March 31, 2007
The modern process of recognizing an individual as a saint (not making a saint -- God does that through grace) is much more laborious and cumbersome. Even then, there is the possibility of waiving deadlines in cases of merit, which has been done with the late pontiff. And that leads us to this story.
For months she was known as the "mystery nun," an unidentified member of a religious order who told a Catholic Church investigator that she was miraculously cured of advanced Parkinson's disease after she and other nuns prayed to the late Pope John Paul II.Her testimony -- describing the kind of medically inexplicable recovery that could help advance the pontiff toward sainthood -- was published anonymously on an Italian Catholic Web site. It bore the signature "A French Sister." Church officials, proceeding with a confidential inquiry into the claims, refused to name her.
On Friday morning, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, an unassuming 46-year-old who works in a Paris maternity clinic, stepped before a bank of microphones on French national television and, in a voice choked with emotion, declared that she was the nun.
She described going to bed one night barely able to write or walk and waking up at 4:30 a.m. fully cured. "All I can say is that I was ill and now I'm healed," said Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, smiling widely. "Now the church will decide if it's a miracle."
Church officials said Sister Marie Simon-Pierre's recovery from the advanced stages of a disease with no known cure could be instrumental in the canonization process, which can sometimes take centuries to complete but has been fast-tracked for John Paul.
In Rome on Monday, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre will take part in ceremonies commemorating the second anniversary of John Paul's death and the completion of the first phase of efforts to declare the pontiff "blessed," an intermediate step toward sainthood. This step, known as beatification, requires confirmation of one miracle brought about by the posthumous intercession of the candidate.
Now let me clarify some misconceptions that some of you may have -- misconceptions that abound in this sloppy opening in the New York Times.
If the story Sister Marie Simon-Pierre told Friday is true, then Pope John Paul II exercised miraculous powers from beyond the grave. A proven physical miracle is an important qualification on the road to sainthood.
Actually, no -- no one argues that John Paul the Great exercised any miraculous powers. The miraculous powers were those of God. Rather, Catholic teaching holds that just as we on earth can pray for and intercede on behalf of our fellow man, so can the saints in heaven (all the faithful departed before the throne in heaven, not just the select few recognized by the Church). God, in His infinite wisdom and sovereign will, decides when and if He performs a miracle in response to prayer. Indeed, this dear nun says it exactly right only a few paragraphs after that sloppy writing by the Times' Elaine Sciolino.
“I have been cured,” she told journalists gathered for a news conference in Aix-en-Provence. “My healing was the work of God through the intercession of Pope John Paul II.”
Now I will praise Ms. Sciolino for including this bit of information in her article.
Pope Benedict has given mixed signals on his approach to sainthood.In addition to putting the late pope’s canonization on a fast track, he fueled speculation that sainthood was imminent when he expressed hope last May during a trip to Poland, John Paul’s homeland, that the process would conclude “in the near future.”
As a cardinal, however, Pope Benedict said several times that he was not in favor of naming an excessive number of saints. He was believed to have been aligned with conservatives who looked askance on Pope John PaulÂ’s record canonization of saints during his 26-year papacy.
Here we have a conflict between different pontiff's over the canonization of (granting formal recognition of) saints. The current Pope is on record, prior to his elevation to the papacy, as wanting to proceed more slowly in granting this recognition -- perhaps, one would surmise, to preserve the special nature of the formal title of "saint". John Paul the Great, on the other hand, seemed to hold to a different position, one which was intent upon recognizing the depth and breadth of holiness that exists among the Christian faithful in this world, hence his eagerness to advance the process of recognizing men and women from around the globe for their holiness of life in order to provide the Church with many more examples of sanctity in many different nations and cultures. But in the end, each of these men was coming from the same place -- the recognition that the saints are exemplars to us all of ways to live the Christian life in fidelity with the Gospel, heroes of the faith to be emulated. And if Benedict wishes to reserve the title to a select few so that it retains its special nature, while John Paul the Great sought to demonstrate the real possibility of each of us attaining that accolade through a close and faithful walk with Christ in our daily lives, there can be no dispute that each was motivated by a desire to have the lives of the saints serve as signposts on the path to Heaven.
And on a personal note, I wait with hopeful expectation for the day when the Church canonizes these five martyrs, one of whom (Sister Kathleen McGuire) I knew when she ministered at the Newman Center in Carbondale, Illinois -- for they are undeniable proof that saints are ordinary people who do the extraordinary by faithfully following their Christian vocation wherever it may lead them.
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Diplomatic: Britain has already suffered a setback at the UN with a fairly feeble rebuke of the Iranians. In the next few days, major players such as Russia and China, who are also friendly towards Teheran, might be persuaded to become more robust. But both have trade links with Iran and would be uncomfortable about major economic sanctions.Downing Street could order all diplomatic links to be severed, throwing out Iran's ambassador, but this would cut off the one line of communication with the regime, leaving the Navy ratings even more isolated.
Sanctions: This is probably the main area where Iran is vulnerable. While it is a huge exporter of oil it has a chronic shortage of refineries, making it necessary to import 40 per cent of refined products such as petrol and jet fuel.
Sanctions would certainly make the regime sit up but they are only likely to appear as part of the game to force Iran to give up its nuclear programme.
Whitehall might have more luck in persuading the European Union to bring in further sanctions and severing trade links. Britain and America are also hamstrung by the lack of political leverage in the Middle East as a result of the Iraq invasion - which has conversely strengthened Iran's position.
Blockade: The Strait of Hormuz is just 21 miles across, making it a highly strategic chokepoint - and consequently very heavily defended by Teheran. With Iran so reliant on the waterway for its fuel, arms imports and other goods it would be a key area to put pressure on the regime.
The Navy has prepared plans on how to enforce a blockade but it would require almost the entire Fleet at a time when it is facing cuts and many ships have been mothballed. A blockade would also substantially increase the threat of all-out war.
Military: Britain is not a strong enough power to go it alone in a land battle with Iran, especially with so many troops committed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
America is unlikely to back military action until diplomacy and possible sanctions have forced Iran to climb down over its nuclear programme. But the SAS will have already made contingency plans for a rescue mission. It would only be seriously considered if the hostages were considered to be under severe threat of death.
Looks to me like John Bull needs Viagra or Cialis.
