An old commenter, Ridor, dropped me a note about my failure to comment on this story. To be honest, I initially didn't know enough to comment, and have wached as info came out in dribs and drabs about it. Besides -- the Madison High School sex-tape/dance-video has gotten more play in the local media. And there has been a personal issue the last few days that has limited my blogging time.

But now I do have a few minutes -- and can only say that this case horrifies and disgusts me.

The brutalized teen was a popular student and high school football player in Spring once featured in a fashion layout in the school's yearbook.

Two older teens accused of attacking him were described by other youths as troublemakers and "skinheads."

In a case that's garnering national attention, the 17-year-old victim clings to life at Memorial Hermann Hospital while the other two are in the Harris County Jail — charged with aggravated sexual assault after prosecutors accused them of sodomizing him with a pipe because they think he tried to kiss a 12-year-old girl.

"How do you muster up that much hatred?" asked Carolyn Cook, the mother of one of the victim's friends.

The brutal night began about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when the teen went to a party at a home in the 21300 block of Glenbranch. Investigators don't know how many people were there but said the group included David Henry Tuck, 18, of the 3400 block of Nutwood, and Keith Robert Turner, 17, of the 21000 block of Star Grass.

Incensed at the teen because of the girl, Tuck and Turner dragged him in the back yard and began beating him, detectives said.

"They stomped his head with their boots," said Harris County Sheriff's Lt. John Denholm. "They stripped him naked and sodomized him with the PVC pipe used to hold up a patio umbrella."

Tuck then kicked the pipe, causing even further damage, prosecutors said at a Thursday morning hearing.

"I don't mean just a little bit," Harris County prosecutor Mike Trent told District Judge Michael McSpadden. "He kicked it in and shoved it so far in that he has caused major internal injuries and organ damage." Tuck wore steel-toed boots when he attacked the teen and kicked him in the head, Trent said.

The attackers slashed his chest with a knife and hurled ethnic slurs at the teen, who is Hispanic. Then they apparently tried to cover up the crime, authorities said. "They poured bleach on his body to destroy any evidence," Denholm said.

The victim was left for dead in the yard for 10 hours before help was called.

I don't have words to express my level of outrage. Those who would do this are sick, and need a long period of jail time for their inhumanity to their fellow man.

But from what the media is reporting, this isn't necessarily about race -- at least not if the decision not to file hate crime charges is an indication. It isn't about sexual orientation. It seems like it is simply about folks who are twisted and violent -- and who took the opportunity to do serious damage to another human being based upon a trumped-up motive.

Unfortunately, deatils keep changing from day to day -- now it appears there was an adult in the house the whole time, the assult may have happened later than originally suggested, and other changes in the story.

But it doens't change one thing -- there are at least two young men who deserve to spend a lot of time in jail.

UPDATE: The Houston Chronicle has a typically inane editorial about the case.

Posted by: Greg at 06:58 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Rush Limbaugh entered a plea agreement with prosecutors in the doctor shopping case. Interestingly enough, no guilty plea is required, and charges will be dismissed in 18 months with no conviction recorded.

Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on prescription drug charges, with his attorney saying he has reached a deal with prosecutors that will eventually see the charges dismissed if he continues treatment for drug addiction.

Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant issued by the State Attorney's Office, said Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office.

The conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p.m. with his attorney Roy Black and left an hour later after posting $3,000 bail, Barbera said. The warrant was for fraud to conceal information to obtain prescriptions, Barbera said.

Black said his client and prosecutors reached a settlement on a charge of doctor shopping filed Friday by the State Attorney, which Black said will be dismissed in 18 months if Limbaugh complies with court guidelines.

As a primary condition of the dismissal, Limbaugh must continue to seek treatment from the doctor he has seen for the past 2 1/2 years, Black said.

Limbaugh entered a plea of not guilty in court Friday on the charge and Black maintained his client's innocence.

"Mr. Limbaugh and I have maintained from the start that there was no doctor shopping, and we continue to hold this position," Black said in an e-mailed statement.

