December 13, 2006
Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) was in surgery last night after falling ill at the Capitol, introducing a note of uncertainty over control of the Senate just weeks before Democrats are to take over with a one-vote margin.Johnson, 59, was taken to George Washington University Hospital shortly after noon, where he underwent "a comprehensive evaluation by the stroke team," his office said. Aides later said he had not suffered a stroke or heart attack, but they offered no further comment or details of the surgery.
At 11 p.m., Mr. Johnson was undergoing surgery, and was expected to be in the operating room until the early morning hours.
That isn't good.
I agree with Captain Ed.
So skip the calculations and the political fallout from Johnson's ailment. Let's just pray he'll fully recover and continue his representation of his constituents in the Senate. If that's not the case, we can do the math when it becomes necessary.
Michelle Malkin makes a similar point.
The prayers and best wishes of both the Right and Left (my darling wife calls the speculation "disgusting") in my household are with Johnson and his family. Let's worry about the human side of this situation, and leave the politics for another day, if we have to be concerned with such things at all.
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Texas public school students better play hard during their upcoming winter breaks because next December some will have fewer days off and — bah, humbug! — others will be stuck studying for finals.The new state law ordering school to start later in the summer has forced local educators to make tough decisions that will influence families' vacation plans and could affect students' performance on high-stakes tests and semester exams.
Many area districts recently adopted their calendars for 2007-08, and this much they have in common: Classes begin Aug. 27 (the law bars districts from starting before the fourth week in August) and end after Memorial Day.
But, by sprinkling teacher-training days in different places, districts have varied the length of popular vacation times.
Some, including the Houston Independent School District, have proposed a shorter, three-day Thanksgiving break. Others — Pearland is one — opted for a weeklong break, meaning students stay in school through early June.
One sticking point for many districts became when to end the first semester: before or after winter break. Ending before the break meant, in most cases, cutting short the Thanksgiving holiday. But dragging the semester beyond the break meant students would have to study for end-of-course exams over their vacation.
My district has not acted yet -- but I expect that no one is going to be completely happy with the outcome.
I talked about this issue back in January, and came up with my own proposed school calendar. I think you will see the problems this whole situation creates for district planners.
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A Jordanian man has shot dead his daughter and her fiance on rumours that the couple had engaged in premarital sex.The suspect has confessed to the authorities "that he shot the couple after his wife informed him she had heard from neighbours that her daughter and her boyfriend had been having sexual relations," the Jordan Times reported, quoting a police officer.
The father said he was "infuriated" by the rumours and apparently decided to kill the couple to cleanse his family's honour, the official said.
The suspect was arrested and charged with murder on Saturday, two days after the killing of his 21-year-old daughter and her 23-year-old fiance.
An autopsy revealed that young woman was a virgin, the report added.
Since January, more than 12 women have been killed in similar "honour crimes" in the conservative Muslim kingdom.
Hundreds of Muslim women die each year at the hands of family members for offenses such as alleged premarital sexual activity, being the victim of rape, or being alone with an unrelated man. How soon until we start seeing such offensive practices become common place here?
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Kotto, 69, is producing and starring in a two-hour TV pilot that he says is inspired by The X-Files. He's also pitching publishers a book on the making of Live and Let Die, a film that joins the four-volume James Bond Ultimate Collection, new in stores this week.Kotto had quit acting soon after ending six seasons as star of NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street. "People say you disappeared and criticize you for being away," he said. "But what am I supposed to do? Die on a set? It's too much."
So Kotto, who had worked steadily since the '60s, slipped away."I was tired, so I split. I went to the Philippines, built a restaurant and laid down on the beach for two years. I also hung out in Hong Kong and Europe. I got away from acting and movies. Then the bug bit me, and I came back to L.A."
The LST piece mentions that Kotto is Jewish – and supported Steve Forbes for president in 2000, presumably making him a Republican.
I canÂ’t wait to hear more about the television pilot.
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I just got an e-mail from Bhuvan who tried to post a comment at the BBC. The comment, on a story about the Holocaust denial conference in Iran was apparently too controversial.Now wait, I would like to see a conference that questions whether Prophet Muhammad existed or not. Sounds controversial? Why not? Free speech. There is more historical proof to the occurrence of the Holocaust than for the existence of Prophet Muhammad.
Indeed. So, in the spirit of 'free speech', we at The Jawa Report are organizing the first ever Was Mohammed Real? conference. Panels include:
Mohammed: Was he real or just another Zionist plot?
The Crusades: Ultra-Orthodox Muslims speak out against using the Crusades as justification for a Palestinian state.
Did Mohammed Conquer Mecca? New evidence suggests otherwise.
72 White Grapes vs. 72 Virgins: The etymology of patriarchy in Islamic societies.
'Angelic visit' or 'Pedophelic Visions': The fiction of Mohammed and his 9 year old lover Aisha.
The Illuminati: Why the Great Seal of The United States offers definitive proof that Mohammed was really a 32nd degree Mason.
You get the picture. Any other suggestions?
And might I add another topic for the conference:
Mental Illness or Demonic Possession: An Analysis of Mohammad’s Qu’ranic Visions
Other topics of discussion can be found at IMAO.
After all, if all we are doing is engaging in free speech asking questions and exploring issues that will get you imprisoned (or worse) in some parts of the world…
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I just got an e-mail from Bhuvan who tried to post a comment at the BBC. The comment, on a story about the Holocaust denial conference in Iran was apparently too controversial.Now wait, I would like to see a conference that questions whether Prophet Muhammad existed or not. Sounds controversial? Why not? Free speech. There is more historical proof to the occurrence of the Holocaust than for the existence of Prophet Muhammad.
Indeed. So, in the spirit of 'free speech', we at The Jawa Report are organizing the first ever Was Mohammed Real? conference. Panels include:
Mohammed: Was he real or just another Zionist plot?
The Crusades: Ultra-Orthodox Muslims speak out against using the Crusades as justification for a Palestinian state.
Did Mohammed Conquer Mecca? New evidence suggests otherwise.
