Well, the Washington Post has finally caught up with Newsweek and most of the blogosphere. Richard Armitage outed Valerie Plame.

The leak of information about an undercover CIA employee that provoked a special prosecutor's investigation of senior White House officials came from then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, according to a former Armitage colleague at the department.

Armitage told newspaper columnist Robert D. Novak in the summer of 2003 that Valerie Plame, the wife of a prominent critic of the Iraq war, worked for the CIA, the colleague said. In October of that year, Armitage admitted to senior State Department officials that he had made the remark, which was based on a classified report he had read.

Gee, didn't I write about this on Sunday?

However, there is one interesting tidbit about the Bush Derangement Syndrome-afflicted Left.

"Just because Armitage did this on his own, earlier, doesn't mean that there wasn't a White House conspiracy to 'out' Valerie [Plame] Wilson. We don't think it affects the case," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the group pressing the lawsuit.

In other words, never let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory -- or a politicall motivated lawsuit.

Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum tries to keep the anti-Bush fires burning, too.

Posted by: Greg at 10:21 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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I missed this story.

KSBJ (89.3 FM) ihas been off the air due to a lightning strike. The Christian music station has long been known in the Houston area for its slogan, "God Listens".

Listeners who have tried to tune in to KSBJ 89.3 in the past couple of days have likely gotten silence. As KHOU-11 reports, that's because lightning hit the Christian station's tower earlier this week:

A Christian radio station was knocked off the air after its tower was hit by lightning earlier this week.
KSBJ-89.3 FM
The station, KSBJ 89.3 FM, has a main tower in Plum Grove, near Cleveland. It was hit at about 8 p.m. Tuesday and is operating at reduced power, the station said.

Typically, the station, which has a contemporary Christian music format, broadcasts at 100,000 watts, but is currently operating at only 50 watts.

The station said that crews are working to repair the problem, but that it will be several days until it will be completely fixed.

The station said that listeners can instead hear programming on their website, at www.ksbj.org.

We presume God is still listening, and doesn't need the full 100,000 watts.

I'll let you fill in your own punchline.

H/T blogHOUSTON

Posted by: Greg at 10:13 PM | Comments (118) | Add Comment
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Speaking as a GOP precinct chair in CD22, all I can say is that we are just going to have to work harder than usual to win.

The Texas Republican Party establishment has rallied around a single candidate, Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, in their unusual write-in campaign to salvage the 22nd Congressional District seat vacated in June by Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader.

But the extreme rarity of successful write-in campaigns for Congress and the presence of a solid Democratic nominee on the ballot in former Rep. Nick Lampson has prompted CQPolitics.com to change its rating on the 22nd District race to Leans Democratic from No Clear Favorite.

The GOP faces a world of trouble in this race because of a serious miscalculation on the part of DeLay and his party colleagues.

There is a strong commitment on the part of local Republicans to hold this seat, and with enough work we will be able to do it. At the same time, i ad mit that we have no easy task before us, despite having a good candidate for office who can be contrasted with DeLay as having no hint of scandal associated with her andnot being the candidate of the Fort Bend power structure that produced him. At the same time, she contrasts with Lampson by bing ideologically in tune witht he district and having lived here for the last two decades -- while Lampson carpetbagged into the district within the last year after most of his life near the Louisiana border in Beaumont.

Still, I understand the rating change -- write-in campaigns are an uphill battle.

Posted by: Greg at 10:06 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Davud Frum makes this point regarding the forced conversion to Islam of Fox journalists Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig.

Does not the gunpoint forced conversion to Islam of two Western journalists provide an opportunity for Western Muslim groups to condemn attempts to spread Islam by violence and to declare their support for the principle enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

CAIR? The Muslim Council of Britain? The Canadian Islamic Congress? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Do YOU hear crickets chirping?

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After all, if the UN headquarters is such a death trap, it should be condemned and destroyed as a matter of public safety.

And that would allow the organization to relocate to some other, more socialist country – and maybe it could bay one-fifth of the organization’s operating costs.

The long-delayed plans to renovate the United Nations buildings, old and riddled with safety violations, pose deadly risks to emergency responders and thousands who live and work around the area, Sen. Charles Schumer said yesterday.

Citing the testimony of UN officials, Schumer said a fire could travel quickly up the walls of the main building, which lacks sprinklers. Also, the heat pipes leak and could contaminate the Manhattan neighborhood with asbestos if they were to explode, he said.

"If this building were owned by a private company, there would be so many violations that the Buildings Department would be tempted to close it down," Schumer, a Democrat, said. Since the UN is considered international territory, it is not subject to local codes, a department official said.

The UN – who would really miss them?

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After all, if the UN headquarters is such a death trap, it should be condemned and destroyed as a matter of public safety.

And that would allow the organization to relocate to some other, more socialist country – and maybe it could bay one-fifth of the organization’s operating costs.

The long-delayed plans to renovate the United Nations buildings, old and riddled with safety violations, pose deadly risks to emergency responders and thousands who live and work around the area, Sen. Charles Schumer said yesterday.

Citing the testimony of UN officials, Schumer said a fire could travel quickly up the walls of the main building, which lacks sprinklers. Also, the heat pipes leak and could contaminate the Manhattan neighborhood with asbestos if they were to explode, he said.

"If this building were owned by a private company, there would be so many violations that the Buildings Department would be tempted to close it down," Schumer, a Democrat, said. Since the UN is considered international territory, it is not subject to local codes, a department official said.

The UN – who would really miss them?

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And here we’ve all been told that this quit being an asset in seeking the Democrat presidential nomination 150 years ago.

I guess Joe Biden didn’t get the memo.

Biden dismissed the notion that he was a "Northeastern liberal" who would have a poor showing in the South against other likely contenders such as Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

"Better than anybody else," Biden said, when asked on "Fox News Sunday" to rate his chances of winning Southern states.

"You don't know my state," he said. "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state."

I am, to say the least, stunned. How big a screw-up does Biden have to make before the Democrats renounce and condemn him – and before he quits being treated like a credible candidate for any office.

And, as I often ask, what would be the reaction of the media if a comment like that came out of a Republican?

Posted by: Greg at 09:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And here weÂ’ve all been told that this quit being an asset in seeking the Democrat presidential nomination 150 years ago.

I guess Joe Biden didnÂ’t get the memo.

Biden dismissed the notion that he was a "Northeastern liberal" who would have a poor showing in the South against other likely contenders such as Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

"Better than anybody else," Biden said, when asked on "Fox News Sunday" to rate his chances of winning Southern states.

"You don't know my state," he said. "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state."

I am, to say the least, stunned. How big a screw-up does Biden have to make before the Democrats renounce and condemn him – and before he quits being treated like a credible candidate for any office.

And, as I often ask, what would be the reaction of the media if a comment like that came out of a Republican?

