While the American Left wails over the fact that captured terrorists don't get a mint on their pillow at Gitmo, the top court in Israel has recognized that targetting terrorists for death is a proper policy.

Israel's high court upheld Thursday the military's right to assassinate members of groups the state defines as terrorist organizations, but cautioned that such operations should always be weighed first against the potential harm to civilian bystanders and the human rights of the target.

The unanimous decision departs little from guidelines the military says it already follows in carrying out "targeted killings," the terminology used by the government and by the court in its ruling. But it does say commanders should allow an independent investigation to follow each assassination and recommends that the military compensate "innocent civilians" harmed in the operation.

Under current practice, Israel's military works with Shin Bet, the domestic security service, to compile lists of Palestinians who are influential or active figures in armed groups. Using eavesdropping equipment, aerial surveillance and informants, air force pilots or drone operators receive detailed information about a target's movements, most commonly in the Gaza Strip, where the army no longer operates regularly on the ground.

Military officers say the decision to strike is made -- sometimes in a matter of minutes -- by balancing the threat posed by the target against the potential for injuring bystanders. Many of the strikes have killed civilians in addition to targeted individuals.

Israeli military officials said they would review the court's findings in coming days. But one senior officer who specializes in matters of international law said the ruling, although vague in places, appeared to be a "validation" of existing policies regarding assassinations, and he expected few new restrictions to be implemented.

Why is it that I expect that American courts will not use this decision by a foreign court when interpreting our Constitution in cases related to the Crusade Against Jihadi Terrorism? Could it be because the decision makes sense on a fundamental level, and recognizes that terrorists, like the pirates of old, are the enemies of all mankind?

Posted by: Greg at 01:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Will the Tyrant of Havana soon be residing in Hell? According to US intelligence sources, Satan's minions are probably preparing a particularly warm spot for Fidel as you read these words.

Cuban President Fidel Castro is very ill and close to death, Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte said yesterday.

"Everything we see indicates it will not be much longer . . . months, not years," Negroponte told a meeting of Washington Post editors and reporters.

Castro relinquished power for the first time in 47 years after surgery July 31 for an undisclosed intestinal disorder.

So start chilling that champagne -- and get the necessary supplies ready to celebrate Cuba libre with Cuba Libre.

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Which means, of course, that there will be no way of checking if folks have over-stayed their visas. Is there anything that the Department of Homeland Security is doing right?

In a major blow to the Bush administrationÂ’s efforts to secure borders, domestic security officials have for now given up on plans to develop a facial or fingerprint recognition system to determine whether a vast majority of foreign visitors leave the country, officials say.

Domestic security officials had described the system, known as U.S. Visit, as critical to security and important in efforts to curb illegal immigration. Similarly, one-third of the overall total of illegal immigrants are believed to have overstayed their visas, a Congressional report says.

Tracking visitors took on particular urgency after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when it became clear that some of the hijackers had remained in the country after their visas had expired.

But in recent days, officials at the Homeland Security Department have conceded that they lack the financing and technology to meet their deadline to have exit-monitoring systems at the 50 busiest land border crossings by next December. A vast majority of foreign visitors enter and exit by land from Mexico and Canada, and the policy shift means that officials will remain unable to track the departures.

Is it time to dismantle DHS yet, and replace it with an effective agency for dealing with homeland security?

Posted by: Greg at 01:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is it time to dismiss the charges and disbar the prosecutor yet?

A laboratory hired by the prosecution in the Duke lacrosse case found DNA from unidentified men in the accuser's body and underwear but none from the defendants, according to a defense motion filed Wednesday.

DNA Security of Burlington in May produced a report to Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong that made no mention of finding the genetic material.

Wednesday's motion raised questions about whether Nifong and DNA Security withheld evidence favorable to the defense. It also cast further doubt on accounts given by the accuser, who told nurses and police that her attackers ejaculated and did not use condoms. The tests revealed no DNA evidence from any of 46 lacrosse players then suspected in the case.

"This is strong evidence of innocence," said the motion, which was signed by attorneys for all three defendants. "There is not a single mention of this obviously exculpatory evidence in the final DNA Security report."

Defense lawyers for months pressed Nifong in court to release all test documents from DNA Security. The evidence in Wednesday's motion was contained in thousands of DNA Security papers that a judge in October ordered Nifong to give to the defense.

Defense lawyers, citing the state's open file discovery law and the U.S. Supreme Court requirement that prosecutors surrender all helpful evidence, asked for more lab records, including analyses, notes, e-mail and logs of phone calls. They also asked that Brian Meehan, director of DNA Security, be questioned under oath. A hearing is scheduled for Friday in the case.

And it would appear we need to shut down the lab, too, for ginning up a report tailored to the prosecutionÂ’s wants and needs instead of bringing the facts to light.

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After all, if they are ordering a retrial, it doesn’t seem like such a victory for the right to speak freely.

Two Christian pastors found to have vilified Muslims under Victoria's religious hatred law won their appeal and hailed the decision as a victory for free speech.

The Court of Appeal ordered the case to be reheard at the original tribunal, before a different judge and with no further evidence. It set aside the orders for public apologies in newspaper advertisements and for the pastors not to repeat their remarks.

Last year Judge Michael Higgins found that Pastors Danny Nalliah and Daniel Scot and Catch the Fire Ministries vilified Muslims at a seminar on jihad in Melbourne in March 2002, in a newsletter and a website article.

He said these suggested that the Koran promoted killing and looting, that Muslims wanted to take over Australia and terrorists were true Muslims.

Justices Geoffrey Nettle, David Ashley and Marcia Neave overturned that finding but rejected the appeal that the Racial and Religious Vilification Act was unconstitutional.

They ordered the Islamic Council of Victoria, which brought the original complaint, to pay half the appellants' appeal costs but left the costs of the original hearing to be decided by the judge who rehears the case.

On what basis was the original decision overturned? This one – a distinction that I think is very important.

Justice Geoffrey Nettle said Judge Higgins equated hating Muslims' religious beliefs with hating Muslims because of their beliefs. This was not so — many people might despise Pastor Scot's perception of Christianity, yet not dream of hating him.

"No doubt the purpose of the act is to promote religious tolerance. But the act cannot and does not purport to mandate religious tolerance," he said in his judgement.

Indeed, Judge Higgins had held that quoting the Koran to prove a negative point about Islam constituted religious vilification of Muslims – effectively arguing that the truth was not only not a defense in such cases, but was evidence of the offense having been committed.

Posted by: Greg at 02:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, if they are ordering a retrial, it doesnÂ’t seem like such a victory for the right to speak freely.

