From the UK comes this example, one which I think sums up the problems with the notion that some crimes should be treated more harshly than others because of the "hateful" motive of the perpetrator.

There are of course violent offenders who specifically select gay men as targets: but are they any worse than those who pick on women, or homeless people? To create politically-approved hierarchies of culpability on such matters is to make a kind of nonsense of the law.

Take for example the case of the late David Morley, a gay bar manager who had survived the Admiral Duncan Soho pub bombing in 1999, which killed three people. That bombing was carried out by David Copeland, a 23-year-old engineer and Nazi sympathiser who had deliberately sought to murder gay men.

Five years later, Mr Morley and a friend were walking home near Waterloo in the small hours, when they encountered a four-strong group of teenage thugs who were "out to beat up tramps, druggies or just people on the street" and film the attacks on their phones. Mr Morley was a person on the street, and they beat him to death for it. There was no suggestion at the trial that they attacked him because he was gay.

What I find extraordinary, however, is any suggestion that Mr Morley's vicious killers are somehow less culpable because they didn't attack him for his sexual orientation. Yet that is the skewed logic of the "hate crime" legislation.

I know nothing of Mr. Morley beyond what was written in this article. But I also know that his death was no less a tragedy when he was murdered by a band of street thugs than it would have been if he had died in that 1999 anti-gay bombing. In each case, the motive can only be defined as contempt for one's fellow man -- and the basis for that contempt is strikingly irrelevant. Indeed, I'd argue that the sort of random street crime that took Morley's life is in some ways even more shocking to the conscience than the murderous attack on the bar he managed five years previously.

Why should his murder by rampaging hooligans bent on random mayhem be seen as less corrosive to society than an attack on a gay bar?

Why should his death at the hands of criminals with no regard for human life be seen as less worthy of harsh treatment it would have been if it had happened at the hands of a criminal with no regard for homosexuals?

So as I've said before, while I applaud those who want to end hatred for their efforts, I can't help but find their methods wrong-headed. After all, Morley isn't dead because his assailants loved him. And Morley's death was no less a offensive and worthy of punishment due to the fact that he was murdered because he was convenient rather than because of his sexual preference.

Posted by: Greg at 06:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In 2005, 1.5 million cases of diabetes were diagnosed in adults. One of them was my wife. A similar number were diagnosed in 2006. I was one of those.

Needless to say, these diagnoses have resulted in great changes in our lives -- including me getting to know my blood glucose meter much more intimately than I would like. I've also come to know a lot about diabetic test strips, too, including how expensive they would be if I didn't have prescription insurance that covered them. For example, my wife’s Freestyle Diabetic Strips would cost nearly $100 a month if we didn’t have coverage through our insurance – and that is with only the minimum amount of testing recommended by our doctor. Some folks need to test even more often, with a resulting increase in costs.

That is where AmericanDiabetesWholesale.com can be a be of assistance for diabetics without insurance. They can lower the cost of test strips anywhere from 30-60%, and provide similar discounts for other diabetic supplies. I would encourage those of my fellow diabetics who must pay for their supplies without insurance to check them out. It might make it easier for you to manage your diabetes more effectively at a lower cost, and thereby improve your quality of life.

Posted by: Greg at 06:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The actions of US District Court Judge Samuel Kent towards a female court employee are, to say the least, outrageous. I'd go so far as to say they are criminal. is it grounds for impeachment?

The federal court employee at the center of a sexual misconduct complaint against U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent first went to her boss about the judge allegedly touching her inappropriately in 2003 — four years before the March incident that led to his reprimand by the 5th Circuit judicial council.

In mid-2003, case manager Cathy McBroom told her supervisor that the judge lured her into an office used as an exercise room and groped her, according to interviews with McBroom's friends, her mother and other sources.

But her female supervisor advised that McBroom could lose her job if she made a formal complaint, and no further action apparently was taken.

The alleged assault in March prompted McBroom to request an immediate transfer and file a judicial misconduct complaint. It resulted in a rare reprimand of the judge for sexual harassment and "inappropriate behavior" toward other employees.

* * *

This is McBroom's account of what happened in March as told to friends and her mother in conversation and in written notes:

McBroom was summoned to the judge's chambers on Friday, March 23, at about 3 p.m.

Her hands were full of legal papers when the judge — a former high school athlete who is more than 6 inches taller and at least 100 pounds heavier — asked for a hug.

She told him she didn't think that was appropriate, but reluctantly approached.

The judge grabbed McBroom, pulled up her blouse and her bra and put his mouth on her breast. Then, Kent forced her head down toward his crotch.

As McBroom struggled, Kent kept telling the married mother of three what he wanted to do to her in words too graphic to publish. The papers fell to the floor. The pet bulldog Kent kept in his chambers began to bark.

The incident was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from another staff member in the corridor, and the judge loosened his grip. As she left, the judge said McBroom was a good case manager and then made suggestions about engaging in a sexual act.

McBroom ran out crying.

Terrible stuff. As one local columnist writes, this is not sexual harassment -- it is sexual assault.

Some folks are calling for impeachment.

I regret that I cannot, despite my disgust with the conduct in question.

After all, precedent indicates that the conduct alleged to have been committed is not an offense for which an individual should be removed by impeachment.

You disagree? Let me toss out some names.

Paula Jones.

Juanita Broderick.

Kathleen Willey.

Monica Lewinski.

The accusations related to these women included sex with a subordinate, unwanted sexual conduct, unwanted sexual suggestions, and sexual assault. Impeachment proceedings were brought against the perpetrator of those acts. The US Senate determined that the offenses, which were clearly proven, did not merit removal from office as high crimes or misdemeanors. And thus Bill Clinton was permitted to remain in office, on the basis that the charges were just about sex.

So tell me, how does the case of Judge Kent really differ in substance? It doesn't. To remove him from office would be to commit a grave injustice against him, by applying a different standard to him than is applied to officers of the executive branch.

Either that, or it would require the United States Senate to admit that it was wrong when it refused to remove Bill Clinton from the presidency less than a decade ago.

Although on the other hand, from a purely partisan perspective it could be quite fun to watch this impeachment proceeding play out in the US Senate. After all, it would require several Democrats currently seeking the White House to take a stand on whether the sexual abuse of subordinates is morally and legally wrong, and merits removal from office. Having defended her husband to the hilt, wouldn't you love to see how Senator Hillary Clinton handled a Kent impeachment trial, and how she would vote?

Democrats set the standard for impeachment on sexual misconduct. Now they need to live with it -- or concede that they were wrong to put politics before principle in 1999, and that they are therefore unfit to govern America.

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Posted by: Greg at 07:27 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Between their lead editorial and Frank Rich's commentary, it is clear that their Bush Derangement Syndrome has metastasized. It's a pity that there is no option for euthanizing the once-great Grey Lady. I mean, they shoot horses, don't they?