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Personally, I've never understood the ban on producing hemp, which has many industrial uses but such a minimal THC level that it is not useful for toking purposes.

Now there is a move to legalize the crop, which was raised by Washington and Jefferson, in California.

Charles MeyerÂ’s politics are as steady and unswerving as the rows of pima cotton on his Central Valley farm. With his work-shirt blue eyes and flinty Clint Eastwood demeanor, he is staunchly in favor of the war in Iraq, against gun control and believes people unwilling to recite the Pledge of Allegiance should be kicked out of America, and fast.

But what gets him excited is the crop he sees as a potential windfall for California farmers: industrial hemp, or Cannabis sativa. The rapidly growing plant with a seemingly infinite variety of uses is against federal law to grow because of its association with its evil twin, marijuana.

“Industrial hemp is a wholesome product,” said Mr. Meyer, 65, who says he has never worn tie-dye and professes a deep disdain for “dope.”

“The fact we’re not growing it is asinine,” Mr. Meyer said.

Things could change if a measure passed by legislators in Sacramento and now on Gov. Arnold SchwarzeneggerÂ’s desk becomes law. [The bill reached Mr. Schwarzenegger last week; he has 30 days to sign or veto it.]

What are the uses of hemp?

Hundreds of hemp products, including energy bars and cold-pressed hemp oil, are made in California, giving the banned plant a capitalist aura. But manufacturers must import the raw material, mostly from Canada, where hemp cultivation was legalized in 1998.

Over 30 countries worldwide allow the cultivation of industrial hemp. The Chinese currently produce about 40% of the world's supply.

Must the War on Drugs, which has produced any number of inane results over the years, make the capitalist system a casualty?

Posted by: Greg at 10:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Iraq: Quit or Commit by Right Wing Nut House, and Bad Faith by 3AM Magazine. 

Please click the link for the full results of the vote.

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Time for this country to quit being the patsy on illegal immigration -- and allowing the border-jumping invaders to become so comfortable that they think they have anything approaching the rights of a US citizen.

More cases like this one would be a good start.

The deportation Friday of a well-educated Venezuelan couple who admitted lying about their citizenship when they registered to vote in Boone County has struck a chord among those who are in the United States illegally, their lawyer said.

Abraham E. Gomez, 46, and his wife, Mayen C. Gomez, 41, entered the United States legally on a visa, but became illegal when they overstayed, said attorney John Arnett.

Still, the couple, both of whom have college degrees, settled in Union, obtained jobs, and sent their two children to school.

Over the past six years, along with dozens, if not hundreds of illegal immigrants in Boone County, they have become part of the community, Arnett said, their status almost forgotten.

It may have been their downfall, he said.

"After being here for a while, they got lulled into a false sense of security," he said.

"They don't think that way now, that's for sure."

Their arrest - along with the arrests of dozens of illegal immigrants in connection with an investigation into the Northern Kentucky home-building industry - has not gone unnoticed among those in the United States illegally.

Arnett said he knows several such people who have returned home for fear of being caught.

In 2004, the Gomezes went to get their driving licenses. While at the courthouse, they registered to vote, falsely checking the box that said they were United States citizens.

"They knew they were not citizens of this country when they checked the form, but they had no criminal intent," Arnett said. "In their country, they are required to vote."

They were arrested earlier this year after agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement received an anonymous tip. In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, they pleaded guilty to falsely claiming they were U.S. citizens in exchange for a recommended sentence of probation and deportation.

That sentenced was imposed Friday.

The conviction also means the couple is prohibited from ever entering the United States again, even as visitors, Arnett said.

And don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Posted by: Greg at 10:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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By the end of the first week of October, 2003, investigators knew the identity of the individual who leaked the identity of non-covert CIA employee Valerie Plame in violation of no law. Furthermore, this information was made available to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald when he was appointed to that position in December, 2003.

It was Richard Armitage, a well-known gossip and moderate opponent of Bush policy in the Middle East.

In the early morning of Oct. 1, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell received an urgent phone call from his No. 2 at the State Department. Richard Armitage was clearly agitated. As recounted in a new book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War," Armitage had been at home reading the newspaper and had come across a column by journalist Robert Novak. Months earlier, Novak had caused a huge stir when he revealed that Valerie Plame, wife of Iraq-war critic Joseph Wilson, was a CIA officer. Ever since, Washington had been trying to find out who leaked the information to Novak. The columnist himself had kept quiet. But now, in a second column, Novak provided a tantalizing clue: his primary source, he wrote, was a "senior administration official" who was "not a partisan gunslinger." Armitage was shaken. After reading the column, he knew immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning, Armitage was "in deep distress," says a source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities. "I'm sure he's talking about me."

Armitage's admission led to a flurry of anxious phone calls and meetings that day at the State Department. (Days earlier, the Justice Department had launched a criminal investigation into the Plame leak after the CIA informed officials there that she was an undercover officer.) Within hours, William Howard Taft IV, the State Department's legal adviser, notified a senior Justice official that Armitage had information relevant to the case. The next day, a team of FBI agents and Justice prosecutors investigating the leak questioned the deputy secretary. Armitage acknowledged that he had passed along to Novak information contained in a classified State Department memo: that Wilson's wife worked on weapons-of-mass-destruction issues at the CIA. (The memo made no reference to her undercover status.) Armitage had met with Novak in his State Department office on July 8, 2003—just days before Novak published his first piece identifying Plame. Powell, Armitage and Taft, the only three officials at the State Department who knew the story, never breathed a word of it publicly and Armitage's role remained secret.

Fitzgerald continued his investigation for a additional two years, creating perjury traps for individuals who he knew had no connection to the leak. In the end, only one individual was indicted, on charges that could well stem from a faulty memory rather than intentional criminal activity. Armitage walked away unscathed, and continues to lack the cojones to admit his role publicly -- and allowed the Bush administration to suffer from close to three years of acusations of malfeasance which have undermined the trust of some segments of the American Body Politic.

And while we are at it, let us note that this should forever remove any notion that Colin Powell is a stand-up guy and a straight-shooter. He allowed Armitage to stay on at the State Department for some time after the leak, never publicly disclosed the identity of the leaker, and also permitted the left-wing spin to undermine the Bush Administration. His actions were disgraceful, dishonorable, and unpatriotic.

UPDATE: Make this one reason to not support John McCain. He's got both Armitage and Powell on his team. If McCain has any integrity, he will dump them both.

ADDITIONAL COVEAGE AT Captain's Quarters. Sister Toldjah, Unalienable Right, USS Neverdock, Hot Air, Old War Dogs

UPDATE -- 8/30/2006: Armitage admits guilt.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT: Stop the ACLU, Wizbang, Samantha Burns, Is It Just Me?, Adam's Blog, Bacon Bits, Bullwinkle Blog, Stuck on Stupid, Conservative Cat, Third World County, Blue Star Chronicle, Right Nation, Uncooperative Blogger, Right Wing Nation, Woman Honor Thyself

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One new study raises the possibility that my maleness harms the education of my female students -- and that the femininity of some of my colleagues impedes the education of their male students.

