As a conservative, I hate to see anything run out of Washington. As a teacher, I particularly despise federal mandates in the realm of education, because all too often they are based upon pie-in-the-sky theories that bear little relationship to what actually goes on in the classroom.

However, might it not be a good idea to set a clear standard for what students should learn in high school, so that a diploma actually means something? Right now, it really does not, for core classes are not necessarily rigorous.

It's no secret to most high school students that taking the required courses, getting good grades and receiving a diploma don't take much work. The average U.S. high school senior donning a cap and gown this spring will have spent an hour a day on homework and at least three hours a day watching TV, playing video games and pursuing other diversions.

This is sometimes a surprise to adults, particularly state legislators and school board members who thought that by requiring a number of courses in English, math, science and social studies they had ensured that students would dig in and learn what they need to succeed in college.

Guess again, says a new study, "Rigor at Risk: Reaffirming Quality in the High School Core Curriculum," by the Iowa City-based testing company ACT Inc. "Students today do not have a reasonable chance of becoming ready for college unless they take a number of additional higher-level" courses beyond the minimum, the report said. Even those who do, it concluded, "are not always likely to be ready for college either."

Using research on the college success of students who took the ACT college entrance test, and comparing their test scores to their high school records, ACT researchers found that many core courses were not carefully constructed or monitored and that students often received good grades in the core courses even if they didn't learn much.

State requirements also leave something to be desired, the report said. More than half of states do not require students to take specific core courses in math or science to graduate. Many students pick up diplomas having taken "business arithmetic" rather than geometry or "concepts of physics" rather than a physics course with labs and tough exams.

let's set a rigorous standard nationally for education -- with course expectations that actually teach the important concepts that prepare a student for college or the work world. Furthermore, let's mandate a sequence that makes sense, and that will allow a student to move from district to district, and from state to state, without having their academic credits become a complete hash that delays graduation.

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You'll be punished if you try to bar homosexuals from your establishment in Australia -- but gay establishments can bar heterosexuals with impunity.

An Australian hotel catering for homosexuals has won the right to ban heterosexuals from its bars so as to provide a safe and comfortable venue for gay men.

In what is believed to be a first for Australia, the Victorian state civil and administrative tribunal ruled last week that the Peel Hotel in the southern city of Melbourne could exclude patrons based on their sexuality.

Australia's equal opportunity laws prevent people being discriminated against based on race, religion or sexuality.

But Peel Hotel owner Tom McFeely said the ruling was necessary to provide gay men with a non-threatening atmosphere to freely express their sexuality.

"If I can limit the number of heterosexuals entering the Peel, then that helps me keep the safe balance," Peel told Australian radio on Monday.

Welcome to Animal Farm -- where all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

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After all, it wouldn't do for the American people to be given any sense that the war is going well this memorial day -- it wouldn't fit in the template of the narrative established by the MSM and the neo-Copperhead Democrats.

So you get this story highlighted by the Times.

Staff Sgt. David Safstrom does not regret his previous tours in Iraq, not even a difficult second stint when two comrades were killed while trying to capture insurgents.

“In Mosul, in 2003, it felt like we were making the city a better place,” he said. “There was no sectarian violence, Saddam was gone, we were tracking down the bad guys. It felt awesome.”

But now on his third deployment in Iraq, he is no longer a believer in the mission. The pivotal moment came, he says, this past February when soldiers killed a man setting a roadside bomb. When they searched the bomberÂ’s body, they found identification showing him to be a sergeant in the Iraqi Army.

“I thought, ‘What are we doing here? Why are we still here?’ ” said Sergeant Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the First Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. “We’re helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us.”

Of course, they then proceed to downplay the attitude of a different sergeant in the same unit, hiding his comments at the very end of the article, wehre they are most likely to be overlooked.

Sergeant Griffin understands the criticism of the Iraqi forces, but he believes they, and the war effort, must be given more time.

“If we throw this problem to the side, it’s not going to fix itself,” he said. “We’ve created the Iraqi forces. We gave them Humvees and equipment. For however long they say they need us here, maybe we need to stay.”

So, whose view of reality is more valid?

And let's not forget the point of view that highlights what has been accomplished, rather than the negatives.

“I thought it would not be long before we could just stay on our base and act as a quick-reaction force,” said the barrel-chested Captain Rogers of San Antonio. “The Iraqi security forces would step up.”

It has not worked out that way. Still, Captain Rogers says their mission in Kadhimiya has been “an amazing success.”

“We’ve captured 4 of the top 10 most-wanted guys in this area,” he said. And the streets of Kadhimiya are filled with shoppers and the stores are open, he said, a rarity in Baghdad due partly to Delta Company’s patrols.

Unfortunately, there are negatives to this situation -- including turncoats and infiltrators in the Iraqi Army. But a piece on disillusionment in a single unit, based upon interviews with 14 soldiers, hardly seems to be the thing of headlines drawing major conclusions about the war.

Unless the folks doing the writing and publishing have already decided the war isn't worth fighting.

Too bad the days are long gone when the press felt its role was to support, not undermine, the war effort.

H/T Malkin

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I'll be honest -- I didn't think much about mortgages before I bought my house. Yeah, I knew that mortgages were secured loans with the money guaranteed by a lien on/interest in the house itself, but never about the process of getting one. I went in blind, never stopping to look at a mortgage calculator to figure out what I could afford or considering different types of loans. Fortunately, I got in with a good broker who found me an excellent mortgage loan at a good rate -- but I hear today about a great many folks who didn't luck out like I did, and are losing their homes because of adjustable rates or outrageous payments.

Frankly, I'm glad I'm not looking for a house today or seeking to refinance because I am locked in at a very good rate that I've found I cannot beat. However, my friends seeking mortgages today appear to be entering the process with a lot more understanding and knowledge than I had. In addition, recent financial setbacks in the mortgage market are making those high-risk and exotic loans a little less common, as lenders seek to protect their capital -- which in turn protects buyers from getting into financial trouble, though that isn't out of any sort of altruistic motive on the part of lenders.

For information on types of mortgages and refinancing your home, visit Rebuild.com. They have many great articles on motgages and other loans.

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If this report is correct, one has to ask why Valerie Plame is not facing perjury charges. After all, her own memo seems to contradict her sworn testimony.

In her testimony before the House, Mrs. Wilson said flatly, “I did not recommend him. I did not suggest him.” She told the House committee that a 2004 Senate report, which concluded that she had indeed suggested her husband for the trip, was simply wrong. In particular, Mrs. Wilson pointed to a February 12, 2002, memo she had written, which the Senate said showed that she had suggested her husband for the trip, and claimed that the Senate had taken the memo “out of context” to “make it seem as though I had suggested or recommended him.”

