Disunity In The Sacred Places.

Yet another chapter in the long history of conflict between different groups of Christian faithful in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher occurred today. A group of Greek Orthodox priests and Franciscans got into a fistfight over whether or not a door in the church built over the Savior's tomb should be open or closed during a procession.

Over the course of over a millennium, an uneasy truce has developed between different Christian groups regarding rights to certain spots in the building, the right to repair or decorate walls, and even the right to live on the building's roof. This conflict was both encouraged and mediated by the Ottomans and other Muslim rulers in Jerusalem.

Monday's fight broke out during a procession of hundreds of Greek Orthodox worshippers commemorating the 4th century pilgrimage by Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, to Jerusalem. Tradition says that during the trip, Helena found the cross on which Jesus had been crucified.


Church officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that at one point, the procession passed a Roman Catholic chapel, and priests from both sides started arguing over whether the door to the chapel should be open or closed.

The fight was broken up by Israeli police using clubs, and the procession continued.

There have been other conflicts in recent years.

In 2003, Israeli police threatened to limit the number of worshippers allowed to attend an Easter ceremony if the denominations did not agree on who would lead the ceremony. Police brokered a last-minute deal and the ceremony passed peacefully.


But a year earlier, the Greek patriarch and Armenian clergyman designated to enter the tomb exchanged blows after a dispute over who would be first to exit the chamber.

And how do we expect to ward off the jihadis if we cannot resolve our own disputes in fraternal love?

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Hey, Dude, Where've You Been?

It's that awful point of the semester -- grades are due. Those of you who teach (or who love a teacher) know the horror of that time. I've not had much blogging time, not trying to finish the grades for 170 students.

To quote Doug MacArthur -- I shall return!

Probably today.

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Company's Coming!

Bad weather is coming to Precinct 333! It looks like we have about a 38% chance of this one making landfall right here.

The low pressure remains of Hurricane Ivan that wandered in the Gulf of Mexico today swelled into a tropical storm that's expected to assault the Texas and Louisiana coasts Thursday.

The storm, with sustained winds of 40 mph at 8:30 p.m., likely will make landfall between western Louisiana and Houston late today or early Friday, said Tom Bradshaw, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's southern regional office in Fort Worth.

Surf is high down along Todville Road, the main coastal road here in Precinct 333. When we reach high tide, I expect to see the road flood in spots -- though that still leaves the Loyal Opposition (and the dog) a couple of ways out if it gets too bad.

But we've ridden a couple storms out in our home, and expect to do the same with this one. The fury was expended elsewhere.

Still, keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers.

And by the way -- since it died down to a low pressure center it may get a new name.

Bradshaw said the storm, which had been called called Tropical Depression Ivan earlier today, would likely be renamed Matthew once it reached tropical storm strength. The hurricane center had not changed the name by 9 p.m.

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Burn In Hell In Flaming Pig Fat!

We've apparantly taken out the spiritual leader of Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad, the group that has been cutting off heads of Americans in recent days. Sheik Abu Anas al-Shami was killed in a missle attack on September 17.

Good riddance.

Find the remains, coat with bacon grease, and return to the family as a warning to other terrorist scum.

You're next, al-Zarqwi!

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Stupid Letter, Stupid Decision -- But Still Constitutionally Protected

Back on December 2, 2003, the Tucson Citizen printed a letter to the editor. The author suggested that going to a mosque and killing five Muslims for every soldier killed in Iraq.

Printing it was stupid.

There was outrage, and rightly so.

Muslim families kept their kids home from school out of fear of violence.

Apologies were made, and the author of the letter clarified that he meant mosques in Iraq, not those in the area.

And that should have been the end of it. Except for folks filing lawsuits in an attempt to gut the First Amendment. On January 13, two Muslims filed suit alleging assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Muslims.

You can express your opinion but not — especially with what's going on in the Middle East — if you put some people's lives at risk," said plaintiff Aly Elleithee, an accountant and immigrant from Egypt. "Somebody has to be accountable for what they did."

A trial judge dismissed the assault claim, but allowed the other claim to stand.

"Clearly, reasonable minds could differ in determining whether the publication of the letter rose to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct," Judge Miller wrote.

The Arizona Supreme Court is now deciding whether to overturn that decision.

It should be a no brainer. After all, no specific threat was made, nor did the publication of the letter put anyone's life or safety in immediate danger.

"If the trial court's ruling is allowed to stand, political speech that falls well short of advocating immediate violence may be subject to sanction in Arizona — making this state a uniquely risky jurisdiction in which to publish news and commentary," the Citizen's lawyers wrote in the appeal.

Without any immediate physical threat to anyone, publication of the letter is constitutionally protected, the newspaper's appeal said.

If this decision is allowed to stand as rendered by the Ninth Circuit wanna-be, then the First Amendment is trumped by the first person to say they are scared or their feelings have been hurt. And all it will take is one overly sensitive member of the minority to trump the freedom of speech of the majority.

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Free Press And Open Courts -- What A Concept!

The ACLU, a great supporter of keeping the press free, public records public, and courts open, has been dealt a blow in a Nebraska case -- in which it attempted to have a judge gag media outlets that wanted to report the name of an individual suing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a public building. The organization had worried that allowing the name of its client to be reported would lead to harassment and because of an earlier death threat.

ACLU attorney Amy Miller told Kopf that revealing the name in print would put the man's life in jeopardy.

"Lives are at stake," she said. "You might as well paint a target on the man's back."

Funny, I'm not aware of any actual attacks on anyone who has sued to have a cross or Ten Commandments monument removed from a public place. The old "Thou Shalt Not Kill" thing sort of prevents that kind of thing.

