huckabee knew precisely what was being asked of him, and he also knew, because he is a preacher, what the right -- not the clever, mind you -- answer should be. But Huckabee merely smiled that wonderful smile of his and punted. This, with apologies to George W. Bush, is the soft demagoguery of low expectations.

Until just recently, the expectations have indeed been low for Huckabee. He is more famous for losing more than 100 pounds than for any towering political accomplishment. But he is an ordained Baptist minister, and Romney is a Mormon -- a member of a church that some conservative Christians consider heretical. Huckabee has presented himself as the un-Mormon.

Pardon me for saying so, but that is the chief difference between the two. On about all the social issues you can name -- abortion, stem cells, gun control -- Huckabee and Romney are in sync. So their religious differences are not about morality. They are about belief -- religious belief, precisely the issue that is not supposed to matter in this country. Huckabee, though, clearly thinks it ought to.

Now hold on here, Richard. You insist that religious belief is not supposed to matter in a political race in this country. And yet you take Huckabee to task for not passing theological judgment upon Mitt Romney and his religious faith. How can those two positions possibly be reconciled? And more to the point, would any answer given by Mike Huckabee have satisfied you. Do you mean to tell me that had Huckabee answered "No, Mitt Romney is not a Christian," you would have sheered him for forthrightly proclaiming his religious belief about the nature of the Mormon faith? If he had said "Yes, Mitt Romney is a Christian," am I expected to believe that you would not be making a big deal about his breaking with Southern Baptist Convention and many other conservative religious groups on the status of the LDS Church, with its unique, distinctive beliefs? In other words, how can you seriously tell us that belief does not matter and then excoriate Huckabee for not formally stating his religious belief on a Sunday morning news show.

Now please understand that i think it is high time that Mitt Romney speaks out about the issue of religious tolerance. I expect that Thursday's speech will be an important one. But in no way can it or should it be a determining factor in the theological debate over the question of whether or not Mormonism is or is not a Christian faith. That gets into an entirely different realm.

But interestingly enough, Cohen's language of religious tolerance is belied by his repeated slams directed at conservative Christians who express their faith in a public manner. You know, the comment about Huckabee's "obdurate and narrow-minded religious beliefs" and the slam about Huckabee's position on evolution. What's more, Cohen dares to pass the judgment that Huckabee is not a good Christian. I suppose we should ask who died and made this Jewish columnist Pope, with the wherewithal to determine the validity of someone's Christian faith.

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All right, folks, here's a neat site for all you chemistry students out there. ChemiCool.com has the periodic table for you, accessible online at the click of you mouse. not only that, but they also have a host of other online resources. There is a chemistry dictionary, calculators for important chemical formulas, and even some important chemistry graphs that can help you with your homework. And for those of you who are into chemistry in a serious sort of way, they even have a forum section where you can discuss chemistry, from the most basic issues to the most advanced. Really, what a site! I wish there was a site like this for my history students.

Posted by: Greg at 11:44 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Muslim complaints about anti-Muslim bias crimes up.

Could it be that CAIR and its fellow travelers are lying?

Not only are anti-Islamic hate crimes way down, but they're a fraction of overall religious hate crimes. The overwhelming majority of such crimes target Jews, something CAIR and other Muslim groups don't seem all that concerned about.

In 2006, a whopping 66% of religiously motivated attacks were on Jews, while just 11% targeted Muslims, even though the Jewish and Muslim populations are similar in size. Catholics and Protestants, who together account for 9% of victims, are subject to almost as much abuse as Muslims in this country.

Last year's anti-Islamic hate crimes totaled 156. While just one hate crime is one too many, that's a 68% drop from 2001.

The FBI report gives lie to CAIR's alarmist narrative of "Islamophobic" lynch mobs marching on mosques across America. In reality, Americans have been remarkably, and admirably, tolerant and respectful of Muslims and their institutions since 9/11.

It's plain that CAIR, which claims to be the "Muslim NAACP," has been hyping tensions.

What is the real story? Consider this chart based upon FBI statistics.

What do you see there? Certainly not a rising tide of crimes against Muslims because of their religion. Instead you see the truly minimal number of incidents directed against Muslims. And while any crime based upon the victim's religion is wrong, the numbers don't lie -- but it is clear that CAIR does.

Posted by: Greg at 11:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In recent years, some folks have turned to foreign pharmacies to supply their medication needs. It certainly can lower costs of medications, that's for sure -- something especially important if you are on a fixed income. You can order from here and receive confidential shipments of your needed medications. At DrugDelivery.ca, they will have a physician review your order and approve medications that are appropriate. You can then place your order and save 40-90% on medications over American prices for the same drugs. Not only that, but folks receiving medications for ED or incontinence can preserve their anonymity, thus avoiding having neighbors know about their embarrassing condition.

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The National Intelligence Estimate SAYS Iran has stopped its nuclear weapons program.

A major U.S. intelligence review has concluded that Iran stopped work on a suspected nuclear weapons program more than four years ago, a stark reversal of previous intelligence assessments that Iran was actively moving toward a bomb.

The new findings, drawn from a consensus National Intelligence Estimate, reflected a surprising shift in the midst of the Bush administration's continuing political and diplomatic campaign to depict Tehran's nuclear development as a grave threat. The report was drafted after an extended internal debate over the reliability of communications intercepts of Iranian conversations this past summer that suggested the program had been suspended.

"Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," a declassified summary of the new National Intelligence Estimate stated. Two years ago, the intelligence community said in contrast it had "high confidence that Iran currently is determined to have nuclear weapons."

The new estimate, prepared by the nation's 16 intelligence agencies, applied the same "high confidence" label to a judgment that suspected Iranian military efforts to build a nuclear weapon were suspended in 2003 and said with "moderate confidence" that it had remained inactive since then.

Even if Iran were to restart its program now, the country probably could not produce enough highly enriched uranium for a single weapon before the middle of the next decade, the assessment stated. It also expressed doubt about whether Iran "currently intends to develop nuclear weapons."

Now there are some caveats that need to be added here.

1) The "suspension" of the nuclear weapons program can reasonably be described as more of a pause in the process than a complete shutting down of the program.

2) The assumption is that Iran has not acquired the necessary nuclear material from another source.

3) This does not account for Mahmoud the Mad's rhetoric about raining down destruction on Israel and the United States. Would it have been responsible to assume anything else prior to this NIE?

