May 03, 2007
Fer cryin' out loud. Will she pull a Pelosi and put on a hijab, too?
Just a reminder of what Vice President Cheney said a few weeks ago about Pelosi's meeting with Syrian president Assad:
This is an evil man. He's a prime state sponsor of terror...So for the speaker to go to Damascus and meet with this guy and treat him with the respect and dignity ordinarily accorded the head of a foreign state -- we think it is just directly contrary to our national interest."
Talk about sending "mixed messages." Cripes.
***
Background: State Dept reports on patterns of global terrorism
Oh, and about that scarf Pelosi wore in the infamous picture from Syria – please remember that she was visiting a mosque at the time, and showing proper deference to the religious protocol in doing so. It is no different than me wearing a yarmulke when visiting a synagogue – it is called good manners.
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Three people gathered at the Laramie Train Depot yesterday evening to protest President BushÂ’s veto of spending legislation that set a timeline for troop withdrawls from Iraq. His veto was Tuesday night, and the political Web site MoveOn.org urged like-minded citizens to stage emergency rallies across the country in protest of the veto.According to the Web site, there were 357 such rallies yesterday around the coutry, including in Loveland, Colo., Denver, Colorado Springs, Colo., Salt Lake City and Missoula, Mont.
A hastily organized Laramie chapter that consisted of Lesley Wischmann, Ann Jacobs and Nancy Sindelar gathered at the depot and pulled out a few posterboard protest signs, clutching them against the gusting wind.
We have more folks sitting at the table in the faculty room during lunch every day – do you think they can send a reporter down to cover our witty political discussions? After all, one of my colleagues is from Wyoming.
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May 02, 2007
President Bush and congressional leaders began negotiating a second war funding bill yesterday, with Democrats offering the first major concession: an agreement to drop their demand for a timeline to bring troops home from Iraq.Democrats backed off after the House failed, on a vote of 222 to 203, to override the president's veto of a $124 billion measure that would have required U.S. forces to begin withdrawing as early as July. But party leaders made it clear that the next bill will have to include language that influences war policy. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) outlined a second measure that would step up Iraqi accountability, "transition" the U.S. military role and show "a reasonable way to end this war."
"We made our position clear. He made his position clear. Now it is time for us to try to work together," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said after a White House meeting. "But make no mistake: Democrats are committed to ending this war."
Now what someone needs to tell these two idiots is that the issue is not "ending the war" -- because there are lots of terrible ways to do that. No, the only acceptable way to end the war is to do so with VICTORY. As such, artificial calendars for withdrawal are counterproductive. There might be a place for some sort of benchmarks, but not if they provide the enemy with a roadmap for US defeat.
And it is time for all of us to send the Dems that message, loud and clear.
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Is MySpace always mine or can it belong to someone else? At the cost of losing 160,000 friends, Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign has taken over control of the MySpace page listed under his name on the popular social networking site.For the past two and a half years, the page has been run by an Obama supporter from Los Angeles named Joe Anthony. At first, that arrangement was fine with the Obama team, which worked with Anthony on the content and even had the password to make changes themselves.
But as the site exploded in popularity in recent months, the campaign became concerned about an outsider having control of the content and responses going out under Obama's name and told Anthony they wanted him to turn it over.
In this new frontier of online campaigning, it's hard to determine the value of 160,000 MySpace friends—about four times what any other official campaign MySpace page has amassed. But the Obama campaign decided they wouldn't pay $39,000, which is what Anthony said he proposed for his extensive work on the site, plus some additional fees up to $10,000.
MySpace reluctantly stepped in to settle the dispute and decided that Obama should have the rights to control http://www.myspace.com/barackobama as of Monday night, while Anthony had the right to take the contact information for all the friends who signed up while he was in control. That includes the right to tell them exactly how he feels about the Obama campaign.
Anthony referred The Associated Press to his MySpace blog, where he has written that he is heartbroken that the Obama campaign was "bullying" him out of the page he built. He said the candidate has lost his vote.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is trying to rebuild his friends network from scratch and was up to more than 17,000 by midday Wednesday. "We support the MySpace community, and look forward to building our relationship," said campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
So be careful, folks -- your website may be next if the rich, powerful, and arrogant among the Democrat presidential candidates (and that means all of them) think there is some advantage to stealing it from you.
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rhymeswithright.mu.nu/Viagra.html
Rod Coronado is a celebrity ex-convict in the underground world of environmental and animal rights radicals who advocate burning construction sites and research labs. In 2003, just after giving a speech in San Diego in which he called fire a “cleansing force” and defended its use in strategic property destruction, a woman asked him a question.Federal prosecutors say Mr. Coronado’s answer — a detailed description of a crude incendiary — should land him in federal prison for 20 years for violating a rarely invoked antiterrorism statute.
My only objection to the prosecution? That the statute is rarely invoked.
