I feared that I would soon be writing that headline when I posted about her battle with cancer this past weekend. I just didn't expect it to be quite this soon.

Molly Ivins, the liberal newspaper columnist who delighted in skewering politicians and interpreting, and mocking, her Texas culture, died yesterday in Austin. She was 62.

Ms. Ivins waged a public battle against breast cancer after her diagnosis in 1999. Betsy Moon, her personal assistant, confirmed her death last night. Ms. Ivins died at her home surrounded by family and friends.

In her syndicated column, which appeared in about 350 newspapers, Ms. Ivins cultivated the voice of a folksy populist who derided those who she thought acted too big for their britches. She was rowdy and profane, but she could filet her opponents with droll precision.

I'll let my comments from the weekend stand as my tribute to her.

I find her positions wrong-headed and hateful, and her prose lacking in elegance. I don't even like her accent. But I would hate to see her voiced silenced at what is a relatively young age.

* * *

Get well, Molly -- I don't agree with you, but I don't want to lose you.

Sadly, the Lord did not choose to honor that parting sentiment, and so today I close with a different one -- may she rest in peace, in the presence of the Lord.

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This is simply one more area in which the government need not and ought not be involved in making the decision for consumers.

A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California's groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

The "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act" would ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

"Incandescent lightbulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications," California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine said on Tuesday.

"Meanwhile, they remain incredibly inefficient, converting only about 5 percent of the energy they receive into light."

Levine is expected to introduce the legislation this week, his office said.
If passed, it would be another pioneering environmental effort in California, the most populous U.S. state. It became the first state to mandate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, targeting a 25 percent reduction in emissions by 2020.

Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) use about 25 percent of the energy of conventional lightbulbs.

Personally, I’m of the belief that a better name for the bill is the “”How Many Legislators Does It Take To Strip You Of Your Freedom Act”. And I say this as someone who made the choice to convert most of the lights in my home to the CFL bulbs that this act would mandate. I simply do not believe it is the place of the government to be making such choices on our behalf.
What next? The “Shut Off The Lights When You Leave The Room Act”?

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I really struggle over this situation from Tampa, which I can see as raising a whole host of issues. After all, what do you do when a crime victim -- especially the victim of a sexual assault -- is discovered to have an outstanding warrant when they report the crime?

A 21-year-old woman told police Saturday that a man grabbed her off Howard Avenue and raped her behind a building during the Gasparilla festivities.

But officers investigating the case arrested her after learning she had an outstanding warrant from her teenage years for failure to pay restitution.

She spent the next two nights in jail.

Police are reviewing their policies after the arrest, which one victim's advocate said could have "a chilling effect" on the rape investigation, the woman's well-being and the desire of future victims to contact police.

The woman's family is outraged.

The family is, of course, incensed over the arrest and jailing of the young woman, a feeling I can understand given the horrendous nature of the event she has just been through. At the same time, I can understand the argument that it is the duty of the police to enforce arrest warrants that have been issued when possible, without playing favorites.

But in this case, I tend to side with the family and the victim. The police knew where this woman lived, and how to contact her in the future. At some future point, after a suitable interval, the arrest could have been made. Indeed, this is one of those instances in which the matter probably should have been kicked to the prosecutor's office to see how they wanted the matter handled. No doubt a suitable arrangement could have been made for the young woman to deal with those warrants at a more appropriate time.

Yes, justice is important -- but mercy is at times the higher value.

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How else can you explain this trend?

Salaries of top New Orleans administrators have nearly doubled in the past eight years, and paychecks for some positions have almost tripled, thanks to aggressive pay increases pushed through by Mayor Ray Nagin. But whether the city is getting a big bang for the big bucks is an open question.

The pay packages for top Nagin aides are well above those in Memphis and Nashville, Tenn., cities that were already substantially larger than New Orleans even before Katrina scattered the city's population across the country.

And the executive pay scale doesn't lag far behind Atlanta and Austin, Texas, bigger cities that also own and must pay top-flight managers to run some extremely valuable assets: an electric utility in Austin, and Atlanta's airport, the busiest in the country.

Yep – that place is corrupt to the core.

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I think we can see one way that "regime change" in favor of the cut-and-run Democrats on Capitol Hill has made a difference -- anti-war vandals were allowed to spray-paint the Capitol while police stood by and did nothing.

Anti-war protesters were allowed to spray paint on part of the west front steps of the United States Capitol building after police were ordered to break their security line by their leadership, two sources told The Hill.

According to the sources, police officers were livid when they were told to fall back by U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Chief Phillip Morse and Deputy Chief Daniel Nichols. "They were the commanders on the scene," one source said,who requested anonymity. "It was disgusting."

After police ceded the stairs, located on the lower west front of the Capitol, the building was locked down, the source added.

A second source who witnessed the incident said that the police had the crowd stopped at Third Street, but were told to bring the police line in front of the Capitol.

In other words, standard police procedures were violated in order to permit a mass of protesters within the security perimeter around the Capitol

What is the explanation for this unprofessional conduct that allowed for the desecration of the Capitol?

Approximately 300 protesters were allowed to take the steps and began to spray paint "anarchist symbols" and phrase such as "Our capitol building" and "you canÂ’t stop us" around the area, the source said.

Morse responded to these claims in an e-mail Sunday afternoon,explaining that the protesters were seeking confrontation with the police.

"While there were minor instances of spray painting of pavement by a splinter group of Anarchists who were seeking a confrontation with the police, their attempts to breach into secure areas and rush the doors of the Capitol were thwarted," Morse said. "The graffiti was easily removed by the dedicated [Architect of the Capitol] staff, some of whom responded on their day off to quickly clean the area."

He added, "It is the USCP's duty and responsibility to protect the Capitol complex, staff and public while allowing the public to exercise their First Amendment rights Â… at the end of the day, both occurred without injury to protestors or officers."

