Under a new Iranian law.

The culture committee of the Iranian parliament approved on Monday a bill sentencing to death producers of 'pornography', videos and films deemed vulgar by the country's censorship. The draft law will now go to parliament where it is expected to be approved by an ample majority. Amateur porn films have a properous market in Iran and can fetch up to 30 euros each.

The market, tolerated for a long time, became a nationwide issue earlier this year after a porn film of popular television actress, Zohre Mir Ebrahimi, having sex with her partner, was released.

So when the time comes to clean out this terrorist rathole, presumably liberals will support sending in a battalion of ACLU lawyers in the first wave.

And I can hear the protesters now: “No blood for porn! No blood for porn!”

Posted by: Greg at 11:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now this is an interesting discovery.

Scientists believe they have for the first time identified an ancient graveyard for gladiators.

Analysis of their bones and injuries has given new insight into how they lived, fought and died.

The remains were found at Ephesus in Turkey, a major city of the Roman world, BBC Timewatch reports.

Gladiators were the sporting heroes of the ancient world. Archaeological records show them celebrated in everything from mosaics to graffiti.

Motifs of gladiators are found on nearly a third of all oil lamps from Roman archaeological digs throughout the Empire.

But how much did they risk every time they stepped into the arena? Did they have much chance of getting out alive?

The discovery of what is claimed to be the first scientifically authenticated gladiator graveyard has given researchers the opportunity to find out.

The information gleaned so far shows that most gladiators died of injuries sustained in the arena, usually by the time they were in their thirties. Wounds were consistent with those that would be expected from the weapons depicted in Roman artwork, but there was also evidence of gladiators receiving medical care, as indicated by healed injuries.

There is a BBC documentary on this, and I can’t wait for it to be shown in the US. Anyone now when it will be picked up by one of the cable channels.

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now this is an interesting discovery.

Scientists believe they have for the first time identified an ancient graveyard for gladiators.

Analysis of their bones and injuries has given new insight into how they lived, fought and died.

The remains were found at Ephesus in Turkey, a major city of the Roman world, BBC Timewatch reports.

Gladiators were the sporting heroes of the ancient world. Archaeological records show them celebrated in everything from mosaics to graffiti.

Motifs of gladiators are found on nearly a third of all oil lamps from Roman archaeological digs throughout the Empire.

But how much did they risk every time they stepped into the arena? Did they have much chance of getting out alive?

The discovery of what is claimed to be the first scientifically authenticated gladiator graveyard has given researchers the opportunity to find out.

The information gleaned so far shows that most gladiators died of injuries sustained in the arena, usually by the time they were in their thirties. Wounds were consistent with those that would be expected from the weapons depicted in Roman artwork, but there was also evidence of gladiators receiving medical care, as indicated by healed injuries.

There is a BBC documentary on this, and I canÂ’t wait for it to be shown in the US. Anyone now when it will be picked up by one of the cable channels.

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The pen used by President Bush to veto the cut-&-run-&-surrender bill yesterday has a very significant origin.

It was just a regular, black-inked ballpoint pen that President Bush used to sign his veto yesterday, instead of his usual personalized Cross pen.

The pen was a gift from the father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq, who asked Mr. Bush last month to use it when he vetoed a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.

Robert Derga, of Uniontown, Ohio, gave Mr. Bush the pen after an April 16 speech by the president at the White House.

Mr. Bush invited a number of "Gold Star Families" -- families who have lost a U.S. military member in Iraq -- to the speech, and met with them afterwards in the Oval Office.

Mr. Derga, 53, had brought the pen with him. It was the pen he had used to write letters to his son, Marine Cpl. Dustin A. Derga.

"It was just a common run of the mill ... I don't even remember the brand name," Mr. Derga said, in a phone interview last night. "It was just a $2 pen. Nothing special."

Mr. Bush met with the Dergas and other families for about 45 minutes, and spoke directly with each family.

"I looked the president square in the eye," Mr. Derga said. "I looked at him and said, 'Mr. President, if this Iraq supplemental comes down to a veto I want you to use my pen to do it.'"

Mr. Bush "kind of looked at me funny for a moment and then said, 'Absolutely,' and then handed the pen to his assistant," Mr. Derga said.

"He assured me he would use it," Mr. Derga said.

Dustin was killed in Iraq on May 8, 2005, while leading house-to-house searches in Ubaydi, Iraq. He was 24.

Dustin was the first Marine killed in Lima Company, with the Marine Force Reserve's 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, out of Columbus, Ohio.

So to Pelosi, Murtha, Reid, and all the other neo-Copperheads in Congress, that would be a big SCREW YOU from the President of the United States and the father of one of our honored war dead – who, I believe, you folks would agree has unquestionable moral authority on this matter and is much more representative of Gold Star families than certain media darlings.

Mr. Derga said that about 80 percent of the other Gold Star Families he knows agree with the president's decision to send more troops to Iraq to try to stabilize the country.

"We have given the ultimate sacrifice in terms of our sons, and if we can still stand in the trenches with the president and support him, why can't the rest of the nation do it?" Mr. Derga said.

So get with the program, America, and support our troops and their mission.

Posted by: Greg at 11:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Stuff like this is just wrong.

The Council on American Islamic Relations-Michigan received a letter Monday that threatened to "terminate all Muslims" in Metro Detroit, according to officials at the Muslim civil rights organization. "We received hate mail in the past mocking the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad, including a page from the Qur'an with feces spread on it, but we had not yet received any threats of being killed," said Dawud Walid, the executive director of CAIR-Michigan.