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Now one of the reasons I love Ed is that he makes no bones about the fact that he loves and is devoted to his wife, the "First Mate". And as regular readers know, she has major health issues, and has been awaiting a kidney transplant.
To both of them I send my best wishes and most fervent prayers for her continued recovery.
And my thanks.
As we've struggled in our household with the illnesses my dear wife (AKA he Loyal Opposition) is dealing with and the impact of them upon our life together, the Morrissey's have have inspired me and provided an example of how to make the best of a situation which adds an additional degree of difficult to the delicate balancing act that is the care and feeding of a good marriage to someone you adore. Your influence in that regard is more important to me than anything else that Ed puts on his blog.
UPDATE: FM's recovery continues to go well.
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For decades, they stood by safe and smiling, a fixture on America’s sporting sidelines. But today’s young cheerleaders, who perform tricks once reserved for trapeze artists, may be in more peril than any female athletes in the country.Emergency room visits for cheerleading injuries nationwide have more than doubled since the early 1990s, far outpacing the growth in the number of cheerleaders, and the rate of life-threatening injuries has startled researchers. Of 104 catastrophic injuries sustained by female high school and college athletes from 1982 to 2005 — head and spinal trauma that occasionally led to death — more than half resulted from cheerleading, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. All sports combined did not surpass cheerleading.
New acrobatic maneuvers have turned cheerleaders into daredevils. And while the sport has retained its sense of glamour, at dozens of competitions around the country, knee braces and ice bags affixed to ankles and wrists have become accouterments as common as mascara.
With more than four million participants cheering at everything from local youth football games to the N.C.A.A. menÂ’s basketball tournament, female cheerleaders now commonly do tricks atop pyramids or are tossed 20 feet in the air to perform twists and flips. If all goes well, the airborne cheerleader, known as the flier, is caught by other cheerleaders. But not always.
Are there not some reasonable limits to be placed on some of these stunts -- especially for younger girls?
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Shaquanda Cotton, a 15-year-old black teenager who spent more than a year in the state's distressed juvenile prison system for shoving a teacher's aide in a case that raised questions of racial bias, was ordered released Friday.She became the first juvenile inmate ordered freed by Jay Kimbrough, whom Gov. Rick Perry tapped Thursday to lead the troubled Texas Youth Commission out of an abuse and mismanagement scandal. Kimbrough told lawmakers Friday that the order had been given.
"He made a determination that she served her time and it was time to let that child out," said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas.
Cotton could have been kept in a cell until her 21st birthday. But a public outcry about the case helped secure her release.
I'm sorry, but this is not about whether or not this perp has served her time -- it is about caving in to political pressure tinged with false accusations of racism. If that were not the case, Kimbrough's first decision would not have been about a situation receiving national attention for something other than the TYC scandal. And by determinging the appropriateness of the sentence rather than whether its terms had been fulfilled, Kimbrough has usurped the prerogatives of the judicial branch.
And at the same time, made it clear that here in Texas it is open season on school employees.
During the remaining time that the Texas legislature is in session, we need legislation imposing mandatory incarceration for students who assault school employees.
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The city issued its first foie gras fine to a hot dog seller of all people, accusing "Hot Doug's" of violating a Chicago ban by lacing its specialty dogs with the duck liver delicacy.Doug Sohn, who runs Hot Doug's "The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium," agreed to pay $250 Thursday for the first-time offense.
Sohn had been openly serving foie gras-laced hot dogs since the ordinance took effect in August. He says he knew about the rule — when he got a warning letter from the city, he had it framed and placed on his counter.
He could have faced up to a $500 dollar fine under the ordinance, Health Department spokesman Tim Hadac said.
Animal rights activists oppose serving foie gras, saying it is inhumane the way geese and ducks are force-fed through a pipe to plump up their livers. They have been pressing other cities, states and chefs for similar bans. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck announced earlier this month that his restaurants would stop serving foie gras.
The Chicago City Council had approved the ordinance despite Mayor Richard M. Daley's objections. He called it the "silliest" ordinance they had ever passed.
I find it interesting that we keep being told by liberals that we cannot impose morality through statute -- but here we banning a safe product because of the moral objections of a handful of liberal alderman to the method of production of the product. After all, there is no public health or safety rationale for the ban on foie gras. I guess what they mean is that we cannot impose morality they object to by statute.
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March 30, 2007
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas a "terrorist" and accused him of transferring more than $1 million to militants to carry out attacks against Israel.Haniyeh aide Ghazi Hamad said Olmert's statements were "confused and irresponsible".
Olmert's allegations, in an interview with Time magazine released on Friday, marked a sharp escalation in an Israeli campaign against Haniyeh and the unity government he formed with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction this month.
Israel has been urging other countries to shun Haniyeh and the government, citing Hamas's refusal to recognise the Jewish state and renounce violence.
"Just lately Haniyeh transferred over a million dollars for a group of terrorists to carry out terrorist actions against Israeli citizens," Olmert said.
"He's a terrorist. You have a terrorist who is prime minister of the Palestinian Authority now."
Calling a terrorist a terrorist – how gauche!
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas a "terrorist" and accused him of transferring more than $1 million to militants to carry out attacks against Israel.Haniyeh aide Ghazi Hamad said Olmert's statements were "confused and irresponsible".
Olmert's allegations, in an interview with Time magazine released on Friday, marked a sharp escalation in an Israeli campaign against Haniyeh and the unity government he formed with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction this month.
Israel has been urging other countries to shun Haniyeh and the government, citing Hamas's refusal to recognise the Jewish state and renounce violence.
"Just lately Haniyeh transferred over a million dollars for a group of terrorists to carry out terrorist actions against Israeli citizens," Olmert said.
"He's a terrorist. You have a terrorist who is prime minister of the Palestinian Authority now."
Calling a terrorist a terrorist – how gauche!
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Actor Alec Baldwin was so moved by the story of an 18-year-old Army soldier who is scheduled to serve in Iraq, he’s going to help pay for her college education after she leaves the military.Baldwin was so moved by a March 4 New York Times story about Pvt. Resha Kane’s last day with family and friends before going for training to prepare for serving in Iraq that he — not his people — tracked down Kane’s mother at a discount store where she works to offer his assistance, his spokesman said.