72 White Grapes vs. 72 Virgins: The etymology of patriarchy in Islamic societies.
'Angelic visit' or 'Pedophelic Visions': The fiction of Mohammed and his 9 year old lover Aisha.
The Illuminati: Why the Great Seal of The United States offers definitive proof that Mohammed was really a 32nd degree Mason.
You get the picture. Any other suggestions?
And might I add another topic for the conference:
Mental Illness or Demonic Possession: An Analysis of MohammadÂ’s QuÂ’ranic Visions
Other topics of discussion can be found at IMAO.
After all, if all we are doing is engaging in free speech asking questions and exploring issues that will get you imprisoned (or worse) in some parts of the worldÂ…
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Gov. Mitt Romney, who is weighing a White House bid, signed an agreement Wednesday that allows Massachusetts State Police troopers to detain illegal aliens they encounter over the course of their normal duties.Under the terms of the agreement, made with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, an initial group of 30 troopers will receive five weeks of specialized training next year, paid by the federal government.
The troopers will be drawn from the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Squad, the Criminal Investigation Section, the Anti-Gang Unit, the Drug Enforcement Unit and the Community Action Team.
"The scope of our nation's illegal immigration problem requires us to pursue and implement new solutions wherever possible," Romney said in a statement. "State troopers are highly trained professionals who are prepared to assist the federal government in apprehending immigration violators without disrupting their normal law enforcement routines."
One more good reason to vote for Mitt in 2008.
Oh, and one question – will Romney’s Democrat successor, Deval Patrick, maintain this policy?
UPDATE: And the answer is -- Deval Patrick doesn't give a damn about our nation's illegal immigration crisis.
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American Muslims making a religious pilgrimage to Mecca are being encouraged to file civil rights complaints if they feel discriminated against by airlines.The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), citing what it called the "airport profiling" of six imams removed from a recent flight, yesterday said Muslims traveling this month to the holy site in Saudi Arabia need to be aware of their rights.
"Given the increase in the number of complaints CAIR has received alleging airport profiling of American Muslims, we believe it is important that all those taking part in this year's hajj be aware of their legal and civil rights," said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR spokesman.
The group has established a toll-free hot line (800/AL-QAEDA) I wonÂ’t advertise the real number for victims of "flying while Muslim," as Muslims have begun departing for the weeklong hajj, a once-in-a-lifetime obligation to visit the holy city of Mecca, which this year begins Dec. 29.
Fortunately, there are loyal Muslims speaking out against this group.
But M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix physician and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), said the announcement by CAIR "continues the tired stoking of the flames of victimization.""They are unfortunately exploiting, for purely political reasons, what should be a sacred and purely spiritual story of our faith's annual holy pilgrimage to Mecca," Dr. Jasser said.
"We need new leadership and organizations which use their passions and the bandwidth of the media to lead the ideological fight against radical and political Islam rather than this tired pre-emption of supposed discrimination."
I’ve got a suggestion – why doesn’t the family members of each and every victim of 9/11 call the real hotline number to complain about their loved ones being victims of “flying while Muslim”. Maybe then these Islamists will CAIR.
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A violent solar explosion sent a dangerous wave of radiation through space late Tuesday, prompting NASA to order the crews of Discovery and the International Space Station to take shelter overnight, according to Local 6 News partner Florida Today.The solar flare erupted around 9:40 p.m., unleashing enough radiation to disrupt radio communications on Earth and in orbit while endangering astronauts circling 220 miles above the planet.
NASA flight surgeons and agency radiation experts determined that the burst of highly energetic particles approached a limit that made preventative action prudent, Florida Today reported.
Station commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and shuttle skipper Mark Polansky were told to move their crews to the most shielded areas in either spacecraft.
They include the middeck of the shuttle's crew compartment and temporary sleeping quarters in the station's U.S. Destiny science laboratory.
The back ends of the American lab and a Russian command control center at the outpost also were options, the report said.
That is one of the more unusual hazards of space travel.
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December 12, 2006
Senior party officials said Tuesday that Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the incoming speaker, had consulted with Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the minority leader, on forming a bipartisan group to examine outside enforcement. The goal would be to have the group report back in the spring.An independent Congressional watchdog, if approved, would be a major break with tradition. Some lawmakers say House and Senate members have sole responsibility for policing themselves when it comes to internal rules.
Some lawmakers have said an independent entity could be unconstitutional.
The Democratic officials, who spoke only if they were not publicly identified because the proposal for the new panel was now being presented to lawmakers, said the prominence of corruption as a concern in the elections last month gave new impetus to such an idea.
“With ethics such a big issue coming out of the election, members see a need to think outside the box,” one senior official said.
Well, they could start by dumping Murtha, Hastings, Jefferson, Mollohan, Emanuel, McDermott, . . .
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Saudi Arabia has told the Bush administration that it might provide financial backing to Iraqi Sunnis in any war against IraqÂ’s Shiites if the United States pulls its troops out of Iraq, according to American and Arab diplomats.King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia conveyed that message to Vice President Dick Cheney two weeks ago during Mr. CheneyÂ’s whirlwind visit to Riyadh, the officials said. During the visit, King Abdullah also expressed strong opposition to diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, and pushed for Washington to encourage the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, senior Bush administration officials said.
The Saudi warning reflects fears among AmericaÂ’s Sunni Arab allies about IranÂ’s rising influence in Iraq, coupled with TehranÂ’s nuclear ambitions. King Abdullah II of Jordan has also expressed concern about rising Shiite influence, and about the prospect that the Shiite-dominated government would use Iraqi troops against the Sunni population.
A senior Bush administration official said Tuesday that part of the administrationÂ’s review of Iraq policy involved the question of how to harness a coalition of moderate Iraqi Sunnis with centrist Shiites to back the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.
So, "realists", what is your solution to this one? Personally, I support partition, with the US and coalition forces playing peace-keeper between three states -- Sunni, Shi'a and Kurd.
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But I have really mixed emotions about this.
Stephen Murmer's secret career as an artist has caught up with him.Murmer, a popular high school art teacher, was suspended after objections were raised about his private abstract artwork, much of which includes smearing his posterior and genitals with paint and pressing them against canvas.
