Texas governements can no loner take private property in order to pass it on to private developers in the state of Texas. As such, the worst aspects of the Supreme Courts anti-property rights Kelo decision have been nullified here in Texas.

Texas' governor signed a law Wednesday strictly limiting the power of state and local government to seize private property for economic development.

The measure was in response to a Supreme Court ruling in June that said governments have broad power to bulldoze people's homes to erect shopping malls or other private development to generate tax revenue.

Gov. Rick Perry added the eminent domain issue to the summer legislative agenda, and the new law was approved by the House and Senate earlier this month.

At least 25 states have considered changes to eminent domain laws this summer.

Under the Constitution, governments cannot take private property for public use without "just compensation." Local governments have traditionally used their eminent domain authority to build roads, reservoirs and other public projects. But over decades, the high court has expanded the definition of public use, allowing cities to employ eminent domain to eliminate blight.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that New London, Conn., could take homes for a private development project. But the ruling also allowed states to ban the practice.

Mission accomplished.

Posted by: Greg at 11:30 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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If you are in the Houston area seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina, DO NOT GO TO THE ASTRODOME! While those who are in the Superdome are being taken to that site, there are no current plans to open it up to those beyond the folks being specially transported from the Superdome in New Orleans.

Where should you go? Try the following locations, as listed on the Red Cross site.

HOUSTON – August 31, 2005- The Red Cross has opened 19 shelters in the Greater Houston area to help disaster victims forced from their homes by Hurricane Katrina. The shelters will remain open and additional shelters will be opened as necessary.

As of Wednesday evening

# Mont Belview Sr Center (Full 112 capacity)
11607 Eagle Drive

# Baytown Community Center (150/250 capacity)
2407 Market St
Baytown, Tx

# Memorial Baptist Church
(Full/capacity 135)
600 W. Sterling (full capacity)
Baytown Texas 77520

# St. Peter Claver
(Full/ capacity 220)
6005 N. Wayside Drive
Houston Tx

Moody Methodist Church
2803 53rd Street
Galveston, Texas

New Shelters

# Spring Tabernacle
(Full capacity 200)
3034 FM 2920
Spring, Tx 77338

# Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
(capacity 250)
18220 Upper Bay Rd-Nassau Bay
Houston, Tx

# St. Mary's Catholic Church
(capacity 200)
701 Church Street
Brenham, Tx
#

# Fairmont Park Baptist Church
10401 Belfast (150 Cap)
LaPorte, Tx

# New Life Central
2104 Underwood (350 Cap)
LaPorte, Tx

# 1st United Methodist Church
4308 W. Dallas
Conroe, Tx
(capacity 200)

# 1st Baptist Church
906 Ave A
Katy, Tx

# 1st Baptist Church
1229 Ave J
Huntsville, Tx

# Lee College Gym
200 Lee Drive
Baytown Tx

# St. Maximillian Catholic Church
10135 West Rd
Houston Tx

# Missouri street Church of Christ
3400 S. Hwy 146
Baytown, Tx 77520

# North Forest School Bldg
11433 Surburb
Houston TX 77016

# North Forest School Building
6511 N. Wayside
Houston, Tx

# Kingwood United Methodist
1799 Woodland Hill
Kingwood Tx 77339

#

Also a Red Cross information Hotline number regarding locations of shelters is available for Hurricane Katrina victims. Call Red Cross 1-(866) GET-INFO. Due to the high demand, the Houston Chapter has opened a local phone bank to provide information on Houston Area Red Cross activities at 713.313.5480. The number for the Louisiana State Police: 1.800.469.4828.

Families and individuals are advised to bring along basic personal items that they will need in the shelter. Those items should include pillows and bedding items, essential medications and health- related items, extra clothing, and a toy or activity for any children they might be bring with them.

The centers will provide a safe haven for individuals and families evacuated from homes affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Posted by: Greg at 03:01 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I got the following email in my box this morning. I wonÂ’t shame the guy by posting his name.

Date: Aug 31, 2005 1:05 AM

Subject: do you plan on writing anything about the hurricane?

Not as important as voter fraud or Cindy Sheehan?

Glad to see you have things in perspective. When you can't gas up your Hummer you might change your tune

Actually, I had tried a couple of times to write about the hurricane. But as often happens in times of overwhelming tragedy, I find that mere words just are not sufficient. So I’ve refrained from posting rather than post some cliché-ridden item about the horror of it all and wailing “Oh, the humanity!” Others have done a significantly better job of addressing the subject – especially Michelle Malkin. Their words have not failed them, while mine have.

So instead IÂ’ve written about stories that I find important that I think could be missed in the crush of Katrina coverage. If that strikes others as uncaring, too bad.

Ultimately, I think this writer is a bit confused. Does the presence or absence of a post about the hurricane on this blog determine what is or is not important? Is RHYMES WITH RIGHT the standard by which the importance of a story is judged? If it is, no one has told me. So either this guy vastly over-estimates my importance as a media source, or I vastly under-estimate that importance.

And while I may not be writing about the hurricane and its devastating impact that does not mean that I am doing nothing. The writer doesnÂ’t know whether I am sending money or to whom it is going. He has no way of ascertaining whether or not I am doing anything for the refugees that have fled into my own community in the face of this disaster. No, he chooses to interpret silence as apathy.

Now I’ve not played politics with the storm. I’ve not asked why Cindy Sheehan and her fellow terrorist-backers are not down in New Orleans instead of traveling the country to undermine the war effort (Did you know that while everyone else travels by bus, Cindy hops a plane to the next destination? Orwell was right about some animals being more equal than others.) Doesn’t she care about the devastation? I’ve not heard her address the crisis with her “unquestionable moral authority”. Why doesn’t this writer hold her to the same standard that he wants to hold me? Heck, what about the fuel being eaten up by the buses and the planes used in her anti-American endeavor?

And we won’t get into the question of one of the writer’s favorite haunts, Americablog, where the owner has played politics with the decision by the president to stay in Crawford and continue with some speaking engagements instead of returning to Washington immediately – and would have played politics by criticizing a decision to return to Washington immediately if he had. The writing there about the disaster has been so incredibly insincere – as have been the comments posted there by my email-critic.

As for the issue of my car and gas prices – I’m a teacher in an 80% minority urban school district with a high poverty rate. What out-of-touch planet does this liberal fool live on if he believes I drive a Hummer? My car is seven years old and gets 30+ MPG. I need it to, because I drive 20+ miles each way to school. I’d love to know what he is driving and what he does for a living/how much he makes. I’m guessing he is a trust-fund baby who is seeking to assuage his liberal guilt by attacking conservative rather than giving away the money that feeds his lifestyle..

Posted by: Greg at 02:01 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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I really enjoy reading BaltimoreÂ’s Gregory Kane on virtually any issue. He offers the perfect analogy to explain the relationship between George W. Bush and Vincente Fox on immigration issues.

Mexican President Vicente Fox seems to think of the United States as his country's northern suburb. President George W. Bush doesn't have the guts to correct him.

In fact, the relationship between Fox and Bush can best be explained this way: If Fox and Bush were inmates in the same prison, Fox would be slapping Bush and taking his Christmas packages.

On the matter of illegal immigration, Fox has shown that Bush has a fully nurtured and developed wimp gene.

Yeah, that sums it up quite nicely. It seems that this president is more interested in placating our southern neighbor than telling it to quit encouraging and facilitating the violation of American sovereignty.

Make sure you read the column.

Posted by: Greg at 01:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No, this is not about Bush and Sheehan.

It is a question for the American Left’s new favorite dictator, Hugo Chavez.

A woman who rushed up on a stage to hand President Hugo Chavez a note was pulled away by bodyguards on Tuesday, and the Venezuelan leader urged supporters to remember there have been threats against his life.

The incident occurred while Chavez was addressing thousands of supporters in a Caracas convention center.

"It's dangerous, because I'm threatened with death, so you have to understand that the security team surrounding me is on alert," Chavez told the crowd.

The incident came more than a week after the U.S. religious broadcaster Pat Robertson drew condemnation from Venezuela's government and others for suggesting that Chavez should be assassinated because he poses a threat to the United States.

Come on, Hugo, meet with the poor homeless woman. You claim that the Venezuelan people love you and support you. What have you got to fear?

Or do you only meet with celebrity liberals and fellow dictators now?

Posted by: Greg at 01:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No, this is not about Bush and Sheehan.

It is a question for the American LeftÂ’s new favorite dictator, Hugo Chavez.

A woman who rushed up on a stage to hand President Hugo Chavez a note was pulled away by bodyguards on Tuesday, and the Venezuelan leader urged supporters to remember there have been threats against his life.

The incident occurred while Chavez was addressing thousands of supporters in a Caracas convention center.

"It's dangerous, because I'm threatened with death, so you have to understand that the security team surrounding me is on alert," Chavez told the crowd.

The incident came more than a week after the U.S. religious broadcaster Pat Robertson drew condemnation from Venezuela's government and others for suggesting that Chavez should be assassinated because he poses a threat to the United States.

Come on, Hugo, meet with the poor homeless woman. You claim that the Venezuelan people love you and support you. What have you got to fear?

Or do you only meet with celebrity liberals and fellow dictators now?