“I didn’t know what to say,” Kane said. “And then I asked him if he could send me his autograph. I’ve never met a star, let alone talked to one on the phone.”
Alec Baldwin is an arrogant jerk in many instances – but this move leads me to believe there is a spark of decency in the man.
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Two Arabs involved in the sale of a Hebron building to the Jewish community have been placed under arrest, one by the Palestinian Authority, the other by Jordon.The arrested Arabs now face capital punishment, as Palestinian Authority law dictates the death sentence for anyone found guilty of selling property to a Jew.
Orit Struk, political activist and member of the Hebron Jewish Committee, contends that the arrests "prove the sale was legal."The Beit HaShalom, Peace House, located amongst Arab buildings between the Jewish enclave in Hebron and the neighboring large Jewish neighborhood of Kiryat Arba, was purchased two weeks ago for the sum of $700,000.
Immediately following the announcement of the transaction, Israeli police launched an investigation into the legality of the sale, and the Defense Ministry under the auspices of left-leaning Labor Chairman Amir Peretz began searching for grounds to expel the new Jewish residents of the building.
The resulting police investigation could not find any evidence of wrongdoing in the sale, and many within the police and defense establishment are acknowledging the sale was legal, albeit off-the-record.
Jewish Community Spokesman David Wilder claimed he does not see the arrests as proof of the legitimate nature of the sale. “We don’t need any proof that this was done legally, we know that the transaction was completely legal and the resulting police investigation confirmed this.â€
So let’s get this straight – individuals of all races and religions can own property in Israel, but Terrorstinian law punishes the sale of property to Jews with death. Sounds rather like something out of Nazi Germany to me – but then again, since the Terrorstinians want to finish what Hitler began, I guess we should not be surprised.
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Two Arabs involved in the sale of a Hebron building to the Jewish community have been placed under arrest, one by the Palestinian Authority, the other by Jordon.The arrested Arabs now face capital punishment, as Palestinian Authority law dictates the death sentence for anyone found guilty of selling property to a Jew.
Orit Struk, political activist and member of the Hebron Jewish Committee, contends that the arrests "prove the sale was legal."The Beit HaShalom, Peace House, located amongst Arab buildings between the Jewish enclave in Hebron and the neighboring large Jewish neighborhood of Kiryat Arba, was purchased two weeks ago for the sum of $700,000.
Immediately following the announcement of the transaction, Israeli police launched an investigation into the legality of the sale, and the Defense Ministry under the auspices of left-leaning Labor Chairman Amir Peretz began searching for grounds to expel the new Jewish residents of the building.
The resulting police investigation could not find any evidence of wrongdoing in the sale, and many within the police and defense establishment are acknowledging the sale was legal, albeit off-the-record.
Jewish Community Spokesman David Wilder claimed he does not see the arrests as proof of the legitimate nature of the sale. “We don’t need any proof that this was done legally, we know that the transaction was completely legal and the resulting police investigation confirmed this.”
So let’s get this straight – individuals of all races and religions can own property in Israel, but Terrorstinian law punishes the sale of property to Jews with death. Sounds rather like something out of Nazi Germany to me – but then again, since the Terrorstinians want to finish what Hitler began, I guess we should not be surprised.
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March 29, 2007
Now there is more evidence to confirm that.
Pius XII, the wartime pontiff often condemned as "Hitler's Pope", was actually considered an enemy by the Third Reich, according to newly discovered documents.Several letters and memos unearthed at a depot used by the Stasi, the East-German secret police, show that Nazi spies within the Vatican were concerned at Pius's efforts to help displaced Poles and Jews.
In one, the head of Berlin's police force tells Joachim von Ribbentropp, the Third Reich's foreign minister, that the Catholic Church was providing assistance to Jews "both in terms of people and financially".
A report from a spy at work in the Vatican states: "Our source was told to his face by Father Robert Leibner [one of Pius's secretaries] that the greatest hope of the Church is that the Nazi system would be obliterated by the war."
La Repubblica, the newspaper that discovered the papers, said they were sent to the heads of the Stasi, after the Second World War.
The revelations they contain will help to clear the name of Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli, who has long been criticised for turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. During the war, the British Foreign Office even described him as the "greatest moral coward of our age".
Those who have promoted the blood libel against the Pope are those who hate the Catholic Church, and wish to present it as always on the wrong side of history. They are not even above lying to do it. Will the documentary evidence that contradicts their claims stop the slander of a great and saintly pontiff?
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Iran leveled new accusations against Britain on Thursday in the crisis over 15 captured British sailors and marines, and withdrew a promise to free the only woman in the group, insisting that Britain admit fault before any captives were released.Iran also released what it said was a second letter from a captured British sailor — the woman, Leading Seaman Faye Turney— urging Britain to withdraw its forces from Iraq.
For its part, Britain flatly refused any talk of negotiations and called the release of the letter “cruel and callous,” and said it would seek the United Nations Security Council’s support in pressing Iran to release the captives.
With the latest developments the confrontation, now in its seventh day, seemed to have reached a point where neither side had left the other much room for a face-saving compromise. Deepening the sense of crisis, a senior Iranian official hinted that the captured troops might be put on trial for unspecified offenses.
Iran has not said where the sailors and marines are being held.
The dispute turns on rival claims about the whereabouts of the Britons when they were seized last Friday in disputed waters. Iran says they were more than 500 yards inside its territorial waters, but on Wednesday Britain produced satellite navigation coordinates to support its contention that the sailors were 1.7 nautical miles, or 3,400 yards, inside Iraqi waters, on a patrol approved by the United Nations and the Iraqi government.
If these kidnap victims are not released by the end of the weekend, there needs to be a complete blockade of Iranian ports -- and the bombing of Iran's one oil refinery.
After all, if they wish to behave like savages, let's work to send them back to the Stone Age.
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House lawmakers deserted their leadership Thursday, voting overwhelmingly to drain teacher incentive programs championed by GOP Gov. Rick Perry and funnel the money to an across-the-board $800 pay raise for educators before they backed a two-year, $150.1 billion state budget.``Bottom line, members, do we want to give teachers a pay raise?'' asked Rep. Rick Noriega. He offered the proposal to shift $583 million in funding from the incentive programs to the raise for teachers and other school personnel.
The Houston Democrat's proposal passed 90-56 in the Republican-dominated House, which gave approval to the overall budget with a vote of 129-14 after 3 a.m. today. Now it goes to the Senate for consideration.