Murmer contacted the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday, saying school administrators had suspended him with pay for five days because of his work as a painter and that he could face further punishment, ACLU legal director Rebecca Glenberg said.
Murmer has been instructed by Monacan High School administrators not to speak with the media, Glenberg said. He did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Schools spokeswoman Debra Marlow confirmed that a Monacan art teacher had been placed on administrative leave but declined to provide additional details because it is a personnel issue.
"In the school system, personnel regulations state that teachers are expected to set an example for students through their personal conduct," Marlow said. "Additionally, the Supreme Court has stated that schools must teach by example and that teachers, like parents, are role models."
Murmer went to great lengths to keep his work life separate from his activities as an artist, said ACLU executive director Kent Willis. As an artist, he goes by the name "Stan Murmur," and appears in disguise in photographs and videos promoting his art.
"As a public employee, he has constitutional rights, and he certainly has the right to engage in private legal activities protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution," Willis said.
Like I said, I really don't know what to think about this one -- is there a line beyond which we teachers cannot go if we wish to stay in the field of education? What do you think?
More on this story in the Washington Post
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Here are the full tallies of all votes cast:
| Votes | Council link |
|---|---|
| 3 1/3 | On Negotiating with Iran and Syria -- Part II American Future |
| 2 2/3 | How to Lose Support for a War The Glittering Eye |
| 1 1/3 | Dennis Prager Dead Wrong On Ellison & Koran Rhymes With Right |
| 1 1/3 | Suspending Disbelief In Oregon The Education Wonks |
| 1 | Who Loses Done With Mirrors |
| 1 | Hiding Behind the Wall... Joshuapundit |
| 2/3 | A Welcome Division: Let's Talk Coffee Right Wing Nut House |
| 1/3 | The Latest Chapter of The Incredibly Shrinking Church Gates of Vienna |
| 1/3 | What the U.S. Needs from its Armed Forces Andrew Olmsted |
| Votes | Non-council link |
|---|---|
| 2 2/3 | "Come for the Egalitarianism, Stay for the Bestiality and Tyranny" Dr. Sanity |
| 1 2/3 | History's End, History's Beginning The Adventures of Chester |
| 1 1/3 | Put Your Hand in the Puppet Head A Crafty Madness |
| 1 1/3 | Democrats, Terrorists and 'Brotherly Way' World Defense Review |
| 1 1/3 | Defending the 17th Baseball Crank |
| 1 | The Militarization of the Police The QandO Blog |
| 1 | The Biggest Gang In Iraq Global Guerrillas |
| 1 | Memo to Grand Imam Tantawi The Big Pharaoh |
| 2/3 | Coulter Gets Results! AnnCoulter.com |
| 2/3 | Michael Moore Issues Iraq Withdrawal Fatwa American Thinker |
| 1/3 | Moderately Uninformed Confederate Yankee |
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And he is making an interesting suggestion about a winning Dem ticket in 2008 -- but not a terribly original one.
I'd like him to address a question for me -- was he in any way behind the staff shenanigans in the office of his successor, Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs?
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Democratic campaign operatives pushed newspapers to write about then-Rep. Mark Foley's e-mails to teenage pages in the hope that a scandal would emerge before the midterm elections, according to a House ethics report.The findings were bolstered when an aide to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Democrat, said the congressman also knew about the e-mails, which were dubbed "inappropriate" by the ethics panel. Mr. Emanuel, who was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) when Mr. Foley's sex scandal broke in late September, had denied knowledge of the Florida Republican's e-mails.
The House ethics panel, which is formally called the Standards of Official Conduct Committee, Friday released its final probe into Mr. Foley's behavior, scolding Republicans for failing to act on years of troubling signs and naming Democrats who knew about the e-mails.
CNN first reported Saturday that Mr. Emanuel, the incoming chairman of the Democratic caucus, was "informed" but never saw the e-mails that Mr. Foley sent to a former page in the summer of 2005.
An Emanuel aide yesterday confirmed to The Washington Times that DCCC staffer Bill Burton told the congressman about the Foley e-mails in fall 2005. The aide said Mr. Emanuel took no action because the e-mails were mentioned in passing as a "rumor" about Mr. Foley.
On Oct. 8, Mr. Emanuel was put on the spot during his appearance on ABC's "This Week."
"Did you or your staff know anything about these e-mails or instant messages before they came out?" host George Stephanopoulos asked. Mr. Emanuel interrupted with "No."
"George -- Never saw 'em," he said twice.
Isn’t such failure to act the very thing the Dems called scandalous when it was Hastert and other GOP leaders accused? Why the silence now – especially given the clear attempt by Emanuel to parse language to make a misleading statement technically true (something I suspect he learned from his old boss)?
Oh, and by the way, the report shows what I repeatedly said this past summer.
The ethics report outlined several Republicans and staffers who were aware of Mr. Foley's drunken late-night visit to the page dormitory, but concluded no Republicans knew about the sexually explicit instant messages.The ethics panel said the tone of the e-mails and instant messages were vastly different, but said Republicans failed to exercise due diligence about the e-mails back in 2005, when the former page told his friends on Capitol Hill the Foley e-mails were "sick."
Now, will those folks who accused me (and other Republicans) of “defending a pedophile” and “covering up the truth” please acknowledge that they were, at best, wrong – if not intentionally lying about what I said at the time?
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A teenager responsible for a crime spree that sent police into a frenzy said he has no regrets in an interview about what led him to kill.
Lavender Howse, 16, murdered one man, and shot a child and a woman within a matter of hours in June, 2005."This ain't no place to be, especially for no 16-year-old," he said.
Howse was convicted of shooting a security guard in cold blood, then minutes later shooting a nine year old in the face and another innocent woman walking her dog.
"In a blink of a moment it can happen," he said. "That's how it happened to me, I wasn't even thinking. It just happened."
Now in prison, he won't even have a chance of freedom till he's 81 years old. His home is a prison cell after a life on the streets of East Nashville.