And besides, the newspaper is operating on principle here.

World-Herald attorney Michael Cox said sealed evidence presented to the court shows that "the cat is out of the bag."

"Everybody knows who it is," Cox said.

Cox said the paper had the right to publish his name and doing so would not put him at risk.

"He is not going to die because of what the World-Herald does," Cox said.

Following the hearing, Cox said he did not know when or if a story would run revealing the man's name. He said a larger investigative piece related to the case was being pursued.

Larry King, executive editor of the World-Herald, said the man thrust himself into the public eye by bringing the lawsuit.

"This is not a case in which an individual, through no fault or action of his own, found himself in the middle of a dispute," King said. "This man is trying to force a city to make a controversial change it doesn't want to make. If you want to change public policy, it should not be a surprise that you could be publicly identified."

Sounds reasonable to me. If you want to raise a claim in court, you should have to identify yourself. He filed the suit because "he has to see the monument from a street passing by the park on his way to work every day and when he attends events in the park." Why shouldn't the public, which overwhelmingly supports the monument, be allowed to know who is suing the government to remove a monument that the public overwhelmingly supports? Isn't that a part of open government and open courts?

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How Do Teachers Educate Their Kids?

The Washington Times notes today that about a quarter of teachers in large urban school districts send their kids to private schools. Why is that?

"Teachers, it is reasonable to assume, care about education, are reasonably expert about it and possess quite a lot of information about the schools in which they teach. We can assume that no one knows the condition and quality of public schools better than teachers who work in them every day."
"They know from personal experience that many of their colleagues make such a choice [for private vs. public schools], and do so for good and sufficient reasons."

Now some want to argue it is because public education is broken. While I'll concede that is true in some places, I don't think that is the answer.

As a public school teacher in an urban district, I may have some insight into the issue (though I have no kids). It is gained from working with a diverse group of colleagues who havemade a variety of choices. Some have students in our school. Others live outside the district and send the kids to the school closest to home. I know many who make the choice for a religious education (you would be surprised how many conservative Christian teachers there really are). I even know one who homeschools his daughter along with his wife. Each has made the choice to do what he or she sees as best for their own children.

And I think that is the key -- choice. So do the authors of the article.

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Wow -- Thanks!

Since Saturday I have had almost 1000 pageloads on this blog -- most related to the Beslan entry.

Thanks to all who linked!

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The People Kerry Betrayed -- And Why He Must Not Get The Chance To Do Worse

John Kerry's Senate testimony and the Winter Soldier Investigation painted a picture of American fighting men in Vietnam as monsters raping and ravaging their way across the countryside. That picture was and is false. Ask the Vietnamese people. Michael P. Tremoglie did, and what he found was very enlightening.

A few weeks ago, I did just that. I met with a group of Vietnamese refugees--past and present. Some were among the 1980s "Boat People," who fled the horror of Communist Vietnam on rafts, boats, and pieces of driftwood, risking their lives in the process. Others were more recent arrivals. All fled the purported utopia Vietnam was supposed to become according to Kerry and his anti-war colleagues.

Ask Quyen V. Ngo.

He was a boat person rescued by an American merchant ship after three nights at sea. Fifty-nine years old, Quyen was a schoolteacher in Vietnam and a Captain in the South Vietnamese army (ARVN).

. . .

I asked him if the Communists committed genocide after they obtained power. He said the Communists killed many people. Those who were not killed were placed in re-education camps. There they worked 12 hours a day and had little food.

Ngo never witnessed any atrocities by American soldiers, neither did he hear of any American atrocities. He said he did not believe a thing Kerry said about American troops, systematically committing war crimes. He thinks Kerry fabricated this.

He felt sorry for those who opposed the war because they did not see the truth about the war and the Communists. As far as he is concerned, they betrayed the American and Vietnamese soldiers. Testimony like Kerry's, Ngo believes, resulted in encouraging the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong Communists to kill more Vietnamese and American soldiers.

Or perhaps you could ask the survivors of the Montagnards.

Currently, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has cited several examples of atrocities by Vietnam's Communist rulers. One such was the Easter week massacre. Montagnards, protesting the lack of religious freedom, were killed. According to HRW ". . . sources in the Central Highlands confirm . . . hundreds of demonstrators were wounded and many were killed by security forces . . . ."

Remember, John Kerry is the man who said in his Senate testimony that all political groups would be represented in a Communist Vietnam. We now know that to be false, and those who believed that tragically wrong.

Do we really want to give Kerry the chance to make such a mistake again, when the fate of another people rides upon his clear thinking?

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Corrupt New Mexico Judge Urged To Resign.

When Democrats sued to get Ralph Nader off the ballot in New Mexico, state District Court Judge Wendy York obliged them by ruling that Nader could not appear on the ballot.

Now it appears there is a conflict of interest in the case. Wendy E. York of Albuquerque, New Mexico donated $1000 to the John Kerry campaign earlier this year. This appears to violate the state judicial ethics code, which says, in part, that

"A judge is disqualified and shall recuse himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances where: (1) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party's lawyer ..."

Clearly a campaign donor to one candidate has a conflict of interest when they are given the power to knock an opposing candidate off the ballot at the request of their preferred candidate's party.

State Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, has called on York to resign by Monday. If she fails to do so, he and a multi-partisan group of other political leaders from around the state will seek to have York sanctioned and removed from the bench.