Now there is a fundamental problem with this statement -- vandalism of public buildings is NOT a First Amendment right. Neither is breaking a police line, which was the goal of the anti-war hooligans. Lawlessness, not the First Amendment, was allowed to prevail. I'm curious what Morse would have done had this group insisted upon taking their protest further, perhaps into the Capitol proper? This statement makes it sound like he would have again ordered his men to cut-and-run while additional damage was done to the Capitol. After all, orders had been given that no arrests were to be made.

Sounds to me like Chief Phillip Morse and Deputy Chief Daniel Nichols need to be removed from their position immediately -- and steps taken to ensure that such an event never happens again.

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I find her positions wrong-headed and hateful, and her prose lacking in elegance. I don't even like her accent. But I would hate to see her voiced silenced at what is a relatively young age.

Sadly, Molly Ivins is back in the hospital, fighting the cancer she has battled on and off for the last eight years.

Nationally syndicated columnist Molly Ivins has been hospitalized in her recurring battle with breast cancer.

"I think she's tough as a metal boot," her brother, Andy Ivins, said Friday after a visit with her at Seton Medical Center in Austin.

Andy Ivins said his sister was admitted to Seton on Thursday. She spent Friday morning with longtime colleagues and friends, and was "sleeping peacefully" when he arrived later in the day.

A self-described leftist agitator, Ivins, 62, completed a round of radiation treatment in August, but the cancer "came back with a vengeance," and has spread through her body, Andy Ivins said.

My prayers are with Molly Ivins and her family at this time. As I so often say, some things are just too important to let politics get in the way. And when it comes to matters like this, I just can't bring myself to feel any animosity -- just compassion for my fellow human being.

Get well, Molly -- I don't agree with you, but I don't want to lose you.

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It is long-standing precedent, dating back over a century-and-a-half.

"The city is the creature of the state."
East Hartford v. Hartford Bridge Co.
10 How. 511, 533, 534, 13 L. ed. 518, 528

Indeed, counties, school districts, and other local govrnment entities are similarly creations of the state, subject to being regulated by, or even abolished by, the state within which they exist. For the state to limit their powers, including their taxing and spending authority, is therefore beyond question and perfectly appropriate -- especially when that change is coming at the institgation of We, the People.

The Houston Chronicle, on the other hand, doesn't think the state should call these "creatures of the state" to heel.

A commission appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to reform the property appraisal system has come out with a raft of proposals that provide little in the way of reform.

Instead, the panel chaired by Dallas businessman Tom Pauken is calling for mandatory rollback elections for any local government, excluding school districts, that spends more than 5 percent beyond what it spent the previous year.

For Texas communities struggling to pay for police, fire, public hospitals and other essential services that the state does not fund, this one-size-fits-all approach would undermine their autonomy to set budget priorities. It also would impose a burdensome rollback election system that would make it very difficult to get approval for necessary spending increases.

If the Houston Chronicle had ever been an honest broker in the debate on property tax relief, I might take the analysis that follows at face value. however, the editorial board has never met a tax increase they haven't liked, nor have they ever met a real tax relief proposal (especially for property taxes) that they have seriously supported. I don't know if they really believe that the government has first claim to the money in our paychecks, but it sure seems that way.

The reality in Texas is that under current law the assessed value of one's home can double every 7-8 years -- and with it, one's tax bill. Indeed, we have seen parts of the city of Houston and other local communities in which homeowners have been driven out of their homes by rising property tax assessments. It is a pattern seen around the state, and the taxpayers have demanded action. The currnt proposals are that action.

Now the Chronicle offers this conclusion.

The Texas Legislature has already addressed the issue of burdensome school property taxes, enacting new business taxes to pay for a one-third reduction in local school property taxes. It should now concern itself with state spending issues and leave local decisions to the elected officials best qualified to make them.

What the editorial fails to take into consideration is that the taxing and spending decisions of local governments are, in reality, state decisions due to the status of these local government entities as "creatures of the state".

That being the case, I've got a better idea -- the state legislature should set these limits upon local governments, which are, after all, creations of the state. Any local government entity finding itself unable to fund essential operations with the revenue available under the proposed 5% rate of growth should be abolished in the next legislative biennium.

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What sort of person does this to a puppy?

Two teenagers accused of duct-taping a puppy's snout and paws and cooking the animal alive in an oven pleaded guilty Friday to animal cruelty and other offenses.

Prosecutors said Joshua Moulder, 17, and his brother, Justin, 19, broke into a newly refurbished community center, where they tortured and killed the 3-month-old puppy, damaged computers, broke glass and splattered paint on the walls.

The brothers then brought neighborhood children to see the dead puppy and threatened to kill them if they reported it, prosecutors said.

They will be sentenced next month.

Give them the max -- to be served consecutively.

Then publish the date, time, and location of their release on the internet.

And to all folks with an ounce of decency and even a sliver of a soul, never forget those names -- Joshua Moulder and Justin Moulder. May they be shunned from human society in perpetuity.

UPDATE: I received the following email tonight, with information related to this crime.

I run a blog on the case about the Atlanta "baked puppy" case that you posted about yesterday. I was wondering if you would consider putting up the address of the District Attorney so that people can mail letters supporting the maximum sentence for these criminals. Letters will go the judge (they should be addressed to Judge Thelma Wyatt Moore) but should be sent to:

Assistant DA Laura Janssen
Office of the Fulton County DA
136 Pryor Street, SW--Third Floor
Atlanta, GA 30303

We're just desperate to have people write letters as soon as possible because the sentencing is scheduled for February 9th--not a lot of time. Also, we have composed a form letter so people don't even need to write their own. It can be downloaded here: http://media6.filewind.com/g.php?filepath=5526.

I urge folks to act appropriately. To learn more about the case, you can visit the blog referenced above.

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This is the guy who oversaw the destruction of an ancient Afghan cultural treasure, a part of the world heritage of all humanity. I hope Satan had a warm spot reserved for him.

A FORMER Taleban official who oversaw the destruction of the 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 was assassinated in Afghanistan yesterday.