I'm not in a position to speak to the exact details of the case, but I read that the concern was about 2000 pain pills over a 6 month period. That number may seem shocking to most of you -- but then again you do not live with an individual that suffers from a chronic condition that causes high level of pain. I do -- and calculating how many pills my dear wife takes for pain in the same period, I'm shocked by the small number of pills he was on for what everyone acknowledges was a seriously painful condition.

Personally, I think this agreement was about making the case just go away -- and I cannot blame him for doing so. I also note that it is similar to most drug-related diversion programs that I've read about. That means, for all that the liberals will claim otherwise, that Rush Limbaugh was treated just like everyone else.

Posted by: Greg at 12:07 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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It looks like today could be the day that Fox News Anchor and radio host Tony Snow will be announced as the new White House press secretary.

Fox News commentator Tony Snow agreed last night to become White House press secretary after top officials assured him that he would be not just a spokesman but an active participant in administration policy debates, people familiar with the discussions said.

A former director of speechwriting for President Bush's father, Snow views himself as well positioned to ease the tensions between this White House and the press corps because he understands both politics and journalism, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the appointment had not been officially confirmed, although an announcement is expected today.

Snow will become the first Washington pundit -- and an outspoken ideological voice at that -- to take over the pressroom lectern at a time when tensions between journalists and the administration have been running high, over issues ranging from the Iraq war to investigations involving leaks of classified information.

This could be really fun. Given his experience in the press and the Executive branch, I wonder if Snow will have much toleance for the divas, prima donnas, and buffoons of the White House press corps who think that they are the story -- folks like David Gregory and Helen Thomas. My money is on Tony.

* * *

In honor of the good news, I hereby declare this my Wednesday LinkFest and Open Trackback post.

Post a link to your noteworthy writings and most interesting rants -- not to mention your well-reasoned and intellectually challenging essays -- for all of us to see.

As usual, I will not limit the number of items you can link, provided you stay reasonable.

And also as usual, remember the rule.

No Porn. No Spam. No Problem.

OTHER OPEN TRACKBACKS AT: Adam's Blog. Conservative Cat, Third World Country, TMH Bacon Bits

Posted by: Greg at 08:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If you are Diane Sawyer and ABC News, the answer is clear – getting the story.

How else can you explain the failure to report this stuff to the police?

The shocking beating of a teenage girl by her father that aired during a Diane Sawyer report about dysfunctional stepfamilies has set off a firestorm.

State police officials in upstate Lake Placid say they are going over the tape of last Friday's "Primetime" news magazine to determine if charges can be brought against the natural father, a Iraq War military reservist, and the teen's stepmother.

The investigation -- which includes the local Franklin County DAs office, police said -- was only part of the fallout from the broadcast.

Outraged viewers have filled up the ABC News Web site's message board with more that 1,400 messages in the first 36 hours after the broadcast -- many calling for Sawyer and the program's producers to be fired for not going to the authorities immediately.

The beating was caught on videotape recorders that the family -- identified as Lynn and Joe Nelson -- had allowed ABC News to install in their home for a program on the difficulties stepfamilies have getting along.

The family had control of the cameras and could turn them off at any time.
ABC News officials said in a statement that by the time they had reviewed the tapes, the father "had been sent to the National Guard training camp and then onto Iraq. Kyle [the daughter] had moved in with her grandparents -- where she remains to date."

In other words, reporting a crime takes backseat to the news judgment of the network.

Posted by: Greg at 11:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If you are Diane Sawyer and ABC News, the answer is clear – getting the story.

How else can you explain the failure to report this stuff to the police?

The shocking beating of a teenage girl by her father that aired during a Diane Sawyer report about dysfunctional stepfamilies has set off a firestorm.

State police officials in upstate Lake Placid say they are going over the tape of last Friday's "Primetime" news magazine to determine if charges can be brought against the natural father, a Iraq War military reservist, and the teen's stepmother.

The investigation -- which includes the local Franklin County DAs office, police said -- was only part of the fallout from the broadcast.

Outraged viewers have filled up the ABC News Web site's message board with more that 1,400 messages in the first 36 hours after the broadcast -- many calling for Sawyer and the program's producers to be fired for not going to the authorities immediately.

The beating was caught on videotape recorders that the family -- identified as Lynn and Joe Nelson -- had allowed ABC News to install in their home for a program on the difficulties stepfamilies have getting along.