Oh, and a reminder for my liberal buddies who are going nuts about turf wars in the Executive Branch and the previous White House rhetoric on the issue -- these are the same intelligence agencies that were telling us for several years leading up to the current conflict in Iraq that there Saddam had a flourishing WMD program, at the same moderately confident level. Why do you trust this NIE when the previous one leads you to scream "Bush lied, people died"? Is it just that you like these results?

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Are you looking for LCD projector rentals for weddings, for meetings, or for presentations? Well, you can rent one anywhere in the country with Projector123.com. They'll ship that projector to you the by FedEx and have it to you the next day if you get the order in by 3PM Pacific time the day before. So if you need that projector, get in touch with them -- nothing could be easier.

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These cases happen from time to time. More often than we want to admit, to be honest.

The two tiny Indonesian women know just a handful of English words. They know Windex. Fantastik (the cleanser, not the adjective). They know the words Master and Missus, which they were taught to use in addressing the Long Island couple they served as live-in help for five years in the sylvan North Shore hamlet of Muttontown.

Their employers, Varsha Sabhnani, 35, and her husband, Mahender, 51, naturalized citizens from India, have been on trial in U.S. District Court here for the past month. They are charged with what the federal criminal statutes refer to as involuntary servitude and peonage, or, in the common national parlance since 1865, the crime of keeping slaves.

The two women, the government charged in its indictment, were victims of “modern-day slavery.”

It is a rarely prosecuted crime. But since passage of the 2000 federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, prosecutions have increased from less than a handful nationwide per year to about a dozen. The law is probably best known for its focus on prostitution and child-sex traffickers; yet in the last few years, in a few highly publicized cases like the SabhnanisÂ’, federal and state task forces set up to deal with sex trafficking have also begun to focus on the exploitation of domestic workers.

Last year, the wife of a Saudi prince was convicted in Boston for keeping two house servants for three years in virtual slavery. In 2005, two doctors in Wisconsin were convicted of holding a Philippine woman as an indentured servant for 20 years. Federal prosecutors won convictions in 2003 against a Maryland couple who kept a Brazilian woman in their home as a servant for 15 years, paying her nothing.

What is particularly frightening is that a number of incidents have involved foreign diplomats -- people who can hide behind their diplomatic immunity for protection. We need to clarify that slavery cases are exempt from the usual diplomatic immunity cases as a crime against humanity. And we need to prosecute all cases of slavery -- whether those of individuals forced into prostitution or those held hostage as domestic servants -- to the fullest extent of the law.

Posted by: Greg at 11:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My Hurricane Rita experience still haunts me over two years after the fact. It wasn’t the stress of being driven from my home by a storm that we fully expected to destroy all our possessions that we could not take with us due to the expected 25 foot storm surge barreling though my home (which is located barely 5 feet above sea level and only four blocks from the bay). It was not being rear-ended in my new car after having traveled only 60 miles in 20 hours and having to make a hospital visit with my wife. No, what haunts me today is how unprepared we really were – and how we really aren’t much better prepared today in the event another storm comes.

That’s why there are two items I really want to see under our tree on Christmas – a pair that complement each other quite well. I want an Emergency Response Kit for my wife, and an Emergency Preparedness Kit for me. Let's be honest -- if we had found it necessary to sustain ourselves away from shelter -- in our car, no less -- during the storm because of a mechanical failure or running out of gas (thank God for Sam's Club in the Woodlands!), we would have had little in the way of food to eat and less water than would have been advisable -- after all, we had expected to be on the road under 12 hours as we escaped to Oklahoma. That’s why I want Santa to shop for me at PlanetMace.com, your one-stop website for personal, home, auto and child safety gear. They have both of the items I want, and many more besides.

Of course, there are some stocking stuffers we could use, too. They’ve got door and window braces that can help make Paula feel more safe at home when I’m at school. There is also alarm gear, in case someone ever does want to get into the house. You can even buy lock pick set for a loved one if they need one – though I can’t see why I would need one.

Posted by: Greg at 11:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Freedom victorious in Venezuela.

Venezuelan voters delivered a stinging defeat to President Hugo Chávez on Sunday, blocking proposed constitutional changes that would have given him political supremacy and accelerated the transformation of this oil-rich country into a socialist state.

Hours after the final ballots were cast, the National Electoral Council announced at 1:15 a.m. local time Monday that voters, by a margin of 51 to 49 percent, had rejected 69 reforms to the 1999 constitution. The modifications would have permitted the president to stand for reelection indefinitely, appoint governors to provinces he would create and control Venezuela's sizable foreign reserves.

Chávez immediately went on national television and conceded before a roomful of government allies and other supporters. "I thank you and I congratulate you," Chávez said calmly, directing his comments to his foes. "I recognize the decision a people have made." Chávez admitted, though, that he had found himself in a quandary on Sunday night as votes were being tallied, because the vote was so close. But he said that with nearly 90 percent of 9 million ballots counted, it became clear that his opponents' victory was irreversible. "I came out of the dilemma," he said, "and I am calm."

Now the question is one of how much respect he shows for the outcome of this vote. Will he continue down the path of suppressing the opposition, or will he back off the moves towards dictatorship that have been his hallmark in recent years? Will he tone down his anti-American rhetoric? Or will we yet see a declaration of fraud by Chavez, and the forced implementation of some of these provisions at a later date?

Posted by: Greg at 11:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Does it surprise you to know that, as conservative as I am, I have a taste for some rather funky, unusual types of art and slightly off-beat objects for around my workspace? Maybe that's why I have a couple of gargoyles guarding my computer at school, or why my home office has a giant piece of modern art hanging where it is the first thing you see upon entering.

Well, I just found one more item I'd like to add to my collection of interesting stuff -- this topographic representation of the Earth brought to life through the magic of plasma!

Now this look at it. There is our planet, with a cool blue glow suffusing the whole. And yet, when you touch the surface, caressing the surface of Mother Earth, green bolts of plasma are formed, creating a light show within the globe that provides new perspectives on the planet and its surface. How exciting -- not only would this be great as a decoration at home, but also as an interesting classroom item.

Now where does one get such an item? Would you believe at a site called CoolStuffExpress.com? They have, as the name suggests, lots of cool stuff for home and office – including this and lot’s more Plasma Art. And they should – they have been supplying such products to museum stores for years, and so they know what quality is and what the buying public likes. Drop by and see for yourself!