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With violent crime rising sharply here, Mayor Sheila Dixon announced plans Wednesday to form a task force on illegal guns and install a system to track where and when guns had been used in crimes.“Attacking gun crime,” Ms. Dixon said, “means cracking down on gun sales and arresting, prosecuting and putting in prison criminals who carry and use guns.”
Now presuming that Mayor Dixon means cracking down on ILLEGAL gun sales, I'm with her completely. To the degree she wishes to prevent or discourage the sale, purchase, or possession of legal weapons, as is the right of Americans under the Second Amendment, I've got a problem. But it at least sounds like she has her head in the right place on this one. Go after the criminals, not the weapons.
After all, cars are used in many crimes in this country -- far more than guns, as a matter of fact. We don't seek to crack down on car purchases or ban automobiles -- we go after the criminals for their criminal activity.. When politicians and law enforcement recognize the parallel, we start getting reasonable, constitutional public policy.
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The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say.Military officials have been wrestling for years with how to handle troops who publish blogs. Officers have weighed the need for wartime discretion against the opportunities for the public to personally connect with some of the most effective advocates for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq -- the troops themselves. The secret-keepers have generally won the argument, and the once-permissive atmosphere has slowly grown more tightly regulated. Soldier-bloggers have dropped offline as a result.
The new rules (.pdf) obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before every blog update.
"This is the final nail in the coffin for combat blogging," said retired paratrooper Matthew Burden, editor of The Blog of War anthology. "No more military bloggers writing about their experiences in the combat zone. This is the best PR the military has -- it's most honest voice out of the war zone. And it's being silenced."
Army Regulation 530--1: Operations Security (OPSEC) (.pdf) restricts more than just blogs, however. Previous editions of the rules asked Army personnel to "consult with their immediate supervisor" before posting a document "that might contain sensitive and/or critical information in a public forum." The new version, in contrast, requires "an OPSEC review prior to publishing" anything -- from "web log (blog) postings" to comments on internet message boards, from resumes to letters home.
Failure to do so, the document adds, could result in a court-martial, or "administrative, disciplinary, contractual, or criminal action."
This regulation needs to be withdrawn immediately – and by the Commander-in-Chief personally. After all, the "new media" of blogging is really the only way that the truth about Iraq has been disseminated to the American public, since the "news" media has taken an ideological slant against good news -- just like in Vietnam.
UPDATE: Great WaPo article about milblogs and milbloggers today.
Today, many of the stories coming from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being written by those fighting them, in the form of thousands of soldiers' military blogs, or "milblogs." Their tales are unfolding as they occur, with limited censorship from the military, and they are attracting a growing readership from inside and outside the military.Ward Carroll, the editor of military.com, an online military and veteran membership organization, said some of the best milbloggers have the ability to shape opinions on the war.
"If you are going to be informed, especially with something so controversial and polarizing as the Iraq war, you need to read one of these blogs along with The Washington Post and the New York Times," Carroll said.
Gee, where did I hear that point before?
Hugh Hewitt also has a great column on the subject.
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The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say.Military officials have been wrestling for years with how to handle troops who publish blogs. Officers have weighed the need for wartime discretion against the opportunities for the public to personally connect with some of the most effective advocates for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq -- the troops themselves. The secret-keepers have generally won the argument, and the once-permissive atmosphere has slowly grown more tightly regulated. Soldier-bloggers have dropped offline as a result.
The new rules (.pdf) obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before every blog update.
"This is the final nail in the coffin for combat blogging," said retired paratrooper Matthew Burden, editor of The Blog of War anthology. "No more military bloggers writing about their experiences in the combat zone. This is the best PR the military has -- it's most honest voice out of the war zone. And it's being silenced."
Army Regulation 530--1: Operations Security (OPSEC) (.pdf) restricts more than just blogs, however. Previous editions of the rules asked Army personnel to "consult with their immediate supervisor" before posting a document "that might contain sensitive and/or critical information in a public forum." The new version, in contrast, requires "an OPSEC review prior to publishing" anything -- from "web log (blog) postings" to comments on internet message boards, from resumes to letters home.
Failure to do so, the document adds, could result in a court-martial, or "administrative, disciplinary, contractual, or criminal action."
This regulation needs to be withdrawn immediately – and by the Commander-in-Chief personally. After all, the "new media" of blogging is really the only way that the truth about Iraq has been disseminated to the American public, since the "news" media has taken an ideological slant against good news -- just like in Vietnam.
UPDATE: Great WaPo article about milblogs and milbloggers today.
Today, many of the stories coming from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being written by those fighting them, in the form of thousands of soldiers' military blogs, or "milblogs." Their tales are unfolding as they occur, with limited censorship from the military, and they are attracting a growing readership from inside and outside the military.Ward Carroll, the editor of military.com, an online military and veteran membership organization, said some of the best milbloggers have the ability to shape opinions on the war.