Let's start with the editorial.

It is extraordinary how President Bush has streamlined the Senate confirmation process. As we have seen most recently with the vote to confirm Michael Mukasey as attorney general, about all that is left of “advice and consent” is the “consent” part.

Once upon a time, the confirmation of major presidential appointments played out on several levels — starting, of course, with politics. It was assumed that a president would choose like-minded people as cabinet members and for other jobs requiring Senate approval. There was a presumption that he should be allowed his choices, all other things being equal.

Before George W. BushÂ’s presidency, those other things actually counted. Was the nominee truly qualified, with a professional background worthy of the job? Would he discharge his duties fairly and honorably, upholding his oath to protect the Constitution? Even though she answers to the president, would the nominee represent all Americans? Would he or she respect the power of Congress to supervise the executive branch, and the power of the courts to enforce the rule of law?

In less than seven years, Mr. Bush has managed to boil that list down to its least common denominator: the president should get his choices. At first, Mr. Bush was abetted by a slavish Republican majority that balked at only one major appointment — Harriet Miers for Supreme Court justice, and then only because of doubts that she was far enough to the right.

* * *

We are not suggesting the Democrats reject every presidential appointee, or that the presidentÂ’s preferences not be taken into account. But Democrats have done precious little to avoid the kind of spectacle the world saw last week: the Senate giving the job of attorney general, chief law enforcement officer in the worldÂ’s oldest democracy, to a man who does not even have the integrity to take a stand against torture.

Which, of course, all comes down to a single question -- is waterboarding torture? The New York Times has decreed ex cathedra that it is. The Bush administration disagrees. Refusal to subscribe to the position taken by the Times is considered to be heresy, and indication of unfitness for office, according to the editors of the NY Times, and therefore a nominee that they supported initially ought to be rejected. Frightening, isn't it, that the President might have nominated an attorney general who agrees with him, isn't it?

And then there is Frank Rich. Scary as it may seem, he makes the editorial look moderate and rational!

AS Gen. Pervez Musharraf arrested judges, lawyers and human-rights activists in Pakistan last week, our Senate was busy demonstrating its own civic mettle. Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, liberal Democrats from AmericaÂ’s two most highly populated blue states, gave the thumbs up to Michael B. Mukasey, ensuring his confirmation as attorney general.

So what if AmericaÂ’s chief law enforcement official wonÂ’t say that waterboarding is illegal? A state of emergency is a state of emergency. YouÂ’re either willing to sacrifice principles to head off the next ticking bomb, or youÂ’re with the terrorists. Constitutional corners were cut in Washington in impressive synchronicity with General MusharrafÂ’s crackdown in Islamabad.

* * *

To believe that this corruption will simply evaporate when the Bush presidency is done is to underestimate the permanent erosion inflicted over the past six years. What was once shocking and unacceptable in America has now been internalized as the new normal.

This is most apparent in the Republican presidential race, where most of the candidates seem to be running for dictator and make no apologies for it. TheyÂ’re falling over each other to expand Gitmo, see who can promise the most torture and abridge the largest number of constitutional rights. The front-runner, Rudy Giuliani, boasts a proven record in extralegal executive power grabs, Musharraf-style: After 9/11 he tried to mount a coup, floating the idea that he stay on as mayor in defiance of New YorkÂ’s term-limits law.

What makes the DemocratsÂ’ Mukasey cave-in so depressing is that it shows how far even exemplary sticklers for the law like Senators Feinstein and Schumer have lowered democracyÂ’s bar. When they argued that Mr. Mukasey should be confirmed because heÂ’s not as horrifying as Mr. Gonzales or as the acting attorney general who might get the job otherwise, they sounded whipped. After all these years of Bush-Cheney torture, theyÂ’ll say things they know are false just to move on.

So got that -- George W. Bush = General Musharraf. Deviation from that point of view is to demolish the Constitution and support dictatorship. To the barricades, comrades, to overthrow the fascist oppressor!

See what happens when you let the theater critic pretend to know something about politics and world affairs? Drama queen commentary!

Earlier I asked about euthanizing the New York Times. I was not, of course, serious. After all, the continued publication of this subversive rag is the surest proof that our constitutionally protected liberties are secure.

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Posted by: Greg at 06:47 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Courts v. Terrorism = Wile E. Coyote v. Road Runner by Big Lizards, and A Great Shifting of the Winds by Eternity Road.  Here is a link to the full results of the vote:

Posted by: Greg at 03:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm not at all shocked by this outcome.

Race, many sociologists and anthropologists have argued for decades, is a social invention historically used to justify prejudice and persecution. But when Samuel M. Richards gave his students at Pennsylvania State University genetic ancestry tests to establish the imprecision of socially constructed racial categories, he found the exercise reinforced them instead.

One white-skinned student, told she was 9 percent West African, went to a Kwanzaa celebration, for instance, but would not dream of going to an Asian cultural event because her DNA did not match, Dr. Richards said. Preconceived notions of race seemed all the more authentic when quantified by DNA.

“Before, it was, ‘I’m white because I have white skin and grew up in white culture,’ ” Dr. Richards said. “Now it’s, ‘I really know I’m white, so white is this big neon sign hanging over my head.’ It’s like, oh, no, come on. That wasn’t the point.”

But what Richards fails to consider is that for the last few decades we have been awarding benefits and burdens based upon race and ethnicity. We've been setting up special scholarships, cultural centers, and other programs to help folks understand what it means to be authentically [FILL IN THE BLANK]. having now been sorted into ethnic group X, why would these students seek out some other culture? Isn't that defined as "selling out" to the evils of "assimilation"? Unless, of course, you are white, in which case you are expected to embrace every culture except your own evilracistsexisthomophobicfascist culture in the name of diversity, multiculturalism, and political correctness. We've sowed balkinization for decades -- why wouldn't these results lead to further balkinization?

Posted by: Greg at 02:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Growing up Catholic, the lighting of candles as a part of the ritual or prayer was a given. Whether votive candles in a rack at church, or the many candles on the altar, the flickering of the flame was a part of the ritual of prayer. Later, in the seminary, I set up my own little prayer space in my dorm room , complete with a couple of votive lights to help set off the time and space as something sacred.

The problem with candles, of course, is the whole issue of fire. Open flames can be dangerous. And so I'm particularly struck by the availability of flameless candles, ones that make use of LED lights instead of open flames to simulate the burning of the candles. This is especially important in the holiday season, because many folks like to put candles in the window. I think it is fair to say that putting a flameless window candle near the curtains is quite a bit safer than having an open flame licking at the fabric of the drapes. You should really check out the products at FlamelessCandles.net.