A spokesman for the FBI, Bob Beckman, said the FBI is aware of the threatening letter.

"The FBI takes all threats like these seriously, but we do not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation."

But you know what – I’ll keep my outrage to a minimum until CAIR condemns this guy I wrote about yesterday.

Posted by: Greg at 11:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bravo to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for publishing this column by Colleen Carroll Campbell reminding folks of that fact, in light of bigoted criticism of St. Louis Archbishop Raymond BurkeÂ’s decision to resign from the board of Cardinal Glennon ChildrenÂ’s Hospital in a dispute over the hospitalÂ’s decision to sponsor a fundraiser featuring scandalously pro-abortion singer Sheryl Crow.

Crow has the right to her opinions. But it makes no more sense for Burke and the Catholic institutions he oversees to lend Crow a platform than for Planned Parenthood to appoint Burke emcee of its next Gala for Choice.

Some critics have argued that Burke had no business objecting to Crow because many Catholics disagree with his views on these issues. Yet Burke's stance reflects more than his private opinion; it is also the official teaching of the Catholic Church. The Church holds that abortion is a serious moral evil because it destroys innocent human life, and it opposes embryonic stem cell research and cloning for the same reason. Church teaching insists that one must never cooperate in these acts or give even tacit approval to them. There are no exceptions allowed — not for socially conscious rock stars, not for fiscally conscious charity organizers, not even for bishops operating under the glare of media scrutiny.

* * *

Burke's resignation from the foundation board clarified how seriously the Catholic Church takes its teaching about the sanctity of human life from its earliest stages. That teaching may not be popular or politically correct, but Burke has the right to defend it. To vilify him for speaking out because he wears a bishop's mitre is the epitome of religious intolerance. Such intolerance should frighten religious believers and free speech defenders of all political persuasions.

I wrote a much shorter letter to the editor in Chicago back during my seminary days, defending Joseph Cardinal Bernardin against charges that his statements in defense of unborn human life were unAmerican. I'm glad to see this much more complete defense of Archbishop Burke in a major daily.

Posted by: Greg at 11:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This guy needs to be sanctioned, disbarred, and removed from the bench over this frivolous, vindictive lawsuit – asking for $67,000,000 over a misplaced pair of pants at the dry cleaners.

A Washington, D.C., dry cleaners says it's their business a longtime customer is taking to the cleaners.

A $10 dry cleaning bill for a pair of trousers has ballooned into a $67 million civil lawsuit.

Plaintiff Roy Pearson, a judge in Washington, D.C., says in court papers that he's been through the ringer over a lost pair of prized pants he wanted to wear on his first day on the bench.

He says in court papers that he has endured "mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort."

He says he was unable to wear that favorite suit on his first day of work.
He's suing for 10 years of weekend car rentals so he can transport his dry cleaning to another store.

Oh, and by the way – the pants were found three days later, but Pearson has continued his persecution of the owners of the dry cleaning business, Jin and Soo Chung and their son. Oh, and by the way, the pants were found a week after they were dropped off – but Pearson refuses to accept them back, despite their having matching receipt tags and being the right size, color, and brand. Yet the suit continues.

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After all, Mahmoud has been a bad boy with an unrelated woman IN PUBLIC. ShouldnÂ’t he be stoned for his immorality?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been accused of indecency after he publicly embraced and kissed on the hand an elderly woman who used to be his schoolteacher.

At a ceremony on Tuesday ahead of Iranian teachers' day, Mr Ahmadinejad was photographed and filmed by state media stooping to kiss the woman's hand and then clasping her arms in an embrace.

The ultra-conservative Hezbollah newspaper, which is not related to the group in Lebanon of the same name, criticised him on the front page.

"The Muslim Iranian people have no recollection of such acts contrary to sharia law during Islamic rule [since the 1979 revolution]," it said.

"This type of indecency progressively has grave consequences, like violating religious and sacred values."

The elderly woman, who was not named, wore thick gloves along with a headscarf and long black coat, meaning that Mr Ahmadinejad avoided any skin contact.

But his action raised eyebrows because according to sharia law, it is forbidden for a man to have any physical contact with a woman to whom he is not related.

If the sharia-crazed moral guardians of Iranian Islamofascism won’t act to take his life, I feel it is the obligation of the Israelis and Americans to carry out the sentence on their behalf. You know, to show our tolerance of, respect for and sensitivity to Islamic law and customs. So let’s send those precision-guided cruise missiles flying – they’ve got Mahmoud’s name written all over them.

Posted by: Greg at 10:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A case of “free speech for me, but not for thee” at a prestigious East Coast university.

On Monday evening at Tufts University, I attended a long, grueling show trial -- the kind of show trial that doubtless will be repeated at campuses across the United States. This show trial was convened with the sole purpose of punishing The Primary Source, Tufts' lone conservative periodical.

What was The Source's sin? On December 6, 2006, The Source printed a tasteless parody carol entitled "O Come, All Ye Black Folk." The carol was written from the perspective of an admissions officer, admitting students solely based on racially discriminatory stereotypes: "All come! Blacks, we need you, / Born into the ghetto. / O Jesus! We need you now to fill our racial quotas." The point of the carol, the editors later said, was that affirmative action is inherently degrading to racial minorities. After the carol was misinterpreted, the editors repeatedly apologized for printing it.