Posted by: Greg at 11:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I wish it were not necessary for a candidate to have to give a speech saying "I'm not a tool of my religious leaders". Indeed, I thought we had dispensed with such things nearly a half-century ago. But the reality of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith, especially in light of the increase in evangelical influence on the right, secularist political correctness on the left, and media coverage of fundamentalist Mormon cults practicing polygamy seems to require it, and so he will give The Speech later this week.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, striving to be the country's first Mormon president, will give a speech this week explaining his relatively unknown faith to voters, his campaign said Sunday.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, striving to be the country's first Mormon president, will give a speech this week explaining his relatively unknown faith to voters, his campaign said Sunday.

From where I sit, here is what Romney needs to do.

1) Romney needs to avoid spending much time on explicating the overall teachings of the LDS Church. They are irrelevant to the presidential race. In addition, this would serve to turn off many voters who would find some of the faith's distinctive teachings to be rather strange.

2) Romney does need to present the teachings of the LDS Church on religious liberty and political participation. They are, by any measure, distinctively American and supportive of the right of all members of that faith to participate in politics free of Church control. Pointing to individuals as different as Harry Reid and Orrin Hatch as examples would do a great job of showing that there is no coercion of Mormon elected officials.

3) Romney does need to show how the general ethos of his faith has influenced his personal and professional conduct. He must show that his being a man of faith has provided him with a moral and ethical compass that will serve him well as the leader of this country.

Mitt Romney is not responsible for 175 years of Mormon history. He is not responsible for former practices now repudiated by the LDS Church. What he is responsible for is showing that he is a man worthy of the trust of the American people to serve in our nation's highest elected office.

Posted by: Greg at 11:13 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Now here's a Christmas contest for you at Overstock.com -- the All I want for Christmas Giveaway. When you visit their site, you have the chance to sign up to win the item of your choice, up to $1000, and the opportunity to invite 5 friends to sign up. If you win, so do your friends, too!

Not only that, but there's the grand prize. After five days, one individual will be picked to receive ALL FIVE of days of their selections. Yeah, you've done your math right -- that's up to $5000 worth of prizes in one shot.

What gift do i want? Well, today I registered for the HP Pavilion tx1200 1.8 GHz Tablet PC. It is a great computer with all the bells and whistles. It has great speed, a 120 GB hard drive, and 2 gigs of RAM. That should take care of all of my computing needs right there, but when you add the Ethernet card and the CD-RW, that makes it even better. Heck, it comes close to what is available on my desktop! And what is really nice is the way the screen can be turned to face different directions, it means that there are some things I could use it for in the classroom that a traditional desktop could not be used.

So what do you think – did I make the right choice?

Posted by: Greg at 06:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Buchanan's New Book: “Prepare Ye for the End” by Right Wing Nut House, and Have Our Copperheads Found Their McClellan in Retired LTG General Sanchez? by Wolf Howling.  Here are the full results of the vote:

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No criminal charges in noose case.

Because the perp is black, of course.

A firefighter who reported finding a knotted rope and a threatening note with a drawing of a noose in an East Baltimore station house last month had placed the items there himself, city officials said yesterday.

The man was suspended last week for performance-related issues and will likely face additional punishment, fire officials said. Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the Police Department and for Mayor Sheila Dixon, said the man admitted to the hoax and will not face criminal charges.

Officials identified the firefighter who they say acknowledged writing the note as Donald Maynard, a firefighter-paramedic apprentice who is black. Maynard could not be reached for comment.

The rope incident sparked outrage two weeks ago and prompted a federal investigation into possible civil rights violations. It was the latest in a series of incidents that have cast the Fire Department in a poor light over the past year, including the death of a recruit in a training exercise and accusations of racism.

The news of the hoax came a day after a report released by the city's inspector general found that the top performers on two recent Fire Department promotions exams likely cheated amid lapses in testing security.

So let's see here.

A cheating scandal breaks out in the Baltimore Fire Department.

One of those involved finds a noose and a note.

Accusations of racism fly, and a civil rights investigation ensues.

Now it turns out the perp is one of the black guys involved in the cheating scandal, and the party who found the noose.

Well, never mind -- no need for charges criminal charges here. But if he had been white, Donald Maynard would have had the book thrown at him, by local, state, and federal authorities, on the basis of the civil rights violation posed by the noose.

Excuse me, but didn't Maynard just victimize every black -- and every white -- member of the BFD? Why should he get a pass on his CRIME?

Lock him up and throw away the key -- or admit that the current noose hysteria is nothing more than a PC move designed to score more points for the ethnic grievance industry.

More At Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Right Angles

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So much for one character in a children's book.

A BRITISH children's author who called one of his characters Mohammed the Mole to promote multiculturalism has renamed him Morgan so as not to offend Muslims.

Kes Gray said the case of British teacher Gillian Gibbons, who has been jailed in Sudan for allowing her class of primary school children to name a teddy bear Mohammed, had prompted him to postpone a reprint of his book, Who's Poorly Too, and change the name.

“I had no idea at all of the sensitivities of the name Mohammed until seeing this case in Sudan,” Gray told The Sunday Times.

“As soon as I saw the news I thought, 'Oh gosh, I've got a mole called Mohammed - this is not good'.”

I know whose name won't be changing.

And he's now available at CafePress!

Posted by: Greg at 11:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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They've insisted that all previous discussions on their nuclear program are moot, and that they will continue to work towards "peaceful" (read that "jihadi") uses of nuclear material.

In a sign that Iran has hardened its position on its nuclear program, its new nuclear negotiator said in talks in London on Friday that all proposals made in past negotiations were irrelevant and that further discussion of a curb on IranÂ’s uranium enrichment was unnecessary, senior officials briefed on the meeting said.

The Iranian official, Saeed Jalili, also told Javier Solana, who represented the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany in the five-hour talks, that United Nations Security Council resolutions punishing Iran for not suspending its enriched uranium activities were illegal, the officials said.

Representatives of the six countries met in Paris on Saturday afternoon to discuss further punitive Security Council measures against Iran after the final talks in London failed to produce a breakthrough.

So, bombing Iran may yet be the only way to avoid nuclear war. Will Bush have to do it? Or will any Democrat have the balls to do so (and that includes Hillary, who has a pair bigger than any of her male counterparts, which isn't saying much in today's wussified Democrat party)?

But I can't help but note what may be the funniest line in an otherwise serious news story.

The first hour and a half of the meeting on Friday was described as a monologue, with Mr. Jalili speaking about the will of the Iranian people to support uranium enrichment, theology, God, even his doctoral thesis, according to several officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under normal diplomatic rules.

Looks like Mahmoud the mad has found his perfect counterpart for these non-negotiations.