Personally, I like the flameless votive candles. These sot of hearken back o my younger days, and that spiritual practice I mentioned above. The 3 inch wax votives (made from real wax) would be perfect in the sort of in the sort of personal sanctuary I mentioned above, as would the flameless votive set with wooden base.

Posted by: Greg at 01:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Some news stories are unintentionally funny. Maye it is the choice of words, or perhaps the unusual circumstances related to the story. Take this line from an AP story.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent surgery Saturday to remove a metal plate and cables from his leg, a spokesman said.

Anyone want to bet that the reporter and editor had a great laugh as that went out over the AP wire? I know I couldn't stop laughing as I read it. Imagine the fun that Leno and Letterman could have with this one sentence if the Writer's Guild weren't out on strike.

So instead, you can feel free to insert your own Terminator joke here.

Posted by: Greg at 06:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Posted by: Greg at 06:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It must suck to have to be governor and have to listen to little things like the voice of the people. But it looks like that is what the governor of New York might just have to do in the case of his "licenses for illegals" plan.

Facing growing pressure from his own party, Gov. Eliot Spitzer indicated he had not ruled out rescinding a heavily criticized plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, according to published reports.

Spitzer's proposal has generated a politically charged debate that has reverberated in the presidential campaign. He said Friday he was standing by the plan for now, but he suggested he might consider backing off if he could not build enthusiasm for it, the reports said.

"I don't think there's ever been an executive, a president, a governor who hasn't put out ideas that at the end of the day there isn't support, and so things don't work out," the governor told reporters after meeting with Hispanic lawmakers in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "But as of now, sure, I think this is the right idea from a security perspective. We'll wait and see."

Here's the problem, Governor.

The American people want illegal immigrants out of our country. We don't want them receiving government benefits or government licenses. We don't want sanctuary city or sanctuary states to give them refuge. Frankly, we want enforcement of our borders and state and local law enforcement to assist federal authorities in getting rid of those who are violating immigration laws.

Your plan was designed to do exactly the opposite, and so you got hosed.

The only good thing about your plan is that it may have harmed teh Hillary Clinton campaign due to her inept handling of the issue.

Posted by: Greg at 06:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Posted by: Greg at 06:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sometimes diplomacy is an over-rated virtue. Directness has its place, too, even in foreign affairs.

King Juan Carlos of Spain showed that in a confrontation with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

Spain's King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to ``shut up'' minutes after Chavez referred to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar Lopez as a ``fascist.''

The king spoke in Santiago during the closing of the Ibero- American summit.

Posted by: Greg at 07:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, just because victims of the Chandler Rapist say that their attacker was Hispanic doesn't mean that he should be described that way.

Spanish-language radio station has protested the police description of the "Chandler Rapist" as a "Hispanic," claiming it amounts to racial profiling.

The man, believed responsible for five attacks on teenage girls since June 2006 and possibly a sixth on Thursday, is described as Hispanic, 28 to 40 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, muscular, with a mustache and black hair.

Radio station 1190AM refused to use the word "Hispanic" when it broadcast the description.

"We need to be fair when we describe the person and saying this person is Hispanic, is, I think, profiling," said Mayra Nieves, vice president of programming for New Radio Venture, which owns 1190AM.

She said the man may look Hispanic, but may not be.

"It's feeding more into the anti-Hispanic sentiment that everybody's saying is not there, but is seen everywhere," Nieves said. "For me, saying he's Hispanic because the victims are saying he's Hispanic, is actually doing racial profiling."

yeah, we wouldn't want to risk racial profiling by giving credence to the statements of those brutally assaulted by a rapist. Political correctness must trump legitimate law enforcement needs. I sure hope that the cops are pulling in a sufficient number of white, black, and Asian men to ensure that there are no accusations of racial profiling when the case is brought to trial.

But I think the radio station should go a bit further in its protest -- why describe the Chandler Rapist as male? After all, he could be a woman with a very large clitoris or a strap-on sex-toy.

Posted by: Greg at 07:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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How, I wonder, do you successfully repudiate your mother for her expressions of bigotry on the campaign trail.

John McCain's 95-year-old mother, in a swipe at her son's rival Mitt Romney, said Friday that Mormons were to blame for the scandal that rocked the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

During an appearance on MSNBC, Roberta McCain laid out why her son, John, deserves to win the Republican presidential nomination. But in evaluating McCain's primary rivals, she criticized Romney's Mormon faith and his time in Salt Lake City.

"As far as the Salt Lake City thing, he's a Mormon and the Mormons of Salt Lake City had caused that scandal. And to clean that up, again, it's not a subject," Roberta McCain said.

John McCain quickly stepped in: "The views of my mothers are not necessarily the views of mine."

"Well, that's my view and you asked me," Roberta answered.

Frankly, McCain really didn't go far enough to distance himself from those expressions of bigotry. What's more, I don't know how he can successfully do so, especially after trying to spin the comments in a way that was not anti-Mormon.

I wonder -- has anyone asked her opinion of Jews lately?

UPDATE Here's Mommy!

Posted by: Greg at 07:18 AM | Comments (261) | Add Comment
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Posted by: Greg at 08:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Among the many reasons that I hate Ron Paul's presidential candidacy is the fact that it has resulted in the demise of Fort Bend County's only significant GOP political blog, Texas Safety Forum as its owner works for the Paul campaign. That's too bad, because we could really use Chris' insights into the current mess in the Fort Bend County GOP.

What am I talking about? The resignation of all of the party's officers. This decapitation of the Fort Bend Republicans, a violation of the fiduciary duty of these officers, may mean that there can be NO Republican candidates at all for any office in the overwhelmingly Republican county!

In a surprise announcement before an audience of elected Republican officials on Thursday, Fort Bend County GOP Chairman Gary Gillen said he and a slate of top party officers have quit.

Citing untenable political differences with what he termed “a number of fringe elements in the party,” Gillen said he, party Treasurer Richard McCarter, Secretary Nancy Porter and Parliamentarian Dick Hudgins have resigned effective immediately.

“We have a problem in Fort Bend County that I’d like to bring to your attention,” Gillen told an audience at a luncheon meeting of the West Fort Bend Republican Women, at Katy’s Falcon Point Country Club. “We’re facing nother less than a hostile takeover” of the county Republican Party.

Gillen did not identify members of a group he said gradually drove him to Thursday’s decision, but at one point in an interview after his announcement said, “if the executive committee of the party are not interested in helping all of our candidates equally, I am not interested in working with them.”

He said continuing friction with his political opponents has taken a toll on his family.

“I’m tired of seeing that hurt look in my wife’s eyes,” he added.