In the April 11, 2007, issue, The Source printed a page entitled "Islam: Arabic Translation: Submission." The page carried quotes from the Koran juxtaposed with facts about certain adherents of Islam -- their involvement with terrorism, discrimination against women, and the slave trade, among others.

This material is clearly political speech. Though Tufts is a private university, the student handbook explains that "the university is committed to free and open discussion of ideas and opinions."

Well, not that committed. "Harassment involves attitudes or opinions that are expressed verbally or in writing, or through behavior that constitutes a threat, intimidation, psychological attack, or physical assault," says the handbook. "Harassment is prohibited at Tufts and may result in disciplinary consequences." And being offended, according to the Committee on Student Life (CSL), constitutes harassment.

Read the rest of the column – it sounds like the trial scene from A Tale of Two Cities, or maybe something that goes on in Castro’s Cuba or amongst the head-chopping terrorists of al-Qaeda.

And as FIRE points out, this whole thing violates TuftsÂ’ explicitly stated policies.

In seeking to punish political satire—the type of speech that lies at the absolute core of the First Amendment—Tufts University is displaying the most despicable hypocrisy. Although Tufts is a private university, and thus is not bound by the First Amendment, Tufts has chosen to promise its students and faculty the right to unfettered free speech. In Tufts’ student handbook, The Pachyderm, students are greeted by a welcome letter from the Dean of Student Affairs that states:

You should anticipate stimulating and sometimes controversial dialogue about issues important to you. You should also anticipate that you may be shocked when another student voices an opinion radically different from yours. We should cherish the opportunity to be learning in a place where controversial expression is embraced. (Emphasis added).

Moreover, the “Speakers and Programs” policy in The Pachyderm provides that:

Tufts is an open campus committed to the free expression of ideas. It is inevitable that some programs and speakers will be offensive to some members of the communityÂ…That offensiveness will not be seen as a reason to prevent the program. In fact, the university will strive to uphold the right of a campus organization to invite speakers or hold programs, even controversial ones, and to hold them without interruption. (Emphasis added).

I guess that only means if you happen to be a non-diverse (white, Christian, heterosexual) student of non-diverse (conservative, Republican) political, social, or economic ideology.

Posted by: Greg at 10:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's a new source of insight into the greatest president of the twentieth century -- Ronald Wilson Reagan.

Ronald Reagan thought Alexander Haig was "utterly paranoid," considered former senator Lowell Weicker "a pompous, no good fathead" and was "surprised at how shy" Michael Jackson was.

Reagan also refused to talk to his son after Ron Reagan hung up on him, felt that daughter Patti had "a kind of yo yo family relationship" and was invariably "lonesome" when his wife, Nancy, was out of town.

A self-portrait of the 40th president -- determined, funny, wistful, at times clinging to his beliefs despite countervailing facts -- emerges from diaries that he faithfully kept from 1981 to 1989, his eight years in the White House. Historian Douglas Brinkley had exclusive access to the five hardback books bound in maroon leather, each page filled to the bottom with Reagan's neat handwriting. Vanity Fair magazine, in its June issue, is publishing excerpts of the book "The Reagan Diaries," edited by Brinkley and due out this month from publisher HarperCollins.

A fantastic resource for historians -- and anyone who loves America.

Posted by: Greg at 10:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If you are so concerned about keeping the families of border jumping immigration criminals together, then implement this simple solution -- deport them all.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in cities across America yesterday, shouting slogans that called for a path to legal residency for about 12 million illegal immigrants and an end to federal deportation raids that have increased during the past year.

A year after a series of similar rallies, yesterday's protests focused on keeping families intact. That focus appeared aimed at raids that could separate parents who are in the country illegally from children born here who are citizens. More than 3 million American-born children have illegal immigrant parents who are subject to deportation, according to the Urban Institute and the Pew Hispanic Center.

Mom and dad are able to take their American kids with them if they so desire -- ther eis nothing stopping them. But what they want is to benefit from their illegal activity and the good fortune to drop a baby on this side of the border. That is unacceptable.

Of course, we could always declare that being an illegal alien is grounds for termination of all parental rights to American citizen children --or repeal the notion of birthright citizenship for the children of border jumpers. You know, take away one more incentive for coming to this country.

Posted by: Greg at 10:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And yet the roar of media outrage is either so loud that I have been deafened -- or absent.

Rep. Jim McDermott had no right to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

In a 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott, a Washington Democrat, should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call.

McDermott's offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the court said.

When he became a member of the ethics panel, McDermott "voluntarily accepted a duty of confidentiality that covered his receipt and handling of the ... illegal recording. He therefore had no First Amendment right to disclose the tape to the media," Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote on behalf of the court. Four judges agreed with him.

Expect the oh-so-ethical Democrats in the House to do. . . nothing. After all, it isn't like he is guilty of Republicanism or some other grave offense. McDermiott has merely broken the law and House ethics rules.

Posted by: Greg at 10:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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More Bush Derangement Syndrome on display from Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, writing about the ludicrous impeachment charges brought by the ludicrous presidential candidate and congressman, Dennis Kucinich.

Kucinich also alleges that Cheney "purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress." That, as the expression goes, is the gravamen of the charge. Kucinich doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of making it stick because Congress is not about to vote impeachment. But no one who reads Kucinich's case against Cheney can fail to conclude that this is a rational, serious accusation. It's possible that each individual charge can be rebutted, but the essence of it is shockingly apparent: We were being manipulated.

