Well, since there seems to be a consensus among the press that the riots over reported Koran desecration were understandable and the fault of the US, I think it is important that we apply the principle to the holy texts of all faiths when they are abused or disrespected as a matter of official government policy.

As such, I am starting the "Slay a Saudi for the Savior” campaign, and expect the support of every liberal and Muslim out there. This is simply a proportional response to this report.

Bibles found in the possession of visitors to Saudi Arabia are routinely confiscated by customs officials, and in some cases copies allegedly have been put through a paper shredder, according to religious rights campaigners.

Reports from the Islamic world of the abuse of Bibles and other items important to Christians emerge from time to time, but generally have little impact - in contrast to the wave of Muslim anger sparked by a Newsweek report, since retracted, of Koran desecration by the U.S. military.

"The Muslims respect the Koran far more than Christians respect the Bible," says Danny Nalliah, a Sri Lankan-born evangelical pastor now based in Australia.

During the 1990s, Nalliah spent two years in Saudi Arabia, where he was deeply involved with the underground church.

"It's a very well-known fact that if you have a Bible at customs when you enter the airport, and if they find the Bible, that the Bible is taken and put in the shredder," he said in an interview this week.

"If you have more than one Bible you will be taken into custody, and if you have a quantity of Bibles you will be given 70 lashes for sure - you could even be executed."

And since there are constant complaints about the abuse of Muslim women, how about this Saudi abuse of a nun?

A friend of his, a fellow Christian in Saudi Arabia, told him of witnessing a particularly unpleasant incident involving a Catholic nun.

The man had been in the transit lounge at the airport in Jeddah - the gateway to Mecca, used by millions of Hajj pilgrims each year - when a nun arrived at the customs desk.

"Some fool [travel agent] had put her on a transit flight in Jeddah. You don't do that to a Catholic nun, because she's going to be tormented."

"They opened her bag, went through her prayer book, put the prayer book through the shredder ... took the crucifix off her neck and smashed it, tormented her for many minutes."

Eventually another Muslim official objected to their conduct, came across and "rescued" her, pointing out to the customs officials that she was not entering the country but only in transit and would be leaving on the next plane.

I demand that the Muslim pigs involved suffer death by beheading for their abuse of this woman of God – right in the middle of Saint Peter’s Square.

I declare a Crusade against the infidels who would dare defile crucifix or shred a prayer book or Bible. We must avenge these insults to the Christian faith.

Death to the Islam!

Death to Mecca!

Death to Saudi Arabia!

***

Uh – anyway, now that I’ve recovered my sense of proportion, I hope folks realize that this is not my actual belief. The above is a satirical piece. Unfortunately, the outrages committed by the Saudis are not something I’ve made up out of whole cloth. They are real.

That is why I urge the State Department to impose serious sanctions against Saudi Arabia and any other Muslim country that violates the rights of Christians. After all – Christianity deserves at least as much respect as Islam.

And to the Islamist fifth-columnists working at CAIR – you’ll get my support for your resolution when you get Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Muslim world to apply the same standard to Christian practices and beliefs.

UPDATE -- 5/20/05: Just in case folks didn't like my sources, here is a piece from today's Wall Street journal on the same Saudi policy regarding the Bible -- including this anecdote.

The Bible in Saudi Arabia may get a person killed, arrested, or deported. In September 1993, Sadeq Mallallah, 23, was beheaded in Qateef on a charge of apostasy for owning a Bible.

I wonder what Ms. Azza Basarudin (from the post below) feels about such cases?

More at GOPBloggers.

UPDATE -- 5/23/05 -- More on Saudi Bible desecration here.

UPDATE -- 5/26/05 -- Don't look now, but it isn't just Bibles that the Islamist Horde wants to ban and destroy -- now they want to confiscate Webster's Dictionary for defining anti-Semitism in a way that they don't like.

The latest edition of the dictionary "Webster" identified "anti- Semitism" as opposing Zionism and sympathizing with Israel's enemies, which showed "the racial trend and scientific distortion," officials of the Office of the Arab Boycott of Israel (OABI) were quoted as saying.

Ignorant cretins!

Posted by: Greg at 01:47 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Well, since there seems to be a consensus among the press that the riots over reported Koran desecration were understandable and the fault of the US, I think it is important that we apply the principle to the holy texts of all faiths when they are abused or disrespected as a matter of official government policy.

As such, I am starting the "Slay a Saudi for the Savior" campaign, and expect the support of every liberal and Muslim out there. This is simply a proportional response to this report.

Bibles found in the possession of visitors to Saudi Arabia are routinely confiscated by customs officials, and in some cases copies allegedly have been put through a paper shredder, according to religious rights campaigners.

Reports from the Islamic world of the abuse of Bibles and other items important to Christians emerge from time to time, but generally have little impact - in contrast to the wave of Muslim anger sparked by a Newsweek report, since retracted, of Koran desecration by the U.S. military.

"The Muslims respect the Koran far more than Christians respect the Bible," says Danny Nalliah, a Sri Lankan-born evangelical pastor now based in Australia.

During the 1990s, Nalliah spent two years in Saudi Arabia, where he was deeply involved with the underground church.

"It's a very well-known fact that if you have a Bible at customs when you enter the airport, and if they find the Bible, that the Bible is taken and put in the shredder," he said in an interview this week.

"If you have more than one Bible you will be taken into custody, and if you have a quantity of Bibles you will be given 70 lashes for sure - you could even be executed."

And since there are constant complaints about the abuse of Muslim women, how about this Saudi abuse of a nun?

A friend of his, a fellow Christian in Saudi Arabia, told him of witnessing a particularly unpleasant incident involving a Catholic nun.

The man had been in the transit lounge at the airport in Jeddah - the gateway to Mecca, used by millions of Hajj pilgrims each year - when a nun arrived at the customs desk.

"Some fool [travel agent] had put her on a transit flight in Jeddah. You don't do that to a Catholic nun, because she's going to be tormented."

"They opened her bag, went through her prayer book, put the prayer book through the shredder ... took the crucifix off her neck and smashed it, tormented her for many minutes."

Eventually another Muslim official objected to their conduct, came across and "rescued" her, pointing out to the customs officials that she was not entering the country but only in transit and would be leaving on the next plane.

I demand that the Muslim pigs involved suffer death by beheading for their abuse of this woman of God – right in the middle of Saint Peter’s Square.

I declare a Crusade against the infidels who would dare defile crucifix or shred a prayer book or Bible. We must avenge these insults to the Christian faith.

Death to the Islam!

Death to Mecca!

Death to Saudi Arabia!

***

Uh -- anyway, now that I've recovered my sense of proportion, I hope folks realize that this is not my actual belief. The above is a satirical piece. Unfortunately, the outrages committed by the Saudis are not something I've made up out of whole cloth. They are real.

That is why I urge the State Department to impose serious sanctions against Saudi Arabia and any other Muslim country that violates the rights of Christians. After all -- Christianity deserves at least as much respect as Islam.

And to the Islamist fifth-columnists working at CAIR --you'll get my support for your resolution when you get Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Muslim world to apply the same standard to Christian practices and beliefs.

UPDATE -- 5/20/05: Just in case folks didn't like my sources, here is a piece from today's Wall Street journal on the same Saudi policy regarding the Bible -- including this anecdote.

The Bible in Saudi Arabia may get a person killed, arrested, or deported. In September 1993, Sadeq Mallallah, 23, was beheaded in Qateef on a charge of apostasy for owning a Bible.

I wonder what Ms. Azza Basarudin (from the post below) feels about such cases?

More at GOPBloggers.

UPDATE -- 5/23/05 -- More on Saudi Bible desecration here.

UPDATE -- 5/26/05 -- Don't look now, but it isn't just Bibles that the Islamist Horde wants to ban and destroy -- now they want to confiscate Webster's Dictionary for defining anti-Semitism in a way that they don't like.

The latest edition of the dictionary "Webster" identified "anti- Semitism" as opposing Zionism and sympathizing with Israel's enemies, which showed "the racial trend and scientific distortion," officials of the Office of the Arab Boycott of Israel (OABI) were quoted as saying.