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When the Gnostic Gospel of Judas was published with great fanfare, it was trumpeted as showing Judas as a good guy whose role was a blessed one. But was that true?

So what does the Gospel of Judas really say? It says that Judas is a specific demon called the “Thirteenth.” In certain Gnostic traditions, this is the given name of the king of demons — an entity known as Ialdabaoth who lives in the 13th realm above the earth. Judas is his human alter ego, his undercover agent in the world. These Gnostics equated Ialdabaoth with the Hebrew Yahweh, whom they saw as a jealous and wrathful deity and an opponent of the supreme God whom Jesus came to earth to reveal.

Whoever wrote the Gospel of Judas was a harsh critic of mainstream Christianity and its rituals. Because Judas is a demon working for Ialdabaoth, the author believed, when Judas sacrifices Jesus he does so to the demons, not to the supreme God. This mocks mainstream ChristiansÂ’ belief in the atoning value of JesusÂ’ death and in the effectiveness of the Eucharist.

So what we have here is, as I pointed out at the time of the original publication, is a document by a heretical sect that was properly rejected by the early Church. That modern scholars have willfully mistranslated it and overlooked the fact that it is both anti-Semitic and anti-Christian (the Jewish Yahweh is an evil demon, while the crucifixion had no value and the Christian Eucharist is meaningless) is indicative of some other agenda than illumination of history. Whether that agenda was to make a quick buck, to spur a healing of Jewish-Christian relations, or to undermine Christianity itself, both the original Gnostic work and the subsequent translation by National Geographic are clearly fraudulent and deserve rejection by people of good will everywhere.

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How the editorial board at the New York Times can miss the fact that two of their editorials are so contradictory in nature is simply mind-blowing to me.

They defend, quite properly, freedom of speech for foreigners, from their own repressive governments and insist that internet companies be forced to support American values. Indeed, they chastise the companies for opposing efforts to protect free speech in repressive foreign countries.

What they are resisting are efforts in Congress that could help them stand against repressive governments.

Last January, Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey reintroduced the Global Online Freedom Act in the House. It would fine American companies that hand over information about their customers to foreign governments that suppress online dissent. The bill would at least give American companies a solid reason to decline requests for data, but the big Internet companies do not support it. That shows how much they care about the power of information to liberate the world.

But then, the same newspaper demands that the American government limit and punish political speech here in the United States by implementing another public financing scheme, complete with contribution limits and speech bans. Indeed, they argue that those who engage in too much political speech because of their deep pockets are subverting democracy! Their editorial calls for more government money to campaigns, with more restrictions on the ability of Americans to spend their own money to engage in political speech – and enhanced penalties against those who do dare to speak too much (media organizations like the New York times would, of course, be exempt).

So make no mistake here – what the Times wants is free speech abroad and speech suppression at home. Rather than make China more like the US, though, the result will be to make the US more like China. So if Yahoo has betrayed free speech by its opposition to the Global Online Freedom Act, how much more does the New York Times betray it with support for campaign speech suppression?

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You have to wonder about the folks who tell developing nations not to use or subsidize fertilizer as a way of ending famines.

Malawi hovered for years at the brink of famine. After a disastrous corn harvest in 2005, almost five million of its 13 million people needed emergency food aid.

But this year, a nation that has perennially extended a begging bowl to the world is instead feeding its hungry neighbors. It is selling more corn to the World Food Program of the United Nations than any other country in southern Africa and is exporting hundreds of thousands of tons of corn to Zimbabwe.

In Malawi itself, the prevalence of acute child hunger has fallen sharply. In October, the United Nations Children’s Fund sent three tons of powdered milk, stockpiled here to treat severely malnourished children, to Uganda instead. “We will not be able to use it!” Juan Ortiz-Iruri, Unicef’s deputy representative in Malawi, said jubilantly.

Farmers explain Malawi’s extraordinary turnaround — one with broad implications for hunger-fighting methods across Africa — with one word: fertilizer.

Over the past 20 years, the World Bank and some rich nations Malawi depends on for aid have periodically pressed this small, landlocked country to adhere to free market policies and cut back or eliminate fertilizer subsidies, even as the United States and Europe extensively subsidized their own farmers. But after the 2005 harvest, the worst in a decade, Bingu wa Mutharika, MalawiÂ’s newly elected president, decided to follow what the West practiced, not what it preached.

Stung by the humiliation of pleading for charity, he led the way to reinstating and deepening fertilizer subsidies despite a skeptical reception from the United States and Britain. MalawiÂ’s soil, like that across sub-Saharan Africa, is gravely depleted, and many, if not most, of its farmers are too poor to afford fertilizer at market prices.

“As long as I’m president, I don’t want to be going to other capitals begging for food,” Mr. Mutharika declared. Patrick Kabambe, the senior civil servant in the Agriculture Ministry, said the president told his advisers, “Our people are poor because they lack the resources to use the soil and the water we have.”

Good grief! We in America make the great Midwestern agricultural zone explode with food each year through the use of fertilizers. In Israel, the desert has bloomed for the same reason. Why the heck tell developing nations -- nations where people are starving -- not to use the methods that we know work for us?

Am I for a free market? You bet I am. But in a case like Malawi, where the choice is between a little socialism and a lot of starvation, I fall firmly on the side of ensuring that people have enough to eat. It is time for other nations to follow the example set by this formerly starving African nation -- and for those who encourage a different path to question their own wisdom and motivations.

Posted by: Greg at 04:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm really hoping that the legislature responds with a law that denies the state's electoral votes to any party that denies it full voting rights at the national convention.

Democratic leaders voted Saturday to strip Michigan of all its delegates to the national convention next year as punishment for scheduling an early presidential primary in violation of party rules.

Michigan, with 156 delegates, has scheduled a Jan. 15 primary. Democratic Party rules prohibit states other than Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina from holding nominating contests before Feb. 5.

Florida was hit with a similar penalty in August for scheduling a Jan. 29 primary.

So let's be really clear about this. The Democrats have now denied the people of two states the right to be involved in the nomination of their party's presidential candidate. Remember, this is the party that has claimed for the last seven years to be all about preventing "disenfranchisement " (something that didn't happen in either of the last two elections, despite bogus claims to the contrary) telling certain states that they don't have a right to vote according to the dictates of state law. As ashamed as I am of the GOP move to diminish the voting strength of certain states, and as strongly as i condemn that move, this is much more destructive of American values and the rights of the people and the states.