The 2004 Senate report to which Mrs. Wilson referred had quoted a brief excerpt from her memo. In the new report, Sen. Bond publishes the whole thing, and it seems to indicate clearly that Mrs. Wilson suggested her husband for the trip. The memo was occasioned by a February 5, 2002 CIA intelligence report about Niger, Iraq, and uranium. The report had been circulating in the intelligence community for a week by February 12, and Mrs. Wilson headlined her memo, “Iraq-related Nuclear Report Makes a Splash.”

The report forwarded below has prompted me to send this on to you and request your comments and opinion. Briefly, it seems that Niger has signed a contract with Iraq to sell them uranium. The IC [Intelligence Community] is getting spun up about this for obvious reasons. The embassy in Niamey has taken the position that this report can’t be true — they have such cozy relations with the GON [Government of Niger] that they would know if something like this transpired.

So where do I fit in? As you may recall, [redacted] of CP/[office 2] recently approached my husband to possibly use his contacts in Niger to investigate [a separate Niger matter]. After many fits and starts, [redacted] finally advised that the station wished to pursue this with liaison. My husband is willing to help, if it makes sense, but no problem if not. End of story.

Now, with this report, it is clear that the IC is still wondering what is going onÂ… my husband has good relations with both the PM and the former minister of mines, not to mention lots of French contacts, both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity. To be frank with you, I was somewhat embarrassed by the agencyÂ’s sloppy work last go-round, and I am hesitant to suggest anything again. However, [my husband] may be in a position to assist. Therefore, request your thoughts on what, if anything, to pursue here. Thank you for your time on this.

Now Byron York points out the obvious contradiction here -- them memo clearly puts forward her husband as a candidate for the mission to Niger, though admittedly she was not the first person to raise his name. however, she is clearly pushing his candidacy here, advocating for him to be selected. How can this be squared with her sworn testimony that she did not recommend her husband? After all, she is clearly laying out her husband's qualifications for the role -- the day before the vice president was briefed on the uranium matter and asked the questions that ostensibly led to her husband's mission.

There is also evidence that she made contacts abroad with US officials in Africa seeking concurrence for her husband's travel -- only hours after the Cheney briefing. However, there is no way that her timeline can be jibed with the contention that the vice president instigated her husband's trip to Niger -- because it is practically a done deal when she sent the cable, and she had already been putting forth her husband as a candidate to seek information in Niger on the previous day.

Now this leads to a very interesting problem for Plame and Wilson. They are now seeking damages based upon true statements made by executive branch officials trying to correct the record after her husband's statements in the press. We now know that Plame lied about her role in selecting her husband -- and have since the original Senate Committee report was issued. The matter is new even clear than it was at the time. Should this evidence not be the basis for dismissing the suit? Furthermore, should this not be the basis for trying Plame, and perhaps Wilson, on perjury charges?

Regardless, it is clearly a basis for appeal on the part of Scooter Libby -- assuming the president is unwilling to immediately do the honorable thing and issue a full, complete, and unconditional pardon. After all, any misstatements on Libby's parts were not material to the investigation conducted by Fitzgerald, the actual leaker was never prosecuted, and the one individual clearly guilty of perjury is the so-called victim in the case.

H/T Ace

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An important case concerning the human rights of those who do not wish to follow Islam will be decided on Wednesday by a court in Malaysia. It involves Lina Joy, a convert to Catholicism who I've blogged about in the past.

Lina Joy has been disowned by her family, shunned by friends and forced into hiding - all because she renounced Islam and embraced Christianity in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Now, after a seven-year legal struggle, Malaysia's highest court will decide on Wednesday whether her constitutional right to choose her religion overrides an Islamic law that prohibits Malay Muslims from leaving Islam.

Either way, the verdict will have profound implications on society in a country where Islam is increasingly conflicting with minority religions, challenging Malaysia's reputation as a moderate Muslim and multicultural nation that guarantees freedom of worship.

So it is very simple -- do basic norms of human rights recognized repeatedly under international law apply to those who have the misfortune of being born and raised Muslim? Or does forced submission to Islam trump the right to accept freedom in Christ?

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Now here is a position on illegal immigration that I can support completely. The column itself is great, but the conclusion is short, to the point, and dead-on correct.

People who break our laws should be shipped back to wherever they came from and should be told never to dare to darken our doors again. As Sonny Bono said, “What’s to debate? It’s illegal.”

Hurrah!

And might I add:

Round 'em up! Ship 'em back! Rawhide!

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If the goal of affirmative action programs is to help the disadvantaged, let's make sure that the disadvantaged -- regardless of race and ethnicity -- are the beneficiaries. That is the goal of this program.

Concerned that the barriers to elite institutions are being increasingly drawn along class lines, and wanting to maintain some role as engines of social mobility, about two dozen schools — Amherst, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, the University of Virginia, Williams and the University of North Carolina, among them — have pushed in the past few years to diversify economically.

They are trying tactics like replacing loans with grants and curtailing early admission, which favors the well-to-do and savvy. But most important, Amherst, for instance, is doing more than giving money to low-income students; it is recruiting them and taking their socioeconomic background — defined by family income, parents’ education and occupation level — into account when making admissions decisions.

AmherstÂ’s president, Anthony Marx, turns to stark numbers in a 2004 study by the Century Foundation, a policy institute in New York, to explain the effort: Three-quarters of students at top colleges come from the top socioeconomic quartile, with only one-tenth from the poorer half and 3 percent from the bottom quartile.

Race-based preferences are inherently immoral and contradictory to the spirit of US Civil Rights law and the Fourteenth Amendment -- in addition to often "helping" the most advantaged members of ethnic communities instead of those most in need. By focusing on actual evidence of need rather that blithely making the racist assumption that skin color is a surrogate for being disadvantaged, it may be that affirmative action programs may accomplish an important goal -- helping qualified individuals who truly need the assistance.

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That proposal is set forth in a commentary by US District Court Judge Edmund V. Ludwig. Indeed, he argues that any guest worker program is doomed to failure if birthright citizenship is not ended.

If not faced and dealt with promptly, the geometric, or Malthusian-type, consequences of birthright citizenship will careen Birthright Citizenship even further out of control.

Birthright citizenship accounts for many more persons within than the annual influx of illegal immigrants. One striking example is the woman in Chicago who earlier this year was ordered deported and sought asylum in a church because her child was a birthright citizen.

Guest-worker programs, opportunities to earn citizenship and trying to close our borders deal only with the visible aspects of the huge and complex immigration iceberg. All of them are vulnerable to the insidious issue of birthright citizenship, which deserves immediate attention.

And he is right. Guest workers arrive, have kids, and the kids are US citizens -- making it possible, in many cases, for the "temporary" parents to stay on well past the expiration of their status as guest workers.