The problem, of course, is that Gillen came into the office of chairman as the result of a divisive primary in which he received only a minority of the votes in a three-way race. Not only that, he immediately found himself in conflict with a powerful faction of Executive Committee, made up of precinct chairs who had been elected by majorities in their own precincts and who were much more in contact with the desires of the GOP base in Fort Bend County. As the precinct chairs sought to exert their authority over the business of the party, Gillen chose not to work with them. Not only did he seek to impose the results of a rigged survey regarding Tom DeLay's successor on the party, he also made sought to divert Fort bend GOP funding into the coffers of a private PAC that he set up to eliminate accountability to the Executive Committee. And despite regularly being out-voted by the precinct chairs on policy matters, argued that the problem was the actions of an "extreme fringe group" among the precinct chairs, despite the fact that this faction included both religious conservatives and moderates. More recently, there have been issues over the mailing of the party newsletter and accusations of election law violations by Gillen.

This situation leaves the Fort Bend GOP, and the Republican Party of Texas, with a serious problem.

Another shoe dropped for local Republican Party officials on Friday, when they learned that the Fort Bend County GOP has been procedurally frozen in place by the sudden resignations of its chairman and top officers.

County GOP Chairman Gary Gillen stunned political officials and activists Thursday when he announced that he and party Treasurer Richard McCarter, Secretary Nancy Porter and Parliamentarian Dick Hudgins had resigned over continuing political differences with what Gillen called “fringe elements” within the party.

Then on Friday, members of the local GOP Executive Committee learned that they are at least temporarily unable to appoint even an interim chairman to replace Gillen.

According to the Texas Election Code, if the county party chairman’s position becomes vacant, the party secretary is to call a meeting “for the purpose of filling it.” But with no party secretary either, it’s up to the Texas Republican Party chair, “on written request of a member of the county executive committee,” to call a meeting to fill the county chairman vacancy.

Unfortunately for the party, no written resignations have been received and Porter won't take any phone calls -- so there is no way to determine if she has, in fact, resigned. It is therefore impossible for the state party to call a meeting, because it is not clear that the office is vacant.

And until the position of Party Chair has been filled, there can be no filings for county offices. After all, petitions for the primary ballot for such offices must be filed with the party chairman, starting in less than a month. No chairman, no filing for office, no Republican candidates in a county that has been a brilliant scarlet for years. In effect, the guy who claims he wants to help all candidates equally has acted to screw them all (and every Republican in the county) equally by creating a situation in which Republican voices cannot be heard at all.

And a couple of questions to ask about the decision by Gillen and his appointees to resign.

1) How successful were Gillen's efforts to raise funds for a reelection campaign -- and to pay of debts from the very expensive 2006 race?

2) What other candidates were on the horizon to challenge Gillen -- and which mainstream Republicans were supporting these other potential candidates?

Democrat political blogs are having a field day with this one.

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Posted by: Greg at 07:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Instant win cards are a great idea.

Let’s be honest – there have been many times when I’ve gone to a store simply because I knew they were giving out scratch and win cards that would give me a percentage off my purchases. Usually those types of scratch and win cards give you 10% or 15% off, but the promotional material states that some of the cards will give you a higher percentage off. I’m sure the stores that hold such promotions end up drawing more customers to their store when they’re giving out scratch and win cards than they do otherwise – and that the profits far outweigh the costs.

From time to time IÂ’ve also received scratch and win cards through the mail. Those scratch and win cards have sometimes made me consider visiting the business holding the promotion if they are selling a product I need.

Instant Win Promotions specializes in the creation of custom scratch off cards, pull tab tickets, and other promotional contest cards.

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Posted by: Greg at 06:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You know, folks who would kill school kids because they were a convenient target of opportunity.

FIFTY-NINE schoolchildren were confirmed dead today as a result of a suicide attack in northern Afghanistan that left another 96 injured.

The schoolchildren had been lined up to greet a group of politicians visiting a sugar factory in the northern province of Baghlan on Tuesday when a suicide bomber detonated explosives.

In total, at least 75 people were killed, including several members of parliament.

Fifty-nine schoolchildren aged eight to 18 and five teachers were among those killed in the attack, education ministry spokesman Zahoor Afghan said. The attack was the deadliest in the country since the US-led invasion in 2001 removed the Taliban regime from power.

Mr Afghan said: "The education minister has ordered that no children should ever again be used in these sort of events."

Actions like this one are intended to instill terror, and to make the people think twice about the ability of the government to protect them. Indeed, their purpose is less about killing a particular target than it is in making every person wonder if they are safe, and to sap th will of the people in general -- the true targets of such bombings. Indeed, these are exercises in propaganda through acts of barbarism. The choice, however, is clear -- stand firm in the face of terror, or surrender to those who murder children in order to achieve political victory.

Posted by: Greg at 06:32 PM | Comments (292) | Add Comment
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YouÂ’ve probably heard of iContact, the leading email marketing company with over 100,000 users worldwide. Well, theyÂ’ve recently launched a feature called the iContact Community that allows visitors to comment, rank, and discuss email newsletters. TheyÂ’ve managed to make making email interactive in a whole new way, and enabled subscriber discussions of email content.

What the iContact Community does is allow email marketers to create a public profile, archive their newsletters and blog posts, tag and categorize them, get their content indexed by Google, hold discussions with subscribers, and grow their opt-in lists by attracting interested readers.

Members of the iContact Community can vote on favorite content, comment on content, view the top ranked content in the communityÂ’s 18 categories, discuss topics in the forums, and find new email newsletters, RSS feeds, and blogs that interest them. Your votes as a member can help a newsletter that you think has great content move up in its category.

The iContact Community at http://community.icontact.com already has over 120,000 registered members and 212,000 pieces of content on it three days after launch. That is simply fantastic growth for such a new service, and is a tribute to the strength of iContact.com.

If you want to publish your email newsletters to the iContact Community, you can sign up for a free trial of iContact at http://www.icontact.com. iContact starts at just $9.95 per month and provides excellent service to both businesses of all sizes, including International Paper, Remax, Ford, CBS, Symantec, and AT&T.

If you want to find email newsletters and blogs you are interested in visit the iContact Community">iContact community now at http://community.icontact.com.

The design of the site is fantastic, and includes a great video that explains the entire iContact Community on the home page. I encourage you to stop by and check out their great features.

Posted by: Greg at 06:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In 1980, Ronald Reagan spoke to a county fair near Philadelphia, Mississippi. It has often been claimed that the event was an appeal to racism by the Republican candidate, given a civil rights atrocity committed by members of the Democrat Party's paramilitary terrorist wing, the KKK, sixteen years earlier. Often overlooked was the fact that in the same week he gave a speech to the National Urban League which was a specific outreach to black Americans by pomising an agenda for economic opportunity.

New York Times columnist David Brooks sorts out the history of the speech and how it came to be given.