For all the differences between the sexes, here's one that might stir up debate in the teacher's lounge: Boys learn more from men and girls learn more from women.

That's the upshot of a provocative study by Thomas Dee, an associate professor of economics at Swarthmore College and visiting scholar at Stanford University. His study was to appear Monday in Education Next, a quarterly journal published by the Hoover Institution.

Vetted and approved by peer reviewers, Dee's research faces a fight for acceptance. Some leading education advocates dispute his conclusions and the way in which he reached them.

But Dee says his research supports his point, that gender matters when it comes to learning. Specifically, as he describes it, having a teacher of the opposite sex hurts a student's academic progress.

''We should be thinking more carefully about why,'' he said.

I don't have an answer to this one. Is it single-sex classes? Single-sex schools? Is it something else? And if the best education for the most students is found in one of the first two solutions, will that certain forces in our society allow for such a system to be implemented?

Posted by: Greg at 06:34 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Every now and then, you just need a little bit of the weird to make people take politics more seriously -- and less seriously.

In Texas this year, we have Kinky Friedman doing exactly that.

Many people continue to laugh at the jokes, one-liners and other quotable quotes still being delivered by the Clown Prince of the Texas governor's race. But at what point, if any, does the laughter give way to something else?

Some of Kinky Friedman's quips are funny (at least the first two or three times you hear them). Some are funny and outrageous, as is the nature of satire, while others are mostly outrageous, and anything but politically correct.

Friedman, so far, has been able to operate without the PC restraints of most political figures, probably because he is viewed as more of an entertainer or self-promoter than a politician, as a protest candidate who only a handful of people, if that many, expect to be the next governor.

Without much of a political program to promote, he simply performs the role of Kinky.

What could have been a simple refusal to apologize to Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the other independent candidate, over a recent campaign flap about ethics prompted Friedman, instead, to challenge the PC issue head-on.

"It's meaningless," he told R.G. Ratcliffe, an Austin bureau reporter for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News.

"It's politically correct these days to apologize to the Indians and apologize to the Hawaiians for taking their land, apologize to the African-Americans for dealing with them as slaves and on and on without end. It's a little late in the game to go around apologizing and thinking everything's going to be OK."

Some of what the man says makes sense. Some of it does anything but.

But when you see the number of Kinky stickers around Texas, I sometimes wonder if we might not see the man pull a Jesse Ventura style victory this November. After all, the governor is alientaing the GOP base by stacking his property tax commission with opponents of property tax relief and leaving off the leading expert on the subject, our state comptroller is mounting a quixotic independent campaign, and the Democrats couldn't find a legitimate candidate for office so they picked a thrid-rater who would have been censured by the House Ethics committee if he hadn't been thrown out of office int eh Democrat primary.

After all, there is something to be said for a guy whose campaign slogan is "Why The Hell Not?"

Posted by: Greg at 05:53 AM | Comments (92) | Add Comment
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Sometimes the government does really dumb things in the name of protecting us from terrorism. You know, like making 90-year-old quadraplegic Swedish nuns disassemble their wheelchairs to prove they are not al-Qaeda terrorists. Or giving heightened scrutiny at airports to military personnel in uniform carrying travel orders from the Department of Defense.

Or investigating this case.

Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam.

Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.

The case "shows just how easy it is to be labeled a suspected terrorist," he says.

It all started on July 25 in Alton, Ill., when the Army Corps of Engineers invited public discussion about options for improving fish movement at the nearby Melvin Price Locks and Dam, considered a major impediment to roughly three dozen species that migrate upstream.

During the 90-minute hearing that included on the agenda whether to build a fish channel, Bensman says, he reiterated he's no fan of dams, contending they're environmentally destructive and amount to billions of dollars in corporate welfare for boating interests.

He urged that the dam be torn out. He said he never mentioned blowing the dam up, though the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited.

The next day, however, a local newspaper reported that Bensman "said he would like to see the dam blown up and resents paying taxes to fix dam problems when it is barge companies that profit from the dam."

Workers at the corps' St. Louis office "took a dim view (of the article) and questioned if it was a potential threat," and a security manager forwarded the clipping to the FBI, said corps spokesman Alan Dooley.

Now hold on here -- the guy gets words attributed to him in a newspaper -- words that can easily be refuted by listening to the tape of the public hearing (such things are recorded by the government, you know, to provide a full record of the public hearings). The only mention of blowing up the dam was in the Corps' own presentation ,not in Bensman's comments. But the FBI conducted a full-scale investigation?

What's more, the Corps of Engineers refuses to make any apology or even acknowledge that it had over-reacted in calling the FBI over a newspaper article without even checking its own records of the event.

I'm all for keeping America safe -- but this is ridiculous.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT: Stop the ACLU, Wizbang, Samantha Burns, Is It Just Me?, Adam's Blog, Bacon Bits, Bullwinkle Blog, Stuck on Stupid, Conservative Cat, Third World County, Blue Star Chronicle, Right Nation, Uncooperative Blogger, Right Wing Nation, Woman Honor Thyself

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The Houston Chronicle today offers a an article on the Shelley Sekula-Gibbs campaign.

As she begins her uphill campaign for Congress, City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is taking heart in hills she already has climbed to earn the long-shot Republican assignment.

Her emergence as the GOP's only hope to retain the seat vacated by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay resulted from hard work and perseverance, with help from luck and circumstances.

"There is some truth to that, because there were so many iterations during this process," Sekula-Gibbs said. "It was amazing and imperfect, but nevertheless decisive. No one could have predicted the outcome. But I was determined to stay the course and be the Republican choice if they wanted me."

And it has been an uphill battle from day one. I was an early supporter, though I will concede that I gave a hard look at all the possible options following the decision that the GOP could not replace Tom Delay on the ballot. Still, I have never wavered from my perspective that Shelley that Shelley was and is the best available Republican candidate for this Republican district -- a conservative with a solid record and no hint of ethical impropriety who was willing to work with the party to mount an effective campaign.

That was a contrast with her major opponent in the waning days of the selection process.

And frankly, I don't get the large amount of space devoted to Shelley's failed opponent. He never had significant support outside of Sugar land, and had spent the entire process antagonizing the state party, and the harris COunty GOP in particular. At no point did that candidate express any willingness to meet with the representatives of the largest county in his district as a group. We were expected to come to him, individually, on his turf and his terms. This stands in sharp contrast to Shelley's strategy of reaching out to precinct chairs in all four counties, holding events in each and making herself available to virtually any group in the counties that wished to hear from her.

I encourage folks to read this article to find out why Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is our candidate, even as a write-in -- and why she should be the choice of voters in CD22

Posted by: Greg at 03:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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USS Texas (SSN 775), that is.