"If you are going to be informed, especially with something so controversial and polarizing as the Iraq war, you need to read one of these blogs along with The Washington Post and the New York Times," Carroll said.
Gee, where did I hear that point before?
Hugh Hewitt also has a great column on the subject.
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Well, one possibility is LifeLines Family Services - Education Consultants For Troubled Teens. These folks are experts in helping parents deal with some of the many difficulties that can arise during those awkward teenage years. They offer a variety of programs for troubled teens, and can help you connect with the right one to help your child and bring your family back to stability.
I hope you never need such services -- but if you do, TeenLifelines.com is a potential life saver.
Paid Endorsement.
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A man who was convicted last year of bringing two teenage runaways to Houston to work as prostitutes was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 22 years in federal prison.Beaumont native George ``Unique'' Anderson III, 29, received a punishment more severe than the 15-year sentence prescribed under federal guidelines. U.S. District Judge David Hittner added seven years, bringing the sentence to 262 months.
Hittner considered that Anderson's recruitment of the girls exposed them to sexually transmitted diseases and that he was not prosecuted on allegations that he involved three other minors. After his release, he faces a lifetime of supervision and registration as a sex offender.
Anderson spent six years in federal prison for armed robbery before turning to the sex business.
He was accused of selling the sexual favors of a Florida girl and a Beaumont girl, ages 14 and 15, respectively. The girls were arrested on prostitution charges in 2005.
In the first federal conviction for child prostitution in the Southern District of Texas, a jury in September 2006 found Anderson guilty of two counts of sex trafficking of children.
The case was investigated by Project Innocence Lost, a special FBI unit in Houston that aims to rescue children working in the sex industry.
Those who victimize children sexually are scum -- and my great regret is that we have to pay for the care and feeding of this mutt for the next 22 years. A single shot to the back of the head on the courthouse steps immediately following conviction would have been a more appropriate punishment for this guy.
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Now here's what you do -- you report weather conditions in your own backyard! Get out your video camera and tell the world about your very local weather. Or borrow some of the materials that AccuWeather.com has made available for you to do a weather report. Or maybe mix them up and do a little of both. Regardless, give us your most wonderful weather report and forecast, then upload it to the AccuWeather.com site. Once uploaded, viewers can rate your clip.
So take a chance -- you could be the next big thing in weather!
Paid Endorsement.
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So if Thompson does enter the race, whom would it hurt? Two recent polls -- one by Peter Hart and Neil Newhouse for NBC News and the Wall Street Journal and the other by RT Strategies for the Cook Political Report -- indicate that Thompson's candidacy would draw most from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, perhaps about 4 points to 6 points. He would draw minimally, if at all, from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Thompson would start out behind Giuliani and McCain and about even with Romney.To be sure, Thompson is hardly a household name. In the NBC/WSJ poll, only 26 percent of Americans knew enough about him to venture an opinion. Of those who knew enough to judge, 22 percent had a favorable opinion and 4 percent had a unfavorable one. Another 19 percent had neutral feelings, which probably means they know little or nothing about him, while 55 percent confessed to not knowing who he was.
The NBC/WSJ poll of 1,004 adults was taken April 20 through April 23. The Cook survey of 1,000 adults was taken between April 27 and April 29.
The NBC/WSJ poll showed Giuliani leading the pack at 32 percent without Thompson and with 28 percent when Thompson was added to the mix. The Cook poll had Giuliani on top at 39 percent without Thompson, and at 33 percent with a Thompson entry.
The impact on McCain, Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was less noticeable. McCain had 22 percent in the NBC/WSJ poll without Thompson and 21 percent with him as a candidate. In Cook, McCain was at 24 percent without Thompson and 22 percent with him. Romney stayed at 12 percent in both versions of the Cook poll question; in the NBC/WSJ poll, he had 12 percent without Thompson and 11 percent with Thompson.
In other words, Thompson draws from across the full spectrum of top-tier GOP candidates -- but impacts Giuliani more than others. Still, this impact is pretty consistent, in terms of proportions, to their place in the current standings -- which indicates to me that tehre is a great yearning for someone else among my fellow Republicans.
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Well, coffee remains a hot consumer product, both bought in coffee boutiques and made at home. But is there really a difference in what you are brewing? I've always wondered? And, of course, I've always wondered about the health issues.
Well, there is a coffee out there that is healthier than the rest -- 1st Healthy Coffee. And know what? You can get in on this new product as one of the early promoters. You can make money with this non-acidic, that contains no chemicals. Imagine a coffee that gives you an energy boost with less caffeine, and that costs less per cup than the other brands you might use. Sound like a product you would like to buy? One you would like to sell? What if I also told you it contains over 200 health enhancing nutrients and over 50 all natural and organic antioxidants, so that you know it promotes health. Would you be interested then?