In other words, taxpayers will be supporting him for 65 years – at a minimum. And he feels not a lick of remorse.
For Howse, emotion is rare and remorse is unseen.
"I finally got over it, you gotta let it go, can't keep thinking about it," he said.
Even the nine year old gets little sympathy. He said he'd like to say sorry maybe, but for Howse it was just a mistake.
No remorse, no empathy.
But he claims to have found God – sort of.
Care to guess which religion this unrepentant murderer has picked?
He has found God in prison, and has converted to Islam while in the Metro jail.
Anybody surprised?
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Some of the scientists who first advanced the controversial "nuclear winter" theory more than two decades ago have come up with another bleak forecast: Even a regional nuclear war would devastate the environment.Using modern climate and population models, researchers estimated that a small-scale nuclear conflict between two warring nations would cause 3 million to 17 million immediate casualties and lead to a marked cooldown of the planet that could lead to crop failures and further misery.
* * * The new studies looked at the consequences if two nations dropped 50 Hiroshima-size bombs on each other's big cities. By analyzing population data and distance from blast, scientists predicted a regional nuclear war would kill 3 million people in Israel and up to 17 million in China. The U.S. would see 4 million blast deaths.
But the researchers say black soot from the fires would linger in the atmosphere, blocking the sun's rays and causing average global surface temperatures to drop about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the first three years. Although the planet would see a gradual warming within a decade, it would still be colder than it was before the war, the scientists said.
The cooldown would shorten the growing season by about a month in parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Normal rainfall patterns such as summer monsoons in Africa and Southeast Asia would be disrupted, possibly causing huge crop failures.
But as I understand matters, this would cut back on the warming trend that we are told threatens to bring about “the end of the world as we know it†– and the population reduction would slow the rate of growth and temperature increase. I would therefore think that liberals would advocate popping off several nukes ever couple of decades, because of we have Earth in the balance – or is such thinking merely an inconvenient truth?
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Some of the scientists who first advanced the controversial "nuclear winter" theory more than two decades ago have come up with another bleak forecast: Even a regional nuclear war would devastate the environment.Using modern climate and population models, researchers estimated that a small-scale nuclear conflict between two warring nations would cause 3 million to 17 million immediate casualties and lead to a marked cooldown of the planet that could lead to crop failures and further misery.
* * * The new studies looked at the consequences if two nations dropped 50 Hiroshima-size bombs on each other's big cities. By analyzing population data and distance from blast, scientists predicted a regional nuclear war would kill 3 million people in Israel and up to 17 million in China. The U.S. would see 4 million blast deaths.
But the researchers say black soot from the fires would linger in the atmosphere, blocking the sun's rays and causing average global surface temperatures to drop about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the first three years. Although the planet would see a gradual warming within a decade, it would still be colder than it was before the war, the scientists said.
The cooldown would shorten the growing season by about a month in parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Normal rainfall patterns such as summer monsoons in Africa and Southeast Asia would be disrupted, possibly causing huge crop failures.
But as I understand matters, this would cut back on the warming trend that we are told threatens to bring about “the end of the world as we know it” – and the population reduction would slow the rate of growth and temperature increase. I would therefore think that liberals would advocate popping off several nukes ever couple of decades, because of we have Earth in the balance – or is such thinking merely an inconvenient truth?
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NEEDHAM, Mass. -- Needham High School has abandoned its long-standing practice of publishing the names of students who make the honor roll in the local newspaper.Principal Paul Richards said a key reason for stopping the practice is its contribution to students' stress level in "This high expectations-high-achievement culture."
The proposal to stop publishing the honor roll came from a parent. Richards took the issue before the school council, which approved it. Parents were notified of the decision last month. Richards said he received about 60 responses from both parents and students and the feedback has been evenly split for and against.
After all, it isn’t about learning and growing – it is about making kids feel good about themselves, regardless of whether or not they have anything to be proud of.
Then again, maybe I'll respect this more when the school district bans reporters from athletic contests and orders the athletic department to quit supplying statistics/scores to the media. After all, we wouldn't want some kid to get hurt feelings because he/she failed to excel at some sport, would we? Furthermore, it would relieve stress on kids living in this high expectations-high achievement culture just as effectively as cutting the honor roll does.
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NEEDHAM, Mass. -- Needham High School has abandoned its long-standing practice of publishing the names of students who make the honor roll in the local newspaper.Principal Paul Richards said a key reason for stopping the practice is its contribution to students' stress level in "This high expectations-high-achievement culture."
The proposal to stop publishing the honor roll came from a parent. Richards took the issue before the school council, which approved it. Parents were notified of the decision last month. Richards said he received about 60 responses from both parents and students and the feedback has been evenly split for and against.
After all, it isn’t about learning and growing – it is about making kids feel good about themselves, regardless of whether or not they have anything to be proud of.
Then again, maybe I'll respect this more when the school district bans reporters from athletic contests and orders the athletic department to quit supplying statistics/scores to the media. After all, we wouldn't want some kid to get hurt feelings because he/she failed to excel at some sport, would we? Furthermore, it would relieve stress on kids living in this high expectations-high achievement culture just as effectively as cutting the honor roll does.
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Delegates at the meeting earlier on Tuesday agreed to form a "fact-finding" committee to study the Holocaust.The head of the new committee, identified as Iranian academic Mohammad Ali Ramin, said its members were "not racist or opposed to any particular group".
"Rather they are just seeking the truth to set humanity truly free," the ISNA students news agency quoted him as saying, without naming the committee members.Robert Faurisson, a French scholar who has described the Holocaust as a "historical lie", said the committee included members from the United States, France, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Iran, Bahrain and Syria, ISNA reported.
But if you want to know what these buffoons are really all about, consider this speech and its reception.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday told delegates at an international conference questioning the Holocaust that Israel's days were numbered.Ahmadinejad, who has sparked international outcry by referring to the killing of six million Jews in World War Two as a "myth" and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map", launched another verbal attack on the Jewish state.
"Thanks to people's wishes and God's will the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards and this is what God has promised and what all nations want," he said.
"Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out," he added.