Posted by: Greg at 01:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Look at this excuse for the prevalence of fraudulent registrations in NYC.

Mr. [John] Ravitz [the executive director of the NYC Boad of Elections] responded yesterday to the officials' calls for investigations, saying: "If people really think two weeks before a primary that I can now have all my entire staff look throughout the voter rolls and look at an address that might be suspect on the face, it's an unrealistic feat."

He earlier said the board does not independently conduct systematic reviews of the voter rolls but will probe questionable registrations if someone brings specific charges to its attention. He added that it would be nearly impossible to investigate all registrant names that appeared suspicious, lest someone really named "Lou Gehrig," to use Mr. Ravitz's example, be subjected to unfair and undue scrutiny.

Moreover, Mr. Ravitz said, many of the dubious registrants and those who registered at questionable addresses would not be voting in this election, because their failure to cast ballots in the last four years rendered them "inactive" and thus ineligible to vote.

"I don't want anyone to think there are going to be Elmer Fudds voting in the primary," Mr. Ravitz said.

In other words, the city doesnÂ’t look for fraud. More to the point, the board doesnÂ’t want to hurt anyoneÂ’s feelings because they have a name that looks suspicious. Besides, Ravitz explains, it would cost too much money to actually investigate the voting rolls to detect fraudulent registrations and voting.

Elected officials are calling for action.

A candidate for Manhattan borough president and a member of the City Council, Eva Moskowitz, Democrat of the East Side, said the board must be "proactive."

Calling the board's approach "ridiculous" and "government at its worst," Ms. Moskowitz said investigating and rooting out potential irregularities in the voter rolls "is the Board of Elections' job."

"They don't have too much to do other than prepare for elections and make sure the lists are clear and honest," she said.

Mayor Bloomberg and some of the public officials trying to unseat him this year, meanwhile, responded by declaring their affection for the democratic process.
"Voting is a sacred right and responsibility," Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement sent by e-mail. "Abuse of this fundamental right is unacceptable. ..."

One of his Democratic challengers, C. Virginia Fields, the Manhattan borough president, said in an e-mail: "Placing false names and/or addresses on voter registration forms and other documents undermines the city's democratic process. Therefore, the entire election process - from signature collection to the actual act of voting - must be taken very seriously.

"For its part, the Board of Elections must work to improve its efforts to weed out false names and addresses. The board has an important role to play in this process and it cannot afford to be asleep at the wheel," the statement read.

The Democratic mayoral front-runner, Fernando Ferrer, said in a written statement that voting fraud disenfranchises everyone "and must be vigorously prosecuted."

The statement from the former Bronx borough president also said: "We must also be vigilant that efforts to crack down on voter fraud do not result in an illegal purging of legitimate voters from the rolls."

Maybe we will see some action – or is this all window-dressing?

Posted by: Greg at 01:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Look at these examples of voter registration fraud in New York City.

Dozens of voters have registered in New York City claiming to reside at addresses that correspond to city, state, and federal office buildings, public and private schools, churches and clerical offices, and major cultural attractions, a review of Board of Elections records conducted by The New York Sun found.

In addition to questionable residences, the search unearthed curious names given by registrants, including "Donald Duck," "Elmer J. Fudd," "Isaac Newton," "Napoleon Bonaparte," "Rhett Butler," and "Jesus Christ."

Searching the Board of Elections database by address yielded four New Yorkers who said their residence is 1 Centre St., site of the city's Municipal Building - and home to, among other city departments, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the Department of Finance, and offices of the Manhattan borough president, the public advocate, the county clerk, and the mayor.

It is also, apparently, the home of "Valerie D. Cooper," who listed as her "Apt. No." 517 - an office of the city comptroller. Ms. Cooper could not be tracked down for comment, nor could her identity be confirmed by the Sun.

Among the other addresses with multiple registered voters are
· 26 Federal Plaza
· The Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building
· Madison Square Garden
· Radio City Music Hall
· Lincoln Center
· Macy's
· St. Patrick's Cathedral
· The Guggenheim Museum
· Alfred E. Smith School
· Harvey Milk High School
· Edgar Allan Poe Literacy Development School
· The headquarters of the New York County Republican Committee
· The Episcopal Diocese of New York
· The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

When will the issue of ballot security be taken seriously?

When will we be permitted to purge the voter rolls of the nation and get rid of the fake, the dead, and the foreign?

How widespread is the problem?

And which party is benefiting from this voter fraud?

Posted by: Greg at 12:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I encountered this bit in one of the hagiographic articles about Cindy Sheehan. I guess this is what comes of allowing bloggers from Daily Kos to write your copy.

Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq, camped outside the president's Central Texas ranch a month ago to demand a meeting with him. The Vacaville, California, woman hasn't gotten an audience, but she attracted a lot of support. She's promised to carry her protest to Washington and beyond after Bush goes back to work.

Let me help you out.

1) She had a meeting with the President LAST YEAR. She can demand all she wants, but there needs to be honesty about what she really is seeking. Cindy Sheehan wants a second meeting with the president, one in which he doesn’t talk and she gets to harangue him with her leftist rants about the war.

2) Sheehan has gotten support, but she has also gotten quite a bit of opposition. Why don’t you mention that detail? Could it be that it doesn’t fit your take on the story?

3) What is this “back to work” crap? Don’t you realize that the a presidential vacation is anything but a time of fun, sun. and no work? The briefings go on, the decisions go on, the work goes on – just in a different location.

Posted by: Greg at 12:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I encountered this bit in one of the hagiographic articles about Cindy Sheehan. I guess this is what comes of allowing bloggers from Daily Kos to write your copy.

Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq, camped outside the president's Central Texas ranch a month ago to demand a meeting with him. The Vacaville, California, woman hasn't gotten an audience, but she attracted a lot of support. She's promised to carry her protest to Washington and beyond after Bush goes back to work.

Let me help you out.

1) She had a meeting with the President LAST YEAR. She can demand all she wants, but there needs to be honesty about what she really is seeking. Cindy Sheehan wants a second meeting with the president, one in which he doesnÂ’t talk and she gets to harangue him with her leftist rants about the war.

2) Sheehan has gotten support, but she has also gotten quite a bit of opposition. Why donÂ’t you mention that detail? Could it be that it doesnÂ’t fit your take on the story?

3) What is this “back to work” crap? Don’t you realize that the a presidential vacation is anything but a time of fun, sun. and no work? The briefings go on, the decisions go on, the work goes on – just in a different location.

Posted by: Greg at 12:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We always hear that dissent is the highest form of patriotism. I guess that makes this moonbat from Americablog one of the most patriotic Americans out there, if one accepts that statement as true.

The best thing bush could do for NO, a city I love, and the rest of the country is go down there ASAP and drown.

But then again, these are the same people who think that the al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq are freedom fighters and that the US soldiers are murderers.

Posted by: Greg at 11:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, the Ditch Bitch revealed what she thinks of the parents of every dead soldier who disagrees with her in her online diary -- hosted by Daily Kos.

I have been silent on the Gold Star Moms who still support this man and his war by saying that they deserve the right to their opinions because they are in as much pain as I am. . . . How can these moms who still support George Bush and his insane war in Iraq want more innocent blood shed just because their sons or daughters have been killed? I don't understand it. I don't understand how any mother could want another mother to feel the pain we feel. I am starting to lose a little compassion for them. I know they have been as brainwashed as the rest of America, but they know the pain and heartache and they should not wish it on another. However, I still feel their pain so acutely and pray for these "continue the murder and mayhem" moms to see the light.

So what it comes down to is that there is only sympathy and respect if they agree with the Ditch Bitch. Otherwise they are "brainwashed" "continue the murder and mayhem" moms.

Which means that Ditch Bitch believes, ultimately, that her son Casey was a murderer.

So much for honoring the troops -- and Casey's memory.

But then again, we know which troops she supports -- the ones connected to al-Qaeda who killed her son, not the ones who Casey considered his brothers in arms.

Posted by: Greg at 12:38 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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I had a kid in my class wearing a Che Guevara shirt last week. He didn’t know anything about the man whose face he was displaying, or the fact the man was a part of spreading and perpetuating the ideology that killed more people than any other in the 20th century.

Now the famed commie’s family wants to control marketing of the iconic photo that turns up just about everywhere.

With his picture on rock band posters, baseball caps and women's lingerie, Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara is firmly entrenched in the capitalist consumer society that he died fighting to overturn.

The image of the Argentine-born guerrilla gazing sternly into the distance, long-hair tucked into a beret with a single star, has been an enduring 20th century pop icon.

The picture -- taken by a Cuban photographer in 1960 and printed on posters by an Italian publisher after Guevara's execution in Bolivia seven years later -- fired the imagination of rioting Parisian students in May 1968 and became a symbol of idealistic revolt for a generation.

But as well as being one of the world's most reproduced, the image has become one of its most merchandised. And Guevara's family is launching an effort to stop it. They plan to file lawsuits abroad against companies that they believe are exploiting the image and say lawyers in a number of countries have offered assistance.

"We have a plan to deal with the misuse," Guevara's Cuban widow Aleida March said in an interview.

"We can't attack everyone with lances like Don Quixote, but we can try to maintain the ethics" of Guevara's legacy, said March, who will lead the effort from the Che Guevara Studies Center which is opening in Havana later this year.