* * *

What Cheney has done is not impeachable. It is merely unforgivable.

In other words, Cohen concedes that Cheney may not have done anything wrong -- but that even so he is guilty of some great evil that must not be forgiven. One has to be either magnificently confused or frighteningly insane to reach such a conclusion.

Posted by: Greg at 10:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I love that special lady in my life, and I sometimes like to get her something a little alluring and sexy as a gift -- well, to be honest, as a gift for us both. But it isn't always easy to find Plus Size Lingerie.

And I'll be honest, there is the modesty issue to consider -- baby doll outfits are out. But something longer might be just the bill. Or maybe something that is less revealing but certainly feminine.

The reality is that every woman wants to be sexy sometimes (and to know that we still find them irresistible) -- and there are places online for discrete shopping to help towards that end. So gentlemen, why don't you consider buying a gift of Sexy Lingerie for the woman in your life, just to let her know she is still every bit as beautiful as the day you married her.

Paid Endorsement.

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Faith is making a comeback on college campuses, as students take a deeper interest in religion and spirituality.

Across the country, on secular campuses as varied as Colgate University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember.

More students are enrolling in religion courses, even majoring in religion; more are living in dormitories or houses where matters of faith and spirituality are a part of daily conversation; and discussion groups are being created for students to grapple with questions like what happens after death, dozens of university officials said in interviews.

A survey on the spiritual lives of college students, the first of its kind, showed in 2004 that more than two-thirds of 112,000 freshmen surveyed said they prayed, and that almost 80 percent believed in God. Nearly half of the freshmen said they were seeking opportunities to grow spiritually, according to the survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Compared with 10 or 15 years ago, “there is a greater interest in religion on campus, both intellectually and spiritually,” said Charles L. Cohen, a professor of history and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who for a number of years ran an interdisciplinary major in religious studies. The program was created seven years ago and has 70 to 75 majors each year.

University officials explained the surge of interest in religion as partly a result of the rise of the religious right in politics, which they said has made questions of faith more talked about generally. In addition, they said, the attacks of Sept. 11 underscored for many the influence of religion on world affairs. And an influx of evangelical students at secular universities, along with an increasing number of international students, means students arrive with a broader array of religious experiences.

Interestingly enough, the New York Times doesn't spend any time about efforts of colleges and universities to squelch the autonomy and religious expression of conservative religious groups -- something that can be documented by the number of successful lawsuits against schools by such groups and their student members.

Posted by: Greg at 10:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I hear a lot about mortgage brokers n the radio. Some are national, some are local. But are we really getting the best deal if we apply with one of them? Can we check out some competition -- especially regarding Mortgage Rates?

Yes, we can, at PersonalHomeLoanMortgages.com. We can even check out rates by state, for example by looking for Houston Mortgages or http://www.personalhomeloanmortgages.com/texas/texas_mortgages.asp. It is that easy!

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 09:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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MSNBC is broadcasting some leftist hack named Stephanie Miller. Absolutely dreadful.

Can we bring back Imus? He was at least funny at moments.

And a quick note to today's guest, Cindy Sheehan -- if neo-cons were so murderous, you would be dead, you raving idiot. If the Bush administration were everything you claim, you would be in a torture chamber, not being broadcast nationwide attacking the government. Yes, I'm sorry for your loss -- but I'm even sorrier that it has driven you completely insane.

Posted by: Greg at 09:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Really, all my supervisors are great at school -- but I've not always been that lucky. I had one principal some years back who just couldn't be bothered to do employee reviews at all. He just didn't bother, so you never knew where you stood.

If you are a boss and need some help doing performance reviews, there is some great new software out there to help you. Check out ManagerAssistant.com to learn more.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 06:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What a guy -- Terrorstinian Anarchy Legislative Council Acting Speaker Ahmed Bahr wants every Israeli and American exterminated.

Adopting the open-palmed gesture of Islamic prayer, as did his audience, the PA official intoned: "Allah, take hold of the Jews and their allies, Allah, take hold of the Americans and their allies.... Allah, count them and kill them to the last one and don't leave even one."

This is not Bahr's first appeal for genocide of the Jews and Americans. Just one week earlier, on April 13th, Sudan television broadcast a fiery sermon delivered by the PA legislator in a Sudanese mosque. At the conclusion of his remarks, the Sudanese worshipers opened their palms in supplication and Bahr prayed:

"Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, vanquish the Americans and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one. Oh Allah, show them a day of darkness. Oh Allah, who sent down His Book, the mover of the clouds, who defeated the enemies of the Prophet – defeat the Jews and the Americans, and bring us victory over them."

But somehow we are supposed to work with such people to create peace in the Middle East? Bahr doesn't sound particularly interested in such a proposition.

Jews and Americans, the PA official declared, citing "the Book of Allah," are "cowards, who are eager for life, while we are eager for death for the sake of Allah."

Seems to me that the US and Israel might want to consider sending the Mossad or CIA to see just how eager this son of a pig really is.

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We know that the Nazis had one of the most effective propaganda machines of the twentieth century. To compare their methods and success to other groups is neither insensitive or racist -- and calls for firing those who do are absurd.

A Jewish group is calling for the firing of an outspoken CNN anchor, Lou Dobbs, after he accused advocates for illegal immigrants of using propaganda techniques employed by Nazi Germany.

