April 24, 2008
After all, the Democrats and the press keep telling us those things -- they must be true, right? Why on earth would the Sunnis throw their lot in with such a failed government?
IraqÂ’s largest Sunni bloc has agreed to return to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-MalikiÂ’s cabinet after a boycott that lasted nearly a year, several Sunni leaders said on Thursday, citing a recently passed amnesty law and the Maliki governmentÂ’s crackdown on Shiite militias as reasons for the move.
* * * “Our conditions were very clear, and the government achieved some of them,” said Adnan al-Duleimi, the head of Tawafiq, the largest Sunni bloc in the government. Mr. Duleimi said the achievements included “the general amnesty, chasing down the militias and disbanding them and curbing the outlaws.”
The recently passed amnesty law has already led to the release of many Sunni prisoners, encouraging Sunni parties that the government is serious about enforcing it. And the attacks on Shiite militias have apparently begun to assuage longstanding complaints that only Sunni groups blamed for the insurgency have been the targets of American and Iraqi security forces.
So let's get this straight -- from the point of view of the Iraqis (who are the folks who really count), the Maliki government is making great strides towards uniting the country and accomplishing important goals necessary to heal the wounds left by the Hussein years. What a different picture from what the forces of defeat in this country tell us. Could it be that, unlike the Left and the Media (two ways of saying the same thing, I know), the Iraqi people want victory over terrorism and a stable, democratic government in Iraq?
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If you live in the UK, you might consider booking your trip through DialAFlight.com. They offer you cheap prices on great flights, and you can also save even more by booking your flights and hotels together. so regardless of whether you are seeking the best price on flights to USA, hotels in Africa or car rental in Asia, DialAFlight.com can help you make great arrangements at a fantastic price.
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Reid said he would consider writing a joint letter with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) demanding that superdelegates make their endorsements public.“The three of us, we may write a joint letter [to superdelegates],” said Reid. “We might do individual letters. We are in contact with each other.”
Reid's comments suggest that the partyÂ’s top three officials are contemplating a high-level intervention if the primary season concludes in June without a nominee and many superdelegates still undecided.
Now let's get this straight. The DNC has a set of rules which allows superdelegates to decide their choice at any time. (For that matter, the rules allow any regular delegate to change their candidate preference at any time.) The only requirement is that they cast their vote at the convention.
But that isn't good enough for these leading Democrats. They are going to make a demand of these elected Democrats that is not contemplated by the party rules. What happens if, between the date of capitulation to the demand and the date of the convention, if a superdelegate (or a majority of superdelegates) has a change of heart? Will they then attempt to bind them to their June choice? Or will they instead create an even bigger problem when their anointed winner loses the vote for the nomination -- either to the other remaining primary contender or a drafted wild card like Al Gore?
These folks have screwed up the Democrat nomination process at every turn. Do you really think they are competent to run the country?
More At Hot Air
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April 23, 2008
Whether he was up to no good or simply desperate to play BrickBreaker, a Mexican press attache was caught on camera by Secret Service pocketing several White House BlackBerries during a recent meeting in New Orleans, FOX News has learned.Sources with knowledge of the incident said the official, whose first name is Rafael, took six or seven of the handheld devices from a table outside a special room in the hotel where the Mexican delegation was meeting with President Bush.
Everyone entering the room was required to leave their cell phones, BlackBerries and other such devices on the table, a commonplace practice when high-level meetings are held. American officials discovered their missing belongings when they were leaving the session.
It didn't take long before Secret Service officials reviewed videotape taken by a surveillance camera and found footage showing "Rafael" absconding with the BlackBerries.
Sources said "Rafael" made it all the way to the airport, where the Mexican president was preparing to leave New Orleans, before Secret Service officers caught up with him. He was forced to return the BlackBerries.
Sources said the man claimed to have taken the devices accidentally. The sources said they believe no further actions were taken against him by American authorities, though it is unclear what disciplinary measures, if any, await him in Mexico.
What seems to have been discounted here is the possibility that this was actually a case of espionage. After all, during the Cold War, "press attache" often meant "CIA operative" in countries behind the Iron Curtain. I suppose that they could have been seeking classified information of some sort.
I'm curious -- did "Rafael" have time to do a data dump of the information from the Blackberries? And whose devices did he steal? Many more questions than answers.
UPDATE: More info from Malkin. The thief/spy is Quintero Curiel -- and he claimed diplomatic immunity and was allowed to leave the country despite his crimes. Why hasn't the US media done more with this story? Afraid of the patriotic reaction of real Americans, and afraid to offend the undocumented ones?
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Gen. David Petraeus has been tapped to become the next commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations from the Middle East to Central Asia and directs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced his decision Wednesday at a press conference in Washington, saying President Bush would send Petraeus' nomination to the Senate soon.
"I recommended him to the president because he is absolutely the best man to do the job. The conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan are very much characterized by asymmetric warfare and I don't know anyone better prepared to deal with that," Gates said of Petraeus, speaking to reporters.
Petraeus issued a statement shortly afterward.
"I am honored to be nominated for this position and to have an opportunity to continue to serve with America's soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coastguardsmen, and civilians," Petraeus said.
The strategy designed and implemented by Petraeus has led to decreased violence and increased security in Iraq -- things that are positives for anyone who is interested in seeing an American victory over terrorism.
Interestingly enough, Harry Reid has indicated that the Democrats are going to use the summer hearings on this promotion and several related changes to play politics with the military command structure and the Iraq war in the run-up to the election. While such actions are disgusting, they are not unexpected. The only positive I see in this probability is that it will remind the American people of the fundamental unfitness of the Democrats to control our national defense.
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. Huberta from Uruguay.
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It is the question that has hung over Senator Barack ObamaÂ’s presidential campaign, and it loomed large on Tuesday night after his loss to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania: Why has he been unable to win over enough working-class and white voters to wrap up the Democratic nomination?Lurking behind that question is another: Is the Democratic Party hesitating about race as it moves to the brink of nominating an African-American to be president?
No one, of course, is willing to note that the Deocrats have made identity politics their stock-in-trade for decades. And after appealing to blacks as blacks, Hispanics as Hispanics, gays as gays, and women as women, is it any surprise that white Democrats might decide that similar ethnic solidarity is a legitimate thing for them to embrace? After all, no one is daring to suggest hat there is anything wrong with a 92% black turnout for Barack Obama, is there?