His words received warm applause from delegates at the Holocaust conference, who included ultra-Orthodox anti-Israel Jews and European and American writers who argue the Holocaust was either fabricated or exaggerated.
This is the leader of a nation chasing after nuclear weapons. He is promoting a view of history that is wrong, in order to justify his own planned genocide of the Jews – a genocide envisioned and justified by his holy book. Given the folks that Ahmadinejad has surrounded himself with during this conference, perhaps the now is the time to put an end to him and his plans – and to cleanse the human race of some of its most disgusting specimens.
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December 11, 2006
The holiday trees that went away in the middle of the night are back.Tonight, Port of Seattle staff began putting up the trees they had taken down Friday night after a local rabbi requested that a Hanukkah menorah also be displayed. Port officials said the rabbi's lawyer had threatened to imminently file a lawsuit, leaving them with insufficient time to consider all the issues.
A nationwide furor erupted over the weekend as news of the trees' removal spread, with a flood of calls to Port officials and harshly worded e-mails to Jewish organizations. Today, Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky said he would not file a lawsuit and the Port, in response, said it would put the trees back up.
"This has been an unfortunate situation for all of us in Seattle," Port of Seattle Commission President Pat Davis said in a statement. "The rabbi never asked us to remove the trees; it was the Port's decision based on what we knew at the time. We very much appreciate the rabbi's willingness to work with us as we move forward."
And I hope the menorah the rabi wants is put up -- and that a Nativity scene is added. After all, the rabbi has demanded the introduction of religious symbols to the airport's holiday display, which had been secular up to this point.
And by the way -- I'd like to heartily condemn those who have threatened the rabbi for his actions. Even though he was dead wrong, such threats of violence are never appropriate -- and especially not in the name of a holiday honoring the Prince of peace.
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Iran held a gathering that included Holocaust deniers, discredited scholars and white supremacists from around the world on Monday under the guise of a conference to “debate” the Nazi annihilation of six million Jews.Among those representing the United States was the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, whose prepared remarks, issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said the gas chambers in which millions perished actually did not exist.
Robert Faurisson, an academic from France, said in his speech that the Holocaust was a myth created to justify the occupation of Palestine, meaning the creation of Israel.
That is what IranÂ’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has frequently claimed, and it was Mr. AhmadinejadÂ’s statements that inspired the Foreign Ministry to hold the conference. The ministry said 67 people from 30 countries were participating in the two days of meetings.
In a welcoming speech, Rasoul Mousavi, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Political and International Studies, said the session would provide an opportunity to discuss the Holocaust “away from Western taboos and the restriction imposed on them in Europe.” In several European countries, denial of the Holocaust is a crime.
An accompanying exhibition also denied the Holocaust. One poster with three photographs showed dead bodies and described accounts of their gassing as a myth. Signs pointed to smiling prisoners freed at the end of the war with the label “truth.”
New captions in Persian on other pictures of corpses described them as victims of a typhus epidemic in Europe, not of the Nazi death machine.
I bet my recently0-banned troll Ken Hoop is positively orgasmic reading these accounts, having spent months espousing just such lies here.
And I ask the world -- is this a nation that we can allow to get nuclear weapons, especially given the stated objective of its president to complete the task tha he denies hitler began?
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President Bush heard a blunt and dismal assessment of his handling of Iraq from a group of military experts yesterday, but the advisers shared the White House's skeptical view of the recommendations made last week by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, sources said.The three retired generals and two academics disagreed in particular with the study group's plans to reduce the number of U.S. combat troops in Iraq and to reach out for help to Iran and Syria, according to sources familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was private.
Not only do they oppose the "cut-and-run" proposals of the ISG and the Democrat Party, some even suggest that an increase in troop levels might be needed.
I guess it all comes down to whether or not one believes in victory -- or whether one believes that America is past its prime and can no longer fight a war to victory.
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A teenager who helped to savagely beat another youth and sodomize him with a plastic pipe, leaving him near death, was ordered Monday to serve 90 years in prison.In a verdict that his victim called "just," Keith Turner, 17, faces at least 30 years behind bars before he can become eligible for parole. The sentence came less than a month after Turner's friend, David Tuck, 18, received a life prison term for his role in the attack.
"This is just another step," the 18-year-old victim told the Houston Chronicle after Turner was sentenced. He noted that he faces more surgeries and the trial of a lawsuit related to the incident.
His father said he was pleased with the result.
"We did it. We got them both. It's what we wanted. We're happy," said Albert Galvan. "Those two guys are not going to walk around in society for a while."
Turner showed little emotion as state District Judge Michael McSpadden announced the jury's decision. His mother, Janis Turner, sobbed.
She had sought to convince the jury on Friday that her son is a good person who was influenced by bad people. "He's not a bad kid," she told jurors as they began considering punishment. "He's making bad choices."
How many "good kids" do you know who sodomize people with a pipe for kissing a girl of a different race?
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Three universities asked a federal court in Detroit to delay a state ban on affirmative action programs until after this yearÂ’s admissions and financial aid cycles. The colleges, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, want to complete their annual admissions and financial aid cycles using the standards that were in effect when the process began earlier this year. The voter-approved initiative to ban the use of race and sex preferences in university admissions and government hiring is to take effect Dec. 23.
And thus these university officials stand in a long line of dishonor with Orval Faubus and George Wallace in seeking to illegally engage in racial discrimination in education. Fire them all, and replace them with true believers in civil rights and a color-blind society.
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The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the federal appeals court in California overstepped its authority when it granted a new trial to a murder defendant whose victimÂ’s relatives sat at the trial, in the view of the jury, wearing buttons with the victimÂ’s picture on them.The appeals court, in granting a writ of habeas corpus, found that the buttons were inherently prejudicial and deprived the defendant, Mathew Musladin, of the right to a fair trial.
Voting 9 to 0, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling in an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas that did not actually decide whether the buttons were prejudicial. That was, and remains, “an open question in our jurisprudence,” Justice Thomas said. And that was precisely where the appeals court had gone wrong, the justices agreed; it had based a grant of habeas corpus on a legal principle that the Supreme Court itself had not adopted.
