I think that Australia’s Treasurer, Peter Costello, pegs it exactly in a speech he recently gave.

No one is going to respect a citizenship that is so undemanding that it asks nothing. In fact our citizenship is quite a demanding obligation. It demands loyalty, tolerance and respect for fellow citizens and support for a rare form of government - democracy.

We have a robust tolerance of difference in our society. But to maintain this tolerance we have to have an agreed framework which will protect the rights and liberties of all. And we are asking our citizens to subscribe to that framework.

I do not like putrid representations like Piss Christ. I do not think galleries should show them. But I do recognise they should be able to practise their offensive taste without fear of violence or a riot. Muslims do not like representation of the prophet. They do not think newspapers should print them. But so too they must recognise this does not justify violence against newspapers, or countries that allow newspapers to publish them.

We are asking all our citizens to subscribe to a framework that can protect the rights and liberties of all. These are Australian values. We must be very clear on this point. They are not optional. We expect all those who call themselves Australians to subscribe to them. Loyalty, democracy, tolerance, the rule of law - values worth promoting, values worth defending. The values of Australia and its citizens.

Change the words “Australia” and Australian” to “America” and “American” and this entire speech clearly defines what the view of every American patriot should be.

Posted by: Greg at 11:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I think that AustraliaÂ’s Treasurer, Peter Costello, pegs it exactly in a speech he recently gave.

No one is going to respect a citizenship that is so undemanding that it asks nothing. In fact our citizenship is quite a demanding obligation. It demands loyalty, tolerance and respect for fellow citizens and support for a rare form of government - democracy.

We have a robust tolerance of difference in our society. But to maintain this tolerance we have to have an agreed framework which will protect the rights and liberties of all. And we are asking our citizens to subscribe to that framework.

I do not like putrid representations like Piss Christ. I do not think galleries should show them. But I do recognise they should be able to practise their offensive taste without fear of violence or a riot. Muslims do not like representation of the prophet. They do not think newspapers should print them. But so too they must recognise this does not justify violence against newspapers, or countries that allow newspapers to publish them.

We are asking all our citizens to subscribe to a framework that can protect the rights and liberties of all. These are Australian values. We must be very clear on this point. They are not optional. We expect all those who call themselves Australians to subscribe to them. Loyalty, democracy, tolerance, the rule of law - values worth promoting, values worth defending. The values of Australia and its citizens.

Change the words “Australia” and Australian” to “America” and “American” and this entire speech clearly defines what the view of every American patriot should be.

Posted by: Greg at 11:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Perhaps some of the red-diaper doper babies from the ACLU and other groups that are defending terrorists would consider taking up real cases of human rights abuses instead. You know, ones like this example of abuse of an individual by government for daring to engage in non-violent expressive conduct.

A protester jailed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations in Beijing was finally released yesterday having gone mad in solitary confinement.

Yu Dongyue, then 22, and two other men each threw an eggshell filled with red ink at a Chairman Mao portrait.

He was jailed for 20 years for "counter-revolutionary activity" and "sabotage" two months after the tanks moved in, killing hundreds of people.

He has been freed three years early and his mother, Wu Pinghua, was told last night he was on his way home.

"My last prison visit was in December 2004, and he couldn't tell who we were," she said. "The official said he now couldn't look after himself and needed spoonfeeding."

Yu was a country boy who made it to college, moving to the city of Liuyang in central Hunan province. After teaching, he became an arts writer for the local newspaper.

With his best friend, Yu Zhijian (no relation), he joined the protesters in Beijing three days before martial law was declared. With another man from Hunan, they decided on an eye-catching protest. Yu Zhijian, his friend, who originally received a life sentence, last year described how prison guards ordered other inmates to beat him because he refused to admit his guilt.

His release comes in the middle of a new wave of dissident protest in China. The government is trying to rein in outspoken journalists and the internet, sacking editors and jailing writers.

So come on, Leftists – quit defending those who want to kill you and start defending real victims of human rights abuse.

Posted by: Greg at 11:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Not only did they rip-off Houston taxpayers for $130,000 in bonuses to which they were not entitled, but four members of Councilwoman Carol Alvarado's Mayor Pro Tem staff also authorized salary increases for each other.

Four employees in Houston's Office of Mayor Pro Tem got raises ranging from 11 percent to 64 percent during the same period in which they split $135,000 in what city officials say were unauthorized bonuses, personnel documents show.

The records, released to the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday under the Texas Public Information Act, show that the raises increased the employees' combined annual pay rates by $60,000 during Councilwoman Carol Alvarado's two-year tenure as Mayor Pro Tem.

Alvarado said she did not approve the raises.

The two highest-paid employees — who also got most of the bonus money now under investigation — signed forms authorizing each others' raises, the records show.

All four still are drawing the salaries, since they have been suspended with pay during a probe of the bonuses.

Perhaps we need to start to refer to the councilwoman as "Carol Alvarado Schultz" -- as in "I know nothing-- NOTHING!"

But then again, it may not be a wuestion of stupidity on her part -- it may just be laziness. She authorized staff members to sign documents on her behalf so that she didn't need to be bothered personally, and they took advantage of the authority.

What sort of pay raises are we talking about? Substantial ones.

But the councilwoman said Wednesday that she never authorized anything higher than a 2 percent salary increase approved in 2004.

That is more in line with typical city pay increases. Mayor Bill White recently announced a raise of 1.5 percent for full-time civilian city employees.

According to personnel records, Hernandez received two raises in 2005, increasing her base annual salary 37 percent to $78,000. Watkins' salary rose 55 percent during Alvarado's tenure, from $33,000 to $52,000.

Two other employees in the office, Christopher Mays and Theresa Orta, received raises of 64 percent and 10 percent respectively, records show.

I'm not accusing Carol Alvarado of being dishonest -- after all, that woud require her to be an active manager who took the time to oversee the actions of her staff. Instead, I would have to say the was incompetent and negligent in the running of the Mayor Pro Tem's office. But then again, that wouldn't be the first time that she let little details slip right past her.

Posted by: Greg at 11:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Nothing can justify these evil and unChristian actions in response to the murderous rampage of Nigerian Muslims. While the article presents this as a religious conflict, part of me wonders the degree to which tribal affiliations and enmities were at work in this

AN enraged mob of Nigerian Christian youths has slaughtered dozens of Muslims in two days of rioting in the southern city of Onitsha.

Rioting broke out in the lawless trading town on the banks of the Niger River yesterday when members of the Igbo tribe launched revenge attacks in response to an earlier massacre of Christians in the north of the country.

Nineteen corpses were seen scattered by the side of the main road into the city across the Niger River bridge, where a contingent of soldiers had set up a roadblock to hold back hundreds of rioters armed with clubs and machetes.

The bodies had been beaten, slashed and in some cases burnt. Around the bloodied corpses lay scattered the caps and Islamic prayer beads associated with the northern Hausa tribe.

A police official had earlier said five more Hausas had been killed in the neighbouring city of Asaba, across the bridge, to where thousands of Muslims fled to escape the mayhem in Onitsha.

Frank Nweke, a magazine editor who ran the gauntlet of the mob to escape Onitsha and made it to the bridge, said he had seen 15 more corpses lying in the streets of the city.

"Some of them had been beheaded, others had had their genitals removed. I saw one boy holding a severed head with blood dripping from it," he said.

Army officers at the scene could not confirm a total death toll in the city, where control has not yet been restored, but said thousands of Muslims had taken shelter in barracks and police stations.