Ignorant cretins!

Posted by: Greg at 01:47 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Am I the only one who is skeptical about the report of a Muslim woman receiving a defaced Quran in the mail? After all, the entire thing is entirely too coincidental., in light of the recent newsweek fraud.

Azza Basarudin, 30, said she received the Quran by mail on May 5 after ordering it through a used books division of Amazon.com that allows customers to order directly from third-party sellers approved by the company.

When she opened the Quaran, Basarudin said she found profanity and the phrase "Death to all Muslims" written on the inside page in thick black marker.

Basarudin, a graduate student in women's studies at UCLA, said she was overwhelmed by fear similar to what she felt after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when her sister and mother were the target of anti-Muslim slurs.

"I dropped the book because I didn't know what to do," she said at a news conference at the Islamic Center of Southern California. "I was paralyzed after 9/11 — I couldn't leave my house for a couple of weeks — and I realized that fear was coming back."

A Muslim women’s study major? This woman sounds like a professional hysterical victim, ready to take offense at any perceived slight to her gender or religion. That she would be “overwhelmed with fear” seems to be a bit of an extreme reaction – until you consider that she claims she was left so stricken by a few harsh words directed at family members following the MUSLIM ATTACK ON AMERICA on 9/11 that she couldn’t even leave her home. That sounds like more padding for the impending lawsuit, rather than anything grounded in reality.

Of course, the professional victim groups in the Muslim community are already swarming, making demands.

Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said his organization wants a public apology and investigation from Amazon.com, as well as the firing of those responsible for mailing the desecrated book. He would also like Amazon.com to fund educational programs that foster religious tolerance.

If you cut through Salam’s baloney, you will realize that what he really means is “I want Amazon to make a big fat donation to our group.” Never mind that the book didn’t ever pass through Amazon’s hands – it came directly from a little used bookstore in Pennsylvania. The owner claims not to know how this happened. Both companies have made an effort to make amends.

Richard Roberts, owner of Bellwether, said he doubts the book was defaced by his employees. The company buys used books at bargain prices from individuals, other book stores and libraries and then resells them through Amazon.com and other outlets.

He said before this incident, his six employees gave each book a cursory check before shipping and didn't look inside the pages.

Roberts said Bellwether has since instituted a more stringent quality control check. Bellwether is also suspended indefinitely from selling Qurans through Amazon.com, Smith said.

"I feel awfully bad about it. It's really a shame," Roberts said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Bellwether apologized to Basarudin by e-mail and offered to replace the book. Amazon.com also apologized, reimbursed her for the Quran's cost and mailed Basarudin a gift certificate, Smith said.

Of course, that isnÂ’t nearly enough for the offended Basarudin, who is already making noises that sound suspiciously like she is planning to file a lawsuit.

"I couldn't even go near this book for a couple of days," she said. "I feel like I'm being violated all over again because I'm a Muslim."

I hate to say it, but I suspect that it is actually the folks at Amazon and Bellwether Books who are being violated because you are Muslim. After all, there is a pattern to many of the claims of “hate” directed against Muslims – they are often false reports perpetrated by the alleged “victim”. Until and unless there is more evidence to support Basarudin’s claim, I’m going to suspect that she is the person who wrote these nasty comments in the Quran.

And IÂ’m going to hope that Amazon and Bellwether stand firm against the demands to assume dhimmi status.

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I canÂ’t help but wonder what would have been said if Ken Starr had made speeches raising money for GOP-related groups during the Whitewater and Lewinsky investigations. Even though he was scrupulously fair and honest in the investigation, the Left screamed bloody murder. So is it any wonder that I am highly suspicious of a speech by Tom DeLayÂ’s nemesis, Ronnie Earle, to a group with ties to Howard Dean at a time when Dean is declaring DeLay guilty of criminal offenses that should put him in jail?

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who denies partisan motives for his investigation of a political group founded by Republican leader Tom DeLay, was the featured speaker last week at a Democratic fund-raiser where he spoke directly about the congressman.

A newly formed Democratic political action committee, Texas Values in Action Coalition, hosted the May 12 event in Dallas to raise campaign money to take control of the state Legislature from the GOP, organizers said.

Earle, an elected Democrat, helped generate $102,000 for the organization.

In his remarks, Earle likened DeLay to a bully and spoke about political corruption and the investigation involving DeLay, the House majority leader from Sugar Land, according to a transcript supplied by Earle.

"This case is not just about Tom DeLay. If it isn't this Tom DeLay, it'll be another one, just like one bully replaces the one before," Earle said.

"This is a structural problem involving the combination of money and power," he added. "Money brings power and power corrupts."

The crowd of 80 to 100 Democratic activists responded by making donations that exceeded the event's fund-raising goal.

Governor Rick Perry needs to act NOW to remove Ronnie Earle, an outrageously partisan official conducting an outrageously partisan investigation, from this investigation. Even if one accepts EarleÂ’s claim that the investigation is not a partisan witch hunt, the appearance of impropriety, such as the misuse of investigative and prosecutorial powers, is every bit as serious as an actual abuse, as it undermines faith in the justice system.

Especcially since Earl admits that his speaking at this fundraiser demonstrates that he is a corrupt politician -- since, as he himself says, "Money brings power and power corrupts."

UPDATE 5/20/05 -- Looks like I'm not the only one who sees Earle's speech as unethical.

"Ronnie Earle's unabashed partisanship in speaking at a Texas Values in Action Coalition (TEXVAC) fund-raiser proves Earle's motivations have nothing to do with truth or justice, and everything to do with electing Democrats and attempting to bring down the most effective House majority leader in modern history," said Tina Benkiser, chairwoman of the Texas Republican Party. "He is tainted and he should resign," she said.

And by the way, guess who was in the crowd at the fundraiser, and wh i would presume was one of the donors.

Former House Speaker Jim Wright.

That should give you an idea about the sincerity of Ronnie Earle and these Howard Dean Democrats when it comes to fighting corruption.

And I love this comment from one of the attorneys involved in the current case -- well-known Houston defense attorney Rusty Hardin.

According to Hardin, he told Earle in a courtroom conversation that "you have a history of indicting people whose conduct you don't approve of and you want to stop. You leave it to your assistants to worry whether there's a criminal case involved."

More at GOPBloggers.

UPDATE 5/21/05 -- Another good article is found here.

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In an attempt to raise the overall scores of students at Lincoln Middle School in Vista, California, the principal plans to end the district’s last remaining program for gifted students in the hopes that placing those students in regular classrooms will result in improved performance overall. Parents of the gifted students are concerned about the special needs of their students being sacrificed and ignored, while parents of Latino students object to the possibility that the gifted program might survive in some form or fashion.

"All students should be treated equally," Latino parents said in a letter to the board and district administrators. "We believe that the school should not create differences between students who know more and students who know less."

Doesn’t anyone recognize the absurdity of that statement? Why shouldn’t we treat our best and brightest to an education that meets their needs, just as we do those in special education programs? On what basis do we hold back the top kids and dragoon them into providing free tutoring for their slower classmates in the hopes that it will raise the other students’ scores. Especially when you consider what the source of the problem is.

The student body at Lincoln is 63 percent Hispanic or Latino. Of the school's 1,293 students, 437 are English-learners, and 99 percent of those speak Spanish.

That group has pulled down test scores, putting Lincoln on "program improvement" status under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

So what this really comes down to for these Latino parents is that they want THEIR children put first, not some other parents’ children. I guess it is a simple case of Leave No Latino Child Behind – and screw the rest.

When are we going to get rid of the notion that helping our brightest kids reach their potential is a bad thing?

Posted by: Greg at 01:22 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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In an attempt to raise the overall scores of students at Lincoln Middle School in Vista, California, the principal plans to end the districtÂ’s last remaining program for gifted students in the hopes that placing those students in regular classrooms will result in improved performance overall. Parents of the gifted students are concerned about the special needs of their students being sacrificed and ignored, while parents of Latino students object to the possibility that the gifted program might survive in some form or fashion.