If we don't reexamine this issue in a public fashion, and consider the implications of birthright citizenship on guest worker programs, we are simply setting such programs up for failure.

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Well, folks, you know I've become a real fan of PayPerPost over the last several months, where I get paid to blog. There are lots of them -- indeed, over 2900 of reasons, if you want me to be specific. That is why the big changes that have been happening around PPP have really been exciting to me. Beats the heck out of Google's offering, doesn't it?

Perhaps the biggest of late has been the introduction of PayPerPost Direct -- a new way of connecting advertisers and bloggers to their mutual advantage. Now, not only can we bloggers choose from the advertising opportunities that are posted at PPP, but now advertisers can come to us directly to propose opportunities for specific bloggers on specific blogs. The process is well-explained in this video from the PayPerPost.com blog.

Now some of you may want to know how this differs from some other programs out there, like ReviewMe. Well, take it from someone who signed up for their program -- they are worlds apart. For starters, there is the cost to advertisers and the revenue that goes to the bloggers. They mark up the cost of the ads by 100%, and keep the rest as profit for themselves. In other words, a $20 ad buy by an advertiser yields only a $10 payout to the blogger. That sure does eat up an advertising budget quickly, and keeps all but a handful of bloggers from seeing any serious payout for accepting offers. PayPerPost Direct, on the other hand, has only a 10% markup. How can they do it -- by being bigger and more efficient than the competition. That means that the same $10 payout to a blogger only costs and advertiser $11. I don't know about you, but if I were an advertiser i'd be willing to buy a whole lot more ads with PPP Direct bloggers -- simply because my budget would go further. And as a blogger, I'd know that my offers would be higher and/or more plentiful for precisely the same reason -- the advertisers could buy more advertising!

So consider signing up today -- the link is over in the right column if you wish to join PPP as a blogger or an advertiser, and there is one in the left column if you want to make me an offer.

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And this would be labeled as such by the press and the Democrats if Bill and Hillary had an R after their names instead of a D.

A longtime Clinton benefactor used corporate jets to fly the former president and Hillary Rodham Clinton on business, personal and campaign trips that a lawsuit brands as wasteful company spending.

The supporter, Vinod Gupta, also secured contracts worth more than $3 million for
Bill Clinton to provide consulting services to Gupta's Nebraska-based company, infoUSA, from 2003 through 2008, according to the suit.

Since 2002, Gupta spent $900,000 flying the former president to international locations on presidential foundation business and flying Hillary Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, to political events.

The suit, filed by infoUSA shareholders last year, claims those expenses as well as millions of others unrelated to the Clintons were a "serial misuse of corporate assets and resources." The Clintons are not a party to the suit.

Details of the suit were first reported in February by The Deal, a business publication. Accounts also appeared in Saturday's New York Times and Washington Post.

These freebies have made it onto ethics reports and campaign finance disclosures. However, they do create an appearance of impropriety, because the Clinton sense of entitlement does not concern itself with little matters like appearances.

I'm curious -- will the Clintons provide reimbursement to the company at full cost if Gupta is found to have engaged in wrong-doing?

Oh, and one other question -- why did this story get buried in the Saturday paper on a holiday weekend by both the Post and Times? Is is an attempt to cover it up? And is it collusion to avoid embarrassing the former president and his presidential candidate wife?

In other words, there are lots of questions out there.

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And maybe more importantly, how come the motivational articles for entrepreneurs he has posted are so good?

Well let me begin by telling you that Andreas Bard is a 22-year-old Swedish guy who is on what he calls a journey to freedom. He has caught the entrepreneurial spirit in a big sort of way, and loves to start and grow businesses -- and he wants to inspire you to do the same thing, if you dare.

Now what Andreas wants to do is help the young entrepreneur get started in business and persevere until he or she has been successful. It is all in how one thinks and what one does, you see. Anybody with sufficient motivation and desire can start a business and learn to make it grow into a going concern that makes money. To that end, he has written and/or posted motivational articles for you -- if you are really interested in making that big leap into the world of entrepreneurism.

And there are lots of areas for the young entrepreneur to consider. For example, have you ever considered how much self-discipline it takes to start and run your business? Really, it does, because with no boss watching over your shoulder or giving you direction on what to do and how to do it, you are on your own. If you don't do something, it doesn't get done and your business -- your livelihood -- disappears. Not a good thing at all.

Similarly, handling criticism is very important. Let's be honest -- you and your business are going to be criticized by customers and (if you have any) employees. And to tell the truth, at least some of that criticism is going to be true -- and some of it will not be presented in a constructive, helpful manner. What do you do? Do you listen to it? Do you ignore it? Do you mine out the nuggets of truth amidst the garbage? Andreas talks about that at length.

And there there is one that might not come to mind at first -- but is key to making your business a success. It is starting a healthier lifestyle. Don't forget -- your biggest asset in your business is you, especially at the beginning. If you don;t take good care of yourself, you will not be operating at your peak efficiency, and as a result your business will be at a distinct disadvantage.

Andreas has a lot of interesting stuff to say -- drop by and look, even if you are not an aspiring entrepreneur. To be honest, the healthier lifestyle one has hit really close to home for me, and has caused me to reassess some things about how I live my life.

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As a kid, i remember watching the show MASH. For some strange reason, one of the lines that stuck with me over the year was one by Radar, who announced that a party was because "Syngman Rhee 's been elected dictator again."

That line bubbled to the surface this morning as i read about the upcoming Syrian election, which will almost certainly award another seven-year term to Bashir Assad.

But as he prepares for a so-called national referendum in which he is certain to be overwhelmingly re-elected for a second seven-year term, Mr. Assad seems very much in control, with his rivals isolated, his critics increasingly in prison or fearing retribution, and international pressure eased. He has consolidated power around his immediate family and rewarded loyalists. And he has continued to reap the benefits of WashingtonÂ’s troubles in the region. In Lebanon, the anti-Syrian March 14 movement, which helped force Syria out, has seen its political fortunes plummet, mired in unrest.

“Syria has a great deal of confidence now,” said Abdel Fattah al-Awad, editor in chief of the government-run newspaper Al Thawra. “The country is convinced that the major pressures that once faced us have disappeared. We want to offer security — that’s what we offer. The Americans, they offer Iraq, which is chaos.”

Mr. Assad came to power on a wave of optimism, promising to bring change and to rule differently from his iron-fisted father, Hafez. But as he prepares for another term, Mr. Assad has increasingly begun to emulate his father.

Political campaigners openly called for change several years ago; today many have landed in prison in a government crackdown on dissent. Others shrink from public life.

Few Syrians would even speak on the record for this article, fearing government reprisal.

The article goes on to note his support for terrorist organizations in th region.