"Comparisons to Nazis — especially in this day and age — are abhorrent," the president and CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Gideon Aronoff, said in a statement yesterday. " Mr. Dobbs has crossed the line between responsible television commentary and hate-speech propaganda of his own. Keeping him on the air is essentially sanctioning by CNN — which is why we're asking CNN to remove Dobbs from his very public platform."

In a broadcast last week, Mr. Dobbs denounced immigrant-rights groups for portraying a crackdown on illegal immigration as a threat to foreigners who live in America legally.

"They might as well work for Herman Göring," Mr. Dobbs said. "I mean, they're running so much propaganda, trying to confuse the debate, the national dialogue, by talking about immigrants rather than illegal aliens and legal immigrants. It's mindless beyond belief."

Now I do see one issue of concern -- Dobbs' historical ignorance. Herman Göring was the head of the German air force, not its propaganda arm. The latter role was filled by Joseph Goebbels. Get your facts straight, Lou!

And if the Hebrew Immigrant Aid society wants to combat Nazi abuse, might I suggest that they go after the real culprits -- the Bush=Hitler leftists.

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And a dead high-ranking terrorist is a great way to brighten up one's morning!

The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq has reportedly been killed in a firefight today.

Abu Ayyub al-Masri died in an "internal battle" between militants near a bridge in northern Baghdad, the Iraqi interior ministry said.

If true, the death would represent a huge blow for the Islamic fundamentalist organisation. The United States had regarded al-Masri as the number one threat to the stability of Iraq, and placed a $5 million bounty on his head.

Brigadier-General Abdul Kareem Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, suggested that US and Iraqi forces had nothing to do with the killing - blaming it on an internal power struggle within al-Qaeda's Iraq cell.

"The clashes took place among themselves. There were clashes within the groups of Al Qaeda. He was liquidated by them. Our forces had nothing to do with it," he told Iraqi state television.

He later told the Reuters news agency: "We have definite intelligence reports that al-Masri was killed today."

And isn't it great that what we have here is these criminals killing each other? And now that we see the internal divisions splitting the terrorists in Iraq, do we really want to adopt the Democrats' "flee in terror" strategy?

Posted by: Greg at 10:28 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It will either bankrupt doctors, cost parents an arm and a leg, or require unwarranted state intrusion into insurance.

When Merck launched a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign last year to promote Gardasil, its new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, company officials probably did not anticipate that its signature phrase -- "one less" -- would apply not just to malignancies but also to physicians. Yet that slogan has come to symbolize the response of doctors locally and around the country.

Pincered by rising costs and eroding reimbursements, and resentful of what they regard as a long-standing and unfair financial burden, some doctors, especially pediatricians and gynecologists who are most likely to be asked for the vaccine, are refusing to buy it or restricting who receives the shots.

Discontent over the price of the vaccine -- the most expensive ever approved -- highlights a long-simmering dispute over reimbursement for immunizations, traditionally regarded as bedrock medicine. It is a dispute, experts say, with significant public health implications that has accelerated as the number of costly new vaccines has proliferated.

"This is a national issue that is affecting lots of people," said Benjamin Gitterman, president of the D.C. chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "It's a matter of cash flow," Gitterman added. Some insurance companies are paying doctors $122 per shot -- just $2 more than the price doctors pay for a dose of Gardasil -- an amount not sufficient to cover the cost of stocking and administering the vaccine, doctors say. The problem is disproportionately affecting pediatricians, experts say, because they administer the majority of immunizations and are among the lowest-paid specialists.

"Some plans are saying I'll give you $90 -- and not

And yet too many folks want to force every girl to get the vaccine -- inflating corporate profits and costing someone -- and they never say who, but pobably the taxpayer -- a wad of money.

Posted by: Greg at 10:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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That is certainly how it appears at this point, as actor and former Senator Fred Thompson begins assembling a campaign staff and making public disclosures of potentially embarrassing information prior to a potential summer announcement.

Advisers to Fred Thompson have begun exploring a range of staffing options -- including talking to potential campaign managers -- as the actor and former Tennessee senator firms up his plans to enter the Republican presidential contest, according to people involved in the conversations.

Thompson has not made a final decision but is on track to be ready to announce his candidacy in June or July, his advisers say. Thompson has already been polling better than some of the announced GOP candidates, and his entry would shake up a field that has left many Republican faithful dissatisfied.

Thompson also has begun inoculating himself against potential attacks from rivals. During a question-and-answer session with House members on April 18, Thompson was asked about his colorful dating history from 1985 to 2002, while he was divorced.

And let's be honest here -- most of us are not going to be troubled by Thompson's colorful love life during his single years, especially in light of the noted fidelity problems of Gingrich and Giuliani.

What I find most interesting, though, is this possible new dynamic -- one which is not really new.

On the day Thompson revealed he has cancer, he hinted at an unorthodox blueprint when he said that he thinks it's possible to join the field without abandoning his family.

"Going on the road for months at a time, and for all practical purposes, just checking [in] every once in a while, I wouldn't do that," he told Fox's Neil Cavuto. "I don't think it has to be done that way. I know people will expect that of everyone -- to run frenetically around for years. And I don't do frenetic very well."

