After being stolen in broad daylight back in 2004, "The Scream" has been recovered by police and will eventually be returned to public display.

"The Scream" and another stolen masterpiece by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch were recovered by police on Thursday, two years and nine days after gunmen seized the paintings from an Oslo museum.

"'The Scream' and 'Madonna' are now in police possession," police chief Iver Stensrud told a news conference. "The damage is much less than we could have feared."

He said the pictures were recovered on Thursday afternoon in "a successful police operation" but dodged questions about how it was done. He said no ransom had been paid "as of today."

"The Scream," Munch's most famous work, is an icon of existential angst showing a terrified figure against a blood-red sky. "Madonna" shows a bare-breasted woman with long black hair.

The picture has become a pop-culture icon over the last several years, but has long been a favorite of art lovers. I'm thrilled to learn that this piece will be returned to its public very soon.

In honor of the recovery, all of today's posts will feature "The Scream" -- with a special caption appropriate to the story.

I'm baaaaaaack!

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 209 words, total size 2 kb.

After living the final chapter for the last several months, I have no interest in reading anything written by Tom DeLay.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, with his career in elective office behind him, said Thursday he has a deal to publish a book.

"This is a book that's going to be the history of my career, how it furthered the conservative cause, with my spiritual walk and what I think the conservative cause ought to do next," DeLay, a born-again Christian, told The Associated Press.

DeLay said he'll explain how "everything I've done in my career furthered the conservative cause" and helped change the culture of Washington.

DeLay said the working title is "No Retreat, No Surrender: The American Passion of Tom DeLay." He declined to reveal how much he'll be paid. "Not as much as I wanted," he quipped.

Yeah, Tom, right -- you certainly have done a damn fine job of advancing conservatism here in CD22. Just look at the mess you left behind in the wake of yiur decision to quit your final run for Congress. Just shut up and nove on.

Won't he ever go away!

Posted by: Greg at 11:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 198 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, this sure qualifies.

Congresswoman Katherine Harris holds a double-digit lead in the race for Florida's Republican U.S. Senate nomination less than a week before the primary, according to a poll released Thursday.

However, the poll also indicates that a large number of Republicans haven't settled on a candidate, and about a third of those supporting Harris said they still might change their minds.

"If Rep. Harris had only one opponent she might be in deep trouble," said Peter Brown, assistant polling director for the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, which conducted the poll last week. "But having three candidates splitting the anti-Harris vote is a major plus for her."

Harris was favored by 38 percent of 317 likely Republican voters.

William McBride, a 34-year-old attorney, was supported by 22 percent; retired Navy admiral LeRoy Collins Jr. of Tampa was backed by 11 percent; and Peter Monroe, a real estate developer from Safety Harbor, received 3 percent.

The winner of the Sept. 5 primary faces incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in the November general election.

Given this miraculous lead by a poorly run campaign, I'm almost willing to consider the possibility that she has backing from "the highest level" -- and I don't mean Dubya.

Oh my God!
Where's my make-up?

Posted by: Greg at 11:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 214 words, total size 2 kb.

Former Congressman Nick Lampson (Carpetbagger - Beaumont-to-Stafford) has decided that it is just too much trouble to face the voters on November 7 in the special election -- because they just aren't smart enough to figutre out how to vote for him if there is a Republican other than Tom DeLay on the ballot.

Nick Lampson, the Democratic nominee to succeed former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay when Congress convenes next year, said Thursday that he has decided not to run in the special election for DeLay's unexpired term.

Lampson said he wants to limit confusion at the ballot box, since the special election will coincide with the general election Nov. 7, when only two months will remain on DeLay's term.

Got that -- presenting himself in a race with a Republican candidate on teh ballot will cause confusion for the voters -- who just might be so confused that they vote their true choice, which is a Republican candidate.

So while Nick Lampson promised that he would run in the special election when the entire CD22 saga began this spring, now he has broken that committment to the people of CD22 -- which leads me to question what other committments he will break if elected. I'm bettting the first will be his "promise" not to vote for Nacy Pelosi for Speaker of the House.

But then again, maybe he is counting on the people of CD22 to be too stupid to remember his lies in 2008 if he manages to defeat Libertarian Bob Smither and write-in Republican Shelley Sekula-Gibbs -- who he is too cowardly to face head-to-head on the special election ballot.

You mean I'd have to face a Republican!

More at Texas Safety Forum and Fort Bend Now.

OPEN TRACKBACKING: Samantha Burns, Stuck On Stupid, Bacon Bits, Third World County, Pirate's Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, Dumb Ox, Adam's Blog, Is It Just Me?, Random Yak, Median Sib, Selective Amnesia, Stop the ACLU, Basil’s Blog; Comedian Jenée: People are Idiots , Woman Honor Thyself, Conservative Cat, Church and State, bRight and Early, Right Wing Nation; Jo’s Cafe, MacBro’s Page, Leaning Straight Up; The Amboy Times; Assorted Babble, NIF, Imagine Kitty, Oblogatory Anecdotes, The Uncooperative Blogger

Posted by: Greg at 10:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 386 words, total size 5 kb.

We finally have regulations issued under the texas law mandating parental consent for minor seeking abortion. parents will be required to give that consent in writing, not verbally.

After 13 months of intense pressure from opposing factions, the state has adopted rules requiring written — and notarized — parental consent forms for girls under age 18 to get abortions.

The new forms span six pages, warn of medical risks and tout "women's right to know" brochures backed by abortion opponents, said those on opposite sides of the issue.

"There was just so much heat from so many different sources," said Dr. Donald Patrick, executive director of the Texas Medical Board, which adopted the rules. "We were trying to tread a pretty fine line. It's just sometimes hard to do when there are two diametrically different points of view."

The board plans to send a copy of the medical records rules regarding parental consent to the Texas Register next week.

The rules would take effect 20 days later.

Patrick said the governor's office backed the final form approved late last week, which requires parents' written consent be notarized, an administrative rule not required by the consent law.

Given the number of cases of fraud that have been foundin consent cases, where someone other than the parent misrepresents tehmselves to authorize the abortion (including the responsible male, who is seeking to hide the evidence of statutory rape), the requirement that the signature be notarized is a good one.

Personally, I'd require that the parents sign in blood. Just as a reminder that they are authorizing the killing of their own innocent grandchild.

Parental consent? Informed consent?
What do they think this is -- a medical procedure?

Posted by: Greg at 10:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 296 words, total size 2 kb.

And I'm sure the crew and all the mission personnel are chompng at the bit!

NASA decided to try to launch the space shuttle Atlantis next Wednesday to resume construction of the International Space Station, after a delay caused by a lightning strike and the threat of bad weather. Hopes of a liftoff before the Atlantis’s launching window closes late next week had been rekindled after Hurricane Ernesto lost intensity on its approach to Florida. “We had no damage,” Bruce Buckingham, a Kennedy Space Center spokesman, said after the hurricane left the Atlantic Coast of Florida and headed north. “Zero. Nada.” Launching pad technicians have begun reattaching equipment needed to prepare the shuttle.

Please, not another weather delay!

Posted by: Greg at 10:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 128 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, given the demonization of our military personnel by the lft, we knew it would come to this.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department is searching for five people who allegedly attacked a uniformed National Guardsmen walking along 138th Street in Parkland Tuesday afternoon.

The soldier was walking to a convenience store when a sport utility vehicle pulled up alongside him and the driver asked if he was in the military and if he had been in any action.

The driver then got out of the vehicle, displayed a gun and shouted insults at the victim. Four other suspects exited the vehicle and knocked the soldier down, punching and kicking him.

“And during the assault the suspects called him a baby killer. At that point they got into the car and drove off and left him on the side of the road,” Detective Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

Notice, of course, that none of the scum were willing to make it a fair fight -- five-on-one and a gun gave tehm all sorts of courage that they lack as individuals.