The short answer is that the justices unanimously decided that there is no basis in law or precedent for holding that the actions of private individuals (wearing buttons showing the victim in a murder case) constitutes state action depriving a defendant of due process.
I do find it of concern, however, that some members of the court seem to leave open the door for the possibility that the buttons do constitute a violation of the defendant's rights.
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Or are they simply enamored with the jihadi pigs who keep attacking America and Israel -- you know, concern for the PC terrorists, not the un-PC ones who target abortion clinics and gay bars?
Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane."It is a closed-off world designed to isolate inmates from social and environmental stimuli, with the ultimate purpose of causing mental illness and chronic physical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis," he wrote in one letter to The Gazette of Colorado Springs.
Rudolph wrote that he spends 23 hours a day in his 7-by-12-foot cell, his only exercise confined to an enclosed area he described as a "large empty swimming pool" divided into "dog-kennel style cages."
"Using solitary confinement, Supermax is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as is constitutionally permissible," he wrote in a letter.
Personally, I agree with one of Rudolph’s victims.
"It gives me a great deal of pride to think he's never coming out of there," said Diane Derzis, who runs a Birmingham, Ala., women's clinic Rudolph bombed in 1998. "He should never see daylight again."
I may despise the business Derzis is in and believe that she has much more innocent blood on her hands than does Rudolph, but I find Rudolph’s actions repugnant and believe he should never walk the streets free again.
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Or are they simply enamored with the jihadi pigs who keep attacking America and Israel -- you know, concern for the PC terrorists, not the un-PC ones who target abortion clinics and gay bars?
Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane."It is a closed-off world designed to isolate inmates from social and environmental stimuli, with the ultimate purpose of causing mental illness and chronic physical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis," he wrote in one letter to The Gazette of Colorado Springs.
Rudolph wrote that he spends 23 hours a day in his 7-by-12-foot cell, his only exercise confined to an enclosed area he described as a "large empty swimming pool" divided into "dog-kennel style cages."
"Using solitary confinement, Supermax is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as is constitutionally permissible," he wrote in a letter.
Personally, I agree with one of RudolphÂ’s victims.
"It gives me a great deal of pride to think he's never coming out of there," said Diane Derzis, who runs a Birmingham, Ala., women's clinic Rudolph bombed in 1998. "He should never see daylight again."
I may despise the business Derzis is in and believe that she has much more innocent blood on her hands than does Rudolph, but I find RudolphÂ’s actions repugnant and believe he should never walk the streets free again.
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A city councilman is demanding that Rosie O'Donnell be held accountable for comments she made on ABC's "The View" last week that he said offended Asian-Americans.O'Donnell set off a firestorm when she mocked Chinese broadcasters commenting on Danny DeVito's drunken Nov. 29 performance on "The View."
"The fact is that it's news all over the world. You know, you can imagine in China it's like, 'Ching chong, ching chong, Danny DeVito, ching chong chong chong chong, drunk, 'The View,' ching chong.'"
O'Donnell's imitation was followed by laughter from her co-hosts and a loud "gong" that producers threw in.
City Councilman John Liu (D-Queens) has written a letter to Barbara Walters, co-executive producer and co-host of "The View," blasting O'Donnell.
"Her caricature of the Chinese language hits a raw nerve in our community," Liu wrote.
Liu admonished Walters for sitting by and not scolding O'Donnell for making the "derogatory remarks" that "have consequences beyond the stupidity of the person who made them."
"What will you do to hold yourself and those who host the program accountable for such offensive remarks?" Liu asked Walters.
By the standard she applied to Kelly Ripa, she clearly owes the Asian community an apology for her insult to them. After all, spokespeople for the aggrieved group have spoken -- and Rosie is therefore guilty as charged.
More at Michelle Malkin & Hot Air
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Mohammad Abd al-Hamid Srour moved missiles across southern Lebanon under cover of a white flag. Hussein Ali Mahmoud Suleiman used the porch of a private home to fire rockets. Maher Hassan Mahmoud Kourani dressed in civilian clothes, hid his Kalashnikov in a tote bag and stored anti-aircraft missiles in the back of a green unmarked Volvo. The three men, all members of Hezbollah, were captured by Israel during last summer's war.Now their videotaped interviews form part of a remarkable report by retired Lieutenant Colonel Reuven Erlich of Israel's Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. Relying heavily on captured Hezbollah documents, onsite and aerial photography and other first-hand evidence, the report shows how the Shiite group put innocent civilians at risk by deliberately deploying its forces in cities, towns and often private homes.
Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, has accused Israel's military of "indiscriminate warfare" and "a disturbing disregard for the lives of Lebanese civilians." Mr. Erlich demolishes that claim, and in the process shows the asymmetric strategy of Islamist radicals.
I encourage you to look at the evidence – and ask yourself who had the most to gain from the civilian casualties, Israel or Hezbollah. The answer should be obvious, and should also explain the motives of those who blame Israel.
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Dozens of government supporters broke up a silent march by a small group of dissidents marking International Human Rights Day on Sunday, roughing up participants and accusing them of being mercenaries of the U.S. government.The activists led by physician Darcy Ferrer tried to keep walking around the park, but they were eventually forced out of the park and they fled in taxis.
"Long live Fidel and Raul!" the government loyalists chanted, referring to ailing leaderFidel Castro and his brother. "Down with the worms!"
"They are mercenaries!" some of the loyalists shouted of the dissidents.
The government supporters were waiting for the activists at the park before the march started.
So what we have here is an organized effort to prevent the exercise of human rights. And yet somehow our left-wing countrymen and women find it impossible to criticize the Castro regime for its human rights abuses.
But hey, the left-wingers of the “cultural elite” see Cuba as such a wonderful place – despite the fact Cubans lack the freedom to criticize Cuba’s government that these American Mercedes Marxists use to undercut the United States.
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Five of the six Islamic religious leaders have retained the Council on American-Islamic Relations for legal representation and are seeking a "mutually agreeable" resolution, said Nihad Awad, CAIR executive director.US Airways scheduled a meeting with the imams on Dec. 4 to discuss the incident, but the men canceled it and hired the activist group to act as legal counsel.