Well, here's your chance to check out 1st Healthy Coffee for yourself. Visit their site to turn more, and there is even an opportunity to try some free. Then, if you are interested, you can become a customer and/or participate in their referral program.
Paid Endorsement.
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When it came to defeating the Soviets, Ronald Reagan made it simple: "We win, they lose." Now more than ever, the defeatists in Congress must hear that same message. America will never surrender.
And if you would like, you can certainly list www.rhymeswithright.mu.nu as your blogging home.
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On this day in 1963, police in Birmingham, Alabama -- under the command of the Democrat sheriff, Eugene "Bull" Connor -- attacked several thousand African-American schoolchildren who were demonstrating peacefully for their civil rights. Connor's men used high-pressure hoses, clubs and police dogs in their assault, and then jailed nearly a thousand children.At the time, it should be noted, Connor was the Democratic National Committeeman for Alabama. A member of the Ku Klux Klan, Connor had been a Democrat state legislator and a delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention. A year after attacking the African-American children, Connor was elected, as a Democrat, president of the state Public Service Commission.
I wonder -- did Robert Byrd wear his dress sheets to the Senate today to celebrate the heritage of his party?
Thanks to Michael Zak for highlighting this important day in American history, and giving Democratic Party barbarism the attention it deserves.
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Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is confronting Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola head-on with a new demand that he not install Truro Church rector Martyn Minns as head of a parallel denomination this coming weekend.
* * * "Such action would violate the ancient customs of the church" in terms of the sacrosanct boundaries of individual bishops, the presiding bishop wrote in a letter released yesterday.
Excuse me, but the Episcopal Church has been jettisoning the ancient customs and teachings of the church and of Scripture for decades, and has only accelerated the process in recent years. As such, I can’t decide whether “laughable” or “hypocritical” is the best adjective to describe her demand.
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Three members of the D.C. City Council are considering placing tollbooths at the city's entrances.Marion Barry introduced legislation Tuesday proposing a commission to study the measure. He said commuters and visitors to the District have been getting a free ride on D.C. roads and tolls would help cover the costs of upkeep and repairs.
Barry's proposal doesn't set a rate for entering the city. He said the commission could make a recommendation after they study the issue.
The former mayor and Ward Eight councilman said tolls are collected from motorists entering New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
According to statistics, about 400,000 people drive into the nation's capital each day from suburban jurisdictions. Critics have already labeled Barry's idea a commuter tax.
Councilmen Kwame Brown and Harry Thomas are co-sponsors of the proposal. If approved by the D.C. City Council, the legislation would still face congressional review.
Let me spell out the problem with this – one that goes to the heart of the special nature of Washington as our nation’s capital city. What this tax (and have no illusions about it, that is what the toll clearly is) does is set a fee for being able to access your government in person.
Want to peaceably assemble at the Capitol in order to seek a redress of grievances? Ante up first, or you cannot do it.
Need to make personal contact with senior government officials? Can’t happen unless you pay the tax.
Desire to access records at the National Archives, make use of the Library of Congress, view exhibits at the Smithsonian or visit our nation’s signature memorials and monuments? You would be unable to do so without being subject to a city fee – effectively holding our national treasures hostage.
Once again, we see why the Founders wisely chose to establish a federal district that was subject to Congress, not as an independent entity with the right to make policy for itself. Rather than unconstitutionally giving Washington a voting representative in the House, Congress needs to reassert its full and constitutionally mandated sovereignty over the District wherein the seat of government has been located. After all, this is the sort of situation that the authors of the Constitution feared when they wrote Article I, Section8, Clause 17.
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Three members of the D.C. City Council are considering placing tollbooths at the city's entrances.Marion Barry introduced legislation Tuesday proposing a commission to study the measure. He said commuters and visitors to the District have been getting a free ride on D.C. roads and tolls would help cover the costs of upkeep and repairs.
Barry's proposal doesn't set a rate for entering the city. He said the commission could make a recommendation after they study the issue.
The former mayor and Ward Eight councilman said tolls are collected from motorists entering New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
According to statistics, about 400,000 people drive into the nation's capital each day from suburban jurisdictions. Critics have already labeled Barry's idea a commuter tax.
Councilmen Kwame Brown and Harry Thomas are co-sponsors of the proposal. If approved by the D.C. City Council, the legislation would still face congressional review.
Let me spell out the problem with this – one that goes to the heart of the special nature of Washington as our nation’s capital city. What this tax (and have no illusions about it, that is what the toll clearly is) does is set a fee for being able to access your government in person.
Want to peaceably assemble at the Capitol in order to seek a redress of grievances? Ante up first, or you cannot do it.
Need to make personal contact with senior government officials? CanÂ’t happen unless you pay the tax.