Two Christian pastors found to have vilified Muslims under Victoria's religious hatred law won their appeal and hailed the decision as a victory for free speech.

The Court of Appeal ordered the case to be reheard at the original tribunal, before a different judge and with no further evidence. It set aside the orders for public apologies in newspaper advertisements and for the pastors not to repeat their remarks.

Last year Judge Michael Higgins found that Pastors Danny Nalliah and Daniel Scot and Catch the Fire Ministries vilified Muslims at a seminar on jihad in Melbourne in March 2002, in a newsletter and a website article.

He said these suggested that the Koran promoted killing and looting, that Muslims wanted to take over Australia and terrorists were true Muslims.

Justices Geoffrey Nettle, David Ashley and Marcia Neave overturned that finding but rejected the appeal that the Racial and Religious Vilification Act was unconstitutional.

They ordered the Islamic Council of Victoria, which brought the original complaint, to pay half the appellants' appeal costs but left the costs of the original hearing to be decided by the judge who rehears the case.

On what basis was the original decision overturned? This one – a distinction that I think is very important.

Justice Geoffrey Nettle said Judge Higgins equated hating Muslims' religious beliefs with hating Muslims because of their beliefs. This was not so — many people might despise Pastor Scot's perception of Christianity, yet not dream of hating him.

"No doubt the purpose of the act is to promote religious tolerance. But the act cannot and does not purport to mandate religious tolerance," he said in his judgement.

Indeed, Judge Higgins had held that quoting the Koran to prove a negative point about Islam constituted religious vilification of Muslims – effectively arguing that the truth was not only not a defense in such cases, but was evidence of the offense having been committed.

Posted by: Greg at 02:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Does this new regulation strike you as somehow wrong – and a case of overreaching by government?

People who melt pennies or nickels to profit from the jump in metals prices could face jail time and pay thousands of dollars in fines, according to new rules out Thursday.

Soaring metals prices mean that the value of the metal in pennies and nickels exceeds the face value of the coins. Based on current metals prices, the value of the metal in a nickel is now 6.99 cents, while the penny's metal is worth 1.12 cents, according to the U.S. Mint.

That has piqued concern among government officials that people will melt the coins to sell the metal, leading to potential shortages of pennies and nickels.

"The nation needs its coinage for commerce," U.S. Mint director Ed Moy said in a statement. "We don't want to see our pennies and nickels melted down so a few individuals can take advantage of the American taxpayer. Replacing these coins would be an enormous cost to taxpayers."

There have been no specific reports of people melting coins for the metal, Mint spokeswoman Becky Bailey says. But the agency has received a number of questions in recent months from the public about the legality of melting the coins, and officials have heard some anecdotal reports of companies considering selling the metal from pennies and nickels, she says.

Under the new rules, it is illegal to melt pennies and nickels. It is also illegal to export the coins for melting. Travelers may legally carry up to $5 in 1- and 5-cent coins out of the USA or ship $100 of the coins abroad "for legitimate coinage and numismatic purposes."

Violators could spend up to five years in prison and pay as much as $10,000 in fines. Plus, the government will confiscate any coins or metal used in melting schemes.

The rules are similar to those enacted in the 1960s and 1970s, when metals prices also rose, the Mint said. Ongoing regulations make it illegal to alter coins with an intent to commit fraud. Before today's new regulations, it was not illegal to melt coins.

Now hold on – is the money MY money, or the government’s money? Do the coins belong to me, or to the government? What about the metal the coins are composed of – my property or the government’s? And if the answer to these question is that it is my property, where does the government get off penalizing my decision on how to dispose of the coins and their metal content?

Posted by: Greg at 02:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Talk about intolerant “tolerance” by the forces of secularism – this takes the cake!

A high school choir was asked to stop singing Christmas carols during an ice skating show featuring Olympic medalist Sasha Cohen out of concern the skater would be offended because she's Jewish.

A city staff member, accompanied by a police officer, approached the Rubidoux High School Madrigals at the Riverside Outdoor Ice Skating Rink just as they launched into "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" and requested that the troupe stop singing, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Thursday.

Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist and 2006 U.S. National Champion, had just finished her performance at the rink on the downtown pedestrian mall, and was signing autographs.

Choir director Staci Della-Rocco said she complied with the request "because a policeman told me to stop. I didn't want to have a big old huge scene in front of my kids," according to the newspaper.

The city staff member, special-events employee Michelle Baldwin, could not be reached for comment. City Development Director Belinda J. Graham confirmed the incident.

Now for what it was worth, Ms. Baldwin seems to have been acting outside of the scope of city policy.

"This request was simply made by a staff member who was attempting to be sensitive to the celebrity guest, without considering the wider implications ... or consulting with her supervisor for guidance," Graham said in an e-mail to the newspaper.

Mayor Ron Loveridge called the incident "unfortunate."

"You kind of wish people do a little checking first. You certainly have my apology," he said, referring to the choir members.

But that Baldwin even thought the request was appropriate – and that the officer was willing to accompany her to silence the group – should tell you just how far some folks are willing to go to ensure that everybody except Christians are receive “tolerant” and “sensitive” treatment.

Oh, and as for Sasha Cohen, she never requested that the songs stop, nor does she object to hearing Christmas carols. Seems to me that the city employees involved could take a lesson from the person in whose name they were acting.

Posted by: Greg at 02:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess I don’t understand why I should feel bad for the family in this story. After all, they are here breaking the law, and yet they are somehow presented to be victims of the government’s decision to enforce the law.

Isabel Ramirez wept as she clutched her 18-month-old daughter, Brenda, in the ramshackle trailer park where she lives.

Her husband, Juan, had been detained in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant where he worked, and she didn't know where he was.

"He was the only one working. He paid for everything, the bills, rent. I have three kids," 33-year- old Isabel Ramirez said.

As she spoke, her 7-year-old daughter, Laura, was at school, and her 3-year-old son, Juanito, kicking muddy snow by the trailer, was having a very bad day.
His father "is in jail," Juanito said. He threw a stick angrily down at the snow and turned and banged his head against the side of a broken trampoline.

As authorities began deporting workers rounded up in raids at meatpacking plants here and in five other states, this city, which for decades has run on illegal labor from Mexico, confronted an unexpected challenge: what to do about kids left behind.

I’ll answer the question for you – deport the kids with the parents if they were not born with American citizenship. If the kids were born here, revoke the parental rights and place them for adoption – or permit the parents to irrevocably renounce US citizenship on behalf of their children.