The Navy debuted its newest nuclear-powered submarine Friday in an Atlantic Ocean swing off the Florida coast, the second in the latest fast-attack class that marks a broad departure from the Cold War-era deterrence boats.

The Texas, which will officially earn a "USS" designator in a commissioning ceremony in two weeks, weighs 7,800 tons, measures 377 feet long and can remain submerged on covert surveillance up to three months. It travels faster than 25 knots underwater and dives farther than 800 feet.

"It's much more effective than any ship I've been on before," said Capt. John Litherland, who has been on more than 50. "It's not the fastest, but the difference is that it's quiet even at its top speed."

Perhaps the biggest improvement is the ability to travel with a small special forces submarine, nine commandos and their gear. Previous subs would have carried only three Navy SEALS.

The second of the so-called Virginia boats, following the USS Virginia, the Texas also features advanced navigation and computer systems that only require two sailors piloting. The periscope is fiberoptic, useful for two reasons: there is no longer a vulnerable hatch on top to telescope into and out of, and its images can be projected to everyone in the control room.

God bless Texas!

Posted by: Greg at 12:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Look at these numbers for the five most closely watched Senate races -- GOP candidates listed first, and previous polling numbers in parentheses.

Missouri : 46-44 (46-47)

Rhode Island: 43-42 (38-44)

Ohio : 42-45 (41-49)

Montana: 47-47 (42-43)

Pennsylvania: 39-44 (42-4

We lead in two, are tied in one, and are close in the other two. That means that all are serious prospects to be won by a Republican -- if one considers Lincoln Chaffee to be a Republican.

Posted by: Greg at 07:05 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Looks like the UN will receive one final test of whether it is worth a pitcher of warm spit. Its handling of this latest move by the Madman of Tehran will determine whether or not the organization deserves to survive. If it fails here, the US and other sane nations should simply walk away.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated on Saturday a new phase in the Arak heavy-water reactor project, part of IranÂ’s atomic program which the West fears is aimed at producing bombs.

A Reuters witness said the president inaugurated the project and toured the site at Khondab, which is near Arak 120 miles southwest of the capital Tehran. The plantÂ’s plutonium by-product could be used to make atomic warheads.

The move came days before a U.N. deadline for Iran to halt uranium enrichment, the part of the program which is the biggest worry to the West. But the latest development is likely to raise further fears in Western capitals.

This move will likely split the major powers working to slow or stop Iran's nuclear program.

Six world powers have offered Iran incentives to halt enrichment. But Iran has so far only hinted it might be ready to consider halting the work as a result of talks, not as a precondition.

The reply seemed tailored to divide the four Western powers and Russia and China who agreed to the deadline on August 31.

The United States has said the six powers will move quickly to adopt sanctions if Iran disregards the deadline. Britain, Germany and France have been less conclusive in public.

Russia and China, both trade partners of Iran, have been unwilling and could veto sanctions in the Security Council.

But the Mullahocracy in Iran has said that it will not comply with UN demands.

Iran responded Tuesday to package of incentives, presented by the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany, for it to halt uranium enrichment and return to negotiations on increasing international oversight of its nuclear program. Tehran said it would be open to negotiations but did not agree to the West's key demand to halt enrichment as a precondition to talks.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, will report on the state of Iran's program by mid-September. If its report finds that enrichment is continuing, the council could move toward sanctions.

Tehran has called the Security Council resolution that set the Thursday deadline "illegal" and has insisted it won't give up its nuclear program.

"They may impose some restrictions on us under pressure. But will they be able to prevent the thoughts of a nation?" Ahmadinejad said Saturday. "Will they be able to prevent the progress and technology to a nation? They have to accept the reality of a powerful, peace-loving and developed Iran. This is in the interest of all governments and all nations whether they like it or not."

The major problem is that while nuclear power in the hands of a peace-loving and developed Iran would be a good thing, we are stuck with a barbaric sharia-law dictatorship ruled by a madman who has expressed a desire to wipe one nation off the face of the earth -- and this call for completing the Hitlerian project of genocide against the Jews is advanced by the continuation of this project.

Posted by: Greg at 06:36 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now let me begin by saying that I find Trooper Robert Henderson's beliefs and associations to be reprehensible -- but I also find them to be First Amendment protected. And furthermore, I find the attempt to fire him more offensive than his membership in these groups. Fortunately, an arbiter agreed with my position, although the state of Nebraska intends to seek to have a court overturn that ruling.

Robert Henderson was not fired as a state trooper because he belonged to the Ku Klux Klan and another white supremacist group, authorities said. Instead, he was ousted because he could not uphold public trust while participating in such groups, they said.

An arbitrator disagreed, ordering the State Patrol to reinstate Henderson within 60 days and pay him back wages. The state went to court Friday to keep him off the force.

"The integrity of Nebraska's law enforcement is at risk," Attorney General Jon Bruning said at news conference in Lincoln. "The Constitution does not require law enforcement to employ anyone tied to the KKK."

In a summary of the causes for firing Henderson in March, the State Patrol said membership in the KKK "seriously compromised" Henderson's ability to do his job.

Henderson and the state troopers union appealed and, under its contract, went to binding arbitration, to get his job back.

Arbitrator Paul J. Caffera, a New York lawyer, last week overturned the firing.

Heck -- imagine that the state tried that with someone who joined the Nation of Islam, a notoriously racist group. Or for that matter, a Muslim convert -- after all, how much of the public really trusts Muslims since 9/11, especially given the continued terrorism of the last five years (or, for that matter, the preceeding few decades). Or maybe some Hispanic guy associated with MEChA -- which has as its motto "For Our Race, everything. For Those Outside Our Race, nothing" (Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada). Would firing a Communist be acceptable? There would be lawsuits galore regarding First Amendment violations and accusations of racism and religious discrimination. Either all members of the law enforcement community retain their First Amendment rights, or none do.

By the way -- is Robert Byrd still in the US Senate?

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We'll let illegal aliens who have no right to be in this country enroll in our public schools -- but woe to the American citizen kid whose parents try to sneak him/her across district lines in search of a better education!

SAD to say, but suburban schools also have a problem with illegal immigrants, only theirs are pint-size and most are American citizens.

Take Greenwich. Students from bordering communities like Port Chester, N.Y., and Stamford, Conn., keep striving to land seats in Greenwich classrooms. Who can blame them? Just as Mexicans sneak into California because thatÂ’s where the better jobs are, students sneak into Greenwich because thatÂ’s where the better schools are.

Greenwich, one of AmericaÂ’s wealthiest towns, has not yet surrounded itself with a chain-link fence and National Guard troops. But it has its own version of a border patrol. A private eye, the kind who might be expected to snoop around motels, has been hired to check out tips of juvenile border crossings. Tattletale parents will report that theyÂ’ve spied a student crossing the Mill Street bridge from Port Chester or spotted another being dropped off by a car with New York license plates. The gumshoe, camera in hand, might shadow the third grader to his home.