Reagan’s speech at the fair was short and cheerful, and can be heard at: www.onlinemadison.com/ftp/reagan/reaganneshoba.mp3. He told several jokes, and remarked: “I know speaking to this crowd, I’m speaking to a crowd that’s 90 percent Democrat.”

He spoke mostly about inflation and the economy, but in the middle of a section on schools, he said this: “Programs like education and others should be turned back to the states and local communities with the tax sources to fund them. I believe in states’ rights. I believe in people doing as much as they can at the community level and the private level.”

The use of the phrase “states’ rights” didn’t spark any reaction in the crowd, but it led the coverage in The Times and The Post the next day.

Reagan flew to New York and delivered his address to the Urban League, in which he unveiled an urban agenda, including enterprise zones and an increase in the minimum wage. He was received warmly, but not effusively. Much of the commentary that week was about whether ReaganÂ’s outreach to black voters would work.

You can look back on this history in many ways. It’s callous, at least, to use the phrase “states’ rights” in any context in Philadelphia. Reagan could have done something wonderful if he’d mentioned civil rights at the fair. He didn’t. And it’s obviously true that race played a role in the G.O.P.’s ascent.

Still, the agitprop version of this week — that Reagan opened his campaign with an appeal to racism — is a distortion, as honest investigators ranging from Bruce Bartlett, who worked for the Reagan administration and is the author of “Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy,” to Kevin Drum, who writes for Washington Monthly, have concluded.

But still the slur spreads. ItÂ’s spread by people who, before making one of the most heinous charges imaginable, couldnÂ’t even take 10 minutes to look at the evidence. It posits that there was a master conspiracy to play on the alleged Klan-like prejudices of American voters, when there is no evidence of that conspiracy. And, of course, in a partisan age there are always people eager to believe this stuff.

Of course there is such an audience, given that the version attacking Reagan fits the false narrative built up by Democrat partisans about the GOP being a party of uneducated racists -- a narrative which is racist in its disregard for southern whites. ANd indeed, it overlooks the fact that, as Reagan points out in the speech, much of his audience was composed of Democrats -- folks who may have voted for Reagan that fall, but who also cast ballots for Democrats for every other office in that same election.

Posted by: Greg at 12:43 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Here's a neat story about high school football, and how a small town program has become a source of pride for a local community.

Their photos are on the cards traded over at the elementary school, and their exploits are on the lips of the old men who gather at the Second Cup Cafe each morning. They are the sons and grandsons of this north Kansas town, and for 30 autumns now, the Smith Center Redmen have puffed up the chests of folks here.

They are a high school football team, a superb one that has won 51 games in a row and three consecutive state championships, and has outscored opponents this season, 704-0. They are more than that, however, to the 1,931 people here who all know one anotherÂ’s names: The Redmen are proof that hard work and accountability still mean something.

The trading cards, for example, are not about hero worship. Each player and cheerleader signs a contract pledging to remain alcohol-, drug- and tobacco-free. If they break that promise, they must go to the elementary school to explain to the children why they were kicked off their team, and their cards are revoked.

Interest in the town’s youth is not limited to worshipful talk in its cafes, either. As many adults cruise Main Street as teenagers on weekends, and the Jiffy Burger remains a nexus for three generations of Smith Center denizens — except for Friday night, of course, when the Redmen (10-0) will travel to Oakley (11-0) to face the Plainsmen in a playoff game.

“What we do around here real well is raise kids,” Smith Center Coach Roger Barta said. “In fact, we do such a good job at it — and I’m talking about the parents and community — that they go away to school and succeed, and then pursue opportunities in the bigger cities.

“None of this is really about football,” he added. “We’re going to get scored on eventually, and lose a game, and that doesn’t mean anything. What I hope we’re doing is sending kids into life who know that every day means something.”

I've noticed the connection between athletics and making responsible citizens. At the school where I teach, athletes are held to a high standard, and we have seen well-over a hundred young men reach college on football scholarships that allow them educational opportunities they might not have gotten otherwise. Our other sports programs have had similar, if smaller, success. It sounds like Coach Barta of Smith Center, Kansas, has accomplished something similar with his program, which is as more important in my eyes than the phenomenal athletic success.

I'll be pulling for the Smith Center Redmen this weekend, hoping that they can manage another undefeated season and a 52-0 winning streak -- just as I will with my own school's shot at a seventh straight undefeated regular season.

Posted by: Greg at 12:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It could be that her "licenses for illegals" gaffe may cost her significantly in some states.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-commanding lead in New Hampshire has been slashed - a sign that the simmering driver's-license controversy may have bled into the critical first-primary state, a new poll shows.

Clinton leads top Democratic rival Barack Obama by only 10 percentage points - 34 to 24 - in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll, her smallest edge of the season. John Edwards comes in third, at 15 percent.

A month ago, Clinton had a 23-point lead in the same survey.

Last week, before Clinton stumbled in a Democratic presidential debate over Gov. Spitzer's plan to let illegal immigrants get driver's licenses, she led by 16 percent.

The survey also revealed that 66 percent of Democrats are against letting illegal immigrants get driver's licenses, with only 19 percent supporting the idea, an indication that Clinton's positive - but severely hedged - stance won't sell well in the Granite State.

And by the way -- her Iowa lead is down to 3 points.

The only problem is that there seems to be only a single Democrat in the race who is right on illegal immigration -- and even Chris Dodd strays far too far into the amnesty camp to be acceptable to the average American on the issue. It seems that it would be impossible for the rest of the Democrats to attack Hillary without it being noticed that they are all pro-amnesty, which would hurt them with middle America.

Posted by: Greg at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Charles Krauthammer sees the situation much like I do.

[W]we need to make clear our choices. The best among the awful ones Musharraf has presented to us is to try to broker a truce between the two forces before the blood starts to flow, keep Musharraf to his promise of holding early parliamentary elections -- which Bhutto will win -- and then guarantee him a dignified and gradual exit that ensures his protection while Bhutto and her allies claim legitimate authority and try to reach an accommodation with Musharraf's successor as military chief.

It's a long downfield pass. But Musharraf never consulted us on the choice of plays.

Indeed, given that this recent declaration of emergency went strongly against US urgings. We have been trying quite hard to heal the Musharraf/Bhutto breach and aid in restoring democracy in Pakistan. Ultimately, Musharraf decided to ignore US appeals, and even his decision to leave the army and hold elections seem to be on his terms. Unless Condi Rice and George Bush can prevail upon Musharraf to release the political prisoners currently under arrest (including Bhutto herself), the currently scheduled elections are a farce and the outcome as ham. I'm beginning to get the answers I need to make a conclusion on this point from last weekend.

So for me, a key question will be how long these opposition leaders are held, and how long elections are delayed. Indeed, I'd argue the legitimacy of the entire Pakistani political system -- and the government of a nation with nuclear arms -- depends upon those very issues.