H/T to Michelle Malkin, who also lists a number of such instances in the recent past.

Posted by: Greg at 10:34 PM | Comments (88) | Add Comment
Post contains 223 words, total size 1 kb.

In the business world, there are expense accounts for needed supplies and decorating issues are generally dealt with out of the company budget. Not so in education, where teachers are often given little or no assistance with material beyond the basics while they are held responsible for creating a stimulating environment to facilitate education.

So where does the money come from for the expected materials?

The posters were hung, the scissors and glue stashed in their proper places and the bulletin boards in Brenda Burlingame's classroom at Legacy Elementary School wrapped and trimmed in a cheery color.

The room simply screamed "Welcome to first grade." That feeling didn't come cheap.

"I probably spent $500 this year," Burlingame said as she shopped for a few last-minute adornments at Loudoun Learning, a teacher supplies store in Leesburg. "No matter if you've been a teacher for five minutes or five years, it has to be done."

Across the region, teachers are digging into their pockets to buy the supplies that turn four walls and a few tiny tables and chairs into the image of a child's classroom, complete with cubbyholes and attendance charts and a cozy reading corner with pillows and a rocking chair.

In a nationwide survey conducted last school year by the National School Supply and Equipment Association, 94 percent of teachers said they spent their own money on school supplies. On average, they estimated they would spend $552 of their own money on their classrooms before the school year was over.

I don't spend that much money on my materials -- because as a male high school teacher, a certain minimalism is not unheard of. I've got a lot of laminated posters hung high enough on the wall that they cannot be vandalized or destroyed, so I can reuse thm from year to year. But were I an elementary teacher, the expectations would be much higher -- and i woul be spending a lot more out of pocket. Instead of $100, I would probably be closer to the $1000 that the wife of a colleague spent last year making sure that second grade was a year of stickers, projects, and other educational activities that would have been denied if submitted on a purchase order.

A teacher expense account would be nice -- not for three-martini lunches, but for the sort of supplies and materials that contribute to student learning. Take it out of the budget for the new football stadium, athletic arena, or natatorium.

Posted by: Greg at 10:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 422 words, total size 3 kb.

The Houston Chronicle laments the high poverty statistics in parts of Texas -- but I believe they ignore something.

The U.S. Census Bureau released new poverty estimates on Wednesday. The outlook for Texas is troubling indeed, and should prompt self-examination from state leaders and voters both.

According to the new data, one in six Texans lived in poverty last year. And Texas was home to three of the nation's 10 poorest counties, including the top two — Cameron County, with 42 percent below the poverty level, and Hidalgo County, with 41 percent. With 29 percent of its population poor, El Paso County was listed as the country's fourth least-prosperous.

A full quarter of all Texas children are poor, the Bureau's American Community Survey found. Almost 20 percent of Texans are economically deprived, which the government defined for a family of four as earning $19,971 or less. Only 13 percent of Americans overall were found to be poor.

The news was no more heartening in Houston. A full 29 percent of black families here were impoverished, a jump from 25 percent in 2000. Among Hispanics, the number living in poverty climbed to 30 percent from 26 percent. Fewer white Houstonians, 9 percent, were found to be poor.

Look at those Hispanic statistics -- what percentage of them are among the "undocumented" community. I recognized very quickly that the counties mentioned are among the most Hispanic -- and most illegal -- in the state.

And the statistics on African Americans? Do these numbers include the Katrina evacuees who we have welcomed into our midst -- many of whom are stuck in a cycle of chronic, generational dependence on public aid rather than work? We have witnessed this crew demanding ever more cash from the public teat so that they might avoid seeking and finding employment until they can return to their homes in the welfare state of Louisiana. Does this skew the numbers?

We don't get that sort of analysis -- because if such analysis was given, we might have obvious policy solutions for both that fly in the face of liberal dogman.

Posted by: Greg at 10:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 363 words, total size 2 kb.

Given that George W. Bush has been blamed by Democrats for high gas prices, will they acknowledge that he is equally responsible for this development?

he recent drop in prices at the pump could pick up steam, driving gasoline sharply lower in coming months.

"I'd say $2 to $2.50," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. "Once you get past Sept. 15, it's really a downhill game."

Kloza said so far the average cost of a gallon of gas peaked this year at $3.036 on Aug. 10 and has come down largely thanks to diminishing hurricane fears.

"There's just nothing happening in the tropics, and the market had priced in all sorts of calamities," he said.

The motorist organization AAA reported a nationwide average of $2.82 Tuesday, the lowest since April 20.

Online gasoline price survey site Gasbuddy.com shows Wednesday's national average at $2.80.

Another analyst pointed to a 60-cent drop in wholesale and spot prices the past few weeks, noting consumers should see a similar drop in retail prices in the coming few weeks as the decline works its way through the market.

The drop in wholesale and spot prices would translate to retail gasoline prices of around $2.50 to $2.60 a gallon, analysts said.

"The levels that were in place were never justified to begin with," said Mark Gilman, an analyst with The Benchmark Co. "This is a bit of a return to reality."

Gilman said retail gasoline prices of around $2 a gallon by Thanksgiving were certainly possible, although not likely.

Gas prices dropping significantly -- possibly to $2.00 a gallon. What an accomplishment!

And while we are at it, given that he took the blame for last year's hurricane season, I assume that Democrats will also credit him with successfully decreasing the number of storms this year -- and the fact that their impact on the US has been minimal.

And if the president's detractors will not credit him with these developments, will they be honest enough to admit that increasing gas prices and the 2005 hurricane season were both beyond his control as well -- and that they were dishonest in blaming him for either?

Posted by: Greg at 02:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 375 words, total size 2 kb.

1 LimeWire, Mercy Medical Center In Canton Oh, Mercy Medical Center In Canton Oh, http://palacios.dragbikecentral.com/ Mercy Medical Center In Canton Oh, nsm,

Posted by: Rolando at Wed Jan 7 01:50:47 2009 (nwpMY)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

SInce the beginning of the CD22 saga last April, when Ton Delay announced his impending resignation, there has been one candidate who I have considered a joke. His name is Donald Richardson, and he is a retired Major who made a career in the Air Force. He'll tell you that at every opportunity, like he believes it makes him somehow superior to the rest of the candidates who sought the GOP nomination. He spend a lot of time talking about honor and honesty and integrity. He also admitted that he had not voted Republican in years. Frankly, most of us involved in the process considered the man to be a joke.

I finally began to gain some respect for Richardson when he came to the August 17 GOP meeting that selected Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. He spoke well and sincerely. Most importantly, he agreed to withdraw his write-in candidacy in favor of the choice of the precinct chairs if he was not chosen.

Well, guess what -- DON RICHARDSON IS A LIAR.

In yet another surprise in the race for Congressional District 22, there will be two Republican write-in candidates running against Democrat Nick Lampson and Libertarian Bob Smither.

On Tuesday – the deadline for withdrawing or registering as a write-in – Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs traveled to Austin to file her papers, as expected.

But unexpectedly, by the end of the day former Republican congressional candidate and Houston businessman Don Richardson did not ask the Texas Secretary of StateÂ’s office to remove his name as a write-in candidate.

The move threatens to further confuse voters in what has already been an extremely complicated congressional campaign. And having two GOP write-in candidates in the race may jeopardize funding from national Republican Party sources.

Contacted at his home Tuesday night, Richardson said he is still in the race despite telling GOP officials and precinct chairs at an Aug. 17 gathering in Pearland that he would drop out.

At that meeting, some 83 precicnt chairs in CD-22 voted to support Sekula-Gibbs as an unofficial Republican write-in candidate, and party officials urged other GOP candidates – including Richardson and Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace – to withdraw from the race.