Now some of you might object that this proposal is harsh. Know what – you are right. But harsh measures are the only ones that will allow us take control of our border. And you might object that the foster care/adoption expenses would be high for those children taken into state custody. But then again, the taxpayers are already footing much of the bill for the millions of children of illegal aliens in this country, so the added cost would be significantly less than one might think.

And for those who think illegal immigration is a victimless crime, you might want to read this piece from MSNBC.

UPDATE: More efforts to portray the immigration criminals, their families, and their employer as victims of the government enforcing the law.

And in a move that is probably even more outrageous, this story tries to present the American consumer as the real victim -- something that I expect to see repeatedly as there is a concerted push for an amnesty.

Posted by: Greg at 11:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess I donÂ’t understand why I should feel bad for the family in this story. After all, they are here breaking the law, and yet they are somehow presented to be victims of the governmentÂ’s decision to enforce the law.

Isabel Ramirez wept as she clutched her 18-month-old daughter, Brenda, in the ramshackle trailer park where she lives.

Her husband, Juan, had been detained in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant where he worked, and she didn't know where he was.

"He was the only one working. He paid for everything, the bills, rent. I have three kids," 33-year- old Isabel Ramirez said.

As she spoke, her 7-year-old daughter, Laura, was at school, and her 3-year-old son, Juanito, kicking muddy snow by the trailer, was having a very bad day.
His father "is in jail," Juanito said. He threw a stick angrily down at the snow and turned and banged his head against the side of a broken trampoline.

As authorities began deporting workers rounded up in raids at meatpacking plants here and in five other states, this city, which for decades has run on illegal labor from Mexico, confronted an unexpected challenge: what to do about kids left behind.

I’ll answer the question for you – deport the kids with the parents if they were not born with American citizenship. If the kids were born here, revoke the parental rights and place them for adoption – or permit the parents to irrevocably renounce US citizenship on behalf of their children.

Now some of you might object that this proposal is harsh. Know what – you are right. But harsh measures are the only ones that will allow us take control of our border. And you might object that the foster care/adoption expenses would be high for those children taken into state custody. But then again, the taxpayers are already footing much of the bill for the millions of children of illegal aliens in this country, so the added cost would be significantly less than one might think.

And for those who think illegal immigration is a victimless crime, you might want to read this piece from MSNBC.

UPDATE: More efforts to portray the immigration criminals, their families, and their employer as victims of the government enforcing the law.

And in a move that is probably even more outrageous, this story tries to present the American consumer as the real victim -- something that I expect to see repeatedly as there is a concerted push for an amnesty.

Posted by: Greg at 11:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I hadn't planned on commenting on this story, because I don't like the political discussions revolving around Johnson's health issues. I think considering the implications of his death/incapacity are unseemly, and betray a certain ghoulishness on the part of some commentators.

The basic story is this.

Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) was in surgery last night after falling ill at the Capitol, introducing a note of uncertainty over control of the Senate just weeks before Democrats are to take over with a one-vote margin.

Johnson, 59, was taken to George Washington University Hospital shortly after noon, where he underwent "a comprehensive evaluation by the stroke team," his office said. Aides later said he had not suffered a stroke or heart attack, but they offered no further comment or details of the surgery.

The NY Times says a bit more.

At 11 p.m., Mr. Johnson was undergoing surgery, and was expected to be in the operating room until the early morning hours.

That isn't good.

I agree with Captain Ed.

So skip the calculations and the political fallout from Johnson's ailment. Let's just pray he'll fully recover and continue his representation of his constituents in the Senate. If that's not the case, we can do the math when it becomes necessary.

Michelle Malkin makes a similar point.

The prayers and best wishes of both the Right and Left (my darling wife calls the speculation "disgusting") in my household are with Johnson and his family. Let's worry about the human side of this situation, and leave the politics for another day, if we have to be concerned with such things at all.

Posted by: Greg at 11:49 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Well, Texas schools are struggling to deal with mandates about when the school year must begin -- starting next fall, school may start no sooner than the fourth week of August. That means changing traditional dates for breaks debating when to have final exams, and otherwise taking aim at some sacred cows.

Texas public school students better play hard during their upcoming winter breaks because next December some will have fewer days off and — bah, humbug! — others will be stuck studying for finals.

The new state law ordering school to start later in the summer has forced local educators to make tough decisions that will influence families' vacation plans and could affect students' performance on high-stakes tests and semester exams.

Many area districts recently adopted their calendars for 2007-08, and this much they have in common: Classes begin Aug. 27 (the law bars districts from starting before the fourth week in August) and end after Memorial Day.

But, by sprinkling teacher-training days in different places, districts have varied the length of popular vacation times.

Some, including the Houston Independent School District, have proposed a shorter, three-day Thanksgiving break. Others — Pearland is one — opted for a weeklong break, meaning students stay in school through early June.

One sticking point for many districts became when to end the first semester: before or after winter break. Ending before the break meant, in most cases, cutting short the Thanksgiving holiday. But dragging the semester beyond the break meant students would have to study for end-of-course exams over their vacation.

My district has not acted yet -- but I expect that no one is going to be completely happy with the outcome.

I talked about this issue back in January, and came up with my own proposed school calendar. I think you will see the problems this whole situation creates for district planners.

Posted by: Greg at 11:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Seems to place a higher value on virginity and reputation than on human life.

A Jordanian man has shot dead his daughter and her fiance on rumours that the couple had engaged in premarital sex.

The suspect has confessed to the authorities "that he shot the couple after his wife informed him she had heard from neighbours that her daughter and her boyfriend had been having sexual relations," the Jordan Times reported, quoting a police officer.

The father said he was "infuriated" by the rumours and apparently decided to kill the couple to cleanse his family's honour, the official said.

The suspect was arrested and charged with murder on Saturday, two days after the killing of his 21-year-old daughter and her 23-year-old fiance.

An autopsy revealed that young woman was a virgin, the report added.

Since January, more than 12 women have been killed in similar "honour crimes" in the conservative Muslim kingdom.

Hundreds of Muslim women die each year at the hands of family members for offenses such as alleged premarital sexual activity, being the victim of rape, or being alone with an unrelated man. How soon until we start seeing such offensive practices become common place here?

Posted by: Greg at 11:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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David Benzion over at Lone Star Times mentioned this little piece on one of my favorite actors today.

Kotto, 69, is producing and starring in a two-hour TV pilot that he says is inspired by The X-Files. He's also pitching publishers a book on the making of Live and Let Die, a film that joins the four-volume James Bond Ultimate Collection, new in stores this week.