"All students should be treated equally," Latino parents said in a letter to the board and district administrators. "We believe that the school should not create differences between students who know more and students who know less."

DoesnÂ’t anyone recognize the absurdity of that statement? Why shouldnÂ’t we treat our best and brightest to an education that meets their needs, just as we do those in special education programs? On what basis do we hold back the top kids and dragoon them into providing free tutoring for their slower classmates in the hopes that it will raise the other studentsÂ’ scores. Especially when you consider what the source of the problem is.

The student body at Lincoln is 63 percent Hispanic or Latino. Of the school's 1,293 students, 437 are English-learners, and 99 percent of those speak Spanish.

That group has pulled down test scores, putting Lincoln on "program improvement" status under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

So what this really comes down to for these Latino parents is that they want THEIR children put first, not some other parents’ children. I guess it is a simple case of Leave No Latino Child Behind – and screw the rest.

When are we going to get rid of the notion that helping our brightest kids reach their potential is a bad thing?

Posted by: Greg at 01:22 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I can just make her out in the distance, a gray hulk in the mist, as I drive to and from school each day. She is a presence – a reminder of what once was.

I would certainly hate to lose this beautiful old lady.

This old warship was at the surrender of the German fleet during World War I and withstood torpedoes at Omaha Beach in France on D-Day. Long moored in a berth at the Houston Ship Channel, the Battleship Texas is now a floating tourist attraction, and a badly leaking one at that.

Time and corrosive saltwater are slowly destroying the vessel once called the world's most powerful weapon, and cash-strapped conservators are scrambling to secure funding for an overhaul before it's too late.
"It's been rusting for 90 years," ship curator Barry Ward said. "It isn't going to fall apart tomorrow, but the longer you avoid a major repair, the harder it will be to repair the damage that's already been done."

A proposal to use $16 million in federal highway funds for ship repairs passed through a conference committee of the state Legislature this month. If lawmakers vote to approve the funds, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which maintains the vessel, will start work on a dry dock that could feature a cradle capable of lifting the 34,000-ton ship out of the water permanently.

"However [the dock] is designed, this ship is part of our cultural history and it deserves to be saved," said Steve Whiston, director of the parks department's infrastructure division. "There's not another one like it left."

The Texas, commissioned in 1914, is the last surviving dreadnought battleship — a ship design that features large weapons of the same caliber, allowing for more concentrated blasts of fire. It is the only remaining U.S. battleship to survive two world wars, and is a microcosm of the technology of the era, Ward said.

"Her career spans the earliest days of flight through the nuclear age," he said.

Decommissioned in 1948, the ship was brought here by "Texans who couldn't stand the thought of a warship with the name 'Texas' on it being sunk as fodder during nuclear testing," Ward said.

It was docked south of Houston at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, the location of an 1836 battle that led to Texas' independence from Mexico.

As a result, numbers of confused children have asked whether Sam Houston fought Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna from the bow of a battleship. "We inherited the location," Ward said. "We don't do public monuments that way anymore. It's up to educators to teach students that the ship wasn't at the battle of San Jacinto. Otherwise it's just a jungle gym to them."

It's unlikely the Texas will be moved elsewhere, in part because conservators are unsure whether the fragile ship can withstand a sea voyage. "It's risky because of the stress of the tow, the cross currents and the waves," Ward said.

The ship was last towed to a dry dock in 1988 for a $12-million renovation of the hull — the first in 40 years. State lawmakers later approved an additional $12 million in bonds for ship maintenance but did not provide the money to issue the bonds. Ward hopes the federal highway money tentatively approved this month will lead to badly needed repairs.

The hull should be repaired every 10 or so years for damage caused by water, Ward said. "It's like changing the oil in your car — it's something that should be done regularly. But I would advocate getting her out of the water permanently so the state of Texas would never have to pay for that kind of cyclical repair again. We're going for a cure, not a Band-Aid."

Floating next to refineries and oil storage tanks, the 573-foot dark blue battleship looks startlingly out of place, but it is a popular field trip destination. Last week, a busload of seventh-graders climbed aboard and quickly scattered into nooks and crannies.

"I love ships," said Ariel Barron, 13. "You can read about them in a book, but it's better to see with your own eyes how things used to be."

Cheyenne Dutton said he was on his third field trip to the battleship. Each time he visits, he said, "something else is closed off. I wish they'd fix everything so we can see all of it."

Cheyenne nimbly climbed a ladder and stopped in front of a locked door. "See, we can't go in there," he said. "I think it stinks."

IÂ’m with you, Cheyenne. We need to save this grand old ship, the last of her breed.

You can help.

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The Washington Times reminds us today that the Senate Democrats outlined their filibuster plans in a memo four years ago.

Remember this quote?

"They also identified Miguel Estrada (D.C. Circuit) as especially dangerous because he had a minimal paper trail, he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment."

Dangerous because he is a Latino. If this had been a white nominee, he would have sailed through – but they blocked him because of his ethnicity.

And don’t forget – the decisions on who to filibuster were made based upon whether or not liberal advocacy groups would sign off on them – in particular homosexual rights groups and abortion advocates, who were concerned that certain nominees might hold religious beliefs that did not conform with the groups’ agenda.

So remember – this filibuster is based, in large part, on race, ethnicity, and religion – not on the Constitution, and not on legitimate matters of principle.

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Now I understand the need to arrest terrorists, even if they are going after a tyrant like Castro. However, there is a minor detail in this story from the Washington Post that leaves me concerned about turning Luis Posada Carriles over to Venezuela.

He was twice acquitted in Venezuela in the airliner bombing. In 1985, still jailed while prosecutors appealed, he escaped a Venezuelan prison and began a two-decade odyssey through Central America.

Tried and acquitted twice. Not once, but TWICE. And yet Luis Posada was still in jail.

This case reeks of injustice, especially since extradition will mean turning him over to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, who has gutted the Venezuelan justice system, or – indirectly – to his close ally, Fidel Castro. At what point do we reach the point where we must declare that we find complying with this extradition request is, in and of itself, an injustice.

I don’t know – and am glad I am not faced with making the decision.

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Some people just hate America and the fact that the American people elected George W. Bush as president TWICE.

A former Iowa woman who pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening President Bush was sentenced Monday to 21/2 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Charles Larson Sr. said.

Catherine M. Guertin, 25, formerly of Independence and more recently of Denver, was sentenced in U.S. District Court on two counts of threatening the life of the president.

Judge Linda Reade ordered Guertin to be on three years of supervised release after her prison time. In addition, Guertin will not be permitted to be within one mile of the president or his immediate family.

A grand jury indicted Guertin on Aug. 18. She was arrested Sept. 17 in Colorado.

The indictment alleged that Guertin made the threats against Bush on May 3 and May 16 while she was living in Independence.

One count charges that she threatened Bush by saying, ''If I ever have a gun, I will shoot him between the eyes.''

The second count claims that on May 16 Guertin wrote statements threatening the president.

Guertin repeated the threats in court when she pleaded guilty in December.

A pity that the sentence is so short. And even sadder is the fact that she has not been charged and convicted for the December threat.

No doubt Err America will be ready with a job offer when she is released – assuming they have any listeners left by then.

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I donÂ’t usually support a school giving a punishment for statements made off school grounds and outside of school hours. But in this case, I think the nexus between a school event, the statement in question, and illegal conduct is such that the punishment is appropriate in this case.

A senior at a Frederick's Governor Thomas Johnson High School has been barred from attending her prom this Saturday because she told a newspaper she planned to drink alcohol on prom night.

Shawnda Lawson, 18, told The Frederick News-Post earlier this month that she had refused to sign a pledge that she wouldn't drink -- and she told the paper she likes drinking.

After the story was published, Lawson said she was told by her principal she was banned from the prom and told she was an embarrassment to the school.

County schools spokeswoman Marita Loose said school dances are a privilege, not a right.

Another student, Nicole Taylor, also told the newspaper she planned to drink on prom night. There is no word if she also faces punishment.