In the old days, candidates did not run for president. It was sen as undignified for a potential president to be out on the hustings, pressing the flesh and behaving like a mere politician. Lincoln did not campaign actively, and neither did any other candidate up until the early twentieth century. Instead, they stayed home and went about their business, with surrogates campaigning on the r behalf while they made speeches and issued statements from their home or Washington. Given our media age, and the immediacy of the internet and cable news, this might be a preferable -- and cheaper -- model for us to follow. And if fred Thompson can pull it off, it might be a healthy development for America.

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Posted by: Greg at 10:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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But I'll be honest -- he goes a little bit too far for me when he supports concealed carry in bars, and requiring churches to permit guns on their premises.

Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that Texans who are legally licensed should be able to carry their concealed handguns anywhere, including churches, bars, courthouses and college campuses.

"I think it makes sense for Texans to be able to protect themselves from deranged individuals, whether they're in church, or whether on a college campus or wherever they are," he said.

"The idea that you're going to exempt them from a particular place is nonsense to me."

Perry commented to reporters after he and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt had met privately with educators, mental health experts and law enforcement officials to discuss the recent shootings at Virginia Tech University. Leavitt and other Cabinet officials are traveling around the country to discuss school and community safety practices in preparation for a report to President Bush.

The governor's remarks aren't likely to result in widespread changes in Texas gun laws, particularly this late in a legislative session that must adjourn by May 28.

The reality is that the current law allows so many entities to ban guns that the state becomes a crazy-quilt patchwork of of where one can and cannot carry a gun with a permit. Perry's proposal would fix that -- including permitting guns to be carried by teachers in schools, which I view as a good thing. It would also prevent any Texas college or university from becoming a gun-free hunting ground for a future shooter. And saying that governmental sub-entities can ban what the state explicitly has permitted an individual to do is absurd.

But I draw the line at bars an churches. I'm uncomfortable with that mix of guns and firearms -- it just seems a step too far, and even in the old West there was often a requirement that guns be checked at the saloon door. And as for churches, I see a religious freedom issue that troubles me deeply, as it should any lover of the First Amendment.

Posted by: Greg at 10:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Big Web Links Directory is a bid for placement internet directory. Want to be listed on the site? Want to rank a bit higher? Well, all you have to do is bid your way up a little bit higher, offering some more cash to be one of those first links seen on the site when someone runs a search that is relevant to you. So if you are looking for exposure, why not spend some of your advertising budget in this way -- especially since everyone is clear that web bidding is the key to placement on BigWebLinks.com

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 10:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, the decision to flee the police at high speed is one fraught with danger, and exclusively within the purview of the individual seeking to escape from the authorities. For the police to attempt to prevent their dangerous activity is not unreasonable.

The police did not violate a speeding driverÂ’s rights by ramming his car and causing an accident that left him permanently paralyzed, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday by a vote of 8 to 1.

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that despite the fact that the 19-year-old driver was suspected of nothing more than speeding, the decision to force him off the road was reasonable in light of the need to protect pedestrians and other drivers from “a Hollywood-style car chase of the most frightening sort.”

The justices took the unusual step — a first for the court — of posting on the court’s Web site the 15-minute video of the chase, recorded by a camera mounted on the squad car’s dashboard. A link to the video in the case, Scott v. Harris, No. 05-1631, is at supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06slipopinion.html.

Are we perhaps beginning to see some common sense applied in cases of fleeing suspects, given that the jurisprudence of the last two decades has tended to approach making such behavior a constitutionally protected activity rather than a crime -- and reasonably tailored actions to stop such conduct a violation of the Constitution

Oh, and a side note about Stevens' comment about the other eight justices acting as the jury -- I'm much more concerned about Stevens' tendency to round up a slim majority to assume the role of unelected legislature.

Posted by: Greg at 09:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Like most folks, I havecredit cards -- they are the avenue to so much information about us, and can be both a source of financial opportunity and financial danger. I mean, one need only consider the recent breaches at so many retailers and banks to recognize just how much of your personal information is out there in your credit card records. Such information in the wrong hands can ruin you. On the other hand, responsible credit card issuers will monitor your card's activities and make contact to stop fraud in its tracks. One of mine did that during our hurricane evacuation. So it does seem that the companies are out to protect our interests when they coincide with their interests.

However, there are benefits to credit cards, in terms of finding an offer that will save you money by allowing 0% balance transfers or 0% credit cards. Shop around for the best offers -- that is just a part of being a wise consumer.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 09:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Google bought DoubleClick; now Yahoo is buying Right Media.

In the latest sign that small Internet advertising firms have become hot properties, Yahoo said yesterday that it plans to acquire online advertising company Right Media for about $680 million, a move to stake out its online turf against competitors such as Google.

Privately held Right Media, of New York, operates an online auction system that allows advertisers to bid on space on a Web site, the company said.

Yahoo, of Sunnyvale, Calif., acquired 20 percent of Right Media in October 2006 for $45 million.

Some technology analysts said the move is a response to Google's recent purchase of online ad firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion after engaging in a bidding war with Microsoft and AOL.

"Clearly, this is an attempt to compete with what Google's been doing," said Jennifer Simpson, an analyst with Yankee Group. "Yahoo did grow last year, but Google has really been stepping away from the competition. . . . There will be a certain attention paid to Microsoft to see what they do next in this advertising chess game."

But will it be enough, given Google's control of a quarter of the internet advertising market? Or is Google the 800 pound gorilla in the room, which no one can overcome? Time will tell, I suppose.