Kotto had quit acting soon after ending six seasons as star of NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street. "People say you disappeared and criticize you for being away," he said. "But what am I supposed to do? Die on a set? It's too much."
So Kotto, who had worked steadily since the '60s, slipped away.

"I was tired, so I split. I went to the Philippines, built a restaurant and laid down on the beach for two years. I also hung out in Hong Kong and Europe. I got away from acting and movies. Then the bug bit me, and I came back to L.A."

The LST piece mentions that Kotto is Jewish – and supported Steve Forbes for president in 2000, presumably making him a Republican.
I canÂ’t wait to hear more about the television pilot.

Posted by: Greg at 11:15 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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After all, if we are going to question the veracity of contemporary historical events, maybe we should look into events much further in the past.

I just got an e-mail from Bhuvan who tried to post a comment at the BBC. The comment, on a story about the Holocaust denial conference in Iran was apparently too controversial.

Now wait, I would like to see a conference that questions whether Prophet Muhammad existed or not. Sounds controversial? Why not? Free speech. There is more historical proof to the occurrence of the Holocaust than for the existence of Prophet Muhammad.

Indeed. So, in the spirit of 'free speech', we at The Jawa Report are organizing the first ever Was Mohammed Real? conference. Panels include:

Mohammed: Was he real or just another Zionist plot?

The Crusades: Ultra-Orthodox Muslims speak out against using the Crusades as justification for a Palestinian state.

Did Mohammed Conquer Mecca? New evidence suggests otherwise.

72 White Grapes vs. 72 Virgins: The etymology of patriarchy in Islamic societies.

'Angelic visit' or 'Pedophelic Visions': The fiction of Mohammed and his 9 year old lover Aisha.

The Illuminati: Why the Great Seal of The United States offers definitive proof that Mohammed was really a 32nd degree Mason.

You get the picture. Any other suggestions?

And might I add another topic for the conference:

Mental Illness or Demonic Possession: An Analysis of Mohammad’s Qu’ranic Visions

Other topics of discussion can be found at IMAO.

After all, if all we are doing is engaging in free speech asking questions and exploring issues that will get you imprisoned (or worse) in some parts of the world…

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, if we are going to question the veracity of contemporary historical events, maybe we should look into events much further in the past.

I just got an e-mail from Bhuvan who tried to post a comment at the BBC. The comment, on a story about the Holocaust denial conference in Iran was apparently too controversial.

Now wait, I would like to see a conference that questions whether Prophet Muhammad existed or not. Sounds controversial? Why not? Free speech. There is more historical proof to the occurrence of the Holocaust than for the existence of Prophet Muhammad.

Indeed. So, in the spirit of 'free speech', we at The Jawa Report are organizing the first ever Was Mohammed Real? conference. Panels include:

Mohammed: Was he real or just another Zionist plot?

The Crusades: Ultra-Orthodox Muslims speak out against using the Crusades as justification for a Palestinian state.

Did Mohammed Conquer Mecca? New evidence suggests otherwise.

72 White Grapes vs. 72 Virgins: The etymology of patriarchy in Islamic societies.

'Angelic visit' or 'Pedophelic Visions': The fiction of Mohammed and his 9 year old lover Aisha.

The Illuminati: Why the Great Seal of The United States offers definitive proof that Mohammed was really a 32nd degree Mason.

You get the picture. Any other suggestions?

And might I add another topic for the conference:

Mental Illness or Demonic Possession: An Analysis of MohammadÂ’s QuÂ’ranic Visions

Other topics of discussion can be found at IMAO.

After all, if all we are doing is engaging in free speech asking questions and exploring issues that will get you imprisoned (or worse) in some parts of the worldÂ…

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Even as he prepares to leave office, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is showing that he understands the importance of dealing with our nationÂ’s immigration crisis.

Gov. Mitt Romney, who is weighing a White House bid, signed an agreement Wednesday that allows Massachusetts State Police troopers to detain illegal aliens they encounter over the course of their normal duties.

Under the terms of the agreement, made with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, an initial group of 30 troopers will receive five weeks of specialized training next year, paid by the federal government.

The troopers will be drawn from the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Squad, the Criminal Investigation Section, the Anti-Gang Unit, the Drug Enforcement Unit and the Community Action Team.

"The scope of our nation's illegal immigration problem requires us to pursue and implement new solutions wherever possible," Romney said in a statement. "State troopers are highly trained professionals who are prepared to assist the federal government in apprehending immigration violators without disrupting their normal law enforcement routines."

Oh, and one question – will Romney’s Democrat successor, Deval Patrick, maintain this policy?

UPDATE: And the answer is -- Deval Patrick doesn't give a damn about our nation's illegal immigration crisis.

Posted by: Greg at 11:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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IÂ’m sure that each and every inconvenience of failure to get perfect service will be labeled a bias incident by the terrorist supporters at CAIR.

American Muslims making a religious pilgrimage to Mecca are being encouraged to file civil rights complaints if they feel discriminated against by airlines.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), citing what it called the "airport profiling" of six imams removed from a recent flight, yesterday said Muslims traveling this month to the holy site in Saudi Arabia need to be aware of their rights.

"Given the increase in the number of complaints CAIR has received alleging airport profiling of American Muslims, we believe it is important that all those taking part in this year's hajj be aware of their legal and civil rights," said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR spokesman.

The group has established a toll-free hot line (800/AL-QAEDA) I wonÂ’t advertise the real number for victims of "flying while Muslim," as Muslims have begun departing for the weeklong hajj, a once-in-a-lifetime obligation to visit the holy city of Mecca, which this year begins Dec. 29.

Fortunately, there are loyal Muslims speaking out against this group.

But M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix physician and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), said the announcement by CAIR "continues the tired stoking of the flames of victimization."

"They are unfortunately exploiting, for purely political reasons, what should be a sacred and purely spiritual story of our faith's annual holy pilgrimage to Mecca," Dr. Jasser said.

"We need new leadership and organizations which use their passions and the bandwidth of the media to lead the ideological fight against radical and political Islam rather than this tired pre-emption of supposed discrimination."

I’ve got a suggestion – why doesn’t the family members of each and every victim of 9/11 call the real hotline number to complain about their loved ones being victims of “flying while Muslim”. Maybe then these Islamists will CAIR.

Posted by: Greg at 11:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Unusual, but not so dangerous as to require a mission abort.

A violent solar explosion sent a dangerous wave of radiation through space late Tuesday, prompting NASA to order the crews of Discovery and the International Space Station to take shelter overnight, according to Local 6 News partner Florida Today.