"The center intends to contain the uncontrolled use of Che's image. It will be costly and difficult because each country has different laws, but a limit has to be drawn," the legendary guerrilla's daughter, Aleida Guevara, told Reuters.

Now let’s wait just one minute here. This is no different than the bin Ladens trying to profit off of pictures of Osama, or of the Hitlers trying to ensure that Adolf’s image is used only in ways consistent with his principles. So while I would be thrilled to never have to look at some smug middle class brat in Old Navy jeans and a pair of Air Jordans ignorantly displaying the visage of an old commie who would have gladly executed the kid as a class enemy, I would don’t want to see the family succeed. After all, allowing th4 family to make money off of Che would be a repudiation of the very principles they seek to uphold – and the fact that the face of the revolution is so commercialized is the ultimate in ironic rejections of the hell-spawned ideology of communism.

Posted by: Greg at 10:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 481 words, total size 3 kb.

I had a kid in my class wearing a Che Guevara shirt last week. He didnÂ’t know anything about the man whose face he was displaying, or the fact the man was a part of spreading and perpetuating the ideology that killed more people than any other in the 20th century.

Now the famed commieÂ’s family wants to control marketing of the iconic photo that turns up just about everywhere.

With his picture on rock band posters, baseball caps and women's lingerie, Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara is firmly entrenched in the capitalist consumer society that he died fighting to overturn.

The image of the Argentine-born guerrilla gazing sternly into the distance, long-hair tucked into a beret with a single star, has been an enduring 20th century pop icon.

The picture -- taken by a Cuban photographer in 1960 and printed on posters by an Italian publisher after Guevara's execution in Bolivia seven years later -- fired the imagination of rioting Parisian students in May 1968 and became a symbol of idealistic revolt for a generation.

But as well as being one of the world's most reproduced, the image has become one of its most merchandised. And Guevara's family is launching an effort to stop it. They plan to file lawsuits abroad against companies that they believe are exploiting the image and say lawyers in a number of countries have offered assistance.

"We have a plan to deal with the misuse," Guevara's Cuban widow Aleida March said in an interview.

"We can't attack everyone with lances like Don Quixote, but we can try to maintain the ethics" of Guevara's legacy, said March, who will lead the effort from the Che Guevara Studies Center which is opening in Havana later this year.

"The center intends to contain the uncontrolled use of Che's image. It will be costly and difficult because each country has different laws, but a limit has to be drawn," the legendary guerrilla's daughter, Aleida Guevara, told Reuters.

Now let’s wait just one minute here. This is no different than the bin Ladens trying to profit off of pictures of Osama, or of the Hitlers trying to ensure that Adolf’s image is used only in ways consistent with his principles. So while I would be thrilled to never have to look at some smug middle class brat in Old Navy jeans and a pair of Air Jordans ignorantly displaying the visage of an old commie who would have gladly executed the kid as a class enemy, I would don’t want to see the family succeed. After all, allowing th4 family to make money off of Che would be a repudiation of the very principles they seek to uphold – and the fact that the face of the revolution is so commercialized is the ultimate in ironic rejections of the hell-spawned ideology of communism.

Posted by: Greg at 10:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Some years ago, one of my teaching colleagues decided to quit fighting the battle against tired and lazy seniors in her English IV class. She included in her course description a statemen that students would be permitted to sleep no more than 10 minutes per 90 minute class. The result? Students who had never fallen asleep in class felt compelled to take a nap in their English class? Why? Because what had been intended as a way of limiting a problem behavior was perceived by the students as granting them the right to engage in the behavior.

Which leads to this situation in England.

A secondary school is to allow pupils to swear at teachers - as long as they don't do so more than five times in a lesson. A running tally of how many times the f-word has been used will be kept on the board. If a class goes over the limit, they will be 'spoken' to at the end of the lesson.

The astonishing policy, which the school says will improve the behaviour of pupils, was condemned by parents' groups and MPs yesterday. They warned it would backfire.

Parents were advised of the plan, which comes into effect when term starts next week, in a letter from the Weavers School in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
Assistant headmaster Richard White said the policy was aimed at 15 and 16-year-olds in two classes which are considered troublesome.

"Within each lesson the teacher will initially tolerate (although not condone) the use of the f-word (or derivatives) five times and these will be tallied on the board so all students can see the running score," he wrote in the letter .

"Over this number the class will be spoken to by the teacher at the end of the lesson."

Parents called the rule 'wholly irresponsible and ludicrous'.

This is not a plan to eliminate the use of the particular word – it is permission for the kids to use the word in question. Kids are going to feel that they now have the right to use the word. And since the consequence of going over the permitted limit of five is that the class (as a group) will be “spoken to by the teacher,” there is effectively no consequence for spewing out the profane term in question.

I can hear that discussion at the end of class – the teacher reminds students that the word is inappropriate in a classroom setting, to which someone responds “whatever you effin’ say, teach!”

If this were my school and they persisted in following through with this stupid policy, my response would be “I effin’ quit!”

Posted by: Greg at 10:20 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Reminds me of somebody. A sure sign of intelligence is when a person says the "F" word at the beginning of the sentence and at the end for a dramatic closing.

Imbeciles they are with that stupid policy.

Posted by: mcconnell at Mon Aug 29 11:49:55 2005 (CQ3Yp)

2 Hope you recognize that my use of the term "effing" here is for ironic effect.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Aug 29 12:54:19 2005 (yqECe)

3 Yes, I know. We know who those Effers are who like to eff everybody in the back just because they effing don't like them because of a party affiliation. How effing unbelievable.




Ok, wittle boys and girls...mind your potty mouths.

Posted by: mcconnell at Tue Aug 30 13:21:44 2005 (CQ3Yp)

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Is the Vatican about to put a stop to the ordination of gay men to the priesthood? Possibly, if the following report is true.

The new Pope faces his first controversy over the direction of the Catholic church after it was revealed that the Vatican has drawn up a religious instruction preventing gay men from being priests.

The controversial document, produced by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries, the body overseeing the church's training of the priesthood, is being scrutinised by Benedict XVI.

It been suggested Rome would publish the instruction earlier this month, but it dropped the plan out of concern that such a move might tarnish his visit to his home city of Cologne last week.

The document expresses the church's belief that gay men should no longer be allowed to enter seminaries to study for the priesthood. Currently, as all priests take a vow of celibacy, their sexual orientation has not been considered a pressing concern.

Now it is believed that Pope Benedict has reservations about the document. He should. My experience as a seminarian a decade ago was that at least 20% of my classmates were homosexuals, and probably more. Now I see that as a problem – but one of heterosexual men failing to respond to a call to priesthood rather than one of an overabundance of homosexuals. My experience is that many, if not most, of my gay classmates had excellent pastoral skills and are likely excellent priests today. I presume that they are faithful in their adherence to the requirement of celibacy, based upon conversations we had regarding the struggle to be chaste in contemporary society.

I find the reason given for the prohibition particularly troubling.

The instruction tries to dampen down the controversy by eschewing a moral line, arguing instead that the presence of homosexuals in seminaries is 'unfair' to both gay and heterosexual priests by subjecting the former to temptation.

'It will be written in a very pastoral mode,' Haldane said. 'It will not be an attack on the gay lifestyle. It will not say "homosexuality is immoral". But it will suggest that admitting gay men into the priesthood places a burden both on those who are homosexual and those they are working alongside who are not.'

The reasoning here does not work. The struggle to remain chaste is a part of every Christian life, and so to make the argument about “temptation” is specious. And to argue that the presence of homosexuals is a problem for heterosexuals is just plain wrong-headed, and not from a politically correct point of view. Christians are called to minister to all – sometimes especially to those who make us uncomfortable. The sort of rejection that this proposed document calls for is simply wrong.

Now some may be surprised to read these words on my site. After all, I have been most forthright in dealing with issues of homosexuality and holding firm for traditional Christian teachings regarding human sexuality. But there is simply no legitimate theological or pastoral reason for such a restriction on ordination, provided the man in question is truly committed to and properly formed in the discipline of celibacy in a spirit of Christian chastity.

Posted by: Greg at 10:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Was it an anti-Semitic hate crime? No one wants to say so, but what else do you call swastikas burned into the lawn along with obscenities and slurs about fascism?

Vandals burned swastikas and obscenities into the lawn of a Jewish family, splattering windows with eggs and fouling the front porch of their home.
Two swastikas were spray-painted in the road in front of Ginger Ragans' two-story home Sunday and a third was etched onto her lawn, along with the word "Fascist" and an obscenity scrawled in the grass. Her trees were draped with toilet paper and someone had urinated and defecated on the porch.

Gwinnett County police are investigating the vandalism in the town northeast of Atlanta and are uncertain whether to classify it as a hate crime, spokesman Darren Moloney said.

Ragans, 36, who has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years, said the incident likely was the work of neighborhood teens retaliating against her for her work as a neighborhood liaison for a community watchdog program.

In a recent edition of the community's newsletter, she mentioned that cameras had caught groups of teens hanging around the tennis courts long after the county's midnight curfew.