Remember -- this is one of the folks the Democrats want to negotiate with to ensure security in Iraq, despite the fact that he is a supporter of the very terrorists that American troops are fighting. I guess that human rights and free, fair elections -- and defeating terrorism -- are not particularly a value to that party after all.

UPDATE 5/28/2007: Assad has been reelected as dictator. But then again, when a leader doesn't permit an opponent on the ballot, what do you expect?

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Hearing that there is a new Police cd out has gotten me thinking and reminiscing as I think lustfully about owning a copy of this new compilation of the group's greatest songs.

I must have been fourteen or fifteen -- certainly in Ninth Grade -- when I first heard that rather striking opening wail.

Roxanne!
You don't have to put on the red light.

I'll be honest -- I was sold on the song and the singer and the group right then, just based on the first two syllables standing by themselves. The fantastic guitar work blew my mind. And the fact that the song itself was about a rather edgy and forbidden topic at my Catholic high school (love songs to hookers were not exactly a favorite of priests or nuns), I had to own the album, Outlandos d'Amour. And yes, I am talking VINYL. It was, in fact, the first thing I bought with my first paycheck from my first job. Cool.

I needn't tell you, of course, that Reggatta de Blanc quickly came into my music collection when it came out -- I fell in love with Message in a Bottle and, under the inspiration of the song and and a bit of vodka out of my Dad's liquor cabinet, actually penned a dreadful poem about a shipwrecked sailor sending a message in a bottle. It became my first published piece of poetry, in my high school literary magazine. I can only hope that all copies have been destroyed in the intervening quarter century.

And I'll be honest -- I never lost faith with Sting, Andy and Stewart. I always loved their music, even if I have not bought every release. Indeed, I have one song that makes me cringe every time I hear it -- as a teacher, Don't Stand So Close to Me cuts way to close to home for me to ever be able to listen to it the same way, though I still love Zenyatta Mondatta.

And of course, there are the final two projects that the group released. Ghost in the Machine and Synchronicity became the sound track of my college years. I think I wore out at least to cassettes of each during the 1980s.

And now, as the group makes its triumphant return, to the concert stage in what is probably the second-most-desired reunion in rock history (and sadly, the Beatles are an impossibility), there is a new Police cd out compiling the best of the music of the Police.

And look at the music you get on it!

Disc: 1
1. Fallout
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don't Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine

Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara

What can I say -- I want it. I need it. I've got to have it. Somebody -- please -- give me a copy of this CD!

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And did those present stone him? No, they applauded him -- which proves two things that I've always known:

1) Christians reject the sort of violence promoted by Islam, because Farrakhan was not stoned to death or beheaded.

2) St. Sabina Catholic Church and its pastor have long since strayed from faith in Christ and into some fuzzy spirituality.

"Even though I am a Muslim -- I don't apologize for that -- I'm also a Christian," he told the crowd at 1210 W. 78th Pl. "Islam considers the Bible a sacred book."

"A good Muslim is a Christian, and a good Christian is a Muslim," he added later, stressing the common aspects of the faiths. "Whenever Christ's name is mentioned, I feel at home."

Calypso Louie lies here -- a good Muslim accepts blasphemy against the divinity of Christ, while a good Christian must reject the blasphemous teachings of Islam.

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Just remember -- Chavez is the hero of the nutroots activists, and they support his repeated assaults on freedom. At the same time, they claim that civil liberties in the US have been eviscerated by George W. Bush. Let's use this story to consider what the real truth is.

Venezuela's top court on Friday ordered the Defense Ministry to take control of installations of an opposition television station amid a show of military force before the station's controversial closure.

President Hugo Chavez's decision to close the RCTV television channel, which he accuses of backing a 2002 coup against him, has prompted international condemnation and several demonstrations.

Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered the military to "guard, control and monitor" some of the station's installations and equipment including transmission equipment and antennas throughout the country.

An RCTV source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said staff at the station believed troops would take over the station's Caracas headquarters.

The court determined that the government must take RCTV's broadcast equipment to ensure a smooth handover to a state channel that will replace RCTV with broadcasts promoting the values of Chavez's socialist revolution.

I've yet to see the president order the closure of a single media outlet in the US, even treasonous ones like the Washington post, New York Times, and ABC News, all of which have illegally disclosed classified military information that aid the enemies of the United States and actively seek to undermine our nation's war effort. I've not seen the President appoint judges that would give him the sort of deference to do so -- and I've not seen the nation's military leaders corrupted to the point that they would carry out such a violation of fundamental liberties. Yet this is the model the nutroots would follow.

That should make it pretty clear -- they don't want liberty or democracy, but instead want a leftist authoritarian government.

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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Israel Faces Its Choices In Gaza by Joshuapundit, and On Dehumanizing the Enemy In War and the Nature of Victory by TigerHawk.  Here is a link to the full results of the vote). 

Here are the full tallies of all votes cast:

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Where can you go for treatment when you have an addiction? That is a question that some folks have to face in their lives.

There is a new drug rehab program in Michigan, First Step Rehab, that treats folks from around the country. It is not a Twelve Step program, but instead uses a five stage program to get patients off drugs and into a healthy lifestyle. If you or a loved one needs drug rehab, stop by their website for more information.

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This is a revolting development.

One of the world's most prestigious health journals has lashed a fast-growing trend in the United States and Britain for "designer vaginas," the tabloid term for cosmetic surgery to the female genitalia.

The fashion is being driven by commercial and media pressures that exploit women's insecurities and is fraught with unknowns, including a risk to sexual arousal, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) says.

Known as elective genitoplasty, the surgery usually entails shortening or changing the shape of the outer lips, or labia, but may also include reduction in the hood of skin covering the clitoris or shortening the vagina itself.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the practice is spreading fast in the United States as well as in Britain, but the picture is unclear, the BMJ says.

If we in the West are going to continue to decry the genital mutilation of young girls for religious and cultural reasons, how can we countenance the mutilation of women in the developed world for reasons of fashion?

Posted by: Greg at 12:16 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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If you havenÂ’t met the requirements to graduate, why should you be permitted to walk across the stage at the graduation ceremony?

Students who had been planning to walk across the stage at graduation ceremonies this weekend were instead walking a picket line Thursday morning.

The Trimble Tech High School seniors marched in front of Fort Worth Independent School District headquarters to protest Wednesday's decision by trustees to bar students who failed the TAKS test from commencement exercises.

About a dozen young people, carrying signs and chanting, began picketing at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. They represent the 613 Fort Worth seniors who did not pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam.

Take these young ladies.

Crystal Martinez complained that while she finished at the top of her class with a 3.5 grade point average, she is now blocked from graduation by failing the TAKS test.

"We know we're not going to get our diplomas, but we just want to walk across the stage," Martinez said. "That's all we ask for right now."
Classmate Chloe Walker agreed. "I believe that I have at least the right to walk the stage with all my friends," she said. "I made it this far, and I have all my credits I need. I deserve to get my certificate of completion."

