July 31, 2006

Desperate Dem Seeks To Capitalize On Romance Novel

And it isn't like they believe in either morality of the censorship of sexually explicit material -- so how they can object to a clearly non-obscene book is beyond me, other than hypocrisy.

The book is back in Susan Combs' life like an old boyfriend who is best forgotten but keeps popping up at the most inconvenient times.

A Perfect Match is a steamy romance novel published in 1990 by Combs, who was in between jobs when she wrote it but is now the state's agriculture commissioner and the Republican nominee for state comptroller.

It tells the story of Emily Brown, a "cryptanalyst" for the National Security Agency, who "spent her days decoding secret messages with the zeal that most people applied to solving crossword puzzles," the book jacket says. Then she meets her match in superspy Ross Harding.

"Their mouths had fused hotly, desperately, a feverish urgency in his touch," reads one passage, referring to the pair's passion for each other.

Now those words, and others, are being used against Combs by her Democratic opponent, Fred Head, who has labeled the torrid tale pornography.

"Would you vote for a candidate who wrote a trashy, pornographic romance novel that glorifies premarital sex and seeks to arouse sexual interest as your State Comptroller of Public Accounts?" Head asks in a campaign flier.

Oh, puh-LEEEEEEEEZ! Have you no dignity Mr. Head? Don't you have any qualifications to run on, rather than objections to the current incumbent's literary skills? Especially since your a member of a party whose former president performed significantly more pornographich acts in the Oral Orifice Oval Office? And on a related note, how can you and your party possibly expect us to vote for anyone with such an indecent name as "Head", which clearly seeks to arouse sexual interest?

Maybe we in the GOP should just let them have CD-22 -- it might be the only way the Loser-Crats can win an office currently held by a Republican in the state of Texas. Nah!

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Maybe Good News

The dictator in Havana has given power to his brother because he is having abdominal surgery that could have a long convalesence.

Cuban President Fidel Castro was undergoing intestinal surgery and provisionally handed over power in the Communist island nation to his younger brother Raul, according to a statement read on Cuban television Monday night.

Fidel Castro, 79, has led Cuba since a 1959 revolution. Raul Castro, 75, is the first vice president of the country, and as such, the designated successor to his brother.

Castro's secretary, Carlos Balenciago, read a letter he said was from the president in which he said stress had forced him into surgery and that he would be in bed for several weeks after the operation was complete. Castro turns 80 on August 13.

Raul Castro also assumes control over the armed forces and the leadership of the Communist Party, according to the statement.

The State Department reacted with caution.

White House spokesman Peter Watkins said: ''We are monitoring the situation. We can't speculate on Castro's health, but we continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom.'' The State Department declined to comment Monday night.

In Florida, the Cuban community has greeted this news as any lover of freedom must.

The announcement drew cheering in the streets in Miami. People waved Cuban flags on Little Havana's Calle Ocho, shouting "Cuba, Cuba, Cuba," hoping that the end is near for the man most of them consider to be a ruthless dictator. There were hugs, cheers and dancing as drivers honked their horns. Many of them fled the communist island or have parents and grandparents who did.

Don't get well soon, Fidel. In fact, don't get well at all -- do the Cuban people a favor and die on the table so that they can hang your putrid corpse from a lamp post by its heels, like the Italians did to Mussolini.

Babalu Blog has a running post on this most recend deathwatch, noting that we have seen this before.

¡Cuba Libre!

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Sponges

Or leeches.

What else can you call such folks, who could work but don't want to settle for anything less than their previous job and level of earnings? I can accept living off your assets, but this is intolerable.

But the fastest growing source of help is a patchwork system of government support, the main one being federal disability insurance, which is financed by Social Security payroll taxes. The disability stipends range up to $1,000 a month and, after the first two years, Medicare kicks in, giving access to health insurance that for many missing men no longer comes with the low-wage jobs available to them.

No federal entitlement program is growing as quickly, with more than 6.5 million men and women now receiving monthly disability payments, up from 3 million in 1990. About 25 percent of the missing men are collecting this insurance.

The ailments that qualify them are usually real, like back pain, heart trouble or mental illness. But in some cases, the illnesses are not so serious that they would prevent people from working if a well-paying job with benefits were an option.

The disability program, in turn, is an obstacle to working again. Taking a job holds the risk of demonstrating that one can earn a living and is thus no longer entitled to the monthly payments. But staying out of work has consequences. Skills deteriorate, along with the desire for a paying job and the habits that it requires.

“The longer you stay on disability benefits,” said Martin H. Gerry, deputy commissioner for disability and income security at the Social Security Administration, “the longer you’re out of the work force, the less likely you are to go back to work.”

Not only that, but it becomes harder for those who really are disabled to gain benefits.

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A Temporary Bombing Pause -- Sort Of

I was disturbed that Israel would give Hezbollah a chance to recover, reposition, and rearm when I heard about the agreement to stop the bombing for 48 hours.

Israel agreed to suspend air attacks in southern Lebanon for 48 hours after one of its raids on the southern town of Qana left dozens of civilians, many of them children, dead on Sunday, the bloodiest day of the conflict so far.

* * *

J. Adam Ereli, the deputy spokesman for the State Department, which announced the 48-hour pause in strikes, said Israel would use the suspension in bombing to coordinate with the United Nations safe passage for 24 hours for residents who wish to leave southern Lebanon.

Israeli officials said nothing publicly about the suspension early Monday, and Mr. Ereli noted that Israel reserved the right to strike at militants preparing attacks against it.

An Israeli official in the prime minister’s office, who did not want to be identified, simply confirmed the State Department statement, saying, “Israel will be suspending aerial activity over southern Lebanon for 48 hours until the end of the Israeli investigation into Qana.”

At midnight Sunday, Israeli aircraft hit targets in eastern Lebanon, a spokesman for the Israeli Army said Monday morning. The suspension of airstrikes went into effect two hours later, he added.

It is pretty clear what did not happen -- Israel did not target that building and did not intentionally kill civilians. It is also pretty clear what did happen -- in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Hezbollah operated from in the midst of what the convention calls "protected persons" in order to use them as human shields.. Somehow, though, those who demand that the US abide by the strictedst possible interpretation of those documents (and even exceed those standards) have failed to condemn Hezbollah for failing to live up to those same standards of civilized behavior.

Fortunately, Israel has not abandoned all military common sense.

Israeli warplanes did conduct air strikes this morning, but army officials said they were in support of ground forces and so not covered by the 48-hour halt.

And IsraelÂ’s defense minister, Amir Peretz, made it clear in a speech to the Knesset today that Israel intends to continue its ground operations against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.

“We must not agree to a ceasefire that would be implemented immediately,’’ Mr. Peretz said. “If an immediate cease-fire is declared, the extremists will rear their heads anew.’’

So let's make the situation clear -- while there is a pause in bombing generally, bombing in support of ground forces will continue in order to continue to purge the jihadi swine from southern Lebanon. Israel rightly recognizes that a cease-fire at this time is not in its strategic interest, and so will not accept any proposal that stops the fighting without ensuring Israeli security.

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July 30, 2006

If Today's Media Covered WWII

Ifwwiicoveredlikeisraelbypress.jpg

Kudos to Hube for pointing to this.

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Additional Info On Qana

Though it doesn't particularly matter to Israel-haters/jihad supporters, video is out showing Hezbollah launching rockets from civilian areas of Qana. That made the area a legitimate military target. Take a look at the video at Expose the Left and Flopping Aces (scroll down).

In addition, there are now questions about the timing of the building collapse. The Israelis attacked the area around midnight local time -- but the building did not collapse until the next morning.

Senior IDF officers told reporters a short time ago that there is a contradiction in the timing of the bombing of the village of Kana and reports of the explosion that killed more than 50 civilians and set off world-wide condemnation of Israel. Air Force Commander Amir Eshel left open the possibility that Hizbullah terrorists blew up the building or that an unknown cause set off explosives which were stored in the structure.

He explained that recorded information shows that Israeli Air Force planes bombed the building between midnight and 1 a.m. and that the next attack at 7:30 a.m. was up to 500 yards away. He said reports of the killing of civilians came around 8 a.m. "It is not clear what happened" between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., he said.

Brigadier General Ido Nehushtan pointed out that Hizbullah terrorists have fired more than 150 rockets from the village of Kana since the beginning of the war.

Could the collapse have been triggered by explosives stored there by Hezbollah (there are reports of a secondary explosion)? Could Hezbollah jihadis have "manufactured" the civilian casualties by blowing the building up themselves? Or might they have prevented civilians from leaving a damaged building for the same purposes? Given th six-to-eight hour gap between the attack and the collapse that exists, these are reasonable questions.