At the Pearland gathering, Texas GOP Chairman Tina Benkiser “got up and said the Republican National Committee would put up $4 million if and only if” there were a single write-in candidate in the race, Richardson said.

In that case, he said, he would withdraw and allow Sekula-GibbsÂ’ campaign to benefit from the funding.

But the next morning, he called an official at the RNC in Washington, D.C. “I said put it in writing” that $4 million would be available to the single GOP candidate running as a write-in against Lampson, Richardson said.

He didnÂ’t hear back. On Friday, Richardson said, he sent a fax to RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, to the RNC official to whom heÂ’d originally spoken, and to Benkiser.

“I said look, if you’ll put it in writing about the $4 million and refund my campaign expenses…I will withdraw,” Richardson said. “I haven’t heard from anybody. So my name is still on the ballot.”

In other words, after telling the precinct chairs he would withdraw, he decided to add conditions and ultimatums to his promise. That is the sign of a man who is dishonest, dishonorable, and a disgrace to the uniform in which he served. Indeed, is character has significantly more in common with that of Tom DeLay than he would care to admit -- he has placed his own ego above the good of the voters of CD22 and the Republican Party. I'd argue that he has proven what many of us have suspected from the beginning of this process -- that he is a political opportunist whose record shows that he is not now a epublican and has not been one for years.

To borrow a phrase from an earlier era, Don Richardson is a miserable poltroon.

Posted by: Greg at 02:25 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 671 words, total size 4 kb.

At an airport, trying to board a plane? Don't wear a shirt with an Arabic slogan on it.

An Arab human rights activist was prevented from boarding a plane at Kennedy Airport while wearing a T-shirt that read, "We will not be silent" in English and Arabic.

Raed Jarrar was at the gate to board a JetBlue Airways flight to Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 12 when four officials from the airline or a government agency stopped him and told him he could not board with the shirt on, he said Wednesday.

One official told him, "Going to an airport with a T-shirt in Arabic script is like going to a bank and wearing a T-shirt that says, `I'm a robber,'" he said.

Sorry, folks, but in a day and age in which we are at war with a group of people who use Arabic to communicate their plans and their fould ideology, wearing a shirt written in Arabic to the airport or on a plane is a provocation. Don't do it.

Posted by: Greg at 12:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 179 words, total size 1 kb.

Now that the identity of the Plamegate leaker (Richard Armitage) has become public, the matter should be just about over. All that remains is for President Bush to take some action to deal with the fact that the rogue investigation went on for years despite the fact that the identity of the leaker as known very early on and it was clear that there was no violation of the law.

I like these suggestions.

IÂ’m so livid at this tangible and intangible harm that I cannot imagine that the President doesnÂ’t share my fury at such damaging perfidy. If I were advising him, hereÂ’s what IÂ’d tell him:

(1) He should have Attorney General Gonzales report to him everything the Department knows of the Armitage revelations and when they occurred to ascertain whether any of the Isikoff-Corn report is false.

2) Former Secretary Powell should be summoned and asked when he learned of the Armitage admission and why he failed to report this to him.

(3) If the reports that he knew in September 2003 that Armitage was the leaker prove true, the President should publicly say that he is deeply disappointed in the conduct of the former State Department officials, that he doesnÂ’t question their belief that the Armitage leaks were inadvertent but that there failure to notify him of those leaks was inexcusable.

(4) If the facts indicate that former Attorney General Ashcroft and Comey knew who NovakÂ’s source was, the President should indicate his disappointment in them for having yielded to the press frenzy in appointing a special prosecutor rather than simply having the courage to tell what happened and why.

(5) He should express regret to the country for this unnecessary and longstanding distraction occasioned by these failures.

(6) He should express special regret to Scooter Libby and his family who have been forced to endure so much for no reason whatsoever.

(7) Finally, he should express disappointment in the unprofessional conduct of the Special Prosecutor who misled the public and the Courts, among other things, and he should announce that he is instructing the Atttorney General to dismiss Fitzgerald and drop the case against Libby.

I'd personally take matters a bit further -- I'd suggest a full pardon for Libby, whose "crime" appears to be nothing more than a discrepancy between his memory and written records of events that happened at least two years earlier.

Heck -- I wonder if there is a basis for a special prosecutor to investigate the cover-up of the leaker's identity by State Department (and possibly Justice Department) officials, and the prosecutorial abuses of Patrick Fitzgerald. And when the indictments are handed down against those who have perpetrated this fraud on the American people, it will be a Merry Fitzmas indeed.

Posted by: Greg at 11:25 AM | Comments (157) | Add Comment
Post contains 477 words, total size 3 kb.

Sounds like a pleasurable way to get cheap gas.

A SYDNEY brothel owner has resorted to offering petrol discounts to clients in a bid to boost business.

Madam Kerry's brothel in western Sydney offers clients a discount of 20c a litre if they use one of its "service providers".

Kerry said high petrol prices were hurting the sex service market as much as any other industry.

"We wanted to think outside the box, we have gone quieter with the high petrol prices and we wanted to find a way to give something back to our clients."

And on top of the money back from the brothel, motorists could still claim the 4c discount offered by service stations aligned with supermarket chains.

"They just need to bring in the docket," Kerry said.

Ah, the entrepreneurial spirit is at worl!

But I will say this -- I'm surprised the line I put in italics made it into a story that deals, even tangentially, with prostitution. "Think outside the box"? "Give something back to our clients"? Incredible!

Posted by: Greg at 11:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 190 words, total size 1 kb.

Let's see -- your local univerity has fired its president and she has been indicted for stealing from the school to rehab her personal home. She has, in turn, sued the school for wrongful termination. What does the Univeristy do next?

A) Bar her from campus until the dispute has been resolved.

B) File suit to recover the cash from the homes's sale to the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft.

C) Return her to her previous duties as an accounting professor.

Priscilla Slade, the former Texas Southern University president fired for her spending of school money on personal expenses, is teaching accounting courses on campus this semester.

Her return to the classroom comes four weeks after a Harris Country grand jury indicted Slade and three aides for allegedly violating the university's policies and state laws in paying for household furnishings and landscaping, among other things.

* * *

Officials said the university could move to revoke her tenure, and Slade almost certainly would file a grievance. The grievance would be heard by a committee of faculty members, whose recommendation would go to the regents for the final decision.

Such a dispute would likely end up in court, officials said.

"Regardless of who it is, we have to make sure that due process is followed because faculty members nationwide have fought for the right of tenure," said Sanders Anderson, president of TSU's faculty council.

At most universities, professors with tenure have the implicit promise of a lifetime job. They cannot be dismissed, transferred or demoted, with the exception of extreme misconduct on their part or a financial emergency at the school.

And given that TSU operates like a poorly-run community college, with no admissions requirements to speak of and a sense that it can do what it wants because it is a "black thing", the odds of anybody doing anything about this travesty is pretty near zero. Heck, this is at least the third financial scandal at the place since I moved to Houston nine years ago. Maybe the alumni will create an endowed professorship in Slade's honor -- "The Priscilla Slade Endowed Chair of Crooked Accounting and Financial Fraud".

UPDATE -- 8/31/2006 -- A real newspaper would have published this editorial the same day as the original story. But then again, this is the Houston Chronicle, so a 36 hour delay isn't too bad.

Given the blizzard of bad press, the last thing TSU needs is to put its controversial former president at the head of a class while awaiting trial. Slade deserves and will get her day in court to prove her innocence of the two felony charges she faces for misapplication of fiduciary property. In the meantime, school officials should have assigned the tenured academic to non-teaching duties with a lower public profile.

Such a course would have been the prudent way to minimize damage to the school's image while the question of Slade's professional future is determined. It's not too late to assign another professor to handle her teaching duties while justice takes its course.

Might I suggest having her was dishes in one of the dining halls?

Posted by: Greg at 11:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 537 words, total size 3 kb.