We lost a girl from my school several years ago when a drunk hit her boyfriend’s car on the way to his prom. We had several students injured – including one with a broken neck that could have left her paralyzed – in a wreck on the Galveston Causeway the year before that, but alcohol was not a factor. In reality, we have managed to dodge the tragedy of a car full of kids dying in a fiery wreck after getting liquored up. But when it is our turn to face such a prom tragedy, it will be the school (not the parents) that everyone expects to put a stop to the drinking – despite the fact that kids are searched by constables going in to prom and cannot leave the cordoned-off area of the hotel during the dance.

Therefore, I think this is a good, proportionate response to the statement made by Ms. Lawson to the newspaper. She may go out and get loaded, but no one will be able to complain that the school “should have done something”.

Posted by: Greg at 12:21 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The liberty to worship and believe according to oneÂ’s conscience is a fundamental human right. When will India stop the violation of these rights by some of its provinces?

The police have arrested four persons who were distributing copies of the Bible and biblical literature to the people in Rajnagar Block, Orissa, May 13.

The police action comes in the wake of the alleged conversion of 300 Hindu families to Christianity in Rajnagar. An angry Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has threatened to launch an agitation if the police fail to take action against “those responsible for violating the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act.”

“The area is already tense, and at such a time open distribution of the Bible could add fuel to the fire,” said Mr. Sistikantha Kanungo, officer in charge of the Rajnagar police station. “That is why we arrested the four young men and detained them,” he added.

The arrested are Ashok Namalpuri (2 of Chalakamba village in Nayagarh district, Gorachand Pal (22) of Gaeba village in Gajapati district, Siddheswar Nayak (29) and Bimal Wilson (22) from Koraput.

They had come to Rajnagar in January last and were allegedly involved in conversions by distributing leaflets and pamphlets about Jesus Christ and Christianity and trying to influence school children, the officer added. For the last five months they were also teaching at two primary schools without charging any remuneration.

Says Mr. Subhranshu Sutar, a social activist, “These young men were often seen distributing biblical literature and copies of the Bible in at least fifteen villages in Rajnagar Block alone.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Hemant Sharma, the district collector of Kendrapara, has ordered an inquiry into the conversion of 300 Hindu families. The superintendent of police and the Rajnagar tehsildar will investigate the charges and submit a report within a week.

“OFRA demands that a convert or a re-convert should inform and obtain permission from the district administration before converting to another religion. But nobody has taken any permission in this case. So once the report is filed and someone is found guilty, they would be booked. The law will take its course,” said Mr. Sharma.

No government has any place granting or denying permission to change oneÂ’s faith. No government has any place prohibiting the distribution of religious texts to willing recipients.

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You can claim to be an Indian, Professor Churchill – but you can’t make the Indians claim you.

The statement, issued May 9 in the name of the tribal leader, Chief George Wickliffe, and posted on its Web site Tuesday, does not mince words:

"The United Keetoowah Band would like to make it clear that Mr. Churchill IS NOT a member of the Keetoowah Band and was only given an honorary 'associate membership' in the early 1990s because he could not prove any Cherokee ancestry."

The tribe said that all of Churchill's "past, present and future claims or assertions of Keetoowah 'enrollment,' written or spoken, including but not limited to; biographies, curriculum vitae, lectures, applications for employment, or any other reference not listed herein, are deemed fraudulent by the United Keetoowah Band."

That should settle the matter for anyone with a shred of integrity – though Churchill and his apologists will probably still make the fraudulent claim. His attempt to assert “Indian-ness” based upon an honorary membership in the tribe is like trying to claim the title of “Dr.” based upon an honorary degree.

The matter is very clear, according to the tribe.

"Mr. Churchill was never able to prove his eligibility in accordance with our membership laws," the statement said.

The chief said his tribe had decided to honor Churchill with the associate membership because Church-ill had promised to write the tribe's history and had pledged "to help and honor the UKB."

"To date Mr. Churchill has done nothing in regards to his promise and pledge."

So, to settle the matter once and for all – Ward Churchill’s claim to be an Indian is as fraudulent as his scholarship.

Comment on Churchill's claim -- SCSU Scholars

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This report out of the Republic of Georgia.

The FBI said on Wednesday a grenade thrown at President Bush during a visit to Georgia last week had been a threat to the American leader and had only failed to explode because of a malfunction.

In a statement, a Federal Bureau of Investigation official at the U.S. embassy said the grenade, thrown while Bush made a keynote speech in Tbilisi's Freedom Square on May 10, had been live and landed within 30 meters (100 feet) of the president.

"We consider this act to be a threat against the health and welfare of both the President of the United States and the President of Georgia as well as the multitude of Georgian people that had turned out at this event," said the statement from C. Bryan Paarmann, the FBI's legal attache at the embassy.

"This hand grenade appears to be a live device that simply failed to function due to a light strike on the blasting cap induced by a slow deployment of the spoon activation device," said the statement.

Paarmann said a reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.

And to all my anti-American Leftist readers, I have two words for you consider before you make comments lamenting the failure to murder the commander-in-chief.

President.

Cheney.

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Dude;

You just married a woman you have adored from afar for years in a top secret tropical beach wedding less than a week ago.

Tonight you go to a big awards show without her, presumably because of her work schedule.

Then you win the big plum award of the night -- Entertainer of the Year.

When you gave your acceptance speech, who is the one person you should NOT have left out?

Bad form, dude. I suggest LOTS of roses -- and probably jewelry.

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This is the latest from terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose forces are killing American troops and Iraqis who want to be free.

"Our Sunni faith stipulates that the sword and bullets be the only dialogue between us and worshippers of the cross."

Now, are you Leftists really sure you want to whine about Christian conservatives? Or are we your target of choice precisely because you know that we mean you no harm?

(Hat Tip -- Lone Star Times)

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Fairleigh Dickinson University saw fit to treat its graduating seniors to the anti-American rantings of so-called journalist Seymour Hersh -- who proceeded to outrage a large number of them.

Journalist Seymour Hersh described U.S. soldiers in Iraq as "victims," eliciting jeers and cheers from an audience of about 6,000 people at a college commencement on Monday.

Hersh, speaking to graduates of Fairleigh Dickinson University and their families, said American soldiers are "doing an admirable job under terrible conditions" but don't know much about the war they are fighting.

"They are as much victims as the people they are sometimes forced to kill," Hersh said.

The comment was greeted by a loud expletive from one member of the audience. Booing and more swearing followed, but other audience members stood and cheered.

Now I'm sorry, but I've long had a problem with the concept that a commencement address is a forum to engage in a political speech. The event isn't about the speaker -- it is about the graduates, and when it gets abused by the speaker for some other purpose I take offense. I think that's why so many folks objected to Hersh's anti-American comments -- especially when he dishonored the warriors fighting in the War on Islamofascism that began only a few miles from the campus during the first weeks of the graduates' college career.

And I am particularly taken aback by Fairleigh Dickenson's decision to bring in the anti-American Hersh given their actions earlier in the semester. Yeah, I am referring to the firing of a professor because of his un-American beliefs.

[Professor Jacques] Pluss said he was dismissed in March because university officials learned of his involvement in the National Socialist Movement, which bills itself "America's Nazi Party." School officials said he was let go for missing too many classes.

The 51-year-old professor bristles when he is called a white supremacist or racist.

"The world is made up of different cultures, all of which have a place, all of which have a direction and all of which should have a say in determining their own futures," he said.

University officials declined to elaborate on Pluss' ouster. It was unclear what role -- if any -- Pluss' political views played in the decision.

Pluss, who had taught at the university since 2002, said he joined the neo-Nazi group in February but kept his views a secret on campus.

Yeah, I guess that there is a double standard on campus -- un-Americans on the right get fired, but un-American Leftists get honored. Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't go whole-hog and just invite Ward Churchill, the poster child for un-American college faculty who get to keep their job in the name of "academic freedom."

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Police are searching for the pro-border jumping Leftist thug who injured a 66-year-old woman with a water bottel thrown at her head during a rally opposed to the so-called Danza Indigenas monument, which some claim is un-American, racist and seditious.

Baldwin Park police Sgt. David Reynoso said police have a videotape of the incident and are still reviewing it to see if the culprit can be found.