UPDATE: The official Israeli statement on Qana, including video of Hezbollah firing from behind residential buildings.

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Qana -- And Why It Doesn't Matter

With the dawn come reports of the deaths of dozens of Lebanese, many of them children, as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese village of Qana.

At least 60 civilians were killed on Sunday after the IAF fired missiles at buildings in the southern Lebanse twon of Qana.

Some 35 bodies have been recovered from a building that collapsed, but more were still stuck under the rubble, Lebanon's official news agency reported.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the area was a focal point for the firing of Katyusha rockets on Kiryat Shmona and Afula. He said that from the outset of the conflict "hundreds of rockets have been fired from the Qana area."

Olmert stressed that there was no IDF policy of targeting innocent civilians, as opposed to Hizbullah that has launched rockets "with the aim of murdering innocent civilians in northern Israel."

On one level, I feel shock and outrage. I am truly saddened by the deaths of civilians. But my anger is directed not at the Israelis, but at the Hezbollah cowards who have been hiding in and attacking from civilian areas in an attempt to protect themselves and gain a propaganda victory from the deaths of the civilians they put in harms way. It has not been that long since I posted photos that clearly demonstrate that Hezbollah tactic, and the condemnation of the jihadi group by a UN official for doing so.

Yet on another level, I am not at all troubled by these casualties. Lebanon allows Hezbollah to operate freely within its borders. It has a role in the government. It is among the largest employers in Lebanon. Indeed, the Lebanese president has even hinted that he might have the Lebanese Army join forces with the jihadis of the Party of (the false god) Allah against the Israelis who have responded to repeated attacks upon civilian targets from within Lebanon. The Lebanese government has allowed this terrorist menace to flourish, and now all of Lebanon must pay the price -- even if that price involves civilian casualties.

I need go no further back in history than WWII, "the good war". In that conflict, which was certainly an example of what one would call "total war", the casualties of the Axis aggressors were high -- and included many civilians who found themselves in harm's way due to the misdeeds of their government. While American and British casualties were under 1% of their respective populations, the Japanese suffered over 3% casualties, including the deaths of many civilians in the conventional bombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Germany suffered the loss of over 10% of its population, including many to the relentless bombing campaigns of the Allies in places like Dresden. And yet no one with an ounce of moral decency would argue that those deaths were unjustified, unnecesary, or disproportionate. Indeed, they were tragic, but they were also a necessary part of bringing about a speedy victory with far fewer casualties on both sides than would otherwise have been needed.

If Israel were to adopt the model used by the Allies in WWII, much of Lebanon would be flattened by now. Even if the much more restrained model used by America in Vietnam were employed, the civilian casualties would be much higher due to the carpet-bombing of entire sectors where the enemy is operating. Israel has not done that at all, and has sought to limit civilian casualties even when it puts Israeli troops at risk.

The events at Qana raise the specter of history repeating itself.

Ten years ago, Israel was forced to suspend Operation Grapes of Wrath against Hizbullah after artillery shells accidentally killed over 100 Lebanese refugees in the same village.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and insisted on an investigation into the Qana attack.

The withdrawal a decade ago in the face of world outrage allowed Hezbollah to regroup, rearm, and recruit a new generation of jihadis -- those who fight today. The earlier withdrawal following a tragedy in Qana can in fact be seen as the beginning of a chain of events which gave rise to the current war. Will the same mistake be made today?

War, as General Sherman told us long ago, is Hell. One part of that Hell is that unintended civilian deaths occur -- especially when one side hides among the non-combattants. And yet that cannot be the basis for putting an end to a just fight or accepting a cease-fire that allows the aggressor to regroup and continue its attacks at a later date. Terrorism must not be allowed to succeed; terrorists must not be allowed a strategic victory. Israel must continue its battle against the jihadis of Hezbollah -- not just for its own security, but also for that of Lebanon, the Middle East, and the world as a whole.

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July 29, 2006

Yes, Hezbollah Does Use Civilians To Shield Their Attacks

I keep hearing by email from my old troll, Ken, about how Israel is intentionally attacking innocent civilians and that it is a lie that Hezbollah is attacking from within civilian neighborhoods.

I'm willing to bet that photographic evidence to the contrary won't convince him, but it may have an effect on rational people.

hezbollahinthehood1.jpg

THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.

The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.

The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

hezbollahinthehood2.jpg

The article also mentions additional photos not available from the website at this time. I'll keep checking to see if I can get them elsewhere.

Another depicts the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block blown up in an Israeli air attack.

The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated.

"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.

"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.

"It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."

The release of the images comes as Hezbollah faces criticism for allegedly using innocent civilians as "human shields".

What's more, even officials from the UN -- an organization which rarely has anything good to say about Israel and which rarely speaks out against the jihadis who attack it -- have spoken out against the Hezbollah practice of hiding among civilians.

Mr Egeland [Jan Egeland, United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator] blasted Hezbollah as "cowards" for operating among civilians.

"When I was in Lebanon, in the Hezbollah heartland, I said Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending in among women and children," he said.

So let's make it clear -- these allegations against Hezbollah are not "Zionist lies and propaganda to justify the murder of civilians by Israel", but are instead documented facts that clearly lay the responsibility for civilian casualties at the feet of the cowardly jihadi terrorists.

MORE AT Captain's Quarters, Flopping Aces, FullosseousFlap, Strata-Sphere

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Care Packages For Israel

We've all heard of groups sending care packages to American soldiers, both those deployed and the wounded soldiers who have returned to this country. Many of us have participated in fundraising activities for such projects, and have personally sent care packages to troops. From time to time I've placed lnks to such groups on my site.

But I've wondered over the last few weeks if anyone was sending support packages to Israeli soldiers during this time of war. Literally by accident, I stumbled across this company, Israel-Catalog.com that is doing so, and so I offer it up to you if you are interested.

tal-shahar06TalShahar-245x60.gif

They also have made available Support Israeli Children Packages containing toys and candy for Israeli children who have had to spend many hours in bomb shelters due to Hezbollah rocket attacks on the civilian population of Israel.

I encourage you, if you are so moved, to consider an act of charity and love directed towards the Israeli people as they defend themselves from the direct attacks of the Hezbollah jihadi terrorists.

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The Seattle Terrorist

A number of interesting facts -- some of them quite disturbing -- have emerged about the lone jihadi coward who killed one woman and wounded five others (two of them pregnant) at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on Friday.

When it comes right down to it, though, I've got to fisk this article on the subject from the New York Times. Elements of it are beyond belief.

A day after a gunman killed one woman and wounded five others in the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, the police identified a Muslim man on Saturday as the suspect and said he used the Internet to select the federation as a random target for his anger toward Jews.

I guess I'm confused by this -- if he spent time on the internet looking for a Jewish organization to shoot-up, how can this be described as a random target? It seems he carefully calculated what target would get teh most exsposure and cause the biggest bang. If it were trulyy random, he would have hit the nearest synagogue or Goldberg's Deli, not a major Jewish organization some distance from his home. Or he might have hit the office of the Israeli Consul General or the El-Al counter at Sea-Tac Airport -- though I'm sure he realized that at either of those locations he would likely end up in a puddle of blood on the floor. No, this seems to have been the typical sort of high-profile, low-risk attack that cowardly jihadi swine are known to attack.

As Jewish groups across the Puget Sound region moved to increase security on Saturday, the police identified the suspect as Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, whose family lives in Pasco, in southeast Washington, about 180 miles from Seattle.

At a court hearing on Saturday, a judge ordered Mr. Haq held on $50 million bail at the King County Jail pending formal charges of murder and attempted murder, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Haq entered the courtroom in handcuffs, chains and leg shackles, and a white jail shirt that labeled him an “ultra security inmate.”

The police are treating the shooting as a hate crime based on what they say Mr. Haq told a 911 dispatcher shortly before surrendering.

“He said he wanted the United States to leave Iraq, that his people were being mistreated and that the United States was harming his people,” Chief R. Gil Kerlikowske of the Seattle Police said Saturday at a news conference. “And he pointedly blamed the Jewish people for all of these problems. He stated he didn’t care if he lived.”

Well, at least they are willing to call it a hate crime -- but that they won't call it a terrorist attack is disturbing. The political motive itself should be sufficient to get it that label. I guess someone in authority wants to be "sensitive" to the Muslims rather than the Jewish community which was victimized here.