Desire to access records at the National Archives, make use of the Library of Congress, view exhibits at the Smithsonian or visit our nation’s signature memorials and monuments? You would be unable to do so without being subject to a city fee – effectively holding our national treasures hostage.
Once again, we see why the Founders wisely chose to establish a federal district that was subject to Congress, not as an independent entity with the right to make policy for itself. Rather than unconstitutionally giving Washington a voting representative in the House, Congress needs to reassert its full and constitutionally mandated sovereignty over the District wherein the seat of government has been located. After all, this is the sort of situation that the authors of the Constitution feared when they wrote Article I, Section8, Clause 17.
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The culture committee of the Iranian parliament approved on Monday a bill sentencing to death producers of 'pornography', videos and films deemed vulgar by the country's censorship. The draft law will now go to parliament where it is expected to be approved by an ample majority. Amateur porn films have a properous market in Iran and can fetch up to 30 euros each.The market, tolerated for a long time, became a nationwide issue earlier this year after a porn film of popular television actress, Zohre Mir Ebrahimi, having sex with her partner, was released.
So when the time comes to clean out this terrorist rathole, presumably liberals will support sending in a battalion of ACLU lawyers in the first wave.
And I can hear the protesters now: “No blood for porn! No blood for porn!”
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Scientists believe they have for the first time identified an ancient graveyard for gladiators.Analysis of their bones and injuries has given new insight into how they lived, fought and died.
The remains were found at Ephesus in Turkey, a major city of the Roman world, BBC Timewatch reports.
Gladiators were the sporting heroes of the ancient world. Archaeological records show them celebrated in everything from mosaics to graffiti.
Motifs of gladiators are found on nearly a third of all oil lamps from Roman archaeological digs throughout the Empire.
But how much did they risk every time they stepped into the arena? Did they have much chance of getting out alive?
The discovery of what is claimed to be the first scientifically authenticated gladiator graveyard has given researchers the opportunity to find out.
The information gleaned so far shows that most gladiators died of injuries sustained in the arena, usually by the time they were in their thirties. Wounds were consistent with those that would be expected from the weapons depicted in Roman artwork, but there was also evidence of gladiators receiving medical care, as indicated by healed injuries.
There is a BBC documentary on this, and I can’t wait for it to be shown in the US. Anyone now when it will be picked up by one of the cable channels.
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Scientists believe they have for the first time identified an ancient graveyard for gladiators.Analysis of their bones and injuries has given new insight into how they lived, fought and died.
The remains were found at Ephesus in Turkey, a major city of the Roman world, BBC Timewatch reports.
Gladiators were the sporting heroes of the ancient world. Archaeological records show them celebrated in everything from mosaics to graffiti.
Motifs of gladiators are found on nearly a third of all oil lamps from Roman archaeological digs throughout the Empire.
But how much did they risk every time they stepped into the arena? Did they have much chance of getting out alive?
The discovery of what is claimed to be the first scientifically authenticated gladiator graveyard has given researchers the opportunity to find out.
The information gleaned so far shows that most gladiators died of injuries sustained in the arena, usually by the time they were in their thirties. Wounds were consistent with those that would be expected from the weapons depicted in Roman artwork, but there was also evidence of gladiators receiving medical care, as indicated by healed injuries.
There is a BBC documentary on this, and I canÂ’t wait for it to be shown in the US. Anyone now when it will be picked up by one of the cable channels.
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It was just a regular, black-inked ballpoint pen that President Bush used to sign his veto yesterday, instead of his usual personalized Cross pen.The pen was a gift from the father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq, who asked Mr. Bush last month to use it when he vetoed a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.
Robert Derga, of Uniontown, Ohio, gave Mr. Bush the pen after an April 16 speech by the president at the White House.
Mr. Bush invited a number of "Gold Star Families" -- families who have lost a U.S. military member in Iraq -- to the speech, and met with them afterwards in the Oval Office.
Mr. Derga, 53, had brought the pen with him. It was the pen he had used to write letters to his son, Marine Cpl. Dustin A. Derga.
"It was just a common run of the mill ... I don't even remember the brand name," Mr. Derga said, in a phone interview last night. "It was just a $2 pen. Nothing special."
Mr. Bush met with the Dergas and other families for about 45 minutes, and spoke directly with each family.
"I looked the president square in the eye," Mr. Derga said. "I looked at him and said, 'Mr. President, if this Iraq supplemental comes down to a veto I want you to use my pen to do it.'"
Mr. Bush "kind of looked at me funny for a moment and then said, 'Absolutely,' and then handed the pen to his assistant," Mr. Derga said.
"He assured me he would use it," Mr. Derga said.
Dustin was killed in Iraq on May 8, 2005, while leading house-to-house searches in Ubaydi, Iraq. He was 24.
Dustin was the first Marine killed in Lima Company, with the Marine Force Reserve's 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, out of Columbus, Ohio.