Oh, the humanity! They haven’t met the legal requirements for graduation, but they want to get the perks that go with graduation – including a piece of paper that effectively says “Yeah, she showed up.”

And it isnÂ’t like they donÂ’t have a chance to actually get the diploma and graduate.

School officials said non-graduating seniors will have a chance to take the TAKS test again in July. If they pass, they can participate in a separate commencement exercise in August.

You know – whenever they have actually met the standard and accomplished the goal for which the accolade is being offered. Otherwise it is the equivalent of giving holding a wedding reception for a couple just shacking up together. What they do not recognize is that participating in the graduation ceremony is an honor for accomplishment, not a right.

Sadly, there are too many districts that have forgotten the true significance of the ceremony and let those who haven’t met the graduation standards put in a cameo appearance and "walk the stage." I’m glad my district does not. I wonder – is it time for the Texas Legislature to pass legislation to put a stop to this absurd practice?

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Posted by: Greg at 12:15 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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When the reporting of good news from Iraq merits its own news coverage, then you know the American people are not being given the whole story by the media.

TIME Magazine's Joe Klein — a longtime critic of President Bush and the Iraq war — writes this week — "There is good news from Iraq."
Klein details progress in Anbar province against Al Qaeda — including some days in which there have been zero effective attacks by insurgents.
He credits alliances between U.S. troops and local tribes — and writes that at least two other Sunni-dominated provinces are seeking similar alliances.

And among the examples are the following.

There is good news from Iraq, believe it or not. It comes from the most unlikely place: Anbar province, home of the Sunni insurgency. The level of violence has plummeted in recent weeks. An alliance of U.S. troops and local tribes has been very effective in moving against the al-Qaeda foreign fighters. A senior U.S. military official told me—confirming reports from several other sources—that there have been "a couple of days recently during which there were zero effective attacks and less than 10 attacks overall in the province (keep in mind that an attack can be as little as one round fired). This is a result of sheiks stepping up and opposing AQI [al-Qaeda in Iraq] and volunteering their young men to serve in the police and army units there." The success in Anbar has led sheiks in at least two other Sunni-dominated provinces, Nineveh and Salahaddin, to ask for similar alliances against the foreign fighters. And, as TIME's Bobby Ghosh has reported, an influential leader of the Sunni insurgency, Harith al-Dari, has turned against al-Qaeda as well. It is possible that al-Qaeda is being rejected like a mismatched liver transplant by the body of the Iraqi insurgency.

None of that is to say that the situation is perfect – nor that everything will be fixed in six months. And there are certainly problems with the current government – but it is a heck of a lot better than the murderous Saddamite regime ever was.

Nd let me say it – I understand the desire to see this war come to an end. Having grown up in a military family and having repeatedly sought a military career during my college years (injuries in a car accident ended that dream), I recognize that war is horrible and produces thousands of deaths in combat that each constitute a monumental individual and national tragedy. I wept the night that the war began, and I have wept over this war every day since then. But my study of history tells me that there is no acceptable substitute for victory in Iraq, and that choosing failure will result in a tragedy that far outstrips the horrors of Cambodia’s killing fields – and will render the sacrifices of the troops a meaningless waste of human life.

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Here’s a great idea – though the Muslim suggesting it has been labeled as "the latest weapon in the Islamophobe arsenal" for speaking out against Islamist violence and Islamic barbarities contained in sharia law.

We Muslims should publicly show our strong disapproval for the growing number of attacks by Muslims against other faiths and against other Muslims. Let us not even dwell on 9/11, Madrid, London, Bali and countless other scenes of carnage. It has been estimated that of the two million refugees fleeing Islamic terror in Iraq, 40% are Christian, and many of them seek a haven in Lebanon, where the Christian population itself has declined by 60%. Even in Turkey, Islamists recently found it necessary to slit the throats of three Christians for publishing Bibles.

Of course, Islamist attacks are not limited to Christians and Jews. Why do we hear no Muslim condemnation of the ongoing slaughter of Buddhists in Thailand by Islamic groups? Why was there silence over the Mumbai train bombings which took the lives of over 200 Hindus in 2006? We must not forget that innocent Muslims, too, are suffering. Indeed, the most common murderers of Muslims are, and have always been, other Muslims. Where is the Muslim outcry over the Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq?

Islamophobia could end when masses of Muslims demonstrate in the streets against videos displaying innocent people being beheaded with the same vigor we employ against airlines, Israel and cartoons of Muhammad. It might cease when Muslims unambiguously and publicly insist that Shariah law should have no binding legal status in free, democratic societies.

It is well past time that Muslims cease using the charge of "Islamophobia" as a tool to intimidate and blackmail those who speak up against suspicious passengers and against those who rightly criticize current Islamic practices and preachings. Instead, Muslims must engage in honest and humble introspection. Muslims should--must--develop strategies to rescue our religion by combating the tyranny of Salafi Islam and its dreadful consequences. Among more important outcomes, this will also put an end to so-called Islamophobia.

In other words, when Islam joins the civilized world, there will be no reason for others to think ill of it. Until that happens, Muslims are not victims of irrational fear by those who believe in human rights and freedom.

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When you’re a Jew, self-defense will be punished with destruction – so decrees the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"If you think that by bombing and assassinating Palestinian leaders you are preparing ground for new attacks on Lebanon in the summer, I am telling you that you are seriously wrong," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in the city of Isfahan.

"If this year you repeat the same mistake of the last year, the ocean of nations of the region will get angry and will uproot the Zionist regime."

Bomb, bomb, bomb
Bom, bomb Iran!

After all, the Stone Age would be an improvement.

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Posted by: Greg at 10:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Hey -- abandoning the troops in the field and surrendering to the enemy is a grand old tradition for the Dems, dating back to at least 1864. Fortunately, just like then, there are Republicans to safeguard the nation from Democratic irresponsibility.

Bowing to President Bush, the Democratic-controlled House and Senate reluctantly approved fresh billions for the Iraq war on Thursday, minus the troop withdrawal timeline that drew his earlier veto.

The Senate vote to send the legislation to the president was 80-14. Less than two hours earlier, the House had cleared the measure, 280-142, with Republicans supplying the bulk of the support.

Five months in power on Capitol Hill, Democrats in both houses coupled their concession to the president with pledges to challenge his policies anew. “This debate will go on,” vowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, announcing plans to hold votes by fall on four separate measures seeking a change in course.

Unfortunately, the leading Democrat contenders for the White House showed their unfitness for the position.

Courting the anti-war constituency, Democratic presidential rivals
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama both voted against legislation that pays for the Iraq war but lacks a timeline for troop withdrawal.