The school district would not identify its Sam Spade, except to say heÂ’s a former Greenwich police officer and that he is paid $15,000 a year. He also does the shoe-leather sleuthing of confirming whether students live where their leases and utility bills say they do. In the 2004-5 school year, Greenwich investigated 62 cases and found 20 intruders. Dr. John Curtin, assistant superintendent, told of one student whose address was a golf course and who, upon inquiry, turned out to be the child of a maintenance worker legitimately housed on the greens.

Most suspicious cases donÂ’t arise from border crossings, but from the turmoil of 21st-century life. Parents divorce, executives get posted overseas. ThatÂ’s one reason why Greenwich is thinking of going high-tech with software, already used by West Hartford, Conn., schools, that crosschecks people who file change-of-address forms with the post office against the districtÂ’s database.

Why does Greenwich work so hard at stopping illegals? Put simply, state and local laws require students to attend schools where they live. Pelham, N.Y., bordered by the Bronx and Mount Vernon, takes similar steps, budgeting $50,000 to track down alien students. In the past year, according to Dr. Charles Wilson, the superintendent, it expelled half the 60 students it investigated.

I guess some illegal aliens are just a little bit more equal than others -- and the inferior ones have American citizenship. Because after all, Greenwich and its ilk don't have to worry much about the OTHER illegal aliens. Those are paid for by the taxpayers of the less affluent community who would desperately like their children to have the same sort of facilities and education Greenwich students get.

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A dog is a man's best friend.

That even applies -- perhaps especially applies -- if you are a world-famous artist.

And that best friend sometimes even finds his way into your art.

Some old masters made a point of including the faces of fellow artists and patrons in the crowds portrayed in large oil paintings. Pablo Picasso paid similar homage to a more unusual friend: a self-assured little dachshund called Lump.

* * *

More than three decades after the deaths of the Spanish-born artist and the German-born dachshund, Mr. Duncan has published “Picasso and Lump: A Dachshund’s Odyssey” (Bulfinch Press, $24.95), a 100-page book of photographs taken in 1957 that show Lump as the top dog in the Villa La Californie, Picasso’s hillside mansion in Cannes.

The sequence starts on April 19, 1957, the day that Lump met Picasso. Mr. Duncan, who had first photographed Picasso a year earlier, brought Lump along for the ride, largely because the dog did not get along well with Mr. DuncanÂ’s other pet, an Afghan hound called Kublai Khan.

“Lump immediately decided that this would be his new home,” Mr. Duncan recalled in an interview on a visit to Paris, noting pointedly that “lump” means “rascal” in German. “He more or less said, ‘Duncan, that’s it, I’m staying here.’ And he did, for the next six years.”

Picasso was apparently equally entranced. That very day, he did his first portrait of Lump, a signed and dated portrait of the dog that he painted on a plate while having lunch with Jacqueline Roque, his new partner, whom he would marry four years later.

Lump eventually went back home with Duncan -- and died, one week before Picasso, in 1973.

This is a charming story -- and a must for dog lovers everywhere.

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I'm troubled by this story.

A Madison County public defender has been accused of having "inappropriate sexual relations" with a 32-year-old female inmate.

Walter Wood, 52, a one-time Municipal Court judge in Ridgeland, was arrested Wednesday on two counts of disorderly conduct, said Sheriff Toby Trowbridge.

Wood posted bond and referred all questions to his attorney, Tommy Savant.

Savant could not be reached for comment.

Trowbridge said that following a meeting between the inmate and Wood last week, "we had reason to believe that there might be some inappropriate behavior between attorney Walter Wood and his client in the interview room of the detention center."

After their meeting, the woman was interviewed by sheriff's deputies and accused Wood of "sexual misconduct," he said.

1) Could there have been a circumstance under which Wood had "appropriate sexual relations" wih his client?

2) Under the Clinton Doctrine, isn't this "just about sex" and therefore not any of our business?

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Columnist Jack Kelley makes an important point about the inane and ungrounded ruling of Judge Anna Diggs Taylor on the rights of terrorists to attack America free from government interference. It highlights the decision we face this November.

We suffered on Sept. 11, 2001, the most devastating attack ever on our soil. It likely would have been repeated this month, were it not for the program Judge Taylor wants to terminate.

President Bush has made mistakes in his conduct of the war on terror. But thanks in part to Judge Taylor's ruling, voters this November will be asking themselves whether they would rather be governed by a political party that thinks Islamic terror is the greatest threat to Americans, or by a political party which is more concerned about Wal-Mart.

Let us hope the American people answer wisely.

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If it isn't a baby, how can you explain this attrocity?

Police and prosecutors in Hialeah, Fla., are investigating an abortion clinic incident that has all the markings of murder. On the morning of July 20, an 18-year-old girl walked into the A Gyn Diagnostics Center to abort her baby at 23 weeks. She had received medication to dilate her cervix the night before. By that afternoon, however, the clinic abortionist, Frantz Bazile, had not shown up for work.

The girl delivered her baby, alive, moving, and trying to breathe. Clinic worker Belkis Gonzalez then allegedly cut the umbilical cord, stuffed the wriggling, gasping baby into a biohazard bag, and sealed the bag shut.

That is the story the baby's mother and at least one other witness told investigators, according to Hialeah Deputy Police Chief Mark Overton. The day the baby was born, police received a tip and searched the clinic, but found no body. Nine days later, acting on another tip, police searched A Gyn again. This time they found the infant, still in the biohazard bag, unrefrigerated and badly decomposed.

There are no words that need be added.

H/T Anna Venger & Right Wing News

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Cool!

And that isn't a reference to the permafrost where the mummy was found.

The spectacular find of the frozen remains of a Scythian warrior in Mongolia by an international team of archeologists could shed new light on ancient life. Some of those findings will be the subject of a major exhibition in Berlin next year.

Scientists in Berlin this week gave their first major press conference about the spectacular discovery of a frozen mummy in Mongolia's Altai mountains. The frozen corpse, embedded in permafrost, is considered one of the greatest archeological finds since climbers came across the mummified remains of Ötzi, the ice man, in an alpine glacier. The corpse of the Scythian warrior could help provide clues about how people lived 2,500 years ago and about what illnesses they suffered.

"The mummy is unbelievably valuable to science," Hermann Parzinger, president of the German Archeological Institute (DAI), said on Thursday in Berlin. He described the mummy recently discovered in Mongolia as a "one of a kind find" that could increase our knowledge about the nutrition and health of early man.

The mummy, which is believed to be about 2,500 years old was a 30-to-40 year-old man with blond hair, and was found in very good condition, Patzinger said. It's too delicate for exhibition, but new techniques developed following other recent discoveries of frozen mummies will enable scientists to study the remains in detail. The newly discovered Altai mummy has been compared to the discovery of Ötzi in southern Tyrol in 1991 and a tattooed Siberian ice princess in 1993.