May God aid the Nigerian authorities in bringing these so-called Christians to justice for their crimes. Their deeds blaspheme against the teachings of Jesus Christ, who taught turning the other cheek -- for in the end, the source of the conflict matters less than the evil deed committed.

MORE AT: Michelle Malkin, Strata-Spehre, Capital Region People, livefrombaycity, Right Wing, Mike's Noise, Radioman's World, Scriptorium, Jawa Report, Delaware Watch

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In an increasingly conservative America, Democrats are seeking to compete electorally by shifting left and abandoning officeholders who appeal to middle-of-the-road independents and even conservatives.

Democrats aren't just hoping to take back Congress this year; they also are trying to rid the party of so-called "right-wing Democrats."

Rep. Henry Cuellar represents the solidly Democratic 28th district in Texas. Yet activists from his party are backing his primary challenger, former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez.

"People have been able to get a good picture of Henry Cuellar's record," Mr. Rodriguez told The Washington Times. "He doesn't stand with working families. On issues like tax cuts, the estate tax and immigration, he has voted with Republicans down the line."

Mr. Cuellar has been endorsed by the conservative Club for Growth, a group that typically endorses Republicans and has supported primary challengers to centrist Republicans such as Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. The Club for Growth estimates it has raised $150,000 for Mr. Cuellar's campaign.

After a contentious Democratic primary battle in 2004, Mr. Cuellar defeated Mr. Rodriguez, a three-term incumbent, by a mere 58 votes. Since then, Mr. Cuellar has angered many liberals with his support for the war in Iraq and other Republican-backed policies.

Mr. Rodriguez acknowledges that centrists have a place in the Democratic Party, just not in his district. "This is not a swing district. Voters here deserve someone who will represent their values," he said.

The 28th District, stretching from the Rio Grande to San Antonio, is 70 percent Hispanic. In the 2004 general election, Mr. Cuellar received 59 percent of the vote against Republican opponent James Hopson.

Mr. Rodriguez said Democratic activists have pumped more than $250,000 into his campaign in the weeks since his primary challenge gained national attention. "Thank God for it," he said.

Liberal groups such as MoveOn.org and Democracy for America (DFA), as well as leading liberal bloggers and unions such as the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union, are backing Mr. Rodriguez.

Mr. Rodriguez "is a real Democrat," said DFA Chairman Jim Dean. "He is not a shill for the White House. We've raised about $40,000 for Ciro so far. It's been a pretty good response, especially considering a lot of people didn't even know about this race until a few weeks ago."

A significant part of Mr. Rodriguez's opposition to Mr. Cuellar stems from their differences on trade. Mr. Cuellar was a vocal proponent of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which Mr. Rodriguez opposes.

Cuellar campaign spokesman Colin Strother said free trade and conservative values are popular in the 28th district.

"Ten of the 11 counties in our district have experienced growth since [the North American Free Trade Agreement] was passed," Mr. Strother said. "Ciro's most vocal supporters are not in the district. Our district is Catholic, Hispanic and conservative. Ciro doesn't represent those values."

Charles Mahtesian, editor of Almanac of American Politics, said the March 7 Democratic primary contest will be as bitter as it was two years ago.

"It's the stated policy of the party to support incumbents," Mr. Mahtesian said. "But at least in Washington and in Congress there are a lot of people secretly hoping it turns out differently."

Speaking as a Republican, I wholeheartedly support this strategy, which seems to me to be the political equivalent of treating a shaving cut by slitting your throat. The 28th District will never vote for a Republican – unless the Democrats abandon the base of conservative Hispanic Catholics. That is where this strategy is headed.

Posted by: Greg at 01:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Doctors are refusing to participate in the execution of a prisoner following a federal judgeÂ’s absurd ruling that we have to show more consideration and compassion for a convicted murderer than he did for the teenager he raped and killed.

California indefinitely postponed the execution of a convicted murderer Tuesday in a dispute over lethal injection and the role of doctors in assisting it.

The execution of Michael Morales, 46, was delayed when two anesthesiologists who were scheduled to assist backed out at the last minute, citing ethical concerns after a court ordered them to intervene if Morales awoke during the procedure.

The doctors were asked to participate after a federal judge ruled last week that California's usual method of lethal injection "creates an undue risk" of "excessive pain." In a ruling that applies only to the current case, U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Fogel required that either a doctor sedate Morales immediately before he is executed, or that the state substitute one drug for the three typically used.

Fogel's order on the single-drug option "specifically required that the lethal injection be completed by someone licensed by the state of California to inject medication intravenously," San Quentin Prison Warden Steven Ornoski said in a statement. ". . . The state cannot proceed with the execution under the conditions set by the court."

A corrections spokesman said: "The big kicker was 'inside,' and what doctor is going to want to go inside the death chamber?"

And so I repeat my suggestion for a better execution protocol – a lethal injection of lead, 9mm at a time, to the base of the brain. And lest there be any question of finding someone willing to carry out the procedure, I’ll gladly volunteer if California will supply a round-trip airline ticket – and I’m even willing to fly coach.

MORE AT This Blog Is Full Of Crap

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Just a quick reminder for all the Cadillac Communists and silk-sheet Socialists who idolize Castro’s cold-blooded killer.

Guevara-worship may be naive or opportunistic, but there is something downright obscene in his promotion by capitalist commerce. Guevara simply was not a nice fellow.

There is nothing benign about the real Guevara, pistol in hand, giving a cold-blooded coup de grace to the Castro regime's enemies at La Cabaña fortress. Or his bloody repression of anti-Castro peasants in the Escambray mountains of central Cuba when the Castroite regime was 2 years old.

Guevara's hands had much blood on them besides his own. In real life, he was a war criminal.

So to all the Rolex radicals and Mercedes Maoists who have adopted Che as an iconic hero, consider this – he personally committed misdeeds that dwarf any abuses committed by American soldiers against the Saddamites imprisoned at Abu Ghraib.

Posted by: Greg at 01:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Just a quick reminder for all the Cadillac Communists and silk-sheet Socialists who idolize CastroÂ’s cold-blooded killer.

Guevara-worship may be naive or opportunistic, but there is something downright obscene in his promotion by capitalist commerce. Guevara simply was not a nice fellow.

There is nothing benign about the real Guevara, pistol in hand, giving a cold-blooded coup de grace to the Castro regime's enemies at La Cabaña fortress. Or his bloody repression of anti-Castro peasants in the Escambray mountains of central Cuba when the Castroite regime was 2 years old.

Guevara's hands had much blood on them besides his own. In real life, he was a war criminal.

So to all the Rolex radicals and Mercedes Maoists who have adopted Che as an iconic hero, consider this – he personally committed misdeeds that dwarf any abuses committed by American soldiers against the Saddamites imprisoned at Abu Ghraib.

Posted by: Greg at 01:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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That is the message from three members of the flooded city’s City Council.

New Orleans doesn't want its poorest residents back — unless they agree to work.

That was the message from three New Orleans City Council members who said government programs have "pampered" the city's residents for too long.

The news that some New Orleans City Council members weren't keen on the city's poorest returning home added another layer of discomfort in Houston, where local residents and elected officials alike have stretched to meet the needs of thousands of Louisiana residents in the months after Hurricane Katrina.

Chief among the complaints: Houston didn't discriminate when New Orleanians — from the poorest to the richest — filled this city's homes, hotels, motels and shelters. And Houston didn't flinch when nearly 100,000 evacuees needed subsidized housing for up to a year. So why, asked one Houston city councilman, are only the educated, healthy and employable welcome back in New Orleans?