The family had control of the cameras and could turn them off at any time.
ABC News officials said in a statement that by the time they had reviewed the tapes, the father "had been sent to the National Guard training camp and then onto Iraq. Kyle [the daughter] had moved in with her grandparents -- where she remains to date."

In other words, reporting a crime takes backseat to the news judgment of the network.

Posted by: Greg at 11:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What produces children who commit such crimes?

The 12-year-old Prince George's County boy charged yesterday with killing his mother and brother over the weekend would often wear masks to hide his face, get into fistfights and tell people, "I'm crazy. Don't mess with me," neighbors said.

He would walk around his Forestville neighborhood with his face cloaked by a bandanna and a book cover on his head to look as if he had horns, according to neighbors.

In Prince George's juvenile court yesterday, he was charged as a juvenile with two counts of first-degree murder in the bludgeoning deaths of his mother, Katrina Denise Powe, 31, and brother, Mystery Toma Hillian, 9.

Detectives found a metal bar that they said is the weapon used in the slayings. They were trying yesterday to determine a motive for the crime. "I haven't heard any word as to why this kid did this," said Cpl. Clinton Copeland, a police spokesman.

The case is puzzling to detectives, especially because the suspect did not have an arrest record or documented history of abuse, according to law enforcement sources who did not want to be identified because the case is open and because juvenile records are sealed.

The county's Department of Social Services has no record of alleged abuse in the home, according to one of the sources. The source said that police found bruises on the 12-year-old but that it was "unclear whether they were from the struggle or prior abuse."

Law enforcement sources originally said that the crime was carried out with a knife. Yesterday, they said the weapon was a metal bar, the type usually used to secure a car's steering wheel to prevent theft.

The boy's name is being withheld because he is a juvenile. He was represented at the hearing by a public defender.

Horrifying -- utterly horrifying.

Posted by: Greg at 10:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And here we have been told that there is nothing untoward about the explicit “out” culture of much of the gay community, and that it certainly was not harmful for children. However, it looks like the more “flaming” aspects of that culture in San Francisco are bringing objections from gay parents, who find it inappropriate for their children.

America's most famous homosexual community is grappling with a new dilemma - how to become family-friendly yet retain its legendary spirit of sexual freedom.

The Castro district of San Francisco has been a magnet for homosexuals since the 1967 "Summer of Love", drawing people from across the world with its gay pride parades and celebration of overt sexuality.

But the complexion of the community is changing thanks, in part, to the so-called "gayby boom", the increasing number of same-sex couples becoming parents.
In California nearly 60,000 children are being raised by same-sex couples. In addition, heterosexual families with children are choosing to live in the area.

The shift has resulted in tension between parents who want the more explicit window displays and posters toned down and those determined to guard free sexual expression from any censorship.

Clashes between parents and shopkeepers include complaints from a lesbian mother-of-two about a shop with a sado-masochistic window display. Others have also complained about explicit shop displays and posters that feature naked, sexually aroused men.

"I am happy that people can enjoy a lifestyle that is denied to them back home in Kansas but there are appropriate standards of behaviour, regardless of your sexual orientation," Jeremy Paul, a father of two boys, told the Los Angeles Times.

Gee – when straight Christians object to explicit displays of the gay lifestyle at places like Disney World, we are called homophobes. What can you say when it is homosexuals themselves object to such displays as inappropriate for children and corrosive of family values?

Posted by: Greg at 09:49 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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And here we have been told that there is nothing untoward about the explicit “out” culture of much of the gay community, and that it certainly was not harmful for children. However, it looks like the more “flaming” aspects of that culture in San Francisco are bringing objections from gay parents, who find it inappropriate for their children.

America's most famous homosexual community is grappling with a new dilemma - how to become family-friendly yet retain its legendary spirit of sexual freedom.

The Castro district of San Francisco has been a magnet for homosexuals since the 1967 "Summer of Love", drawing people from across the world with its gay pride parades and celebration of overt sexuality.

But the complexion of the community is changing thanks, in part, to the so-called "gayby boom", the increasing number of same-sex couples becoming parents.
In California nearly 60,000 children are being raised by same-sex couples. In addition, heterosexual families with children are choosing to live in the area.