And let's not forget that the Democrats have never managed to unite their party around a set of fundamentals that are universally embraced After all, it embraces race-baiting charlatans like Al Sharpton and Kluxers like Robert Byrd. It embraces the radical feminists and their pro-abortion agenda, but still has a sizable pro-life vote among Catholics. And as polls have shown time after time, a great many white voters reject affirmative action -- whether in college admissions, employment, or the nomination of under-qualified presidential candidates like Barack Obama.
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And if you are located in Pennsylvania, you may just want to drop in on a site that offers some great deals on Used Cadillacs Harrisburg PA . You’ll have the opportunity to browse for a great car of recent vintage, with all the features, bells and whistles of a new Cadillac – and who will really know that you let someone else take that big depreciation hit by being the first owner of the car? The dealership associated with this website is Sutliff Auto Group – a trusted and respected dealership that has been providing fantastic service to central Pennsylvania for over 75 years. How respected? Their reputation was so good that they were selected to be among the first Satturn and Hummer dealerships in the nation when those lines were introduced.
So if you are interested in buying that Cadillac, why not drop by http://www.UsedCadillacsHarrisburgPA.com and see what they have for you? Just about the only thing you wonÂ’t find there will be this one.
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The most significant decision handed down yesterday dealt with search and seizure issues.
The Supreme Court affirmed Wednesday that police have the power to conduct searches and seize evidence, even when done during an arrest that turns out to have violated state law.The unanimous decision comes in a case from Portsmouth, Va., where city detectives seized crack cocaine from a motorist after arresting him for a traffic ticket offense.
David Lee Moore was pulled over for driving on a suspended license. The violation is a minor crime in Virginia and calls for police to issue a court summons and let the driver go.
Instead, city detectives arrested Moore and prosecutors say that drugs taken from him in a subsequent search can be used against him as evidence.
"We reaffirm against a novel challenge what we have signaled for half a century," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote.
Scalia said that when officers have probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime in their presence, the Fourth Amendment permits them to make an arrest and to search the suspect in order to safeguard evidence and ensure their own safety.
Now this gets into the whole issue of whether actions taken in good faith by police, even when there was an error, violate the Constitution. After all, the search was standard procedure pursuant to an arrest, and it appears from my reading o this somewhat vague wire service report that the officers did not realize that an arrest under the circumstances was a violation of the standards set by the state. A string of cases dating back to the early 1980s made this result no surprise -- after all, police officers cannot be expected to be fortune tellers regarding future appeals court decisions.
And before our friends on the left start intoning the usual rhetoric about fascist police states, please notice that even Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the ACLU's mouthpiece on the Supreme Court, ruled that there was no problem with the search.
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), 
DD, 
(, 
, One option is through the use of the tenant-in-common or TIC investment. Here's how such investments work. A developer of a property puts out a contract on the building that he is working on -- one that is intended for institutional use, rather than homes. Then the property is put up for investment by other companies. The investors end up owning a property even if they all they invest is a small percentage of the total value of the building. Rather than owning a share, you actually end up owning a property instead of just owning a percentage. You then have the possibility of making quite a tidy profit when the property itself makes money on the rental market. Your investment is at risk -- I've seen many such deals make money and some lose money -- but in the end you usually win.
Do you want to know more about TIC investments? You can find out everything you need to know about how they work by visiting the website of Cardea Commercial for more information.
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But there is something about this that is wrong on so many levels.
Meat loaf?
Doing a cell phone commercial?
Utterly destroying a cultural icon in the process.
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Gov. Sarah Palin was back at work Monday in Anchorage, holding a meeting on the proposed natural gas pipeline three days after giving birth to her fifth child.She and her husband, Todd, showed their new baby, Trig Paxson Van Palin, to a few reporters and photographers and answered questions about his condition and the sooner-than-expected delivery.
Trig has Down syndrome, a genetic abnormality that affects a child's intellectual and physical development, the governor confirmed.
"When we first heard, it was kind of confusing," Palin, 44, said. She called the revelation "very, very challenging" and said she initially felt sad.
But the family has worked through that. Palin said she and Todd feel blessed and chosen by God. With a big family including four older kids, grandparents, aunts and uncles, Palin said, they will have lots of support for what's ahead. In their eyes, she said, "he's absolutely perfect."
The oldest Palin kid, Track, is in the Army and texted his mother after learning the news with something to the effect of "This is just so cool -- I finally got my brother."
In a letter she e-mailed to relatives and close friends Friday after giving birth, Palin wrote, "Many people will express sympathy, but you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust me on this." She wrote it in the voice of and signed it as "Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father."
"Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome," Palin wrote.
As for people who think a baby like Trig shouldn't even be born, look around, the governor wrote. Who is perfect or even normal?
![trig4634_bg2[1].jpg](http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/images/trig4634_bg2[1].jpg)
Indeed, all too many folks are willing to abstractly argue that a child like Trig Palin should have been aborted. One look at the baby picture that appeared in the press last week should be sufficient to dispel the notion that he is somehow less deserving of life than any other human being. And having worked for a time with Down Syndrome adults, I can tell you that their worth is no less than any other student I have taught or person I have known – indeed, I learned every bit as much from those clients as I did from many of my college professors, and cherish their memories in my heart so many years later.
This birth also raises an interesting issue. Sarah Palin has been mentioned by many Republicans as a possible pick for Vice President. Does the birth of a child – especially a special needs child – mitigate against her selection? Or does it increase her chances, given the impact that she would have upon many voters as a relatively young career woman who made a choice for life? An interesting question indeed.
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Unable once again to score a knockout, Sen. Barack Obama is likely to make his new negative tone even more negative -- with a sharp eye on trying to end the Democratic presidential nomination fight after the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's victory yesterday in Pennsylvania has only accentuated the quandary that Obama faces: Stay negative and he risks undermining the premise of his candidacy. Stay aloof and he underscores Clinton's argument that he will not be able to beat a "Republican attack machine" sure to greet him this summer.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe indicated last night which of those options they would take. "We've done a lot of counterpunching. We've been swift and effective," he said. "For Democrats judging how we're going to perform as the nominee, we have been relentless."
Obama himself took up the cudgel after Clinton delivered a victory speech in Philadelphia devoid of attack lines. Without naming Clinton, he suggested in Evansville, Ind., that she is a captive to the oil, pharmaceutical and insurance lobbies, that she "says and does whatever it takes to win the next election," and that she exploits division for political gain.