"A city is a combination of all kinds of people," said Councilman M.J. Khan, whose district has absorbed most of the city's evacuees. "We definitely want everybody to be productive, wealthy and educated. But in any society it's not always possible. We cannot pick and choose who will live in a city."

Khan was among those who responded negatively to the comments of New Orleans elected officials Monday, which were published by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

I react negatively, too. As a resident of the Houston area, I was glad to help pick up the slack when the relocation was temporary. But for the city of New Orleans to try to permanently dump its problems on us is intolerable. I think I speak for many area residents when I say that the day is coming when we may need to simply put these people back onto the buses they came in and ship them home – whether their hometown wants them or not. We are sick of their whining and demands for more.

Posted by: Greg at 01:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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That is the message from three members of the flooded cityÂ’s City Council.

New Orleans doesn't want its poorest residents back — unless they agree to work.

That was the message from three New Orleans City Council members who said government programs have "pampered" the city's residents for too long.

The news that some New Orleans City Council members weren't keen on the city's poorest returning home added another layer of discomfort in Houston, where local residents and elected officials alike have stretched to meet the needs of thousands of Louisiana residents in the months after Hurricane Katrina.

Chief among the complaints: Houston didn't discriminate when New Orleanians — from the poorest to the richest — filled this city's homes, hotels, motels and shelters. And Houston didn't flinch when nearly 100,000 evacuees needed subsidized housing for up to a year. So why, asked one Houston city councilman, are only the educated, healthy and employable welcome back in New Orleans?

"A city is a combination of all kinds of people," said Councilman M.J. Khan, whose district has absorbed most of the city's evacuees. "We definitely want everybody to be productive, wealthy and educated. But in any society it's not always possible. We cannot pick and choose who will live in a city."

Khan was among those who responded negatively to the comments of New Orleans elected officials Monday, which were published by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

I react negatively, too. As a resident of the Houston area, I was glad to help pick up the slack when the relocation was temporary. But for the city of New Orleans to try to permanently dump its problems on us is intolerable. I think I speak for many area residents when I say that the day is coming when we may need to simply put these people back onto the buses they came in and ship them home – whether their hometown wants them or not. We are sick of their whining and demands for more.

Posted by: Greg at 01:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This certainly cheered me up when I read it. I love happy news

A SUSPECTED suicide bomber blew himself up prematurely near a main road routinely used by government officials and foreign troops in eastern Afghanistan, police said today.

The man was blown to bits and only his leg and hat were found at the scene after the blast in eastern Nangarhar province yesterday, provincial police spokesman Ghafor Khan said.

"Our investigations show that a suicide bomber wanted to get to the main road and, just before that, explosives strapped to his body went off due to some malfunction ahead of time and tore him into pieces," Mr Khan said.

In a separate attack on the same day in the province, a civilian was killed and five were wounded in a bomb blast.

It was not clear who was behind the bombing.

Police, however, blamed both incidents on "enemies of Afghanistan who want to create tension to undermine security".

I wonder – does he still qualify as a martyr if he suffers from premature detonation? Or does this useless mutt become one of the 72 virgins, since he got his manhood (small as it was) blown off?

MORE AT Jawa Report

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Could you imagine the uproar if this incident involved a columnist for a conservative paper at a major university?

Turn Left, CornellÂ’s left-wing newspaper, has a bit of a public relations problem: recently, one of its writers allegedly shouted racial slurs at a group of blacks and then proceeded to stab one of them, puncturing his lung. Nathan Poffenbarger, the alleged stabber, then fled the scene, later turning himself into police. (Rumor has it that he will be contending for the Democratic nomination in the upcoming West Virginia senatorial race.)
On February 20, The Sun reported:

According to sources familiar with the incident, Poffenbarger and an unidentified female were walking in the vicinity of Baker Tower, on the corner of University and West, after Poffenbarger was reportedly kicked out of a West Campus fraternity party for belligerent behavior and use of racial slurs.

University officials said Poffenbarger continued using the epithets after leaving the fraternity and was overheard by a nearby group of three black Union College students, who then confronted Poffenbarger. A verbal altercation escalated, and Poffenbarger allegedly stabbed one of the students. Poffenbarger fled after an Ithaca Police vehicle arrived on the scene. He turned himself in to authorities Saturday night.

But hey, Poffenbarger is a strong opponent of racism and a noted pacifist, so an unprovoked assault upon minority students who object to his use of racial slurs gets a pass from the Left -- where are the major news stories and the condemnations? Where are the demands that the paper that employed this racist cretin be closed? Conservative minds want to know!

Posted by: Greg at 01:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As followers of this blog will note, I have become less and less of a fan of Islam over the years. That said, I can find nothing in this action to support or praise. The destruction of the holy sites and places of a religion can only rarely be justified – and doing so via terrorism rather than the rule of law is NEVER acceptable.

One of the most revered shrines in Shiite Islam was bombed early this morning, causing the collapse of its dome, police and eyewitnesses said. There was no immediate estimate of casualties in the latest in a series of sectarian attacks in the country.

The shrine in Samarra, a predominantly Sunni Arab city 60 miles north of Baghdad, contains the remains of two of Shiite Islam's most prominent Imams. The bomb is believed to have been planted a day earlier, said Capt. Basheer Qadoori, of the city's police force.

"Last night, five armed men wearing ski masks broke into the shrine, kidnapped 5 guards of the shrine and planted two bombs inside," Qadoori said.

Iraq's most notable Shiite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, announced a week long mourning and urged people to go to the streets in "peaceful demonstrations to denounce this criminal act." Sistani's office said a detailed statement would be released later today.

Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari announced a three-day mourning in a televised appearance. "I call on my people to express their condemnation," Jaafari said. He asked Iraqis to "close the door to all those who are fishing in the troubled water."

The attack, which sparked immediate and widespread protests among Shiites across Iraq, appeared designed to further inflame sectarian tension between Iraq's Shiite majority and the Sunni Arab population from whose ranks the bulk of the country's insurgency is drawn.

I gladly join with Prime Minister Jaafari in expressing my condemnation of the bombing.

-

MORE AT: Michelle Malkin, Unpartisan, Liberty Just In Case, A Blog For All, Jawa Report

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Folks like CAIR, who complain that Americans look at Arabs and Muslims and think "terrorist" might want to deal with issues like this in their own community before lecturing us about bigotry.

The Justice Department accused three Ohio men yesterday of plotting to kill U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq, allegedly by seeking to set up a Middle Eastern terrorism camp where insurgents would be trained and equipped.

One of the men was also charged with threatening to kill or hurt President Bush. It is not clear, however, how close the trio came to carrying out any of their alleged plans or whether they intended to fight in Iraq themselves.

Even so, the case appears to be the first time that suspects on U.S. soil, rather than in Europe or the Middle East, have been charged with attempting to directly aid the insurgency in Iraq.

The men are accused of spending more than a year downloading militant videos, taking weapons training, and trying to acquire or build explosives. They could face life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, conspiracy to kill Americans abroad. They are also charged with providing material support to terrorists.

The defendants are Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 26, a citizen of the United States and Jordan; Marwan Othman el-Hindi, 42, of Toledo, a U.S. citizen; and Wassim I. Mazloum, 24, of Toledo, a permanent legal resident who co-owns a Toledo auto dealership with his brother. In addition to the terrorism counts, Amawi is also charged with twice making verbal threats against Bush, court documents show.

The three were indicted last week, but the document was not unsealed until yesterday. They were arrested over the weekend and pleaded not guilty yesterday in federal courts in Cleveland and Toledo, according to the Associated Press. Attempts to reach their attorneys were unsuccessful.