Maulavi Mohammed Islam Mohammadi, who was the Taleban's governor of Bamiyan province when the giant fifth-century statues were blown up in March 2001, was killed on his way to Friday prayers in the capital, Kabul.

Frankly, he was one of those I would have liked to see receive justice before an international court -- but I'll concede this is an acceptable substitute.

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My first thought was to check the whereabouts of my Aggie friends at the time of the crime.

Suspects questioned in Bevo rape and beating

No, Longhorn fans, your mascot is safe – I forgot that in St. Louis “Bevo” is one of the neighborhoods.

And on a serious note, let’s all hope that the police nail the perps in this horrific crime.

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My first thought was to check the whereabouts of my Aggie friends at the time of the crime.

Suspects questioned in Bevo rape and beating

No, Longhorn fans, your mascot is safe – I forgot that in St. Louis “Bevo” is one of the neighborhoods.

And on a serious note, letÂ’s all hope that the police nail the perps in this horrific crime.

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My only reaction to this headline is “No shit!”

Teens shouldn't text and drive, study warns

And neither should anyone else. Duh!

And to think that someone paid good money to find out what anyone with a lick of common sense could have told them.

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The next generation of manned space vehicle continues to be developed on schedule.

The new rocket that will replace the space shuttle for carrying crews to the International Space Station is on schedule and within weight guidelines, NASA officials said Thursday.

The National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationÂ’s associate administrator for exploration, Scott Horowitz, said that the design of the rocket, the Ares I, was progressing well and that the rocket should be ready for its first test flight on schedule in 2009.

This tracks with what I've been hearing from some of the local guys involved in this project and those on related components of the future of space exploration.

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Normally with a headline like that I'd be making a couple of Aggie jokes at the expense of my buddies who went to school in College Station. But believe it or not, there is a controversy raging over certain experiments being conducted in Oregon and elsewhere to determine the differences between gay and straight sheep, and seeking to discover what stimuli might trigger one set of sexual behavior or the other.

SCIENTISTS are conducting experiments to change the sexuality of “gay” sheep in a programme that critics fear could pave the way for breeding out homosexuality in humans.

The technique being developed by American researchers adjusts the hormonal balance in the brains of homosexual rams so that they are more inclined to mate with ewes.

It raises the prospect that pregnant women could one day be offered a treatment to reduce or eliminate the chance that their offspring will be homosexual. Experts say that, in theory, the “straightening” procedure on humans could be as simple as a hormone supplement for mothers-to-be, worn on the skin like an anti-smoking nicotine patch.

The research, at Oregon State University in the city of Corvallis and at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, has caused an outcry. Martina Navratilova, the lesbian tennis player who won Wimbledon nine times, and scientists and gay rights campaigners in Britain have called for the project to be abandoned.

Now this research does raise all sorts of questions. First, it could very well help determine the source of homosexuality -- nature, nurture, or choice -- and place it squarely in the "nature" column. But it also raises the possibility of being able to "correct" whatever causes homosexuals to deviate from the biological norm. If such "treatment" becomes available, should it be permitted? Should it be required? And should parents be permitted to make that determination for their unborn or minor offspring -- or should the choice be reserved to individuals who have reached some arbitrarily determined age of reason/consent?

How close are we to reaching the point where such issues need to be considered? Possibly closer than one might imagine.

Approximately one ram in 10 prefers to mount other rams rather than mate with ewes, reducing its value to a farmer. Initially, the publicly funded project aimed to improve the productivity of herds.

The scientists have been able to pinpoint the mechanisms influencing the desires of “male-oriented” rams by studying their brains. The animals’ skulls are cut open and electronic sensors are attached to their brains.

By varying the hormone levels, mainly by injecting hormones into the brain, they have had “considerable success” in altering the rams’ sexuality, with some previously gay animals becoming attracted to ewes.

* * *

Potentially, the techniques could one day be adapted for human use, with doctors perhaps being able to offer parents pre-natal tests to determine the likely sexuality of offspring or a hormonal treatment to change the orientation of a child.

Now I'll be the first to concede that I haven't the foggiest notion of how long it might take to translate such work from sheep to human. It seems, though, that we might be talking a matter of a decade or so, given these results. So we need to start giving the matter serious consideration. Should there be research that could lead to a "cure" for homosexuality -- or is it a condition that needs to be cured? Where are the ethical lines here? Are they the same as the political ones?

And I'll be honest here -- I don't have any answers that I am comfortable with.

What do you think?

UPDATE -- 1/25/2006: Since I posted this on December 30, 2006, there have been some more developments. The NY Times offers this new article on the controversy.

Ms. Navratilova, who also received a response from the university, said she remained unconvinced.

“The more we play God or try to improve on Mother Nature, the more damage we are doing with all kinds of experiments that either have already turned or will turn into nightmares,” she wrote in an e-mail reply to a reporter’s query. “How in the world could straight or gay sheep help humanity?”

Now I realize that Ms. Navratilova's long career in professional tennis makes her a leading expert in the field of bioethics, so I'll ask her and other opponents of this research one simple question -- where do you stand on fetal stem-cell research?

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This coming Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the Year of the Pig – but you won’t see any porkers on Chinese television, due to sensitivity to China’s small Muslim population.

Companies looking to reach China's consumer market with pig images during Year of the Pig celebrations next month will have to adjust after a national television network adopted a policy to be sensitive to the country's small Muslim population, according to published reports.

China Central Television said it would ban all verbal and visual pork references from advertisements during Lunar New Year celebrations next month, the Wall Street Journal reported. This week, the network banned a TV ad from Nestle SA featuring a smiling cartoon pig and the message, "Happy new pig year."

CCTV's ad department said the regulations are intended to avoid offending Muslims, who consider pigs unclean animals. China's 20 million Muslims comprise less than 2 percent of the population, the Journal reported.

"China is a multiethnic country," the network said in a notice. "To show respect for Islam, and upon guidance from higher levels of the government, CCTV will keep any pig images off the screen."