Investigators also are looking to the public for answers. Anyone who saw the person who threw the bottle could come forward and remain anonymous if they wish.

"We understand people have the First Amendment right to assemble and free speech. We don't discourage that,' Reynoso said. "What we do discourage is acts of violence, such as throwing water bottles. We ask people to keep calm, respect everybody and obey the laws.'

Police say the bottle came from the roughly 300 counter-protesters who showed up.

Save Our State had about 25 supporters at the site, police said.

Hey, it takes a lot of courage to assault an old lady when you outnumber her group six-to-one. I mean, you wouldn't want a conservative to think that they had the right under the Constitution to actually speak on public property -- especially if they might offend one of your precious "protected classes".

And then there is the response from this arrogant politician who has no respect for the rights of Americans.

Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano said he blames Turner for the woman's injuries because he took senior citizens to an event that could have become dangerous.

He contends Turner is preying on senior citizens to market "himself to make a big organization and spread his hatred throughout the region.'

"I was literally outraged,' Lozano said. "He should be held accountable for using senior citizens in that capacity.'

I bet this Leftist politician wouldn't be taking that line if it had been a bunch of border jumpers brought to an "open borders" rally. Too bad he has no res[ect for the First Amendment -- or any other part of the Constitution.

I know, love and respect many liberals who are good Americans -- but have to say that this sort of Leftism is a disease. Hopefully there are enough good Americans of all political stripes left to erradicate it.

For a description of the rally from the organizer -- The Wide Awakes

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Just when I thought that Zero Tolerance stupidity couldn't get any more extreme, I encounter this little gem from the Atlanta area.

Two seniors at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. High School will miss their baccalaureate -- but make their graduation -- after a stink that started over a cake knife.

Because of the school's zero tolerance policy on weapons, Ashley Pickens and Candace Grier, both honor students, were suspended from school for 10 days and told they would not be allowed to attend their baccalaureate ceremonies. The DeKalb school superintendent upheld that punishment but decided to allow the girls to walk with their classmates during graduation.

The trouble started when the girls brought a cake to school and looked for a knife to cut it. They say they found a butter-type knife in the school's band room and tried to return it, but the door had since been locked.

One of the girls put the knife in her book bag. Then a teacher saw it.

"He said it really didn't matter [that it was used for a cake]," Pickens said. "[He said] it's a knife on school grounds, and you have to be written up for it -- you ought to be glad we didn't have you arrested."

Now let me get this straight -- they used a school utensil and for that have been punished. Someone must be out of their mind!

But there is some hope.

School officials claimed they enforced clearly written codes of conduct. Wednesday, a school tribunal will hear the girls' appeal to attend baccalaureate ceremonies.

Maybe someone will recognize that a butter knife is not a weapon, but is instead a tool that they were using appropriately.

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Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (Demagogue-Houston), has asked Governor Rick Perry to "disinvite" the Minuteman Project from the state of Texas.

"I urge the governor to disinvite the Minuteman Project. Ask them not to come here," Jackson Lee said Sunday.

The group has posted volunteers in Arizona to alert authorities to illegal immigrants crossing the border.

Organizers have expressed an interest in recruiting in Texas and beginning patrols along the Rio Grande in October.

Given that the governor did not invite the Minutemen, and given that any American citizen has the right to travel, visit, or reside anywhere in this country that they please, i don't particularly see where it is the governor's place to "disinvite" the group.

However, if "disinvitations" are to be issued, I'd like to suggest that Rick Perry extend one to Queen Sheila. She is an embarassment to the state of Texas, and the further away she stays from here the better.

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The University of Oregon has a policy of offering special small section classes in the Math & English departments, limited to 18 students, with the first 10 slots reserved for African-American, Asian-American/Pacific Islander, Chicano/Latino, Native American or multiracial students.

Why?

University Senior Instructor Michel Kovcholovsky, who teaches the OMAS's math classes, said the classes were created to foster a comfortable environment for minorities. "That was the basic idea, so that they don't feel afraid to raise their hand and ask something."

The school does no favor to students by allowing them this sheltered environment. Furthermore, it violates the law by limiting access based upon race or ethnicity.

And I’m curious – would the university consider a special “white’s only” section to create a comfortable environment for white students who are afraid ask questions in front of minorities? I think we all know the answer to that.

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So, The New York Times is about to start charging for access to the editorial page and the archives.

The New York Times Co. on Monday said that, starting in September, access to Op-Ed and certain of its top news columnists on the paper's NYTimes.com Web site will only be available through a fee of $49.95 a year. The service, known as TimesSelect, will also allow access to The Times's online archives, early access to select articles on the site, and other features. Home-delivery subscribers will automatically receive the service, the NYT said.

Am I correct in understanding that this is a signal that the former “paper of record” is failing to make enough off of on-line advertising and other marketing strategies directed at online consumers that it must start charging for access to formerly free material? Or has the paper circulation dropped so much that the online content must support it? Either way, sounds to me like one more step towards irrelevance.

(Hat Tip – Michelle Malkin)

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The Jerusalem Post discusses today whether Jews (and, I would presume, others) should urge black leaders and others to disassociate themselves from Louis Farrakhan's second Million Man (sic) March given the racist history of Louis Farrakhan, co-organizer Malik Zulu Shabazz, and the Nation of Islam as an organization.

Among the black leaders who turned out for the Farrakhan news conference were: Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams and Dorothy Height of the National Council of Negro Women. Not present, but reportedly backing the event, were Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC's delegate in Congress and NAACP chairman Julian Bond, as well as Coretta Scott King, widow of Rev. Martin Luther King.

Referring obliquely to the Jewish community, Farrakhan told the gathering: "There are those who... are threatened that we are all here together. And so, one by one, they will come to pick us off."

But the presence of Farrakhan's co-organizer and, some suggest, heir-apparent, Malik Zulu Shabazz, sent an even more sinister message. At a July 2003 news conference, Shabazz declared: "If 3,000 people perished in the World Trade Center attacks and the Jewish population is 10 percent, you show me records of 300 Jewish people dying in the World Trade Center... We're daring anyone to dispute this truth. They got their people out."

In advance of the press club announcement, the ADL's Abe Foxman sent letters to black leaders, imploring: "When will someone in the African-American community stand up and say the Million Man March has a positive message but the pied piper is a racist and anti-Semite?" Merely asking that question strikes rap impresario and black power broker Russell Simmons, who dialogues with liberal rabbis and does big business with Jewish and Israeli Hollywood, as "disrespectful" and likely to "spread anti-Semitism."

I'm sorry, but arguments like those put forward by Simmons are wrong-headed. Would he support a "Faith and Family Rally organized by David Duke? Would it be "disrespectful" and likely to "spread racism" if black leaders spoke out against such an event? Hardly -- and those who urged black leaders to be silent in such a case would be guilty of disrespect and the perpetration of racism for blaming the victim in such a case. So while iI may disagree with Abe Foxman on church-state issues, I applaud him for being on the side of angels in this situation.

The article ends as follows.

It's a tough call. Our challenge is to decide whether Jews' experience with a fruitcake Austrian painter has anything to teach us about the rantings of a black American calypso performer.

My response is to urg Foxman and other Jewish leaders to speak loudly and forcefully -- silence didn't work in Germany, and will do nothing to stop anti-Semitism today.

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Listen up, you Islamist pigs. Don't make the US come back and kick your Taliban-loving asses again.

A group of Afghan Muslim clerics threatened on Sunday to call for a holy war against the United States in three days unless it hands over military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Koran. The warning came after 16 Afghans were killed and more than 100 hurt last week in the worst anti-U.S. protests across the country since U.S. forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network. The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted U.S. President George W. Bush to handle the matter honestly "and hand the culprits over to an Islamic country for punishment". "If that does not happen within three days, we will launch a jihad against America," said a statement issued by about 300 clerics, referring to Muslim holy war, after meeting in the main mosque in the provincial capital, Faizabad.

Even if the charges are true, -- which appears unlikely, based upon the way Newsweek is backpeddling from this story -- we will turn US military personnel over to some Muslim backwater tribunal to be tried under rules set by your false prophet Muhammad sometime about a millenium after Hell freezes over.