Defenders of the incentive programs — including top GOP budget-writers — worked hard to try to ward off the provision. They argued the switch could work against deserving teachers, provide a raise that's less than intended and cost deserving campuses money.
Perry earlier Thursday, before the incentives were cut, had singled them out for praise: ``I think the performance pay that is in this budget will put Texas at the top of the heap from the standpoint of a really strong, powerful message about competition in our public schools."
Those who supported the pay raise said money for the incentive programs could be restored later. But, said Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, "This is the only time this session you will be able to vote for a pay raise for your teachers back home."
I've got nothing against incentive pay programs -- once we get teacher pay up to something resembling the national standard. Until then, Texas teachers are simply being left behind.
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But I guess I can understand that, because I didn't understand those things when I was young, either. Indeed, I remember my first credit card, with the piddly little $500 limit back when I was in college. I ran that sucker up but somehow never quite got around to paying the bill at the end of the month -- for about three months. I figured I could just pay when I got around to it. Not a good move, as i found out -- and I suddenly found myself running to my folks for help, and ended up with my meal allowance cut for the next few months while I paid them back. I'd like to think I learned some lessons from that experience -- lessons that I still try to impart to my students today.
If you need information about loans, Credit Cards, bankruptcy, or other personal credit and financial situations, contact CreditLoan.com today.
Paid Endorsement.
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UPDATED TO FIX THE BUTTON
You guys know my darling wife had a pair of serious hospitalizations last year. She has also had some additional medical issues arise in the last few weeks, and over night she was hospitalized again. Frankly, medical bills are creating a difficulty for us at this time.
I've been trying to monetize the blog lately to cover some of these expenses, but this latest hospitalization just makes things a little more difficult.
If you are so inclined, please click the link below. Any amount will be appreciated and acknowledged.
Now back to the hospital.
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3/28/07 -- 0600 Central Time: My darling wife is still hospitalized for tests as they attempt to see what is causing the symptoms for which she was admitted. Depending upon the results of tests, she could be home today or could need surgery -- or anything in between.
3/29/07 -- 0600 Central Time: Brought her home last night, after getting the doctor to concede that one more night at the hospital waiting for one last blood test really wasn't necessary -- treatment would still be antibiotics at home after discharge, which would simply be delayed by 14 hours until he came in to check the results. So I got her home in time for American Idol, and she has been resting comfortably. The long and the short of it is that she had a virus that caused the vomiting, and it continued after she developed a low-grade allergic reaction to the first antibiotic they gave her, adding yet another to the list of antibiotics she can't take. All other test results fairly normal except one, and that has to be followed up with the GP because it will likely cause a medication change for her.
Thanks to everyone for their prayers and kindness.
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Durex has launched its first UK recruitment drive for thousands of condom testers.The condom maker wants a panel of 5,000 people who are single, married, or in couples to report their experiences of using its condoms and lubricants.
Men and women of all ages, ethnic groups or sexual orientation have been asked to apply on its website.
Durex was inundated with 14,000 applicants on the first day it started a similar scheme in France.
UK panellists will be expected to report online on how enjoyable the condoms and lubricants were to use and whether their sex lives have improved.
"The idea is to create a massive panel of testers who can try Durex condoms, have sex and then give us feedback about their experiences - in strictest confidence, of course," a Durex spokeswoman said.
"It isn't some crazy kind of '60s love-in," she added.
Durex sales in the six months until September 2006 increased by 7% compared to the same period in the previous year, driven by a surge in sales of personal devices and lubricants.
Unfortunately, there are no directions for how to apply for this job.
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Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared to throw cold water on a possible presidential bid by former Sen. Fred Thompson while praising former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is also weighing a presidential run, in a phone interview Tuesday."Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for," Dobson said of Thompson. "[But] I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression," Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party's conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, took issue with Dobson's
characterization of the former Tennessee senator. "Thompson is indeed a Christian," he said. "He was baptized into the Church of Christ."In a follow-up phone conversation, Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger stood by Dobson's claim. He said that, while Dobson didn't believe Thompson to be a member of a non-Christian faith, Dobson nevertheless "has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian—someone who talks openly about his faith."
"We use that word—Christian—to refer to people who are evangelical Christians," Schneeberger added. "Dr. Dobson wasn't expressing a personal opinion about his reaction to a Thompson candidacy; he was trying to 'read the tea leaves' about such a possibility.
In other words, Dobson and his spokesman are redefining the word “Christian” to mean something other than a baptized, believing, practicing Christian. How Clintonian – indicating that Focus on the Family has adopted a linguistic relativism in which words mean anything they want them to mean when they use them, even if that meaning is contradictory to the commonly understood dictionary definition of the word. Perhaps someone need to ask Dr,. Dobson what the meaning of “is” is.
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The contrived controversy over the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys is largely an exercise in imaginary indignation. Congressional Democrats suggest that some of the firings may have been improper and demand to know the reasons for each of them. By what authority they make such demand is not clear, since the Supreme Court has ruled that, with limited exceptions, Congress has no voice in the dismissal of federal officers.
After the Civil War the radical Republicans in Congress sought to limit the power of the executive to dismiss political appointees. A statute passed in 1876 provided that postmasters should be appointed to a term of four years with the advice and consent of the Senate, just as the law provides now for the appointment of U.S. attorneys. However, the 1876 act also provided that a postmaster could not be removed by the president except with the advice and consent of the Senate. In 1920, President Wilson removed a postmaster whose term had not yet been completed. The postmaster sued in the Court of Claims to recover the salary he would have been owed from the day of his dismissal to the end of his term. The Court of Claims ruled against him and he appealed to the Supreme Court.In 1926, the Supreme Court held that the requirement for Senate approval of a dismissal was unconstitutional. Chief Justice William Howard Taft, writing for the majority, stated that in order for the president to fulfill his constitutional duty, he must be able to discharge federal officers whose performance in office was not in accordance with his desires and that this responsibility could not be shared with Congress. Neither the statute providing for the appointment of U.S. attorneys nor the Supreme Court opinion makes any attempt to define what would constitute proper or improper reasons for dismissal. In fact, nowhere is there any suggestion that the president would need any reason to dismiss a federal officer who is not covered by the Civil Service Act.