Posted by: Greg at 03:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You know, one of my favorite movies in the last few years was Hitch, starring Will Smith. It was a lot of fun, and dealt with a matchmaker who taught his clients how to sweep a woman off her feet. Indeed, I don't think I have laughed so hard during a movie in years.

Believe it or not, there are actually guys like that out there who say they can teach you The Rules of Seduction. Now that sounds like an interesting concept to me. Let's set aside the question of ethics for a minute -- but just a minute -- and ask the key question: "Is there a way to guarantee that you can pick up any woman you want?" These guys say that there are, and that they can be learned if you have the motivation.

Now there is the ethical question related to these rules. Are you out to use these women and cast them aside? Or are you looking for romance and love? If the latter is the case, I can’t argue against learning The Rules of Seduction as a way of meeting that special one. If one is into selfish pleasure, definitely not – but then again, could such techniques work for one who was insincere? We’ll find out on December 7 when the UK’s Channel 4 airs a special about these pick up artists.

Posted by: Greg at 02:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Oh, wait -- that's a constant occurrence for the old bat anyway.

But the latest report from Iraq makes the apologist for all things jihadi look particularly foolish and biased -- civilian deaths are falling in a dramatic fashion due to the surge.

The number of Iraqis killed last month fell to 718, an Associated Press tally showed, the lowest monthly death toll since just before the 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine provoked a vicious cycle of retaliatory sectarian violence.

The figures come as the military says violence has fallen to levels not seen in nearly two years, while acknowledging that Iraqis are still dying in unacceptable numbers.

* * *

It was the third consecutive monthly decline in the death toll of Iraqi civilians and security forces since August, when a massive suicide bombing targeting minority Yazidis in northern Iraq helped push the figure to at least 1,956.

Some 500 are thought to have perished in the bombing of the Yazidis.

At least 1,023 Iraqis were killed in September, 911 in October and 718 in November, the lowest since January 2006, when 615 Iraqis were killed, according to figures compiled by the AP from hospital, police and military officials, as well as accounts from reporters and photographers. Insurgent deaths were not included. Other counts differ and some have given higher civilian death tolls.

The number of U.S. troop deaths also declined for the sixth consecutive month, with at least 37 recorded in November, according to an AP tally based on military figures. That was the lowest number since March 2006, when 31 American service members died.

The U.S. military has said the decline in the number of deadly attacks is largely due to a troop buildup this summer of some 30,000 additional troops that enabled them to get closer to the population, as well as a sharp turn of public opinion against al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremist groups.

Yeah, there's that whole problem of success undermining the liberals' preferred policy of surrender and retreat.

But not to worry -- the media shills for the Islamist jihadis are always willing to put matters into perspective with the help for the academic shills for Islamist jihadis. Take this Columbia (of course) professor and UN (of course) official who is anointed an expert on civilian casualties despite working with health and nutrition issues.

An expert on the effect of conflicts on civilians agreed, saying that while the downward trend was positive, it needed to be kept in perspective.

"We've gone from horrific levels of murder to very bad, which is an improvement but not a reason to celebrate," said Richard Garfield, a professor at New York's Columbia University and a manager of health and nutrition for the World Health Organization.

"At these so-called low levels, there's a massive number of excess deaths still likely to occur."

Expert, of course, is AP speak for "someone who agrees with us, regardless of credentials.

Oh, and remember one minor detail, folks -- the civilian dead are being killed by the terrorists, not by Americans. That won't end if we withdraw, and will get worse.

Posted by: Greg at 02:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I just love the website over at MadGringo.com! Talk about making the casual ethos of a company and its products shine through! They certainly do show off their beach wear and other "Go Slow!" attitude merchandise to great effect. And their logo -- a pineapple skull and crossbones -- simply cries out "Hey! We're all about fun and relaxation."

Now what will you find at MadGringo.com? Well for one, you will find some of the best Hawaiian shirts I've sen anywhere, in a variety of colors an patterns. You'll fond sarongs in some of the same patterns. And then there are t-shirts, flip-flops, bags, and other merchandise epitomizing the "Go Slow" attitude. You'll even find some reasonably priced gift baskets -- all gathered up in an aluminum beer bucket! Yep, it is all about fun and relaxation over at that site.

The whole “Go Slow” ethos of MadGringo.com is one that calls for all of us to slow our lives down and take it easy. Too often, even our recreation is one frantic effort do something more. The Hawaiian shirts urge us to do something quite different – to be, rather than to do, during our leisure time. So Go Slow with Mad Gringo!

Posted by: Greg at 06:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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After denying any connection between the use of his PAC money and his campaign, Obama and his campaign have a lot of explaining to do.

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign helped recommend several of the donations his political action committee made in recent months to politicians in key primary states as the campaign was working to secure endorsements, campaign officials said yesterday.

The acknowledgment alters the campaign's original account of how donations were directed and raised questions among some legal experts about whether the presidential committee was using Obama's leadership PAC to benefit his campaign. The Obama campaign said it is confident it complied with the law.

Obama's Hopefund Inc. distributed more than $180,000 in donations to political groups and candidates in the early presidential voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and more than $150,000 to federal candidates in other states with primary dates through mid-February. The donations accounted for nearly three-quarters of the money the PAC has given out since this summer.

An Obama campaign spokesman last week said that "there is no connection" between the PAC donations and the presidential campaign.

But Bob Bauer, the private counsel for both Obama's campaign and Hopefund, said yesterday that campaign workers were involved over the summer in identifying and recommending possible recipients when Hopefund was deciding how to spend its remaining money. In particular, Bauer said, senior campaign strategist Steve Hildebrand was consulted "multiple times" on potential donations.

The guy who made the recommendations is now a deputy campaign chairman, moving seamlessly from one job to the other. Certainly has an appearance of impropriety, don't you think? I thought you liberals kept saying that Obama was different from all the rest.

And before you liberals protest raising the question, consider this -- what would you say if there had been such cross-pollination between Ton DeLay's PAC and reelection campaign? Don't bother answering -- it will only show your hypocrisy.

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Posted by: Greg at 05:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let's be honest -- there are a lot of folks out there doing web hosting. Not only that, there are a lot of different plans with a wide variety of features and fees. How do you get the best deal on the hosting of your site.

Well, there is a way to check it all out in advance so that you make the best web hosting choice. At WebHostingChoice.com they've compiled the information and allow you to use their Quick Web Host Search to find options that meet your needs. And all hostingservices are given a rating so that you can sort out the wheat from the chaff.

Posted by: Greg at 05:23 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The little dictator of Venezuela has made it pretty clear that he will win tomorrow's constitutional referendum by fraud -- and that he will punish anyone who attempts to call him on it.