"In the end, this election is still our best chance to solve the problems we've been talking about for decades -- as one nation, as one people," Obama said.
So for all the claims that he is a new type of politician, it looks like he is delivering the same old politics to the American people. But then again, who really believed that there was anything new or different about this inexperienced political hack? When the going gets tough, Obama acts like everybody else.
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April 22, 2008
Sen. John McCain has long said he is in robust health and is strong enough to hike the Grand Canyon, but he also is receiving what his staff Monday termed a "disability pension" from the Navy.When McCain released his tax return for 2007 on Friday, he separately disclosed that he received a pension of $58,358 that was not listed as income on his return.
On Monday, McCain's staff identified the retirement benefit as a "disability pension" and said that McCain "was retired as disabled because of his limited body movements due to injuries as a POW."
McCain campaign strategist Mark Salter said Monday night that McCain was technically disabled. "Tortured for his country -- that is how he acquired his disability," Salter said.
Certain types of military and veterans pensions are either partially or completely tax-exempt, depending on the seriousness of the disability. In McCain's case, the exemption is 100%.
But the LA Times (sister to the NY Times) is able to turn what is a pretty sick attack about taxes (McCain is following the law as passed by Congress before he was ever elected to office) on a pension received due to the horrific injuries he received while serving his country into something even more disgusting.
The fact that he is legally designated with a disability pension may raise further questions."It is a legitimate question to ask about the commander in chief: Is he fit to serve," said Robert Schriebman, a senior Pentagon tax advisor and tax attorney who recently retired as a judge advocate for a unit of the California National Guard.
So now we are getting an attack on the disabled -- especially disabled veterans. So much for supporting the troops.
And so much for the memory of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who led this country through the Depression and WWII in steel leg braces and a wheel chair. After all, neither he nor McCain has a disability that impacts the most essential part of the anatomy necessary to serve as president -- the brain.
Democrats have already begun a series of low-blow attacks upon John McCain and his military service. Now the press has done so as well. It strikes me as incumbent upon Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- not to mention every patriotic American -- to denounce these shameful efforts and instead honor John McCain for his service and dedication to this country.
A PERSONAL ASIDE: Growing up as a Navy brat, I had the good fortune to know one of the heroes who shared a cell with John McCain in Vietnam. I've heard some of the stories, and read others in the book written about his experiences. I've seen the scars that got shown in public, and heard about the ones that didn't from his sons. This hero of my youth is backing John McCain for President, as are an overwhelming number of their fellow POWs. It's testimonial enough for me.
H/T Hot Air
OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Rosemary's Thoughts, Faultline USA, A Newt One- help us catch a monster, Adam's Blog, Maggie's Notebook, Right Truth, The Pink Flamingo, The Amboy Times, , Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
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Muslims converting to Christianity is a thorny issue almost anywhere in the world, but recently U.K. media attention has focused in on the persecution of former Muslims not in foreign land but in its own backyard.Former Muslims who convert to Christianity are threatened with disownment and violence at the hands of their own family members – much like in parts of the Middle East. But the difference is these families don’t reside in a theocratic society, but in a western country that upholds religious freedom – including the right to convert to another faith.
BBC, U.K.Â’s leading news network, featured several stories and programs in recent months devoted to the issue of persecution of Christian converts from Islam. In its latest feature on Monday, it highlighted real cases of England-based Muslims who convert to Christianity and the consequences that follow.
Sophia (not her real name) is from a Pakistani background but lives in east London. Her family has put extreme pressure on her to return to Islam since she converted to Christianity.
“They kept saying, ‘The punishment is death, do you know the punishment is death?” she recalled to BBC.
She ended up running away from home, but her mother found her and showed up at her baptism.
“I got up to get baptized, that’s when my mother got up, ran to the front and tried to pull me out of the water,” Sophia said.
“My brother was really angry. He reacted and phoned me on my mobile and just said, ‘I’m coming down to burn that church,’” she remembered.
Physical assault -- threats of arson and murder. Not in one of the third world backwaters that constitutes the bulk of the Islamic world, but in a civilized country like Great Britain.
I'd love to know -- were Sophia's family members charged or convicted over any of these offenses? After all, terroristic threats and the assault during her baptism are crimes. Or do Muslims get a pass when these are directed against someone who leaves the falsehood of Islam for the truth of Christianity?
But in the end, the answer to that question is not nearly so relevant as the truth revealed by Sophia's story. Religious persecution of Christians continues today -- outside the Christian world and within it -- and it is incumbent upon us to pray for those who take fearlessly take that step into the light of Christ.
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A closely fought Congressional contest over a Republican stronghold here was apparently left hanging on Tuesday, with the two top candidates likely to face a runoff next month.A conservative Democrat, Travis W. Childers, was seeking to wrest the open seat in the First Congressional District in northern Mississippi from Republicans who have held it since 1994. But Mr. Childers appeared to fall short, getting only 49 percent of the vote, according to The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson. The special election was to fill the unexpired term of Roger Wicker, who moved on to the Senate.
Mr. ChildersÂ’s leading opponent, Greg Davis, the Republican mayor of Southaven, a Memphis suburb, got 46 percent. Four other people were on the ballot.
A runoff will be held May 13 if official tallies show no candidate won more than half the vote. After that, Mr. Childers and Mr. Davis are running against each other again in the November general election.
Mr. Childers, who differed little on social issues from his Republican opponent, exemplified the DemocratsÂ’ strategy of running conservatives in red districts, a tactic that proved successful in the 2006 midterm elections. Its potential was underscored here on Tuesday with a strong showing by Mr. Childers, a veteran courthouse official, in a conservative area that gave 62 percent of its vote to President Bush in 2004.
What does this tell us? Mainly, it says that the Democrats really don't have a message or a platform that can appeal to Americans nationally. Rather than run a Democrat who espouses the values of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (and there really isn's a dime's worth of difference between them), they continue to run candidates who espouse the GOP platform in conservative districts, making the issue one strictly of personalities.
The problem with this strategy is that if voters select such chameleons they empower not those who hold to their own core values, but those who oppose them. It would behoove voters in Mississippi (and elsewhere, like my own CD22 here in Texas) to pay attention to the party labels and vote accordingly.