Home is the place, where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.

Well, that is what Robert Frost says.

But what if you are a naturalized citizen seeking to return to the United States after an extended stay in the country of your birth? Or the US native son of such a naturalized citizen, traveling with his father in the Old Country? That doesn't seem to be the opinion of the federal government in this case.

Federal authorities have prevented two relatives of a father and son convicted recently in a terrorism-related case from returning home to California from Pakistan unless they agree to be interviewed by the F.B.I.

It is unclear whether the men, Muhammad Ismail, 45, and his son Jaber, 18, have a direct connection to the terrorism case or if they have been caught up in circumstance.

The United States attorneyÂ’s office in Sacramento declined Monday to answer questions about the Ismails beyond confirming that the men had not been permitted to fly into the United States and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation wanted to question them.

The United States attorney, McGregor W. Scott, reiterated a comment he had made to The San Francisco Chronicle, which reported Saturday about the IsmailsÂ’ troubles.

“They’ve been given the opportunity to meet with the F.B.I. over there and answer a few questions, and they’ve declined to do that,” Mr. Scott said through a spokeswoman, Mary Wenger.

Part of the problem is the conviction of two family members from California on terrorism charges -- charges related to their activities during a visit to Pakistan. The Ismails, however, have not been charged with any crime. But they have been placed on the "no-fly" list, and have been told they will not be permitted to enter the US without an FBI interview.

But just a moment. Upon what theory can the Federal Government effectively exile American citizens? Is there not, as held repeatedly by the Supreme Court, a right for American citizens to travel, both within the United States and abroad? And while ertain travel restrictions may reasonably be imposed (such as the ban on travel to Cuba), shouldn't such restrictions be clearly spelled out in advance and generally applicable?

We are not the old Soviet Union, with internal passports and heavy travel rsetrictions placed upon enslaved citizens. This course of action does not feel right to me. Because these are Americans, when they seek to come home, we have to take them in -- and they cannot be required to surrender their rights under the Constitution of the United States as a condition of return, which is precisely what is being demanded of them.

A number of my conservative brother and sister bloggers take the opposite position, including Stop the ACLU, Woman Honor Thyself, Cigar Intelligence Agencyand Uncooperative Blogger.

Hammer of Truth Practical Nomad, and Volokh Conspiracy (sort of) are on my side of the issue.

Posted by: Greg at 01:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 504 words, total size 4 kb.

Looks like we will have TWO congressional elections in CD22 on November 7.

Perry Calls Special Elections for DeLay, Luna and Madla Seats on Nov. 7

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today ordered special elections to be held concurrently with the Nov. 7 general election for the U.S. congressional seat vacated by Congressman Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, who has resigned and removed his name from the ballot; and for state Rep. Vilma Luna, D-Corpus Christi, and state Sen. Frank Madla, D-San Antonio, both of whom have resigned their positions in the Texas Legislature.

In his proclamation setting the special election for DeLayÂ’s seat, Perry noted that the U.S. Constitution requires that a special election be held and state law requires that it be held on the next uniform state election date, which is Nov. 7. Delay represented the 22nd Congressional District, which consists of parts of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston and Harris counties.

Luna represents the Texas House of Representatives District No. 33, which consists of part of Nueces County. Madla represents Texas State Senate District No. 19, which consists of Bandera, Brewster, Crockett, Culberson, Edwards, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Kinney, Loving, Maverick, Medina, Pecos, Presidio, Real, Reeves, Sutton, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Ward, Winkler and parts of Bexar and El Paso counties.

Candidates who want to place their names on the ballot for DeLayÂ’s, LunaÂ’s or MadlaÂ’s district must file with the Secretary of state by 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1.

This creates all sorts of interesting possibilities.

Will additional GOP candidates other than designated write-in candidate Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs try to jump into the race? Or will the Houston City Councilwoman have a clear shot at Nick Lampson? Will the presence of two races help her or hurt her in the write-in portion of the campaign? And if she wins the unexpired portion of DeLay's term (about two months),beating Lampson, will she become the undisputed front-runner in 2008, based upon having beaten lampson in a race for which she was listed on the ballot?

This makes everything quite interesting, in a year in which things have been interesting for some time.

Posted by: Greg at 11:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 360 words, total size 2 kb.

Don’t you just love the vile stuff that shows up on “liberal” and “progressive” websites these days. The KOSsacks and Dummies are venomous, and there is plenty of HuffPoison over at Aarriana’s place, but the neuro-toxins are on display among the “peace-loving and tolerant” affiliated with MoveOn.Org.

So no doubt the media and the Left will soon turn their attention to the vicious anti-Semitism the followers and members of a political organization that donates millions to Democratic candidates and uses the Web to whip up support for its policies.

I am referring to Moveon.org; an entity that claims it is merely the vehicle of "real Americans — from carpenters to stay-at-home moms to business leaders — we work together to realize the progressive vision of our country's founders." To the extent that Moveon.org is a reflection of its membership, it is also a reflection of the opinions and sentiments it shares about its fellow Americans and citizens of the world. And boy do the Moveon folks hate Jews.

* * *

After Sen. Joe Lieberman lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut, one Moveon member stated: "Jew Lieberman first step. Corporate Clinton will be next. Impeachment of BushCo will be third." This one came in with 95 percent of Moveon members responding approving the "Jew Lieberman" post. (Moveon helpfully records the percent of people agreeing with each post.)

Many postings creatively connect the need to eliminate Jewish influence with the goal of impeaching President Bush: Here's a typical one, which also received a high approval rating:

"I was reading some where someone posting about how Israel has lost world respect because of their murderous rampage throughout Lebanon?

Talk about loss of respect? What do you think the rest of the world thinks of ZioUSA now after seeing the BushCo spectacle, with Rice & Bolton flailing in the wind for the Zionazis against all world opinion?

Loss of respect is putting it mildly.

Impeachment of Bush is the only remedy."

Yeah, there is Bush plenty of Bush Derangement Syndrome at work, but the really vile stuff is the anti-Semitism. Calling a respected senator “Jew Lieberman” really crosses a line in this context, because it is premeditated and there was the option to edit and moderate the bigotry within. But the Democrats and media do not denounce this – though they were quick to pounce on a congressman several years back when, in a slip of the tongue which was immediately retracted, he referred to a certain homosexual congressman as “Barney Fag”. Or, as the article points out, there is the stupid “Macaca” comment of George Allen – a slur so obscure that I at one point was willing to believe that there was nothing to it, but an ongoing controversy which continues to be the fodder for political commentary and late-night humor.

I am personally struck by this comment.

"Why are the Jews so Jew-y?"

Those damn Jews – they are just so Jew-like. What next? A complaint that African-Americans are too “nigger-y”? Come on!

America has striven to slay the balrog of bigotry for many decades. Our most shining moment as a nation was the civil rights movement and the strength with which most Americans rejected such hatred as contrary to our national ethos. The Democrats, long the party of slavery, segregation, and the KKK, rejected its heritage of hate and sought to join the GOP in supporting freedom and equality of opportunity and rights for all Americans. Yet today it seems clear that a perverse pride in prejudice has taken hold in the activist wing of the Democrat party, re-embracing the night-riding nastiness of a bygone era.

And yet the decent people within the Democrat Party – and the media – stand by in silence while this horrifying freak-show continues to gain ascendancy on the Left. Dare they speak out? Or are the too filled with fear – or too much in agreement – to denounce this dangerous dogma of destruction?

Posted by: Greg at 11:05 AM | Comments (213) | Add Comment
Post contains 677 words, total size 4 kb.

After all, they use a pigskin in the game. But if it gets them a chance to claim to be persecuted and victimized -- or make lots of money in the NFL after getting a free-ride to college courtesy of infidel taxpayers, they are willing to overlook it, I guess

Three former New Mexico State University football players – all Muslims – on Monday sued the university and coach Hal Mumme, alleging they were dismissed from the team because of their religious beliefs.