If Congress can have no voice in the removal of U.S. attorneys and no reason is required to dismiss them, then by what authority do members of Congress demand to know why the attorneys were fired? Well, they do have subpoena power. However, since none of the documents they demand can possibly relate to any legitimate legislative purpose, it is not clear that the courts would uphold such subpoenas if the president refused to produce the documents.
Now I realize that the Democrats view the Constitution as so flexible that it can mean exactly the opposite of what it clearly says at any given time, but one would think that the demands of fidelity to past Supreme Court precedent – “settled law”, as the Democrats called it during recent confirmation hearings – would require that they not stick their nose into an area that is clearly an Executive branch prerogative. But of course, this isn’t a question of principle – it is a question of creating the appearance of impropriety where none exists, for purely political purposes.
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Parents at a Katy school were outraged after students were separated by race for TAKS test assemblies.School officials confirmed that it did indeed happen, leaving parents and students alike wondering why.
At Mayde Creek High School right before spring break, African American students were singled out and called to a special assembly.
Later, an assembly was called just for Hispanic students.
Then, yet another was called for white students.
“To me, that’s segregation. I don’t feel that those kids are getting treated fairly,” concerned parent Deon Franklin, whose daughter is in the 9th grade at the school, said.
It really makes no sense – but the school and district still want to justify it.
The district said the students were brought together to be lectured on the upcoming TAKS test.It was supposed to be a sort of rally – encouragement for the kids to do well on the test.
And race had what, exactly, to do with encouraging them to do well on the test?
“But why should they have to be separated to have this kind of meeting when they should’ve been having this meeting with all the kids,” Franklin said.But the district insists the state is the one behind the multiple meetings, calling them “targeted interventions.”
“The state of Texas when they look at how our students perform, they break it down by ethnicity,” Katy ISD spokesman Steve Stanford said.
But the state also breaks the data down by factors like district and campus, among others.
“It’s not about color. It’s about how well they do on the test,” Franklin said.
Yeah, they do break results down along many lines. They do a racial breakdown – which means that Asians and Native Americans should also have had separate rallies. They also break it down by gender – will there be separate male and female rallies coming up? And what about some of the other targeted populations – like low-income, migrant, and special education – will they be having separate rallies, too, due to the various ways students are statistically broken down for reporting and evaluation purposes? Of course not – which makes the district’s argument ring quite hollow.
And it happens to be a test that many of the students were already nervous about taking.The meetings were only held for students in the district labeled at risk for failing the exam.
HmmmmmmÂ…. If you are really only dealing with a much smaller subset of students, the ethnic breakdown makes even less sense. I suspect that only one meeting or rally could have been held.
And while Mayde Creek was the only school in the district to hold the meetings, Katy ISD officials say it will be up to the individual principals if the meetings will be held again next year.
I wonder what the Texas Education Agency, the US Department of Education, and the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice have to say about doing this next year?
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March 28, 2007
When Charles E. McGee slid his P-51 fighter, "Kitten," onto the tail of the fleeing German FW-190 in the skies over Austria in 1944, he fired his six big machine guns and struck a blow for civil rights back home.Walter L. McCreary did the same a few months later, when his P-51 was hit by flak on a strafing run over Hungary and the cockpit floor began to slosh with what he thought was leaking gasoline.
And so did Woodrow W. Crockett's ground crews a few months after that, when they stopped a supply train and commandeered special gas tanks so their pilots could fly without running out of fuel.
Today, members of the famed black World War II aviation cadre now called the Tuskegee Airmen will be honored in the Capitol Rotunda for their history-making feats.
In a ceremony at 1 p.m., the airmen, including McGee, McCreary and Crockett, will receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor that Congress can give to civilians. President Bush is scheduled to speak, along with Colin L. Powell, former secretary of state, who received the medal in 1991.
The achievement of men such as McGee, McCreary and Crockett was simple: They were bold in battle and capable in command -- at a time when many in the military thought blacks could be neither.
"What we accomplished hasn't always been recognized for, really, what it meant to the country," McGee said this week. "There was meaning there, you might say, in a civil rights area that preceded what we know as the civil rights movement."
Not only did they pre-date the civil rights movement, I'd argue that their accomplishments and story made it possible, given the respect they earned from bomber pilots they protected. Any honor they receive is deserved -- and I applaud this one, which is long overdue.
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Law & Order" star and former U.S. senator Fred Dalton Thompson is considering a bid for the White House that would test whether Hollywood can once again launch a Republican to the world's premier political stage.His interest, confirmed in a brief interview this week, is generating buzz in Washington. He was third among Republican-leaning voters in a recent Gallup-USA Today survey, behind Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and ahead of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
The onetime senator from Tennessee is known to many Americans for playing New York District Attorney Arthur Branch on "Law & Order" and an admiral in the film "The Hunt for Red October." But his real-life record as a no-nonsense lawmaker who also served as the minority counsel to the Senate Watergate committee is appealing to party activists dissatisfied with the current crop of Republican hopefuls.
"He has a conservative bearing and a conservative presence, but he's independent in his thinking and his voting record," said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who added that Thompson is "seriously considering" a presidential campaign at the urging of many friends. "He has a commanding television presence that makes every other politician in America jealous."
Such a run would be a long-shot in this front-loaded presidential process, where so many have committed to candidates. But Thompson has appeal, name and face identification, and shows up well in the polls. Could he be a force to be reckoned with in 2008?
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While I applaud the efforts of Texas State Sen. Rodney Ellis and State Rep. Senfronia Thompson to pass a resolution of formal apology for slavery, their proposal does not go far enough. It may be a necessary first step, but Texas and Virginia, and the other slaveholding states, have much more to apologize for than just the institution of slavery, hideous though it was.Particularly during the post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow periods, African-Americans in the South were treated with extraordinary brutality and cruelty, from the second-class citizenship status formalized in segregation to the epidemic of lynching that swept across the South and up into the Midwest as far north as Duluth, Minn., between about 1880 and 1930. Almost 500 documented lynchings took place in Texas alone, a greater number than in any other state except Georgia and Mississippi.