Oh, and before any Muslim comes here asking me to tone down the level of contempt -- please note that this IS the toned-down version

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I don't mind that out of town papers are writing about my congressman, Tom Delay. I don't even care that they are writing pieces that reflect negatively on him, and which seem to paint those of us who are backing him as blind to ethics questions. What I do object to, though, is the hiding of the political affiliations of those who criticize him. Take this Philadelphia Inquirer piece as an example.

Maybe DeLay's diehards are needlessly worried, because plenty of local Democrats doubt that he can be beaten. Karl Silverman, a NASA weather forecaster for the space shuttle, stabbed at his salad the other night and said: "So many people here wear blinders. They see politics as just another negative, so they ignore it, because they already have enough negatives in their lives. And they're ideologues anyway, so they figure, 'He's a Republican, he must be OK.' "

"Yeah," said John Cobarruvias, another NASA man. "They keep coming back for more. At the office, I keep asking people, 'How much more are you going to take?'"

The funny thing is, I recognized those two names. The thing is, I didn't recognize them in the context of their work for NASA (I live about 5 miles from Johnson Space Center and know a number of NASA employees and contractors.). No, I recognized the name because they are two of the leading Democrat activists in the area!

Yeah, you read that right. They are are not a couple of NASA employees who happen to be registered Democrats -- they are high-profile local Democrat activists.

Karl Silverman is the founder of the League City Neighborhood Democrats and sits on the Texas Democrat State Executive Committee as the Committeman for Senatorial District 11.

And John Cobarruvias -- you might have a very different perception of him if you had been informed that he is a frequent contributor of articles to the Democratic Underground, as well as being head of the Bay Area New Democrats, the group that sponsored last year's protest in front of Swift Boat Vet John O'Neill's home. Among his classier recent stunts was calling Tom DeLay a "bastard" in one of the local papers.

Now you will never get me to believe that Dick Polman, the Inquirer's political analyst who has over a decade of experience covering national political news, didn't know who these guys were. He would, in fact, have had to pick them precisely because they are two of the top Democrat voices in the area. To fail to identify them as anything but Democrat activists -- especially as humble, hard-working employees with NASA -- is rather disingenuous. It would be like quoting Howard Dean and identifying him as a Vermont physician! This was clearly an attempt to deceive the reader.

UPDATE: After this information was posted at Oh, That Liberal Media, one commenter pointed out that one of the sources cited was a former elected official with GOP connections. I therefore went back and found the following information.

Brian Gaston was a city council member in Sugar Land -- which I believe has a non-partisan form of government.

And I've since discovered that Therese Raia (a name I didn't recognize, despite being a Harris County precinct chair) is the SD17 Committeewoman.

Pat Baig, on the other hand, is an ersatz Republican who gave money to DeLay's opponent in last year's congressional race, Richard Morrison. That might have been an important detail, along with the fact that she never votes in GOP primaries.

Beverly Carter is a precinct chair in Fort Bend County, but is better known for running a local paper that has been at odds with DeLay for over a decade. She was censured by the Fort Bend County GOP when she endorsed Morrison last year.

Dean Hrbacek is another former Sugar Land city official -- a former mayor, whose defeat was partially orchestrated by Ms. Carter's paper and a local radio host who also wrote for her paper (before the host/columnist was convicted of exposing himself to a neighbor girl).

But, if anything, this shows that Polman wants to have folks think he has the pulse of the common man -- but all he does is talk to the same old local officials and politicos that everyone else does.

And as for why I pointed out the two Democrats, that is easy -- they are both local to me, rather than 30 or so miles away in the Sugar Land area, on the other side of the 22nd District.

Posted by: Greg at 07:51 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Once again, we get a reminder that former presidential candidate and current DNC chair Howard Dean is not just a loose cannon. He is the best gift that we on the Right could have ever asked for. After all, he and Harry Reid are guaranteed to shoot their mouths off at least once a week, giving the American public a reminder of why it is importan to keep the Democrats as the minority party -- and make them even a smaller minority next election cycle.

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Party, said yesterday that the US House majority leader, Tom DeLay, ''ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence," referring to allegations of unethical conduct against the Republican leader.

Now just set aside the fact that DeLay has not been accused of anything actually criminal, merely technical violations of rules that he may have been unaware of (and which a dozen Democrats have copped to by updating their ethics paperwork to fix the exact same sort of problems). When you get this sort of response from one of your party's senior members, you have gone too far.

''That's just wrong," [Massachusetts Congressman Barney] Frank said in an interview on the convention floor. ''I think Howard Dean was out of line talking about DeLay. The man has not been indicted. I don't like him, I disagree with some of what he does, but I don't think you, in a political speech, talk about a man as a criminal or his jail sentence."

Well, Barney, you guys went and made him party chair, and you are going to have to live with this sort of comment up to and through the next presidential election.

Thank you, Democrats!

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Vincente Fox seems to think that blacks are fit only for the lowest forms of labor.

"There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States," he said in a speech broadcast in part on local radio and reported on newspaper web sites.

Given the skin-color hierarchy that is found in Mexico, with darker-skinned Mexicans on the lower rungs of thesocial scale and lighter-skinned at the top, i'm not surprosed by such comments. I even hear such comments from my students from Mexico, and even from some of the US natives whose parents are originally from Mexico. These are the kids who tell me that their parents would be thrilled for them to date a white bly/girl. but not one who was black.

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One more reason not to have an abortion -- other than the fact that it is the murder of another human being.

The research leader, Dr Caroline Moreau, an epidemiologist at the Hôpital de Bicêtre in Paris, said the results of the study, which appear in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, provided conclusive evidence of a link between induced abortion and subsequent pre-term births.

Last night anti-abortion campaigners seized on the evidence to demand that all women seeking a termination be warned, routinely, that they are jeopardising the well-being of future babies. A series of earlier, smaller studies had failed to provide clear evidence of a link and so women currently opting for an abortion are not warned of the risk.

Dr Moreau said: "Clearly there is a link. The results suggest that induced abortion can damage the cervix in some way that makes a premature birth more likely in subsequent pregnancies."

Of course, the folks who make their money off of killing babies are not keen on the notion that they should inform women of the risks of the procedure. To them, informed consent (which is standard for every other surgical procedure) is something that interferes with "the right to choose".

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The Pentagon has submitted its list for base closures and realignemnts. Already, the complaining begins. A host of articles and editorials have already appeared around our country, explaining why THIS base or That one should remain open -- often with very little basis in military necessity.

Take this piece, for example, about the impending demise of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The proposed closure was a blow to some of Walter Reed's workers and neighbors. "It's mind-boggling," said Navy veteran Harold Thompson, 25, who lives across the street from the hospital, where he visits his doctor. "It will be a real issue for me and other people in the neighborhood if Walter Reed shuts down."

Yes, Mr. Thompson, it would be an issue if you have to go all the way out to Bethesda to the hospital there. But it would be an issue of convenience, not one of national security or dire need. It would mean that you might have to spend a little more time, getting to and from your appointments. That is not, sir, a national security issue.

Ultimately, the whole concept of realignement is about budgets, military efficiency and national security, not jobs or the local economy. Let's remember that as the process moves forward.

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Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he has waived the ordinary five year waiting period for the beginning of canonization proceedings for his predecessor, Pope John Paul the Great.

The pope made the announcement during a meeting with the Roman clergy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, first telling the assembled priests, "and now I have a very joyous piece of news for you."

Immediately following Pope John Paul's death on April 2, there were calls from faithful for his sainthood. At his funeral Mass, pilgrims held up banners saying "Santo Subito" ("Immediate Sainthood").

The announcement came on the anniversary of an 1981 assassination attempt by a Turkish gunman against John Paul in St. Peter's Square (search).

The pope read a letter in Latin in which the Vatican official in charge of sainthood, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, announced that Benedict himself had authorized the beginning of John Paul's path to sainthood. The announcement drew a standing ovation from the Roman priests.

Benedict, who had been seated, stood up to join the clergy in applauding the major tribute to his predecessor.