Joining Adair in Saturday's complaint were Frank Clinard, a Libertarian; Steve Cabiedes, a Green Party candidate for Bernalillo County Clerk; Arville Sullins, a Democrat from Roswell; and Elizabeth Cook, president of Concerned Citizens of Albuquerque, according to a news release from Adair.

Seems like honest government requires getting this woman off the bench.

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Kerry Lies Again!

Kerry likes to lie to the American public. Examples include his Vietnam record, his treasonous activites following the war, his Senate record, his vehicle ownership, his finances, his plans for his presidency, and a story he used to tell about a wonam losing her health insurance. Now the Manchester Union Leader has found another one.

At an August 27 event in Daly City, Calif., Kerry was introduced by a woman named Lori Guy. She said that after her employer cut her pay in 2000, she piled up huge credit card bills and was regularly charged late-payment fees. Kerry used her story to attack President Bush for not protecting the middle class. He then claimed he would prevent credit card companies from charging large fees.

Now I could point out that the pay cut came in 2000 during "the best economy in 50 years" (as touted by Democrats) during the early stages of the Clinton Recession that the Bush tax cuts in 2001 helped alleviate. But if I did, I would miss the even more important story, the one found when the San Jose Mercury News interviewed Ms. Guy.

She told the paper that she is still with the same company, and after several raises makes more money than ever before. Since all of this happened within the span of the last four years, her real story is that during the Bush administration she went from being heavily in debt to being in the best finanical shape of her life. Funny that John Kerry never mentioned that.

In other words, under the Democrats she suffered a pay cut and crushing debt. Under the Republicans she prospered. Its a pity that John Kerry had to lie again in his quest for the presidency. I guess those talks with Bill Clinton really helped.

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Louisiana Voters Ban Gay Marriage, Civil Unions

By a 4/1 margin, Louisiana voters approved a state constitutional amendment to ban homosexual marriage and civil unions in the state. Louisiana is the second of eleven states to vote on the issue since the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that John Adams and his fellow authors of the Massachusetts Constitution intended to allow homosexuals to marry one another.

Homosexual leaders announced their plan to challenge the ban, claiming that legislators and voters were too stupid to know what they were doing.

"The Christian Coalition did an excellent job of deceiving the legislature and the voters into believing that this amendment only dealt with the issue of marriage," said Randall Evans, an attorney for Forum For Equality, a statewide civil rights organization. "Now, 500,000 Louisianians will have to look to the courts for protection of their constitutional rights."

And the rest of the people of Louisiana will have to look to the courts to protect their right to have their vote count, and to be permitted o make social policy in their state. Folks such as Mr. Evans are Exhibit 1 in the case for a Federal Marriage Amendment.

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Anyone Need A Talk Show Host?

As the lovely and multi-talented Michelle Malkin reports, KIRO-AM talk host Brian Maloney has been fired by the station over his criticism of Dan Rather and CBS News' handling of the forged memos smearing the president.

"On the talk show that I host, or hosted, I said I felt Rather should either retire or be forced out over this," said Brian Maloney, whose weekly "The Brian Maloney Show" aired for three years on KIRO-AM Radio, a CBS affiliate here.

Maloney says he made that statement on his Sept. 12 program. He was fired Friday, he said.

Apparently he missed the "Rally 'Round Rather" memo directing him to help the network stonewall any meaningful investigation of their fraud.

Why did he speak out against Rather?

"I really felt he was taking the network's credibility down with him," Maloney said in a telephone interview.

"Talk-show hosts have generally had a lot of independence in these kinds of issues," he said. "Nobody's ever said, 'You can't criticize CBS News.'"

So if you happen to have an open slot on your talk radio station, it seems that there is an honest man looking for a position. Give him a call.

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Liberal Hypocrites Picket O'Neill Home

Fifteen leftist picketers protested in front of the home of Unfit for Command author John O'Neill in Houston today. The stench of hypocrisy was overwhelming.

John Cobarruvias, head of Bay Area New Democrats (BAND), was there, acting as spokesman. He denounced O'Neill in a manner that is so patently absurd that it is virtually impossible to take him seriously (scratch that, I've been reading his letters in the local paper for years -- it is always impossible to take him seriously).

"Who in their right mind would attack a veteran who actually volunteered to go to Vietnam?" protester John Cobarruvias asked. "Attacking a veteran who went to war, who got shot at, is wrong."

But hold it. Isn't John O'Neill ALSO "a veteran who went to war, who got shot at"? Doesn't that give him at least equal right to speak out on matters of public concern, such as the record of the man who Cobarruvias wants to be the next president?

But Cobarruvias didn't stop there.

"They have done the most indespicable (sic) thing that a man could ever do and that is attack an American veteran," Cobarruvias said. "We are going to do whatever it takes within the law to stop this and if it means coming to this man's house and protesting him within the law, that is what we are going to do."

Well maybe that answers my question -- John Kerry must be the ONLY veteran above criticism -- anyone else, including other Vietnam combat veterans who served with Kerry, may not utter a single word to impeach his actions or motives.

O'Neill, who was attending his daughter's wedding, released a statement urging protesters "to read the book and then engage in a civil debate over its contents."

"It is our experience that protests and book burnings occur not against books that are false, but against books that are true," the statement said.

It's tempting to give everyone John Cobarruvias' home address and phone in this posting. I know they are listed and easily found. But maybe it is better that I don't. After all, we conservatives don't feel a need to intimidate and harass our political opponents into silence, the way Mr. Cobarruvias and his BAND of thugs apparently need to do. After all, we have the truth on our side.

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You Can't Say That At School!

As a teacher, I hate to hear about kids suing a school. But I've just got to back this young man. For the First Amendment to mean anything, people have to be able to peaceably dissent from and orthodoxy that the government wishes to impose.