A threat by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop oil exports to the United States has raised the stakes over a Sunday referendum he has called in a bid to expand his powers.

Chavez told tens of thousands of supporters late Friday he was putting Venezuela's oil field and refineries under military "protection" and would halt the exports "if this (referendum) is used as a pretext to start violence in Venezuela."

He accused the US Central Intelligence Agency of preparing to spread unrest during the plebiscite in an effort to topple him, and said if its operation was activated "there won't be a drop of oil from Venezuela to the United States."

Given that he polls show the people of Venezuela sharply split on the referendum and that many of his earliest and closest associates oppose the measures, a victory is bound to be questioned by both internal opponents and foreign sources. After all, he has refused to allow international monitors for the election -- not even the dictator-loving, anti-American Jimmy Carter will be permitted to ensure that the elections are free and fair. That about says it all.

And if the international press attempts to reveal the shenanigans, they will be deported and permanently barred from the country.

He renewed his harsh criticisms of Juan Carlos and Uribe, with whom he has had recent high-profile disputes, and threatened to take independent Venezuela television network Globovision off the air if it broadcast partial results during the voting. He also threatened to take action against international networks, accusing CNN in particular of overstating the strength of the opposition's numbers.

"If any international channel comes here to take part in an operation from the imperialist against Venezuela, your reporters will be thrown out of the country, they will not be able to work here," Chavez said. "People at CNN, listen carefully: This is just a warning."

In other words, don't question my vote fraud.

Chavez keeps rambling on about CIA assassination plots. Our laws forbid such things. Too bad -- it might be the only thing that the Left and the Right in this country might be able to agree on (Hollywood excepted).

Instead, we are likely to see a free people enslaved, just like the Cubans, and will stand by and do nothing, to our eternal shame.

Posted by: Greg at 05:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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They are strict separationists when it comes to even a hint of Christian principle making it into the American legal system -- but they seem to like Islamic law in Nigeria.

Just last year, the morality police roamed these streets in dusky blue uniforms and black berets, brandishing cudgels at prayer shirkers and dragging fornicators into Islamic courts to face sentences like death by public stoning.

But these days, the fearsome police officers, known as the Hisbah, are little more than glorified crossing guards. They have largely been confined to their barracks and assigned anodyne tasks like directing traffic and helping fans to their seats at soccer games.

The Islamic revolution that seemed so destined to transform northern Nigeria in recent years appears to have come and gone — or at least gone in a direction few here would have expected.

When Muslim-dominated states like Kano adopted Islamic law after the fall of military rule in 1999, radical clerics from the Arabian peninsula arrived in droves to preach a draconian brand of fundamentalism, and newly empowered religious judges handed down tough punishments like amputation for theft. Kano became a center of anti-American sentiment in one of the most reliably pro-American countries in Africa.

But since then, much of the furor has died down, and the practice of Islamic law, or Shariah, which had gone on for centuries in the private sphere before becoming enshrined in public law, has settled into a distinctively Nigerian compromise between the dictates of faith and the chaotic realities of modern life in an impoverished, developing nation.

“Shariah needs to be practical,” said Bala Abdullahi, a civil servant here. “We are a developing country, so there is a kind of moderation between the ideas of the West and traditional Islamic values. We try to weigh it so there is no contradiction.”

The tone of the article is, quite frankly, fawning. The segregation of women and limits on women's rights are presented as liberating. And the atrocities committed by Muslims against Christians are presented as minor misunderstandings that have been replaced by (a somewhat dhimified) tolerance. But the situation is great in the eyes of al-NY ibn-Times -- after all, the Christians aren't in charge.

Posted by: Greg at 05:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As our 11th Christmas in Texas approaches, I feel the annual sadness over a broken promise. During the job hunt that brought us to Houston, I promised my wife that we would move no place where there was not snow at Christmas. In all this time, only once have we gotten snow at all.

Well, I may have found the solution to the problem -- instant snow! You guys probably think IÂ’m nuts, but there is a product called InstaSnow that just requires a little bit of water to produce realistic appearing snow. They use it for movies and plays, and it is great for decorating. Even better, it is non-toxic and reusable. I wonder if my wife will kill me if she wakes up Christmas morning and finds a InstaSnow-covered pat all the way from the bedroom t the Christmas tree?

Posted by: Greg at 05:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It will be the coldest winter in the last 15 years in the Great White North.

After years of warmer-than-normal winters that spurred constant talk of global warming, winter this year is expected to be the coldest in almost 15 years and should remind everyone of what real Canadian cold feels like, Environment Canada said Friday.

With the exception of only small pockets of northern Canada and southwestern Ontario, this December through February is forecast to be one of the harshest winters in recent memory across the country, said senior climatologist David Phillips.

"It is somewhat remarkable that we're seeing the same situation from coast to coast to almost coast - from Vancouver Island to Bonavista, Nfld., we're showing the country as being colder than normal," Phillips said.

"The last time Canada had a significantly cold winter was back in 1994, more than a decade ago, and this may very well rival that one in terms of coldness."

1994 started with a bang of winter weather and Canadians across the country shivered through temperatures as cold as -42C - and that was before factoring in the wind chill.

Once again proving, folks, that the claims of the adherents of the religion of global warming don't match up with the reality on the ground. Whatever warming is going on is part of a cyclical trend -- and recent fluctuations have been a part of the natural cycle.

My suggestion for the Canucks? More beer fridges.

Posted by: Greg at 05:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I like to visit new places and see the sights. Indeed, when I studied in Mexico during my seminary career, my buddy George one day got an exasperated look on his face and began hollering at me about how he was sick and tired of me trying to find every attraction in the area.

As IÂ’ve gotten older, IÂ’ve come to realize that tours are often the best way to make sure you see what interests you and avoid the rip-offs and gimmicks. ThatÂ’s why I like the Trusted Tours and Attractions concept of offering you choices within your tour packages. For example, if I were to travel to Savannah, IÂ’d have the choice of a number of Old Town Trolley tours that would take me to great sites, as well as tours of special attractions and riverboat cruises complete with a nice meal. And the options are such that folks with interests from history to the arts, to architecture.

Oh, and donÂ’t forget to drop by and sign up for their e-newsletter. This month they are doing a drawing for 4 Sigtseeing Tour tickets in any one of their 21 cities, just for signing up for the newsletter. Or you could win an iPod Nano instead.

Posted by: Greg at 05:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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First, let me say that I'm glad that no one was injured in this standoff at a Clinton campaign office.