"I fully support our troops" but the measure "fails to compel the president to give our troops a new strategy in Iraq," said Clinton, a New York senator.

"Enough is enough," Obama, an Illinois senator, declared, adding that
President Bush should not get "a blank check to continue down this same, disastrous path."

Their votes Thursday night continued a shift in position for the two presidential hopefuls, both of whom began the year shunning a deadline for a troop withdrawal.

Supporting the troops by abandoning them -- an interesting concept. I guess they are more interested in the nomination that in principle or national security.

Though I will concede that they are not as unfit as John Edwards, who doesn't even recognize that the United States is at war with the forces of Islamist terrorism around the world, and who effectively denies the last 5 1/2 years (the last 15, really) of American history.

Posted by: Greg at 10:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm sure the Democrats will implement this provision every bit as completely and even-handedly as the ones that they gave Murtha a pass on earlier this week.

Prodded by Democratic leaders and by freshmen elected partly on promises to clean up Washington, the House approved new ethics legislation yesterday that would penalize lawmakers who receive a wide range of favors from special interests, and would require lobbyists to disclose the campaign contributions they collect and deliver to lawmakers.

Party leaders and new lawmakers worked until the day before the vote to sway some longtime members who had balked at the proposals. It took weeks of persuasion by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other key lawmakers to convince recalcitrant Democrats -- among them some members of the speaker's inner circle.

The new proposals, which in the end passed overwhelmingly, would expand the information available about how business is done on Capitol Hill and make it available online. They would provide expanded, more frequent and Internet-accessible reporting of lobbyist-paid contributions and sponsorships, and would for the first time impose prison terms for criminal rule-breakers. They would also require strict new disclosure of "bundled" campaign contributions that lobbyists collect and pass on to lawmakers' campaigns. Yesterday's legislation passed 396 to 22.

"It is absolutely imperative that we break this circle of deceit that exists, that has existed, between lobbyists, their wealthy clients and this legislature," said Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio), who helped rally support for the rules. In November, Space won the seat vacated by Republican Robert W. Ney, who had pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

The House in January passed rules banning gifts, meals and travel from lobbyists. The rules also require sponsors of pet spending projects, known as earmarks, to identify themselves and certify that they have no financial interest in them.

The vote to let Murtha skate, followed by his admission of guilt, makes it clear that this is nothing but window-dressing from the Democrats.

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I donÂ’t usually post stories like this here. IÂ’ll make an exception for this one.

A horrible accident. That's how investigators are describing a Saginaw fire that killed six people, including five children.

The fire started at around 2:30 this morning in the home at the corner of Waller and South Michigan on the city's west side.

One person, 33 year old Tanesha Watkins was rescued and is in fair condition at Covenant Healthcare.

Her husband, Samuel Watkins, 36, died in the fire, along with his stepchildren. They have been identified as Adam Dupuis, 13, daughters Majesty Price, 8, Destiny Price, 5, Essence Price, 3, and Chad Skinner, 1. His birthday was yesterday.

Here's what happened. Samuel Watkins was cooking in the kitchen when the fire started. Tanesha Watkins awoke when one of her daughters got up to go to the bathroom.

Tanesha smelled the smoke and went to look for the fire. She went to the basement, and was trapped as the flames spread.

She was rescued by two Saginaw County sheriff's deputies, who were waved down by the stepfather.

Saginaw Police Fire Investigator Jason Ball explains what the stepfather did next.
"From what we've learned, there was a fire in the kitchen. The father was made aware of the fire, ran outside, sought help from a sheriff's deputy who was on a traffic stop nearby. The sheriff's deputy reported that he observed the 36-year-old stepfather run into the house, through a wall of smoke and flames, to try to make it to the upstairs where the children and his wife were sleeping."

Such a tragedy is hard to wrap your head around. In this case, these people were the family of one of my fellow teachers. IÂ’d ask that you keep this entire family in prayer at this horrific time, that they may know GodÂ’s love in the midst of their sorrrow, and be comforted with the assurance that those who have died are wrapped in the arms of a loving God. Especially, please pray for Tanesha Watkins as she recovers from her injuries and from the devastation of losing her husband and children in one cruel blow.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them. Amen.

Posted by: Greg at 12:19 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Well, that seems to be the position taken in Colorado, where a Democratic Party official has been acquitted of criminal use of a noxious substance for stuffing dog crap in the mailbox of her congresswoman.

A former Democratic Party activist who left dog feces on the doorstep of U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave's Greeley office during last year's 4th Congressional District campaign was found not guilty Wednesday of criminal use of a noxious substance.

A Weld County jury deliberated about two hours before acquitting Kathleen Ensz of the misdemeanor count. Her trial began Tuesday.

Ensz's lawyers never denied that their client left a Musgrave campaign brochure full of feces at the front door of the congresswoman's office. But they argued that Ensz was making a statement protected by free speech - the poop was a symbol of what she thought of Musgrave's politics.

"Her only intention of going over there was to make a political statement that Marilyn Musgrave's politics stink," attorney Shannon D. Lyons said after the verdict.

So letÂ’s get this straight.

Stuffing dog crap in the mailbox is free speech.

Presumably this also means that throwing dog crap at an elected official is free speech, despite my argument that such repulsive and disgusting behavior was criminal conduct, not free speech, back when I originally wrote about this case.

Gee – I can’t wait for Hillary to come to town!

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You know, when you start applying objective academic standards and not racial preferences, that is what happens.

However, some folks are not happy about the University being forced to follow the Fourteenth Amendment.

Cordelia Martin, a senior at Farmington Hills' Mercy High School, believes Proposal 2 is the leading culprit for her denial.

"If affirmative action would have still been allowed in the admissions process, I think U of M would have considered the odds that I strived to overcome more and taken my racial ethnicity into account," said Martin, who will attend Michigan State University in the fall. She's also a plaintiff in a lawsuit to repeal Proposal 2.

So you see, she’s upset that she was not admitted to the University of Michigan despite her failure to meet the color-blind admissions requirements. As far as she is concerned, she should be judged by the color of her skin and not the content of her character – or the quality of her intellect. Not that she is particularly harmed by this outcome, given her admission to Michigan State University.

Interestingly enough, U-M officials acknowledge that Prop. 2 has resulted in an increase in academic ability.

U-M officials did not comment Wednesday on the diversity of the class. However, they said it should be one of the "most highly qualified and intellectually dynamic ever admitted."

Now if one presumes that the purpose of a university is to educate, and that a top-tier university is supposed to be taking the top-tier intellects, then Prop 2 has done exactly what it is supposed to do.

And if those who donÂ’t measure up lose out to those who do, then what we have is justice, not racism.

Posted by: Greg at 12:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now that Jack Murtha has admitted violating House Ethics Rules, will he receive an appropriate sanction or his misdeeds?

Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania sent a note of apology to Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan Wednesday, the day after a divided House denied Rogers a vote to officially reprimand the powerful senior Democrat.

Murtha apologized for his "outburst" in a handwritten note Rogers received Wednesday morning, the latter's office confirmed. This marks his first acknowledgement of an episode between the two lawmakers on the House floor.

Last week, the powerful Democrat allegedly threatened to deny Rogers any future spending projects in defense bills after the Michigan Republican challenged his earmark request for $23 million to prevent the administration from closing an intelligence gathering facility in his western Pennsylvania district.

Republicans have called the tirade a flagrant abuse of House rules.

Members and aides on both sides of the aisle continued to speculate that Rogers or another Republican will eventually call on the ethics committee to formally investigate last week's flap, even after Tuesday's partyline vote to prevent debate.

However, Tuesday’s vote followed by Wednesday’s apology makes the duplicity of the Democrats really clear – and clarifies that their promises of a new tone were a lie.

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This is a classic line, one that will have to join Queen SheilaÂ’s many other inane comments as highlights of her pathetic career in public office.

Rep. Jackson Lee also caused a few observers to scratch their heads when she opened her questioning of Goodling this way: “Allow me just to simply begin a series of questions, Ms. Goodling, and I would ask that they — your answers — be as cryptic and as brief as possible, however truthful, because we do have a shortened period of time.”

The woman is an idiot – but since she serves a racially gerrymandered district designed to put an African-American, no matter how incompetent, in Congress, we shouldn’t be surprised that she lives down to the level of Maxine Watters and Cynthia McKinney.

And interestingly enough, it appears that Congressman Keith Ellison may be giving her a run for her money in the idiocy department.

“So you all bypassed a chief of [the Civil Division] and went to somebody who had no experience in management simply because they were a liberal?” Ellison asked Goodling.

“No, not at all,” she answered. “There were other reasons involved in the decision.”

“Now — “

“To clarify, we — “

“No, I don’t need a clarification,” Ellison said. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Well, I would like to complete my answer.”

“Well, I don’t need an answer.”

Actually, that is probably true. After all, these hearings into the perfectly legal firings of appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President are not about wrong-doing or oversight. Rather, they are about scoring cheap political points with pseudo-scandals and mini-gotchas. As a result, the actual evidence and testimony is irrelevant, for the conclusions were predetermined before the first question was asked. Ellison simply made the mistake of letting the cat out of the bag.

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Posted by: Greg at 12:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hurrah! Provided, of course, it is better than Episodes I-III.

STAR WARS fans will sense a disturbance in the force amid rampant rumours that a new movie set before the prequels is to be announced in LA tomorrow.

The news of the "huge" announcement by Star Wars creator George Lucas comes on the 30th anniversary of the first film.

Chris Brennan, a member of Star Walking Inc - the Australian Star Wars appreciation society, is in LA for the offcial convention Celebration IV at the Los Angeles Covention Centre.

He said the rumours sweeping the venue is that Lucas will announce a new Star Wars movie is in the works.

Reports have been circling among fans and on the internet of a new Star Wars movie or movies set before the recent prequels at the time of Old Republic when the Jedi regained control of the galaxy from the Dark Lords of the Sith.

"He did make a slip in an interview a couple of weeks ago and say something about a forthcoming movie,'' Brennan said.

"The reporter went back to him and said `did you say movie?'

"George said no he didn't say that and tried to cover it up.''

This would be in addition to the live-action television series that has already been announced.

I like the premise of an early history of the Galaxy. However, I wish he would reconsider his earlier decision not to do Episodes VII-IX, set after Return of the Jedi. Given the years that have passed, the original actors might just be old enough to return for their original roles.

Posted by: Greg at 12:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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His sentence seems too short – but maybe he and his fellow eco-terrorists can serve their time at Gitmo.

Declaring that fires set at a police station, an SUV dealership and a tree farm were acts of terrorism, a federal judge Wednesday sentenced a member of a radical environmental group to 13 years in prison.

Stanislas Meyerhoff, 29, has admitted to being a member of a Eugene cell of the Earth Liberation Front known as The Family, which was responsible for more than 20 arson fires from 1996 through 2001 in five Western states that caused $40 million in damage.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken commended Meyerhoff for having the courage to "do the right thing" by giving authorities information about his fellow arsonists after his arrest.

But Aiken said his efforts to save the Earth by setting fires were misguided and cowardly, and contributed to an unfair characterization of others working legally to protect the environment as radicals.

"It was your intent to scare and frighten other people through a very dangerous and psychological act - arson," Aiken told Meyerhoff. "Your actions included elements of terrorism to achieve your goal."

This guy at least recognizes he was wrong – and made a statement that could clearly come from the mouths of most left-wing radicals.

"I was ignorant of history and economy and acted from a faulty and narrow vision as an ordinary bigot," said Meyerhoff, his voice breaking at times.

After all, dissent is not tolerated by the Left – and must be met with violence. After all, that violence is in the service of a higher cause, and those who are its victims deserve it for not kowtowing to the dogma of the Left.

And here is a family member of another convicted domestic eco-terrorist – trying to make the case that burning down buildings (which could kill people, last time I checked) for political purposes is not terrorism. The scary part? The individual making the argument is a former firefighter!

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UPDATE -- 5/24/2007: The murdered American hero has been identified.

The American military confirmed today that a body found in the Euphrates River on Wednesday is that of Army Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., one of three American soldiers seized in an ambush on May 12.

A military official said that the body, which was pulled from the river several miles south of where the attack occurred, had been identified late Wednesday and that the family of Private Anzack, 20, of Torrance, Calif., had been notified.

The discovery brought the first signs of closure to a massive manhunt that has gone on for 11 days, with thousands of American and Iraqi troops searching day and night for the missing soldiers. But for the men and women who lost friends, it was hardly enough.

* * *

Iraqi police officials said the body was partly clothed in an American military uniform and had a tattoo on one arm, bullet wounds and possible signs of torture. Residents said it was found floating in the Euphrates on Wednesday morning, several miles south of the road by the river where the attack occurred.

“Some people from our town — and I was with them — dragged the body from the river,” said Ali Abbas al-Fatlawi, 30, a resident of Musayyib. “We saw the head riddled with bullets, and shots in the left side of the abdomen. His hands were not tied, and he was not blindfolded.”

* * *

American military officials did not confirm the local accounts. A group of soldiers who had been searching near Musayyib this week — and who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the operations — said American troops might have cornered the gunmen, who then killed the soldier and dumped his body as they fled.

The bitter irony here is that only last month, this news report about Private Anzack appeared in the media.

A Torrance family was trying to return to a normal life this week after learning that reports of their son's death in Iraq were incorrect.