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Hillary Clinton did manage to win by 10% in Pennsylvania -- but only after being up by 20 points in the polls as recently as two weeks ago.
Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday, buoyed by support from women and blue-collar voters and pushing her duel with Barack Obama on to Indiana and North Carolina on May 6.Amid brisk turnout, Clinton won a victory that many polls had predicted and which the New York senator had to have. The ultimate margin hovered around double digits — Clinton led 55 percent to 45 percent with nearly 80 percent of the vote counted — but no matter the numbers, her campaign insisted that a victory was a victory, particularly amid a spending onslaught by a more financially more robust Obama campaign.
"Some counted me out and said to drop out," Clinton told cheering supporters. "But the American people don't quit. And they deserve a president who doesn't quit, either."
"Because of you, the tide is turning."
As a practical matter, this means that the Democrats will be battling for at least two more weeks, into Indiana and North Carolina on May 6. It means more time beating and battering each other rather John McCain -- doing for us Republicans some of the work that we will need to do in the fall. And most importantly, it takes the edge off of the Obama inevitability arguments that have been laid out.
And hillary has made it clear that she is fighting to the bitter end -- saying that the race isn't over until the status of the Michigan and Florida delegates is decided, something that won't happen until the convention under most scenarios.
Not that all the Democrat-leaning media likes yesterday's outcome.
The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.
If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead.
Oddly enough, I have to both agree and disagree with the NY Times. I agree this campaign style is hurting the Dems -- but I'm not tired of it at all, and am rather enjoying it.
And the hypocrisy of the NY Times over the issue of negativity is rather striking, because the paper has engaged in just such substanceless attacks on John McCain several times in recent weeks. You would think the so-called "paper of record" would take its responsibility to real with issues rather than mean, vacuous stories that contribute nothing to the campaign.
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Who is El Sayyid Nosair?Well, I know him. I spent an awful lot of time around him. I know all about his background. So what if, upon being asked that question, I told you, “Oh, Sayyid — yeah, he’s an engineering student from Egypt who became a mechanic for the New York State courts.”
You might respond, “Wait a second. Wasn’t he the guy who murdered Meir Kahane (founder of the Jewish Defense League) in front of a room full of people at some hotel in Manhattan?”
“Oh, that. Yeah, well — but that was nearly 20 years ago.”
“And didn’t he, like, shoot a 70-year-old man who tried to block him from getting away?”
“I suppose.”
“… And then shoot it out on the street with a cop while about a thousand people buzzed around?”
“Technically speaking, it was a postal police officer, but I take your point.”
“Wasn’t Nosair pals with that big red-headed Egyptian guy whose picture they used to show on TV all the time?”
“Sure, Mahmud Abouhalima. He was a cabdriver from Brooklyn.”
“A cabdriver from Brooklyn? Wait a second. I remember this now. This Mahmud guy was here on some immigration scam, right?”
“Well, ‘scam’ is such a divisive term. He was legally in our country: he had a work permit under the Agricultural Workers Program.”
“Agricultural worker? In Brooklyn?”
“Er, yes, okay, but that just underscores that we have to do something to bring these people out of the shadows — ”
“Hold on. Didn’t Mahmud end up bombing the World Trade Center? Didn’t he work for that blind sheikh who kept telling everyone to kill all the Americans?”
“You mean Omar Abdel Rahman. Well, actually, he was a doctor of Islamic jurisprudence graduated from one of the world’s great universities — became a professor and a renowned expert in Muslim law. I don’t know why you keep dwelling on ancient history that distracts us from the real issues …”
Such inanity is not far from last weekÂ’s Philadelphia debate, when ABCÂ’s George Stephanopoulos displayed the audacity of hope that Barack Obama might try to explain his friendly relationship with Bill Ayers, a terrorist.
Now let’s be really honest here. No one would accept such a line of argument regarding Muslim terrorists like this motley cast of murderers discussed above. No politician would dare to attempt such an argument. And yet Barack Obama has the audacity to make such an attempt to do so in order to defend a long chain of personal, professional, and political associations with the “respected English professor who lives in my neighborhood.” It ought to be sufficient for any decent person to declare Obama unfit – after all, it isn’t like Ayers’ was living underground under an assumed name – he openly bragged about his terrorist acts, and the only contrition he showed was his regret that he failed to set off more bombs and do more damage. Obama is therefore incapable of arguing that Ayers was a changed man, the way that one can look at Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson and see a change of heart and break with past misdeeds.
And then there is these little details – ones which have nagged me from the back of my mind for some time now, and which I have resisted writing out of a desire not to engage in what some would call harsh, extremist rhetoric.
Ayers bombed the Capitol, Pentagon, and NYC Police headquarters. He was involved in a plan to bomb Fort Dix, seeking to blow up the officer’s club during a dance for officers and their wives – one that was averted when some of his co-conspirators accidentally detonated the nail-packed bomb (designed to inflict maximum human casualties) before it could be planted.
What was his motivation? Primarily, it was opposition to the Vietnam War and a desire to bring about its end by undermining the US war effort.
When one considers these facts, they add up to something much bigger than terrorism. Indeed, they add up to a singular offense, the only crime defined as such by the US Constitution itself.
Article III Section 3 Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, and the rest of their Weather Underground colleagues were engaged in nothing less than treason against the United States of America. Their acts cannot be defined as anything other than levying war against the United States in an attempt to give aid and comfort to America’s enemies in Vietnam. That isn’t me making some sort of half-assed leap to tar a political opponent – that is the only legitimate interpretation of the words and deeds of Ayers, Dohrn, and the rest of the Weather Underground.
Which again takes us back to the question of judgment on the part of the junior Senator from Illinois -- having maintained a long cordial relationship with an unrepentant avowed terrorist who he knew (or should have known) committed treason against the United States, is Barack Obama fit to be President of the United States and Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces?
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Associate professor Janet Frick said she was using her two psychology lectures Monday to educate students about the history of Thomas' appointment to the Supreme Court."They were barely born when this was going on," Frick said. "They don't know some of this history. We would do our students a favor to educate them on what took place and on each side. It would be doing our job as an institution to examine these issues more fully."
Excuse me, but what on earth is a professor of psychology doing lecturing on US history and political science? Doesn’t she, as a part of her professional obligation to her students, need to be teaching her students about (dare I suggest it) psychology and not her own political agenda? Frick is, of course, more than welcome to speak all she wants about Clarence Thomas and the false charges made by Anita Hill – but not during class time when she is being paid to speak about psychology. But to do so in the classroom is nothing short of propagandizing a captive audience in a Maoist fashion.