A distraught man wearing what appeared to be a bomb walked into a Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign office Friday and demanded to speak to the candidate during a hostage drama that dragged on for nearly six hours before he peacefully surrendered.

Shortly after releasing the last of at least four hostages, Leeland Eisenberg walked out of the storefront office, put down a homemade bomb-like package and was immediately surrounded by SWAT team with guns drawn.

The suspect — clad in gray slacks, white dress shirt and a red tie — was put on the ground, handcuffed and taken two blocks to the police office in the back of a tactical response vehicle.

The man walked into the office shortly before 1 p.m. and took several hostages, police and witnesses said. He let a woman with an infant go immediately and at least one other woman got out about two hours later.

Seconds before he surrendered, shortly after 6 p.m., the last hostage walked from the office. The hostage then ran down the street toward the police roadblocks surrounding Clinton's office.

I'd like to point out that this situation does not, in and of itself, reflect at all upon the character or qualifications of the candidate. After all, she was nowhere near where it took place, and had absolutely no role in resolving it. The one thing that she does appear to have done, contacting the families of the hostage, strikes me as the minimum that could be expected under the circumstances. Common decency demanded it, and for all that I oppose Hillary Clinton's election to any office i do believe that she does have, at the very core of her being, some level of human decency.

But the use of this incident by her campaign spokesman is positively absurd, as noted by Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters.

Somehow, later that evening, the Clinton campaign decided this makes Hillary look presidential, at least to Larry Sabato and the AP:

And as soon as it ended, Clinton took full advantage of the opportunity she had unexpectedly been handed.

In her New Hampshire press conference, she stood before a column of police in green and tan uniforms. She talked of meeting with hostages. She mentioned that she spoke to the stateÂ’s governor about eight minutes after the incident began.

The scene was one of a woman in charge.

“It looked and sounded presidential,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “This was an instance of the White House experience of this campaign. They knew how to handle this.”

That the crisis was outside Clinton's control gave it a rare quality in this era of hyper-controlled politicking, Sabato added.

“What’s most important about it is that it’s not contrived. It’s a real event and that distinguishes it from 99 percent of what happens in the campaign season.”

Er, what? Sabato, who usually gives intelligent political analysis, must have inhaled a little deeply. Clinton was nowhere near New Hampshire during the entirety of the crisis. What was presidential about having the Rochester PD talk a hostage-taker out of a building? What "leadership" did Hillary show in Virginia during this crisis? She canceled a speech!

I'd have to argue that such spin by Sabato is a sign of just how shameless the Clinton campaign can be at moments. After all, the only thing the Senator did was let the process work itself out -- and avoid the bad press of giving a campaign speech during the crisis.

Or did she? Morrissey also notes that AP's Glenn Johnson was reporting on Hillary's repeated calls to various law enforcement officials to get minute-by-minute updates on the situation. In other words, the various law enforcement folks involved hat to spend their time holding the hand of a frantic candidate rather than devoting attention to the key issue at hand -- how to resolve the crisis. In other words, she was in the way. What does that say for her crisis management skills as President? Nothing good, that's for sure.

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Posted by: Greg at 05:06 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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You know, online marketing just gets more and more interesting on a daily basis. Granted, that can be dangerous, as we have seen from the recent fiasco over at Facebook, but we know that there is a lot more good going on in the marketing field than bad.

One thing IÂ’d like to see is more online game development to draw in a wider audience for advertising. For example, a couple of years back there was an online travel agency that had a little miniature golf game that I got hooked on when it would pop up on my screen. Not only would I play, but I still have a bit of a loyalty to them, as I always check them out first when I need to make travel plans.

What I would do would be to work cooperatively with some of the online gaming sites. A number of them have opportunities for advertising that is almost subliminal in nature. Place the advertising, including weblinks, in a place where folks will see them and remember – and if they are clicked on by a player, freeze the game until they return. If this draws in hits immediately, that’s great, and it is likely to draw in additional hits later.

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IÂ’m sorry, but that is the only conclusion I can draw from this declaration by the distinguished plagiarist from Delaware.

Presidential hopeful Delaware Sen. Joe Biden stated unequivocally that he will move to impeach President Bush if he bombs Iran without Congressional approval.

Biden spoke in front of a crowd of approximately 100 at a Seacoast Media Group forum Thursday, which focused on the Iraq War and foreign policy. When an audience member expressed fear of another war with Iran, he said he does not typically engage in threats, but had no qualms about issuing a direct warning to the oval office.

“The President has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran and if he does, as foreign relations committee chairman, I will move to impeach,” said Biden, which was followed by a raucous applause.

Biden said he is in the process of meeting with constitutional law experts to prepare a legal memorandum saying as much, and intends to send it to the President.

When resident Joel Carp asked Biden why not impeach now given what has already been done, Biden said it was a valid point but might not be constitutionally valid and potentially counterproductive. A case for impeachment must have clear evidence, he said, and blame should be directed at the right parties.

“If you’re going to impeach George Bush, you better impeach Cheney first,” said Biden, which also received applause.

Now letÂ’s look at a couple of points here.

1) “The President has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran

I believe that Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, which states that “[t]he President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States…”, gants operational control of the military to the President. As such, he does, in fact, have the authority to order an attack if it is in the national security interests of the United States.

2. and if he does, as foreign relations committee chairman, I will move to impeach

There are some minor provisions of the Constitution related to impeachment that would make this problematic. After all, Article I Section 2 makes it clear where the power to impeach lies – with the House of Represenatives.

The House of Representatives . . . shall have the sole power of impeachment.

Therefore, Joe Biden has absolutely no authority to impeach anyone from his high and exalted status as foreign relations committee chairman.

Of course, in the event articles of impeachment are passed through the House of Representatives, Biden will be but one vote out of 100 when the Senate exercises this power, as per Article I, Section 3.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation.

Now even there, we have an interesting issue. Removal of an impeached individual requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Even in cases in which there is manifest evidence of actual criminal conduct, as in the impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton, the partisan divide in the Senate is likely to prevent the removal of an impeached president. Biden knows quite well that there are at least 34 Republicans – and at least one Democrat – who will vote against impeachment based upon what amounts to a policy difference, something which cannot legitimately be seen as constituting “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” under Article II, Section 4.

So in the end, all this statement by Joe Biden tells us is that he doesn’t know sh!t about the Constitution – or that he is willing to sh!t on the Constitution for partisan purposes. In either event, he is clearly unfit to hold any office under the Constitution.