Rumors that Joseph Anzack, an Army gunner stationed south of Baghdad, had been killed in Iraq began circulating earlier this week, shocking family members and prompting his high school to put a message on its marquee: In Loving Memory -- Joseph Anzack -- Class of 2005.

Family members were stunned, and none more so than Anzack himself, who called home to make it clear he was, in fact, alive and kicking.

To have to deal with such horror twice in one month boggles the mind.

My deepest sympathy to the Anzack family, and to his comrades in arms. You are in my prayers, and the prayers of every loyal American.

ORIGINAL REPORT- 5/25/2007

It is way too early to tell, but this report does not look good.

Iraqi police found the body of a man who was wearing what appeared to be a U.S. military uniform and had a tattoo on his left hand floating in the Euphrates River south of Baghdad on Wednesday morning, and one Iraqi official said it was one of three missing American soldiers.

The man had been shot in the head and chest, Babil police Capt. Muthana Khalid said. He said Iraqi police turned the body over the U.S. forces.

The report of the body found was confirmed by a senior Iraqi army officer in the Babil area. He told The Associated Press that the body found in the river was that of an American soldier. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

The discovery of the body in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad in Babil Province, came as U.S. troops and Iraqi forces continued their massive search for the three soldiers abducted May 12 in an ambush on their patrol near Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad.

The U.S. military said in an e-mail that it was looking into the report, but could not confirm it.

It doesn't take a great leap of faith to reach the conclusion that the terrorists have failed to show the same respect for the rights of their prisoners that the neo-Copperheads in this country and the terrorist-supporters abroad demand that America show captured terrorists.

As i've said in the past, maybe it is time to start treating such folks as pirates.

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This is the sort of stuff that explains why John Cornyn will be handily reelected to the Senate.

“The question I put to my colleagues is this: Should Congress permanently bar from the U.S. and from receiving any immigration benefit: suspected terrorists, gang members, sex offenders, felony drunk drivers, and other individuals who are a danger to society?,” Sen. Cornyn said. “I hope that every Senator would answer this question with a positive response.”

Go John! Go John! Go John!

H/T Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin

Posted by: Greg at 10:48 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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John Edwards can kiss the gay vote goodbye -- or he could if he were comfortable around such people.

Robert Shrum, the veteran Democratic strategist who worked on John Edwards's 1998 Senate campaign in North Carolina, does not remember his onetime client very fondly.

In his new memoir, "No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner," Shrum recalls asking Edwards at the outset of that campaign, "What is your position, Mr. Edwards, on gay rights?"

"I'm not comfortable around those people," Edwards replied, according to Shrum. He writes that the candidate's wife, Elizabeth, told him: "John, you know that's wrong."

Maybe we can get registered Democrat Fred Phelps to start showing up outside Edwards campaign events. He can just make his signs read "John Hates Fags".

And Shrum also makes it clear that Pretty-Boy John is an intellectual light-weight with a temperament unsuitable for the White House.

While praising Edwards as a man of "many innate political gifts," Shrum says he hoped the senator wouldn't run for the White House in 2004: "I was coming to believe he wasn't ready; he was a Clinton who hadn't read the books."

When Shrum called to say he had decided to join the presidential campaign of another former client, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Edwards was angry. "I can't believe you would do this to me and my family. I will never, ever forget it, even on my deathbed," he quotes Edwards as saying.

Dumb.

Inexperienced.

Emotionally unstable.

That's John Edwards.

Posted by: Greg at 10:44 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
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Because after all, the terms are vague and undefined, leaving those potentially accused with no way of knowing if they are in compliance.

The House, eager to do something about record high gasoline prices in advance of the Memorial Day weekend, voted narrowly Wednesday to approve stiff penalties for those found guilty of gasoline price gouging.

The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to go after oil companies, traders or retail operators if they take “unfair advantage” or charge “unconscionably excessive” prices for gasoline and other fuels.

The White House called the measure a form of price controls that could result in fuel shortages. It said President Bush would be urged to veto the legislation should it pass Congress.

Define "unfair advantage" What is an "unconscionably excessive" price for a product? There really is no standard for measuring either -- especially if one is not out to repeal the law of supply and demand (take ECONOMICS 101 at your local community college for details). What next -- Hugo Chavez-style nationalization of oil companies?

Get that veto pen out, Mr. President -- this bill is awful.

Posted by: Greg at 10:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Because after all, we've seen such great terroristic efforts put forth by Christians to hijack planes and fly them into buildings, murder those who don't live up to Christian standards, and behead our opponents.

Oh, that's right -- that is Islam, not Christianity.

But you wouldn't know that from the warped, disproportionate moral equivalency drawn by HuffPo writer Max Blumenthal.

Visitors to Mark David Uhl's Myspace page will quickly learn that Uhl is a student at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, that he is a devoted Christian, that his name means "Mighty Warrior" -- and that he likes Will Smith's saccharine tear-up-the-club track, "Switch." Uhl reveals his career ambitions on his page as well: "I will join the Army as an officer after college." Already, Uhl was preparing in Liberty's ROTC program.

Uhl waited until he was offline, however, to reveal his plot to kill the family of itinerant Calvinist provocateur Fred Phelps (famous for their "Fag Troops" rallies outside soldiers' funerals). The Phelpses planned to protest Falwell's funeral, a bizarre stunt designed to highlight Falwell's somehow insufficiently draconian attitude towards homosexuals. Uhl made several bombs and allegedly told a family member he planned to use them to attack the Phelps family.

He was arrested soon after and charged with manufacturing explosives. On the surface, Uhl appears to be the latest version of Virginia Tech rampage killer (and "Richard McBeef" author) Cho Seung-Hui. Indeed, both Uhl and Cho were alienated young men who conceived or carried out campaigns of mass murder on college campuses.

Of course, Blumenthal then goes on to explain how he believes Christianity -- in particular conservative Christianity that actually believes in the Bible, the traditional tenets of the faith, and is supportive of America is responsible for this utterly obscene corruption of everything that Christianity stands for -- and which would have been condemned by Jerry Falwell himself were he still alive.

And I've no doubt that any poll of young Christians (even of the most conservative stripe) would not produce a result that said over a quarter of them believed that murdering civilians in the name of God was acceptable, as a recent poll of American Muslims shows.

And have no doubt -- you won't find a single Christian leader supporting the frightfully wrong actions of Mark David Uhl, and will probably find many actively denouncing them, which again stands in stark contrast to the situation within Islam.

Though I cannot help but note one thing -- I suspect that there are many Americans of any political, religious, or philosophical stripe (myself included) who would have had a difficult time finding a downside and would have shed no tears if Uhl had been successful in taking out the Fred Phelps Klan.

Posted by: Greg at 10:28 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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