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Fish Tales: Former President George H.W. Bush Catches a Mammoth in the Keys
Given that mammoth have been extinct for a few millennia, I was curious, so I dropped by for a quick look -- especially since the Florida Keys doesn't have a climate conducive to mammoth, either.
Here’s the ACTUAL story – with a picture.
Former President George H. W. Bush caught a mammoth tarpon Saturday while fishing off the Florida Keys near Islamorada, Fla., according to the Florida Keys News Agency.
Bush chose to release the giant with an estimated weight of around 135 pounds -- the largest tarpon the 84-year-old ex-president has ever caught, the agency reported.
![0_61_042108_bushtarpon[1].jpg](http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/images/0_61_042108_bushtarpon[1].jpg)
I don’t know about you, but somehow the story doesn’t seem so interesting when you drop the word “tarpon” from the headline.
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April 21, 2008
Muslim scientists and clerics have called for the adoption of Mecca time to replace GMT, arguing that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth.Mecca is the direction all Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers.
The call was issued at a conference held in the Gulf state of Qatar under the title: Mecca, the Centre of the Earth, Theory and Practice.
And we then get some of the most absurd claims -- Mecca is the only place on earth perfectly aligned with true north, and that all scientific truths are contained in the Qu'ran. Oh, yeah -- there was the obligatory swipe at Western imperialism because the British (who perfected the method of measuring longitude) for setting the prime meridian through their country and imposing it on the rest of the world.
So instead Islam once again seeks to impose itself on the rest of the world instead.
Setting aside the arrogance of the claims and demands put forward at the conference, there is no need to make the change. The prime meridian is an arbitrary concept, and making the change demanded would be every bit as expensive as it is silly.
But that such a demand would be made is one more sign of Islam's ultimate goal of imposing itself on the rest of the world -- whether we want it or not.
H/T Malkin, Snapped Shot
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One by one, top executives of American oil companies met privately over the last year with LibyaÂ’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, often in his signature Bedouin tent, as they lined up contracts allowing them to tap into the countryÂ’s oil reserves.But now, the new allies are working Capitol Hill, trying to weaken a law that threatens those deals. The Libyan government, once a pariah, and the American oil industry have hired high-profile lobbyists, buttonholed lawmakers and enlisted help from the Bush administration, all in an effort to win an exemption from a law that Congress passed in January that is intended to ensure that victims of terrorist attacks are compensated.
The law allows victims of state-sponsored terrorism to collect court judgments by seizing foreign assets in the United States or money from those governments held by American companies doing business with them. If Libya loses a half-dozen court cases still pending, $3 billion to $6 billion could be at stake, according to lawyersÂ’ estimates.
The US has shamefully sacrificed the rights of such victims of state terrorism before. Whether it was Carter's renunciation of the right of hostages to sue Iran or the Bush administrations opposition to awards of damages to families of victims, blocking such awards blocks justice. Given Libya's history of state-sponsored terrorism, allowing Qaddafi to walk away from his misdeeds witha pocket full of cash while his victims get noting is a moral obscenity -- and another bad precedent.
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VistaPrint doesn’t just do invitations, though. They also offers a wide selection of printing services including business cards, sticky notes, checks and stamps. You want it, they can print it – suited to your needs and specifications! And they are always running specials for you to take advantage of in order to save money – right now they are offering FREE business cards!
So, if you need some superior printing services, check out VistaPrint first because they strive to offer you a deal that cannot be beat anywhere else. And since the price is certainly right on those free products, youÂ’d be crazy not to take a look.
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First, he is the champion of such schemes, having long been involved in imposing such political speech limitation schemes upon candidates for office and their supporters.
Second, he is behind in the race for money and this option will give him a big financial boost in the final two months of the campaign.
John McCain is abandoning any hope of catching the Democrats in fundraising.Based on new financial disclosure reports released Sunday, and interviews with his finance team, the Republican PartyÂ’s presumptive nominee will instead accept taxpayer money to finance his general election and share other costs with the Republican National Committee.
The strategy will allow McCain to stretch his campaign dollars by splitting the cost of television advertising and other campaign activity with the RNC.
But the decision also puts the Arizona senator at risk of being badly outspent – even with RNC help – by a Democratic nominee who will be allowed to spend as much as he or she can raise on the November race.
But there is also another advantage to doing this. Barack Obama stated early in the campaign that he would take public financing and accept the related spending limits in the event his Republican opponent did so. The Illinois Senator must now decide whether or not he will abide by that vow, or whether he will break his word tot he American people -- opening himself up to all sorts of questions regarding his integrity and trustworthiness.
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And they do have it all – Adult Costumes, Kids Costumes, Couple’s Costumes – and now they are even featuring Medieval/Renaissance costumes and other Historical costumes! And the prices I’ve looked at are pretty good – I know what friends pay for some of their outfits for the Renaissance Festival, and I’m favorably impressed by what I saw here.
Best of all, you can even check the status of your order from their website. No more wondering “when will it get her” – you can track the whole process!
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Oh, by the way -- all Israel has to do is give Hamas EVERYTHING the Palestinians have been demanding.
The leader of Hamas said Monday that his Palestinian militant group would offer Israel a 10-year "hudna," or truce, as implicit proof of recognition of Israel if it withdrew from all lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East War.Khaled Mashaal told The Associated Press that he made the offer to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in talks on Saturday. "We have offered a truce if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, a truce of 10 years as a proof of recognition," Mashaal said.
In his comments Monday, Mashaal used the Arabic word "hudna," meaning truce, which is more concrete than "tahdiya" — a period of calm — which Hamas often uses to describe a simple cease-fire.
Two points.
1) If Israel is only going to get temporary peace in return for the permanent renunciation of all territory won in wars against Arab aggression, what will it have left to negotiate with in a decade?
2) Given that Hamas has never bothered to abide by a cease fire agreement in the past, why should anyone expect them to d so now?
Well, Neville Carter may be willing to be the butt-boy for Palestinian terrorists, given his past anti-Semitic rantings against Israel, but let us hope that Israel is willing to put its trust in its own strong defenses and the promises of God to the Land of Israel.