This is clearly a response to the calls of the faithful to begin the process now. At the funeral for the late pontiff, cries of “Santo Subito” were heard throughout the crowd. In my eyes, this is akin to the practice of the early church, where sainthood was often determined by the people themselves, and then recognized by the institutional Church. Perhaps the bestknown example is that of St. Thomas a Becket, whose tomb became a place of pilgrimage immediately after his death, and whose holiness and martyrdom led to his recognition as a saint within three years of his death in acknowledgement of the popular acclamation that he was a saint.

Soon, very soon, I expect that we will be hearing of his beatification and canonization.

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Krauthammer absolutely demolishes the argument that doing away with the filibuster of judicial nominees is at odds with tradition. His conclusion is masterful.

Democrats are calling Frist's maneuver an assault on the very essence of the Senate, a body distinguished by its insistence on tradition, custom and unwritten rules.

This claim is a comical inversion of the facts. One of the great traditions, customs and unwritten rules of the Senate is that you do not filibuster judicial nominees. You certainly do not filibuster judicial nominees who would otherwise win an up-or-down vote. And you surely do not filibuster judicial nominees in a systematic campaign to deny a president and a majority of the Senate their choice of judges. That is historically unprecedented.

The Democrats have unilaterally shattered one of the longest-running traditions in parliamentary history worldwide. They are not to be rewarded with a deal. They must either stop or be stopped by a simple change of Senate procedure that would do nothing more than take a 200-year-old unwritten rule and make it written.

What the Democrats have done is radical. What Frist is proposing is a restoration

The traditions of the Senate have been abused and broken by the Democrats in their campaign of obstruction. It is up to the majority to reclaim and redeem the practices and rules of the worlds greatest deliberative body.

Posted by: Greg at 11:54 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I understand dissection in a classroom. I mean, it is a legitimate tool for study of biology. But when it comes right down to it, you are working with a dead crature that will in no way feel pain or be harmed – and generally are using a frog, which is not one of the higher creatures on the intellectual/emotional ladder.

But vivisecting a dog in a high school class is something else entirely.

A biology class lesson in Gunnison, Utah involving the dissection of a live dog has outraged some parents and students, according to a report.

Biology teacher Doug Bjerregaard, who is a substitute teacher at Gunnison Valley High School, wanted his students to see how the digestive system of a dog worked.

Bjerregaard made arrangements for his students to be a part of a dissection of a dog that was still alive.

The dog was still alive, but the teacher said it was sedated before the dissection began.
With the students watching, the sedated dog's digestive system was removed.

"It just makes me sick and I don't think this should go on anywhere and nobody's learning from it," student Sierra Sears said.

The teacher said the lesson would allow students to see the organs actually working.

"I thought that it would be just really a good experience if they could see the digestive system in the living animal," Bierregaard said.

The school's principal, Kirk Anderson, said notifications went to parents explaining the dog was going to be euthanized and that the experiment would be done with the dog's organs still functioning.

The teacher is standing by his decision and calls it the ultimate educational experience.

Principal Anderson said he supports the lesson and it will be allowed to continue because the students are learning.

The dog used in the experiment was going to be euthanized despite the class project.

I’m sorry, but this is inappropriate – not while the creature was alive. I’m reasonably confident there is some animal cruelty law being violated by this.

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So, Half-Truth Harry, you are now going to make unsubstantiated charges based upon evidence no one is allowed to see – and against which your victim, a sitting state judge, cannot respond?

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid prompted outrage from Republicans on Thursday, when he criticized one of those stalled judicial nominees on the Senate floor.

"Henry Saad would have been filibustered anyway," Reid said. "He's one of those nominees. All you need to do is have a member go upstairs and look at his confidential report from the F.B.I., and I think we would all agree there is a problem there."

DoesnÂ’t such an accusation of wrong-doing like that constitute a threat to the independence of the judiciary? Why donÂ’t you grow a pair and actually make the charge you hinting at? Could it be that doing so would be a violation of the ethics rules and a misuse of the FBI report? And doesnÂ’t making the charge in this manner constitute exactly the same sort of violation? Especially since, under Senate rules, the only Senators with access to that confidential FBI report are members of the Judiciary Committee and the nomineeÂ’s home state senators. Who gave you access to that confidential material?

Resign now – from the Senate, not just your leadership position.

And Senate Republicans, if he does not, you need to file ethics charges and drive him out of the Senate.

Harry Reid Delenda Est -- Half-Truth Harry must be destroyed!

UPDATE: Assitional commentary at Michelle Malkin, Blogs for Bush, Jackson's Junction, PoliPundit, Ace of Spades, Vote for Judges and Musing Minds.

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My congressman nailed one last night in talking about the Democrats.

"No ideas. No leadership. No agenda. And, just in the last week, we can now add to that list, no class," DeLay said, a reference to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's remark to school children that President Bush was "a loser.

And we can include the comments of Howard Dean, Ken Salazar, Ted Kennedy and a number of other Democrats in that category as well.

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Up in Rhodes Island, Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey has been directed to give up his talk-radio show by state elections officials. Seems that they have decided that allowing the mayor to do the show constitutes an “in-kind” corporate contribution by WPRO, the station on which Laffey has appeared. Laffey is not paid for the show, which runs on Sunday morning, and it was seen as public affairs programming by the station.

Oh, did you wonder where the initial complaint originated?

The complaint to the elections board was made by Cranston City Council President Aram Garabedian, a Democrat defeated by Laffey in 2002. Outside the courthouse on May 11, Laffey said he was being singled out for taking a stand against corruption spawned by the state's Democratic political machine.

"When you speak out against special interests in Rhode Island, they'll try to shut you down," he said.

So it seems clear that this is political sour grapes by local (and state) Democrats against a candidate who helped disrupt their political control of a large suburb of Providence (isn’t the entire state a suburb of Providence?) that had been a traditional Democrat stronghold.

But I am also struck by a comment in the article from Boston University communications professor Tobe Berkovitz, who doesn’t recognize the absurdity of his statement.

"He looks like he's fighting the good fight over the First Amendment," he said, "and in fact he's fighting a bare-knuckle fight to keep his political platform."

Uh, I thought the purpose of the first Amendment WAS to prevent the government from preventing someone from engaging in political speech. Seems to me that the two things the professor is talking about are, in fact, one and the same.

Posted by: Greg at 11:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Up in Rhodes Island, Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey has been directed to give up his talk-radio show by state elections officials. Seems that they have decided that allowing the mayor to do the show constitutes an “in-kind” corporate contribution by WPRO, the station on which Laffey has appeared. Laffey is not paid for the show, which runs on Sunday morning, and it was seen as public affairs programming by the station.

Oh, did you wonder where the initial complaint originated?

The complaint to the elections board was made by Cranston City Council President Aram Garabedian, a Democrat defeated by Laffey in 2002. Outside the courthouse on May 11, Laffey said he was being singled out for taking a stand against corruption spawned by the state's Democratic political machine.

"When you speak out against special interests in Rhode Island, they'll try to shut you down," he said.

So it seems clear that this is political sour grapes by local (and state) Democrats against a candidate who helped disrupt their political control of a large suburb of Providence (isnÂ’t the entire state a suburb of Providence?) that had been a traditional Democrat stronghold.

But I am also struck by a comment in the article from Boston University communications professor Tobe Berkovitz, who doesnÂ’t recognize the absurdity of his statement.

"He looks like he's fighting the good fight over the First Amendment," he said, "and in fact he's fighting a bare-knuckle fight to keep his political platform."

Uh, I thought the purpose of the first Amendment WAS to prevent the government from preventing someone from engaging in political speech. Seems to me that the two things the professor is talking about are, in fact, one and the same.

Posted by: Greg at 11:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've intentionally stayed out of the discussion of the pastor in North Carolina who effectively excommunicated members of the congregation for their voting behavior. I"ve stayed out for several reasons. First, i've not been at all clear on what exactly happened -- reports have left me with enough of a fog factor that I don't want to do anyone an injustice.