These lynchings included some of the most atrocious of the so-called "spectacle lynchings," a species of mass entertainment that probably began on Feb. 1, 1893, in Paris, Texas, with the prolonged torture/murder with hot irons and a bonfire of Henry Smith, a retarded black man, before a cheering mob of 10,000 spectators. In addition to the violence directed at individuals, there were also periodic "race riots," which usually meant pogroms directed at blacks. In 1886, all blacks were completely driven out of Comanche County by vigilantes. My father, who grew up in Comanche County in the 1920s, remembers stories of signs posted on the edge of town that read, "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here."
Those who committed these evils are, by and large, long dead. So are their victims and those with living memory of them. And while we must not forget them, we must not apologize for these events either, for such apologies constitute an admission of our moral culpability for them -- something this generation does not have.
And in a state like Texas, where Republicans today dominate, such an apology is inappropriate -- for slavery and Jim Crow were institutions supported by the Democrats, while the GOP actively opposed them. Let the Democratic party apologize for its role in institutionalizing and supporting these practices, both by its policies and its active support of the Klan.
And if any apology, acknowldgement, or condemnation does come from state government, make sure that the role of that malignant political entity is acknowledged prominently in the text, along with Republican efforts to stop and oppose them. After all, that is history as well -- a history that some would rather hide.
And personally, I think this approach -- dealing with today's issues -- is much more important. Human trafficking goes on today, and must be stopped with the full resources of every level of government.
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The number of naturalized citizens in the United States grew to nearly 13 million between 1995 and 2005, a historic increase that reflects the nation's changing ethnic makeup and could increase the power of immigrants to affect public policy at the ballot box, according to a study released yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Center.More than half of the nation's legal immigrants are now naturalized citizens, "the highest level in a quarter century and a 15 percent increase since 1990," when the proportion of naturalized immigrants reached historic lows, the study said. Since 1995, the average number of yearly naturalizations has surpassed 650,000, compared with 150,000 in 1970.
Maryland was one of five states where more than 70 percent of eligible immigrants became citizens. The number of naturalizations in Maryland rose to 274,000 in 2005 from 120,000 in 1995.
Sixty-five percent of Virginia's eligible immigrants were naturalized in 2005, along with 50 percent of eligible immigrants in the District.
"We've seen dramatic changes in countries across the board," said Jeffrey Passel, the Pew Hispanic Center's senior research associate. "Today's immigrants are interested in becoming U.S. citizens," he said.
Mexicans were by far the largest group to naturalize, at more than 1.5 million. The number represented a 144 percent increase over 10 years, and it could have been much higher because Mexicans are the least likely of all groups to naturalize, Passel said. Another 3 million are eligible.
Immigrants from Cuba, China and the Philippines followed Mexicans as the largest groups to naturalize, Passel said. Most settled in four states -- California, New York, Texas and Florida.
I'm an advocate of strong enforcement of our immigration laws -- but I welcome those who follow them, and am pleased to see them join us as citizens of this great country.
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"We were told to fight against Israel, America and non-Muslims," said Muhammed Bakhtiar, 17, explaining why he wanted to become a suicide bomber. "We are so unhappy with our lives here. We have nothing," he said.Last month, Bakhtiar and his school friend, Miraj Ahmad, also 17, left their home, families, and boarding school in Buner, a district of the Malakand Division of the Northwest Frontier Province. Their destination was the Muridke madrassa right outside of Lahore, PakistanÂ’s second-largest city. The madrassa or religious school is run by the JamaÂ’at-ud-DaÂ’awah, the charity linked to the outlawed terrorist organization, Lashkar e Taiba. And Lashkar e Taiba has links to al-Qaida.
he grounds of this madrassa looks much like the campus of any exclusive boys boarding school – except for the bearded armed guards sporting Kalashnikovs checking all those who come and go. There is a cricket field, swimming pool, all sorts of sport activities, and horses too. In addition to religious instruction, the school offers computer sciences, engineering and pre-med classes for students ranging in age from six to 17.
It also offers jihad.
"We read about jihad in books and wanted to join," said Ahmad. "We wanted to go to the Muridke madrassa so we would have a better life in the hereafter."
Not only do we need to be vigilant, but law-enforcement needs to enforce laws against servers that host such terrorist supporting sites.
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Now some might argue that such sites promote segregation, but I disagree. Just as there are those who do not date outside their faith or prefer individuals of certain backgrounds, race and ethnicity are important issues in personal relationships. And so I encourage you, if you sincerely seek a relationship with an African-American man or woman, look at this Black Dating site as one resource for you.
Paid Endorsement.
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Jay Kimbrough, given new power Wednesday as conservator of the Texas Youth Commission, vowed to clean house at the embattled agency, beginning with the likely firings of perhaps dozens of convicted felons working there.He said he also will ask a number of high-level agency executives and state school superintendents to reapply for their jobs.
Strike me that a lot of those high-level employees need to be let go in the housecleaning that is needed -- they didn't dhow even basic concern for sexual abuse of kids, or the punishment of those who resisted advances by TXC employees.
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Except when I need to find a local business.
Then it gets to be a real pain.
After all, I live just outside the fourth largest city in America, and so using a search engine to find a local business is maddening. It is fair to say that local marketing is difficult on search engines.
Take a few weeks ago. A colleague who heard I was searching for a wheelchair for my wife generously gifted us with one that had belonged to a recently deceased family member. Since the previous owner was an amputee, I needed to get footrests for the chair, as well as replace the batteries, which had sat too long without being recharged and so were toast. I entered "power wheelchair houston" at a certain site we all know, and got more garbage than you could imagine -- including lots of national companies and places from other states. I guess every business that said they charge Texas sales tax or was located on Houston Street showed up. It was maddening -- and so I had to turn to the old stand-by -- the Yellow Pages -- and found something nearby in just a minute.
Wouldn't it be nice if the business I ended up dealing with had popped up somewhere other than page 5 of my search?
Fortunately, there is now a solution to local marketing on the internet. Drop by and take a look.
Paid Endorsement.
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The investigator flew to Guatemala in April 2002 with a delicate mission: trail a Wal-Mart manager around the country to prove he was sleeping with a lower-level employee, a violation of company policy.The apparent smoking gun? “Moans and sighs” heard as the investigator, a Wal-Mart employee, pressed his ear against a hotel room door inside a Holiday Inn, according to legal documents. Soon after, the company fired the manager for what it said was improper fraternization with a subordinate.