Posted by: Greg at 09:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Seeking out credit and loans are a part of our society. The average person simply can't make some purchases, like a car or a house, without borrowing money. When faced with such purchases, secured loans are usually the only realistic option out there, with the lender having a lien on your house or car. In a sense, the lender is the real owner of at least some portion of the property until you have fulfilled your end of the bargain, right?

Secured loans, though, are not the only sort of personal loans you might need. You can get an unsecured loan in many instances -- especially as we look at credit card debt. Too many folks find themselves taking out a loan to consolidate debt so that they can lower payments and interest rates, as well as extending the time one has to pay off the debt. This can be a great help, provided one does not run up additional debt. There is even the possibility of a bad credit loan being available for those who have already gone to far down the road of debt, to help them repair their credit rating.

Borrow only when you have to, and only to the degree that you can afford to pay back. Otherwise you face bankruptcy -- with all the credit and personal implications that implies.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 06:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Nick Lampson is at the top of the GOP hit-list here in CD22 without any urging from Karl Rove. After all, this is a GOP district and the only way he got in was a betrayal by Delay and a court case to keep him from having a opponent on the ballot.

The political slide shows that landed President Bush's adviser Karl Rove in the middle of an investigation named the congressman who replaced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay as the White House's No. 1 target.

Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Texas, tops the list of the "2008 House Targets: Top 20", part of a presentation made to executive branch employees, possibly illegally.

Critics have alleged the presentation was political and violated laws restricting executive branch employees from using their jobs for political activity.

The White House has defended the presentations as informational briefings for appointees and acknowledged last week there have been briefings at several agencies.

Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas, also was on the list at No. 12.

Now if Rove screwed up and engaged in illegal political activity, lock him up -- I could care less. But that does nothing to minimize the misrepresentation of CD22 by the Neo-Copperhead carpetbagger from Beaumont -- or the need to rid ourselves of the candidate of MoveOn.org.

Posted by: Greg at 03:14 PM | Comments (55) | Add Comment
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Here we have a student denied a degree in her field of studies and her teaching credentials because of a photo on MySpace.

Take a look at the photo.

Seems pretty tame to me – especially given that the young woman in question was at least 25 at the time, and the mother of two.

LetÂ’s look at the story.

A 27-year-old Millersville University graduate filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the college for denying her an education degree and teaching certificate after a controversial Internet photograph surfaced last year shortly before graduation.

The picture shows Stacy Snyder of Strasburg wearing a pirate hat while drinking from a plastic "Mr. Goodbar" cup. The photograph taken during a 2005 Halloween party was posted on Snyder's MySpace Web page with the caption "Drunken Pirate."

"The day before graduation, the college confronted me about the picture," Snyder said Thursday. "I was told I wouldn't be receiving my education degree or teaching certificate because the photo was 'unprofessional.' "

Snyder said she apologized for the photograph, but Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, and Provost Vilas A. Prabhu refused to issue the bachelor of science degree in education and teaching certificate Snyder earned.

Instead, the college issued Snyder a bachelor of arts degree in English.

Snyder is asking for the modest sum of $75,000 and the awarding of her proper degree and teaching credentials. That seems pretty reasonable to me – I mean there are some serious freedom of speech issues here that apply, since Millersville University is a public entity and they are punishing her for engaging in legal and, one could argue, constitutionally protected activities.

And I’ll say it flat out – if Stacy Snyder is held to have engaged in unprofessional conduct that merits her being barred from the classroom, I’m not sure that any teacher who blogs – or drinks – can stand up to scrutiny. And given that I have already beaten off one attempt to suppress my First Amendment rights and interfere with my employment by a gang of illiberal Democrat thugs who don’t like my politics, I find this case to be particularly troubling.

H/T FIREÂ’s Torch

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Posted by: Greg at 09:43 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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How are we supposed to deal with the toxic waste that these bulbs will become – especially as we see jurisdictions trying to outlaw incandescent bulbs.

How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent light bulb? About US$4.28 for the bulb and labour -- unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about US$2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health.

Sound crazy? Perhaps no more than the stampede to ban the incandescent light bulb in favour of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

The problem with these bulbs? They contain mercury, which is a highly toxic substance. Are we exchanging an inefficient light source for a potentially much more serious problem?

And we wonÂ’t get into the question of domestic tranquility.

Posted by: Greg at 09:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And these are CNN reporters, not FoxNews correspondents.

On Thursday, two CNN correspondents just back from Iraq -- Kyra Phillips and Michael Ware -- were asked if it would help the situation in Iraq to withdraw U.S. troops.

Phillips responded: "There is no way U.S. troops could pull out. It would be a disaster."

Ware answered, "If you just want to look at it in terms of purely American national interest, if U.S. troops leave now, you're giving Iraq to Iran, a member of President Bush's axis of evil, and al-Qaida. That's who will own it. And so, coming back now, I'm struck by the nature of the debate on Capitol Hill, (by) how delusional it is. Whether you are for this war or against it, whether you've supported the way it's been executed or not, it does not matter. You broke it -- you've got to fix it now. You can't leave, or it's going to come and blow back on America."

And remember – Ware is the guy who took on John McCain not long ago over his comments about the safety of Baghdad – so he certainly is no GOP shill.

Somehow, though, these comments by liberal journalists who have been in Iraq will be ignored by the war opponents. Their agenda is cutting losses and surrendering to the enemy., and these observations just donÂ’t fit.