The federal lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Mu'Ammar Ali and brothers Anthony and Vincent Thompson. The lawsuit alleges religious discrimination and violations of the athletes' right to freely exercise their religion.

* * *

In response to the allegations, New Mexico State hired an Albuquerque law firm to investigate and the law firm concluded the football program had not engaged in religious discrimination against the three Muslim athletes.

The investigation by Albuquerque law firm Miller Stratvery found that the players were released from the team based on their performance and attitudes, not because of religion. The probe included interviews with the football coaching staff, athletics department personnel and student-athletes.

Simonson at the time questioned the fairness of the investigation.

“I think it's very troubling that the university could not find any basis for these allegations whatsoever when three very sincere individuals came forward with such serious allegations,” he said. “It really raises questions in my mind about the university's commitment to diversity and racial equality and issues of equality.”

In other words, the only good investigation is one that finds what the ACLU and its fellow-travelers claim to be true. Any other finding, no matter how supported by the facts, is troubling and indicative of a lack of commitment to diversity and equality. I guess a commitment to truth simply pales beside those two.

But I have to wonder – given the status of pigs in the eyes of Muslims, how can they play football at all? After all, it isn’t called a pigskin for nothing.

Maybe the coach was just looking out for their spiritual best interest – both by putting them off the team, and by encouraging Christian brotherhood (which unlike the Muslim Brotherhood, won’t kidnap you, kill you, or force you to convert at gunpoint).

Posted by: Greg at 10:54 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 398 words, total size 3 kb.

Sorry – no respect for ethnicity or religion with this scumbag, who violates court orders and common decency to bring about the forced marriage of his 12-year-old daughter to a man over twice her age.

AN INTERNATIONAL hunt has been launched for a 12-year-old girl after she was allegedly abducted from her home in Stornoway and taken to Pakistan, amid reports she is to be married to a man of 25.

Molly Campbell went missing from school on Friday. It is believed she was taken by her father and elder sister and flew with them to Lahore.

Police say they want to reunite the girl with her mother, Louise Campbell, her legal guardian.

Last night reports quoted Molly's grandmother as saying she feared the schoolgirl had been taken to become a child bride.

Violet Robertson, 67, said: "It's just terrible. Molly is only a little girl. It's an arranged marriage.

"She doesn't know the man. He's 25. Molly doesn't want to go to Pakistan. She wants to stay with her mum."

Molly, also known as Misbah Iram Ahmed Rana, was last seen at 10:50am on Friday in the grounds of her school, the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway.
Northern Constabulary believe she was met there by her sister, Tahmina, 18, and the pair took a taxi to Stornoway Airport before flying to Glasgow.

They then met their father, Sajad Ahmed Rana, and all three boarded the 2:55pm Emirates flight to Lahore.

Just following the example of Muhammad, I guess. I recall that he liked sex with little girls, too.

Would somebody please remind me – what is there in Islam that is good and noble?

Posted by: Greg at 10:47 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
Post contains 292 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Good crew it's cool hardcore cartoon characters blais

Posted by: Yusnokqn at Thu Jun 5 13:06:02 2008 (Rai+j)

2 real beauty page anal munch 9408

Posted by: Dzmxklgb at Thu Jun 5 13:14:12 2008 (jqNJa)

3 very best job free gay black porn >:-(((

Posted by: Ujugityn at Thu Jun 5 15:31:21 2008 (jUzWl)

4 Best Site Good Work mature woman sex photos 528006

Posted by: Fhxfzcrf at Thu Jun 5 17:38:31 2008 (saPE2)

5 this post is fantastic hardcore- lqxv

Posted by: Trpanlsk at Thu Jun 5 17:47:41 2008 (IvGu6)

6 Good crew it's cool carolina panther tickets oct 28th 2007 8P

Posted by: Asxwharn at Sun Jun 8 08:01:41 2008 (bwEBx)

7 Very funny pictures cheap disneyland tickets 617722

Posted by: Drqganhu at Sun Jun 8 12:20:43 2008 (No7SZ)

8 i'm fine good work whoopi goldberg and ticketmaster loebjt

Posted by: Aglmukbn at Mon Jun 9 04:48:13 2008 (GHASg)

9 I love this site ticket to ride 239647

Posted by: Zufemkgx at Mon Jun 9 07:02:25 2008 (O7fj5)

10 Excellent work, Nice Design hannah montana tickets in omaha kcm

Posted by: Evennxtp at Mon Jun 9 08:49:02 2008 (SRIT3)

11 Cool site goodluck 49ers tickets 1850

Posted by: Nhyjukzh at Mon Jun 9 11:17:47 2008 (F/N1s)

12 respect

Posted by: Papa at Wed Aug 6 05:16:48 2008 (WplST)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

My initial reaction was “Now THAT’S entertainment!”

Kids Watch As Clown Is Crushed to Death

Admit it. It sounds sort of like something out of The Onion.

Unfortunately, the story is much more tragic – and all too true.

Posted by: Greg at 10:41 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 47 words, total size 1 kb.

Will his injuries lead to his losing a spot on the roster of the Houston Texans?

Running back Domanick Davis, the Texans' career rushing leader, is in danger of not making the team this season.

Davis, who missed five games in 2005, has not practiced since the first week of preseason because of a bruised left knee that is unrelated to the arthroscopic surgery he underwent on the same knee in December.

Unlike Wali Lundy and Vernand Morency, Davis has been unable to be on the field to impress his new coaching staff, specifically head coach Gary Kubiak and offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun. Kubiak said Monday that if the regular season began today, Lundy would start against Philadelphia.

Each day, Kubiak grows more concerned about Davis' lack of availability. The roster will be reduced to a final 53 on Friday, one day after the Texans close the preseason at home against Tampa Bay.

"I'm very concerned," Kubiak said. "There's not much we can do about it, but I'm very concerned about that situation.

"It'll be a tough decision for the final 53. We'll make the decision based on what's best for Domanick and the team."

The Texans will have several options. They can make Davis, 25, part of the final roster and wait for him to get healthy. They can place him on waivers. They can put him on injured reserve, which means he wouldn't play this season. They also could trade him, which is unlikely because he's damaged goods.

We here in houston -- especially the season ticketholders -- will be waiting to see what happens here.

And for the first time, I wonder if we didn't make a mistake in letting Reggie Bush slip to the number 2 pick in the draft by picking Mario Williams, who has not developed quite as fast as some of us have been hoping.

Posted by: Greg at 10:35 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 318 words, total size 2 kb.

Undermining American foreign policy AND promoting the dual-loyalty canard against American Jews. No wonder the terror-apologists from CAIR love Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.

Yesterday, at the invitation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), they held a forum at the National Press Club to expand on their allegations about the Israel lobby. Blurring the line between academics and activism, they accepted a button proclaiming "Fight the Israel Lobby" and won cheers from the Muslim group for their denunciation of Israel and its friends in the United States.

Whatever motivated the performance, the result wasn't exactly scholarly.

Walt singled out two Jews who worked at the Pentagon for their pro-Israel views. "People like Paul Wolfowitz or Doug Feith . . . advocate policies they think are good for Israel and the United States alike," he said. "We don't think there's anything wrong with that, but we also don't think there's anything wrong for others to point out that these individuals do have attachments that shape how they think about the Middle East."

"Attachments" sounds much better than "dual loyalties." But why single out Wolfowitz and Feith and not their non-Jewish boss, Donald Rumsfeld?

"I could have mentioned non-Jewish people like John Bolton," Walt allowed when the question was put to him.