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Of course, you have a variety of options when you start the process. It isn't just the big three American auto companies -- there are a variety of foreign car companies (many of which manufacture their vehicles in America) to choose from. So you really do have a chance to make a real decision between a number of different cars.
So where do you want to buy your car? Well, if you want a New Toyota Washington DC, one of the great options available to you is Koons Toyota, which is the largest Toyota dealership located in northern Virginia. TheyÂ’ll help you find just the right vehicle and will work with you on price, financing and trade-ins. They want to deal with you, to provide you with one of their fantastic Toyotas. After all, Toyota has become the largest, most profitable car company by making a good product and offering a good price. So check out Toyota today at a href="http://www.NewToyotaWashingtonDC.com" target="_blank">http://www.NewToyotaWashingtonDC.com.
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Having read about it, I have three observations to make.
1) Nazis and white supremacists are scum, and merit nothing but contempt from decent Americans of every political stripe.
2) Even when they are more or less on the right side of an issue, it is incumbent upon decent Americans to denounce and repudiate them.
3) The greater danger to American freedom comes not from such scum, but instead from ignorant Americans willing to limit their rights under the Constitution.
A march by a busload of neo-Nazi activists on Constitution Avenue yesterday wreaked havoc on a balmy afternoon in the capital, bringing traffic to a halt, filling the streets with hundreds of police and provoking an ugly confrontation on the sidelines that resulted in at least three arrests.About 30 marchers from the Michigan-based National Socialist Movement, waving red swastika flags and shouting "Sieg Heil," emerged about 2:30 p.m. from a bus one block from the White House and strode toward the Capitol, flanked by thick cordons of police who walked the route in riot gear and hundreds of officers on horseback, bicycles and motorcycles.
The marchers said their purpose was to denounce illegal immigration and to offer white Americans an alternative to the two-party political system. Many wore black storm trooper uniforms, boots and armbands.
The march itself was peaceful, and U.S. Park Police said the organizers had a permit. But the atmosphere was tense, and before the event started, a clash broke out between march supporters and local demonstrators who came to condemn the message.
I hate to say it, but according to this report the scumbags behaved better than their opponents. After all, it wasn’t the racist scum who engaged in violence – they engaged in political speech (though political speech of the most repulsive kind). And while I understand the impulse to kick the living dog crap out of anyone sporting a swastika (or a hammer and sickle, for that matter), everything they did was within the law and protected by the First Amendment.
Unfortunately, this march has harmed a good cause. Illegal immigration is a problem in this country, and we need to deal with it by acting to limit illegal access to this country, sanction employers, and deport aliens who are here illegally. But let me speak clearly – if the only way to accomplish those ends were to accept the assistance of scum like the National Socialist (bowel) Movement, I’d prefer that our country were overrun with undocumented border jumpers. Secure borders are important – but stopping the ideological heirs of Hitler from gaining any legitimacy is more important.
But most disturbing are some quotes from the opponents of the wannabe stormtroopers.
"People marching in brown shirts and swastikas is a tool of intimidation and terrorism. We came out here to oppose them so they won't feel they can do it safely," said Dan Peterson, 23, a D.C. resident who was arrested.
No, it is not a tool of intimidation or terrorism. It is free speech, pure and simple, guaranteed by the Constitution. Indeed, Mr. Peterson, your actions are much more reminiscent of the terrorist intimidation tactics of the Nazis than anything these mental defectives said or did.
Or this observer.
"I support the right to free speech, but when it disrupts the city this much and costs this much, there have to be limits," said John Thiry, 38, from Lancaster, Pa.
I’m curious – would Thiry have applied this same reasoning to many of the great marches of the past? You know, Dr. King’s March on Washington, for example? Does Thiry believe that threats of violent opposition to First Amendment protected activity should be used to limit unpopular speech through a heckler’s veto?
Scum like the National Socialist (bowel) Movement are not a threat to liberty in our society. They are rightly held in contempt by the overwhelming majority of Americans. It is instead those who consider it their patriotic duty to silence such folks who are the greater threat to liberty – for with every restriction on political speech, no matter how disgusting the speech limited, the rights of every other American are equally limited.
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It's so easy. A friend sends an e-mail about the presidential campaign and you forward it to an office buddy.With that click of the mouse, you are at risk of being fired. For a Hatch Act violation.
E-mails, blogs and campaign Web sites can be cyber-traps for federal employees, especially those accustomed to using their government computer for personal matters, such as trading messages with children or sharing jokes with friends.
The Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that investigates and prosecutes allegations of improper political activities by government employees, is getting calls these days from federal workers who are confused about the rules or worried they may have committed an "e-Hatch" violation, said Ana Galindo-Marrone, chief of the Hatch Act Unit at the OSC.
After all, I razzed him last year about some concerns I had related to precisely such issues, wanting to see him avoid running afoul with the law – one I’ve though overly broad since the days when I worked at the base PX and had to limit my activities with the College Republicans accordingly.
And then I saw this bit at the end of the story.
In recent months, Galindo-Marrone has been touring federal agencies, explaining that technology is increasing the ways that employees can get into trouble at their office desks.That is what happened to a NASA employee in Houston.
An OSC investigation found that in 2006 and 2007, the employee used his government e-mail account to coordinate and plan activities for a political group and to assist a candidate running for state representative while at his NASA office. He also made blog postings from work to promote campaigns of several candidates, and, at least twice in 2006, urged blog readers to make political contributions.
As a result, the OSC found him in violation of the Hatch Act. The employee was suspended for 180 days without pay.
The shock of recognition hit.
These were, in fact, the very issues I raised with my esteemed nemesis (and I do hold him in high personal regard).
To the degree that these efforts happened in the office, some action should have been taken. But the mere solicitation of political contributions on his blog on his own time should not be a violation of any law – it should be regarded as First Amendment protected political activity, as should every act of soliciting and donating of campaign contributions by individuals, subject to no limitation whatsoever by the government. I respectfully urge Congress to restore the right to freely participate in the political process to all federal employees.
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April 20, 2008
A coalition of American Muslim groups is demanding that Sen. John McCain stop using the adjective "Islamic" to describe terrorists and extremist enemies of the United States.Muneer Fareed, who heads the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), told The Washington Times that his group is beginning a campaign to persuade Mr. McCain to rephrase his descriptions of the enemy.