I think the latest course of actions in Pakistan are clearly undermining the legitimacy of the whole enterprise -- and that Musharraf has only a limited time in which to turn loose his opponents before being permanently relegated to international pariah status.

Posted by: Greg at 12:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Are you a business owner? have you ever thought that it might be better to incorporate? Well, you might want to consider the advantages of using the S corporation structure to take advantage of the legal and legitimate deductions offered to such businesses under the tax code. The result is lower tax liability under the law, which can be the difference between profit and loss, or increase your profits. Consider the possibilities today after you check out SCorporationsExplained.com for more information.

Posted by: Greg at 08:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If this is true, it strikes me that General Musharraf may have gone one step too far for the international community to tolerate.

The opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest this morning, her political party said. Streets were filled with police officers carrying batons and shields, and trucks blocked roads, trying to prevent access to a protest rally that Ms. Bhutto had helped organize in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjacent to the capital of Islamabad.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Thursday, a day after President Bush called, that PakistanÂ’s parliamentary elections would be held before Feb. 15. But his security forces continued to widen their crackdown and jailed thousands of opposition party members before the rally, which is scheduled to start in the early afternoon today.

I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no positive spin that can be put on this story. While the rescheduled elections had appeared to be a positive development yesterday, the arrest of the key opposition figure that the General had been courting is a key misstep. My suspicion is that this move, along with the arrests of thousands of Bhutto's followers to stop protests against the Musharraf regime, will result in a withdrawal of support from the Musharraf regime, and demands for strong sanctions against Pakistan until Musharraf is removed from power. As a result, I see the US losing a key Muslim ally in the war on Islamist terror groups like the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

H/T Malkin, Hot Air

Posted by: Greg at 07:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sponsored Post

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Posted by: Greg at 06:46 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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We know, of course, that the reason for all of the intriguing geological formations and geysers around Yellowstone national park is the history of volcanism in the area. Well, is the pressure building for another big blow?

Yellowstone National Park, once the site of a giant volcano, has begun swelling up, possibly because molten rock is accumulating beneath the surface, scientists report.

But, "there is no evidence of an imminent volcanic eruption," said Robert B. Smith, a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah.

Many giant volcanic craters around the world go up and down over decades without erupting, he said.

Smith and colleagues report in Friday's issue of the journal Science that the flow of the ancient Yellowstone crater has been moving upward almost 3 inches per year for the past three years.

That is more than three times faster than ever observed since such measurements began in 1923, the researchers said.

"Our best evidence is that the crustal magma chamber is filling with molten rock," Smith said in a statement. "But we have no idea how long this process goes on before there either is an eruption or the inflow of molten rock stops and the caldera deflates again."

It has been 642,000 since the last major eruption, but scientists tell us not to worry about an imminent cataclysm. Still, such swelling was detected at Mount St. Helens before it erupted in the 1980s, and the three documented major eruptions in the last 2 million years all exceeded that event. Scientist do keep a close watch on the area, so we should have plenty of warning before a major event does occur.

Posted by: Greg at 06:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Broadband internet service has become affordale for most people, at speeds that were unthinkable for your average web surfer only a few years ago. BT is offering cheap broadband packages in the UK at reasonable prices, as low as £8.95 in some cases. Why wouldn't you want to make the switch?

Posted by: Greg at 06:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One more example of how the regime of Mahmoud the Mad represses basic human rights.

Nearly a year ago, French-Iranian filmmaker Mehrnoushe Solouki arrived in Tehran to shoot a documentary about the burial rites of Iran's religious minorities. But when she stumbled upon a mass grave of regime opponents summarily executed in 1988, Solouki was suddenly thrown into Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

She was released after about a month, but authorities confiscated her French passport, barring her exit from the Islamic Republic. Frightened, she briefly sought refuge in the French Embassy. "Every moment, I feel like I'm in a state of limbo between life and death," Solouki told RFE/RL's Radio Farda in a telephone interview on November 6.

Now, Solouki is due to go before an Iranian court on November 17. She apparently faces charges of intending to make antiestablishment propaganda, which she denies. But the proceedings will take place behind closed doors, their outcome far from certain. And fearing the worst, Solouki is urging the international community to shine a light on her case, with a particular appeal to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Now we are only talking about a grave containing the bodies of nearly 3 thousand political dissidents murdered in contravention of international law. The Iranians donÂ’t like having that little atrocity discussed, and so they have acted to silence a filmmaker who might share details of it with the world. The world must not allow the Islamist dictatorship to suppress the truth.

Posted by: Greg at 11:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It appears that PakistanÂ’s elections will be delayed a month.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has decided that parliamentary elections will be held by Feb. 15 and reiterated plans to step down as head of the Army, partial concessions to the pressure building on him from Washington and inside Pakistan since he declared a state of emergency over the weekend.

However the embattled president still seemed headed for direct confrontation with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who said Thursday's announcements would not dissuade her from a mass rally planned for Friday in Rawalpindi. Authorities rounded up hundreds of members of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party in overnight raids -- the first time that party activists have been targeted since the emergency was declared.

And that last part of the report raises an important issue – will these be free elections, or will they be a show that does not have the actual substance of democracy. The reality was that Musharraf was on a path towards legitimizing his rule a week ago, but has now done a great deal to destroy the credibility of any outcome in which he remains in power. And in light of the question I asked this morning, I find myself wondering if we will see the Pakistani leader leaving the country bound for some foreign refuge, just as Ferdinand Marcos was forced to do in the Philippines. I'm curious -- how many pairs of shoes does Mrs. Musharraf own?

Posted by: Greg at 11:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And it will ultimately be unsuccessful.

The wife of executed killer Michael Richard filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday accusing Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller of causing the inmate's Sept. 25 lethal injection.

Marsha Richard of Houston claims Keller had no authority to prevent what would have been a successful appeal to stay her husband's execution.

The lawsuit says Keller violated Michael Richard's due process rights when she ordered the court clerk's office to close promptly at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 before his lawyers could file an appeal. Houston attorney David Dow had asked for more time after having computer problems.

The suit names Keller in her individual and official capacity, as well as other unnamed defendants in their individual and official capacities.

Excuse me -- Michael Richard was a scum-sucking murdering bastard who caused his own death by his life of crime, having been duly convicted by a jury of his peers and had every appeal rejected. There was no chance of his death sentence being overturned. The only question was when, not if, justice was going to be served -- and even if the appeal had been successful, in the end the only question would be one of HOW the sentence would have been carried out.

Besides, Keller acted appropriately under the law and the procedures in place at the time -- as was shown by the Supreme Court's unwillingness to take up the issue and stop the execution. Interestingly enough, Mrs. Richard didn't see fit to include the justices of the US Supreme Court who refused to grant a stay of execution after Judge Keller properly rejected the appeal when Michael's Richard's lawyers didn't meet the filing deadline.