So to Pelosi, Murtha, Reid, and all the other neo-Copperheads in Congress, that would be a big SCREW YOU from the President of the United States and the father of one of our honored war dead – who, I believe, you folks would agree has unquestionable moral authority on this matter and is much more representative of Gold Star families than certain media darlings.
Mr. Derga said that about 80 percent of the other Gold Star Families he knows agree with the president's decision to send more troops to Iraq to try to stabilize the country."We have given the ultimate sacrifice in terms of our sons, and if we can still stand in the trenches with the president and support him, why can't the rest of the nation do it?" Mr. Derga said.
So get with the program, America, and support our troops and their mission.
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The Council on American Islamic Relations-Michigan received a letter Monday that threatened to "terminate all Muslims" in Metro Detroit, according to officials at the Muslim civil rights organization. "We received hate mail in the past mocking the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad, including a page from the Qur'an with feces spread on it, but we had not yet received any threats of being killed," said Dawud Walid, the executive director of CAIR-Michigan.A spokesman for the FBI, Bob Beckman, said the FBI is aware of the threatening letter.
"The FBI takes all threats like these seriously, but we do not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation."
But you know what – I’ll keep my outrage to a minimum until CAIR condemns this guy I wrote about yesterday.
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Crow has the right to her opinions. But it makes no more sense for Burke and the Catholic institutions he oversees to lend Crow a platform than for Planned Parenthood to appoint Burke emcee of its next Gala for Choice.Some critics have argued that Burke had no business objecting to Crow because many Catholics disagree with his views on these issues. Yet Burke's stance reflects more than his private opinion; it is also the official teaching of the Catholic Church. The Church holds that abortion is a serious moral evil because it destroys innocent human life, and it opposes embryonic stem cell research and cloning for the same reason. Church teaching insists that one must never cooperate in these acts or give even tacit approval to them. There are no exceptions allowed — not for socially conscious rock stars, not for fiscally conscious charity organizers, not even for bishops operating under the glare of media scrutiny.
* * * Burke's resignation from the foundation board clarified how seriously the Catholic Church takes its teaching about the sanctity of human life from its earliest stages. That teaching may not be popular or politically correct, but Burke has the right to defend it. To vilify him for speaking out because he wears a bishop's mitre is the epitome of religious intolerance. Such intolerance should frighten religious believers and free speech defenders of all political persuasions.
I wrote a much shorter letter to the editor in Chicago back during my seminary days, defending Joseph Cardinal Bernardin against charges that his statements in defense of unborn human life were unAmerican. I'm glad to see this much more complete defense of Archbishop Burke in a major daily.
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A Washington, D.C., dry cleaners says it's their business a longtime customer is taking to the cleaners.A $10 dry cleaning bill for a pair of trousers has ballooned into a $67 million civil lawsuit.
Plaintiff Roy Pearson, a judge in Washington, D.C., says in court papers that he's been through the ringer over a lost pair of prized pants he wanted to wear on his first day on the bench.
He says in court papers that he has endured "mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort."
He says he was unable to wear that favorite suit on his first day of work.
He's suing for 10 years of weekend car rentals so he can transport his dry cleaning to another store.
Oh, and by the way – the pants were found three days later, but Pearson has continued his persecution of the owners of the dry cleaning business, Jin and Soo Chung and their son. Oh, and by the way, the pants were found a week after they were dropped off – but Pearson refuses to accept them back, despite their having matching receipt tags and being the right size, color, and brand. Yet the suit continues.
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been accused of indecency after he publicly embraced and kissed on the hand an elderly woman who used to be his schoolteacher.At a ceremony on Tuesday ahead of Iranian teachers' day, Mr Ahmadinejad was photographed and filmed by state media stooping to kiss the woman's hand and then clasping her arms in an embrace.
The ultra-conservative Hezbollah newspaper, which is not related to the group in Lebanon of the same name, criticised him on the front page.
"The Muslim Iranian people have no recollection of such acts contrary to sharia law during Islamic rule [since the 1979 revolution]," it said.
"This type of indecency progressively has grave consequences, like violating religious and sacred values."
The elderly woman, who was not named, wore thick gloves along with a headscarf and long black coat, meaning that Mr Ahmadinejad avoided any skin contact.
But his action raised eyebrows because according to sharia law, it is forbidden for a man to have any physical contact with a woman to whom he is not related.
If the sharia-crazed moral guardians of Iranian Islamofascism won’t act to take his life, I feel it is the obligation of the Israelis and Americans to carry out the sentence on their behalf. You know, to show our tolerance of, respect for and sensitivity to Islamic law and customs. So let’s send those precision-guided cruise missiles flying – they’ve got Mahmoud’s name written all over them.