But beyond that, I've had a second reason for staying silent. While I think that the man's actions are counterproductive in the contemporary world, I do not believe that they are wrong as a matter of principle. Quite bluntly, I believe that a church does have an obligation to discipline members who have strayed from its teachings, even if the misconduct is in the realm of political activity -- and i believe a fair reading of the First Amendment forbids the government from interfering in or punishing a church for doing so.

Before folks start tearing their hair out, i ask that you read this excerpt from Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

During the 2004 presidential election, leaders of the Roman Catholic Church debated whether Catholic candidates who support abortion rights and same-sex marriage should be denied Communion. There was no corresponding debate among Evangelicals. The virtual disappearance of church discipline among Evangelicals--a symptom of a larger loss of biblical ecclesiology--left many Christians simply scratching their heads. Now, the controversy in Waynesville, North Carolina emerges as a flashpoint of confusion. What should we think of this?

In the first place, we should quickly assert the autonomy of the Church as the Body of Christ. Though missiologically located within the secular world, the Church knows only one Sovereign--the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, the church is located within a political context--a context it cannot deny. For most of U.S. history, this has not been an issue of difficulty for the church. This is no longer the case. At first blush, the actions of the East Waynesville Baptist Church appear to be out of bounds. A political judgment of this apparently partisan nature does not seem to be justified by the political context--at least not yet.

Honesty compels me to state that I could foresee a political context in which such a decision, made in extremis, could well be both justifiable and necessary. The church has faced this before. In the context of Nazi Germany, it was an unavoidable issue. Writing to Christians in France, Karl Barth lamented the sin of the German Christians who allowed the Nazi Party to assume power (through democratic elections, we should be reminded). Looking back to the political passivity of the German church, Barth reflected: "At the time and in Germany it implied a retreat of Christianity from responsibility in ecclesiastical and political spheres to the inner sphere of a religious attitude which, in order to maintain itself, no longer concerned itself with, or at least was not willing to fight and suffer for, the right form of the Church, let alone that of the State."

The right form of the church requires a common commitment to certain shared convictions. These commitments are irreducibly theological, but come with inevitable political consequences. Until recently, our domestic political debates have failed to reach a point of crisis with regard to these consequences, but crisis cannot be rejected as a possibility. In such cases, the church must maintain its witness and convictional commitments. A church should exercise discipline against a member who, while claiming to be a Christian, would vote for Adolf Hitler--or David Duke.

Now Mohler, like me, doesn't see the actions alleged in North Carolina as appropriate in today's context. But at the same time, he recognizes that a proper understanding of the nature of the Church mandates that this sort of action be done in the proper situation. Mojhler talks about voting for Hitler or David Duke -- I think of the excommunication of opponents of school desegregation by the Archbishop of New Orleans in the 1960s after they used their political offices and courtroom litigation to attempt to achieve a political result (school segregation) contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church. The acceptance of limits on speech on matters of faith and morals that intersect with politics cannot be accepted by a true Christian -- or a true believer in any other faith. Gvernment is not God.

Now I will concede that America is not a theocracy. I've yet to meet a Christian who wants it to be, despite the hysterical claims of outraged liberals any time a conservative Christian dares to exercise his or her rights as a citizen. The Church, however, IS AND MUST BE a theocracy by its very nature, no matter how much or how loudly the lukewarm may object. We may be obliged to accept the separation of church and state, but we must never give in to demands for the separation of church and church.

Posted by: Greg at 04:52 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I've been looking for these numbers, desiring to shove them back in the face of anyone who claimed that Bush's 95% judicial confirmation rate made him remarkably successful in getting judges confirmed and that any complaints about the unprecedented unconstitutional filibuster of circuit court appointees was nothing but sour grapes. Fortunately, the Washington Times supplied the figures today.

During the first complete two-year Congress of their presidencies, postwar presidents achieved the following confirmation rates for their circuit-court nominees: Truman (80th Congress; 3/3: 100 percent); Eisenhower (83rd; 12/13: 92.3 percent); Kennedy (87th; 17/22: 77.3 percent); Johnson (89th; 25/26: 96.2 percent); Nixon (91st; 20/23: 87 percent); Ford (94th; 9/11: 81.8 percent); Carter (95th: 12/12: 100 percent); Reagan (97th: 19/20; 95 percent); G.H.W. Bush (101st; 22/23: 95.7 percent); Clinton (103rd: 19/22: 86.4 percent); G.W. Bush (107th; 17/32: 53.1 percent).

Thus, for the first complete two-year Congresses of the 10 postwar presidencies preceding George W. Bush's, the circuit-court confirmation rate averaged 91.2 percent. For Mr. Bush, it was 53.1 percent. Moreover, before George W. Bush, no president's confirmation rate during his first complete Congress fell below 77 percent, which is nearly 50 percent (and 24 percentage points) higher than Mr. Bush's confirmation rate. It is also worth noting that the three nominees returned by Mr. Clinton's first Congress were confirmed during his second, effectively raising his first-Congress rate to 100 percent. And if we exclude Mr. Bush's two circuit-court nominees who were appointed to the federal judiciary by Mr. Clinton and nominated for the circuit-court bench by Mr. Bush as an unrequited, magnanimous gesture to the Democrats, then Mr. Bush's first-Congress confirmation rate falls to 50 percent (15/30), which is half Mr. Clinton's first-Congress effective rate.

Let's now aggregate the data for a president's first four-year term, while making minor, necessary adjustments (e.g., folding the 79th Congress into the first term of Truman, who succeeded Roosevelt in April 1945; using 1965-1968 as Johnson's first term; and ignoring Ford, who served less than 2.5 years). Then, the first-term confirmation rates are the following: Truman (10/11: 90.9 percent); Eisenhower (23/26: 88.5 percent); Kennedy/Johnson, 1961-1964 (24/29: 82.8 percent); Johnson, 1965-1968 (37/39: 94.9 percent); Nixon (38/41; 92.7 percent); Carter (56/61: 91.8 percent); Reagan (33/42: 78.6 percent); G.H.W. Bush (42/54: 77.8 percent); Clinton (30/42: 71.4 percent); G.W. Bush (35/66: 53 percent).

Thus, since World War II, for the nine four-year, first-term presidencies that preceded George W. Bush's, the circuit-court confirmation rate averaged 85.5 percent. For Mr. Bush's first term, the rate was a relatively dismal 53 percent.

Finally, throughout the same nine postwar, first-term, four-year presidencies that preceded George W. Bush's, Congress returned a total of 46 circuit-court nominations to the president upon adjournment. Those 46 averaged five per four-year term over 36 years. During Mr. Bush's first four-year term, 30 circuit-court nominations were returned by Congress.

So, Democrats and other liberals -- stop the lying.

(Hat Tip -- Blogs For Bush)

Posted by: Greg at 03:04 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Noting that product placement deals have moved from television and movies into live theater, Bruce Kluger and David Slavin have tried to slip a few discrete ads into the works of the Bard himself, William Shakespeare.

Here are a couple of my favorites, plucked from the column.

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers. Then it's Miller time!'

— Henry VI, Part 2 (4, 2)

***

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog. Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion on a sesame seed bun."
— Macbeth (4, 1)

***

"To be or not to be, that is the question. For everything else, there's MasterCard."
— Hamlet (3, 1)

Posted by: Greg at 02:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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PETA wants to take away your chicken nuggets and ban your perfume and drugs because of animal testing, but guess what – they kill most of the pets left at their animal shelter. Yeah, that’s right – it isn’t a no-kill shelter.

Between 1998 and 2003, PETA put to death over 10,000 dogs, cats, and other creatures that the group publicly calls “companion animals.” Not counting those that PETA held only temporarily -- for spaying or neutering -- the group killed over 85 percent of the animals it took in during 2003.

That’s right – the $29,000,000 they took in last year wasn’t enough for the “animal cruelty/animal rights” organization to make sure the animals went to good homes.

Look at the numbers – they are shocking.

Fortunately, the Center for Consumer Freedom is blowing the whistle on them with a Times Square billboard.

Posted by: Greg at 02:33 PM | Comments (87) | Add Comment
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