The chief said the gunman apparently selected the federation as a target by randomly searching the Internet for Jewish organizations in the area. The police confiscated at least three computers, he said.

Chief Kerlikowske described an intense and violent scene inside the federation, with some of the 18 people present jumping out of second-story windows and one young pregnant woman crawling to call 911 after being shot in the arm as she covered her abdomen. When the gunman later encountered her on the phone with emergency dispatchers, she refused to hang up.

“She was able to get him to take the telephone,” the chief said, calling her “a hero.”

Notice how it was that this woman was shot in the arm -- she was trying to protect her unborn child (for you pro-aborts out there, that is a child, not the "product of conception" or "blob of tissue") from a jihadi who was hoping for a "two-fer Jew-fer" by aiming for her abdomen. That shows you how low on the food-chain this guy is -- he's not just a terrorist, but a would-be abortionist as well.

A neighbor of Mr. HaqÂ’s family in Pasco said Mr. Haq had spoken of Jews as recently as 10 days ago, sometimes using stereotypes about Jewish influence in the United States.

“He was saying he wasn’t trying to be racial about it but how they had control over a lot of the newscasts and things, ownership and stuff,” said the neighbor, Caleb Hales, 21.

Colleagues of the victims said the gunman had identified himself as “a Muslim-American” who was “angry at Israel.”

The A.P., citing a statement of probable cause, reported that Mr. Haq had told a 911 dispatcher, “These are Jews and I’m tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East."

I wonder where such a member of the "Religion of Peace" would get such horrible anti-Semitic stereotypes? Would it be the mosque, or the mainstream media, both of which portray Jews (and Israel in particular) as the bad actor in every situation.

The Seattle Times reported Saturday that Mr. Haq was also facing a charge of lewd conduct in Benton County, in southeast Washington, accused of exposing himself in public.

So, not only is he a jihadi terrorist, he is also a weenie-wagger. Probably trying to attract a couple of those 72 virgins on earth, since he was unwilling to try to shoot up a place where he was likely to be injured or killed.

The police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have said they believe Mr. Haq was acting alone.

The chief said the Mr. Haq “was so enraged at first” but later calmed down and followed the emergency dispatchers’ instructions to leave the building with his hands up. He surrendered to the police at the federation offices near downtown 12 minutes after the shootings were first reported to 911.

Gee -- he was enraged at first. What was your first clue? Could it be that he went on a murderous rampage against unarmed women?

The police have not released the names of the victims, all women. Three of the survivors were in serious condition on Saturday and two were in satisfactory condition, according to the media relations office at the Harborview Medical Center. They range in age from their early 20Â’s to 40Â’s and had gunshot wounds in the knee, groin, abdomen and arm. Federation officials said the woman who was killed was Pam Waechter, 58, its director of annual giving.

Federation officials identified the wounded women as Dayna Klein, 37; Cheryl Stumbo, 43; Layla Bush, 23; and Carol Goldman, 35; and Christina Rexroad, whose age was not known.

Remember those names, and keep all of them and their families in your prayers. And given that the one fatality, Ms. Waechter, was the director of annual giving, I think a donation to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle would be even more appropriate than when I suggested it on Friday.

Asked to describe her group’s general relations with area Muslim groups, Amy Wasser-Simpson, the federation’s vice president, said, “We have had no negative interactions with the Muslim community whatsoever.”

Robert S. Jacobs, regional director for the Pacific Northwest Region of the Anti-Defamation League, who knew several of the victims, said that the three with serious injuries are not Jewish, including Cheryl Stumbo, the federationÂ’s marketing director.

“These were really good, hard-working people who cared about the community and cared about their jobs,” he said.

At least the group hadn't had negative interactions with that portion of the Muslim community that rejects the extremist rhetoric that appears so common in Islam worldwide. But you have to ask how many mosques and other Muslim groups refused to ahve any interaction at all with the local Jewish community.

The gunman apparently hid behind a plant at the federationÂ’s offices and waited for someone to enter the building, and then forced his way inside at gunpoint when a teenager opened a locked door, Chief Kerlikowske said. The gunman had two semiautomatic pistols.

A half-hour before the shooting, Mr. Haq was ticketed for a minor traffic infraction on Third Avenue, the same street where the federation has its offices, the chief said.

So he had been hanging out, caing the site for some time. This wasn't an act of passion -- it was a premeditated assault on the most visible Jewish institution in Seattle. Again, that makes this more than a mere hate crime -- it makes it an act of terrorism.

Mr. Hales, the neighbor of Mr. Haq’s family, said he spoke with Mr. Haq on July 20,. Mr. Hales, whose family is Mormon, said Mr. Haq had talked about finding a job, perhaps in engineering. The conversation wandered, Mr. Hales said, with Mr. Haq expressing curiosity about Mr. Hales’s religion. “He told me he would stay up late up at night reading about people’s religions and cultural backgrounds,” Mr. Hales said.

I guess this was a case of "know your infidels."

His mother, Maureen Hales, said she believed that the Haqs were originally from Pakistan and that Mr. HaqÂ’s father, Mian Haq, was an engineer who worked at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Let's see -- a Pakistani engineer working at a US nuclear weapons facility. Anyone else troubled by that -- especially in light of the Pakistani development of nuclear weapons and continuing nuclear program? You have to ask how closely daddy was scruinized following the first Pakistani nuclear test. Or would giving him a closer look have been insensitive, and a case of ethnic profiling?

Also, I understand (but note that this article leaves the information out) that daddy was instrumental in founding the Seattle-area mosque the family attends (Sick Irony Alert -- the mosque is located on Bombing Range Road). In light of this act of terrorism, will this place receive appropriate scrutiny for other terrorist activity?

UPDATE: Apparently the cowardly jihadi not only targetted women, but he gained entrance to the building by holding a gun to the head of a thirteen-year-old girl. Makes you wish they would dump this pig into the general population for a few hours, doesn't it?

MORE AT Riehl World View, HyScience, InstaPundit, Michelle Malkin, Jawa Report, Unpartisan, Little Green Footballs

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Watcher's Council Results

The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are A Perspective on Tribes and Anti-Semitism by ShrinkWrapped, and Mayhem at the Defend Hizballah Rally! by Solomonia

Click here for the full results of the vote.

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Chickenhawk Palestinian Terrorist Leader Killed By Israelis

And another one's gone! And another one's gone!

Another one bites the dust!

Israeli troops killed a top leader of the radical Islamic Jihad in a West Bank raid Saturday, the group said, and the Israelis pressed ahead with their offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad said the leader of its militant wing in Nablus, Hani Awijan, 29, was killed by Israeli undercover troops. They came to arrest him while he was playing soccer with friends and relatives, the group said. Another Islamic Jihad militant was also killed.

The army confirmed soldiers operated in Nablus and said a militant was killed in an exchange of fire.

Israel Radio said Awijan was responsible for a series of attacks on Israelis. Over the past 17 months, Islamic Jihad has been responsible for all 12 suicide bombing attacks in Israel, killing 71 people.

The Palestinians treated the death of this cowardly jihadi swine as an outrage, and protested in the streets. If you want evidence that the Palestinian people lack a sufficient level of civilization to be permitted their own state, this is it.

Just as an aside, I have to note that I've yet to see a single commentator from the Left -- especially the anti-Israel Left -- call Awijan a chickenhawk for his failure to strap on one of his homicide-bomb belts and detonate himself in a crowd of civilians. Maybe it the pressing importance of his weekly soccer game seemed more important to him. I guess that term is reserved for those who dare to oppose terrorism as the murder of innocents, but the terrorists themselves get a free pass from those who whose political beliefs, in their heart of hearts, really support the violent jihad of the terrorist murderers.

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Student Metaphors

Having read too many student papers over the year, I find this list of student metaphors from Funny Emails exquisite -- because like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

* Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two other sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

* His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a tumble dryer.

* The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldnÂ’t.

* McMurphy fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a paper bag filled with vegetable soup.

* Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.

* Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the centre.

* Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

* He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.

* The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

* Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left York at 6:36 p.m. travelling at 55 mph, the other from Peterborough at 4:19p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

* The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the full stop after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.

* John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

* The thunder was ominous sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.

* The red brick wall was the colour of a brick-red crayon.

* Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long it had rusted shut.

* Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

* The plan was simple, like my mate Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

* The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for while.

* “Oh, Jason, take me!” she panted, her breasts heaving like a student on 31p-a-pint night.

* He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a landmine or something.

* Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.”

* She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

* The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a lamppost.

* The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wifeÂ’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free cashpoint.