Now let’s be honest here. If this had been an attack against the home of a black community activist that included a burning cross and the word “nigger”, it would be quickly labeled as racist – and rightly so. The choice of slurs and symbols here are obviously motivated by the Jewish heritage of the victims. In my book, that is a hate crime – even if the trigger was the involvement in the community watch program.

And the fact that there is any hesitation in labeling this as anti-Semitism is proof of a bigger problem with anti-Semitism than anyone wants to admit.

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Why does anyone take Charles Rangel seriously any more? Certainly this comment is sufficiently out of line and not based in reality for the media and his fellow Dems to call him on it.

The dean of New York's congressional delegation suggested in a television interview that Vice President Dick Cheney may not be healthy enough to perform his duties.

Rep. Charles Rangel was being interviewed on NY1, the New York City-based all-news channel, when he was asked Friday night whether he thought President Bush was taking too much vacation time this summer.

"Oh no, it makes the country a lot more safe," the Manhattan Democrat said. "The further Bush is away from Washington, the better it is. And sometimes I don't even think Cheney is awake enough to know what's going on. Rumsfeld is the guy in Washington to watch. He's running the country,"

"Cheney's not awake enough?" reporter Davidson Goldin asked.

"Well, he's a sick man you know," Rangel said. "He's got heart disease, but the disease is not restricted to that part of his body. He grunts a lot, so you never really know what he's thinking."

Asked whether he was suggesting that Cheney was not healthy enough to do his job, Rangel said, "Why do you think people are spending so much time praying for President Bush's health?"

"If he ever leaves and Cheney's in charge, there's not very much to pull together for the rest of our nation," he concluded. "This is a sad state of affair."

The White House declined comment Saturday.

Cheney has had four heart attacks, and a pacemaker was placed in his chest in June 2001.

His most recent annual heart checkup occurred in July and found him in good health.

So Rangel now claims to know more than the Vice PresidentÂ’s cardiologists? And we wonÂ’t get into the fantasy-based notion that the President being outside of Washington DC renders him impotent to run the country.

Hey, Charlie – when are you going to become reality-based?

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All America has watched as Cindy Sheehan and company have pursued their anti-American protest in Crawford, proving that the United Stats is not the dictatorship they claim. I've approved of very little that has gone on at Camp Dhimmi (unlike his mother, I refuse to dishonor Casey Sheehan by calling it by his name) , but I did see this one bit of news that I want to note and praise.

Amid all the comings and goings around Camp Casey on Sunday, peace activists Genevieve Van Cleve and Peter Ravella got married.

The aisle was strewn with hay, and the crowd hummed "Here Comes the Bride."

"This is meaningful. This has substance," said Van Cleve, 34, of Austin. "We completely support what they're doing, and we just wanted to add whatever love, fidelity, loyalty and honor that we could."

I don't agree with their politics, and the couple sound like typical hippie-dippy Austinite liberals. That doesn't matter. Some things transcend politics.

Peter and Genevieve have made a serious committment that is a thing of beauty. If I agree with and support nothing else that went on as part of the Crawford protests, I offer my support here.

Congratulations to the happy couple, and may God bless them with many years of joy and love.

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There were a number of principled responses to the Lawrence v. Texas case. One of those, often derided by the pro-sodomy lobby was the position that Lawrence had the effect of opening the door to legal polygamy and incest.

Jeff Jacoby points us to a case that pointedly raises the issue regarding incest laws.

''I BELIEVE severe punishment is required in this case," the judge said at Allen and Pat's sentencing in November 1997. ''I think they have to be separated. It's the only way to prevent them from having intercourse in the future."

Allen and Pat were lovers, but a Wisconsin statute enacted in 1849 made their sexual relationship a felony. The law was sometimes used to nail predators who had molested children, but using it to prosecute consenting adults -- Allen was 45; Pat, 30 -- was virtually unheard of. That didn't deter Milwaukee County Judge David Hansher. Nor did the fact that the couple didn't understand why their relationship should be a crime. Allen and Pat didn't ''have to be bright," the judge growled, to know that having sex with each other was wrong.

He threw the book at them: eight years for Allen, five for Pat, served in separate maximum-security prisons, 25 miles apart.

If this had happened to a gay couple, the case would have become a cause celebre. Hard time as punishment for a private, consensual, adult relationship? Activists would have been outraged. Editorial pages would have thundered.

But Allen and Patricia Muth are not gay. They were convicted of incest. Although they didn't meet until Patricia was 18 -- she had been raised from infancy in foster care -- they were brother and sister, children of the same biological parents. They were also strongly attracted to each other, emotionally and physically. And so, disregarding the taboo against incest, they became a couple and had four children.

When Wisconsin officials learned of the Muths' relationship, they moved to strip them of their parental rights. The state's position, upheld in court, was that their ''fundamentally disordered" lifestyle made them unfit for parenthood by definition. Allen and Patricia's children were taken from them. Then they were prosecuted for incest and sent to prison.

Now tell me -- where does the logic of this law, this prosecution, differ from that in Lawrence v. Texas? After all, we had a pair of consenting adults engaging in a loving and consensual relationship. The state declared their relationship to be disordered and criminalized it. And do not tell me that hte reason is the potential for birth defects -- the courts have long-ago restricted the right of the state to engage in prohibitions of sex or reproduction for eugenic purposes. So what are you left with, other than public disgust and public morals, both of which are ruled out as a basis for legislation under Lawrence and related homosexual rights cases.

And consider what Lawrence actually says. It says that the state cannot regulate ''the most private human conduct, sexual behavior" whenit occurs between consenting adults.

''The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in striking down the Texas law under which John Lawrence and Tyron Garner had been convicted of homosexual sodomy. ''The state cannot by making their private sexual conduct a crime. Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government."

Does a prosecution for incest between consenting adults respect their private lives, as required by Lawrence?

No, it does not.

Does the prosecution demena their existance?

Arguably it does, in violation of Lawrence.

Does the criminalization of their sexual conduct have the effect of demeaning their existence or controlling their destiny?

It most certainly does.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to overturn the convictions -- but only on procedural grounds, not on the actual merits of the argument that the Lawrence precedent nullifies all consensual sexual activity between adults. But that is really at the heart of the issue here, and will have to be confronted either by the Supreme COurt itself or by lower courts around the country.

Unless, of course, Lawrence established only one constitutionally protected class of sexual conduct -- and, in the process, special rights for homosexuals only.

Regardless, the Supreme Court must clean up the mess that it made by clarifying the scope of Lawrence v. Texas. Are all laws regarding consensual adult sex constitutionally infirm? Is homosexual conduct the only form of sexuality considered deviant by the majority of citizens and their legislators that gets constitutional protection? Or was Lawrence wrongly decided by a court more concerned with political correctness than constitutional correctness?

A nation waits.

Posted by: Greg at 04:55 PM | Comments (107) | Add Comment
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The votes are in.

The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are An Open Letter to Cindy Sheehan by Gates of Vienna, and Israeli Pride; Israeli Angst by Alpha Patriot.

Congratulation to our lucky winners, and to all nominees. Full results may be found here.

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Over at The Jawa Report, Dr. Rusty Shackleford presents us with a new form of religious devotion, especially for the folks who believe Cindy Sheehan has even a lick of credibility.

The Rosary of the the far left:

1) Make the Sign of the Ankh and say the "Leftist Creed."

I laughed. I cried. I wondered whether the Pope will issue a fatwa against Rusty.

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The original got Dr. Hook the place on Rolling Stone's cover that he craved.

Will the parody get Misha the fatwa he sings about?

Go take a look -- it is worth the laugh.

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If ever there was a jumping of the gun by police and prosecutors, this was it. Why on earth were charges filed in this case?

MARION, Va. (AP) - A judge dismissed a manslaughter charge against a teenager whose 5-year-old half-sister died after he put her in a coin-operated laundry machine that then began running.

The ruling Thursday by Judge Charles Lincoln came after prosecutors said they did not believe they could convict the 14-year-old boy.

The boy put 30-pound Hope Wagoner into the triple-load machine "during a playful game between brother and sister" on June 17 in Chilhowie, defense attorney John Graham said.

The boy put no coins in the machine but it started anyway, Graham said. The boy tried "frantically" to stop the washer and free his sister, taking a large rock from the parking lot to smash at the glass, Graham said.

The children's mother, Rebecca Wagoner, ultimately used the same rock to break through the glass and free Hope. The child died of asphyxiation, a medical examiner ruled.

Rebecca Wagoner has sued the washing machine's maker, claiming it knew the model had a history of starting up without the insertion of coins but failed to fix the problem.

Where I grew up, this fell into the category of "horrifyingly tragic accident". It did not rise to the level of criminal behavior.

Bravo to the judge who had the common sense to see that there was no way a jury would ever convict.

Posted by: Greg at 02:05 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Yesterday I told you all about the Iraq Soldier Hoax that played out in the pages of the Daily Egyptian at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Well, the story gets stranger as I read the coverage by Carbondale's REAL newspaper, the Southern Illinoisan.

First, we find out that the DE was not the only entity spoofed -- a Detroit church was also scammed a couple of months ago. Patrick Trovillion, who thought he was playing the part of Dan Kenner in a documentary project, may just have revealed why "Kennings" had to "die" in Iraq.