Dismiss this suit, assess Marsha Richard for all court costs and legal fees for those she sued, and sanction the lawyers for this frivolous suit.

And I'm sure I speak for most Americans when I say that I don't give a rat's ass if murderers suffer a bit while being executed, given the lack of regard they showed for the lives and sufferings of their victims. But if lethal injection of a drug cocktail is a constitutional no-no based upon speculation of suffering, I'm all for the lethal injection of lead at high velocity -- or public hanging in the county where the crime took place. Especially since any reading of the original intent of the Eighth Amendment will show that the founders did not consider the latter to be cruel and unusual punishment, as it was the preferred form of execution in their day.

Posted by: Greg at 11:15 PM | Comments (272) | Add Comment
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Is Benazir Bhutto the new Corazon Aquino?

Following four days of relatively tepid statements, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Wednesday issued a rousing call to action against President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule, setting up a possible direct confrontation between two titans of Pakistani power.

Bhutto, whose legions of rank-and-file supporters have been conspicuously absent from anti-Musharraf demonstrations this week, urged her backers to attend a major rally Friday in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the army, which Musharraf heads. After that, she said, opponents of emergency rule would begin "a long march" from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital, Islamabad. The 250-mile journey will take them through the heart of Punjab, Pakistan's largest and most politically influential province.

For reasons that are not always clear, Bhutto is often seen as the great symbol of Pakistani democracy, despite her somewhat checkered history. Ity may be that her call for people to march peaceful for a change will be very effective. And any effort to break up her rally will be seen quite negatively in the West, and will make even tepid support of Musharraf from the West completely untenable.

Looks to me like any outcome will be bad for Musharraf, unless he can cut a deal with the opposition along the lines of what President Bush indicated must happen -- resignation from the army, free elections on schedule, and an end to the state of emergency. But has the situation already gone beyond the point where that can happen?

Posted by: Greg at 11:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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With the rise of the internet, one of the new ways of getting an education that has developed is online education. You can earn a degree in many fields by taking the bulk of your coursework at home, online. That really expands your educational opportunities, because now you can get yourself an online degree!

Frankly, I am all for such developments. After all, I actually teach part-timein an online program, though one that is in a mixed-delivery format that includes a classroom session once a week. The way it works is for students to access a server and read materials, watch streaming-video lectures, submit assignments and do tests online. My classes even have a bulletin board on which we discuss topics I set (which often get quite detailed), with participation in the discussion threads being factored into the course grade. Best of all, students can participate at their convenience, day or night.

I've worked with colleagues who have earned their masters degree through fully online programs. They have generally been happy with the programs, and have found them both strong in content and practical in focus. One of the great things for them is that it has enabled them to do coursework through colleges that they could never have attended while continuing to live and work where they are now. The result is access to programs that would have been otherwise unavailable to them. That makes the internet a real boon for those seeking to improve themselves through education.

Posted by: Greg at 11:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fifteen years ago, this was an important endorsement. A decade ago, it was one that might have made a difference. But let's be honest -- does anyone really care what Pat Robertson says anymore.

Televangelist Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, endorsed Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday.

"It is my pleasure to announce my support for America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, a proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans," Robertson said during a news conference with Giuliani in Washington.

The former New York mayor backs abortion rights and gay rights, positions that put him in conflict with conservative GOP orthodoxy, and has been trying to persuade evangelical conservatives like Robertson to overlook their differences on those issues.

Evangelicals have split in their support for the leading Republican candidates. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a favorite of Christian conservatives who dropped out of the race last month, endorsed fellow Sen. John McCain of Arizona on Wednesday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney recently announced that Paul Weyrich and Bob Jones III were on board with his candidacy.

It isn't that I don't have a certain amount of respect for Robertson -- I do. Rather, it is a question of how relevant he is to the process today. Twenty years ago he was a candidate for the presidency. His star has fallen since then, or rather it has been eclipsed by other leaders on the evangelical right. I just don't know that he is the sort of heavyweight that James Dobson would have to be considered. Indeed, it will only be something for those who hate the religious right, like homosexualist blogger and columnist Andrew Sullivan, to froth about.

Oh, and as for the Brownback endorsement of McCain, I consider it about as relevant as an endorsement from Tommy Thompson, another failed presidential candidate who could not even make it into 2008.

Posted by: Greg at 10:55 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I hope I never need to sell property fast, because that would mean that I would be reacting to a crisis that would put me out of my home. But the reality is that sometimes things happen in life that are beyond control that can impact your financial situation. When that happens, you need to be able to tap into that equity quickly, and not by getting a loan. In such cases, where do you turn to save yourself from financial ruin?

Of course, saying that you want to sell your home fast and actually accomplishing that are two different things. It depends on if it is a seller's market or a buyer's market. Right now, it seems to be a buyers market in most parts of the country. And sometimes the market is simply down.

However, WeBuyHouses.com can help you sell your house fast . They are a group of investors that buy homes around the United States. You just fill out one form about your home and they will then put you in contact with an investor interested in purchasing your home. Then the two parties work out the details – after all, maybe you really need to have cash upfront, or perhaps you can finance the sale over the long term. They understand that in some situations a fast home sale is more important than a listing the property and waiting for someone to come along and buy – especially when the situation in question is the source of a lot of stress. WeBuyHouses.com can help relieve that stress by connecting you with that buyer so you can sell property fast!

Posted by: Greg at 10:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Always an appropriate response.

And this parody, sung to the tune of "It's A Small World (After All) -- the most annoying song in Disney history -- is just as annoying as the original when it gets stuck in your head. Love the parenthetical comments, too.

ItÂ’s a world of tinfoil, a world of hats.
Dennis Kucinich is completely bats.
Let us not be afraid
As we drink our Kool-Aid.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.

ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

ThereÂ’s the Internet and here is our plan:
EvÂ’ry online poll we will gently jam.
Ron Paul is our hero.
HeÂ’s like H. Ross Perot.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

[How do you turn this thing off?]

ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

[Oh great. IÂ’m in a Do loop.]

ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

[Enough already.]

ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Paul world after all.
ItÂ’s a Ron Paul world.

H/T Don Surber

Posted by: Greg at 10:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I've got to tell you -- I don't know how I lived without wireless broadband before this summer. Really, the change in speed and convenience has been phenomenal! If you are in the UK BT Wireless Broadband is the wi-fi solution to all your internet needs. Check out their website for details on great deals on wifi broadband.

Posted by: Greg at 06:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This is just what we need.

More than 80 House Democrats and Republicans yesterday teamed up to propose a new immigration-enforcement bill, saying they reject the Senate's two attempts at "amnesty" and signaling that only an enforcement measure can pass this Congress.