Let’s see – 20 million Muslims, out of a population of 1.3 billion, are sufficient to suppress the culture of the overwhelming (98%) majority. I don’t know about you, but I find crap like that to be at least as offensive as a pig is to Muslims.

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Are we seeing opposition to homosexuality finally classified as a mental illness? Has the Soviet model finally taken root here at home, with dissent from left-wing ideology declared to be a grounds for psychological intervention?

Isaiah Washington, who does the healing as a doctor on "Grey's Anatomy," is the patient now.

He's in therapy for his use of an anti-gay slur against a castmate.

"With the support of my family and friends, I have begun counseling. I regard this as a necessary step toward understanding why I did what I did and making sure it never happens again," Washington said in a statement Wednesday. "I appreciate the fact that I have been given this opportunity and I remain committed to transforming my negative actions into positive results, personally and professionally."

Good griuef – sounds like the sort of self-criticism that went on at Maoist forced labor camps. What next – medication and shock treatment like at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow?

Mind you, I’m not defending Washington’s boorish actions – I’m just questioning the basis for this “therapy”.

Posted by: Greg at 11:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Looks like the NC Bar is charging Mike Nifong with even more – and even more serious – professional misconduct.

The state bar has added ethics charges to a complaint filed against the prosecutor who brought sexual assault charges against three Duke lacrosse players, accusing him of withholding DNA evidence and misleading the court.

The new charges by the North Carolina State Bar against Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong were announced Wednesday and could lead to his removal from the state bar, according to a copy of the updated complaint.

Looks like Nifong is going down. These charges, if upheld, will virtually require that the disgraced prosecutor be disbarred.

At what point will his misconduct be seen to have so poisoned this case as to make any charges unsustainable?

Posted by: Greg at 12:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If these three young men are, in fact, guilty as charged, they need to be locked away for a very long time.

Three football players at Guilford College, a school with a Quaker background, face assault and ethnic intimidation charges after an attack on three Palestinian students, authorities said.

The victims were beaten with fists, feet and brass knuckles early Saturday by attackers who called them "terrorists" and used racial slurs, the News & Record of Greensboro reported Tuesday.

School officials believe about 12 people were involved in the altercation, Nic Brown, spokesman for the college in Greensboro, told The Associated Press. Administrators were still trying to determine whether some were fighting or trying to break it up, Brown said.

"We've had a very, very unfortunate event, unfortunate conflict among students who actually knew each other, and who had lived and interacted in the same residence hall with no conflict among themselves," Brown said.

Authorities charged Michael Bates, 19, of Reidsville, North Carolina; Michael Robert Six, 20, of Greensboro, North Carolina; and Christopher Barnette, 21, of Semora, North Carolina, with ethnic intimidation and assault and battery, according to court documents. They were released Monday on $2,000 (euro1,500) bail.

Now I’m opposed to the “ethnic intimidation” charge on principle, but the assault charge alone is disturbing. The victims of this attack, assuming this was an unprovoked altercation, did nothing to deserve what happened to them. Forget the ethnicity angle and focus on the real crime – seemingly random violence against fellow human beings.

But I do urge that everyone wait until the investigation is complete and the evidence is in -- because there seems to be a lot more evidence left out of this report than what is included.

Posted by: Greg at 11:12 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If these three young men are, in fact, guilty as charged, they need to be locked away for a very long time.

Three football players at Guilford College, a school with a Quaker background, face assault and ethnic intimidation charges after an attack on three Palestinian students, authorities said.

The victims were beaten with fists, feet and brass knuckles early Saturday by attackers who called them "terrorists" and used racial slurs, the News & Record of Greensboro reported Tuesday.

School officials believe about 12 people were involved in the altercation, Nic Brown, spokesman for the college in Greensboro, told The Associated Press. Administrators were still trying to determine whether some were fighting or trying to break it up, Brown said.

"We've had a very, very unfortunate event, unfortunate conflict among students who actually knew each other, and who had lived and interacted in the same residence hall with no conflict among themselves," Brown said.

Authorities charged Michael Bates, 19, of Reidsville, North Carolina; Michael Robert Six, 20, of Greensboro, North Carolina; and Christopher Barnette, 21, of Semora, North Carolina, with ethnic intimidation and assault and battery, according to court documents. They were released Monday on $2,000 (euro1,500) bail.

Now I’m opposed to the “ethnic intimidation” charge on principle, but the assault charge alone is disturbing. The victims of this attack, assuming this was an unprovoked altercation, did nothing to deserve what happened to them. Forget the ethnicity angle and focus on the real crime – seemingly random violence against fellow human beings.

But I do urge that everyone wait until the investigation is complete and the evidence is in -- because there seems to be a lot more evidence left out of this report than what is included.

Posted by: Greg at 11:12 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I don't know how they will enforce this one without running afoul of the First Amendment.

Brazoria Mayor Ken Corley wants offensive use of the "n-word" to be punishable by a fine of up to $500 in his town.

"It's not a particular problem in Brazoria," Corley said, "but it's a national problem."

Corley said he got the idea while watching two black ministers talking on television about how offensive that word is. "I just think it would be great if this little town of Brazoria, with 2,800 people, leads the way in fighting against this offensive language," said Corley.

He said if the ordinance passes, he may ask for it to be expanded to include other racial slurs.

He believes Brazoria would be the first place in the country where the racial slur would be outlawed. But at least one legal expert said Monday that such an ordinance may not stand up in court.

The ordinance wouldn't forbid anyone from saying the word, Corley said, but would outlaw using the word in an offensive or aggressive manner. Violators would be charged with disturbing the peace, he said.

"It would be up to somebody who was offended to file a complaint, like any other disturbance complaint," he said.

Ah, but who will decide what constitutes an "offensive" use of the word, and what constitutes an "inoffensive" use of the word? Will I, a white man, be able to file a complaint against a bunch of teenagers standing on the corner saying "nigga this" and "nigga that"? Or will this be a crime that only a black can report, because "its a black thing"? The article makes clear that it would be the latter. since "friendly" uses of the wod would be allowed.