Wikipedia has a good article on Scythia and the Scythians, if you want more information on these fierce warriors.

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Does this picture not break your heart?

__

A fire gutted a 19th century cathedral in the heart of Russia's second city on Friday, destroying its famous azure domes which attract thousands of tourists every year.

As flames leapt from the main dome of the Troitsky (Trinity) Cathedral -- one of the largest wooden domes in Europe -- passers-by helped to rescue priceless artefacts from its renowned art and religious icon collection.

"The fire services don't have long enough ladders to reach the top of the dome. They have been aiming their water guns at the middle section," Reuters photographer Alexander Demyanchuk said by telephone from outside the cathedral.

The cathedral had been covered by wooden scaffolding during reconstruction work when the fire started.

"The main dome has been destroyed but we could not stop the fire because it was so high and now other domes are in flames," a spokesman for Russia's emergencies ministry told Interfax news agency.

Emergency services said there had been no casualties.

The Troitsky Cathedral, built overlooking one of central St Petersburg's canals, is big enough to hold 3,000 worshippers and also housed the military uniforms of Russian 19th century tsars.

No word yet on the extent of the damage, or the loss of any of the important historical and religious items in the building.

UPDATE: It appears that most of the items of historical and religious significance have been saved.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but acting St. Petersburg emergency department chief Leonid Belyayev said the blaze apparently started on scaffolding on the outside of the church, which was undergoing restoration.

He said the most valuable icons and other items had been saved, and that structural damage beneath the roof area was minor.

The damage will be repaired.

The above picture sums up my feelings as well. My heart breaks for the people of St. Petersburg.

Posted by: Greg at 11:59 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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IÂ’m glad this school district backed down from a wooden, literal and absurd application of a particularly inane law.

A geography teacher put on paid leave for refusing to remove Mexican, Chinese and United Nations flags from his classroom will be allowed to return to school today after district officials backed down.

But Eric Hamlin, who teaches seventh-graders in Jefferson County, hopes his experience will inspire a backlash against a Colorado law that restricts display of other nations' flags.

"This hasn't been a teacher-versus-school- district issue," Hamlin said. "This has been a teacher taking on the state statute, with the school district stuck in the middle as the enforcer."

Carmody Middle School principal John Schalk put Hamlin on paid leave Wednesday after the teacher refused three orders to take the flags out of his classroom.

The school district cited a state law prohibiting the display of any flag but the American, Colorado or local flags on public buildings, including schools. Temporary displays for instructional or historical purposes are exempt, but the school principal did not consider Hamlin's display temporary enough.

District officials agreed Thursday that Hamlin could keep the flags up for six weeks, then exchange them with other flags from his collection of more than 50. The district said he could keep his next set of flags, 25 of them from Middle Eastern nations, up for 12 weeks.

See, the display is educational, part of a legitimate educational display in a classroom, which is clearly contemplated under the statute. Not that such logic satisfies the legislator who sponsored the current law.

Former state Rep. Carl Miller, who sponsored legislation in 2002 strengthening a 1971 law restricting foreign flag displays, said the school was right to put Hamlin on leave and should not have let him return so soon.

Miller, a Democrat from Leadville, disagreed with Jefferson County Superintendent Cindy Stevenson, who said the outcome was a "win-win situation."

"The only win-win I see is that Mr. Hamlin wins, China wins, Mexico wins and the United Nations wins," he said.

Miller said he and former Democratic Sen. Alice Nichol, co- sponsor of the legislation, intended for temporary displays to last a few days, not weeks.

First, the legislation has no time-limit. Second, the exception allowing for educational displays does exist, and using the flags during a period of time that it takes to cover a unit or set of units is quite appropriate.

What this really shows is that Colorado has a truly stupid law on the books, and that there needs to be a revision of that law by the Colorado legislature.

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And I don’t say that lightly – but when a member of Congress is taking trips funded by a terrorist organization, it is inconceivable that he or she can remain in that body.

Illinois congressman Danny Davis and an aide took a trip to Sri Lanka last year that was paid for by the Tamil Tigers, a group that the U.S. government has designated as a terrorist organization for its use of suicide bombers and child soldiers, law enforcement sources said.

Davis' seven-day trip came under new scrutiny this week following the arrests of 11 supporters of the organization on charges of participating in a broad conspiracy to support the terrorist group through money laundering, arms procurement and bribery of U.S. officials.

The five-term Democratic congressman said he was unaware that the Tigers paid for the trip and on his required congressional disclosure form he reported that the trip was paid for by a Hickory Hills, Ill.-based Tamil cultural organization, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America.

During the visit, Davis spent most of his time in a region controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the group is formally known, and visited the organization's political headquarters. He also met with a police chief for the region appointed by the Tigers.

The Tamil Tigers is a separatist group that has been fighting since 1983 for an independent state for 3.2 million ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, a tear-shaped island nation of 20 million off the southern tip of India. In addition to conventional guerrilla tactics, the group has used terrorist methods, including 200 suicide bombings, in a bloody conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives. Though the violence between the government and the separatist group abated during the past several years, it recently surged again, threatening a renewed civil war.

Davis said he believed that the trip, from March 30 to April 5, 2005, was paid for by the Tamil federation, which in accordance with congressional ethics rules sent him a written statement of the travel expenses, more than $7,000 each for Davis and his aide, Daniel Cantrell. Davis said he knew that the group was "associated" with the Tamil Tigers but did not realize that the trip's costs were covered with funds controlled by the rebel group.

"I know who I got the trip from," Davis said. "I don't know if any clandestine group gave them money. All I know is what I saw and was told."

Sorry, Congressman, but that explanation does not cut it. Would you consider it appropriate to take a trip or money from an al-Qaeda “associated” group? Hardly! By your own admission, you have engaged in equivalent conduct. You have no place serving in any position of public trust.

MORE AT Wizbang & LankaWeb.

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This just in from Denmark, where they understand that Islamic extremism is a threat to freedom and safety of everyone else.

A Danish prosecutor on Thursday charged four young Muslims with helping to supply weapons and explosives for a planned terror attack in Europe.

Five other suspects in the case have been charged in Bosnia, including two men accused of preparing to blow up an unidentified European target. Three other suspects have been charged in Britain.

Prosecutor Henning Fode said the four men arrested in Denmark last October helped the two main suspects in Bosnia get hold of "weapons and explosives with the aim of committing a terror act."

All four, who cannot be named under a court order, have denied wrongdoing. Danish investigators have released little information about the suspects, but said two of them are 17, and the others are aged 20 and 21.

If convicted they could face life in prison, although such sentences are commuted after 16 years under Danish law. A trial date has not yet been set.