* The dandelion swayed in the gentle breeze like an oscillating electric fan set on medium.

* It was a working class tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with their power tools.

* He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a dustcart reversing.

* She was as easy as the Daily Star crossword.

* She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature British beef.

* She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.

* Her voice had that tense, grating quality, like a first-generation thermal paper fax machine that needed a band tightened.

* It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.

Some day I'll have to tell you folks about some of my most memorable papers -- the ones that, years later, I still remember and talk about because of the insights they gave me into students (or myself).

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A Family Tradition Of Service Continues

I'm not a big fan of Senator John McCain, but I do respect the long tradition of service to our nation that the McCain family has demonstrated over the years.

That tradition continues today.

The youngest son of Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam and a vocal proponent of more American troops in Iraq, will soon report for duty in the Marine Corps, Time Magazine reported today.

Jimmy McCain, 18, will spend three months in boot camp in California this autumn and another month in specialized training.

Depending on his unit, the younger McCain could eventually wind up in Iraq where Marines have experienced heavy fighting, Time reported. Marines are also in combat in Afghanistan.

"I'm obviously very proud of my son," McCain told Time, "but also understandably a little nervous."

Jimmy's older brother, Jack, attends the Naval Academy.

Semper fi, young man. May God watch over you and those with whom you serve.

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By Military Brats, For Military Brats

I've mentioned once or twice that I grew up in a Navy family. While we did not move as often as many of my fellow military brats (we both actually attended the same high school for all four years -- something virtually unheard of among brats), my brother and I both lived our lives in a very special sub-culture that most folks just don't get. I therefore found this article about a new magazine caled Military Brats.

The first 250,000 copies of Military Brats was distributed free through 258 commissaries worldwide and began disappearing almost as soon as they were put out, said Robert Hansgen, a spokesman for the U.S. Defense Commissary Agency.

"That's a sure sign that it filled a need that people had," said Janice Witte, director of the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Children and Youth. "There are lots of publications out there for military personnel over age 18 but there isn't really anything that's really connected to the military for our youth."

Misty Burris noticed the void, too. So while she and her husband, now retired Army Staff Sgt. Sean Burris, were driving cross-country three years ago from California to Fort Drum, Burris wrote out a detailed business plan for a military youth magazine.

"We hear all these stories about how military morale is down in these difficult times. I thought the way to fix that is to start with the kids. If the kids are happy, everybody's happy," said Burris, who formed a company, Littlefoot Publishing, Inc., to produce the magazine.

The two hardest things for us brats have always been the uprooting and the deployments. I remember the fear I had every time my father's ship left port -- and when he was stationed in Saigon during the Vietnam War. I see the same fear in the eyes of my students with deployed family members -- mostly the children of reservists, who weren't raised with the expectation that mom or dad would ever be in a war zone.

I think this mgazine is a great idea, and i hope it is successful in every sense of the word.

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Why Bother?

burqaphoto.jpg

Seems like an exercise in futility to me.

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Jefferson Wins Phyrric Victory

Some folks are no doubt outraged by this decision. I'm not, and I'll tell you why -- it appears to me that the appellate court has already implicitly ruled against Jefferson on the issue of privilege.

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that prosecutors may not examine documents seized from Rep. William J. Jefferson's Capitol Hill office until the congressman has a chance to review them for privileged legislative materials.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the Justice Department to copy the seized materials and show them to Jefferson. The Louisiana Democrat will have two days to go through them and submit any challenges. A district judge will determine whether challenged materials relate to legislative activity and should be withheld from investigators.

Now think about this one for a moment -- this means that the concept of a broad claim of privilege for the everything seized by the FBI is most likely out the window. After all, if the judges were going to rule that way, there would be no need to duplicate everything for Jefferson to review and assert specific claims of privilege. What this seems to mean is that the appeals court is going to rule the search warrant valid, the seizure of materials constitutional, and then consider the possibility that some smaller portion of the seized material might fall under the Speech and Debate Clause or other specific instances of congressional privilege. In other words, Jefferson (and the Congressional leadership that has backed him) have lost before they even walk into the courtroom.

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July 28, 2006

More Hezbollah Tactics

So when you hear that Israelis are attacking mosques, you will have an understanding of why.

At least 13 Israeli soldiers have been injured in an ongoing gun battle that broke out Wednesday in Bint Jbeil, the Hezbollah capital in Lebanon.

The latest wave of fighting broke out when Hezbollah militants fired on Golani Brigade soldiers and then fell back into a nearby mosque and opened fire from within the building, ynetnews.com reported.

Got that, folks? The jihadis are using mosques as fortified positions to attack the Israelis. That makes any such mosque a legitimate military target, which may be razed to the ground if necessary to wipe out the enemy position.

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Ramsey Clark: Impeach Bush For Supporting Israel

Johnson malAdministration relic Ramsey Clark wants to make foreign policy issues the basis for impeachment.

Clark claimed that U.S. funding to Israel, which is battling Hizballah terrorists in southern Lebanon, is grounds for impeaching President Bush. "If we'd acted on impeachment before now, Lebanon wouldn't be subjected to this misery," said Clark at the National Press Club Thursday. "If we fail to act now, who is next?"

The National Council of Arab-Americans, Partnership for Civil Justice, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, and the ANSWER Coalition are partnering to show their dissent of U.S.-Israeli policy in a march planned near the White House on Aug. 12.

"It is important to let the people of Lebanon and the people of Palestine know that even though the Bush administration speaks in our name -- spending our tax dollars to fund and finance these wars both in Iraq and in Lebanon -- it does so without the consent of the American people," said Brian Becker, national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition.

If, of course, one defines the American people as consisting entirely of members of the National Council of Arab-Americans, Partnership for Civil Justice, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, and the ANSWER Coalition. Polling data of the American public at large says something different.

(H/T Strata-Sphere)

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Houston For Israel Family Rally

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Terrorist Attack In Seattle?

Certainly a hate crime, given that the murderer targetted the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle because he was upset about events in Israel.

One person was killed and at least five other people were wounded by gunshots Friday afternoon at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and one person was arrested, police said.

A SWAT team was searching the building, looking for any other victims, anyone hiding or any other possible shooters, police spokesman Rich Pruitt said.

Seattle Fire Department medics told The Seattle Times that the victims include two women. One woman was shot in the abdomen. The other woman is described as 17 weeks pregnant and was shot in an arm. They were taken to Harborview Medical Center. Three other victims have also been seen arriving Harborview. Police say there could be as many as seven wounded in all.

Police say they've arrested one person and were looking for another alleged suspect, but now believe there was just one shooter.

Police blocked off several city blocks to investigate.

Several witnesses said they saw a man walk up and shoot a woman in the leg on a sidewalk near the building. One witness, who refused to give his name, said that shooting was just outside a nearby Starbucks. There was a small pool of blood outside that coffee shop.

Another witness says the gunman then walked into the Jewish Center and said he was upset about what was going on in Israel. He then pulled out a gun and started shooting, the witnesses said.

Police say the gunman then called 911 from inside the building to say what he had done and where to find him. When police arrived, the gunman surrendered, police say.

The perp's name has not yet been released to the public. Who wants to wager that he is either Arab or Muslim?

To contribute to help this fine organization, click here or send donations to:

The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
2031 Third Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121

UPDATE: And the answer is --

terroristarrestedseattle.jpg

Sources told KING 5 the suspect is a 31-year-old Pakistani man with a criminal background. He is from the Pasco but his citizenship status or how long he has lived in the United States is unknown. Also unknown is what sort of criminal record he has. Officials are on the way to the Pasco to interview his family.

FBI spokesman David Gomez said officials believe the suspect acted alone and is not affiliated with a foreign organization.

According to the Seattle Times, a man got through security at the Jewish Federation and told staff members, "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry at Israel," then began shooting, according to Amy Wasser-Simpson, the vice president for planning and community services for the Jewish Federation.

The perp also indicated he was acting because he wanted American-made weapons out of Lebanon.

So it seems we have a lone jihadi of Pakistani heritage out murdering Jews because he is angry at Israel. What did I tell you above?

Unfortunately, the FBI is clueless on the matter.

"We believe it's a lone individual acting out his antagonism," said David Gomez, who heads the FBI's counterterrorism efforts in Seattle.

Authorities did not release any details about the alleged gunman and would not discuss possible motives.

"There's nothing to indicate that it's terrorism related," Gomez said. "But we're monitoring the entire situation."

Not terrorism related? This is an act of terrorism, whether it was committed by a member of a terrorist organization or was the work of a free-range jihadi acting alone.