Wal-Mart, renowned to outsiders for its elbows-out business tactics, is known internally for its bare-knuckled no-expense-spared investigations of employees who break its ironclad ethics rules.
Over the last five years, Wal-Mart has assembled a team of former officials from the C.I.A., F.B.I. and Justice Department whose elaborate, at times globetrotting, investigations have led to the ouster of a high-profile board member who used company funds to buy hunting equipment, two senior advertising executives who took expensive gifts from a potential supplier and a computer technician who taped a reporterÂ’s telephone calls.
The investigators — whose résumés evoke Langley, Va., more than Bentonville, Ark. — serve as a rapid-response team that aggressively polices the nation’s largest private employer, enforcing Wal-Mart’s modest by-the-books culture among its army of 1.8 million employees.
WalMart is already famous for its strong-arm tactics for dealing with customers and others who litigate against it -- one older lady of my acquaintance was injured when a damaged changing station fell open as she passed it, striking her on the head and sending her tot he hospital. WalMart offered her a settlement for less than the amount of her medical bills, despite the fact that the evidence pointed to their own shoddy maintenance -- telling the injured 75-year-old that if she didn't accept it the company would "keep this thing in court until after you die, and we know that you need money to pay your medical bills now."
Nobody plays the game harder than WalMart.
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(, No, not my marbles -- my data. Except for a few files on my flash drive and my work computer, all of my data disappeared in a catastrophic hard drive failure. All my tests, my course syllabus, my handouts, a couple of years worth of poetry, more graphics than I knew what to do with -- gone.
If only I'd had IDrive-E Online Backup. They'll let you store up to 2 GB of data for free -- and an unlimited amount for $4.95. And it is encrypted, so the data is safe from prying eyes. You don't have to share with anyone, because it works just like an encrypted drive on your own computer. And you don't need a credit card, either.
Don't suffer like me. Back it up with IDrive-E Online Backup.
Paid Endorsement.
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While recovering from surgery recently, I had the good fortune to read a fine new book about political dissent in the North during the Civil War. The book, Copperheads: The Rise an Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North, by journalist-turned-academic-historian Jennifer Weber, shines the spotlight on the “Peace Democrats,†who did everything they could to obstruct the Union war effort during the Rebellion. In so doing, she corrects a number of claims that have become part of the conventional wisdom. The historical record aside, what struck me the most were the similarities between the rhetoric and actions of the Copperheads a century and a half ago and Democratic opponents of the Iraq war today.
I made a similar connection some time back – and am quite interested in learning more about the treason of the Democrat Party in the past, as we deal with its subversion in the present.
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While recovering from surgery recently, I had the good fortune to read a fine new book about political dissent in the North during the Civil War. The book, Copperheads: The Rise an Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North, by journalist-turned-academic-historian Jennifer Weber, shines the spotlight on the “Peace Democrats,” who did everything they could to obstruct the Union war effort during the Rebellion. In so doing, she corrects a number of claims that have become part of the conventional wisdom. The historical record aside, what struck me the most were the similarities between the rhetoric and actions of the Copperheads a century and a half ago and Democratic opponents of the Iraq war today.
I made a similar connection some time back – and am quite interested in learning more about the treason of the Democrat Party in the past, as we deal with its subversion in the present.
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Hundreds of Iraqis detained in the Baghdad security crackdown have been crammed into two detention centers run by the Defense Ministry that were designed to hold only dozens of people, a government monitoring group said Tuesday.The numbers suggested that the security planÂ’s emphasis on aggressive block-by-block sweeps of troubled neighborhoods in the capital had flooded IraqÂ’s frail detention system, and appeared to confirm the fears of some human rights advocates who have been predicting that the new plan would aggravate already poor conditions.
After all, we canÂ’t subject terrorists to less-than-optimal conditions, can we? ItÂ’s not like there are cold-blooded enemies of America and Iraq who are murdering civilians.
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Sen. Hillary Clinton has agreed to help former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who endorsed her Monday, pay off his $400,000 campaign debt.Clinton (D-N.Y.) will put the arm on her donor network for Vilsack, who quit the presidential race Feb. 23 citing financial difficulties.
Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said it was a normal gesture to make and called suggestions of any endorsement quid pro quo "ridiculous."
"One thing's got absolutely nothing to do with the other," he said. "They've known each other for years. If she weren't running for President, she'd be doing whatever she can to help retire his debt."
Three weeks ago, Vilsack said his main focus was closing down his campaign debt and that he would not make an endorsement until the end of the year - if then. "I think the chances are good that I'll do that, but I don't know that for certain," he said.
Clinton has already run into problems with the appearance of buying endorsements.
I’m not saying it is illegal. I’m not even saying it is unethical (though she is a Clinton). What I’m saying is that it looks improper – and appearances are sometimes more important than realities in politics.
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A teenager has been jailed for more than a year for shoving a teacher's aide at her high school, a case that has sparked anger and heightened racial tensions in rural East Texas.Shaquandra Cotton, who is black, claims the teacher's aide pushed her first and would not let her enter school before the morning bell in 2005. A jury convicted the 15-year-old girl in March 2006 on a felony count of shoving a public servant, who was not seriously injured.
The girl is in the Ron Jackson Correctional Complex in Brownwood, about 300 miles from her home in Paris. The facility is part of an embattled juvenile system that is the subject of state and federal investigations into allegations that staff members physically and sexually abused inmates.
Under the sentence handed down by Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville, she will remain at the facility until she meets state rehabilitation standards or reaches her 21st birthday.
But her family and civil rights activists say they want her home now. They are condemning the sentence as unusually harsh and say it shows a justice system that punishes young offenders differently, depending on their race.
Personally, I don’t care what momma and the “civil rights activists†want. Momma rejected the misdemeanor plea bargain that would have kept her child out of jail and on probation, but found that too harsh and went to trial. She lost.
And besides – I think any kid who lays hands on a teacher or school staff member ought to be in a juvenile facility until age 21 – or charged with an adult and facing hard time in a state prison.
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A teenager has been jailed for more than a year for shoving a teacher's aide at her high school, a case that has sparked anger and heightened racial tensions in rural East Texas.Shaquandra Cotton, who is black, claims the teacher's aide pushed her first and would not let her enter school before the morning bell in 2005. A jury convicted the 15-year-old girl in March 2006 on a felony count of shoving a public servant, who was not seriously injured.