Interestingly enough, Joe Biden also made a point which explains why none of the other Democrat candidates is fit to be President, either.

"I ask you a rhetorical question: Are you prepared to vote for anyone - at this moment in our history - as president who is not capable of being secretary of state? Who among my opponents would you consider appointing secretary of state? Seriously. Think about it."

I did – and wept for my country at the prospect of having any of this crop of Democrats serve as president at this moment in our history.

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Because after all, we can't have a cute children's toy named after the false prophet. That name must be reserved for suicide bombers and other terrorists!

Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."

In response to the demonstration, teacher Gillian Gibbons was moved from the women's prison near Khartoum to a secret location for her safety, her lawyer said.

In Britain, Gibbons' son, John, told The Associated Press that her mother was "holding up well" and she made an appeal for tolerance.

"One of the things my mum said today was that 'I don't want any resentment towards Muslim people,'" John Gibbons said, relaying part of a telephone conversation with her.

Too bad, Gillian -- resentment is the minimum that folks like the ones who have you in prison and who want to take your life deserve.

And how far gone are these murderous followers of the Religion of Barbarism?

The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pickup trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gibbons, who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation. She avoided the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.

They massed in central Martyrs Square outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of riot police were deployed. They did not try to stop the rally, which lasted about an hour.

"Shame, shame on the U.K.," protesters chanted.

They called for Gibbons' execution, saying, "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."

* * *

Several hundred protesters, not openly carrying weapons, marched from the square to Unity High School, about a mile away, where Gibbons worked. They chanted slogans outside the school, which is closed and under heavy security, then headed toward the nearby British Embassy. They were stopped by security forces two blocks away from the embassy.

The protest arose despite vows by Sudanese security officials the day before, during Gibbons' trial, that threatened demonstrations after Friday prayers would not take place. Some of the protesters carried green banners with the name of the Society for Support of the Prophet Muhammad, a previously unknown group.

Many protesters carried clubs, knives and axes — but not automatic weapons, which some have brandished at past government-condoned demonstrations. That suggested Friday's rally was not organized by the government.

A Muslim cleric at Khartoum's main Martyrs Mosque denounced Gibbons during one sermon, saying she intentionally insulted Islam. He did not call for protests, however.

"Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion," the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hard-liner, told worshippers.

"This an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad," he said.

No, you are doing quite a good job of teaching civilized people to despise your false prophet without any help from Gibbons. After all, the demand for death over the naming of a children's toy is a sign of the collective psychosis that infects Islamist hard-liners like you. Such things clearly prove that you do not follow the God of love and compassion embraced by Jews and Christians.

Of course, a teddy bear that offers Islam's most sacred prayers is just fine.

Besides, there is a more fitting use for the name Muhammad.

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How does one even respond to this inane drivel?

When they finally got down to business, after being serenaded by a guitarist on YouTube, it took the Republican presidential candidates 11 ½ minutes Wednesday night for one of them to acknowledge that illegal immigrants are human beings.

Frankly, IÂ’m surprised it was acknowledged at all.

After all, the GOP has always considered minorities and foreigners to be human beings. It is one of our partyÂ’s founding principles and one which we have always stood for. That is something you cannot say about the Democrats, the Party of Slavery and Segregation.

Indeed, I canÂ’t help but notice that none of the GOP candidates acknowledged the law of gravity or that a water molecule is composed of one atom of oxygen and two of hydrogen. Maybe that is because we take those things for granted as well.

Probably a more informative statistic would involve how many minutes it takes for a Democrat to acknowledge that illegal immigrants have broken our nationÂ’s immigration laws.

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Posted by: Greg at 10:31 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Islamo-censors win a round.

Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who was hounded into hiding by hardline Islamists, said on Friday she will remove a passage from an autobiography which some Indian Muslims found offensive.

Nasreen, who had been living in Kolkata since 2004, said she hoped the move would enable her to live in peace in India.

"I am withdrawing the controversial lines from my book Dikhandito," she told NDTV news channel.

"The book was written in 2002 based on my memories of Bangladesh in the 1980s during which time secularism was removed from the Bangladesh constitution," she said.

She was accused of hurting religious feelings and the book was banned in Bangladesh and India's neighbouring West Bengal state.

"Because I value secularism I wanted secularism to remain in the Bangladesh constitution," Nasreen said.

"I didn't write the book to hurt anybody's sentiments," the 45-year-old said without giving details of exactly what the passage mentions.

"Some people claim that sentiments have been hurt. It was not intended. I hope there will be no controversy anymore and I will be able to live peacefully in India," she said.

Giving in to the murderous mobs that seek to suppress anything that paints the Religion of Barbarism as barbaric and backwards won’t help. You may as well put on a gasoline-soaked burqa and wait in the middle of the street for the mob to set you ablaze. You will not be forgiven – and you deed here has served only to endanger every other free man and women who dares to speak truthfully about Islam.

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Posted by: Greg at 10:28 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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But it helps!

The Gallup Poll found that independents and Democrats are twice as likely to rate their own state of mental health as fair or poor than Republicans are.

Only 8% of Republicans rated their state of mental health as fair or poor.

17% of independents said fair or poor.

15% of Democrats said fair or poor.

At the other end of the scale, 58% or Republicans rated their mental health as excellent.

43% of independents said excellent.

Only 38% of Democrats said excellent.

So we now have empirical evidence to support what we already knew – the Democrats are nuts!

H/T Don Surber

Posted by: Greg at 10:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The thought of victory is too frightening for Jack Murtha to contemplate.

A day after admitting to reporters that "the surge is working," Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., one of the most ardent critics of President Bush's war policy, issued a statement Friday softening that assessment, this time calling it "a window of opportunity."

* * *

"The military surge has created a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government," Murtha's statement read. "Unfortunately, the sacrifice of our troops has not been met by the Iraqi government and they have failed to capitalize on the political and diplomatic steps that the surge was designed to provide.

"The fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily, and that we must begin an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable."

I wonder why the change? This could explain it (H/T Captain Ed).

But Pelosi, who is scheduled to speak to a Democratic National Committee event in Virginia on Friday, will surely face tough questions from reporters regarding Murtha's statement on the surge.

"This could be a real headache for us," said one top House Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "Pelosi is going to be furious."

Translation – Murtha put Party ahead of Country on this one.

So let’s see – he was for victory before he was against victory before he was for victory and is now firmly against victory.

I guess that make Murtha AmericaÂ’s biggest loser.

Posted by: Greg at 10:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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