But this isn't REALLY the first such case -- not when you consider the blind sheik, the Holy Land Foundation, the Buffalo case, the ongoing trial in California, etc.

MORE AT Counterterrorism Blog, Michelle Malkin, Fullosseous Flap, Strata-Sphere, Most Certainly Not, Iowa Voice, Unpartisan, Flopping Aces, Right Winged, Small Town Veteran, Blue Star, Conservative Culture, Jawa Report

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I don't understand why the President would take this stand. The port deal is not a hill worth dying for.

"After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush told reporters who had traveled with him on Air Force One to Washington. "I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, `We'll treat you fairly.'"

Mr. President -- why hold a Middle Eastern company to a different standard than one from the UK? Surely you jest, sir! You REALLY don't get it -- especially when one of the ports is the Port of New York? The answer is really simple -- a bunch of Arabs flew planes into buildings in that city, sir, and killed damned near 3000 Americans. there were at least some connections to the UAE. We want to be sure that this company has been thoroughly vetted.

A ldelay while the matter is more thoroughly warranted -- whether or not one supports Sen. Clinton's proposal to prevent firms controlled by foreign governments from managing our ports.

More at Michelle Malkin,

Posted by: Greg at 11:31 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Gee -- I made one snide comment in response to Death Threat Dude and folks were terrible amused -- so amused that I feel i need a graphic to go along with the mean-spirited rip at someone who indicated i should be killed for rudeness.

I wonder what his reaction will be to this.

I wonder -- could I get and NEA grant for that?

And will I be praised for obscuring Mohammad's face, or damned for my method of doing so?

This is, of course, my regular Wednesday Open Trackback/Linkfest post. here's your chance to participate.

You know how it works -- you link to this post and send a trackback, and your post will display here. So link away -- I won't set a maximum number of items you can link with here, but I would hope that you would consider exercising prudent judgement on the matter. No porn, please, and no advertising -- just interesting stuff.

So get with the program, folks -- link away before the fatwas fly!

OPEN TRACKBACKS: Adam's Blog, Freedom Watch, Blue Star, Conservative Cat, third world country, Bacon Bits, Don Surber, Jo's Cafe, Basil's Blog, Stuck On Stupid, Everyman's Chronicles, Is It Just Me?

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It isn't the contests between cowboys and livestock.

It isn't the concerts.

It isn't the fair food (mmmm... deep fried Twinkies!)

It is what the show does for kids.

And not just for the scholarship winners.

Bart Pennington's Angus-Hereford crossbreed in 1985 gave him the confidence to start his own business. The Maine-Anjou and Angus hybrid Theresa Pritchard showed in 1974 paid her way through college and put her in choice seats at an Elvis concert. And along with the rush of TV interviews, Angie Elam's Limousin got her some extra, unexpected attention in 1980.

"I had probably a couple guys say, 'Hey, would you marry me? You're rich,' " Elam said.

Although decades have passed and much of the cash has been spent since Pennington, Pritchard and Elam presented the grand champion steers at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, all say the victories they earned as teenagers still influence their lives.

"It was a big deal for a small girl from a small town," Elam, now 41, said from her farm in Seminole, where she raises cattle with her husband. "That Sunday afternoon, we went to the Galleria and everyone knew who I was. ... It was a day I will never forget."

More than 2,600 youngsters from 4-H Clubs across Texas are fattening their steers and shining their coats in the hopes of leaving the country's largest and richest stage for steers, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, with the "Grand Champion" ribbon and a wad of cash. The biggest show of their steer-showing lives starts next Tuesday.

The steers will moo, chew and strut their stuff in 16 breed categories through Reliant Center, but only one will become the grand champion and earn its exhausted young exhibitor both a moment of big-city fame and a place in the record books among past victors.

Not to mention some big bucks.

My dear wife and I go to the rodeo every year -- multiple nights. And we always make sure we are there the night that the selection of the grand champion steer is made. It is a beautiful moment, watching the culmination of a lot of hard work for one boy or girl. I taught one recent winner during summer school, and got to see what great kids are involved in this program.

And i can't wait -- Rodeo is one week away!

Posted by: Greg at 11:44 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Looks like I've attracted some attention.

A new comment has been posted on your blog Rhymes With Right, on entry
#158774 (Toronto Cartoon Flap).
http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/158774.php

IP Address: 164.100.214.80
Name: aamir malik
Email Address: aamir834@yahoo.com
URL:

Comments:

ASALAM_U_ALIKUM
what the hell have you people made this?
how could you be so much rude ?
what do you think of yourself?
if you vl be here we will jst kill you>?

I'm contacting Yahoo and his ISP regarding this. Feel free to use the email address if you see fit.

And yet there are still those calling Islam a religion of peace. Instead we see that Muslims continue following the bloody example set by their murderous false prophet Muhammad (pbuh*).

*pbuh=PLACE BACON UPON HIM

And while I'm at it, may as well use this as an excuse for an unscheduled linkfest! Feel free to post links to your best stuff, tracking back to this post. I won't set an arbitrary limit on the number of links, but will ask you to be reasonable.

MORE AT Jawa Report, Howie's Moisture Farm, http://paduanjawa.blogspot.com/2006/02/join-party.html">This Blog Is Full Of Crap

Posted by: Greg at 11:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Way to go Greg! I've had my share of death threats, also!

Yours was pretty kind. Mine was simply a "this is why we chop your heads off" kinda comment.

Is it *my* fault that Muhammed was a blood-thirsty pedophile? I mean, c'mon! Marries Aisha at 6, boinks her at 9? That's not sick?

By comparison, did Jesus boink anybody? Who's the *real* prophet

Posted by: Eric Clemmons at Tue Feb 21 04:56:40 2006 (yPOKC)

2 PBUH -- classic! Wear the "threat" as a badge of honor -- in the same fashion I did when my five week-old son gurgled on my shoulder.

Posted by: Jib Trim at Tue Feb 21 16:56:24 2006 (qLQqg)

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The student paper at University of Toronto, The Strand, wouldnÂ’t print the Danish cartoons, on the grounds that they were inflammatory.

So instead, they printed this one.

What do you think?

The paper refused to back down under pressure from student groups but the support of the university. On one level, I find it admirable. On another, I do not.

As I have said in the past, I have doubts about the original decision to publish the Mohammad cartoons in Denmark. I donÂ’t know that I would have published all of them, but the paperÂ’s editor offers a good explanation of his motivations. But once they became the source of such an uproar, the cartoons became newsworthy and needed to be printed to provide context. The failure of media outlets to do so was wrong.

The Strand took a different tack – they published this entirely different cartoon, one that does not show Mohammad’s face but which is, clearly, Mohammad. And for good measure, they showed him making out with Jesus on a carnival ride – with Jesus clearly the sexual aggressor. And that is where I am left somewhat puzzled – what exactly was the point of portraying the Son of God in such a gratuitously offensive manner? I don’t deny their right to do so (though I wonder if Canadian hate-speech laws could be invoked), I just don’t see their reason for doing so if they won’t publish the newsworthy cartoons.

Their explanation for publishing this cartoon?

To some degree, we felt like it was our duty to do so. We would be making a statement: that freedom of expression triumphs over all, that tactics like the administration emptying newsstands over publication of controversial subjects are Draconian and detrimental to an environment like a university, which claims to nurture new ideas and inspire independent thinking. After all, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are basic values in Canadian society. But where does freedom of images fit in?