The solar flare erupted around 9:40 p.m., unleashing enough radiation to disrupt radio communications on Earth and in orbit while endangering astronauts circling 220 miles above the planet.

NASA flight surgeons and agency radiation experts determined that the burst of highly energetic particles approached a limit that made preventative action prudent, Florida Today reported.

Station commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and shuttle skipper Mark Polansky were told to move their crews to the most shielded areas in either spacecraft.

They include the middeck of the shuttle's crew compartment and temporary sleeping quarters in the station's U.S. Destiny science laboratory.

The back ends of the American lab and a Russian command control center at the outpost also were options, the report said.

That is one of the more unusual hazards of space travel.

Posted by: Greg at 11:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Given the level of Democrat Corruption that has been exposed since November, this might be a positive development.

Senior party officials said Tuesday that Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the incoming speaker, had consulted with Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the minority leader, on forming a bipartisan group to examine outside enforcement. The goal would be to have the group report back in the spring.

An independent Congressional watchdog, if approved, would be a major break with tradition. Some lawmakers say House and Senate members have sole responsibility for policing themselves when it comes to internal rules.

Some lawmakers have said an independent entity could be unconstitutional.

The Democratic officials, who spoke only if they were not publicly identified because the proposal for the new panel was now being presented to lawmakers, said the prominence of corruption as a concern in the elections last month gave new impetus to such an idea.

“With ethics such a big issue coming out of the election, members see a need to think outside the box,” one senior official said.

Well, they could start by dumping Murtha, Hastings, Jefferson, Mollohan, Emanuel, McDermott, . . .

Posted by: Greg at 11:36 PM | Comments (24) | Add Comment
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1 Please, give me contact address (email or msn) of this site administrator...
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One more consideration for the Iraq Surrender Group supporters and other cut-n-runners.

Saudi Arabia has told the Bush administration that it might provide financial backing to Iraqi Sunnis in any war against IraqÂ’s Shiites if the United States pulls its troops out of Iraq, according to American and Arab diplomats.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia conveyed that message to Vice President Dick Cheney two weeks ago during Mr. CheneyÂ’s whirlwind visit to Riyadh, the officials said. During the visit, King Abdullah also expressed strong opposition to diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, and pushed for Washington to encourage the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, senior Bush administration officials said.

The Saudi warning reflects fears among AmericaÂ’s Sunni Arab allies about IranÂ’s rising influence in Iraq, coupled with TehranÂ’s nuclear ambitions. King Abdullah II of Jordan has also expressed concern about rising Shiite influence, and about the prospect that the Shiite-dominated government would use Iraqi troops against the Sunni population.

A senior Bush administration official said Tuesday that part of the administrationÂ’s review of Iraq policy involved the question of how to harness a coalition of moderate Iraqi Sunnis with centrist Shiites to back the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

So, "realists", what is your solution to this one? Personally, I support partition, with the US and coalition forces playing peace-keeper between three states -- Sunni, Shi'a and Kurd.

Posted by: Greg at 11:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm pretty liberal when it comes to acceptable activities for teachers outside of working hours. Blogging has made me acutely aware of the problems that could arise if schools could simply fire teachers for their exercise of freedom of expression in their private lives.

But I have really mixed emotions about this.

Stephen Murmer's secret career as an artist has caught up with him.

Murmer, a popular high school art teacher, was suspended after objections were raised about his private abstract artwork, much of which includes smearing his posterior and genitals with paint and pressing them against canvas.

Murmer contacted the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday, saying school administrators had suspended him with pay for five days because of his work as a painter and that he could face further punishment, ACLU legal director Rebecca Glenberg said.

Murmer has been instructed by Monacan High School administrators not to speak with the media, Glenberg said. He did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Schools spokeswoman Debra Marlow confirmed that a Monacan art teacher had been placed on administrative leave but declined to provide additional details because it is a personnel issue.

"In the school system, personnel regulations state that teachers are expected to set an example for students through their personal conduct," Marlow said. "Additionally, the Supreme Court has stated that schools must teach by example and that teachers, like parents, are role models."

Murmer went to great lengths to keep his work life separate from his activities as an artist, said ACLU executive director Kent Willis. As an artist, he goes by the name "Stan Murmur," and appears in disguise in photographs and videos promoting his art.

"As a public employee, he has constitutional rights, and he certainly has the right to engage in private legal activities protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution," Willis said.

Like I said, I really don't know what to think about this one -- is there a line beyond which we teachers cannot go if we wish to stay in the field of education? What do you think?

More on this story in the Washington Post

Posted by: Greg at 11:23 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are On Negotiating with Iran and Syria -- Part II by American Future, and "Come for the Egalitarianism, Stay for the Bestiality and Tyranny" by Dr. Sanity.  Here is teh link to the full results of the vote.

Here are the full tallies of all votes cast:

Posted by: Greg at 02:25 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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It's my old congressman -- Tom DeLay.

And he is making an interesting suggestion about a winning Dem ticket in 2008 -- but not a terribly original one.

I'd like him to address a question for me -- was he in any way behind the staff shenanigans in the office of his successor, Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs?

Posted by: Greg at 01:47 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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After all, it is clear that he knew about the Foley emails BEFORE Dennis Hastert – and did nothing about his knowledge besides allow staffers to try to stir up interest in the press.

Democratic campaign operatives pushed newspapers to write about then-Rep. Mark Foley's e-mails to teenage pages in the hope that a scandal would emerge before the midterm elections, according to a House ethics report.

The findings were bolstered when an aide to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Democrat, said the congressman also knew about the e-mails, which were dubbed "inappropriate" by the ethics panel. Mr. Emanuel, who was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) when Mr. Foley's sex scandal broke in late September, had denied knowledge of the Florida Republican's e-mails.

The House ethics panel, which is formally called the Standards of Official Conduct Committee, Friday released its final probe into Mr. Foley's behavior, scolding Republicans for failing to act on years of troubling signs and naming Democrats who knew about the e-mails.

CNN first reported Saturday that Mr. Emanuel, the incoming chairman of the Democratic caucus, was "informed" but never saw the e-mails that Mr. Foley sent to a former page in the summer of 2005.

An Emanuel aide yesterday confirmed to The Washington Times that DCCC staffer Bill Burton told the congressman about the Foley e-mails in fall 2005. The aide said Mr. Emanuel took no action because the e-mails were mentioned in passing as a "rumor" about Mr. Foley.

On Oct. 8, Mr. Emanuel was put on the spot during his appearance on ABC's "This Week."