Tyler "Chase" Harper had the audacity to dissent from the "Gay is OK" message put forth by his school. When the school sponsored a "Day of Silence" to protest the alleged harassment of homosexuals and others, Chase wore one which read "Homosexuality is shameful" and "Romans 1:27." When he wore it a second day, he was suspended.

"This particular phrase is harmful and offensive to people and shouldn't be permitted," school district attorney Jack Sleeth told U.S. District Judge John Houston.

Really, Mr. Sleeth? Haven't you read Tinker v. DesMoines, which holds that students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door? DO you mean to say that religious speech and speech opposing homosexuality are not constitutionally protected? Or are you contending that Tinker, the landmark student's rights case that permitted students to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, was wrongly decided? Or do you mean to say that the precedent only applies to those who espouse a liberal message?

ironically, Sleeth goes on to justify the suspension and ban on the grounds that the district has a goal of promoting, get this, "tolerance of all viewpoints." Well, Mr. Sleeth, why does the district refuse to promote the tolerance of Chase's viewpoint? It seems to me that they are suppressing a viewpoint they don't support, rather than tolerating it. And you can't claim it was causing disruptions in the school, because not one fight or disruption can be documented on the day the shirt was permitted. All you can point to is hurt feelings and people being offended.

As a public school teacher, I hope this bunch goes down hard, and that Tinker gets reaffirmed. Maybe we'll see an end to absurdities like the one at my school, which banned a t-shirt with a "Wanted Dead or Alive" poster of Osama bin Laden, or one worn by a student who was a Civil War buff honoring Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Or the ones at other schools where kids are suspended for wearing Pepsi shirts on Coca Cola day, or a Green Bay Packers shirt on Minnesota Vikings day.

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More Unprovoked Democrat Violence Against Republicans

Blogs for Bush links to this piece about unprovoked Democrat violence in Gainseville, Florida.

You see it all started when David McCally saw a life-size cut-out of the president in GOP headquarters as he walked down the street. Not content to go on his way and allow those with whom he disagrees to to have political material he disagrees with in their own office, McCally (an instructor at Santa Fe Community College) entered the office and punched the cut-out in the face.

"I don't like old brother George. Truthfully, I kind of did it lightheartedly. I was just walking over there to order chicken, and I saw the cutout and I just walked in there and punched it.

That's when county GOP chairman Travis Horn stepped outside to confront McCally. Big mistake, but then again, you don't always know when you are dealing with an irrational political extrimist. They tend to blend in with the more "normal" folks in the Democrat party.

When Horn went outside, he said McCally came up to him. "He proceeded to say how he had a Ph.D., and he was smarter than me. I'm a stupid Republican," and other comments laced with obscenities, he said.

Horn said he was hit and knocked into a wall.

His lips were cut and his nose injured.

"I then proceeded to defend myself," he said. "I used the minimum force necessary to subdue him."

The police report states Horn kicked McCally because McCally was holding on to Horn's legs.

Police happened to be pulling into the area at the time, Horn said. A police report states officers saw McCally throw what they later learned was the first punch.

"Of course I'm going to have a restraining order filed against him," Horn said. "I certainly will seek his removal from the classroom. Obviously he's shown a serious lack of judgment."

College officials confirm that McCally has been temporarily suspended, pending an administrative review. As a part-time instructor, it would appear that McCally does not have tenure.

And you have to love Travis Horn's response to all of this.

"If I have to take a beating every day for George W. Bush to be president, I'll do that. My passion for my beliefs continues unabated."

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And Here I Thought Objective Journalists Didn't Make Political Donations

We're always told that reporters, editors, and other involved in journalism shouldn't endorse candidates or give donations. Dan Rather broke that rule in Austin a few years ago, but claims it was an accident.

Well, given the current controversy caused by the use of forged and false documents by CBS News, let's see what the employees of that organization are doing politically.

CBS News-ers have donated $17,050 to federal candidates and political action committees since 1982. Of that amount, $10,800 was for Democrats and the DNC; $3,500 went to Lenora Fulani's wacky New Alliance Party; and only $2,750 went to the GOP. The biggest individual recipient was Fulani, who received $3,500 from a CBS News staffer back in the 1980s. The second highest was Sen. Hillary Clinton, who took in $2,250 from three CBS News employees. Among the CBS contributors: the late Charles Kuralt, who gave $1,000 to Harvey Gantt for Senate in 1996; David Garfinkle of "60 Minutes," who gave $1,000 to Bill Bradley's presidential campaign; and "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft, who gave $300 to Ham Fish, Jr.'s race for Congress in 1994.

Now you might argue that these are old donations, not current ones, but notice one significant fact -- the Republican party received less than the New Alliance party of left-wing crackpot Lenora Fulani! Is it that GOP employees are more scrupulous about ethics, or that they are non-existent?

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You, Too, Can Have Early Sex Pushed At Your Kids In School -- Just Vote Democrat!

If you want a vision of things to come, take a look at this article I found linked by Mark Shea. The schools in one district in Nova Scotia are about to distribute a sex education manual to all its students in upper grades. Parents are up in arms over statements like this one cited in the article.

". . . a person who is 12 or 13 can consent to sexual activity but only with a person who is less than 2 years older than he or she is."

Can you believe that! They are actually approving kids having sex at age 12! And when little Susie gets knocked up? They go into how to get an abortion without parental knowledge or permission! There is actually a page stating that it is illegal and unethical for doctors to tell parents their kids are sexually active!