"With the hopes of reaching an amicable resolution to this matter, we would like to take this opportunity to ask for a formal meeting with US Airways executives and legal counsel," said Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR's national legal director, in a letter to the airline.
The imams represented by CAIR include Omar Shahin, Didmar Faja, Ahmad Shqeirat, Marwan Sadeddin and Mohamed Ibrahim.
I hope the airline tells the imams and the terrorist-supporting hacks from CAIR that any settlement will require that the imams apologize for disrupting the flight, that they acknowledge that the airline and law enforcement acted appropriately, and that the imams and CAIR reimburse the airline and law enforcement for the cost of their disruption and the subsequent investigations.
Unfortunately, the imams seem to think that they are the ones who should be paid, despite the fact that three separate reviews have determined that the decision to remove them from the plane was appropriate given their suspicious activities.
More on the imams and their connections.
And a great commentary from a Muslim writer in Arizona
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December 10, 2006
Vote early -- but not often.
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11:45 PM
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Every Mujahid must abide by the following rules:• 1. A Taleban commander is permitted to extend an invitation to all Afghans who support infidels so that they may convert to Islam.
• 2. We guarantee to any man, who turns his back on infidels, personal security and the security of his possessions. But if he becomes involved in a dispute, or someone accuses him of something, he must submit to our judiciary.
• 3. Mujahideen who protect new Taleban recruits must inform their commander.
• 4. A convert to the Taleban, who does not behave loyally and becomes a traitor, forfeits our protection.
• 5. A Mujahid who kills a new Taleban recruit will be punished according to Islamic law.
• 6. If a Taleban fighter wants to move to another district he must get permission from his group leader.
• 7. A Mujahid who takes a foreign infidel as prisoner with the consent of a group leader may not exchange him for other prisoners or money.
• 8. A provincial, district or regional commander may not work for a non-governmental organisation or accept money from an NGO.
• 9. Taleban may not use Jihad equipment or property for personal ends.
• 10. Every Taleb is accountable to his superiors in matters of money spending and equipment usage.
• 11. Mujahideen may not sell equipment.
• 12. A group of Mujahideen may not take in Mujahideen from another group to increase their own power.
• 13. Weapons and equipment taken from infidels or their allies must be fairly distributed among the Mujahideen.
• 14. If someone who works with infidels wants to co-operate with Mujahideen, he should not be killed. If he is killed, his murderer must stand before an Islamic court.
• 15. A Mujahid or leader who torments an innocent person must be warned by his superiors. If he does not change he must be thrown out of the Taleban movement.
• 16. It is strictly forbidden to search houses or confiscate weapons without the permission of a district or provincial commander.
• 17. Mujahideen have no right to confiscate money or personal possessions of civilians.
• 18. Mujahideen should refrain from smoking cigarettes.
• 19. Mujahideen are not allowed to take young boys with no facial hair on to the battlefield or into their private quarters.
• 20. If members of the opposition or the civil government wish to be loyal to the Taleban, we may take their conditions into consideration.
• 21. Anyone with a bad reputation or who has killed civilians during the Jihad may not be accepted into the Taleban movement.
• 22. If a Mujahid is found guilty of a crime and his commander has barred him from the group, no other group may take him in.
• 23. If a Mujahid is faced with a problem that is not described in this book, his commander must find a solution in consultation with the group.
• 24. It is forbidden to work as a teacher under the current puppet regime, because this strengthens the system of the infidels. True Muslims should apply to study with a religiously trained teacher and study in a Mosque. Textbooks must come from the period of the Jihad or from the Taleban regime.
• 25. Anyone who works as a teacher for the current puppet regime must receive a warning. If he nevertheless refuses to give up his job, he must be beaten. If the teacher still continues to instruct contrary to the principles of Islam, the district commander or a group leader must kill him.
• 26. Those NGOs that come to the country under the rule of the infidels must be treated as the government is treated. We tolerate none of their activities, whether it be building of streets, bridges, clinics, schools, madrases [schools for Koran study] or other works. If a school fails to heed a warning to close, it must be burned. But all religious books must be secured beforehand.
• 27. [With alleged criminality] As long as a person has not been convicted of espionage and punished for it, no one may take up the issue on their own. Only the district commander is in charge. Witnesses who testify must be in good psychological condition, possess an untarnished religious reputation, and not have committed a major crime.
• 28. No lower-level commander may interfere with contention among the populace. If an argument cannot be resolved, the district or regional commander must handle the matter. The case should be discussed by religious experts or a council of elders. If they find no solution, the case must be referred to religious authorities.
• 29. Every Mujahid must post a watch, day and night.
• 30. The above 29 rules are obligatory. Anyone who offends this code must be judged according to the laws of the Islamic Emirates.
In other words, no smoking, no pedophilia -- but kill all the teachers.
Gotta love the ethics of these jihadi pigs.
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After a humiliating plagiarism scandal that rocked the New York Times [NYT], Jayson Blair is quietly resurrecting his journalism career by writing about the very subject he says brought him down: Bipolar disorder.Blair, 30, has been lending his expertise to 3-year-old bp (bipolar) magazine. He wrote a first-person piece about bipolar disorder and the role it played in his downfall that bp magazine ran last year.
“It went through a very rigorous editing process,” said Editor Nancy Tobin. “We just have a very rigorous editing process and a great deal of fact checking.” Tobin admits she was skeptical of Blair at first. “When I first got a call from Jayson Blair I was very surpised,” said Tobin, who didn’t know he’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Before he wrote for them, Tobin said she “made very careful verfications that he was who he said he was” and had him fax her his diagnosis from his psychiatrist’s office.
But can you trust a thing he says?
H/T Malkin
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The island of Antikythera lies 18 miles north of Crete, where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean. Currents there can make shipping treacherous -- and one ship bound for ancient Rome never made it.The ship that sank there was a giant cargo vessel measuring nearly 500 feet long. It came to rest about 200 feet below the surface, where it stayed for more than 2,000 years until divers looking for sponges discovered the wreck a little more than a century ago.