"We've tried to contact his office, contact his spokesperson to have them rethink word usage that is more acceptable to the Muslim community," Mr. Fareed said. "If it's not our intent to paint everyone with the same brush, then certainly we should think seriously about just characterizing them as criminals, because that is what they are."
McCain spokespeople have made it clear that he is not going to drop the word -- mainly because it is an accurate description of the enemy we fight.
Steve Schmidt, a former Bush White House aide who is now a McCain media strategist, told The Times that the use of the word is appropriate and that the candidate will continue to define the enemy that way."Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda represent a perverted strain of Islam at odds with the great many peaceful Muslims who practice their great faith peacefully," Mr. Schmidt said. "But the reality is, the hateful ideology which underpins bin Ladenism is properly described as radical Islamic extremism. Senator McCain refers to it that way because that is what it is."
McCain understands who our enemy is, and is willing to give credence to their own description of themselves and their motives. And given that their actions are in keeping with the long history of violence by Islam, dating back to the days of Muhammad himself, there is no reason to drop the word Islamic from the description of terrorism -- especially given the high level of support for such terrorism within Muslim communities around the world, including in civilized nations like the UK and US.
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Can I get fries with that Mass?One of the oddest sites inside the grungy concourses at Yankee Stadium was the long concession stand lines of priests and nuns, teenagers and adults waiting to buy chicken fingers, French fries, soda, hot chocolate, popcorn and hotdogs before Mass.
Just imagine how she would have responded to the site at World Youth Day in Denver back in 1993 -- McDonald's was the official food supplier for the event, and had booths set up all around the site of the final mass by Pope John Paul II. Those of us there were making purchases of food and water while we were there -- for some 18 hours before the mass began.
Of course, we did camp out overnight at the mass site, too.
But then again, maybe Jessica Fargen was expecting Benedict CVI to perform a repeat of the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
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When a shallow, glassy river and a few coils of razor wire are the only things separating one of Africa’s most developed countries from one of its most miserable, the inevitable result is millions of illegal border jumpers. But South African and Zimbabwean human rights groups say that the flow of people into South Africa has been surging in the three weeks since Zimbabwe’s disputed election and during the violent crackdown that followed. One Zimbabwean named Washington, who goes back and forth across the border ferrying Super Sure cake flour and Blazing Beef potato snacks, said the government was now using food as a weapon and channeling much of the United Nations-donated grain to supporters of the ruling party.“As we speak,” he said, “people are starving.”He seemed more defeated than anything else. “People hate the government,” he said. “But they are too scared to fight it.”
Commercials are now running on Zimbabwean TV showing grainy images of captives from the liberation war in the 1970s and reminding citizens not to disobey their leaders, recent arrivals said.
Mugabe, of course, has always been a murderous thug. He has held onto power via thuggish tactics. And now, while the whole world watches, he is using tohse same tactics to hold on to power.
Where are his neighbors? Where is the OAU? Where is the UN? Will no one stop him?
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COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- A high school senior collected enough supplies to carry out a bomb attack on his school and detailed the plot in a hate-filled diary that included maps of the building and admiring notations about the Columbine killers, authorities said Sunday.Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested Saturday after his parents called police when 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield and they discovered the journal, said the town's police chief, Randall Lear.
The teen planned to make several bombs and had all the supplies needed to kill dozens at Chesterfield High School, depending on where the devices were placed and whether they included shrapnel, Lear said. Ammonium nitrate was used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that killed 168 people.
"The only thing left was delivering the bombs," the police chief said.
Schallenberger kept a journal for more than a year that detailed his plans for a suicide attack and included maps of the school, police said. The writings did not include a specific time for the attack or the intended targets.
He also left an audio tape to be played after he died explaining why he wanted to bomb his school. Lear wouldn't detail what was on the tape except to say Schallenberger was an angry young man.
"He seemed to hate the world. He hated people different from him -- the rich boys with good-looking girlfriends," Lear said.
Clearly there was something up with this kid. How was it missed? Thank God his parents kept close enough tabs on him to discover the plan in time and report them to the police.
On a related note, I wonder if Obama and his supporters rush to the defense of this young man for engaging in activities that will simply be an embarrassment at middle age? Or does THIS bomber merit their condemnation?
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That is where Lifelock is important. At lifelock they can proactively secure your personal data so that you can’t have your identity stolen – and if they fail, they will compensate you and make the situation right. There are lots of companies out there making claims, but there is only one Lifelock.
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Many of the Democratic superdelegates who are still undecided say the most important factor in their decision is simple — they just want a winner in November.Problem is, after nearly four months of primaries and caucuses in 46 states, territories and the District of Columbia, they still aren't sure who that is, don't seem be in any hurry to make up their minds and aren't interested in any artificial process that might force them to choose between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Most of the more than 100 undecided superdelegates who discussed their decision-making with The Associated Press in the past two weeks agreed that the primaries and caucuses do matter — whether it's who has the most national delegates or the candidate who won their state or congressional district. But few said the primaries will be the biggest factor in their decision.
"I think it's really important that we keep our eye on the prize, and the prize is the win in November," said Gail Rasmussen, an undecided superdelegate from Oregon.
Indeed, Rasmussen is articulating precisely the rationale that led the Democrats to create the superdelegates -- the notion that party officials and elected officials should serve as a brake upon primary voters whose enthusiasm for a candidate saying the right left thing in a way that attracts the party faithful but not the general public. One can argue whether such a brake upon popular will is appropriate (after all, listen to Dems rail against the electoral college), but it is how the system is designed to work. These undecided superdelegates should therefore be praised for taking their role so seriously.
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Well, here’s a chance for that home makeover –for free. All you have to do is enter a little contest so that you can transform your home.
The Renuzit TriScents Transform Your Home Makeover contest is going to give away a $20,000 home makeover. Could it be you winning $20K to fix up your house? By now you must be wondering – What do I have to do to enter? Not much – you just need to submit the following:
1. A video and an essay
OR
2. A photo and an essay
Of course, you really need to make it clear in that material why YOU ought to be the prize winner. And you have to explain how Renuzit TriScents will be an important part of that change in your home, by including discussion of the issue of scent. That doesnÂ’t sound all that complicated, does it? Just be sure to follow the official rules.
Once received, conforming entries will be judged based on the degree to which your reasons for the makeover are compelling and how well your visual submission shows the need for the makeover.