Our own editorial staff was completely conflicted on the issue. Many of them had had their fill of cartoon-related debate with the prophets-making-out-cartoon and didn't even reply to the e-mails that were sent out. By Monday night, not everyone's opinion had been aired, and the notorious cartoons were screaming for a decision to be made.

We won't be like other institutions. We will value the freedom to choose just as highly as that to express. And above all, we will try to the best of our abilities to reach out to the greatest possible audience we can, hopefully inspiring some discussion and critical thinking along the way.

You can see the cartoon we almost didn't publish below. In light of everything else, it seems pretty damn tame. Hell, those could be any two guys kissing! And who doesn't play tonsil hockey in the Tunnel of Love? As for the other ones, you can view them online, but only if you want to.

Frankly, it is a pretty weak explanation, don’t you think? And I won’t get into the question of their blasphemy in the editorial, in which they relegate Jesus to the status of mere prophet (the Muslim designation for Jesus) rather than Christian designations like Lord, Son of God, and Saviour of the World. But it is their right to publish, just as it is my right to say they are wrong – but being wrong and offensive and blasphemous is not a basis for censorship.

Still, I find it interesting to note that not one riot has been provoked by the much more offensive explicit and intentional insult to Jesus. And that may be the real point – offended Christians don’t kill; offended Muslims do.

UPDATE: It seems that the ever-so-tolerant folks at University of Toronto are not so tolerant of free speech in instances when it upholds traditional Christian teachings on homosexuality or abortion.

HAT TIP: Exposed Agenda via Crittermusings.

MORE AT Jawa Report, Dread Pundit Bluto, Hyscience, Live Free Or Die, I'll Get That Chicken, Adam Daifallah, Elder of Ziyon, Nav Purewal, Reason/Hit & Run, Kokonut Pundits, NFOrce

Posted by: Greg at 11:30 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
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At last! Someone writing about the current testing regime prevalent in American schools who realizes that the evil notion of “teaching to the test” is, in reality, teaching to the standards set by the state.

Those who complain are not really talking about teaching to the state test. Unless teachers sneak into the counseling office and steal a copy, which can get them fired, they don't know what's on the test. They are teaching not to the test but to the state standards -- a long list of things students are supposed to learn in each subject area, as approved by the state school board.

Hardly anybody complains about teaching to a standard. Teacher-turned-author Susan Ohanian is trying to change this, and she refers to all advocates of learning standards as "Standardistos." But she has not made much headway, mostly because standards make sense to parents like me. We are not usually included in discussions of testing policy, but we tend to vote in large numbers, and everybody knows that any governor or president who came out against standards for schools and learning would soon be looking for work in the private sector.

Those who object to such standards (including the wrong-headed Ohanian) are really objecting to good education. After all, look the standards for my 10th Grade World History classes. Do you really find anything objectionable there? Anything that should not, reasonably speaking, be a part of a World History class? If anything, these TEKS (Texas Essential knowledge and Skills) provide a pretty good overview of the subject. When looked at in the context of the overall standards for grades 1-12, you find that they provide a great scope and sequence for learning. The TAKS test (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) tests to those standards – so if my colleagues and I teach to those standards, our students should pass the Exit Level test in 11th grade. That is not to say that I don’t have issues with the TAKS, but the fact that it is standards driven is not one of them.

Posted by: Greg at 11:02 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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At last! Someone writing about the current testing regime prevalent in American schools who realizes that the evil notion of “teaching to the test” is, in reality, teaching to the standards set by the state.

Those who complain are not really talking about teaching to the state test. Unless teachers sneak into the counseling office and steal a copy, which can get them fired, they don't know what's on the test. They are teaching not to the test but to the state standards -- a long list of things students are supposed to learn in each subject area, as approved by the state school board.

Hardly anybody complains about teaching to a standard. Teacher-turned-author Susan Ohanian is trying to change this, and she refers to all advocates of learning standards as "Standardistos." But she has not made much headway, mostly because standards make sense to parents like me. We are not usually included in discussions of testing policy, but we tend to vote in large numbers, and everybody knows that any governor or president who came out against standards for schools and learning would soon be looking for work in the private sector.

Those who object to such standards (including the wrong-headed Ohanian) are really objecting to good education. After all, look the standards for my 10th Grade World History classes. Do you really find anything objectionable there? Anything that should not, reasonably speaking, be a part of a World History class? If anything, these TEKS (Texas Essential knowledge and Skills) provide a pretty good overview of the subject. When looked at in the context of the overall standards for grades 1-12, you find that they provide a great scope and sequence for learning. The TAKS test (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) tests to those standards – so if my colleagues and I teach to those standards, our students should pass the Exit Level test in 11th grade. That is not to say that I don’t have issues with the TAKS, but the fact that it is standards driven is not one of them.

Posted by: Greg at 11:02 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I guess that since these illegals don't have a huge bloc of supporters urging that their staus be ignored, it is no surprise that they are departing for their homeland.

By now the shipping container carrying Jonathan Langan's material life in the United States has arrived in Ireland. The plush green furniture, his American flag and the construction tools of his trade are all gone from his Queens apartment.

Langan, a lanky, red-haired Irishman, was bidding a final farewell to his adopted country. He didn't leave for want of work -- his fledgling construction company was booming. Success was his problem. The more prosperous his company became, the more Langan feared he would get snared by immigration agents.
"You don't want to give off red flags because you're not supposed to be working," said Langan, 24, who lived illegally in the United States for three years. "It's too dangerous, what happens if you get caught."

The green is draining out of the Irish immigration boom that revitalized neighborhoods across New York over the past two decades. Fear of getting caught in a post-Sept. 11 net coupled with the booming economy in Ireland is drawing thousands of Irish back to the Emerald Isle. Numbers vary on how many have left: The Irish government estimates that about 14,000 Irish returned from the United States since 2001, with more than half of them coming from New York. The Census Bureau reported that between 2000 and 2004, the Irish population throughout the United States shrank by 28,500 people, to 128,000.

Now, if we could only get a certain larger group of illegal aliens to depart in similar proportions. But they won’t – their government does not want them back, and there is a segment of American society who choose ethnic solidarity over respect for the laws of the United States.

So instead, it's "Erin Go Home" and not "Hasta La Vista, Baby!"

Posted by: Greg at 11:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess that since these illegals don't have a huge bloc of supporters urging that their staus be ignored, it is no surprise that they are departing for their homeland.

By now the shipping container carrying Jonathan Langan's material life in the United States has arrived in Ireland. The plush green furniture, his American flag and the construction tools of his trade are all gone from his Queens apartment.

Langan, a lanky, red-haired Irishman, was bidding a final farewell to his adopted country. He didn't leave for want of work -- his fledgling construction company was booming. Success was his problem. The more prosperous his company became, the more Langan feared he would get snared by immigration agents.
"You don't want to give off red flags because you're not supposed to be working," said Langan, 24, who lived illegally in the United States for three years. "It's too dangerous, what happens if you get caught."

The green is draining out of the Irish immigration boom that revitalized neighborhoods across New York over the past two decades. Fear of getting caught in a post-Sept. 11 net coupled with the booming economy in Ireland is drawing thousands of Irish back to the Emerald Isle. Numbers vary on how many have left: The Irish government estimates that about 14,000 Irish returned from the United States since 2001, with more than half of them coming from New York. The Census Bureau reported that between 2000 and 2004, the Irish population throughout the United States shrank by 28,500 people, to 128,000.