"Did you or your staff know anything about these e-mails or instant messages before they came out?" host George Stephanopoulos asked. Mr. Emanuel interrupted with "No."

"George -- Never saw 'em," he said twice.

Isn’t such failure to act the very thing the Dems called scandalous when it was Hastert and other GOP leaders accused? Why the silence now – especially given the clear attempt by Emanuel to parse language to make a misleading statement technically true (something I suspect he learned from his old boss)?

Oh, and by the way, the report shows what I repeatedly said this past summer.

The ethics report outlined several Republicans and staffers who were aware of Mr. Foley's drunken late-night visit to the page dormitory, but concluded no Republicans knew about the sexually explicit instant messages.

The ethics panel said the tone of the e-mails and instant messages were vastly different, but said Republicans failed to exercise due diligence about the e-mails back in 2005, when the former page told his friends on Capitol Hill the Foley e-mails were "sick."

Now, will those folks who accused me (and other Republicans) of “defending a pedophile” and “covering up the truth” please acknowledge that they were, at best, wrong – if not intentionally lying about what I said at the time?

Posted by: Greg at 01:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Capital punishment sounds like the only reasonable course of action for this stone-cold killer.

A teenager responsible for a crime spree that sent police into a frenzy said he has no regrets in an interview about what led him to kill.
Lavender Howse, 16, murdered one man, and shot a child and a woman within a matter of hours in June, 2005.

"This ain't no place to be, especially for no 16-year-old," he said.

Howse was convicted of shooting a security guard in cold blood, then minutes later shooting a nine year old in the face and another innocent woman walking her dog.

"In a blink of a moment it can happen," he said. "That's how it happened to me, I wasn't even thinking. It just happened."

Now in prison, he won't even have a chance of freedom till he's 81 years old. His home is a prison cell after a life on the streets of East Nashville.

In other words, taxpayers will be supporting him for 65 years – at a minimum. And he feels not a lick of remorse.

For Howse, emotion is rare and remorse is unseen.
"I finally got over it, you gotta let it go, can't keep thinking about it," he said.
Even the nine year old gets little sympathy. He said he'd like to say sorry maybe, but for Howse it was just a mistake.

No remorse, no empathy.

But he claims to have found God – sort of.

Care to guess which religion this unrepentant murderer has picked?

He has found God in prison, and has converted to Islam while in the Metro jail.

Anybody surprised?

Posted by: Greg at 01:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hey, I’m just asking the question – but it seems to me that this could be a solution to both the Iran problem and the unproven climate hysteria pushed by socialist ideologues.

Some of the scientists who first advanced the controversial "nuclear winter" theory more than two decades ago have come up with another bleak forecast: Even a regional nuclear war would devastate the environment.

Using modern climate and population models, researchers estimated that a small-scale nuclear conflict between two warring nations would cause 3 million to 17 million immediate casualties and lead to a marked cooldown of the planet that could lead to crop failures and further misery.

* * *

The new studies looked at the consequences if two nations dropped 50 Hiroshima-size bombs on each other's big cities. By analyzing population data and distance from blast, scientists predicted a regional nuclear war would kill 3 million people in Israel and up to 17 million in China. The U.S. would see 4 million blast deaths.

But the researchers say black soot from the fires would linger in the atmosphere, blocking the sun's rays and causing average global surface temperatures to drop about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the first three years. Although the planet would see a gradual warming within a decade, it would still be colder than it was before the war, the scientists said.

The cooldown would shorten the growing season by about a month in parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Normal rainfall patterns such as summer monsoons in Africa and Southeast Asia would be disrupted, possibly causing huge crop failures.

But as I understand matters, this would cut back on the warming trend that we are told threatens to bring about “the end of the world as we know it” – and the population reduction would slow the rate of growth and temperature increase. I would therefore think that liberals would advocate popping off several nukes ever couple of decades, because of we have Earth in the balance – or is such thinking merely an inconvenient truth?

Posted by: Greg at 01:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hey, I’m just asking the question – but it seems to me that this could be a solution to both the Iran problem and the unproven climate hysteria pushed by socialist ideologues.

Some of the scientists who first advanced the controversial "nuclear winter" theory more than two decades ago have come up with another bleak forecast: Even a regional nuclear war would devastate the environment.

Using modern climate and population models, researchers estimated that a small-scale nuclear conflict between two warring nations would cause 3 million to 17 million immediate casualties and lead to a marked cooldown of the planet that could lead to crop failures and further misery.

* * *

The new studies looked at the consequences if two nations dropped 50 Hiroshima-size bombs on each other's big cities. By analyzing population data and distance from blast, scientists predicted a regional nuclear war would kill 3 million people in Israel and up to 17 million in China. The U.S. would see 4 million blast deaths.

But the researchers say black soot from the fires would linger in the atmosphere, blocking the sun's rays and causing average global surface temperatures to drop about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the first three years. Although the planet would see a gradual warming within a decade, it would still be colder than it was before the war, the scientists said.

The cooldown would shorten the growing season by about a month in parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Normal rainfall patterns such as summer monsoons in Africa and Southeast Asia would be disrupted, possibly causing huge crop failures.

But as I understand matters, this would cut back on the warming trend that we are told threatens to bring about “the end of the world as we know it” – and the population reduction would slow the rate of growth and temperature increase. I would therefore think that liberals would advocate popping off several nukes ever couple of decades, because of we have Earth in the balance – or is such thinking merely an inconvenient truth?

Posted by: Greg at 01:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Moves like this one always amaze and infuriate me.

NEEDHAM, Mass. -- Needham High School has abandoned its long-standing practice of publishing the names of students who make the honor roll in the local newspaper.

Principal Paul Richards said a key reason for stopping the practice is its contribution to students' stress level in "This high expectations-high-achievement culture."

The proposal to stop publishing the honor roll came from a parent. Richards took the issue before the school council, which approved it. Parents were notified of the decision last month. Richards said he received about 60 responses from both parents and students and the feedback has been evenly split for and against.

After all, it isn’t about learning and growing – it is about making kids feel good about themselves, regardless of whether or not they have anything to be proud of.

Then again, maybe I'll respect this more when the school district bans reporters from athletic contests and orders the athletic department to quit supplying statistics/scores to the media. After all, we wouldn't want some kid to get hurt feelings because he/she failed to excel at some sport, would we? Furthermore, it would relieve stress on kids living in this high expectations-high achievement culture just as effectively as cutting the honor roll does.

Posted by: Greg at 01:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Moves like this one always amaze and infuriate me.