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Bolton Slaps Down Kerry

Do you want evidence of why John Kerry should never be president? Expose the Left has it for you, from the Bolton Confirmation hearing.

SENATOR JOHN KERRY: This has been going on for five years, Mr. Ambassador.

AMBASSADOR JOHN BOLTON: ItÂ’s the nature of multi-lateral negotiations, Senator.

KERRY: Why not engage in a bilateral one and get the job done? ThatÂ’s what the Clinton administration did.

BOLTON: Very poorly, since the North Koreans violated the agreed framework almost from the time it was signed.

That Kerry would hold up one of Clinton's (numerous) foreign policy failures as an example of how the US should conduct itself in the international word should make all but the moonbattiest of Americans glad he lost in 2004.

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July 27, 2006

It's Called Capitalism, Bitches!

And I guess some folks either don't get it or just plain hate it.

After all, how else can you explain this ignorant comment at a NOW breakout session?

I gleaned the startling information that the "merchant of shame"--i.e., Wal-Mart--"seeks to dominate the retail industry through customer acquisition."

In othr words -- they are trying to get more people to shop with them than their competitors.

And this is a bad thing, ladies?

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Lebanese Christians Denounce Hezbollah

And since this story is coming out of the New York Times, which has never met an anti-Israel group it didn't adore, I think it has that much more credibility. And as such, it more or less confirms points I've been making about Hezbollah tactics -- and shoots down my former troll's claims that Lebanese Christians just love Hezbollah.

The refugees from southern Lebanon spilled out of packed cars into the dark street here Thursday evening, gulping bottles of water and squinting in the glare of the headlights to find family members and friends. Many had not eaten in days. Most had not had clean drinking water for some time. There were wounded swathed in makeshift dressings, and a baby just 16 days old.

But for some of the Christians who had made it out in this convoy, it was not just privations they wanted to talk about, but their ordeal at the hands of Hezbollah — a contrast to the Shiites, who make up a vast majority of the population in southern Lebanon and broadly support the militia.

“Hezbollah came to Ain Ebel to shoot its rockets,” said Fayad Hanna Amar, a young Christian man, referring to his village. “They are shooting from between our houses.”

“Please,’’ he added, “write that in your newspaper.”

And since they are launching rockets from the middle of civilian neighborhoods -- and Christian neighborhoods in particular -- where do the Israelis have to attack in order to defend themselves? Those same neighborhoods. And what are teh targets of hezbollah? The civilian population of Israel. As a result, Hezbollah bears responsibility for ALL civilian casualties, regardless of whose munitions cause those casualties.

And please consider that some of the casualties among the Lebanese Christians are directly inflicted by hezbollah.

Many Christians from Ramesh and Ain Ebel considered HezbollahÂ’s fighting methods as much of an outrage as the Israeli strikes. Mr. Amar said Hezbollah fighters in groups of two and three had come into Ain Ebel, less than a mile from Bint Jbail, where most of the fighting has occurred. They were using it as a base to shoot rockets, he said, and the Israelis fired back.

One woman, who would not give her name because she had a government job and feared retribution, said Hezbollah fighters had killed a man who was trying to leave Bint Jbail.

“This is what’s happening, but no one wants to say it” for fear of Hezbollah, she said.

QUite right -- expecially the United Nations and the "international community", which wants to have this all play out by the same old script. You know the one.

Act I Jihadi terrorists murder Israelis.
Act II Israelis engage in a defensive response.
Act III Jihadis claim victim status.
Act IV Israel condemned as unjust aggressor.
Act V Israel gives in to international pressure to be nice.

But the reality is that the conflict and the casualties are not instigated by the Israelis, who have shown an incredible desire to seek peace with their neighbors and a serious willingness to compromise to achiev that end. Rather, it is those who hide behind civilians to launch cowardly attacks -- to the point of preventing civilian evacuations -- whose actions must be condemned. Sadly, the UN lacks the stomach to do so.


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Nazi Aircraft Carrier Wreck Found

I've never been a big student of WWII naval history -- the era of sailing ships is much more interesting to me. As a result, I never knew that the German Navy had only one aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin. In fact, I was so unaware of that part of the war that I first clicked on this article believing that it had to do with the great German airship, sister to the Hindenberg. I'm glad about my mistake.

Poland's Navy said Thursday that it has identified a sunken shipwreck in the Baltic Sea as almost certainly being Nazi Germany's only aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin — a find that promises to shed light on a 59-year-old mystery surrounding the ship's fate.

The Polish oil company Petrobaltic discovered the shipwreck earlier this month on the sea floor about 38 miles north of the northern port city of Gdansk.

Suspecting it could be the wreckage of the Graf Zeppelin, the Polish Navy sent out a hydrographic survey vessel on Tuesday, said Lt. Cmdr. Bartosz Zajda, a spokesman for the Polish Navy.

"We are 99 percent sure — even 99.9 percent — that these details point unambiguously to the Graf Zeppelin," said Dariusz Beczek, the Navy commander of the vessel, the ORP Arctowski, said soon after returning to port Thursday morning after the two-day expedition.

During their time at sea, naval experts used a remote-controlled underwater robot and sonar photographic and video equipment to gather digital images of the 850-foot-long ship, Zajda said.

"The analyses of the sonar pictures and the comparison to historical documents show that it is the Graf Zeppelin," Zajda told The Associated Press.

The ship never saw combat, and was last seen in 1947, when it was in Soviet control. The ship was sunk on August 16, 1947, during Soviet exercises to determine tactics for sinking American carriers.


I suppose this helps explain why most of the great naval battles of the war took place in the Pacific and involved the Japanese fleet.

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Hezbollah Stages Civilian Casualties

But then again, what else do you expect from a group that hides behind women and children -- and UN facilities? Why not use ambulances for propaganda purposes?

A CNN reporter has exposed tactics used by Hizbullah terrorists to stage media events in order to give the impression of a large number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli bombing attacks on terrorist position, according to a report issued by the Honest Reporting organization.

Rich Noyes said he was assigned to photograph buildings damaged in the bombings. "After letting us take pictures of a few damaged buildings, they take us to another location, where there are ambulances waiting. This is a heavily orchestrated Hezbollah media event. When we got here, all the ambulances were lined up," and the drivers turned on their sirens and sped away for photographers. "These ambulances aren't responding to any new bombings. The sirens are strictly for effect," Noyes said.

It sort of makes you wonder how many civilian casualties there really are -- and what was really in these ambulances. It also may help understand allegations of Israeli attacks on ambulances.


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A Much Needed Suit

We can argue about some of the suits brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act and whether or not they are valid. Some are clearly a racked, intended to make money for professional plaintiffs. But this suit against the University of Houston is not only appropriate, but is designed to overcome discriminatory policies that effectively prevent the disabled from obtaining an education.

After all, how can you possibly justify a policy that allows a professor to reject any accommodations for a student with a handicap?

Gary Bradford, 42, of Baytown, who also suffers from rickets, watched from his wheelchair as his lawyer handed university General Counsel Dona Hamilton a copy of a lawsuit seeking to change a policy that allowed a professor to refuse his request for someone to help him take notes.

The lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt to strike down a policy that allows professors at the university the choice of whether to comply with special requests for assistance from disabled students.

"We want to teach (professors) that the school writes their paychecks and they are going to have to accommodate students," said Bradford. He is not seeking monetary damages.

The defendants in the lawsuit are the board of regents, several administrators and a professor.

Bradford — who was born without arms, his hands attached to his shoulders — said he is a vocalist and wanted to complete about 20 hours of course work needed for a bachelor's in music.

He enrolled at UH in the Fall of 2005 and the school's Academic Accommodations Evaluations Committee and Center for Students with Disabilities recommended assistance with note-taking and extended time for taking tests, the lawsuit says. Bradford, who uses two sticks to type, should also be allowed to use a computer for essays and essay exams, the school recommended.

Professors in all classes but one allowed a teaching assistant to take notes for Bradford, he said. But the professor who taught a writing-intensive social sciences course that was required for graduation refused to give Bradford her notes or a copy of a slide presentation during a lecture, according to the lawsuit.

The four teaching assistants assigned to the class refused to take notes for Bradford, the lawsuit says.

He appealed to the head of the Educational Psychology Department and was told that the decision whether to accommodate him was left to the professor.

Good grief! Refusing to permit as simple an accommodation as note-taking? Refusing to provide a print-out of a Power-Point presentation? And in the educational psychology department, which I presume is at least loosely affiliated with the College of Education and therefore ought to be especially conscious of legal mandates in education! Such callous disregard for and rejection of such simple accommodations is beyond the pale.