He also detailed a trip only three months ago when he traveled with Reynolds and the child playing the part of Kodee to a Detroit church that had befriended many American soldiers in Iraq. Trovillion said Reynolds instructed him to "stay in character" during the entire service.

"This was a huge church and we were seated in the front row and the pastor introduced me as Dan Kennings, so I thought they all knew that this was part of the documentary," Trovillion said. "I mean these people were hugging me and telling me they loved me and I just went along with it; I thought they were just playing the part. I even got in the car and told Jaime (Reynolds) 'those people were good ¦ they were just awesome.' I even got up in front of the congregation and gave a little speech. This church was very supportive of Dan and they knew Kodee."

Reynolds said he didn't know if the church gave any money to Reynolds on the trip but said she paid him $400 to make the overnight trip to Detroit. Attempts to reach the pastor of the church were unsuccessful.

Trovillion said he has not spoken with Reynolds in "a few months" but said he began to have serious doubts about the validity of the project after he contacted the youth pastor at the Detroit church.

"I told her who I was and she acted like she didn't recognize my name," said Trovillion. "I told her that I was the guy that had played the part of Dan Kennings and she said 'Is this some kind of sick joke?' I didn't know what to say and after what I've learned in the last few days I still don't know what to say. She (Reynolds) didn't just scam me and Kodee and the Daily Egyptian - she scammed the pastor and the entire congregation of that church."

Trovillion was paid $400 for the trip -- I wonder how much money Jaimie Reynolds milked from that congregation?

For her part, Reynolds has quit talking.

MARION - Though many believe Jaimie Reynolds concocted the story of Kodee Kennings because she craved attention, the former Southern Illinois University Carbondale student wanted nothing to do with the news media that came knocking at her door Friday.

The elaborate, year-and-a-half-long hoax Reynolds promoted through the guise of 10-year-old Caitlin Hadley, of Montpelier, Ind., caught the attention of media outlets statewide and throughout the Midwest.

Several reporters and camera crews, including The Southern Illinoisan, spent time outside Reynolds' home in the 800 block of West Boulevard Street in Marion. Reporters made multiple attempts to speak with Reynolds. However, they were either answered with silence or the quiet admonition of a middle-aged woman, assumed to be a family member of Reynolds, from the back doorstep.

Friday's silence represented a marked change in Reynolds' behavior with the media.

You know, that silence may be her first smart move, especially if she has eceived even a penny on behalf of Dan and Kodee Kennings. The word for having done so would be "fraud".

For his part, former editor Michael Brenner, who was responsible for much of the Kodee coverage, is being sought by the media for interviews. The only problem is that they are not job interviews, but rather story interviews.

The networks are clawing for interviews with former Daily Egyptian editor Michael Brenner.

But he's worried if he'll ever land a job in journalism.

"Who's going to want to hire me after this?" Brenner asked in a telephone interview with The Southern Illinoisan from his grandparents' home in Indiana.

The former editor of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale student newspaper is at the center of a media firestorm.

ABC wants to fly him to New York City. So do NBC and CBS. CNN has called, too, he said.

Friday afternoon, Brenner was fielding a constant barrage of calls from the media.

Brenner recently quit his job as a sportswriter with the East Oregonian, a job he landed shortly after donning his gown and receiving his diploma in the December 2004 SIUC graduation ceremonies.

He said he left the Oregon job after only a few months because he wanted to spend time with his family in Illinois - and with the girl he said he had known as "Kodee Kennings."

Now he is the focus of questions and debate in the media world.

He claims he was "an idiot."

For Brenner's sake, I hope he really was simply an idiot who got duped. Reynolds has claimed that she and Brenner were a couple, and that the hoax was his idea. It seems hard to believe he would be that stupid, but then again either option indicates he was stupid. Did he fake a story he couldn't possibly sustain long-term, or did he simply get suckered? Given that he involved his own parents with Reynolds, I want to believe that he is a victim. But there is some evidence that he might not be -- and that he is enjoying the attention.

As journalists continue to attempt to unravel the Kodee mystery, many are asking, "Why?"

Why did the people who played roles in the hoax get involved? What was the motive?

I spoke to a lot of fellow journalists who have been poking around in this case and most of them seem to be willing to give Brenner the benefit of the doubt.

I am still skeptical.

Here's my problem: One moment, Brenner says he's distraught. Then a second phone rings (he was juggling two phones most of Friday afternoon) and his voice turns giddy.

Frankly, he seems flattered by all of the media attention. Rather than draw the curtains in shame and retreat (as did Colleen Hastings/Jaimie Reynolds on Friday) Brenner seemed to revel in it.

In the last of many phone conversations I had with Brenner on Friday, he told me that he had committed to be on "Good Morning America" and "Nightline" on Monday. ABC had won the battle of the networks. According to him.

I'm very interested in the story. It is happening in my old stomping grounds -- litterally in my old backyard (I lived and worked just a block from the SIU Campus for a couple of years in the late 1980s). My family has a connection going back to my dad and his siblings starting school there in the early 1950s, continuing through the my generation and including two members if the family teaching for the university. I want to see how this story turns out -- and how the perpetrators are dealt with by the powers that be.

***

MORE ON THIS STORY FOUND AT Michelle Malkin, Resistance is Futile, Angry in the Great White North, Florida Masochist, Doc Rampage, Harleys, Cars, and Girls, Salient Points, Florida Cracker, With Cheese, It Comes In Pints, Brainster's Blog, Getting Nothing But Static From MSM, Out of the Box, Don Surber, The Busch Stadium III Photo Blog, My Yellow Country Teeth, Musings From Brian J. Noggle, Right Nation and Tim Blair.

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Matt May has a great piece in the American Thinker highlighting a little known precedent for Cindy Sheehan's actions in Crawford.

NEW YORK (Nov. 20, 1776) – The grieving mother of an American soldier killed in action during the recent failed defense of Fort Washington is demanding an audience with Gen. George Washington.

“George is the biggest butcher on the face of the earth,” Mrs. Ima Benedict declared to a throng of nearly 25 Loyalist pamphleteers and newspapermen.

About 30 fellow protestors on a street corner on the upper west side of Manhattan joined Mrs. Benedict today at what has been dubbed “Camp Arnold” by supporters of Mrs. Benedict’s cause. The group held aloft homemade placards reading “No Blood For Representation,” “George, Talk to Ima” and “Justice for Arnold.”

Arnold Benedict was one of nearly 3,000 American soldiers killed during the recent attempt to defend Fort Washington on Manhattan. Mr. Benedict, of Massachusetts, signed on with the American army at the beginning of the year. Mrs. Benedict said that she pleaded with him not to join but Mr. Benedict and his father said he was old enough to make his own decisions. He was 22-years old. Mrs. Benedict claims the war is invalid.

I urge you to read this important historical report.

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This is one of the most shocking stories IÂ’ve ever encountered. It is shocking because of the false nature of the claims, the use of a child in the hoax, and the fact that no one picked it up over two years. It is almost impossible to know where to begin.

I suppose I should start with the admission of the campus paper at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale.

It was a heart-rending story--a blonde waif, her mother dead, entrusted to the care of a family friend while her father fought with the 101st Airborne in Iraq. The youngster was intelligent, friendly and engaging, and developed close bonds with many of the newsroom staff.

Then a week ago came the news that her father had been killed in Iraq.

Every war casualty leaves a trail of pain, but the story of a 10-year-old girl losing her only parent to the war is particularly poignant, and the Chicago Tribune showed interest.

In the course of checking out the details, a troubling problem appeared: The story wasn't true. What began as a nightmarish possibility became impossible to deny. There was no record with the Department of Defense of the death.

The father who was called Dan Kennings was not killed in Iraq. We checked with central command in Baghdad. There was no Dan Kennings in the 101st Airborne. No Dan Kennings in the entire Army.

We checked with Cathy Gramling, media relations officer at Fort Campbell, Ky., who in turn checked with the Army Human Resources Command.

"We cannot find a record of a Dan Kennings on active duty or having been killed in Iraq," Gramling said.

Holy crap!

You see, the paper had been running stories by and about this little girl and her father for the last two years. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes BrennerÂ’s reaction.

"Looking back on it now, it makes so much sense. I don't know how I could have been such an idiot," said Michael Brenner, the former Daily Egyptian reporter who first wrote about Kodee, and then spent two years staying in contact as a close friend of her and her purported aunt and guardian, who said her name was Colleen Hastings.

Brenner now knows the names to be false, the friendship was a lie, and that hours of telephone interviews and conversations he thought he was having with the girl were actually with the woman. "I was thoroughly convinced."

The relationship between "Kodee"' and the Daily Egyptian started in spring 2003, when Brenner wrote a feature story about Kodee's pain at the departure of her father, identified as Dan Kennings, and included excerpts of a letter she purportedly wrote to him:

"Don't die, OK dad? ... You should find Saddam and run him over with your tank ... I love you and don't die. Love, Kodee."

Another published letter, purportedly by Kodee, asked: "Are you still coming home dad? I'm still here without you ... Hey dad I dug a fox hole. It is regulashin ... Can you kill all the bad guys now so Air Force One can bring you home?"