If we elect Democrats, who seem to find traditional values and sexual morality troubling, to office this fall, we will soon find stuff like this in our students' backpacks, mandated by Washington, DC.

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A Beslan Miracle

We have all seen the picture. I even posted it on my site before. A blood-stained hand of a child clutches a cross following the Beslan school attack.

I've got another picture for you.

A happier one.

Of Viktoria Ktsoyeva.

The girl whose hand and cross touched so many of us.



Here's the story of what she went through in the school. And since I, as a teacher, can't type anything more about Beslan without crying, I'll leave you with this excerpt about the goodness of God.

"I felt that if I had that cross in my hand and if it was still there, then everything would be fine," she said.

The only sign of her injury are three small stitches on the right side of her forehead. But X-rays show a centimetre-sized piece of shrapnel that travelled into her skull and stopped practically in the center of her brain.

Dr Maxim Vladimirov, her neurosurgeon, said the shrapnel could have hit a major artery or affected Viktoria's ability to control her movement if it had gone just 1 millimetre further in any direction. "She's very lucky," Vladimirov said.

For now, doctors are planning to leave the shrapnel inside her skull and will only operate if any future complications develop.

After days of being confined to bed on doctor's orders, Victoria took her first cautious steps again on Wednesday. She's expected to be hospitalised for about a month, and then to travel with her family to a sanatorium for further recuperation.

The cross is now back in her family's apartment in Beslan, still stained with blood.

She didn't have time to remember it when she was taken September 5 to Moscow for treatment, but her father, Sergei, and brother will bring it when they arrive later. She now wears a brown cross given her by a priest who visited the hospital. A couple small icons rest on her windowsill in front of a small menagerie of stuffed animals.

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Dan Rather And CBS News Violate Their Own Standards

Dennis E. Powell does a book report about an interesting book he owns.

It's called "The White Book," at least informally. More formally, it is called CBS NEWS STANDARDS, and is a product of an outfit called the CBS News Division. It contains the standards and practices that the Columbia Broadcast System supposedly requires of its of those who gather and report the news for CBS Evening News and other news shows on the network. It seems relevant, given recent allegations against Dan Rather and others associated with the memo story.

Here is what the book says about anonymous sources, on page 37B:

"Anonymous sources should be used only when it is determined (1) that there is no other practicable way to obtain and report the information; (2) that the information is factual and of sufficient newsworthiness to warrant its use despite the fact that we cannot disclose its source; and (3) that the source and his information are highly reliable in the particular instance."

And it goes on.

"Where the use of an anonymous source is necessary, as much information as possible about the nature of the source should be provided to the audience, assuming, of course, that this information would not lead to disclosure of the source. Where the source may have a vested interest in the matter to be reported, it is especially important that information be provided as to the nature and/or motivation of the source."

The reporting in the memo stories and subsequent defenses of the stories seems to be in violation of these standards and practices.

Now I'll concede that Powell owns an older edition, since he left the network some years ago. But one would hope that the standards have not changed so dramatically that deception and obfuscation have become acceptable.

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Does This Really Make Us Safer?

Federal and state prosecutors have apparently decided not to prosecute or seek a civil penalty from Katheryn Stover, a special education teacher from Laurel, Maryland, for attempting to bring a "weapon" on a flight in August.

It was an 8 1/2-inch leather strap with small lead weights at each end. You can buy them at any number of bookstores throughout the country without a waiting period or background check.

She had carried it on several flights since the 2001 terrorist attacks, even through Tampa, but screeners had never noticed it, she said.

This time they did, and thought it resembled a weighted weapon that could be used to knock people unconscious. Airport police charged her with carrying a concealed weapon.

"It was a bookmark," Harrington, a special education teacher, told the St. Petersburg Times. "It's not a weapon. I could not understand why I was being handcuffed and put into a police car. I cried for hours."

Harrington, who also is a Sunday school teacher, faced a possible criminal trial, a $10,000 fine and the stigma of being deemed a security risk.

Glad we have taken care of the security threat posed by literate middle-age women. But we still let large groups of Middle Eastern and Muslim men fly together and wander freely about the plane, so we may have a way to go before the skies are safe.

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Hero's Family Abused At Leftist "Vigil For Dead Troops"

Leftists from the Dallas Peace Center called it a vigil to honor the 1000th US casualty in Iraq. They didn't actually expect family members of the dead, Chad Drake (killed near Baghdad on September 6) to show up to honor the troops. What happened next?

A family friend said the vigil turned abrasive toward the family members. The friend sent an e-mail message to NBC 5 News that described the alleged treatment some vigil attendees directed at the family.

The family friend's message alleges Drake's mother was "harassed and yelled at, booed and hissed, told her son died for nothing."

Quite a way for those at a vigil to "honor the dead" to treat the family of one of those who had died. These people dishonor the troops, especially those who have died.

But they live in America, where they have the freedom to do such things. In Saddam Hussein's Iraq, they weould all be in prison or dead today.

That is why they should be thankful for men like Chad Drake -- and George W. Bush.

Posted by: Greg at 04:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Find Him -- Kill Him

Hey, when you confess to something of this enormous magnitude, it's hard to even justify the expense of a trial.

Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the deadly school hostage taking in southern Russia, according to a letter posted on a rebel website today.

Rebels commanded by Basayev have "carried out a series of successful military operations...", including "the operation in the town of Beslan", said a letter signed by the notorious warlord and posted on kavkazcenter.com.

The hostage crisis in early September killed more than 330 people, the majority of them children.