NEEDHAM, Mass. -- Needham High School has abandoned its long-standing practice of publishing the names of students who make the honor roll in the local newspaper.

Principal Paul Richards said a key reason for stopping the practice is its contribution to students' stress level in "This high expectations-high-achievement culture."

The proposal to stop publishing the honor roll came from a parent. Richards took the issue before the school council, which approved it. Parents were notified of the decision last month. Richards said he received about 60 responses from both parents and students and the feedback has been evenly split for and against.

After all, it isn’t about learning and growing – it is about making kids feel good about themselves, regardless of whether or not they have anything to be proud of.

Then again, maybe I'll respect this more when the school district bans reporters from athletic contests and orders the athletic department to quit supplying statistics/scores to the media. After all, we wouldn't want some kid to get hurt feelings because he/she failed to excel at some sport, would we? Furthermore, it would relieve stress on kids living in this high expectations-high achievement culture just as effectively as cutting the honor roll does.

Posted by: Greg at 01:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Unfortunately for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his crowd of Holocaust denying anti-Semites, the verdict is in and the evidence indisputable.

Delegates at the meeting earlier on Tuesday agreed to form a "fact-finding" committee to study the Holocaust.

The head of the new committee, identified as Iranian academic Mohammad Ali Ramin, said its members were "not racist or opposed to any particular group".
"Rather they are just seeking the truth to set humanity truly free," the ISNA students news agency quoted him as saying, without naming the committee members.

Robert Faurisson, a French scholar who has described the Holocaust as a "historical lie", said the committee included members from the United States, France, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Iran, Bahrain and Syria, ISNA reported.

But if you want to know what these buffoons are really all about, consider this speech and its reception.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday told delegates at an international conference questioning the Holocaust that Israel's days were numbered.

Ahmadinejad, who has sparked international outcry by referring to the killing of six million Jews in World War Two as a "myth" and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map", launched another verbal attack on the Jewish state.

"Thanks to people's wishes and God's will the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards and this is what God has promised and what all nations want," he said.

"Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out," he added.

His words received warm applause from delegates at the Holocaust conference, who included ultra-Orthodox anti-Israel Jews and European and American writers who argue the Holocaust was either fabricated or exaggerated.

This is the leader of a nation chasing after nuclear weapons. He is promoting a view of history that is wrong, in order to justify his own planned genocide of the Jews – a genocide envisioned and justified by his holy book. Given the folks that Ahmadinejad has surrounded himself with during this conference, perhaps the now is the time to put an end to him and his plans – and to cleanse the human race of some of its most disgusting specimens.

Posted by: Greg at 01:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm glad the rabbi backed down -- especially since he would have lost in court.

The holiday trees that went away in the middle of the night are back.

Tonight, Port of Seattle staff began putting up the trees they had taken down Friday night after a local rabbi requested that a Hanukkah menorah also be displayed. Port officials said the rabbi's lawyer had threatened to imminently file a lawsuit, leaving them with insufficient time to consider all the issues.

A nationwide furor erupted over the weekend as news of the trees' removal spread, with a flood of calls to Port officials and harshly worded e-mails to Jewish organizations. Today, Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky said he would not file a lawsuit and the Port, in response, said it would put the trees back up.

"This has been an unfortunate situation for all of us in Seattle," Port of Seattle Commission President Pat Davis said in a statement. "The rabbi never asked us to remove the trees; it was the Port's decision based on what we knew at the time. We very much appreciate the rabbi's willingness to work with us as we move forward."

And I hope the menorah the rabi wants is put up -- and that a Nativity scene is added. After all, the rabbi has demanded the introduction of religious symbols to the airport's holiday display, which had been secular up to this point.

And by the way -- I'd like to heartily condemn those who have threatened the rabbi for his actions. Even though he was dead wrong, such threats of violence are never appropriate -- and especially not in the name of a holiday honoring the Prince of peace.

Posted by: Greg at 11:52 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Look who turned up at Iran's Holocaust Denial Conference.

Iran held a gathering that included Holocaust deniers, discredited scholars and white supremacists from around the world on Monday under the guise of a conference to “debate” the Nazi annihilation of six million Jews.

Among those representing the United States was the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, whose prepared remarks, issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said the gas chambers in which millions perished actually did not exist.

Robert Faurisson, an academic from France, said in his speech that the Holocaust was a myth created to justify the occupation of Palestine, meaning the creation of Israel.

That is what IranÂ’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has frequently claimed, and it was Mr. AhmadinejadÂ’s statements that inspired the Foreign Ministry to hold the conference. The ministry said 67 people from 30 countries were participating in the two days of meetings.

In a welcoming speech, Rasoul Mousavi, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Political and International Studies, said the session would provide an opportunity to discuss the Holocaust “away from Western taboos and the restriction imposed on them in Europe.” In several European countries, denial of the Holocaust is a crime.

An accompanying exhibition also denied the Holocaust. One poster with three photographs showed dead bodies and described accounts of their gassing as a myth. Signs pointed to smiling prisoners freed at the end of the war with the label “truth.”

New captions in Persian on other pictures of corpses described them as victims of a typhus epidemic in Europe, not of the Nazi death machine.

I bet my recently0-banned troll Ken Hoop is positively orgasmic reading these accounts, having spent months espousing just such lies here.

And I ask the world -- is this a nation that we can allow to get nuclear weapons, especially given the stated objective of its president to complete the task tha he denies hitler began?

Posted by: Greg at 11:47 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I wonder if these folks -- actual experts in military and foreign affairs, including three retired four-star generals -- will get the same respect as the "realist" amateurs of the Iraq Surrender Group?

President Bush heard a blunt and dismal assessment of his handling of Iraq from a group of military experts yesterday, but the advisers shared the White House's skeptical view of the recommendations made last week by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, sources said.

The three retired generals and two academics disagreed in particular with the study group's plans to reduce the number of U.S. combat troops in Iraq and to reach out for help to Iran and Syria, according to sources familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was private.

Not only do they oppose the "cut-and-run" proposals of the ISG and the Democrat Party, some even suggest that an increase in troop levels might be needed.

I guess it all comes down to whether or not one believes in victory -- or whether one believes that America is past its prime and can no longer fight a war to victory.

Posted by: Greg at 11:37 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I wish he had gotten life, but 90 years seems acceptable.

A teenager who helped to savagely beat another youth and sodomize him with a plastic pipe, leaving him near death, was ordered Monday to serve 90 years in prison.