Now I realize that college is different from high school, which is the level on which I teach. But given that professorial workloads are generally significantly lighter than mine, I can see no excuse for this.

Good luck, Mr. bradford. I hope you ask for the professor in question -- and her teaching assistants -- to be drummed out of education. They d not belong.

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This Is Why Our Policy On Gays In The Military Is Stupid

When you have someone with needed skills and a desire to serve, something extraneous like sexual orientation should not be a bar. After all, this man had four years of exemplary service.

A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, though he says he never told his superiors he was gay and his accuser was never identified.

Bleu Copas, 30, told The Associated Press he is gay, but said he was "outed" by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

In other words, he wasn't trying to make a statement -- he was trying to serve his county.

Indeed, this is a case where the command did ask -- in violation of military regulations.

Shortly after Copas was appointed to the 82nd Airborne's highly visible All-American Chorus last May, the first e-mail came to the chorus director.

"The director brought everyone into the hallway and told us about this e-mail they had just received and blatantly asked, 'Which one of you are gay?'" Copas said.

Copas later complained to the director and his platoon sergeant, saying the questions violated "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

"They said they would watch it in the future," Copas said. "And they said, even specifically then, 'Well, you are not gay are you?' And I said, 'no.'"

The accuser, who signed his e-mails "John Smith" or "ftbraggman," pressed Copas' superiors to take action against him or "I will inform your entire battalion of the information that I gave you."

On Dec. 2, investigators formally interviewed Copas and asked if he understood the military's policy on homosexuals, if he had any close acquaintances who were gay, and if he was involved in community theater. He answered affirmatively.

But Copas declined to answer when they asked, "Have you ever engaged in homosexual activity or conduct?" He refused to answer 19 of 47 questions before he asked for a lawyer and the interrogation stopped.

My question is why the Army even takes notice of anonymous accusations of this sort -- and what possible relevance involvement in community theater would have to do with sexual orientation.

But if anecdotal evidence doesn;t prove taht the policy is flawed, consider the statistics that show it.

More than 11,000 service members have been dismissed under the policy, including 726 last year _ an 11 percent jump from 2004 and the first increase since 2001.

That's less than a half-percent of the more than 2 million soldiers, sailors and Marines dismissed for all reasons since 1993, according to the General Accountability Office.

But the GAO also noted that nearly 800 dismissed gay or lesbian service members had critical abilities, including 300 with important language skills. Fifty-five were proficient in Arabic, including Copas, a graduate of the Defense Language Institute in California.

Discharging and replacing them has cost the Pentagon nearly $369 million, according to the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

So when that vital piece of intelligence is not translated, or some other critical task is not accomplished, remembr that it could have been -- if only patriotic Americans were allowed to serve regardless of their sexuality.

After all, this isn't about special rights or political correctness -- it is about national security.

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Why Were The UN Observers Hit?

The unfortunate deaths of four UN observers in Lebanon were used as an opportunity for the UN's chief Israel-hater, Secretary general Kofi Annan, to launch a verbal assault on the Isralie, claiming the attack was intentional. And at least one press account has tried to make it appear that the UN monitors were targetted.

PEACEKEEPERS spent six hours begging Israeli commanders to halt multiple air bombings near a United Nations observation post before a missile killed four unarmed observers there, it emerged last night.

UN officials said that the monitors made ten phone calls to the Israeli army between 1.20pm on Tuesday — when an Israeli aircraft dropped a bomb 300 metres from the patrol base — and about 7.20pm, when the building was destroyed.

The details came to light as Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, condemned what he called an “apparently deliberate targeting” of the well- documented UN position that had stood in Khiam, southern Lebanon, for 50 years.

I won't get into the fact that if the peacekeeprs have been there for half a century, they have done a very poor job, given the continued attacks on Israel from south Lebanon. Rather, I will point to specific issues that raise doubt about the targetting the UN ooutpost. Rather, the Israelis were after legitimate Hezbollah targets in the same area.

Not that it is easy to distinguish UN and Hezbollah positions, as this photo clearly demonstrates.

flags.jpg

As one of the dead observers -- a Canadia -- noted in an email the day before his death, Hezbollah was operating in the area of the post which was hit.

An apparent discrepancy in the portrayal of events surrounding the deaths of four unarmed U.N. observers in Lebanon threatens to unravel Secretary-General Annan's initial accusation that Israel "deliberately" targeted the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

A Canadian U.N. observer, one of four killed at a UNIFIL position near the southern Lebanese town of Khiyam on Tuesday, sent an e-mail to his former commander, a Canadian retired major-general, Lewis MacKenzie, in which he wrote that Hezbollah fighters were "all over" the U.N. position, Mr. MacKenzie said. Hezbollah troops, not the United Nations, were Israel's target, the deceased observer wrote.

Now UN spokespeople have tried to argue that there was no firing of from the vicinity of the destroyed post on the day of its destruction, but that is a rather disingenuous position to take. Are the Israelis only to attack active Hezbollah positions? Or are any Hezbollah positions legitimate targets? The answer is obvious -- any Hezbollah position is fair game in this war that the terrorists started. And if the UN is allowing Hezbollah to opperate in and around UN outposts, then it is an unfortunate reality that there will be attacks in the area. Place the blame where it belongs -- on Hezbollah and the UN, not the Israelis, who are engaged in a legitimate operation to ensure their own security.

UNIFIL press releases even confirm Hezbollah's strategy of using UN personnel as shields for their attacks on Israel.

Read the UNIFIL press releases for yourself to learn that Hezbollah has not just shot at and seriously wounded UNIFIL observers - without any protest from Kofi Annan or The Age. YouÂ’ll also learn that UNIFIL has repeatedly reported Israeli shelling and bombing near UNIFIL outposts because Hezbollah fighters were shooting from right beside them .

Says the UNIFIL press release of 20 July:

Hezbollah firing was also reported from the immediate vicinity of the UN positions in Naquora and Maroun Al Ras areas at the time of the incidents (of Israeli return fire).

Tell me -- where were Kofi Annan's calls for Hezbollah to cease using UN positions as a shield for their attacks on Israel? There were none -- because the anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist Annan considers any tactic used to attack Israel and kill Jews to be a legitimate one. And this is not a new tactic -- for years, hezbollah and hamas have used refugee camps and other civilian populations as shields. Remember the uproar when the Israelis hit a refugee camp some years back? What was generally uncommented upon was that Hamas was firing from just beyond the boundaries of that camp -- realizing that any Israeli response would likely cause civilian casualties, bringing instant condemnation upon Israel.

But then again, why would anyone expect Hezbollah to have any sense of decency, given its long history of Jew-killing jihad? After all, this is the same group responsible for this little attrocity.

The Shiite terrorist group has erected a billboard facing Israel on which it placed enlarged photos showing mutilated Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon.

Yes, hezbollah even desecrates teh dead and proclaims its disgusting actions to the world.

And some of these dead are israeli soldiers kidnapped from across the border.

Just like the kidnappings that touched off this latest war.

Now whose fault is this conflict, and these deaths?

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Irony, Thy Name Is Dean

John over at Right Wing News snagged this from Drudge.

drudgefunny.jpg

Maybe the good doctor can start by resigning -- or surgically removing his own tongue.

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July 26, 2006

I Missed This Whine

And I have to tell you, reading it makes me convinced that the author, American University graduate student Sui Lang Panoke, does not belong in graduate school.

Is access to graduate education in America exclusively for the upper class?

As a first-year graduate student struggling to make ends meet, I believe the answer is yes. In my experience, searching for funding to pay the extensive costs of my higher education has been an upward climb leading only to dead ends.

I am a single mother who qualifies for the maximum amount in federal aid for graduate students. But this amount barely covers my tuition; paying for housing, books and living expenses is up to me.

I have no college fund, trust or inheritance. I don't independently qualify for private student loans because I lack the substantial credit or employment history that is required, and I do not have the luxury of having a willing and eligible co-signer. Furthermore, I can work only part-time jobs while in school; otherwise I would not qualify for child-care assistance.

Well, you could do what I did -- get a graduate assistanship and WORK your way through graduate school. While I did get some assistance from my parents, i don't come from wealth -- my father was a just-retired military officer and my mother a housewife.

I can't help but notice the little detail you include that reveals the true problem you have. It is single parenthood. Had you kept your knees tightly together, you wouldn't have a child and you would be able to make your way through graduate school on a significantly tighter budget. But you don't want to focus on that issue, because it might mean that some of the blame for your financial issues might bounce back on YOU, dear.