Posted by: Greg at 03:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Kerry Supporters Destroy Child's Sign

Want one more reasons for considering so many Kerry supporters to be evil? Phil Parlock decided to take his three-year-old daughter to see John Edwards at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia -- and to engage in a little First Amendment protected speech by waving a Bush/Cheney sign. Kerry/Edwards supporters ripped the sign from the little girl and verbally abused her and her father (look at the smirking piece of excrement next to the father and daughter, mocking them).

Great class, folks -- picking on little children. This is why you will lose, because the decent people of America are going to rise up en masse against you.

By the way, Huntington is also the area where gunshots were fired into GOP headquarters as party faithful gathered to watch the president's acceptance speech during the convention. Were kerry supporters at this event questioned for involvement in that terrorist act, given their thuggish behavior today?

Posted by: Greg at 05:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let's Guess Which Candidate This Psycho Supports

A guy out in California running for the Thousand Oaks City Council is causing some real concerns. Both the local sheriff and the Secret Service turned out at this week's City Council meeting. Why?

Daniel Avila, 25, admitted Wednesday that he handed out fliers at the city's Oktoberfest celebration stating, "President George W. Bush Deserves to Be Assassinated." The handbill also called for a sex attack on the president's twin daughters.

Avila, who didn't attend the Tuesday night council session, wouldn't discuss his motives.

"I don't want to give any clue as to whether I'm serious or whether I'm playing around," he said. "I just think people need to allow something they don't like in their society to exist. In general that's what democracy is all about."

This guy needs to be in custody. Especially since in July he passed out bumper stickers advocating the murder of the president when he came to speak at a City Council meeting -- and brought a hatchet with him. He appears to be a danger to himself or others.

The article ends with this little gem.

Asked if he has ever committed a violent act, Avila said he has not.

"But if I did, I wouldn't be honest about it," he said.

Tell it to your cellmate, Danny-Boy.

Posted by: Greg at 05:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let Them Eat Ketchup!

Teresa Heinz Kerry doesn't think folks in the Carribean need clothes following the hurricanes!

"Clothing is wonderful, but let them go naked for a while, at least the kids," said Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. "Water is necessary, and then generators, and then food, and then clothes."

Actually, dear, cloting is necessary.

As I see it, there are a couple of possibilities.

First, Teresa could be the sort who gets her jollies looking at naked kids. One would hope not, but you never can be too careful these days.

Second, Teresa could be flashing back to her childhood home in Mozambique, where she and her fellow members of the colonialist oppressor class lived in luxury while the common people did without. She thinks poor little black kids don't need clothes.

Third, Teresa could simply have no clue, and be shooting off her mouth like an ignorant tramp again.

I vote for number three, but wonder about number one. I mean, she is pretty anxious to get those kids naked.

Posted by: Greg at 05:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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CBS Has Proof Bush Served, But Still Investigates

Look at the sidebar on this CBS story -- it contains a list of documents proving President Bush satisfactorily completed his service. So why are they still investigating? This should be a closed case.

Here they are, for your viewing pleasure.

Also view documents released by the White House reflecting President Bush's National Guard service:

• Memo from retired Lt. Col. Albert C. Lloyd on whether Mr. Bush satisfied Guard requirements

• Personnel Card listing points Mr. Bush earned from May 1972 to May 1973

• Service Record showing days Mr. Bush was credited with service from October 1972 to May 1973

• Service Record showing days Mr. Bush was credited with service from May 1973 to July 1973

• Pay Record listing days of service in 1972 and 1973, along with computer printouts of each quarter

• Dental Record showing the results of a dental examination Mr. Bush had on Jan. 6, 1973.

Posted by: Greg at 05:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is George Soros A Threat To The Republic?

In an unusual infusion of big money into local upstate politics, billionaire George Soros poured cash into the Albany County district attorney's race — and engineered a stunning defeat of the incumbent because the DA supports the strict Rockefeller drug laws.

He's succeeded in destabilizing foreign governments. He's succeeded in taking out a DA. He's trying to buy the presidency for Kerry. So I have to ask -- Is George Soros a threat to the American Republic?

After all, we are told that wealthy Americans pouring large amounts of money into campaigns undermines the system. But that is what Soros does. Consider this race, in which he engineered the defeat of a man whose offense was strongly supporting strong drug laws.

The Soros-founded Drug Policy Alliance Network — which favors repeal of the Rockefeller laws — contributed at least $81,500 to the Working Families Party, which turned around and supported the successful Democratic primary campaign of David Soares.

Trying to become Albany's first black DA, Soares on Tuesday unexpectedly trounced his former boss, incumbent Albany DA Paul Clyne, who has opposed changing the drug laws. The victory was overwhelming: Soares took 62 percent of the Democratic vote.

"This was more than a local race, that's what the [Soros] funding shows," said Assemblyman John McEneny, who supported the challenger's candidacy.

So I guess this means more use of shadowy groups to launder his money and make it appear like a grass-roots campaign to legalize drugs exists. Maybe Speaker Hastert is right, and there are drug groups involved in the Soros fortune.

But the part that makes me worry about our nations is later in the article.

While the Soros family has already donated more than $15 million to get rid of President Bush, it has also turned its attention to New York politics.

The Post recently reported that Soros' son, Robert, and his wife, Melissa Schiff Soros, donated $100,000 to state Senate Democrats.

I guess the folks worried about the integrity of elections don't see a need to protect us from rich Democrat partisans.

Posted by: Greg at 04:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No "Ho! Ho! Ho!" At Target For Me!

This word in from Target Corporate headquarters.

National news reports indicate that Target Corp., which operates 1,272 stores in 47 states, decided earlier this year to end a longtime agreement that allowed the Salvation Army to solicit funds at its stores.