The girl is in the Ron Jackson Correctional Complex in Brownwood, about 300 miles from her home in Paris. The facility is part of an embattled juvenile system that is the subject of state and federal investigations into allegations that staff members physically and sexually abused inmates.
Under the sentence handed down by Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville, she will remain at the facility until she meets state rehabilitation standards or reaches her 21st birthday.
But her family and civil rights activists say they want her home now. They are condemning the sentence as unusually harsh and say it shows a justice system that punishes young offenders differently, depending on their race.
Personally, I don’t care what momma and the “civil rights activists” want. Momma rejected the misdemeanor plea bargain that would have kept her child out of jail and on probation, but found that too harsh and went to trial. She lost.
And besides – I think any kid who lays hands on a teacher or school staff member ought to be in a juvenile facility until age 21 – or charged with an adult and facing hard time in a state prison.
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March 27, 2007
Columbia University has warned or censured eight students who were involved in disrupting speakers from the Minuteman Project last October in a melee that cut short the program, a university spokesman said yesterday.In the televised fracas, protesters stormed a stage at the university and were attacked by others, shutting down speeches by the group, which opposes illegal immigration and has mounted civilian border patrols. The event hurtled the university back into the debate over free speech. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg chastised Columbia at the time.
The warnings and censures will be noted on the students’ transcripts for varying lengths of time, said Robert Hornsby, a Columbia spokesman. None will remain on the records after graduation. But if students face other disciplinary proceedings, they will face harsher penalties. “All of these punishments have a gravity to them and they should not be taken lightly,” Mr. Hornsby said.
Unfortunately, at least one disciplined student sees this as a victory for his side.
David Judd, a third-year student studying computer science who was one of the students who received a warning, said, “I view the fact that I got the lightest possible punishment as a small victory.”
And that's the problem -- the slap-on-the-wrist penalty says that nothing significant will happen to students who engage in attempts to shut down speech they disagree with.
I'm curious -- would the penalty have been so light if, instead of a speech by the Minutemen, a group of students had taken the stage and shut down a speech by Rev. Al Sharpton or Sen. Hillary Clinton? If instead of a program sponsored by the College Republicans, it had been a speech sponsored by a gay or Muslim group? I think we all know what would have happened in such cases.
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Coach Gary Kubiak disclosed Tuesday that the Texans might select a left tackle in the first round of the draft despite signing free agent Jordan Black and re-signing Ephraim Salaam.Although the Texans need another wide receiver to play opposite Andre Johnson, Kubiak said they might target a left tackle because Charles Spencer is only 50-50 to make it back by the first game of the season.
The Texans have been working to address this issue during the off-season, but they think they still have a hole that needs to be filled. If they really do, they need a proven commodity at that spot.
Why not sign Detroit Lion free-agent Cory Redding, a UT alum and product of Houston's own North Shore High School?
Cory Redding is not only a fantastic player, but also a fantastic human being who would fit well with the clean-cut image the Texans have cultivated during the team's short history. Redding would bring immediate credibility to the Texan's defense.
And as a local product, the move would have immediate impact upon fan support. After all, Redding was popular in high school and at UT. Bringing him home would be welcome by those who have followed his career for years and watched him become a top-drawer player.
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In cities and suburbs across America, the confluence of homes, big-box stores and striving immigrant men has created an informal, often unruly job marketplace that has survived every effort to ban it or harass it out of existence.This market, of Latino day laborers, is hardly the only manifestation of the shadow immigrant economy, but it is the hardest to ignore. These are the immigrants whom localities seem the most desperate to subdue, usually with laws against loitering and job solicitation. A Los Angeles suburb, Baldwin Park, is the latest of dozens to tackle the problem, with an antisoliciting bill written broadly enough to cover cookie-selling Girl Scouts but really meant for the Latino men at Home Depot.
Such crackdowns are constitutionally dubious and usually fail, and some lawmakers are having doubts about them. Last week, on Long Island, the Suffolk County Legislature defeated a bill to drive away day laborers by forbidding them to “obstruct” county roads. The majority understood that the dimly reasoned measure would have simply diverted workers and contractors’ trucks onto other roads while inviting civil-rights lawsuits. It would not have reduced the population of day laborers the least bit.
It was a good outcome for a bad bill, but the county is still stuck where it has been for years — wondering how to handle a volatile mixture of men and trucks in a suburb that wishes they would go away. A good next step for Suffolk would be to come around to a solution that other communities have tried, with generally positive results: a hiring site.
One can oppose illegal immigration and still approve of hiring sites, places where laborers can find shade, toilets and a safe place to negotiate jobs with contractors and homeowners. The most obvious reasons are crowd control and traffic safety.
But an equally compelling reason is that hiring sites impose order on free-market chaos. An unregulated day-labor bazaar wallows in the mud flats of capitalism, benefiting sleazy contractors and fostering rock-bottom wages and working conditions for all laborers, legal or not. Hiring sites that register and monitor contractors and laborers can hold them all to account. Employers who undercut competitors and rob workers will find it hard to return to a well-established hiring site, and drunks and belligerents among the laborers will be pressured to toe the line. These places are sometimes called “shape-up sites,” an apt term in more ways than one.
Some lawmakers have gotten over the notion that hiring sites are gifts to illegals, and have concluded that approaching day laborers as community members, with rights and civic responsibilities, is smarter than ranting about them as pests. It is heartening that some local officials are willing to confront the realities of a flawed immigration system and to work responsibly to lessen its troublesome side effects.
Then there are those who hold out hope that with just one more crackdown, one more ticketing blitz, the men who make our suburbs gleam will take their sweat and muscle elsewhere and leave us alone to tend our homes and hedges by ourselves. Government officials on Long Island, as elsewhere, have tried stiff-necked hostility to day laborers, and have reaped years of failure. They should consider hiring sites as the next, positive step — one that promises not only to be practical and humane, but also effective.
You know what -- I bet that government sponsored crack-sales sites would be a good idea as well. After all, it would help to regulate an unruly illegal market, and make the illegal purchase of illegal goods much easier -- as well as stop the harassment of an often unruly drug marketplace that has survived every effort to ban it or harass it out of existence
hey, it makes as much sense as the idea of government sponsored hiring sites for border-jumping immigration criminals.
Posted by: Greg at
10:36 PM
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