Picking up on the "attachments" lingo, Mearsheimer did mention Bolton but cited two Jews, Elliott Abrams and David Wurmser, as "the two most influential advisers on Middle East affairs in the White House. Both, he said, are " fervent supporters of Israel." Never mind that others in the White House, such as national security adviser Stephen Hadley, Vice President Cheney and President Bush, have been just as fervent despite the lack of "attachments."

Yeah, but it is so much easier to play on the ant-Semitism of Muslims and their fellow travelers (like my old toll, Ken Hoop) by mentioning the officials of Jewish heritage. After all, to such folks everything is the fault of the Jews. And by highlighting them, it makes it easier to claim that other officials are puppets of the Jews and that the US is controlled by (as my troll regularly stated in emailed to me and Christian Identity militias often assert) a Zionist Occupied Government.

The association between these professors and the terrorist-supporting CAIR should be enough to discredit these pseudo-academics -- and to discredit the organizatation, which sponsored them despite their having been iscreditted as dressing up old anti-Semitism in new garments.

Posted by: Greg at 10:31 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 430 words, total size 3 kb.

Well, the Washington Post has finally caught up with Newsweek and most of the blogosphere. Richard Armitage outed Valerie Plame.

The leak of information about an undercover CIA employee that provoked a special prosecutor's investigation of senior White House officials came from then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, according to a former Armitage colleague at the department.

Armitage told newspaper columnist Robert D. Novak in the summer of 2003 that Valerie Plame, the wife of a prominent critic of the Iraq war, worked for the CIA, the colleague said. In October of that year, Armitage admitted to senior State Department officials that he had made the remark, which was based on a classified report he had read.

Gee, didn't I write about this on Sunday?

However, there is one interesting tidbit about the Bush Derangement Syndrome-afflicted Left.

"Just because Armitage did this on his own, earlier, doesn't mean that there wasn't a White House conspiracy to 'out' Valerie [Plame] Wilson. We don't think it affects the case," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the group pressing the lawsuit.

In other words, never let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory -- or a politicall motivated lawsuit.

Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum tries to keep the anti-Bush fires burning, too.

Posted by: Greg at 10:21 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 237 words, total size 2 kb.

I missed this story.

KSBJ (89.3 FM) ihas been off the air due to a lightning strike. The Christian music station has long been known in the Houston area for its slogan, "God Listens".

Listeners who have tried to tune in to KSBJ 89.3 in the past couple of days have likely gotten silence. As KHOU-11 reports, that's because lightning hit the Christian station's tower earlier this week:

A Christian radio station was knocked off the air after its tower was hit by lightning earlier this week.
KSBJ-89.3 FM
The station, KSBJ 89.3 FM, has a main tower in Plum Grove, near Cleveland. It was hit at about 8 p.m. Tuesday and is operating at reduced power, the station said.

Typically, the station, which has a contemporary Christian music format, broadcasts at 100,000 watts, but is currently operating at only 50 watts.

The station said that crews are working to repair the problem, but that it will be several days until it will be completely fixed.

The station said that listeners can instead hear programming on their website, at www.ksbj.org.

We presume God is still listening, and doesn't need the full 100,000 watts.

I'll let you fill in your own punchline.

H/T blogHOUSTON

Posted by: Greg at 10:13 PM | Comments (118) | Add Comment
Post contains 213 words, total size 1 kb.

Speaking as a GOP precinct chair in CD22, all I can say is that we are just going to have to work harder than usual to win.

The Texas Republican Party establishment has rallied around a single candidate, Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, in their unusual write-in campaign to salvage the 22nd Congressional District seat vacated in June by Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader.

But the extreme rarity of successful write-in campaigns for Congress and the presence of a solid Democratic nominee on the ballot in former Rep. Nick Lampson has prompted CQPolitics.com to change its rating on the 22nd District race to Leans Democratic from No Clear Favorite.

The GOP faces a world of trouble in this race because of a serious miscalculation on the part of DeLay and his party colleagues.

There is a strong commitment on the part of local Republicans to hold this seat, and with enough work we will be able to do it. At the same time, i ad mit that we have no easy task before us, despite having a good candidate for office who can be contrasted with DeLay as having no hint of scandal associated with her andnot being the candidate of the Fort Bend power structure that produced him. At the same time, she contrasts with Lampson by bing ideologically in tune witht he district and having lived here for the last two decades -- while Lampson carpetbagged into the district within the last year after most of his life near the Louisiana border in Beaumont.

Still, I understand the rating change -- write-in campaigns are an uphill battle.

Posted by: Greg at 10:06 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 279 words, total size 2 kb.

Davud Frum makes this point regarding the forced conversion to Islam of Fox journalists Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig.

Does not the gunpoint forced conversion to Islam of two Western journalists provide an opportunity for Western Muslim groups to condemn attempts to spread Islam by violence and to declare their support for the principle enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

CAIR? The Muslim Council of Britain? The Canadian Islamic Congress? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Do YOU hear crickets chirping?

Posted by: Greg at 09:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 148 words, total size 1 kb.

After all, if the UN headquarters is such a death trap, it should be condemned and destroyed as a matter of public safety.

And that would allow the organization to relocate to some other, more socialist country – and maybe it could bay one-fifth of the organization’s operating costs.

The long-delayed plans to renovate the United Nations buildings, old and riddled with safety violations, pose deadly risks to emergency responders and thousands who live and work around the area, Sen. Charles Schumer said yesterday.

Citing the testimony of UN officials, Schumer said a fire could travel quickly up the walls of the main building, which lacks sprinklers. Also, the heat pipes leak and could contaminate the Manhattan neighborhood with asbestos if they were to explode, he said.

"If this building were owned by a private company, there would be so many violations that the Buildings Department would be tempted to close it down," Schumer, a Democrat, said. Since the UN is considered international territory, it is not subject to local codes, a department official said.

The UN – who would really miss them?

Posted by: Greg at 09:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 190 words, total size 1 kb.

After all, if the UN headquarters is such a death trap, it should be condemned and destroyed as a matter of public safety.

And that would allow the organization to relocate to some other, more socialist country – and maybe it could bay one-fifth of the organization’s operating costs.

The long-delayed plans to renovate the United Nations buildings, old and riddled with safety violations, pose deadly risks to emergency responders and thousands who live and work around the area, Sen. Charles Schumer said yesterday.

Citing the testimony of UN officials, Schumer said a fire could travel quickly up the walls of the main building, which lacks sprinklers. Also, the heat pipes leak and could contaminate the Manhattan neighborhood with asbestos if they were to explode, he said.

"If this building were owned by a private company, there would be so many violations that the Buildings Department would be tempted to close it down," Schumer, a Democrat, said. Since the UN is considered international territory, it is not subject to local codes, a department official said.

The UN – who would really miss them?

Posted by: Greg at 09:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 197 words, total size 1 kb.

And here we’ve all been told that this quit being an asset in seeking the Democrat presidential nomination 150 years ago.

I guess Joe Biden didn’t get the memo.

Biden dismissed the notion that he was a "Northeastern liberal" who would have a poor showing in the South against other likely contenders such as Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

"Better than anybody else," Biden said, when asked on "Fox News Sunday" to rate his chances of winning Southern states.

"You don't know my state," he said. "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state."

I am, to say the least, stunned. How big a screw-up does Biden have to make before the Democrats renounce and condemn him – and before he quits being treated like a credible candidate for any office.

And, as I often ask, what would be the reaction of the media if a comment like that came out of a Republican?

Posted by: Greg at 09:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 198 words, total size 1 kb.

And here weÂ’ve all been told that this quit being an asset in seeking the Democrat presidential nomination 150 years ago.

I guess Joe Biden didnÂ’t get the memo.

Biden dismissed the notion that he was a "Northeastern liberal" who would have a poor showing in the South against other likely contenders such as Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

"Better than anybody else," Biden said, when asked on "Fox News Sunday" to rate his chances of winning Southern states.