Now, if we could only get a certain larger group of illegal aliens to depart in similar proportions. But they won’t – their government does not want them back, and there is a segment of American society who choose ethnic solidarity over respect for the laws of the United States.

So instead, it's "Erin Go Home" and not "Hasta La Vista, Baby!"

Posted by: Greg at 11:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Gee, I wonder if this clown demanded the same thing for Dick Cheney or the Bush girls?

The son of a U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona was arrested and booked on drug charges, accused of selling narcotics to college students, officials said.

The 24-year-old son of former state Democratic Party chairman Jim Pederson was taken into custody Friday after a search of his home, deputies said.

James Robert Pederson was charged with possession of narcotics, marijuana and paraphernalia, and misconduct with weapons, among other charges, Lt. Paul Chagolla said. He was released on his own recognizance Saturday morning.

The elder Pederson, who is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, asked for the public to respect his family's privacy.

"This is a personal matter that is obviously very troubling and being dealt with within our family right now," Pederson said in a statement.

This is a much more serious matter than the VP’s hunting accident or the underage boozing of a couple of college girls – so I’m sure that the media will give proportionally more coverage to this incident.

Not.

Posted by: Greg at 10:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Gee, I wonder if this clown demanded the same thing for Dick Cheney or the Bush girls?

The son of a U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona was arrested and booked on drug charges, accused of selling narcotics to college students, officials said.

The 24-year-old son of former state Democratic Party chairman Jim Pederson was taken into custody Friday after a search of his home, deputies said.

James Robert Pederson was charged with possession of narcotics, marijuana and paraphernalia, and misconduct with weapons, among other charges, Lt. Paul Chagolla said. He was released on his own recognizance Saturday morning.

The elder Pederson, who is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, asked for the public to respect his family's privacy.

"This is a personal matter that is obviously very troubling and being dealt with within our family right now," Pederson said in a statement.

This is a much more serious matter than the VP’s hunting accident or the underage boozing of a couple of college girls – so I’m sure that the media will give proportionally more coverage to this incident.

Not.

Posted by: Greg at 10:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Looks like the American people are becoming more and more enthusiastic about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a candidate for President. At the same time, opposition is growing to another female candidate.

Growing numbers of Americans oppose a presidential bid by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in 2008 — and favor a run by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — amid broad public willingness to elect a woman as president, according to a nationwide poll released Sunday.

The Presidents Day survey conducted for Hearst Newspapers by the Siena Research Institute of Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., covered 1,120 registered voters and was completed Feb. 10.

Some 48 percent of survey participants said Rice "should run" for president at the conclusion of President Bush's second term, an increase of 6 percentage points over a similar survey a year ago.

Clinton saw opposition to a presidential bid grow over the same period. About 44 percent of respondents now say Clinton "should not run" for president in 2008 — up from 37 percent who felt that way last year.

The percentage of registered voters who say Clinton "should run" slipped from 53 percent to 51 percent in the past year, as support for a Rice candidacy increased, from 42 percent to 48 percent.

But the most important part of the survey is that Americans feel ready to vote for a woman.

The survey found that 79 percent of participants were willing to vote for a woman as president, and 64 percent said the nation was "ready" for one.

The survey did not test a head-to-head race between Clinton and Rice.
The margin of error for the survey in both years was 2.9 percentage points. That could mean that Clinton's 2 percentage point drop in the "should run" category may not represent an actual change.

The survey found that a majority of registered voters thought a female president would handle national security-related issues as well as a male president, including serving as commander-in-chief of the armed services.

In other words, 2008 may be just the time for a strong, national security-oriented female candidate like Dr. Rice to seek the presidency. We in the GOP need to persuade her that her time is NOW.

Posted by: Greg at 10:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let me say it clearly -- the Holocaust happened.

Let me be forthright about my belief -- those who deny the Holocaust are intellectually dishonest scum.

But all of that is irrelevant to my next point -- Holocaust-deniers are not criminals.

And that is why I am sorry to see David Irving, one of the more malignant figures in the Holocaust-denial movement, plead guilty to criminal charges related to his expression of that postion in Austria.

A right-wing British historian said Monday he would plead guilty to criminal charges of denying the Holocaust as his trial opened in Vienna.

David Irving, 67, told reporters he now acknowledges that the Nazis systematically slaughtered Jews during World War II. "History is like a constantly changing tree," he said as an eight-member jury and a panel of three judges prepared to hear charges that could put him behind bars for up to 10 years.

Irving has been in custody since his arrest in November on charges stemming from two speeches he gave in Austria in 1989 in which he was accused of denying the Nazis' extermination of 6 million Jews.

A verdict could come later Monday.

Holocaust-denial is a hateful, dishonest intellectual position -- but it is one easily refuted by recourse to the facts. The verdict should come in classrooms, scholarly papers, and books, not in courtrooms.

And as we face demands for censorship of films, books and newspapers that are found to be subjectively wrong and offensive (not objectively wrong and offensive, like Irving's words) by Muslims, we in the West need to be clear on a simple point -- the proper response to evil or offensive words is not censorship or violence, but rather more speech to uplift and instruct in what is right.

Posted by: Greg at 11:42 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Lorenzo Vidin of the Boston Herald asks a couple of pertinent questions, based upon the Danish Cartoon controversy.

The key question is: where do we place that limit? How far must we compromise to respect other peoplesÂ’ feelings? Last year, for example, two Scottish Muslim organizations tried to prevent a Glasgow restaurant from obtaining the authorization required to sell alcohol to patrons sitting outdoors, claiming it was offensive to Muslim passers-by.

Are we going to reach a point where no alcohol will be served in public places, as that could offend Muslims? By the same token, some Muslims are offended by mini-skirts and other revealing clothes. Are we going to implement a culturally-sensitive dress code for Western women on our own turf? The question is not so preposterous, given the acts of kowtowing that abound in the West.

If not, then why not? After all, if we are going to limit rights long seen as inalienable -- rights with which we were endowed by our Creator, to crib a phrase from jefferson -- why shouldn't we accept these more limited restrictions based upon the need to be sensitive to those who utterly reject Western notions of freedom?

Posted by: Greg at 11:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There are certain crimes I view as beyond the bounds of forgiveness by mortal man. Some include crimes of violence that shock the conscience -- murder, rape, sexual abuse. Others involve crimes of betrayal -- including those which involve betrayal of one's country. In such cases, I oppose leniency as a matter of principle, for such leniency undermines any sense of justice towards those against whom the crimes were committed.

And so I today stand up and demand that Judge Larry Alan Burns throw the book at Duke Cunningham.

Randy "Duke" Cunningham has recurring prostate cancer and will likely die in prison if sentenced to the 10 years behind bars prosecutors are seeking, his defense lawyers said in court papers filed late Friday.

The documents also reveal that Cunningham and his wife, Nancy, are estranged and that the former 50th District congressman, who pleaded guilty to bribery and tax evasion in November, now lives on a ranch performing manual labor in exchange for room and board.

The U.S. attorney's office in San Diego is arguing that the four years Cunningham accepted bribes and cheated on his taxes ---- as well as tampering with witnesses after he came under federal scrutiny ---- warrant the maximum possible sentence.

Cunningham has admitted demanding bribes starting as early as 2000 and continuing until 2004 in exchange for steering Pentagon contracts to defense contractors MZM Inc. of Washington and ADCS of Poway.

But Cunningham's lead attorney, K. Lee Blalack, argued his client's military service during the Vietnam War and other civic and charitable contributions before the bribery took place, as well as his health status, should cause the court to hand down a lesser sentence of six years.