People wee truly taken with this cute kid with a dead mother and a father in Iraq. How could you not be? The letters sounded genuine, and everybody assumed it was a true story. Unfortunately, the folks assuming included Brenner, who admits he didn’t check out the facts as closely as he should have. Its just that decent people don’t make up stuff like this – and certainly don’t use kids this way.

And then the big lie was exposed by the Chicago Tribune, which wanted a story on how this precious little girl would go on having lost both parents.

On Saturday morning, cars began pulling into the gravel parking lot of a one-story American Legion hall in Orient, Ill., about 30 miles northeast of Carbondale, for a memorial service. Hastings and Kodee got out of a red Pontiac Grand Am, the little girl wearing an Army uniform shirt that hung down to her knees.

People inside the memorial service said both Hastings and Kodee were in tears. A video showed Kennings in his fatigues speaking with a group of children at a church, and there was a scrapbook filled with pictures of Kennings straddling a tank cannon or huddling with other soldiers.

Tribune reporters continued asking questions, and some students and a faculty member were growing increasingly hostile because of suggestions that Kennings did not exist. By Tuesday night, however, Brenner was pacing nervously outside a Dairy Queen in Carterville, Ill., talking to Hastings on his cell phone. He handed the phone to a Tribune reporter, and Hastings said she would come to the Dairy Queen and listen to questions.

Brenner, 25, said he was still convinced of Kennings' existence and defended Hastings for trying to protect a little girl.

Hastings pulled into the parking lot in the same red car she'd driven to the memorial service. She was told that the military denied Kennings' existence and that the name Colleen Hastings appeared in no public-records databases in Illinois. She was asked for a driver's license and for a death certificate for Kennings. With each question, Hastings shook her head no.

After Brenner spoke to her for a minute alone, she drove off.

State records show that the car is registered to a woman living in Marion, and on Wednesday a reporter was there looking for the woman's granddaughter, Jaimie Reynolds.

When she came out of the house, Reynolds was the same woman who had been at the Dairy Queen as Colleen Hastings.

Sitting on the back porch and wearing a long-sleeved Southern Illinois University shirt, her face flush from crying, Reynolds admitted that she had pretended to be Hastings. She said that Kennings was an invention, and later explained that those who met him actually had met Trovillion, the acquaintance who believed he was acting in a film.

She said, and the Tribune confirmed, that she had been a radio and television production student at the university. She graduated in 2004, putting her there alongside the very people she was deceiving.

Reynolds acknowledged the little girl is the daughter of friends and said she persuaded the parents to let her bring the child to Carbondale regularly by saying she was filming a documentary about a soldier killed in Iraq.

"We told her it was for a movie," Reynolds said.

Reynolds now claims that Brenner was in on the plot from the beginning, a charge that he denies.

And as the local paper in Carbondale notes, the motive for the hoax is quite murky.

The Daily Egyptian's general manager said the motive behind the entire Kodee story may be the biggest riddle yet to unravel.

"There is still confusion over what the motive may have been," Speere said.

However, he added that he didn't think money was the motive.
However, in many of Kodee's columns it was noted that her father had to pay $2 per minute to phone home from Iraq and the father's personal e-mail, a Yahoo account, was listed.

It will be interesting to see how much money, if any, these frauds got from good-hearted people.

It appears that the fake Kodee and her family were duped as well, if the Chicago Tribune's story is to be believed (though you have to wonder why the parents didn';t ask more questions sooner if they were not a part of the whole scheme).

On Thursday, 10-year-old Caitlin Hadley sat between her parents on a couch in her mom's office, retelling the two-year odyssey that began with her belief that she was going to be the star of a documentary film about a little girl named Kodee.

"It was sort of weird, but I had a lot of fun," Caitie said.

Her father, Richard Hadley, is a pastor at a Nazarene church in Montpelier, Ind., and her mother works for the church's regional office. Both said they felt they'd been scammed by Reynolds.

"I just realized that I didn't know this girl," Tawnya Hadley said. "In the profession that my husband is in, we move and meet new people all the time. What if she'd never brought Caitie back? We feel like we're idiots."

The Hadleys lived in Buffalo, Ky., during most of the time Reynolds was making the four- to five-hour drive from Carbondale to pick up Caitie and bring her to southern Illinois.

Caitie said that when she and Reynolds were with other people, Reynolds told her they were "filming." Caitie was to pretend to be Kodee, and "she said I needed to act like a tomboy because Kodee was a tomboy."

Caitie's understanding was that everybody she met in Carbondale was in the movie, which was being filmed by hidden cameras. So when they went into the Daily Egyptian newsroom the first time, she pretended to be Kodee and believed that the reporters and editors were playing along as characters.

"I met all the people she had in the movie," Caitie said. "We were always on camera, but I didn't see any cameras."

As Caitie's involvement continued, the Hadleys began asking why the documentary had not been finished.

About a month ago, after a long silence, the Hadleys heard from Reynolds.

She said a new group of students wanted to finish the documentary, and they needed to borrow Caitie again for a memorial service because Dan Kennings had been killed in Iraq.

The parents agreed, and Reynolds drove Caitie down for one last experience.

***

In her home in Indiana on Thursday, Caitie reflected on Jaimie Reynolds, the woman who during the past two years became like a "big sister" to her.

"I feel sad for her," Caitie said. "And I feel like she betrayed me."

Yes, Caitie, these folks betrayed us all – especially the men and women in uniform and their families. I hope that some way is found to punish these people for what they did to you and to them. It was terribly wrong.

(Personal note – The connection between my family and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale stretches back over half a century. Many of my family members are proud SIU Salukis, though none were associated with the Daily Egyptian. Two are former faculty members, but none in journalism. And yes, I have taken classes there, though I graduated with both a BA and an MS from another state university in Illinois.)

NOTE: Edrahe at The Busch Stadium III Photo Blog provides a great set of bulletpoints, since you can't understand this game without a scorecard.

MORE ON THIS STORY FOUND AT Michelle Malkin, Resistance is Futile, Angry in the Great White North, Florida Masochist, Doc Rampage, Harleys, Cars, and Girls, Salient Points, Florida Cracker, With Cheese, It Comes In Pints, Brainster's Blog, Getting Nothing But Static From MSM, Out of the Box, My Yellow Country Teeth and Tim Blair.

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The man has been sentenced to death. Why should we force-feed him if he wants to go on a hunger strike and kill himself?

A judge granted Montgomery County jail officials yesterday the authority to force-feed convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, who has refused to eat or drink since he was transferred Monday from a Virginia prison.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge James L. Ryan issued the order after the county's Department of Correction and Rehabilitation filed court papers yesterday saying Muhammad was "in imminent danger of very serious bodily harm, including death, if he does not begin to receive nourishment within the next several days."

Corrections officials said in the court papers that Muhammad, 44, objected to the food at the jail in Clarksburg and to limits on his access to legal documents. The court papers quote Muhammad as directing a correctional officer to tell the warden to "get the IVs ready."

Muhammad's attorney, public defender Paul DeWolfe, argued during a hearing yesterday that the county should resolve the problems with his client rather than force-feed him. Nonetheless, the judge gave the go-ahead to feed him against his will if necessary.

As of about 9 p.m. yesterday, authorities had not exercised that option, said a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the high-profile nature of the case.

Personally, I’d say “Buh-bye, John!”

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I can’t help but be struck by the similarity in these two stories. And I cannot help but be offended by the implicit argument that the dead victim’s presumed wishes should override the safety of others.

The first comes from Australia. A marine biologist was attacked and killed by a great white shark. The parents’ response?

Horrified friends saw Jarrod Stehbens, 23, dragged under by a Great White off Glenelg Beach, South Australia.

His body has not been found, and normally there would be a search for the "killer" shark.

But dad David said: "Jarrod would not have wanted anything killed.
"He was doing exactly what he wanted to do. He loved the sea."

Uh, I’m sorry for your horrible and tragic loss, but I’ve got to tell you that it doesn’t matter what Jarrod would have wanted. Setting aside the fact that he is dead, we have a creature out there that has now attacked and killed a human being. That creature must die to make sure it does not repeat the action. It is about safety for others, not revenge.

And then there is this from Houston. A prominent Hindu community member was robbed and murdered, and his killer has been arrested. That killer now faces the death penalty. The response from some of the victim’s friends? You guessed it.

The arrest is just the beginning of a judicial process that could involve the death penalty if there is a conviction. And that could stir up complex reactions among Chopra's friends.

Vijay Pallod, a friend and co-worker, said Akhil was a nonviolent person who always sought the positive.

"Akhil, I don't think he would ask for the death penalty," Pallod said. "But this is going to be a debate among the community."

Again, I’m sorry, but this is not just about revenge. It is also about the safety of others in the community at large. The individual here has killed once simply to enrich himself. We must render him permanently incapable of doing so, regardless of what the victim would have supported.

Those who support the “do not kill” message here are not bad people – just misguided. They think the victim and his beliefs outweigh the needs of society as a whole. And they are wrong.

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I canÂ’t help but be struck by the similarity in these two stories. And I cannot help but be offended by the implicit argument that the dead victimÂ’s presumed wishes should override the safety of others.

The first comes from Australia. A marine biologist was attacked and killed by a great white shark. The parentsÂ’ response?

Horrified friends saw Jarrod Stehbens, 23, dragged under by a Great White off Glenelg Beach, South Australia.