Inside the hull were a number of bronze and marble statues. From the look of things, the ship seemed to be carrying luxury items, probably made in various Greek islands and bound for wealthy patrons in the growing Roman Empire. The statues were retrieved, along with a lot of other unimportant stuff, and stored.
Nine months later, an enterprising archaeologist cleared off a layer of organic material from one of the pieces of junk and found that it looked like a gearwheel. It had inscriptions in Greek characters and seemed to have something to do with astronomy.
That piece of "junk" went on to become the most celebrated find from the shipwreck; it is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Research has shown that the wheel was part of a device so sophisticated that its complexity would not be matched for a thousand years -- it was also the world's first known analog computer.
The device is so famous that an international conference organized in Athens a couple of weeks ago had only one subject: the Antikythera Mechanism.
Every discovery about the device has raised new questions. Who built the device, and for what purpose? Why did the technology behind it disappear for the next thousand years? What does the device tell us about ancient Greek culture? And does the marvelous construction, and the precise knowledge of the movement of the sun and moon and Earth that it implies, tell us how the ancients grappled with ideas about determinism and human destiny?
Just one more bit of evidence that the past is not always as cut and dried as we thin it is -- and that there is always something more to learn.
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A former English professor at Texas Southern University, who has served six months of a 10-year sentence for stealing thousands of dollars from programs she managed at the school, could be released on probation before Christmas.Dottie Malone Atkins, 67, pleaded guilty in April to theft by a public servant in connection with fraudulent requisitions she created and consultant fees she was paid as director of the Mickey Leland Center on World Hunger and Peace, and two other programs, prosecutors said. She was sentenced in June to 10 years in prison. She had faced a maximum sentence of 20 years.
But state District Judge Don Stricklin granted her request this week for "shock probation," meaning she will be released from prison after serving about 180 days and will be placed on supervised release.
"The good news is Ms. Atkins will be home for Christmas," said Sam Adamo, her lawyer. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, according to court records.
Harris County Assistant District Attorney Donna Goode said the state opposed probation. She wants Stricklin to impose conditions of release that include restitution, community service and an apology to TSU administrators and students.
Prosecutors have said that from 2000 to 2002, Atkins stole about $76,000 from the Leland center, the university's anti-tobacco program and the Texas Legislative Intern Program.
They said she created fake requisitions and invoices for work that was not done.
This thief will not even admit the full extent of her crimes -- what is the deal with letting her out early? What is more, there is no requirement that she make restitution for the money she stole -- money that came from students at TSU and taxpayers of the state of Texas. And to listen to her lawyer, she is the victim in this case -- a victim of "gambling addiction".
Here's hoping that Judge Stricklin reconsiders his decision -- or that some avenue remains for the state to overturn his action. Serving five percent of a sentence and making no restitution for the damage she has done is no punishment for Atkins.
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In the summer of 2003, shoppers in Southern California began getting a break on the price of milk.A maverick dairyman named Hein Hettinga started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents a gallon less than the competition, exercising his right to work outside the rigid system that has controlled U.S. milk production for almost 70 years. Soon the effects were rippling through the state, helping to hold down retail prices at supermarkets and warehouse stores.
That was when a coalition of giant milk companies and dairies, along with their congressional allies, decided to crush Hettinga's initiative. For three years, the milk lobby spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions and made deals with lawmakers, including incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).
Last March, Congress passed a law reshaping the Western milk market and essentially ending Hettinga's experiment -- all without a single congressional hearing.
"They wanted to make sure there would be no more Heins," said Mary Keough Ledman, a dairy economist who observed the battle.
As I said, the story shocks the conscience. And the arrogance of the anti-competition members of Congress involved in this travesty, both Republican and Democrat, is disgusting. We need to throw every one of them out -- especially those in leadership positions or who acted to prop up the profits of their own family businesses.
In most industries, this sort of activity would be illegal and an example of activity forbidden under anti-trust laws. But Big Ag is treated differently by the government, and so the consumer gets screwed .
Time to get cartels, agricultural subsidies, and price controls out of the supermarket, and allow the free market to set prices for us instead.
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Brushing past months of unflattering headlines about a federal corruption investigation, Representative William J. Jefferson was elected to a ninth term on Saturday, with a decisive runoff victory that again emphasized this cityÂ’s sharp racial divisions.Mr. Jefferson, a Democrat, was heavily favored in black precincts, and SaturdayÂ’s result suggested that his loyal constituents ignored the accusations of an F.B.I. investigation and rallied around him, as they had in the past and as the congressman had pleaded with them to do. He has not been charged with anything, and vigorously maintains his innocence.
A dominant figure in Louisiana politics for more than 20 years, Mr. Jefferson, 59, is at the center of a political organization that is influential at several levels of elected office in this city.
With slightly more than a third of the precincts reporting, Mr. Jefferson led his Democratic challenger, Karen Carter, 37, a lawyer and Louisiana state representative, with just more than 60 percent of the vote late Saturday. Mr. Jefferson ran especially strong in suburban Jefferson Parish, about a third of the district, where the sheriff had come out against Ms. Carter. She conceded around 10:15 p.m. Central time.
The election did not affect the DemocratsÂ’ new majority in Congress but was nonetheless being followed in Washington, where there was concern about the potential pall a Jefferson victory could cast on the partyÂ’s new emphasis on ethics. Democratic leaders kicked Mr. Jefferson off the House Ways and Means Committee last summer in response to the Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry into his financial dealings. The state party refused to endorse him.
Let's see -- Murtha, Hastings Mollohan, and now Jefferson -- what will Pelosi do about these unethical/criminal members of her own caucus?
And by the way, I think that Jefferson's reelection shows the need to get Baker and Hamilton working on a "New Orleans Study Group" that will set a path for US withdrawal from that cesspool of corruption where success is impossible for those who seek to impose honest government.
Update: A Quandry for Democrats
More at Michele Malkin
Update 2: Looks like another unethical Dem in high places. What will Nancy do? H/t Michelle Malkin.
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