Posted by: Greg at 09:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here in Houston and in San Francisco.

It must suck to be a Truther, and to have publicly claimed that such a thing couldn't have happened on 9/11.

H/t Malkin, America's North Shore Journal, Daily Pundit, Hot Air.

Posted by: Greg at 10:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Posted by: Greg at 10:31 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'll be the first to concede that the raw numbers are troubling. That minorities are more likely than whites to be arrested if pulled over by the police appears problematic.

But I wonder how many folks will consider the disclaimer in the report.

Like the 2002 report, this one contained a warning that the racial disparities uncovered "do not constitute proof that police treat people differently along demographic lines" because the differences could be explained by circumstances not analyzed by the survey. The 2002 report said such circumstances might include driver conduct or whether drugs were in plain view.

And that is precisely the problem with the report -- until we look at the circumstances that led to the arrests, we cannot know for sure what the reason for the disparity is. As I see at school, there is a cultural difference in how different ethnic groups respond to being confronted by authority figures. That could go a long way towards explaining the differences. So could questions of immigration status or, heaven forbid, obvious actual evidence of criminal behavior. For that matter, so could the socio-economic status of the drivers or the neighborhoods where they were pulled over. And until we manage to quantify and control for such things, does the data really tell us anything useful at all?

Posted by: Greg at 10:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When they were just verbal assaults on female conservatives like Michelle Malkin and Debbie Schlussel the MSM didn't want to consider the issue of sexually-based attacks on female bloggers. Now that it has hit more bloggers outside of the political Right -- and outside of political blogging as a whole -- it is being treated as a crisis.

A female freelance writer who blogged about the pornography industry was threatened with rape. A single mother who blogged about "the daily ins and outs of being a mom" was threatened by a cyber-stalker who claimed that she beat her son and that he had her under surveillance. Kathy Sierra, who won a large following by blogging about designing software that makes people happy, became a target of anonymous online attacks that included photos of her with a noose around her neck and a muzzle over her mouth.

As women gain visibility in the blogosphere, they are targets of sexual harassment and threats. Men are harassed too, and lack of civility is an abiding problem on the Web. But women, who make up about half the online community, are singled out in more starkly sexually threatening terms -- a trend that was first evident in chat rooms in the early 1990s and is now moving to the blogosphere, experts and bloggers said.

I agree with Michelle Malkin -- where have you all been?

Posted by: Greg at 10:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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More name-calling open-borders nonsense in the Washington Post. And it is too bad, because without the playground-style name-calling, Sebastian Mallaby might just have contributed something of value to the debate on immigration legislation.

Border security does not come cheap: We could save money on unmanned aerial drones and use it to help high-school dropouts with a more generous earned-income tax credit. And although the concern for high-school dropouts is welcome, it must be weighed against the aspirations of migrants. Is it right to push native workers' pay up by 2 percent if that means depriving poor Mexicans of a chance to triple their incomes?

Of course it isn't, and given that the total economic effect of immigration on U.S. households is a wash, the big ramp-up in enforcement spending beloved by immigration hawks is an egregious waste of money. But no politician is going to say that. Candidates with a good record on immigration -- Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, John McCain -- are trying to avoid the issue. And the demagogues and nativists are allowed to spout unchallenged nonsense.

Because, of course, opponents of liberal policy preferences aren't just wrong -- they must be declared to be EVIL!

Posted by: Greg at 10:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of the issues with attending any conference is the travel and expense associated with it -- especially if it is located out of town. the seminar may be great, but does the time lost outweigh the content.

Well, there is a great marketing webinar available for you that lets you participate from your home or office. Think about it -- the cost in time and money spent on travel is gone -- and you can learn how to use new technology to expand your business. Sounds like a win all the way around to me.
Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 10:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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More salvos in the never-ending question of whether or not humans and Neanderthals interbred 40,000 years ago.

Researchers have long debated what happened when the indigenous Neanderthals of Europe met "modern humans" arriving from Africa starting some 40,000 years ago. The end result was the disappearance of the Neanderthals, but what happened during the roughly 10,000 years that the two human species shared a land?

A new review of the fossil record from that period has come up with a provocative conclusion: The two groups saw each other as kindred spirits and, when conditions were right, they mated.

How often this happened will never be known, but paleoanthropologist Erik Trinkaus says it probably occurred more often than is generally imagined.

In his latest work, published last week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Trinkaus, of Washington University in St. Louis, analyzed prehistoric fossil remains from various parts of Europe. He concluded that a significant number have attributes associated with both Neanderthals and the modern humans who replaced them.

"Given the data we now have, it would be highly improbable to argue there is no Neanderthal contribution to the early European population that came out of Africa," Trinkaus said. "I believe there was continuous breeding between the two for some period of time.

"Both groups would seem to us dirty and smelly but, cleaned up, we would understand both to be human. There's good reason to think that they did as well."

The conclusion, one of the strongest to date in this debate, remains controversial, and it has potentially broad implications. It suggests, for instance, that humans today should still have some Neanderthal genes. It also means that the unanswered question of why the Neanderthals died out is even more puzzling -- because under this scenario they were quite capable of living successfully alongside the more modern newcomers.

Don't like this conclusion? Don't worry -- in the next few years there will be a new study claiming exactly the opposite, as has been the case for decades whenever a groundbreaking study of this question is published.

Posted by: Greg at 10:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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