And if the expansion to cover other terms is made, will it become a de facto "hate speech" ban, which is repugnant to the First Amendment?

What can I say -- their hearts are in the right place, but the authors of this ordinance need to wrap their minds around the Constitution.

Posted by: Greg at 11:26 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I love it -- the corrupt prosecutor persecutor in the Duke Rape Frame-Up Case has retained counsel to defend him against misconduct charges. Hopefully, he will soon need additional lawyers to handle the criminal and civil cases that are going to arise out of his unethical and illegal conduct in this case.

The prosecutor who removed himself from the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case has hired a well-known law firm to defend him against ethics charges before the North Carolina State Bar.

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong has retained Winston-Salem lawyers David Freedman and Dudley Witt, law partners known for defending lawyers facing professional misconduct charges.

* * *

Nifong filed rape charges against three lacrosse players in March, when a woman hired to perform as a stripper at a team party said she was raped. He has since dropped the rape charges after the accuser changed a key detail in her account.

The three players still face sexual offense and kidnapping charges. All three strongly maintain their innocence.

The bar's complaint cited dozens of remarks Nifong made to the media in the early days of the case that it said amounted to "improper commentary about the character, credibility and reputation of the accused."

In one comment, Nifong referred to the defendants as "a bunch of hooligans."

Being disbarred needs to be the least of the penalties imposed upon this man.

Posted by: Greg at 07:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Maybe this time they will keep this four-time drunk-drive locked up.

But then again, they should have done that a whole lot earlier – not just when he killed a local police chief and fled the scene.

Needville ISD Police Chief Ernest V Mendoza was killed on the way to his home in Wharton on Friday night when a four-time-convicted drunken driver hit him nearly head-on, officials said.

Superintendent Curtis Rhodes said Mendoza, a 54-year-old father of seven, was all about family and God.

"He was a very Christian man, a quality man," Rhodes said.

The 29-year-old driver of the other vehicle, Guillermo Paniagua, ran from the scene but was captured by the end of the night and charged with felony murder and failure to stop and render aid, said Texas DPS Senior Trooper Gary Pflughaupt.

He said Paniagua, a construction worker in Wharton, smelled of alcohol and slurred his words when he was captured.

Paniagua has drunk-driving convictions in Texas and Georgia, Pflughaupt said. His bond was expected to be set this morning.

Mendoza had served as police chief for the school district in Fort Bend County for 10 years.

He worked security at a basketball game Friday night, and was a mile from home when he was struck.

I pray for the family of Chief Mendoza – and for all the students, faculty and staff of Needville ISD. And I pray that Paniagua quickly gets his just punishment.

Posted by: Greg at 06:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'll concede that most sharks are harmless to humans -- but these folks do go a bit far for my taste.

onservationists are out to rehabilitate the image of the shark and rally support for protecting the misunderstood fish's dwindling numbers.

They say about 20 percent of the world's sharks are estimated to be threatened -- and are calling upon to public to give up its fear and start acting on the predator's behalf.

''They're not all just teeth,'' said Sonja Fordham, policy director of the Belgium-based Shark Alliance and director of the shark conservation program of the Washington-based Ocean Conservancy.

Fine -- protect them.

But "misunderstood fish"? That ranks up there with "undocumented alien". What next -- shoplifters as "cashless customers"?

Posted by: Greg at 02:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This is certainly unusual.

Despite birth control steps taken among its residents, all retired, Chimp Haven is home to a newborn.

Teresa, a wild-born chimpanzee in her late 40s, delivered a baby girl Jan. 8, Chimp Haven announced Tuesday, eight days after the birth.
Mother and daughter, named Tracy, are alert and well.

The father's identity is unknown. All male chimpanzees receive vasectomies before they arrive at the sanctuary in southwest Caddo. A Chimp Haven news release dated Tuesday says information for paternity testing is being gathered "to determine who the father is, so that we can address the vasectomy failure immediately."

Is this Jurassic Park redux? Or something more miraculous – “unto us a chimp is born, unto us a monkey is given”? Or maybe they just need to DNA test all the zookeepers.

Posted by: Greg at 01:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, at least not yet.

Officials from the Department of Justice have told a North Carolina congressman that it's too early to launch a federal investigation into the handling of the Duke lacrosse case, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Rep. Walter Jones wrote Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last month, asking that the Department of Justice investigate whether the district attorney prosecuting three Duke lacrosse players charged with sexual assault has violated the athletes' civil rights.

The department's Office of Legislative Affairs responded last week that it was premature to initiate a federal investigation while criminal charges and other investigations at the state level are ongoing, said Cynthia J. Magnuson, a Department of Justice spokeswoman.

Ordinarily, IÂ’d agree that there should not be federal intervention while charges are still pending against the defendants. However, in this case there has been such manifest misconduct by Mike Nifong that it seems the failure to act now is nothing less than the avoidance of responsibility. After all, shouldnÂ’t the Justice Department stop a civil rights violation in progress?

Posted by: Greg at 11:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This story is just too weird -- but what do you expect from the Netherlands?

Amsterdam's red light district is reportedly to receive a bronze statue dedicated to prostitutes around the world.

According to the Dutch agency ANP, sculptress Els Rijerse made the statue at the request of a former prostitute Mariska Majoor, who a decade ago founded a centre on prostitution in the Dutch capital.

Majoor was quoted as saying by ANP that the statue would be a first of its kind and that it had received the blessing of the city authorities.

The statue itself is described as follows.

The statue represents a self-assured woman, her hands on her hips, looking sideways towards the sky, and standing on a doorstep, ANP said.

Or alternately, a hooker on the curb looking down the block to see if any business is coming her way.

I'd have let this article pass without comment were it not for this unfortunate turn of phrase.

The precise place where the statue will be laid and its title have not yet been announced, it said.