The probe stems from the Oct. 19 arrests in Sarajevo of Swedish national Mirsad Bektasevic, 19, and Abdulkadir Cesur, an 18-year-old Turkish national living in Denmark.

Bosnian prosecutors said Bektasevic and Cesur were planning an attack in Bosnia-Herzegovina or at some other unidentified site in Europe with the aim of forcing the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Police raiding their Sarajevo apartment allegedly found a suicide bomber belt, explosives, firearms and other military equipment, as well as a videotape showing masked men asking for God's forgiveness.

Where are the peacemakers from the Religion of Peace®? All I see are jihadi swine.

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Israel has the capability to nuke your camel-humping @$$. And that means you, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

With the purchase of two more German-made Dolphin submarines capable of carrying nuclear warheads, military experts say Israel is sending a clear message to Iran that it can strike back if attacked by nuclear weapons.

The purchases come at a time when Iran is refusing to bow to growing Western demands to halt its nuclear program, and after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

The new submarines, built at a cost of $1.3 billion with Germany footing one-third of the bill, have diesel-electric propulsion systems that allow them to remain submerged for longer periods of time than the three nuclear arms-capable submarines already in Israel's fleet, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The latest submarines not only would be able to carry out a first strike should Israel choose to do so, but they also would provide Israel with crucial second-strike capabilities, said Paul Beaver, a London-based independent defense analyst.

* * *

German officials have said the contract for the new submarines was signed July 6, and the Jerusalem Post reported this week the subs will be operational shortly.

If the Iranians really want to go there by hitting Israel with a primitive nuclear device, it seems to me that Israel would be more than capable of ensuring that Iran remains uninhabitable for approximately the next 25,000 years

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Just as the disgusting Phelps Klan crosses a line of decency with their reprehensible protests at the funerals of slain servicemen and women (and their earlier protests at the funerals of homosexuals), a group of anti-Bush cretins are crossing a line this weekend. They are picketing and protesting a wedding because the President is attending. The groom is a member of the extended Bush family.

Antiwar groups affiliated with Sheehan plan to rally as close as they can get to the wedding at St. Ann's Episcopal Church, near Walker's Point. "Join with people of conscience to call for an end to the war in Iraq and say NO! to the Bush Agenda," reads an online recruitment pitch for the demonstration.

Excuse me – people of conscience and decency, regardless of their views on the war or other political issues, do not seek to mar the wedding day of a couple with a protest directed at one of the guests.

But then again, these are the same sort of folks who held signs outside of Walter Reed Hospital that read to taunt wounded veterans. They have no shame, no decency, and no conscience.

UPDATE: Scum!

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One in four children evacuated in the wake of the hurricane failed to pass on to the next grade this year.

One in four Houston Independent School District students displaced by Hurricane Katrina failed to make enough academic progress to be promoted to the next grade this school year — a far higher rate than their classmates and an indicator of the massive challenges still facing area schools.

About 700 of the 2,900 Katrina students returning to HISD this year were held back, including 41 percent of high school sophomores and 52 percent of juniors. That 24 percent retention rate was among the highest in the area, according to retention rates released by some local school systems.

"These kids have worked hard, but many of them were not prepared for the rigorous Texas standards," HISD spokesman Terry Abbott said.

On the other hand, many of these kids didn't work hard at all, based upon my experience. They arrived woefully behind due to an inadequate system of education in New Orleans and the surrounding area, took the initial outpouring of generosity (our school bought every single evacuee kid over $200 in clothes and school supplies -- despite having many impoverished children in the neighborhood who didn't gt freebies from every social service agency) as a sign that the year was a free ride, and complained that what was expected of them was more than they would need back in Louisiana schools and therefore didn't do much work because they expected to be back there this fall. Add to that the isues raised in the article and you can understand why the numbers show what they show -- especially since HISD received so many of the children coming from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds.

I hate to say it, but looking back over the last year I'm just not surprised by the number of failing kids, especially in the upper grades.

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Why are we sending one thin dime to a backwater, Third World hell-hole like New Orleans -- especially as long as this jackass is in charge?

During the "60 minutes" interview, a correspondent pointed out flood-damaged cars still on the streets of New Orleans' devastated Ninth Ward. Nagin replied, "You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later. So let's be fair," according to CBS.

New Orleans is one of the stupidist places in America to build a city -- and America's stupitest city. The incompetence and corruption of state and local officials over the course of many years resulted in many deaths and the failure of the levees. And at every turn, Ray Nagin looks to blame someone else for the failures of the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans.

And now he insults the victims of a real American tragedy -- an attack on the United States by foreign enemies.

From where I stand (surrounded by criminals and welfare leeches shipped in from New Orleans following Katrina), the time has come to cut that city off, raze it, and let Mother Nature reclaim the site.

MORE AT Hot Air, Oblogatory Anecdotes, small dead animals, Pundit Guy, HuffPo, Gawker, Ed Driscoll

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Human rights in Malaysia have always been something of a farce -- but this case deserves international condemnation.

From the scant personal details that can be pieced together about Lina Joy, she converted from Islam to Christianity eight years ago and since then has endured extraordinary hurdles in her desire to marry the man in her life.

Her name is a household word in this majority Muslim country. But she is now in hiding after death threats from Islamic extremists, who accuse her of being an apostate.

Five years ago she started proceedings in the civil courts to seek the right to marry her Christian fiancé and have children. Because she had renounced her Muslim faith, Ms. Joy, 42, argued, Malaysia’s Islamic Shariah courts, which control such matters as marriage, property and divorce, did not have jurisdiction over her.

In a series of decisions, the civil courts ruled against her. Then, last month, her lawyer, Benjamin Dawson, appeared before MalaysiaÂ’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, to argue that Ms. JoyÂ’s conversion be considered a right protected under the Constitution, not a religious matter for the Shariah courts.

“She’s trying to live her life with someone she loves,” Mr. Dawson said in an interview.

Threats against Ms. Joy had become so insistent, and the passions over her conversion so inflamed, he had concluded there was no room for her and her fiancé in Malaysia. The most likely solution, he said, was for her to emigrate.

The truly obscene part of the case is that the civil courts left her with only one remedy other than leaving her homeland forever -- taking the case into the Sharia court system, which would have clerics of a faith Lina Joy rejects as false ruling upon her ability to exercise an international recognized human right. The problem is that the backwards and barbaric Muslim legal system considers attempted conversion to be a crime -- and it is therefore most likely that Lina Joy's attempt to vindicate her human rights would be met with a decision that she is a criminal for doing so. She would therefore be sent to a prison controlled by Muslim clerics in order to "rehabilitate" her -- in other words, to force her to renounce Christ in order to regain her freedom.

I urge prayers for Lina Joy.

And I ask where the international outcry is over this fundamental violation of human rights.