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On Monday evening at Tufts University, I attended a long, grueling show trial -- the kind of show trial that doubtless will be repeated at campuses across the United States. This show trial was convened with the sole purpose of punishing The Primary Source, Tufts' lone conservative periodical.What was The Source's sin? On December 6, 2006, The Source printed a tasteless parody carol entitled "O Come, All Ye Black Folk." The carol was written from the perspective of an admissions officer, admitting students solely based on racially discriminatory stereotypes: "All come! Blacks, we need you, / Born into the ghetto. / O Jesus! We need you now to fill our racial quotas." The point of the carol, the editors later said, was that affirmative action is inherently degrading to racial minorities. After the carol was misinterpreted, the editors repeatedly apologized for printing it.
In the April 11, 2007, issue, The Source printed a page entitled "Islam: Arabic Translation: Submission." The page carried quotes from the Koran juxtaposed with facts about certain adherents of Islam -- their involvement with terrorism, discrimination against women, and the slave trade, among others.
This material is clearly political speech. Though Tufts is a private university, the student handbook explains that "the university is committed to free and open discussion of ideas and opinions."
Well, not that committed. "Harassment involves attitudes or opinions that are expressed verbally or in writing, or through behavior that constitutes a threat, intimidation, psychological attack, or physical assault," says the handbook. "Harassment is prohibited at Tufts and may result in disciplinary consequences." And being offended, according to the Committee on Student Life (CSL), constitutes harassment.
Read the rest of the column – it sounds like the trial scene from A Tale of Two Cities, or maybe something that goes on in Castro’s Cuba or amongst the head-chopping terrorists of al-Qaeda.
And as FIRE points out, this whole thing violates TuftsÂ’ explicitly stated policies.
In seeking to punish political satire—the type of speech that lies at the absolute core of the First Amendment—Tufts University is displaying the most despicable hypocrisy. Although Tufts is a private university, and thus is not bound by the First Amendment, Tufts has chosen to promise its students and faculty the right to unfettered free speech. In Tufts’ student handbook, The Pachyderm, students are greeted by a welcome letter from the Dean of Student Affairs that states:You should anticipate stimulating and sometimes controversial dialogue about issues important to you. You should also anticipate that you may be shocked when another student voices an opinion radically different from yours. We should cherish the opportunity to be learning in a place where controversial expression is embraced. (Emphasis added).
Moreover, the “Speakers and Programs” policy in The Pachyderm provides that:
Tufts is an open campus committed to the free expression of ideas. It is inevitable that some programs and speakers will be offensive to some members of the communityÂ…That offensiveness will not be seen as a reason to prevent the program. In fact, the university will strive to uphold the right of a campus organization to invite speakers or hold programs, even controversial ones, and to hold them without interruption. (Emphasis added).
I guess that only means if you happen to be a non-diverse (white, Christian, heterosexual) student of non-diverse (conservative, Republican) political, social, or economic ideology.
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May 01, 2007
Ronald Reagan thought Alexander Haig was "utterly paranoid," considered former senator Lowell Weicker "a pompous, no good fathead" and was "surprised at how shy" Michael Jackson was.Reagan also refused to talk to his son after Ron Reagan hung up on him, felt that daughter Patti had "a kind of yo yo family relationship" and was invariably "lonesome" when his wife, Nancy, was out of town.
A self-portrait of the 40th president -- determined, funny, wistful, at times clinging to his beliefs despite countervailing facts -- emerges from diaries that he faithfully kept from 1981 to 1989, his eight years in the White House. Historian Douglas Brinkley had exclusive access to the five hardback books bound in maroon leather, each page filled to the bottom with Reagan's neat handwriting. Vanity Fair magazine, in its June issue, is publishing excerpts of the book "The Reagan Diaries," edited by Brinkley and due out this month from publisher HarperCollins.
A fantastic resource for historians -- and anyone who loves America.
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Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in cities across America yesterday, shouting slogans that called for a path to legal residency for about 12 million illegal immigrants and an end to federal deportation raids that have increased during the past year.A year after a series of similar rallies, yesterday's protests focused on keeping families intact. That focus appeared aimed at raids that could separate parents who are in the country illegally from children born here who are citizens. More than 3 million American-born children have illegal immigrant parents who are subject to deportation, according to the Urban Institute and the Pew Hispanic Center.
Mom and dad are able to take their American kids with them if they so desire -- ther eis nothing stopping them. But what they want is to benefit from their illegal activity and the good fortune to drop a baby on this side of the border. That is unacceptable.
Of course, we could always declare that being an illegal alien is grounds for termination of all parental rights to American citizen children --or repeal the notion of birthright citizenship for the children of border jumpers. You know, take away one more incentive for coming to this country.
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Rep. Jim McDermott had no right to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.In a 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott, a Washington Democrat, should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call.
McDermott's offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the court said.