[YOUR HOOKER JOKE HERE]

Posted by: Greg at 01:02 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I found this graphic and its associated quote while last night. The other is an old favorite of mine. I think they are important to remember today, as some in this country demand that we abandon our only historic ally in the Middle East to those who would destroy it and its people.

Posted by: Greg at 06:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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if this headline were tweaked just a little bit?

New Orleans struggles to keep its black character

Could you imagine the outrage if some community were to be trying to keep its "white character"?

Sorry folks -- racism is racism is racism -- and the effort noted in this article should be seen as no less offensive than one designed to "keep white culture alive."

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Posted by: Greg at 08:09 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I suspect that off-camera their comments would be even stronger!

The fact that Nifong withheld the information and knew it before he indicted their sons has outraged the parents of the accused. "You felt like someone hit you with a baseball bat. Â… It was almost too much to bear, as we sat there," says Kathy Seligmann, whose son, Reade, is among the three indicted players. "And [Nifong is] sitting 10 feet away from us."

It enraged Mary Ellen Finnerty, mother of Collin Finnerty, another indicted player. "I think one of the strongest feelings of rage that I've had Â… I literally had to turn to my husband, because I was shaking from my head to my toe, and say, 'Hold me down,'" recalls Finnerty. Adds Seligmann, "And we had to hold on to each other because when you sit there and put two and two together and realize that it was calculated Â… set up to make these boys appear to be guilty of something they didn't do."

When asked what they would say to Nifong if he were in the room, Rae Evans, the mother of indicted player David Evans, says, "I would say with a smile on my face, 'Mr. Nifong, you've picked on the wrong families Â… and you will pay every day for the rest of your life.'"

Indeed, if Nifong and these three Moms were left alone in a room together for 5-minutes, I'd be willing to bet that "the rest of [his] life" would be a very short time indeed -- and that no jury in the world would convict them. But I know they will settle for seeing the corrupt DA disbarred and jailed for his criminal mishandling of these false allegations.

Posted by: Greg at 07:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Mike Nifong has sought to recuse himself in the Duke Rape Frame-up Case after nine months of ethically and factually challenged corrupt handling of the case.

After months of stinging criticism about his handling of the Duke University sexual assault investigation, Durham District Attorney Michael B. Nifong sought to bow out of the case yesterday, requesting that the North Carolina Attorney General's Office handle the prosecution.

His decision to recuse himself was welcomed by the defense team representing the three Duke lacrosse players initially accused of raping a 28-year-old stripper at a team party.

"We feel very good about this. It's a fresh set of eyes looking at the case," said William Cotter of Raleigh, one of three attorneys for Collin Finnerty of Garden City, N.Y. "We think it's more likely that they will listen to us and we will certainly be cooperative with him or her."

The defense believes that another prosecutor would, after reviewing the contradictions of the alleged victim's accounts and the paucity of physical evidence, drop the case.

Attorney General Roy Cooper's office deferred questions about Nifong's action until a news conference scheduled for Saturday.

The defense is pleased by this move, but wants more than NifongÂ’s removal.

Speaking of the recusal, Joseph B. Cheshire, the lawyer for David Evans, one of the defendants, said: “We’re very heartened by it. He should have done it weeks or months ago. For the first time, someone who is honest and objective and doesn’t have an agenda will look at this case. We feel confident that when they do, these young men will be exonerated and this case will be dismissed.”

Mr. Cheshire added that the attorney general should also look at possible obstruction of justice and manipulation of evidence by Mr. Nifong.

Quite frankly, the time has come for this tragic farce to be brought to a close with the dismissal of all charges and the complete exoneration of the accused young men. Furthermore, criminal charges need to be brought against Nifong, the DNA lab that conspired to withhold results, and the false accuser in this case. Civil damages need to be sought against all three, as well as others who ramped-up the hysteria and the lynch-party atmosphere that pervaded the early days of this case.

Rape is a serious crime – but so is the peddling of false accusations of rape.

UPDATE: Captain Ed offers this juicy, link-filled analysis.

Posted by: Greg at 04:38 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I've hesitated to write on last night's address to the nation on Iraq. to be honest, I have some reservations about the message -- that we must commit more troops to Iraq in order to secure that nation and complete the task begun in 2003. Indeed, I wept last night, just as I did when the war began. I wept for those who have died, for those who will yet die, and for all who will be wounded as a part of this effort to help the Iraqi people secure the blessings of liberty that they, and all people, deserve as a part of the common birthright of humanity.

On to the news coverage.

This speech was a departure from earlier speeches on the war, as noted by the Washington Post.

President Bush appealed directly to the American people last night to support a renewed campaign to pacify Iraq, calling for an additional 21,500 U.S. troops to help the beleaguered Iraqi government regain control of Baghdad while warning that he would not support an "open-ended" U.S. commitment.

In a widely anticipated nationally televised address, Bush stood in the library of the White House and soberly said he had pursued a flawed strategy and acknowledged for the first time that he had not sent enough troops to provide security for Iraqi civilians. He described the situation in Iraq as "unacceptable" to the American people and to himself.

Not only that, but the speech represents a tactical shift for the President's war policy, one that may not be popular with the American people.

President Bush embraced a major tactical shift on Wednesday evening in the war in Iraq when he declared that the only way to quell sectarian violence there was to send more than 20,000 additional American troops into combat.

Yet in defying mounting pressure to begin troop withdrawals, the president reiterated his argument that the consequences of failure in Iraq were so high that the United States could not afford to lose.

Sadly, I am forced to concur with that assessment. Failure in Iraq is unacceptable. Indeed, failure in Iraq would be worse than the failure in Vietnam, which resulted in untold deaths and the political subjugation of our former allies. Failure in Iraq would likely result in another oppressive sharia mullah-ocracy like we see in Iran -- which would only be further emboldened to develop its nuclear programs and seek to establish hegemony in the region. We owe it to the millions of Iraqis who have sought to establish a vibrant democracy to continue to assist them in achieving that goal.