But of course, you see yourself as a victim of a government that has lost sight of what you view as its proper role.

We are failing to redistribute the wealth in America, and the divide between the upper and lower classes is widening. It's clear that a federal need-based grant program for graduate students must be created. This would help level the playing field by creating access to graduate programs for students -- access based on merit and ambition rather than economic resources.

Sorry, girlfriend, but the role of the government is not the redistribution of wealth. Since you are seeking a degree in public administration, you might be familiar with a document called the United States Constitution. If you read it, you might note that it sets out a number of tasks for the federal government -- and redistributing wealth is not one of those tasks. So you clearly don't know enough to even be in graduate school in your field -- and might I add, it certainly explains why you haven't gotten any of the few scholarships you have deigned to apply for. After all, while you have ambition, you clearly fall short in the merit department.

So forget continuing as a full-time student at your high-dollar private university. Consider attending a public university -- one with a lower price tag and more financial aid opportunities.

Or perhaps you should recognize that you made a poor choice to try to balance graduate school and single parenthood -- and go out and get a job to support yourself, instead of expecting one more public dolar handout.

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Delay In Jefferson Investigation

To be honest, I cannot say I am surprised. After all, the matter is on appeal. Just as you cannot unring a bell, you also cannot unviolate a privilege -- and if by some chance the appeals court finds for jefferson, the entire investigation could be derailed if the Justice Department were permitted to proceed.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily delayed a Justice Department bribery investigation of a Louisiana congressman while he challenges the legality of an unprecedented FBI raid on his Capitol Hill office.

The decision by two members of a three-judge panel means the Justice Department cannot begin a review set to begin Wednesday of more than a dozen computer hard drives, several floppy discs and two boxes of documents seized during a May 20-21 raid on Democratic Rep. William Jefferson's Rayburn Building office.

"The purpose of this administrative injunction is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the motion for a stay pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion," wrote Judges Janice Rogers Brown and Thomas B. Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The identity of the third judge is not known.

And I think that this statement, coming from two highly respected judges, really says everything that needs to be said on the matter. We are looking at a procedural action by the court, not one based upon the merits of the case.

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A Travesty Of Justice

Andrea Yates was found not guilty of murdering her children.

It is a travesty of justice.

I am sickened beyond words.

She was tried on only three counts of murder, so I hope they go back and nail her on the other two. Hospitalization is insufficient -- and I would argue that prison doesn't constitute justice, either. If she does not merit an IV in the death chamber, no one does.

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Prayers For A Cardinal

Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, has been diagnosed with bladder cancer and will undergo surgery tomorrow.

Cardinal Francis George, spiritual leader of the nation's third largest diocese, has been diagnosed with bladder cancer and was scheduled to have his bladder removed Thursday, church officials said.

George, 69, is expected to remain hospitalized at least eight days after surgery, then recuperate at his Chicago residence for six to eight weeks, archdiocese spokeswoman Colleen Dolan said.

A full recovery is expected. Asked about the possibility of losing this battle with cancer and meeting God face-to-face, the Cardinal responded with an optimistic faith.

"The idea of meeting him is, while disquieting, is not something that I've become afraid of," he said. "I'm more afraid of the operation and the complications of life without a bladder than I am of death itself."

Indeed, the meeting of our Lord should come as a source of joy to a Christian. it is our sojourn here, as teh cardinal indicates, that is our source off worry and concern.

During Cardinal George's convalesence, the Archdiocese will be in good hand -- or perhaps I should say under the protective wings of a dbird of a different feather. The Archdiocesan Vicar general, Father John Canary, will administer the Archdiocese. Father Canary was the vice-rector of the seminary I attended, and is a good man. I wish him well.

Caring Father, send forth your healing Spirit upon your servant Francis, and speed him towards a full recovery. Grant that his doctors may do al in their power to remove the cancer and in the subsequent treatment. And strengthen Father John as he guides your church in the Chicago area during this time, that he may act with wisdom and prudence in accord with your will. And we ask this through Jesus Christ, your son. Amen.

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Ancient Book Of Psalms Found

And is there a message for us today in the verses to which this incredibly old book of Scripture was opened?

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Irish archaeologists Tuesday heralded the discovery of an ancient book of psalms by a construction worker while driving the shovel of his backhoe into a bog.

The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.

"This is really a miracle find," said Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum of Ireland, which has the book stored in refrigeration. Researchers will conduct years of painstaking analysis before putting the book on public display.

"There's two sets of odds that make this discovery really way out," Wallace said. "First of all, it's unlikely that something this fragile could survive buried in a bog at all, and then for it to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is incalculably more amazing."

It was discovered by accident, really, by an engineer digging in a bog, with the peat to become potting soil.

And perhaps most interesting is the place to which the book is open -- a very topical spot, given world events.

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The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.

The enemies of Israel failed in ancient days, and they will fail in the present day as well, for God is faithful.

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Israeli Peace Activist: This War Justified

I wonder what the supporters of terrorism are going to make of this column by Zeev Avrahami, a well-known Israeli peace activist? Actually, no I don't -- for most of them he's just one more Israeli Jew to them, and so his opinion only matters if it opposes Israel and its existance.

But to those who have qualms about the current war but still retain a sense of moral decency, I urge you to consider this.

Today, I am convinced that Israel is fighting a justified war. Far from being an "optional war," this conflict was forced upon us. There is a feeling that every positive step taken in recent years has been answered by punishment. Now we are prepared to do whatever it takes to turn Israel into a safe place, even if this means invading Lebanon once again. We also want to sip coffee and play backgammon. We've had enough of rockets from the north and south and suicide bombers from everywhere. We also want to lead a normal life, just like the people in New York, Berlin or Rome who don't have to look up every time a stranger enters their favorite cafe.

We pulled out of Gaza and we have no desire to be pulled back in. We want to go to work, study, raise a family, enjoy the beach, and eat hummus as we watch with delight how the Palestinians use the money they get from around the world to build their own infrastructure, to create jobs allowing them to go to the beach, raise families, and eat hummus. We prayed for hummus and instead we got Hamas.

As the threats come from all fronts and with the backing of Syria and Iran, we are once again faced with our unique reality: We have no place to go. Ask my mother. She was expelled from Iran in 1957 for being Jewish. Now, the Iranians want to force her to migrate again.

I am bothered by the high Lebanese death toll as are most Israelis, but we must also remember that Hezbollah set the tone for this conflict when it asked for hundreds of people in exchange for one Israeli soldier. This war was declared against us and against the Western world. With oil prices rising daily, it's an economic war. With anger still lingering after the Muhammad cartoons, it is a cultural war. Most of all, though, it is a war against a progressive world, and Israel has turned back the clock 24 years to fight it.

I too am turning back the clock. Eighteen years after finishing my military service -- almost two decades after swearing that I would never again wear a uniform -- I called the Israeli consulate in New York and gave them my phone number. If the army needed me, I told them, I would be the first on a plane back to Israel. And Sharon, of course, has still not woken from his coma. But I miss him.

Welcome back to sanity, Zeev -- I congratulate you on recognizing the true face of your nation's enemies.

(H/T Captain's Quarters)

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July 25, 2006

Garfield Assassination Exhibit

When one thinks of presidential assassinations, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy spring rapidly to mind. If one thinks a little harder, you might also remember that Teddy Roosevelt became president following the assassination of President William McKinley. But the fourth president felled by an assassin's bullet, James A. Garfield, is often overlooked by Americans. No wonder, for he had been president for less than four months when he was shot by Charles Guiteau, and died an agonizing eighty days later.

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Now an exhibit has opened at the National Museum of Health and Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center examining the medical treatment received by President Garfield. At the time, 1881, medicine was a changing field in the United States, and it is generally accepted by historians that Garfield's doctors, not his assailant, killed him.

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Garfield was waiting at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, about to leave for New England, when he was shot twice by the assassin, Charles J. Guiteau.

The first bullet grazed GarfieldÂ’s arm, said Lenore Barbian, anatomical collections curator for the museum. But the second struck him in the right side of the back and lodged deep in the body.

“No one expected Garfield to live through the night,” Dr. Barbian said.

As the display makes clear, the second bullet pierced GarfieldÂ’s first lumbar vertebra, crossing from right to left.

At the time, however, without the benefit of modern diagnostics, Garfield’s doctors could not determine the location of the bullet. “Trying to understand its pathway became their primary concern,” Dr. Barbian said.