A lot of people will do with a lot less this year as social service agencies have to tighten their belt because of the loss of funds.

Let's make sure Target suffers at least as serious a belt-tightening.

Posted by: Greg at 03:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Kerrys Among Richest Americans, Pay Little In Taxes

For all Joh Kerry complains about the Bush tax cut, he is more than willing to take advantage of it. Records released today show that they not only avoided paying the highest tax rate by using shelters and otehr loopholes, but they actually paid a lower percentage than the average Middle Class American Kerry professes concern for.

John and Teresa Kerry last year paid only 12% in income taxes. Apparently, Kerry, who rakes in just over $158,000 a year as a U.S. Senator, and his Heinz-heiress wife don't consider themselves "rich."

And it gets even more interesting when one looks at Kerrys state tax returns. Americans for tax Reform

also noted that "John Kerry has declined to pay a small, voluntary tax in his home state. The Massachusetts state income tax code contains a provision allowing payers to contribute an extra .6% of their income to benefit the commonwealth. Kerry has consistently failed to pay the extra money, which would have amounted to $687 dollars last year."

I guess that means that even though you don't need that tax cut, you are still greedy enough to keep it instead of giving it back to the federal government or even to the Massachusetts government. Hypocrite!

Posted by: Greg at 02:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What Is Kerry Hiding?

Peter Kirsanow points out in National Review that John Kerry has gone over a month without having any sort of press conference. This is despite his promise on August 3.

"I have a plan that I'm going to have a press conference at least once a month to talk to the nation about what I'm doing because I don't have anything to hide."

Apparently that doesn't include during his time as a candidate, but only if we elect the secretive Mr. Kerry to the presidency.

What kind of things could reporters ask Kerry about? Kirsanow points to the following areas that are ripe for inquiry.

* What is his secret plan for dealing with Iraq? The senator refused to disclose it to George Stephanopolous.

* Senator Kerry still has not released Vietnam journal or authorized the release of all his military records by signing a DD-180. Why not if he wants to show he has experience to make him a strong wartime leader?

* Why won't Kerry allow the disclosure of his attendance records for classified briefings of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to show the American public how serious he has been about the intelligence failures of the last decade?

* Which foreign leaders have told Kerry they want to see him as president rather than Bush? This will tell us who is committed to join us in Iraq if we are no longer going to "go it alone" (and yes, Kirsanow and I both know we aren't).

* Will Kerry give us the details of his 1971 meeting with the Viet Cong in Paris? His involvement with Vietnam Veterans Against the War during the time assassinations and violence were contemplated?

The list goes on and on — secret tax returns, medical files, diplomatic missions, and hats. Senator Kerry is applying for the most powerful job in world. He needs to be interviewed by the media to prove that he's up to the task.

Posted by: Greg at 01:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Al Michaels -- Conservative?

I missed this on Thursday night during the Patriots-Colts game in Boston.

When co-announcer John Madden marveled at the seesawing of the score - "This is what you call a flip-flop," he said - Michaels retorted: "You're in the right state for that."

By which Michaels meant Massachusetts, the home state of the Democratic presidential nominee, who's constantly being accused by President Bush's campaign team of "flip-flopping" on the issues.

And apparently James Carville is upset.

"These announcers are getting to think they're some kind of political commentators or pontificators," Carville told me. "But the football fans watch football to hear about football. If Al Michaels wants to give his political opinions, tell him to come on 'Crossfire.'"

Paul Begala, on the other hand, doesn't watch.

"I hardly ever watch ['Monday Night Football'] anymore. It's the television equivalent of Sominex. And they have had all these right-wingers on: Dennis Miller, Rush Limbaugh and Al Michaels - and all it does is drive viewers away."

Fortunately, ABC has the perfect response to this non-issue driven by gossip columnist Lloyd Grove.

"We don't respond to nonsense."

Posted by: Greg at 01:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Kerry Claims GOP Plans Racial Vote Suppression

John Kerry again played the race card by claiming that the Bush campaign has a plan to keep blacks from voting and their votes from being counted. He offered no evidence for this assertion.

"We are not going to stand by and allow another million African American votes to go uncounted in this election," the Democratic presidential nominee told the Congressional Black Caucus. "We are not going to stand by and allow acts of voter suppression, and we're hearing those things again in this election."

Kerry has a team of lawyers to examine possible voting problems to try to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election disputes. He also has said he has thousands of lawyers around the country prepared to monitor the polls on election day.

"What they did in Florida in 2000, some say they may be planning to do this year in battleground states all across this country," Kerry said. "Well, we are here to let them know that we will fight tooth and nail to make sure that this time, every vote is counted and every vote counts."

As in the past, Kerry and his campaign failed to offer any evidence to support his assertion that a million blacks were disenfranchised in 2000.

I challenge John Kerry -- any Democrat, for that matter -- to post the evidence of such voter suppression plans on the internet, and to turn over their supporting information to the Justice Department and the relevant state AGs for investigation and prosecution.

But they won't. Kerry and his cronies are acting true to form. After all, we all know that Kerry was merely repeating claims of attrocities he heard at the Winter Soldier hearings -- and that many of the participants engaged in false testimony, with none willing to cooperate with authroities to bring to justice any actual perpetrators. They would rather have an issue to flog.

Posted by: Greg at 07:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Did You Know Bush Tried To VolunteerFor Vietnam?

While doing a little research, I came across an intersting article from this past February. At least that is the recollection of William Campenni, a retired Virginia Air National Guard Lieutenant Colonel who served with Bush in the Texas Air National Guard.