And yet this commitment is not open-ended or without limits. Iraq must make concrete steps to assuming more responsibility for its domestic and international security. That is the beauty of this plan -- the increase in American assistance will help them reach establish control, while the benchmarks and timetables will make this a deployment of short duration. And let me be clear -- these 21,500 troops need to be out of Iraq before Christmas, with a clear plan for redeploying the rest in place and ready to begin by that time as well.

But let me remind my anti-war friends that even once the troops are gone, we must stand by our Iraqi allies and be prepared to offer them other assistance as needed in the future. We must not repeat April, 1975.

The full text of the address is below the fold. more...

Posted by: Greg at 11:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Some sentences are sufficient to make one stop in your tracks and just gape.

A hermaphrodite who is accused of theft, criminal impersonation and bond violations in 2000 and 2004 has been found competent to stand trial.

But if one reads the story, it turns out that both the sentence and the headline are wrong – the perp is not a hermaphrodite, but a man pretending to be a woman. Therefore I’d have to argue that “sick freak” is a better descriptor.

Posted by: Greg at 12:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's a "Dog Bites Man" story for you.

Democrats not ruling out higher taxes for rich

Since when is this news? This headline could have been written virtually any time, in any situation, in my lifetime.

Posted by: Greg at 01:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Today the Houston Chronicle praises retired Chairman of te Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili for his NY Times column on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

In the last six years, U.S. service members have been barraged with poor decisions made in Washington. They were fed false pretexts, left understaffed and shipped into a conflict with no endgame. Yet at least one unnecessary burden — the "don't ask, don't tell" policy about gay orientation — is a relic of the Clinton administration. Now one of the original defenders of that policy is leading the charge to end the policy and the damage it does to the military.

Retired Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bill Clinton, said last week in a New York Times opinion piece that the time to end antigay discrimination in the military is nearing. It was a pathbreaking act of leadership that should embolden other military leaders who agree with him to speak out, too.

Fair enough -- but almost a full week after the original column appeared on January 2.

Indeed, I wrote about it (favorably) that day.

What took the Chronicle so long? And why hasn't the paper sought to reprint the column that it thinks is worthy of editorial comment?

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Newsweek profiles Duke Rape Frame-Up Case defendant Reade Seligmann in its current issue. It is a remarkable piece in so many ways, but i am particularly struck by this tidbit of information near the end of the article.

"I always believed that the truth will trump everything," he says. "I have to believe that." He'd already planned to go to law school, but now, he says, it's gotten personal: he wants to become a criminal defense lawyer.

This experience would be sufficient to make even the most optimistic person cynical, but it hasn't cone so with this young man. Instead, it has given him a purpose --to ensure that no other defendant gets violated in the way he has by rogue DA Mike Nifong. Maybe that will be a positive outcome of this travesty of justice.

Posted by: Greg at 08:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This may turn out to be a "win-win" discovery for everyone -- a relatively easy to acquire source of stem cells that doesn't require the taking of human lives!

Scientists reported Sunday they had found a plentiful source of stem cells in the fluid that cushions babies in the womb and produced a variety of tissue types from these cells — sidestepping the controversy over destroying embryos for research.

Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard University reported the stem cells they drew from amniotic fluid donated by pregnant women hold much the same promise as embryonic stem cells. They reported they were able to extract the stem cells without harm to mother or fetus and turn their discovery into several different tissue cell types, including brain, liver and bone.

"Our hope is that these cells will provide a valuable resource for tissue repair and for engineered organs as well," said Dr. Anthony Atala, head of Wake Forest's regenerative medicine institute and senior researcher on the project.

It took Atala's team some seven years of research to determine the cells they found were truly stem cells that "can be used to produce a broad range of cells that may be valuable for therapy."

Now this development likely means that we don't have to deal with the issue of cloned embryos or aborted babies being used for "spare parts" by ghouls claiming to be scientists. It means that much of the promise that allegedly exists in fetal stem cell research can be achieved without complicity in the abortion holocaust. (and I say "allegedly exists" because the most promising results have come from adult, not fetal, stem cell research).

Of course, some of the ghouls insist that they have to keep killing babies to achieve progress.

Dr. George Daley, a Harvard University stem cell researcher, said that finding raises the possibility that someday expectant parents can freeze amnio stem cells for future tissue replacement in a sick child without fear of immune rejection.

Nonetheless, Daley said the discovery shouldn't be used as a replacement for human embryonic stem cell research.

"While they are fascinating subjects of study in their own right, they are not a substitute for human embryonic stem cells, which allow scientists to address a host of other interesting questions in early human development," said Daley, who began work last year to clone human embryos to produce stem cells.

Dr. Mengele -- Dr. Daley calling for you on line one.

Posted by: Greg at 08:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Down here in Houston, Mayor Bill White wants to do something about the proliferation of convenience store robberies and killings over the last several years -- particularly jumping in 2006. He's forming a "task force".

A new task force will study ways to combat crime at Houston convenience stores, where last year at least four clerks were shot to death during robberies.

City leaders on Friday announced the creation of the group, which will include store owners, security consultants, gasoline company representatives and community members. The effort is the latest initiative by the city to reduce crime.

Abdul Khan, who was robbed twice last year at the Seven Evening Food Store in southwest Houston, including a daytime robbery by two men who held him and several customers at gunpoint, welcomed the announcement.

"Before, it was quiet and peaceful — the customers came in and were kind. Then, last year, we were robbed twice," Khan said.

In announcing the formation of the task force, Mayor Bill White said, "We're doing this because we want to protect our stores, their employees and customers. We wanted some of the best minds in the business to help us with strategies to prevent crime and not just to react to it."

Members of the Task Force on Convenience Store Security will study convenience stores' surveillance technologies, building codes, management processes and law enforcement procedures.

Based on an analysis of those findings, the group then will make recommendations to the mayor on improving safety, as well as suggestions for more crime prevention measures.