His body has not been found, and normally there would be a search for the "killer" shark.

But dad David said: "Jarrod would not have wanted anything killed.
"He was doing exactly what he wanted to do. He loved the sea."

Uh, IÂ’m sorry for your horrible and tragic loss, but IÂ’ve got to tell you that it doesnÂ’t matter what Jarrod would have wanted. Setting aside the fact that he is dead, we have a creature out there that has now attacked and killed a human being. That creature must die to make sure it does not repeat the action. It is about safety for others, not revenge.

And then there is this from Houston. A prominent Hindu community member was robbed and murdered, and his killer has been arrested. That killer now faces the death penalty. The response from some of the victimÂ’s friends? You guessed it.

The arrest is just the beginning of a judicial process that could involve the death penalty if there is a conviction. And that could stir up complex reactions among Chopra's friends.

Vijay Pallod, a friend and co-worker, said Akhil was a nonviolent person who always sought the positive.

"Akhil, I don't think he would ask for the death penalty," Pallod said. "But this is going to be a debate among the community."

Again, IÂ’m sorry, but this is not just about revenge. It is also about the safety of others in the community at large. The individual here has killed once simply to enrich himself. We must render him permanently incapable of doing so, regardless of what the victim would have supported.

Those who support the “do not kill” message here are not bad people – just misguided. They think the victim and his beliefs outweigh the needs of society as a whole. And they are wrong.

Posted by: Greg at 12:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The former top-level exec with Air America is on the lam, with $875,000.

The former chairman of Air America Radio, Evan Montvel Cohen - who former colleagues said engineered transfers of more than $800,000 to the liberal radio network from a boys and girls club in the Bronx - is missing, according to a lawyer who is trying to have him served with legal papers.

At least two people have said Mr. Cohen is in Hawaii. He has not responded to a series of e-mail messages in recent weeks from The New York Sun asking him about his role.

Mr. Cohen, 39, helped lead the launch of Air America in March 2004. Less than two months later, Piquant LLC acquired the radio network from Mr. Cohen's Progress Media. Piquant LLC has agreed to pay $875,000 to Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, without interest, in installments over the next two years.

Watch out kiddies – he might be after the contents of your piggy banks next. He has a history of stealing from children.

Posted by: Greg at 12:18 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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The former top-level exec with Air America is on the lam, with $875,000.

The former chairman of Air America Radio, Evan Montvel Cohen - who former colleagues said engineered transfers of more than $800,000 to the liberal radio network from a boys and girls club in the Bronx - is missing, according to a lawyer who is trying to have him served with legal papers.

At least two people have said Mr. Cohen is in Hawaii. He has not responded to a series of e-mail messages in recent weeks from The New York Sun asking him about his role.

Mr. Cohen, 39, helped lead the launch of Air America in March 2004. Less than two months later, Piquant LLC acquired the radio network from Mr. Cohen's Progress Media. Piquant LLC has agreed to pay $875,000 to Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, without interest, in installments over the next two years.

Watch out kiddies – he might be after the contents of your piggy banks next. He has a history of stealing from children.

Posted by: Greg at 12:18 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Would you trust a study by a tobacco company scientist that showed no connection between smoking and cancer? I didnÂ’t think so.

Why then would you trust a study by an abortion industry scientist and an abortionist regarding fetal pain?

Two of five authors of an article published in a medical journal on Wednesday saying that fetuses probably cannot feel pain before the 29th week of pregnancy did not tell the journal that they had abortion-related activities that might be seen as a conflict of interest, the journal's editor said Wednesday.

The editor, Dr. Catherine D. DeAngelis, of The Journal of the American Medical Association, said in an interview that had she been aware of the activities, the journal most likely would have mentioned them. But she added that the disclosure would not have kept the article from being published, because editors and outside experts who had read the manuscript before publication had found it scientifically sound.

One author, Susan J. Lee, a medical student, is also a lawyer who for eight months from 1999 to 2000 worked in the legal department at Naral, an abortion rights group. Another author, Dr. Eleanor A. Drey, performs abortions and is medical director of an abortion clinic.

Neither tried to conceal those activities from reporters before the journal article was published. Dr. Drey's role as an abortion provider was reported in The New York Times on Wednesday; Ms. Lee was not quoted or mentioned. All the authors are from the University of California, San Francisco.

Anti-abortion groups criticized the journal's failure to mention the two authors' work and said their backgrounds revealed a bias that cast doubt on their findings. The National Right to Life Committee issued a statement yesterday calling Ms. Lee and Dr. Drey "pro-abortion activists" whose conclusions were "predetermined by their political agenda."

The fact that Dr. DeAngelis did not know about the authors' activities was first reported Wednesday in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The journal article questioned the need for proposed state and federal legislation that would compel doctors to tell women having abortions at 20 weeks or later that their fetuses would feel pain and to offer pain medicine specifically for the fetus.

In interviews yesterday, Dr. Drey and Ms. Lee said they did not regard their work as a conflict of interest and so it had not occurred to them to report it to the journal editors.

Really – you make your money working in that particular industry, and your conclusion is that the industry needs not be regulated. If you don’t see the conflict, you have no ethics.

Oh, yeah, you work for the abortion industry. You have no ethics.

Posted by: Greg at 12:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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They say they are all about women’s health. Why, then, would they sign a deal that would allow them to make a 500% profit on emergency contraception – while undercutting all the local pharmacies?

If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "gives a green light for over-the-counter distribution, Planned Parenthood stands to take in a minimum $100 million profit over a five-year period from sales of the Plan B 'morning-after' pill," said Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League's STOPP International.

"Such action from the FDA would allow Planned Parenthood to take maximum advantage of a sweetheart deal the organization arranged with Plan B's owner, Barr Pharmaceuticals," to buy the drug at below-market cost and undercut other pharmacies' retail prices, he stated.

Sedlak said the details of the business deal were exposed when internal emails of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) were made public during a California court case. These documents show how the organization worked out a secret arrangement with Barr Pharmaceuticals, the owner of the Plan B patent.

Under a five-year agreement, Planned Parenthood would be able to buy Plan B from Barr at bargain-basement prices, undercut local pharmacies and clear an average $20 profit on each Plan B kit, according to Sedlak.

Let’s consider the numbers. PP would get the drug at $4.25. They deal let’s them sell it at $25.00. Local pharmacies average $32.00. Over five years, the “non-profit” group dedicated to “women’s health” would rake in a $20 million profit a year dispensing this medication that they consider so essential that they want it turned into an over-the-counter drug – with PP as the cheapest distributor while getting a preferred price.

I'm all for capitalism. I've go no problem with a business or individual making a profit. But this is a non-profit organization that claims to be engaged in charitible work. Those being gouged here are the organization's clients.

So why is Planned Parenthood out to make a profit off of poor women during a time of great personal crisis?

Posted by: Greg at 12:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I love these stories.

When Chris Yanez wanted to take his girlfriend out for a special dinner to celebrate their one-year anniversary, he chose the venerable restaurant Canlis, perched high above Lake Union.

Yanez, a soldier returning from Iraq, knew the dinner would be pricey. What he didn't expect is that it would be free. And he also didn't expect that when he walked out, the place would be in tears.

Before going to dinner Wednesday night, Yanez, a reservist who spent a year in Iraq as a machine-gunner, put on his green dress Army uniform, the one he was proud to wear. With his girlfriend, Liz Coleman, on his arm, he walked into Canlis, where owner Mark Canlis found the couple a special table with a panoramic view of the lake and the city.

"I was a captain in the Air Force, so I have a soft spot there," Canlis said.
A few minutes later, a man at a nearby table — who wanted to remain anonymous — walked up to the restaurant owner. "I was noticing the young soldier and saw them looking at the menu," he told Canlis. "I know he was looking at prices and I know this is a special thing, so I would like to take care of part of their bill."

Then another family, the Greenbergs, said they, too, wanted to help pay for the meal. By the end of the night several patrons had, unknown to Yanez, offered to pay for the young couple's meal. With Canlis also sharing the costs, the $150 bill evaporated.

Yanez and Coleman were sharing a peach-cobbler dessert when Canlis walked up with a piece of molten chocolate lava cake.

"There's folks in this restaurant who don't think you should have to share a dessert," Canlis told the couple. "And they don't think you should pay the bill."
Coleman burst into in tears. Tana Greenberg, whose family helped pay the bill, said she, like several other patrons, was wiping her eyes.

"This brought out the patriotism in all of us," she said. "It was just the right thing to do. We're sending our kids over there and they're dying to uphold our beliefs. We just said this couple should not have to buy their meals. It was showing our belief in the uniform and what it stands for."

There is more to this story. You se, this isn’t the first time this has happened – and one time it was the restaurant staff that paid the bill. So if you find yourself out in the Seattle area, this would be the place to go for dinner.

Posted by: Greg at 12:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Cindy Sheehan claims her rage is directed at George W. Bush. I believe she believes that. I also believe she is wrong.

She claims to speak for her son – but by all accounts (except hers), her son volunteered for military service, voluntarily reenlisted, and volunteered for the mission on which he was killed.

So at whom is Cindy Sheehan REALLY pissed off?

It should be obvious – she is angry at Casey Sheehan.