"You don't know my state," he said. "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state."

I am, to say the least, stunned. How big a screw-up does Biden have to make before the Democrats renounce and condemn him – and before he quits being treated like a credible candidate for any office.

And, as I often ask, what would be the reaction of the media if a comment like that came out of a Republican?

Posted by: Greg at 09:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 206 words, total size 1 kb.

Personally, I've never understood the ban on producing hemp, which has many industrial uses but such a minimal THC level that it is not useful for toking purposes.

Now there is a move to legalize the crop, which was raised by Washington and Jefferson, in California.

Charles MeyerÂ’s politics are as steady and unswerving as the rows of pima cotton on his Central Valley farm. With his work-shirt blue eyes and flinty Clint Eastwood demeanor, he is staunchly in favor of the war in Iraq, against gun control and believes people unwilling to recite the Pledge of Allegiance should be kicked out of America, and fast.

But what gets him excited is the crop he sees as a potential windfall for California farmers: industrial hemp, or Cannabis sativa. The rapidly growing plant with a seemingly infinite variety of uses is against federal law to grow because of its association with its evil twin, marijuana.

“Industrial hemp is a wholesome product,” said Mr. Meyer, 65, who says he has never worn tie-dye and professes a deep disdain for “dope.”

“The fact we’re not growing it is asinine,” Mr. Meyer said.

Things could change if a measure passed by legislators in Sacramento and now on Gov. Arnold SchwarzeneggerÂ’s desk becomes law. [The bill reached Mr. Schwarzenegger last week; he has 30 days to sign or veto it.]

What are the uses of hemp?

Hundreds of hemp products, including energy bars and cold-pressed hemp oil, are made in California, giving the banned plant a capitalist aura. But manufacturers must import the raw material, mostly from Canada, where hemp cultivation was legalized in 1998.

Over 30 countries worldwide allow the cultivation of industrial hemp. The Chinese currently produce about 40% of the world's supply.

Must the War on Drugs, which has produced any number of inane results over the years, make the capitalist system a casualty?

Posted by: Greg at 10:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 300 words, total size 2 kb.

The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Iraq: Quit or Commit by Right Wing Nut House, and Bad Faith by 3AM Magazine. 

Please click the link for the full results of the vote.

Posted by: Greg at 09:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 44 words, total size 1 kb.

Time for this country to quit being the patsy on illegal immigration -- and allowing the border-jumping invaders to become so comfortable that they think they have anything approaching the rights of a US citizen.

More cases like this one would be a good start.

The deportation Friday of a well-educated Venezuelan couple who admitted lying about their citizenship when they registered to vote in Boone County has struck a chord among those who are in the United States illegally, their lawyer said.

Abraham E. Gomez, 46, and his wife, Mayen C. Gomez, 41, entered the United States legally on a visa, but became illegal when they overstayed, said attorney John Arnett.

Still, the couple, both of whom have college degrees, settled in Union, obtained jobs, and sent their two children to school.

Over the past six years, along with dozens, if not hundreds of illegal immigrants in Boone County, they have become part of the community, Arnett said, their status almost forgotten.

It may have been their downfall, he said.

"After being here for a while, they got lulled into a false sense of security," he said.

"They don't think that way now, that's for sure."

Their arrest - along with the arrests of dozens of illegal immigrants in connection with an investigation into the Northern Kentucky home-building industry - has not gone unnoticed among those in the United States illegally.

Arnett said he knows several such people who have returned home for fear of being caught.

In 2004, the Gomezes went to get their driving licenses. While at the courthouse, they registered to vote, falsely checking the box that said they were United States citizens.

"They knew they were not citizens of this country when they checked the form, but they had no criminal intent," Arnett said. "In their country, they are required to vote."

They were arrested earlier this year after agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement received an anonymous tip. In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, they pleaded guilty to falsely claiming they were U.S. citizens in exchange for a recommended sentence of probation and deportation.

That sentenced was imposed Friday.

The conviction also means the couple is prohibited from ever entering the United States again, even as visitors, Arnett said.

And don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Posted by: Greg at 10:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 401 words, total size 3 kb.

By the end of the first week of October, 2003, investigators knew the identity of the individual who leaked the identity of non-covert CIA employee Valerie Plame in violation of no law. Furthermore, this information was made available to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald when he was appointed to that position in December, 2003.

It was Richard Armitage, a well-known gossip and moderate opponent of Bush policy in the Middle East.

In the early morning of Oct. 1, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell received an urgent phone call from his No. 2 at the State Department. Richard Armitage was clearly agitated. As recounted in a new book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War," Armitage had been at home reading the newspaper and had come across a column by journalist Robert Novak. Months earlier, Novak had caused a huge stir when he revealed that Valerie Plame, wife of Iraq-war critic Joseph Wilson, was a CIA officer. Ever since, Washington had been trying to find out who leaked the information to Novak. The columnist himself had kept quiet. But now, in a second column, Novak provided a tantalizing clue: his primary source, he wrote, was a "senior administration official" who was "not a partisan gunslinger." Armitage was shaken. After reading the column, he knew immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning, Armitage was "in deep distress," says a source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities. "I'm sure he's talking about me."

Armitage's admission led to a flurry of anxious phone calls and meetings that day at the State Department. (Days earlier, the Justice Department had launched a criminal investigation into the Plame leak after the CIA informed officials there that she was an undercover officer.) Within hours, William Howard Taft IV, the State Department's legal adviser, notified a senior Justice official that Armitage had information relevant to the case. The next day, a team of FBI agents and Justice prosecutors investigating the leak questioned the deputy secretary. Armitage acknowledged that he had passed along to Novak information contained in a classified State Department memo: that Wilson's wife worked on weapons-of-mass-destruction issues at the CIA. (The memo made no reference to her undercover status.) Armitage had met with Novak in his State Department office on July 8, 2003—just days before Novak published his first piece identifying Plame. Powell, Armitage and Taft, the only three officials at the State Department who knew the story, never breathed a word of it publicly and Armitage's role remained secret.

Fitzgerald continued his investigation for a additional two years, creating perjury traps for individuals who he knew had no connection to the leak. In the end, only one individual was indicted, on charges that could well stem from a faulty memory rather than intentional criminal activity. Armitage walked away unscathed, and continues to lack the cojones to admit his role publicly -- and allowed the Bush administration to suffer from close to three years of acusations of malfeasance which have undermined the trust of some segments of the American Body Politic.

And while we are at it, let us note that this should forever remove any notion that Colin Powell is a stand-up guy and a straight-shooter. He allowed Armitage to stay on at the State Department for some time after the leak, never publicly disclosed the identity of the leaker, and also permitted the left-wing spin to undermine the Bush Administration. His actions were disgraceful, dishonorable, and unpatriotic.

UPDATE: Make this one reason to not support John McCain. He's got both Armitage and Powell on his team. If McCain has any integrity, he will dump them both.

ADDITIONAL COVEAGE AT Captain's Quarters. Sister Toldjah, Unalienable Right, USS Neverdock, Hot Air, Old War Dogs

UPDATE -- 8/30/2006: Armitage admits guilt.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT: Stop the ACLU, Wizbang, Samantha Burns, Is It Just Me?, Adam's Blog, Bacon Bits, Bullwinkle Blog, Stuck on Stupid, Conservative Cat, Third World County, Blue Star Chronicle, Right Nation, Uncooperative Blogger, Right Wing Nation, Woman Honor Thyself

Posted by: Greg at 09:05 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 704 words, total size 6 kb.

One new study raises the possibility that my maleness harms the education of my female students -- and that the femininity of some of my colleagues impedes the education of their male students.

For all the differences between the sexes, here's one that might stir up debate in the teacher's lounge: Boys learn more from men and girls learn more from women.