UPDATE -- 8/25/06: Michelle Malkin provides excellent coverage, noting that Malaysian police are investigating the Catholic Church where Lina Joy was baptized and the government is considering strengthening laws against preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims. And she includes this quote from an Islamic scholar on the subject of conversions.

"If Islam were to grant permission for Muslims to change religion at will, it would imply it has no dignity, no self-esteem," said Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad, senior fellow at Malaysia's Institute of Islamic Understanding.

"And people may then question its completeness, truthfulness and perfection."

In other words, fundamental human rights are anathema to Islam. You can have freedom of religion or ROPMA, but not both. has the time come for the civilized nations of the world to decide between religious liberty and Islam?

COVERAGE FROM MALAYSIA by Maobi -- with many links to bloggers from Malaysia and around the world. Also good stuff from Guambat Stew

PREVIOUSLY:
Religious Freedom -- Islamic Style
Malaysian Muslims Steal Hindu Hero's Body From Family
Dhimmitude In Malaysia
Human Rights And Islam – Incompatible

Posted by: Greg at 10:24 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I know it is just a game and I know it is just Hollywood -- but something just strikes me as wrong about the decision to group Survivor contestants by race.

Get ready for a segregated "Survivor." Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity. That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups.

The announcement was made on CBS' Early Show. Host Jeff Probst says the idea "actually came from the criticism that 'Survivor' was not ethnically diverse enough." He says the twist fits in perfectly with what "Survivor" does, saying the show is "a social experiment. And this is adding another layer to that experiment." Probst says contestants had mixed reactions to the racial divisions.

This time the new Survivors are stranded on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. The castaways include a police officer, a heavy metal guitarist, an attorney and a nail salon manager. The new season of Survivor debuts September 14th.

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If so, please remit the amount you believe you are underpaying to the following address.

Until you do, please refrain from suggesting that taxes are not high enough.

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I’ve mentioned more than once that my dear wife suffers from a cluster of chronic neurological conditions which are degenerative and result in chronic pain. We have been fortunate that her doctors take her seriously and are willing to prescribe therapeutic dosages of appropriate pain medications.

Unfortunately, state and federal regulators have been going after doctors in the pain management field for prescribing such medications at therapeutic levels, second-guessing the medical judgments of physicians. One recent conviction really had me disturbed – but it has now been overturned on appeal.

A federal appeals court threw out the conviction of William E. Hurwitz yesterday, granting the prominent former Northern Virginia pain-management doctor a new trial because jurors were not allowed to consider whether he prescribed drugs in good faith.

The decision again galvanized the national debate that the Hurwitz case had come to symbolize: whether fully licensed doctors prescribing legal medication to patients in chronic pain should be subject to prosecution if their patients abuse or sell the drugs. Patient advocate groups strongly supported Hurwitz and expressed concern that his conviction would have a chilling effect on pain doctors.

The Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit acknowledged that prosecutors presented "powerful" evidence at Hurwitz's trial that was "strongly indicative of a doctor acting outside the bounds of accepted medical practice." Hurwitz was convicted in December 2004 of running a drug conspiracy from his McLean office, causing the death of one patient and seriously injuring two others.

But a three-judge panel concluded that U.S. District Judge Leonard D. Wexler improperly told jurors that they could not consider whether Hurwitz acted in "good faith" when he prescribed large amounts of OxyContin and other painkillers -- in one instance, 1,600 pills a day.

"We cannot say that no reasonable juror could have concluded that Hurwitz's conduct fell within an objectively-defined good-faith standard," the judges wrote, adding that Hurwitz presented evidence that he ran a legitimate medical practice and believed that his prescriptions were "medically proper."

Patient and medical advocates hailed the decision. "It's about time that courts start to realize that these are doctors, not drug dealers," said Kathryn Serkes, a spokeswoman for the Arizona-based Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

While my wife is not – quite – on as much medication as this doctor was prescribing, her dosages are increasing as her symptoms worsen. I would hate to think that her medical team would ever have to face a choice between giving her enough medication or staying out of jail.

Posted by: Greg at 11:25 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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IÂ’ve mentioned more than once that my dear wife suffers from a cluster of chronic neurological conditions which are degenerative and result in chronic pain. We have been fortunate that her doctors take her seriously and are willing to prescribe therapeutic dosages of appropriate pain medications.

Unfortunately, state and federal regulators have been going after doctors in the pain management field for prescribing such medications at therapeutic levels, second-guessing the medical judgments of physicians. One recent conviction really had me disturbed – but it has now been overturned on appeal.

A federal appeals court threw out the conviction of William E. Hurwitz yesterday, granting the prominent former Northern Virginia pain-management doctor a new trial because jurors were not allowed to consider whether he prescribed drugs in good faith.

The decision again galvanized the national debate that the Hurwitz case had come to symbolize: whether fully licensed doctors prescribing legal medication to patients in chronic pain should be subject to prosecution if their patients abuse or sell the drugs. Patient advocate groups strongly supported Hurwitz and expressed concern that his conviction would have a chilling effect on pain doctors.

The Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit acknowledged that prosecutors presented "powerful" evidence at Hurwitz's trial that was "strongly indicative of a doctor acting outside the bounds of accepted medical practice." Hurwitz was convicted in December 2004 of running a drug conspiracy from his McLean office, causing the death of one patient and seriously injuring two others.

But a three-judge panel concluded that U.S. District Judge Leonard D. Wexler improperly told jurors that they could not consider whether Hurwitz acted in "good faith" when he prescribed large amounts of OxyContin and other painkillers -- in one instance, 1,600 pills a day.

"We cannot say that no reasonable juror could have concluded that Hurwitz's conduct fell within an objectively-defined good-faith standard," the judges wrote, adding that Hurwitz presented evidence that he ran a legitimate medical practice and believed that his prescriptions were "medically proper."

Patient and medical advocates hailed the decision. "It's about time that courts start to realize that these are doctors, not drug dealers," said Kathryn Serkes, a spokeswoman for the Arizona-based Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

While my wife is not – quite – on as much medication as this doctor was prescribing, her dosages are increasing as her symptoms worsen. I would hate to think that her medical team would ever have to face a choice between giving her enough medication or staying out of jail.

Posted by: Greg at 11:25 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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No matter how much money Tom Cruise makes for a movie studio, there is still a limit to the odd behavior that studio will take.

Paramount Pictures will end its longstanding relationship with Cruise/Wagner Productions, actor Tom Cruise's production company, citing his erratic behavior, according to a published report.

Sumner Redstone, CEO of Paramount owner Viacom, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that appeared in Wednesday's edition that Cruise's controversial behavior over the last year - including advocating for Scientology and denouncing the use of antidepressant drugs - was the cause for the move
The movie company is concerned that Cruise's behavior hurt his most recent film, "Mission: Impossible 3," said the report.

"As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal," Redstone was quoted as saying in the Wall Street Journal. "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount." .

Cruise paints this as a mutual agreement, but it seems petty clear that he was dumped.

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