Mr. Mayor, here is a better way of dealing with such crimes -- one that is quick, effective, and sure to discourage the criminal element. It seems to have worked in this Las Vegas case.

A convenience store manager shot and killed a robbery suspect and injured another Friday after the men entered his North Las Vegas store and took the manager and several customers hostage.

The two suspects held up the American Mini Market at 2564 Las Vegas Blvd. North on Friday afternoon, North Las Vegas police said. Then, the robbery suspects bound the store manager and several customers using zip ties and tried to rob them, police said.

The manager, whose name was not released, escaped from the ties and retrieved a gun stashed inside the store. Shortly after 2 p.m., the manager exchanged "a bunch" of shots with the suspects, North Las Vegas police spokesman Tim Bedwell said.

Both of the suspects were hit with gunfire.

One of suspects stumbled out of the store and died in the parking lot, Bedwell said. The other, whose name also was not released, was hit in the lower extremities and fled on foot, leaving a trail of blood, he said.

The suspect was caught by police and taken to University Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, Bedwell said. Police said the man could be charged with robbery and murder once he recovers from his wounds. Under Nevada law, a suspect in a felony crime in which a person dies can be charged with murder even if their actions didn't directly cause the death.

No one else was injured in the shooting.

"This is how we like these incidents to end up," Bedwell said.

Ideally, this is how more should end -- with the robbers dead on the floor at the hands of their intended victims.

I'd love to know how many of the dead clerks here in Houston had a firearm within reach, so that they could defend themselves from the violent predators who took their lives. I'd love to know how many of the robbery victims were armed to protect themselves from the thugs who terrorized them. My guess is that the answer is "not nearly enough.

Some would argue that my solution would make for a more violent society. I disagree. Indeed, I'd argue that the implementation of my proposal would make for a safer society, one in which the crime rate goes down because the cowardly criminal element recognizes the likelihood of being on the receiving end of a lethal injection of 9mm of lead.

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Posted by: Greg at 12:57 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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But we canÂ’t tell you who to look for.

Police have refused to release photographs of two escaped murderers, claiming it might breach their human rights, it was revealed today.

Killers Jason Croft and Michael Nixon are among 13 inmates to have absconded from Sudbury open jail in Derbyshire in the past two months.

Despite the fact that only two have been caught - and that the killers are still on the loose - Derbyshire Police said the public do not have a right to know what the convicts look like.

A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: "When making a decision to release any photograph, police forces must take into account numerous factors including the public interest test, whether there is a strong local policing purpose and, of course, the Human Rights and Data Protection Acts.

"Photographs of named people that are in police possession are classed as data and their release is restricted by law.

"Acpo (Association of Chief Police Officers) guidance states that releasing a 'wanted' photograph of a named person should only happen in exceptional circumstances where officers believe that the named suspect may be a danger to the public."

Which means, of course, that for the last two months these criminals have been at large, and the public can in no way assist with finding them. After all, the logic goes, those killers have a human right not to be identified or stigmatized by being identified publicly as criminals.

Posted by: Greg at 10:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I enjoyed JonÂ’s show during his radio years, but am revolted by the sordid activities in which he engages and the disgusting conduct to which he has admitted. Hopefully he will be locked away from society soon.

A court hearing to determine if probation will be revoked for former radio talk show host Jon Matthews was rescheduled for next month.

Matthews, 61, appeared in a Fort Bend County court room today where prosecutors had planned to ask state District Judge Brady Elliott to revoke his probation and sentence him to prison.

However, Lee Cox, the attorney for Matthews, asked the judge to reschedule the hearing. Elliott reset the case for Feb. 9.

"There are some things I am investigating and I need more time to prepare," Cox said after the hearing which lasted only a few seconds.

The state alleges that Matthews violated several terms of the probation he received two years ago after he pleaded guilty to exposing himself to an 11-year-old girl.

Matthews, a fixture on Houston's radio scene for almost two decades, was jailed in August after prosecutors filed a motion to revoke the probation and send him to prison. He was later released on bail.

Court records show Matthews violated several probation conditions the court set in 2004 when he entered his plea on the charge that stemmed from the October 2003 incident.

I’ll refrain from reprinting the illegal &/or immoral conduct in which he has engaged in violation of his probation (which I do not believe he should have received to begin with). It is simply too depraved for belief. Indeed, Matthews has made himself a “poster child” (forgive the term) for why those convicted of sex crimes with minors should be shown no leniency whatsoever.

H/T Lone Star Times

Posted by: Greg at 10:36 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The editors of the Rocky Mountain News are spot-on in their analysis of the Darrent Williams murder – it isn’t the guns or their availablity, it is the cultural message that demands their use at the slightest provocation. You know, the glorification of the thug found in “gangsta culture”.

What makes someone spray a limousine with bullets even though he has no idea who might die? A "gun culture," answers The Denver Post, under the headline "Williams' murder a cowardly gun crime."

Suffice it to say that the murder of Darrent Williams would not have occurred, at least in the fashion it did, without a gun. But that fact in itself explains little. What is most horrifying about this crime was the killer's casual targeting of people he hardly knew or didn't know at all over what perhaps was a disagreement or a perceived slight - an example of "disrespect" that had to be avenged.

It may be "culture" at the bottom of this tragedy, all right - gangster culture. Criminal culture. Culture in which lethal violence is considered the accepted if not the anticipated response to, for example, a heated argument.

One need look no further than rap music to find this message reinforced day after day. Too many of my students show up at school in their “Scarface” shirts and claim that the Al Pacino movie exemplifies their philosophy of life. And if I hear one more story of a fight of a student getting into a fight with another kid because “he/she was talking mess about me”, I’ll surpass the million mark.

WeÂ’ve always had guns in this society, and we always will. What we didnÂ’t have was the message that violence and killing are the first response rather than the last and the mark of manhood. LetÂ’s eradicate that message, not eliminate a tool with many legitimate uses.

Posted by: Greg at 10:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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