My house? I think I’d like to do the kitchen. Old and dated, filled with appliances that date back to before we moved in (they clean up nice, but aren't), it is time to move into the twenty-first century, it is in need of a change. We’d like to put in a tile floor, reface the cabinets, install a new countertop, and buy new appliances – including a stove with a fifth burner/griddle. Getting rid of the current flooring and the countertop might just help with the slightly musty smell that I’ve always associated with old wood in a damp environment. And being so close to the bay, I think that topping it all off with Triscents’ Seaside breezes scent would be perfect in “clearing the air". After all, the kitchen is the heart of the home!
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After all, it looks like it is more dangerous to be an American in Barack Obama's hometown than it is to be an American in Iraq. (H/T Urban Grounds)
A violent and deadly weekend continues in Chicago. At least 12 people have been shot, two of them killed, since Saturday morning. Two others were stabbed in a home invasion. This comes after at least 20 people were shot, four of them killed, from Friday night through early Saturday.
If this sort of carnage is still going on, it is clear that the American policy for pacifying Chicago has failed. I want to know the exit strategies proposed by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- and I want to know them now!
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On this day in 1871, the Republican-controlled 42nd Congress passed and the Republican President, Ulysses Grant, signed into law the Ku Klux Klan Act. The law banned the KKK and other Democrat terrorist organizations. President Grant then deployed federal troops to crush a Klan uprising in South Carolina.
Let me remind my readers that every major piece of federal legislation protecting the civil rights of Americans has been passed with the overwhelming support of Republicans. Every effort to ban lynching introduced by Republicans was thwarted by Democrats. The only member of the KKK to serve on the Supreme Court was appointed by and confirmed by Democrats, despite their full knowledge of his involvement in that organization.
![7281[1].jpg](http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/images/byrd_klan.jpg)
![clintonx[1].jpg](http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/images/clintonx[1].jpg)
And today, the only living member of the US Senate to have been a member of Klan is labeled as the "conscience of the Senate" by his fellow Democrats -- and sits three heartbeats from the Oval Office because his fellow Democrats made him president pro tempore of the Senate.
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HereÂ’s a neat idea for dealing with Osama and every other terrorist on the planet. They are hostis humani generis -- the enemies of all mankind.
TO UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL OF DEFINING TERRORISM as a species of piracy, consider the words of the 16th-century jurist Alberico Gentili's De jure belli: "Pirates are common enemies, and they are attacked with impunity by all, because they are without the pale of the law. They are scorners of the law of nations; hence they find no protection in that law." Gentili, and many people who came after him, recognized piracy as a threat, not merely to the state but to the idea of statehood itself. All states were equally obligated to stamp out this menace, whether or not they had been a victim of piracy. This was codified explicitly in the 1856 Declaration of Paris, and it has been reiterated as a guiding principle of piracy law ever since. Ironically, it is the very effectiveness of this criminalization that has marginalized piracy and made it seem an arcane and almost romantic offense. Pirates no longer terrorize the seas because a concerted effort among the European states in the 19th century almost eradicated them. It is just such a concerted effort that all states must now undertake against terrorists, until the crime of terrorism becomes as remote and obsolete as piracy.
What would be the impact of classifying terrorism along with piracy?
If the war on terror becomes akin to war against the pirates, however, the situation would change. First, the crime of terrorism would be defined and proscribed internationally, and terrorists would be properly understood as enemies of all states. This legal status carries significant advantages, chief among them the possibility of universal jurisdiction. Terrorists, as hostis humani generis, could be captured wherever they were found, by anyone who found them. Pirates are currently the only form of criminals subject to this special jurisdiction.Second, this definition would deter states from harboring terrorists on the grounds that they are "freedom fighters" by providing an objective distinction in law between legitimate insurgency and outright terrorism. This same objective definition could, conversely, also deter states from cracking down on political dissidents as "terrorists," as both Russia and China have done against their dissidents.
Recall the U.N. definition of piracy as acts of "depredation [committed] for private ends." Just as international piracy is viewed as transcending domestic criminal law, so too must the crime of international terrorism be defined as distinct from domestic homicide or, alternately, revolutionary activities. If a group directs its attacks on military or civilian targets within its own state, it may still fall within domestic criminal law. Yet once it directs those attacks on property or civilians belonging to another state, it exceeds both domestic law and the traditional right of self-determination, and becomes akin to a pirate band.
Third, and perhaps most important, nations that now balk at assisting the United States in the war on terror might have fewer reservations if terrorism were defined as an international crime that could be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court.
I encourage you to read the article by Douglas R. Burgess Jr., “The Dread Pirate Bin Laden”. It may come out of the Legal Affairs, but it is incredibly approachable.
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02:50 AM
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ON April 11, French commandos went in with guns blazing and captured a gang of pirates who days earlier had hijacked a luxury cruise ship, the Ponant, and held the crew for ransom. This was the French solution to a crime wave that has threatened international shipping off Somalia; those of us who have been on the business end of a pirateÂ’s gun can only applaud their action.The British government on the other hand, to the incredulity of many in the maritime industry, has taken a curiously pathetic approach to piracy. While the French were flying six of the captured pirates to Paris to face trial, the British Foreign Office issued a directive to the once vaunted Royal Navy not to detain any pirates, because doing so could violate their human rights. British warships patrolling the pirate-infested waters off Somalia were advised that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain and that those who were returned to Somalia faced beheading for murder or a hand chopped off for theft under Islamic law.
Excuse me! Piracy has been recognized as beyond the bounds of civilized behavior for millennia. No less than Julius Caesar led an expedition against pirates in his youth, punishing those captured as the criminals that they were -- and which their professional descendants remain. Indeed, traditional international law allows for nations to track down pirates anywhere and to dispense justice in a summary fashion -- tough more contemporary views require trial in regular courts rather than drumhead courts marital.
That the British have now adopted a policy of letting pirates go rather than risk nonsensical claims for asylum being granted under the nations absurdly liberal asylum laws is a sign of how far down the pike the Brits have gone in terms of coddling foreign criminals. Indeed, the concern that Muslim pirates might face penalties under Muslim laws in their Muslim country of origin seems equally absurd -- especially as powerful figures in Britain suggest that incorporation of sharia law into the UK legal system would be a positive step.
Who would have ever believed it -- the French are standing tough and the UK is waving the white flag in the war on piracy!
AND SPEAKING OF PIRATES AND THE LAW...
Posted by: Greg at
02:40 AM
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