According to Campenni, Bush inquired about participating in a volunteer program called Palace Alert that used Air National Guard pilots flying in the F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor jet in Vietnam.

The Air Guard advised Bush he did not have the desired 500 hours of flight time as a pilot to qualify for Palace Alert duty, and, in any event, the program was winding down and not accepting more volunteers.

Campenni also has an explanation of the gaps in the president's service time.

"[Excuses] for employment were common then and are now in the Air Guard, as pilots frequently are in career transitions, and most commanders, as I later was, are flexible in letting their charges take care of career affairs until they return or transfer to another unit near their new employment," said Campenni, who spent 33 years in the Air National Guards of three states as his career as an aerospace engineer took him around the country.

But I guess the word of a 33 year officer who served with President Bush just isn't sufficient for the partisans.

Posted by: Greg at 07:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Patriarch Of Alexandria Dead In Helicopter Crash

Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria and three other Orthodox bishops from Africa have been killed in a helicopter crash while traveling to the monasteries on Mount Athos. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may the light of your face shine upon them.

Posted by: Greg at 07:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Nuke Test In North Korea?

A huge explosion occurred near the North Korean border with China on Thursday, apparently producing a mushroom cloud.

Could they be testing their nukes?

Posted by: Greg at 07:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In Memoriam --9/11/2001

So many died that horrible day.

One was my classmate at Washington and Lee University, Commander Robert Allan Schlegel.

I would love to tell you he and I were close. That would be a lie.

I would love to share stories of great times together. I don't have any.

What I can tell you is that I remember Rob Schlegel as a good guy, a friend of some friends. I remember him as being a bright guy, sitting a couple rows over and a couple seats back in a US History class. One of those classmates you later wish you had gotten to know when you had the chance.

Rest in Peace.

May all all the victims of September 11 and the many men and women of our armed forces who have died fighting terrorism since that day rest in peace.

And let us not forget those heroes who still live.

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Which Party Is Politicizing God?

It is a given that "evilrightwingChristianconservativeRepublicans" are politicizing God. But is it actually true?

Not if you look at this year's Republican and Democrat platforms.

The GOP only refers to God four times.

Echoing a statement of President Bush, the Republican document says freedom is "the Almighty's gift to every man, woman and child in the world" and it says leaders of faith-based groups treat people as "moral individuals created in the image of God."

The other two Republican mentions criticize federal judges for banning "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and quote from a Bush eulogy: "May God bless Ronald Reagan."

The Democrats, surprisingly enough, refer to God seven times.

As for the Democrats, they twice speak of America as "one nation, under God." They say America offers "all the possibilities your hard work and God-given talent can bring." On the environment, the platform twice describes nature's bounty as a gift from God and later says it should be protected as a heritage for "God's children."

Yet another Democratic plank says "each of us should be as equal in the eyes of the law as we are in the eyes of God."

Where are the Atheist Criminal Liberals Union condemnations of Democrat intolerance, and their complaints about Democrat pushing of Christianity on the unbelievers of America?

they don't exist.

Why not?

Perhaps because their condemnations of the GOP are partisan, not philosophical -- or because they know that the Democrat invocations of God are nothing but hypocritical window-dressing designed to fool the unwary.

Posted by: Greg at 07:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Journalistic Bias At CNN?

GOP questions activities of Carville, Begala, on behalf of Kerry Campaign.

"It's not like I'm on a news show," Mr. Carville said, adding, "Why can't I host the most polemic talk show on television?"

Well, because JOURNALISTS and NEWS PERSONALITIES are supposed to remain formally neutral in political campaigns. You would have a fit if Joe Scarborough or Sean Hannity became advisers to the Bush campaign, made appearances for and represented them, and then claimed that it was irrelevant to their jobs. You would rightly be claiming that allowing them to keep their shows would be providing aid to the Bush camp -- as CNN does by keeping you and Begala on the air. That is our gripe here -- not that you are an active and partisan Democrat.

Posted by: Greg at 04:11 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Secret Laws?

We can argue about whether or not John Gilmore is right in his suit to end mandatory ID checks at airports. He argues government mandated checks are no different than the internal passports that some totalitarian governments require. I find that debatable, though I agree with his assertion that showing identification does absolutely nothing to make air travel safer.

But Gilmore is absolutely right on one point.

"The hardest question to answer is 'show me the law, the regulation, and the rule that requires this,' and none of them could, and never have," Mr. Gilmore said.
The government maintains that there is a law prohibiting the disclosure of SSI, and administration officials have the power to prohibit the disclosure of any information that would "harm transportation security."

Get that -- the government is unwilling to disclose the law, the regulation, or rule that actually requires that identification be shown, despite admitting that showing is legally required!

It gets even more hairy in court.

The Justice Department says it will identify the law in a court case brought against it and the Homeland Security Department by Mr. Gilmore, but only if the secret reasons for its top-secret status remain under a court seal.
"The government would also file and serve a redacted, unsealed version of the brief as well. That procedure will adequately safeguard any sensitive security information [SSI] while permitting this court's independent review of the merits of plaintiffs' claim," said the request filed by the Justice Department on Sept. 3.

In other words, not only are We, The People, not allowed to know what the law, regulation, or rule is, but We, The People, are not even allowed to know why we are not allowed to know what the law, regulation, or rule is -- and they are willing to disclose such information to a court only on the condition that We, The People, are not allowed to know the arguments that support not allowing us to know why we are not allowed to know what the law, regulation or rule is.

Sorry, folks, but such a situation is the absolute betrayal of the concepts that underlie our system of government.

Posted by: Greg at 03:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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