Reached at his Washington home Saturday, Blalack said he is asking the court for mercy.

"Mr. Cunningham admits doing something very wrong," he said. "The question is what constitutes harsh punishment for a 64-year-old man with health concerns which make a 10-year sentence likely to be unsurvivable.

"When you combine that with his lifelong contributions unusually found in one man to his country in war and in peace, that should warrant some mercy and a sentence appropriate for paying his debt to society."

What a load of bullshit! Cunningham betrayed his country by taking bribes every bit as much as if he had passed defense secrets to our nation's enemies. To argue that he deserves anything less than the maximum sentence based uponhis prior good works (which didn't stop him from taking bribes) or his health situation (which is irrelevant to his crime) is to argue that those somehow diminish the harm that he did. But those factors do not do anything to mitigate the harm -- and indeed, like the bribes themselves, are indicative of a flawed character that puts himself and his needs/desires above society's need to exact retributive justice in official corruption cases.

Besides, the punisments meted out in cases of official corruption need to be severe -- that is the best way to dissuade those who would betray America through their own avarice. The message should be loud nad clear -- take a bribe and this country will sek to have you serve every day of your sentence, even if that means you die in prison instead of surrounded by your loved ones.even

Posted by: Greg at 11:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's what one expert on Islam has to say.

For the past two weeks, Patrick Sookhdeo has been canvassing the opinions of Muslim clerics in Britain on the row over the cartoons featuring images of Mohammed that were first published in Denmark and then reprinted in several other European countries.

"They think they have won the debate," he says with a sigh. "They believe that the British Government has capitulated to them, because it feared the consequences if it did not.

"The cartoons, you see, have not been published in this country, and the Government has been very critical of those countries in which they were published. To many of the Islamic clerics, that's a clear victory.

"It's confirmation of what they believe to be a familiar pattern: if spokesmen for British Muslims threaten what they call 'adverse consequences' - violence to the rest of us - then the British Government will cave in. I think it is a very dangerous precedent."

So that should make it clear -- "senistivity" to Islamist values is seen as weakness.

Read the article, too, for an inspiring biography of one was born a Muslim but converted to Christianity -- and what he sees as the direction that Islam is headed in the UK if there is not firm action taken to force a change of course.

Posted by: Greg at 04:14 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Jeff Jacoby discloses this little tidbit in today's column.

The vast majority of US media outlets have shied away from reproducing the drawings, but to my knowledge only the Phoenix has been honest enough to admit that it is capitulating to fear. Many of the others have published high-minded editorials and columns about the importance of ''restraint" and ''sensitivity" and not giving ''offense" to Muslims. Several have claimed they wouldn't print the Danish cartoons for the same reason they wouldn't print overtly racist or anti-Semitic material. The managing editor for news of The Oregonian, for example, told her paper's ombudsman that not running the images is like avoiding the N-word -- readers don't need to see a racial slur spelled out to understand its impact. Yet a Nexis search turns up at least 14 occasions since 1999 when The Oregonian has published the N-word unfiltered. So there are times when it is appropriate to run material that some may find offensive.

Want to bet we could find similar examples in other print media? I ran a quick search on the Houston Chronicle and found AT LEAST 500 uses of the so-called "N-word" since 1988 -- but Houstonians have still not found the Muhammad cartoons in the pages of the Houston Chronicle.

Jacoby's take -- we are dealing with cowards who have succumbed to fear in the face of intimidation by the Islamocensors. And as he points out, their cowardice betrays every dissident, reformer, and moderate who seeks freedom in the face of the islaist fanatics -- for if those in the free West cannot or will not speak out, how can they?

Posted by: Greg at 04:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Certainly not if they are talking out of both sides of their turbans.

Political criticism of local imams in recent days has led the integration minister to exclude the clerics from discussions of the integration of Muslims into Danish society.

Some imams have reportedly offered statements to media in Muslim countries that harmed Danish interests in the on-going row over the Mohammed cartoons, the integration minister, Rikke Hvilshøj, said on Monday.

‘I think we have a clear picture today that imams are not the ones we should look to if we want integration in Denmark to work,’ Hvilshøj told daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende. ‘I’ve become aware that there are other groups we should draw upon.’

One incident involved imam Abu Laban telling television station al-Jazeera that he was happy about the Muslim boycott. Later the same day, he said to Danish television station TV2 that he would urge Muslims to stop the boycott immediately.

Hvilshøj had otherwise made efforts to draw upon imams’ significant influence in local Muslim communities. During a conference held with seven local imams last April, she called upon them to encourage young Muslims to complete an education.

PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen had also invited a group of imams for an anti-terror conference at his Marienborg residence in September. The conference sought to find ways of preventing Islam from being used in the name of terror attacks.

Such efforts to involve the Muslim clerics were now a thing of the past, said Hvilshøj.

‘The imams have revealed that they aren’t the ones who benefit integration in Denmark,’ she said. ‘Some of the quotes we have seen show that they aren’t interested in integeration.’

Seems pretty clear that these folks are tailoring their message to their audience while serving their own interests. Given that their own words have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted, why should the Danish government speak with Muslim religious leaders?

Posted by: Greg at 03:31 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I've criticized the abuse of eminent domain for economic purposes a number of times on this site. But here is the sort of case where eminent domain is appropriate. The only question is what constitutes adequate notice of meetings and decision-making.

A Tacoma couple lost their court fight Thursday to keep Sound Transit from seizing their property to build a commuter rail station.

The ruling could have broader implications for the power of government in Washington state to seize private property by eminent domain. The state Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, said it generally does not referee disputes when a government agency needs to seize property. The court also said a Web site posting was enough notice of a meeting on taking the coupleÂ’s land.

The majority ruling of the court said it is a “legislative judgment” that determines when it is necessary to seize someone’s property for a public use. It said the courts will overturn that decision only if there is proof of fraud or when the government clearly ignores the law.

Justice James Johnson, in a written dissent, objected that the state Constitution clearly makes government taking of property a matter for the courts.

“The constitutionally limited eminent domain power is improperly expanded by the majority at the expense of the peoples’ individual rights to own and use property,” he said.

Sound Transit is taking the South Tacoma property as part of its effort to extend Sounder commuter train service south from Tacoma to Lakewood.

The property owners, Ken and Barbara Miller, said Sound Transit arbitrarily chose their property over other alternatives. They also argued that no one told them beforehand about the meeting where Sound TransitÂ’s board of directors decided to take their land and that it wasnÂ’t enough for the agency to announce the meeting on its Web site.

At first this looks bad -- not a matter for the courts? Only notice on a website? But let's flesh out a few details.

First, it is clear even from this that it is not up to the courts to decide the best properties to be seized for a project. The majority is right on that point -- that decision belongs to the political branches responsible for carrying out the project, not the judges. They have no role in determining the best way to implement a policy -- only its legality and constitutionality.

The second point -- relating to notice-- is a red herring. After all, the couple had known for years that this was probably coming.

FairhurstÂ’s ruling said Miller couldnÂ’t have been surprised by the decision to seize his property. Sound Transit started looking in 1998 for a good spot in South Tacoma or Lakewood to build a park-and-ride rail station as part of the planned commuter rail expansion. Three years later, after a series of workshops and public meetings, the agency identified three potential sites.

The ruling said that for those first three years, Miller cooperated with Sound Transit in the possible condemnation. It said he allowed Sound Transit to enter the property and take soil samples in 2001.

“There is considerable evidence that Miller was involved in the site selection process for many years,” Fairhurst said in the ruling.