At least a dozen medical experts probed the presidentÂ’s wound, often with unsterilized metal instruments or bare hands, as was common at the time.

Sterile technique, developed by the British surgeon Joseph Lister in the mid-1860Â’s, was not yet widely appreciated in the United States, although it was accepted in France, Germany and other parts of Europe. Historians agree that massive infection, which resulted from unsterile practices, contributed to GarfieldÂ’s death.

Alexander Graham Bell was brought in to try to locate the bullet with one of his inventions.

The exhibit also includes an image of the metal detector designed by Alexander Graham Bell to search for the bullet. It was composed of a battery and several metal coils positioned on a wooden platform and was connected to an earpiece.

Jeffrey S. Reznick, senior curator at the museum, said the device was designed to create an electromagnetic field, which would be disrupted in the presence of a metal object. The disruption would cause the device to emit a clicking sound through the earpiece.

“Electricity and magnetism were just being appreciated as ways to explore the body’s interior,” Dr. Reznick said.

Bell’s invention failed on two occasions to pinpoint the bullet’s location. Historians say this may have been because the device picked up metal coils in the president’s mattress, or because Bell searched only on the right side of Garfield’s body, where the lead physician, Dr. Doctor Willard Bliss — Doctor was his given name — had come to believe the bullet was lodged.

In early September, the president was moved from the White House to a cottage in Elberon, N.J., on the shore.

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Garfield died in New Jersey on September 19, which, fittingly enough is the closing date of this exhibit, (it opened on July 2, the 125th anniversary of the shooting).

Interestingly enough, a similar wound today would require only a brief hospital stay.

At the autopsy, it became evident that the bullet had pierced GarfieldÂ’s vertebra but missed his spinal cord. The bullet had not struck any major organs, arteries or veins, and had come to rest in adipose tissue on the left side of the presidentÂ’s back, just below the pancreas.

Dr. Ira Rutkow, a professor of surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and a medical historian, said: “Garfield had such a nonlethal wound. In today’s world, he would have gone home in a matter or two or three days.”

One part of the exhibit is a section of Garfield's spine consisting of the 12th thoracic and 1st and 2nd lumbar vertebrae -- removed at his autopsy and passed around to the jurors as an exhibit at the trial of the assassin.

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If you would like to read more about the Garfield assassination, but not something that is a dry, scholarly tome, I am told that Sarah Vowell's Assasination Vacation contains an interesting and accessible account of the assassination and its aftermath. I'm planning to read it shortly.

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Will The Left Call Them "Theocrats"?

Probably not, because they are a part of the Letist coalition. Therefore, whatever these religious leftists do is fine.

With a faith-based agenda of their own, liberal and progressive clergy from various denominations are lobbying lawmakers, holding rallies and publicizing their positions. They want to end the Iraq war, ease global warming, combat poverty, raise the minimum wage, revamp immigration laws, and prevent "immoral" cuts in federal social programs.

Some, like the Rev. Robin Meyers of the United Church of Christ in Oklahoma, marry gay couples and seek to reduce abortions while rejecting calls by the right to outlaw them.

"I join the ranks of those who are angry because I have watched as the faith I love has been taken over by fundamentalists who claim to speak for Jesus but whose actions are anything but Christian," declared Meyers, who has written a new book, "Why the Christian Right is Wrong.

According to scholars, the religious left has become its most active since the 1960s when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other clergy -- black and white -- were key figures in the civil-rights and anti-Vietnam war movements.

Yeah, that's right -- the Left has always welcomed religious support. It's only when people of faith oppose tehm that the liberals insist that their involvement in the policy-making process is illegitimate. So much for the intellectual honesty on their part.

So the next time you hear a Leftist attacking "theo-cons" for violating "separation of Church and State", find out if he is willing to denounce Rev. Robin Meyers or Rev. Jim Wallis.

Or better yet, perhaps you can ask him about repealing a certain federal holiday that honors a certain Baptist minister-- in the name of separation of Church and State, of course.

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RIP Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl M. Brashear, USN (Ret.) -- A MAN Among Men Has Passed

Once, as a boy, I met Carl Brashear. I didn't quite understand his significance at the time, but I have come to understand it as an adult.

Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl M. Brashear, USN (Ret.), has passed away.

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He was a MAN worthy of admiration. And in death, Carl Brashear remains a MAN worthy of respect, admiration and emulation. At a time when the place of a black man in society was often subject to question, he made his way by being better than those around him. When a lesser human being might have given up and allowed himself to be defeated when life dealt him a crappy hand, he fought to overcome the obstacles placed before him.

Yes, I say it again. Carl Brashear was a MAN.

Carl M. Brashear, the first black U.S. Navy diver who was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2000 film "Men of Honor," died Tuesday. He was 75.

Brashear died at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth of respiratory and heart failure, the medical center said.

Brashear retired from the Navy in 1979 after more than 30 years of service. He was the first Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee, the result of a leg injury he sustained during a salvage operation.

"The African-American community lost a great leader today in Carl Brashear," Gooding said of the man he depicted alongside Robert DeNiro, who played Brashear's roughneck training officer in "Men of Honor." "His impact to us as a people and all races will be felt for many decades to come."

I'd like to correct Cuba Gooding -- all of America has lost a great leader and an exemplary human being. Race should not even enter into the equation, for I believe that Carl Brashear and his example transcend that trivia of skin color. That is a lesson I learned from the Navy man who raised me, and who introduced me to Carl Brashear.

Let us not forget what Brashear was doing when he sustained the injury that cost him his leg.

In 1966, Brashear was tasked with recovering a hydrogen bomb that dropped into waters off of Spain when two U.S. Air Force planes collided.

During the mission, Brashear was struck below his left knee by a pipe that the crew was using to hoist the bomb out of the water. Brashear was airlifted to a naval hospital where the bottom of his left leg was amputated to avoid gangrene. It later was replaced with a prosthetic leg.

The Navy was ready to retire Brashear from active duty, but he soon began a grueling training program that included diving, running and calisthenics.

"Sometimes I would come back from a run, and my artificial leg would have a puddle of blood from my stump. I wouldn't go to sick bay because they would have taken me out of the program," Brashear said in 2002 when he was inducted into the Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians. "Instead I'd go hide somewhere and soak my leg in a bucket of hot water with salt in it - that's an old remedy I learned growing up."

After completing 600- to 1,000-foot-deep dives while being evaluated for five weeks at the Experimental Diving Unit in Washington, D.C., Brashear became a master diver in 1970.

Would you go to such lengths in similar circumstances? More to the point, having achieved the goal of reinstatement, would you continue to excel, striving to be teh best in your field? That is the marking of a MAN.

Not only did he love what he did, Brashear had no regrets.

Despite the battles he faced in the Navy, Brashear had said his passion for military service was unyielding.

"I loved the Navy so much I once tried to get my mother to join the Navy reserves," he said with a laugh. "I would love to do it all over again."

And the tradition of service begun by Carl Brashear continues today -- his son, Philip, was granted emergency leave from his duties as an Army helicopter pilot in Iraq so that he could be with his father during his final hours on this earth.

May God, our compassionate Father, who watched over and preserved Carl Brashear in life welcome him into paradise this day, and grant him the eternal rest he so richly deserves. And may He send out his Holy Spirit to comfort the Brashear family and all who knew and loved this MAN among men. In the name of Christ Jesus we pary. Amen.

OTHER TRIBUTES: Captain's Quarters, Specific Impulse, Below the Beltway, Gantry Launchpad

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Coaches (And Presumably Teachers) Have Freedom To Pray With Students

So if students lead prayers, there is nothing to prevent a coach teacher from kneeling or bowing their head to join with them -- as long as the prayer is student-initiated and student-led.

NEWARK East Brunswick High School football coach Marcus Borden won his lawsuit against the school district today in the culmination of a dispute over the coach's role in pre-game prayer by the team.

After hearing oral arguments from Borden and school board attorney Martin Pachman in federal district court, U.S. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh ruled in Borden's favor, permitting the veteran coach to silently bow his head and "take a knee'' while his players engaged in student-initiated, student-led, nonsectarian pregame prayer.

Pachman unsuccessfully argued that Borden's request to silently bow and "take a knee'' where in violation of the First Amendment clause that prohibits government from establishing religion.

"It is a very important victory for public school teachers and coaches,'' said Borden's attorney, Ronald J. Riccio. "It reaffirms that government can't be hostile to religion, that they have to remain neutral and that not all things that partake of religion are impermissible or in violation of the establishment clause.''

In other words, as we so often say here, the right guaranteed under teh First Amendment is freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.

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