In a verdict that his victim called "just," Keith Turner, 17, faces at least 30 years behind bars before he can become eligible for parole. The sentence came less than a month after Turner's friend, David Tuck, 18, received a life prison term for his role in the attack.

"This is just another step," the 18-year-old victim told the Houston Chronicle after Turner was sentenced. He noted that he faces more surgeries and the trial of a lawsuit related to the incident.

His father said he was pleased with the result.

"We did it. We got them both. It's what we wanted. We're happy," said Albert Galvan. "Those two guys are not going to walk around in society for a while."

Turner showed little emotion as state District Judge Michael McSpadden announced the jury's decision. His mother, Janis Turner, sobbed.

She had sought to convince the jury on Friday that her son is a good person who was influenced by bad people. "He's not a bad kid," she told jurors as they began considering punishment. "He's making bad choices."

How many "good kids" do you know who sodomize people with a pipe for kissing a girl of a different race?

Posted by: Greg at 11:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess that the clear mandate of the voters to stop granting benefits and imposing burdens upon people based upon race and sex is just to onerous for some educators to apply.

Three universities asked a federal court in Detroit to delay a state ban on affirmative action programs until after this yearÂ’s admissions and financial aid cycles. The colleges, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, want to complete their annual admissions and financial aid cycles using the standards that were in effect when the process began earlier this year. The voter-approved initiative to ban the use of race and sex preferences in university admissions and government hiring is to take effect Dec. 23.

And thus these university officials stand in a long line of dishonor with Orval Faubus and George Wallace in seeking to illegally engage in racial discrimination in education. Fire them all, and replace them with true believers in civil rights and a color-blind society.

Posted by: Greg at 11:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of the more egregious examples of judicial silliness by the judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has been overturned by the Supreme Court in a remarkable stand for common sense.

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the federal appeals court in California overstepped its authority when it granted a new trial to a murder defendant whose victimÂ’s relatives sat at the trial, in the view of the jury, wearing buttons with the victimÂ’s picture on them.

The appeals court, in granting a writ of habeas corpus, found that the buttons were inherently prejudicial and deprived the defendant, Mathew Musladin, of the right to a fair trial.

Voting 9 to 0, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling in an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas that did not actually decide whether the buttons were prejudicial. That was, and remains, “an open question in our jurisprudence,” Justice Thomas said. And that was precisely where the appeals court had gone wrong, the justices agreed; it had based a grant of habeas corpus on a legal principle that the Supreme Court itself had not adopted.

The short answer is that the justices unanimously decided that there is no basis in law or precedent for holding that the actions of private individuals (wearing buttons showing the victim in a murder case) constitutes state action depriving a defendant of due process.

I do find it of concern, however, that some members of the court seem to leave open the door for the possibility that the buttons do constitute a violation of the defendant's rights.

Posted by: Greg at 11:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Are they interested in protecting the rights of imprisoned terrorists?

Or are they simply enamored with the jihadi pigs who keep attacking America and Israel -- you know, concern for the PC terrorists, not the un-PC ones who target abortion clinics and gay bars?

Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane.

"It is a closed-off world designed to isolate inmates from social and environmental stimuli, with the ultimate purpose of causing mental illness and chronic physical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis," he wrote in one letter to The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

Rudolph wrote that he spends 23 hours a day in his 7-by-12-foot cell, his only exercise confined to an enclosed area he described as a "large empty swimming pool" divided into "dog-kennel style cages."

"Using solitary confinement, Supermax is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as is constitutionally permissible," he wrote in a letter.

Personally, I agree with one of Rudolph’s victims.

"It gives me a great deal of pride to think he's never coming out of there," said Diane Derzis, who runs a Birmingham, Ala., women's clinic Rudolph bombed in 1998. "He should never see daylight again."

I may despise the business Derzis is in and believe that she has much more innocent blood on her hands than does Rudolph, but I find Rudolph’s actions repugnant and believe he should never walk the streets free again.

Posted by: Greg at 01:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Are they interested in protecting the rights of imprisoned terrorists?

Or are they simply enamored with the jihadi pigs who keep attacking America and Israel -- you know, concern for the PC terrorists, not the un-PC ones who target abortion clinics and gay bars?

Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane.

"It is a closed-off world designed to isolate inmates from social and environmental stimuli, with the ultimate purpose of causing mental illness and chronic physical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis," he wrote in one letter to The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

Rudolph wrote that he spends 23 hours a day in his 7-by-12-foot cell, his only exercise confined to an enclosed area he described as a "large empty swimming pool" divided into "dog-kennel style cages."

"Using solitary confinement, Supermax is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as is constitutionally permissible," he wrote in a letter.

Personally, I agree with one of RudolphÂ’s victims.

"It gives me a great deal of pride to think he's never coming out of there," said Diane Derzis, who runs a Birmingham, Ala., women's clinic Rudolph bombed in 1998. "He should never see daylight again."

I may despise the business Derzis is in and believe that she has much more innocent blood on her hands than does Rudolph, but I find RudolphÂ’s actions repugnant and believe he should never walk the streets free again.

Posted by: Greg at 01:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You have to love it when something like this happens to a PC weenie like Rosie O’Donnell. After all, she tried to gin up a controversy over so-called “homophobia” over an innocuous comment not too long ago – now she is facing the heat over a much more clearly racist caricature on The View.

A city councilman is demanding that Rosie O'Donnell be held accountable for comments she made on ABC's "The View" last week that he said offended Asian-Americans.

O'Donnell set off a firestorm when she mocked Chinese broadcasters commenting on Danny DeVito's drunken Nov. 29 performance on "The View."

"The fact is that it's news all over the world. You know, you can imagine in China it's like, 'Ching chong, ching chong, Danny DeVito, ching chong chong chong chong, drunk, 'The View,' ching chong.'"

O'Donnell's imitation was followed by laughter from her co-hosts and a loud "gong" that producers threw in.

City Councilman John Liu (D-Queens) has written a letter to Barbara Walters, co-executive producer and co-host of "The View," blasting O'Donnell.

"Her caricature of the Chinese language hits a raw nerve in our community," Liu wrote.

Liu admonished Walters for sitting by and not scolding O'Donnell for making the "derogatory remarks" that "have consequences beyond the stupidity of the person who made them."

"What will you do to hold yourself and those who host the program accountable for such offensive remarks?" Liu asked Walters.

By the standard she applied to Kelly Ripa, she clearly owes the Asian community an apology for her insult to them. After all, spokespeople for the aggrieved group have spoken -- and Rosie is therefore guilty as charged.

More at Michelle Malkin & Hot Air

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