Miller said he had only a few contacts over the years with anyone related to Sound Transit and wasnÂ’t given a choice about allowing the soil testing.

He said he knew the agency was considering taking his property, as well as others, for the rail station. But he said he wasnÂ’t informed about the 2003 meeting when the agencyÂ’s board of directors selected his land for the project.

So you see, for five years this guy was aware that his property was being considered for the project, and he did nothing substantive to head it off. He was not personally notified of the final meeting (which is, in my opinion, bad form), but by that point the selection appears to have been a mere formality. There's an old saying that applies -- "You snooze, you lose."

And unlike the case I wrote about recently, it seems that adequate compensation is a given here.

Posted by: Greg at 03:27 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Gates of Vienna reports on a budding movement for freedom of expression in Great Britain.

Statement of Principle

The strength and survival of free society and the advance of human knowledge depend on the free exchange of ideas. All ideas give offense to someone, and some of the most powerful ideas in human history, such as those of Galileo and Darwin, have given profound religious offense in their time.

The free exchange of ideas depends on freedom of expression and this includes the right to criticize and mock.

We assert and uphold the right of freedom of expression and call on our elected representatives to do the same.

We abhor the fact that people throughout the world live under mortal threat simply for expressing ideas and we call on our elected representatives to protect them from attack and not to give comfort to the forces of intolerance that besiege them.

The Baron also supplies contact information for the group and a link to their website.

They will be rallying in Trafalgar Square on March 25. 2006. Spread the word!

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It is therefore obvious that the United States, Israel, and any other sane Western nation must act NOW to keep such weapons out of the hands of the mad mullahs of Iran.

Iran's hardline spiritual leaders have issued an unprecedented new fatwa, or holy order, sanctioning the use of atomic weapons against its enemies.

In yet another sign of Teheran's stiffening resolve on the nuclear issue, influential Muslim clerics have for the first time questioned the theocracy's traditional stance that Sharia law forbade the use of nuclear weapons.

One senior mullah has now said it is "only natural" to have nuclear bombs as a "countermeasure" against other nuclear powers, thought to be a reference to America and Israel.

The pronouncement is particularly worrying because it has come from Mohsen Gharavian, a disciple of the ultra-conservative Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, who is widely regarded as the cleric closest to Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

* * *

Rooz reported that Mohsen Gharavian, a lecturer based in a religious school in the holy city of Qom, had declared "for the first time that the use of nuclear weapons may not constitute a problem, according to Sharia."

He also said: "When the entire world is armed with nuclear weapons, it is permissible to use these weapons as a counter-measure. According to Sharia too, only the goal is important."

Mohsen Gharavian did not specify what kinds of "goals" would justify a nuclear strike, but it is thought that any military intervention by the United States would be considered sufficient grounds. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has previously justified use of suicide bombers against "enemies of Islam" and believes that America is bent on destroying the Islamic republic and its values. The latest insight into the theocracy's thinking comes as the US signals a change in strategy on Iran, after the decision earlier this month to report it to the United Nations Security Council for its resumption of banned nuclear research.

Iran has just announced their intent to use nukes if they get them. Iran has restarted the research necessary to create them. It is therefore time to stop Iran from obtaining those weapons.

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This from Robert Novak's column today.

The first documents received from unions in the Labor Department's demand for detailed financial disclosures, for the first time strictly enforcing the 1959 Landrum-Griffin labor reform act, suggest embarrassment by organized labor when the information is made public next month.

Early reports show the AFL-CIO spent $49 million (27 percent of its total annual budget) on political and lobbying activities but only $30 million (or 16.5 percent) to represent its members. That gap contributed to the breakaway from the AFL-CIO of the Teamsters, the Service Employees and other unions.

Another document reveals that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers spent $791 million, constituting 85 percent of its 2005 budget, purchasing fixed assets and investments.

Now tell me, why would anyone willingly join any of these organizations? Why should anyone be required to join such organizations as a condition of employment?

Seems to me that the time has come for a national Right-To-Work law -- let the unions survive in the free market.

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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are A Dialogue by Gates of Vienna, and The 10 Commandments by The Big Pharoah.

And here is where you find a link to the full results of the vote.

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1) If Muslims are allowed to rampage over alleged "blasphemy" via cartoon, are we Christians allowed to do so over the blasphemy of Islam claiming Jesus is only a prophet?

2) If the murder of 3000 in the name of Islam was insufficient reason for Americans to torch mosques and shoot Muslims in the streets, why is the publication of 12 cartoons adequate basis for Muslims to destroy churches and murder Christians?

3) If "respect for religious freedom" is an adequate basis for censorship, why isn't "respect for freedom of speech and press" an adequate basis to ban Islam?

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At least the Spanish submitted to the yoke of the Islamofascists in the face of a terrorist attack on Spanish soil. The Berlusconi government caved in because Libyan police overreacted and killed 11 Libyans in Libya after they attacked the Italian Embassy.

This all goes back to the decision of Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli to print -- and wear -- t-shirts with one of the Danish cartoons of Muhammad on them. He then wore one on television during an interview.

Calderoli, whose party is known for its anti-Islam stance, showed off a T-shirt with the controversial cartoons on Italian television on Wednesday. He said the T-shirt was not meant to be a provocation but said there was no point in promoting dialogue with Muslim extremists.

'It is time to put an end to this tale that we need dialogue with these people,' Calderoli said at the time.

As if to prove the point, a mindless Muslim mob in Libya rioted and damaged teh Italian embassy. In attempting to disperse the, Libyan police were ordered to open fire with live ammunition on the rioters, resulting in at least 11 deaths and scores of injuries.

Which, of course, has all been laid at the feet of Calderoli for printing and wearing a t-shirt.

"The entire government is asking the resignation of Calderoli," Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said on Saturday.

A charity foundation chaired by the influential son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al Islam, said in a statement it deemed Calderoli "responsible for what had occurred and for the innocent victims and the regrettable incidents."

"The Italian government has to take the action required by such situation against this racist minister who is full of hatred," the statement by the Gaddafi Foundation said.

"If the Italian government fails to do so, Italian relations with Libya will go through a serious and crucial stage during which these ties will be reassessed and reviewed," it added.

Calderoli, showing that he is a man of infinitely more compassion for dead Islamocensors than I am, has this to say.

"I can even be sorry for the victims. But what happened in Libya has nothing to do with my T-shirt. The problem is different ... What is at stake is Western civilization," Calderoli told La Repubblica daily in an interview.

(I fail to see why any civilized person should feel the least bit of compassion for those out to destroy fundamental human rights over a cartoon, but maybe that just means Calderoli is a better man than I am.)

Sadly, though, Calderoli chose not to stand his ground, and offered his resignation today.

And in Libya, the government has taken action in response to the deaths.

In Tripoli, the General People's Congress fired Interior Minister Nasser al-Mabrouk Abdallah and police chiefs in Benghazi saying "disproportionate force" had been used to disperse protesters who tried to storm the Italian consulate.

The Congress hailed the dead as "martyrs" and declared Sunday a day of mourning across Libya.

This, of course, must be seen as the official imprimatur on destructive rioting by the Gaddafi, making Libya again a state sponsor of terrorism against the civilized Western world.

The submission to dhimmitude by Italy (or, as I now call it, al-Dhimmitalia) is a stunning victory for the Islamist horde, and is a step away from freedom in Europe.

For my part, I'll reprint my favorite Danish cartoon -- and ask you the question it inspires in me.

Saint or Devil?

UPDATE: The Washington Post has additional details in a new article.

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