Led by Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, a freshman Democrat who won election with a tough immigration-enforcement message, the bill also challenges conventional wisdom by showing a large number of rank-and-file Democrats agree with most Republicans that the first step should be a get-tough approach on border security.

That new approach includes going after businesses that hire illegal aliens, better information-sharing among federal agencies such as the IRS, Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to track illegal aliens, and an increase in enforcement agents both at the border and in the nation's interior.

"The reason you're seeing so many of us standing here today, Democrats and Republicans, is this is the immigration reform bill the American people have been waiting for," said Rep. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, a freshman who is one of 44 Democrats signing on as original co-sponsors, along with 40 Republicans.

Once we make it impossible for illegals to work (or go to school) in this country, they will start to self-deport. And even if they donÂ’t, attempts to illegally seek benefits to which they are not morally entitled will cause them to self-identify as illegal.

And, as always, my policy preference is as follows.

Round ‘em up! Ship ‘em back! Rawhide!

Posted by: Greg at 01:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Kid is busted for drugs at school. Cops are called. Parents are called. Cops determine the whole family are in the country illegally (smoking the pot that Americans wonÂ’t smoke?) and call the Border Patrol. Family gets deported.

Sounds like a happy ending to me, in accordance with the laws of the United States.

Unfortunately, students and administrators in the Tucson Unified School District disagreed. And now the cops have announced their intention to ignore, rather than enforce, the law.

>About a hundred students demonstrated outside a Tucson high school Tuesday, then marched five miles downtown to protest the arrest and removal to Mexico of a classmate and his family.

The students apparently did not walk out of classes but arrived at Catalina High School on ready to demonstrate and head to the federal building, Tucson Unified School District spokeswoman Chryl Hill Lander said.

Tucson police spokesman Sgt. Mark Robinson said at least some of the demonstrators veered off to congregate peacefully outside police headquarters.

* * *

School officials searched the backpack of a 17-year-old freshman who was incoherent, and when they found a substance that looked like marijuana, called police — standard procedure.

"Police were called in because there was marijuana found in a student's backpack," Lander said. "Administrators have the right to go through a backpack when the situation warrants, and the student was acting strangely, was incoherent. He wasn't able to talk and make complete sentences," she said.

Police called the boy's parents and asked them to come to the school. When they arrived, police asked to see their drivers' licenses.

The parents acknowledged living in the United States illegally with their two sons, including a sixth-grader, for a half-dozen years.

Police in turn notified the Border Patrol, who took all four people into custody.
Immigrants rights activists voiced concern about the incident, but Tucson police defended calling the Border Patrol as the appropriate action.

In other words, this is really straightforward. They weren’t even looking for illegals – they were dealing with a kid so stoned that he couldn’t see straight who got busted with drugs. The discovery of the immigration status was merely incidental. This is the classic case of when everyone OUGHT to agree that rounding them up and sending them home is appropriate

IÂ’m particularly incensed by this comment.

Jennifer Allen, director of the Border Action Network, said allowing immigration agents into schools could create more mistrust and fear in the immigrant community.

More mistrust? More fear? You say that like it is a bad thing. I want them so damn scared that they are pissing their pants every time they set foot on the streets of our nation or hear a knock on the door. I want them so mistrustful and frightened that they go back to their countries of origin. Criminals OUGHT to be mistrustful and fearful, and it is a sign of mental and moral weakness to think that they should not be.

And yet you get a street protest by a bunch of kids cutting school, many of whom are probably in this country illegally themselves.

On Tuesday morning, more than 100 students, mostly from Catalina, gathered outside TPD headquarters, 270 S. Stone Ave., to protest the removal of the boy and his family by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Police called Border Patrol officials after they had been told by the family that is had been in the country illegally, police officials said.

But the students, some carrying signs including "Migra (immigration agents) out of our schools," said they should not be afraid they might be yanked from their classrooms by immigration police.

In Arizona, public school districts are forbidden by law to deny an education to any school-age child living here, Tucson Unified School District officials said.

The district's stance on the issue was clear: "We don't want immigration laws enforced on our campuses," said TUSD Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer.

He, deputy superintendent Patti Lopez and police officials including Assistant Chief Roberto Villaseñor, met as the protesters waited in a orderly fashion outside the station.

Pfeuffer said Villaseñor came out to speak with students after their meeting and pointed out that police never would have called the Border Patrol if police hadn't been called to the school for criminal activity.

Villaseñor said police have to ask the question of citizenship when they are taking someone into custody.

Community activist Isabel Garcia questioned that action. And, she added, "You should not have called Border Patrol onto campus."

Someone explain to me why the Border Patrol should not have been called. When you become aware of a violation of the law, that is what ought to happen. Any kid who doesn’t feel safe because they come on campus probably has good reason to feel unsafe, and does not belong at the school – or in this country. And as for the superintendent of the district, may I suggest that if he doesn’t want immigration laws enforced on his district’s campuses, he needs to immediately renounce and return all federal aid of any kind. After all, most Americans don’t want their tax money being spent on illegal aliens of for schools where contempt for the law is openly encouraged. Heck, I hope some courageous member of Congress will seek to add a rider to some bill targeting every penny that TUSD receives in federal money.

And then the cops folded like a cheap hide-a-bed.

Villaseñor said Tuesday afternoon that TPD would no longer call the Border Patrol to churches or schools, although it will cooperate with the Border Patrol.

Got that, folks – churches and schools in Tucson are now law-free zones, where cops will ignore illegal activity. Disgusting.

The time has come for our nation to start enforcing policies penalizing sanctuary cities – and expanding those policies to also penalize sanctuary schools. Not only should schools not be allowed to ignore our nation’s immigration laws, but they should be expected to cooperate with immigration authorities. They should also be forbidden to penalize employees who report immigration violations brought to their attention.

Posted by: Greg at 01:20 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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After all, why else would they want to require a reporter to disclose the identity of confidential sources before releasing what is, by law, public information available to any citizen?

A South Texas public television station has refused to turn over financial documents to the Valley Morning Star unless a reporter reveals confidential sources, the newspaper reported Nov. 3.
Reporter Bruce Lee Smith on Nov. 2 tried to pick up financial documents he had requested from KMBH television and radio, run by RGV Educational Broadcasting Inc. as the local Public Broadcasting System affiliate.
When Smith arrived at the television studio, he was told KMBH officials would release the documents only if the reporter signed a letter in which he agreed to disclose confidential sources who provided background information to him about the stationÂ’s finances and operations.

This was not even a Freedom Of Information Act request – these are records that are required to be available for public inspection as a condition of receiving federal grant money to operate as a PBS station.

Now I donÂ’t know whether there is actually any wrong-doing in the use of the grant money. What I do know is that there seems to be some problem with their willingness to follow the laws under which they receive tax money to operate.

Posted by: Greg at 01:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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