That's the upshot of a provocative study by Thomas Dee, an associate professor of economics at Swarthmore College and visiting scholar at Stanford University. His study was to appear Monday in Education Next, a quarterly journal published by the Hoover Institution.

Vetted and approved by peer reviewers, Dee's research faces a fight for acceptance. Some leading education advocates dispute his conclusions and the way in which he reached them.

But Dee says his research supports his point, that gender matters when it comes to learning. Specifically, as he describes it, having a teacher of the opposite sex hurts a student's academic progress.

''We should be thinking more carefully about why,'' he said.

I don't have an answer to this one. Is it single-sex classes? Single-sex schools? Is it something else? And if the best education for the most students is found in one of the first two solutions, will that certain forces in our society allow for such a system to be implemented?

Posted by: Greg at 06:34 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 239 words, total size 2 kb.

Every now and then, you just need a little bit of the weird to make people take politics more seriously -- and less seriously.

In Texas this year, we have Kinky Friedman doing exactly that.

Many people continue to laugh at the jokes, one-liners and other quotable quotes still being delivered by the Clown Prince of the Texas governor's race. But at what point, if any, does the laughter give way to something else?

Some of Kinky Friedman's quips are funny (at least the first two or three times you hear them). Some are funny and outrageous, as is the nature of satire, while others are mostly outrageous, and anything but politically correct.

Friedman, so far, has been able to operate without the PC restraints of most political figures, probably because he is viewed as more of an entertainer or self-promoter than a politician, as a protest candidate who only a handful of people, if that many, expect to be the next governor.

Without much of a political program to promote, he simply performs the role of Kinky.

What could have been a simple refusal to apologize to Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the other independent candidate, over a recent campaign flap about ethics prompted Friedman, instead, to challenge the PC issue head-on.

"It's meaningless," he told R.G. Ratcliffe, an Austin bureau reporter for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News.

"It's politically correct these days to apologize to the Indians and apologize to the Hawaiians for taking their land, apologize to the African-Americans for dealing with them as slaves and on and on without end. It's a little late in the game to go around apologizing and thinking everything's going to be OK."

Some of what the man says makes sense. Some of it does anything but.

But when you see the number of Kinky stickers around Texas, I sometimes wonder if we might not see the man pull a Jesse Ventura style victory this November. After all, the governor is alientaing the GOP base by stacking his property tax commission with opponents of property tax relief and leaving off the leading expert on the subject, our state comptroller is mounting a quixotic independent campaign, and the Democrats couldn't find a legitimate candidate for office so they picked a thrid-rater who would have been censured by the House Ethics committee if he hadn't been thrown out of office int eh Democrat primary.

After all, there is something to be said for a guy whose campaign slogan is "Why The Hell Not?"

Posted by: Greg at 05:53 AM | Comments (95) | Add Comment
Post contains 438 words, total size 3 kb.

Sometimes the government does really dumb things in the name of protecting us from terrorism. You know, like making 90-year-old quadraplegic Swedish nuns disassemble their wheelchairs to prove they are not al-Qaeda terrorists. Or giving heightened scrutiny at airports to military personnel in uniform carrying travel orders from the Department of Defense.

Or investigating this case.

Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam.

Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.

The case "shows just how easy it is to be labeled a suspected terrorist," he says.

It all started on July 25 in Alton, Ill., when the Army Corps of Engineers invited public discussion about options for improving fish movement at the nearby Melvin Price Locks and Dam, considered a major impediment to roughly three dozen species that migrate upstream.

During the 90-minute hearing that included on the agenda whether to build a fish channel, Bensman says, he reiterated he's no fan of dams, contending they're environmentally destructive and amount to billions of dollars in corporate welfare for boating interests.

He urged that the dam be torn out. He said he never mentioned blowing the dam up, though the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited.

The next day, however, a local newspaper reported that Bensman "said he would like to see the dam blown up and resents paying taxes to fix dam problems when it is barge companies that profit from the dam."

Workers at the corps' St. Louis office "took a dim view (of the article) and questioned if it was a potential threat," and a security manager forwarded the clipping to the FBI, said corps spokesman Alan Dooley.

Now hold on here -- the guy gets words attributed to him in a newspaper -- words that can easily be refuted by listening to the tape of the public hearing (such things are recorded by the government, you know, to provide a full record of the public hearings). The only mention of blowing up the dam was in the Corps' own presentation ,not in Bensman's comments. But the FBI conducted a full-scale investigation?

What's more, the Corps of Engineers refuses to make any apology or even acknowledge that it had over-reacted in calling the FBI over a newspaper article without even checking its own records of the event.

I'm all for keeping America safe -- but this is ridiculous.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT: Stop the ACLU, Wizbang, Samantha Burns, Is It Just Me?, Adam's Blog, Bacon Bits, Bullwinkle Blog, Stuck on Stupid, Conservative Cat, Third World County, Blue Star Chronicle, Right Nation, Uncooperative Blogger, Right Wing Nation, Woman Honor Thyself

Posted by: Greg at 05:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 484 words, total size 4 kb.

The Houston Chronicle today offers a an article on the Shelley Sekula-Gibbs campaign.

As she begins her uphill campaign for Congress, City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is taking heart in hills she already has climbed to earn the long-shot Republican assignment.

Her emergence as the GOP's only hope to retain the seat vacated by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay resulted from hard work and perseverance, with help from luck and circumstances.

"There is some truth to that, because there were so many iterations during this process," Sekula-Gibbs said. "It was amazing and imperfect, but nevertheless decisive. No one could have predicted the outcome. But I was determined to stay the course and be the Republican choice if they wanted me."

And it has been an uphill battle from day one. I was an early supporter, though I will concede that I gave a hard look at all the possible options following the decision that the GOP could not replace Tom Delay on the ballot. Still, I have never wavered from my perspective that Shelley that Shelley was and is the best available Republican candidate for this Republican district -- a conservative with a solid record and no hint of ethical impropriety who was willing to work with the party to mount an effective campaign.

That was a contrast with her major opponent in the waning days of the selection process.

And frankly, I don't get the large amount of space devoted to Shelley's failed opponent. He never had significant support outside of Sugar land, and had spent the entire process antagonizing the state party, and the harris COunty GOP in particular. At no point did that candidate express any willingness to meet with the representatives of the largest county in his district as a group. We were expected to come to him, individually, on his turf and his terms. This stands in sharp contrast to Shelley's strategy of reaching out to precinct chairs in all four counties, holding events in each and making herself available to virtually any group in the counties that wished to hear from her.

I encourage folks to read this article to find out why Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is our candidate, even as a write-in -- and why she should be the choice of voters in CD22

Posted by: Greg at 03:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 386 words, total size 2 kb.

USS Texas (SSN 775), that is.

The Navy debuted its newest nuclear-powered submarine Friday in an Atlantic Ocean swing off the Florida coast, the second in the latest fast-attack class that marks a broad departure from the Cold War-era deterrence boats.

The Texas, which will officially earn a "USS" designator in a commissioning ceremony in two weeks, weighs 7,800 tons, measures 377 feet long and can remain submerged on covert surveillance up to three months. It travels faster than 25 knots underwater and dives farther than 800 feet.

"It's much more effective than any ship I've been on before," said Capt. John Litherland, who has been on more than 50. "It's not the fastest, but the difference is that it's quiet even at its top speed."

Perhaps the biggest improvement is the ability to travel with a small special forces submarine, nine commandos and their gear. Previous subs would have carried only three Navy SEALS.

The second of the so-called Virginia boats, following the USS Virginia, the Texas also features advanced navigation and computer systems that only require two sailors piloting. The periscope is fiberoptic, useful for two reasons: there is no longer a vulnerable hatch on top to telescope into and out of, and its images can be projected to everyone in the control room.

God bless Texas!

Posted by: Greg at 12:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 243 words, total size 2 kb.