When he became a member of the ethics panel, McDermott "voluntarily accepted a duty of confidentiality that covered his receipt and handling of the ... illegal recording. He therefore had no First Amendment right to disclose the tape to the media," Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote on behalf of the court. Four judges agreed with him.
Expect the oh-so-ethical Democrats in the House to do. . . nothing. After all, it isn't like he is guilty of Republicanism or some other grave offense. McDermiott has merely broken the law and House ethics rules.
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10:28 PM
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Kucinich also alleges that Cheney "purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress." That, as the expression goes, is the gravamen of the charge. Kucinich doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of making it stick because Congress is not about to vote impeachment. But no one who reads Kucinich's case against Cheney can fail to conclude that this is a rational, serious accusation. It's possible that each individual charge can be rebutted, but the essence of it is shockingly apparent: We were being manipulated.
* * * What Cheney has done is not impeachable. It is merely unforgivable.
In other words, Cohen concedes that Cheney may not have done anything wrong -- but that even so he is guilty of some great evil that must not be forgiven. One has to be either magnificently confused or frighteningly insane to reach such a conclusion.
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10:16 PM
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And I'll be honest, there is the modesty issue to consider -- baby doll outfits are out. But something longer might be just the bill. Or maybe something that is less revealing but certainly feminine.
The reality is that every woman wants to be sexy sometimes (and to know that we still find them irresistible) -- and there are places online for discrete shopping to help towards that end. So gentlemen, why don't you consider buying a gift of Sexy Lingerie for the woman in your life, just to let her know she is still every bit as beautiful as the day you married her.
Paid Endorsement.
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Across the country, on secular campuses as varied as Colgate University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember.More students are enrolling in religion courses, even majoring in religion; more are living in dormitories or houses where matters of faith and spirituality are a part of daily conversation; and discussion groups are being created for students to grapple with questions like what happens after death, dozens of university officials said in interviews.
A survey on the spiritual lives of college students, the first of its kind, showed in 2004 that more than two-thirds of 112,000 freshmen surveyed said they prayed, and that almost 80 percent believed in God. Nearly half of the freshmen said they were seeking opportunities to grow spiritually, according to the survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Compared with 10 or 15 years ago, “there is a greater interest in religion on campus, both intellectually and spiritually,” said Charles L. Cohen, a professor of history and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who for a number of years ran an interdisciplinary major in religious studies. The program was created seven years ago and has 70 to 75 majors each year.
University officials explained the surge of interest in religion as partly a result of the rise of the religious right in politics, which they said has made questions of faith more talked about generally. In addition, they said, the attacks of Sept. 11 underscored for many the influence of religion on world affairs. And an influx of evangelical students at secular universities, along with an increasing number of international students, means students arrive with a broader array of religious experiences.
Interestingly enough, the New York Times doesn't spend any time about efforts of colleges and universities to squelch the autonomy and religious expression of conservative religious groups -- something that can be documented by the number of successful lawsuits against schools by such groups and their student members.
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Yes, we can, at PersonalHomeLoanMortgages.com. We can even check out rates by state, for example by looking for Houston Mortgages or http://www.personalhomeloanmortgages.com/texas/texas_mortgages.asp. It is that easy!
Paid Endorsement.
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Can we bring back Imus? He was at least funny at moments.
And a quick note to today's guest, Cindy Sheehan -- if neo-cons were so murderous, you would be dead, you raving idiot. If the Bush administration were everything you claim, you would be in a torture chamber, not being broadcast nationwide attacking the government. Yes, I'm sorry for your loss -- but I'm even sorrier that it has driven you completely insane.
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09:42 PM
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If you are a boss and need some help doing performance reviews, there is some great new software out there to help you. Check out ManagerAssistant.com to learn more.
Paid Endorsement.
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Adopting the open-palmed gesture of Islamic prayer, as did his audience, the PA official intoned: "Allah, take hold of the Jews and their allies, Allah, take hold of the Americans and their allies.... Allah, count them and kill them to the last one and don't leave even one."This is not Bahr's first appeal for genocide of the Jews and Americans. Just one week earlier, on April 13th, Sudan television broadcast a fiery sermon delivered by the PA legislator in a Sudanese mosque. At the conclusion of his remarks, the Sudanese worshipers opened their palms in supplication and Bahr prayed:
"Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, vanquish the Americans and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one. Oh Allah, show them a day of darkness. Oh Allah, who sent down His Book, the mover of the clouds, who defeated the enemies of the Prophet – defeat the Jews and the Americans, and bring us victory over them."
But somehow we are supposed to work with such people to create peace in the Middle East? Bahr doesn't sound particularly interested in such a proposition.
Jews and Americans, the PA official declared, citing "the Book of Allah," are "cowards, who are eager for life, while we are eager for death for the sake of Allah."
Seems to me that the US and Israel might want to consider sending the Mossad or CIA to see just how eager this son of a pig really is.
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