Sigmund Freud had a concept he called “projection, which has been defined as a defense where the ego deals with unacceptable impulses and/or terrifying anxieties by attributing them to someone in the external world.

In many ways I think that explains the behavior of the media’s current patron saint, Cindy Sheehan, whose hate rhetoric aimed at President Bush is really meant for someone else who she can’t admit even to herself is her real target. To do so would represent one of those “unacceptable impulses” Dr. Freud was talking about.

In this case it could well be that Cindy Sheehan is projecting her rage at George Bush when the one she really despises is her late son Casey, who died as a hero in Iraq, precisely because he did die a hero in Iraq.

The more I listen to Cindy Sheehan and consider her past actions and her past words, it occurs to me she has always been a liberal, sheÂ’s always been anti-military, and sheÂ’s always been anti-Republican. It appears that she raised Casey in such an environment, yet despite that what does he do? He not only joins the military engaged in a war she bitterly opposes, but to add insult to injury when his enlistment runs out, he re-enlists although he knew that by so doing it meant he would be sent to Iraq where a war his mother despises is being fought.

Think about that. What Casey did was to reject not by words but by deeds his motherÂ’s most closely-held beliefs.

I’ve expressed this view a few places around the net, though not in anywhere near the depth that Michael Reagan does. Cindy Sheehan is conflicted that her son (who I do not doubt she loved with every decent passion that accompanies motherhood) rejected her beliefs and became an American hero – how can she hold close the memory of her first-born child while rejecting all that he chose to become? And so she directs her anger at the most convenient, most safe target out there – the President of the United States, whose policies (and whose election) she has always rejected. And in doing so, she can stuff her words and her ideology into the mouth of her dead son, and make herself believe that she is really speaking what her son believed – even though his every action shows that he rejected his mother’s politics and pacifism.

Get help, Cindy. If you don't do something about the misdirected anger that goes along with your grief, you are going to be permanently scarred by it.

Posted by: Greg at 12:06 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Look where Democrat activist Fred Phelps is going next.

The fanatical American Baptist minister, Fred Phelps, is on his way to Sweden.

"We'll hunt down your king," he said ominously to Expressen. "It doesn't make any difference where he tries to hide."

Phelps' hatred of the royal family and all things Swedish is linked directly to his equally virulent hatred of homosexuals. He praises homophobic crimes, including murder. When controversial Swedish minister, Åke Green, was convicted of inciting hatred of homosexuals following an anti-gay sermon, Phelps saw red and turned his attention to Sweden.

"You're doomed to spend eternity in hell," he continued. "All you Swedes and your Swedish king and his family."

The minister and twenty members of his congregation from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, are planning to come to Sweden at the beginning of September. They are bringing plenty of placards in order to spread their message that Sweden is the cradle of all evil and that the king rules a nation of sodomites.

King Carl Gustaf is their primary target.

"Your king represents your doomed country and we'll find him wherever he may be."

A lot of this has to do with the case of Swedish minister Åke Green, whose conviction of a hate crime for preaching a sermon critical of homosexuality was overturned this spring. The Swedish Supreme Court will hear the government’s appeal this fall.

Posted by: Greg at 11:52 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I own my house. What business, then, does the government (any government, from the federal level down to my city) in regulating who I may or may not sell my house to? That is not a rhetorical question, given the nature of this case in Virginia.

In the first case of its kind, the Alexandria Human Rights Commission unanimously agreed Monday night that Long & Foster Real Estate Co. discriminated against a single gay man who wanted to buy a home in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood.

Instead, the house went to a young married couple, who continue to own it.
The commission cited the McLean-based real estate company for discriminating against Lawrence Cummings, 52, because of his marital status or his sexual orientation. The basis for its decision won't be made public for 30 days.
Long & Foster could be required to pay up to $5,000 in fines to the city of Alexandria.

Cummings has already paid thousands of dollars in attorney's fees since he learned that his offer on the house in the Beverly Forest area had been rejected in February 2004.

"It is for the cause. For the principle," he said. "I don't believe you can discriminate against someone for their martial status or sexual preference and be able to get away with it."

Actually, Mr. Cummings, you are exactly wrong in every moral sense. You have no right to buy a house if the owner is unwilling to sell it to you. And that is the case even if you are willing to meet the price set by the owner – because the right to determine who one does business with is a matter of fundamental human rights that pre-exists any statute.

LetÂ’s look at the particulars of the case.

In February 2004, Cummings and his partner had already made offers on six houses and were getting tired of looking. When he saw the ranch-style house on Pullman Lane on a Saturday, he thought he had found what he was looking for. "I thought, 'Oooooh, cute,' " he explained. He met the sellers briefly and made an offer for the asking price -- $555,000 -- that same day.
"I thought surely I was going to get this house," he said.

But two days later, his agent called and said the owner had chosen a young married couple who had made an offer of $45,000 less. "She said it was the fact that I'm single and they sensed that I'm gay," Cummings said. And so he filed his complaint.

At the hearing, Cummings's attorney played a tape of a voice-mail message from a Long & Foster agent to a Realtor for McEnearney Associates, who was representing Cummings, describing the seller as a "fuddy-duddy" and explaining who she wanted to own the house:

"She was just extremely concerned that a young family, who would love the house and care for it, just like they did, down to the last curtain, which had been made from a wedding dress from one of their children, [would] love the house as much as they did," Anise Snyder of Long & Foster left in the message to David Howell of McEnearney, according to the case file.

Brien Roche, attorney for Long & Foster, said that the young couple who bought the house had made an equal offer, put down more earnest money and were chosen because they had shown more enthusiasm, even writing a letter about how much they liked the house and the curtains. Cummings, an interior designer, loved the house, too, but not the curtains, he would say later. "Old, dirty drapes? I don't think so," he said.

"There were both business and emotional reasons as to why the seller chose the people," Roche said in the case file. "It had nothing to do with marital status, nothing to do with anything other than the facts I just mentioned."

But ultimately, who cares if it was marital status or sexual orientation – or even race? The ultimate right regarding the conveyance of the home to another individual belongs not to the buyer, but to the seller. The house was hers, and she had every right to decide that she wanted to see a traditional family in that house rather than a childless pair of homosexuals. She had every right to arrange her business affairs in such a way that the house went to such a family – even if the decision made no sense from a purely economic standpoint. The right to make such a decision is essential to any meaningful concept of economic liberty.

More to the point, no one can point to a natural right – as opposed to a government-decreed positive right – to acquire a particular piece of property. That government believes it has any sort of moral right to regulate or penalize the decision of an owner to sell to a preferred buyer is corrosive of the right to own and dispose of property – and with it, the capitalist system.

Now some may argue that I am supporting housing discrimination. They are right. But as long as that discrimination is engaged in by a private party, I don't see a compelling government interest in stopping it that in any way justifies the infringement of property rights stopping it would entail.

Posted by: Greg at 02:12 PM | Comments (86) | Add Comment
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Get your red-hot victim rhetoric here!

Black leaders in Dallas and across the country are crying foul as a string of federal corruption investigations have targeted black politicians.

"Our leadership is being attacked all over the country," said Dallas Nation of Islam minister Jeffrey Muhammad. "We need to realize this and come together with a local and national agenda for the betterment of our own community."

Most of the people named so far in the FBI's investigation into corruption at Dallas City Hall and the city's tax-credit housing program are black. They include four black City Council members and three black members of the powerful City Plan Commission.

The predominance of blacks named in the investigation has stunned veteran black politicians.

Yo, J-Mu – quit selecting morally-challenged lowlifes as your leaders and you won’t have this problem. Elect some folks with the moral fiber to say no to bribes, kickbacks, and other schemes designed to enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayers. If you do that, then there will be no need for your so-called leaders to be prosecuted. Unless, of course, you claim that one must be a felon to be authentically black.

Posted by: Greg at 02:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I love the outrageous twisting of morality here.

Five Palestinians were killed by IDF gunfire after midnight Wednesday during a raid to capture fugitives in Tulkarm.

The army said that soldiers of an elite Duvdevan unit surrounded a coffeehouse and called on the fugitives inside to surrender. Soldiers fired warning shots in the air, after which the fugitives as well as other gunmen on the scene opened fire at troops.

A firebomb and an explosive device were thrown at troops. In the exchange of gunfire four Palestinians were killed and a fifth died shortly after of his wounds.

Palestinians claim that only two of the dead were fugitives affiliated with the Islamic Jihad while the other three were teenagers, ranging in age from 16 to 18.

The Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades have threatened to exact a "painful revenge" for the deaths of the five Palestinians.

"This episode will not pass without a response," Islamic Jihad leader Muhammad al-Hindi said Thursday morning.

A Hamas spokesman said the revenge could take a variety of forms "in order to teach the enemy a lesson," Army Radio quoted.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei condemned an Israeli raid that killed five Palestinians in the West Bank as a "brutal crime."

"The brutal crime in Tulkarm shows that Israel does not want calm," Qurei said outside his office.

Israel takes out a group of terrorists, but is somehow the bad guy. The terrorists start shooting, but the alleged “innocent bystanders” are somehow the fault of the Israelis and not the terrorists.

Hamas must be crushed, for the sake of world peace. By any means necessary.

Posted by: Greg at 02:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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