The shift has resulted in tension between parents who want the more explicit window displays and posters toned down and those determined to guard free sexual expression from any censorship.

Clashes between parents and shopkeepers include complaints from a lesbian mother-of-two about a shop with a sado-masochistic window display. Others have also complained about explicit shop displays and posters that feature naked, sexually aroused men.

"I am happy that people can enjoy a lifestyle that is denied to them back home in Kansas but there are appropriate standards of behaviour, regardless of your sexual orientation," Jeremy Paul, a father of two boys, told the Los Angeles Times.

Gee – when straight Christians object to explicit displays of the gay lifestyle at places like Disney World, we are called homophobes. What can you say when it is homosexuals themselves object to such displays as inappropriate for children and corrosive of family values?

Posted by: Greg at 09:49 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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No, not what you are thinking.

This is a proposal to register and tag farm animals as a way of tracking and controlling disease outbreaks.

Posted by: Greg at 02:43 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Some contract employees at the University of Miami are hunger striking. It isn’t over wages and benefits – it is over the right of workers to vote by secret ballot on the question of union representation.

And guess what – it is the company, not the union, that wants to preserve the right of workers to express their opinion in a confidential manner.

At the University of Miami, maintenance workers for a private company just received a 25 percent pay raise and new health benefits, yet they continue an over-the-top hunger strike to pressure university President Donna Shalala to help them unionize.

Shalala did her part for workers' benefits by modifying the service contract with their employer, but the Service Employees International Union wants even more. It wants Shalala to force the company to yield on what type of union election the employees can hold.

While workers could vote to unionize by secret ballot, the union wants an easier route, called a "card check," that allows union recognition as soon as a majority of employees sign cards saying they favor a union.

The union argues that the company has intimidated workers leading up to an election. If that were true, it would seem workers would prefer a secret ballot rather than signing cards for all to see.

Card checks are a vehicle for union thuggery. Workers who refuse to publicly declare their willingness to submit to union tyranny are subject to unwelcome home visits and workplace intimidation by those who insist upon the right to represent their interests – for a hefty fee. Those who refuse to join are often threatened or worse, as the history of unions in this country has repeatedly shown.

Shalala should refuse to intervene in this dispute – and as for the hunger strike, when we should not take it seriously see senior SEIU officials placed on life-support in a Miami area ICU unit due to the effects of starvation and dehydration.

Posted by: Greg at 01:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I certainly wouldn’t volunteer for this – and I’ve worked Christmas weekend in a toy store.

Some of the toughest fighters in the British Army have been drafted in to control one of the most frightening situations on civvy street: hordes of bank holiday shoppers at Ikea.

The four former Gurkhas have kept the peace in the Falklands, Belize and on the border between Hong Kong and China.

But they had never seen anything quite like the notoriously temperamental crowds found at a flatpack furniture store. Two weeks into their assignment, the team of highly disciplined Nepalese soldiers is rising to the challenge and has already eradicated car park crime at the store where they are working.

Lal Bahadur Gurung, 44, a retired colour sergeant with 2nd Bn the Royal Gurkha Rifles, said: "I have never seen anything like it anywhere and I have been on operational tours all over the world, mainly peacekeeping.

Where fools and angels fear to tread, there go the Gurkhas.

Posted by: Greg at 12:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If this comes into production, we will have to boycott any company which markets a set or player with this feature – and any network that uses the technology.

If a new idea from Philips catches on, the company may not be very popular with TV viewers. The company's labs in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, has been cooking up a way to stop people changing channels to avoid adverts or fast forwarding through ads they have recorded along with their target programme.

The secret, according to a new patent filing, is to take advantage of Multimedia Home Platform - the technology behind interactive television in many countries around the world. MHP software now comes built into most modern digital TV receivers and recorders. It looks for digital flags buried in a broadcast, and displays messages on screen that let the viewer call up extra features, such as additional footage or information about a programme.

Philips suggests adding flags to commercial breaks to stop a viewer from changing channels until the adverts are over. The flags could also be recognised by digital video recorders, which would then disable the fast forward control while the ads are playing.

Philips' patent acknowledges that this may be "greatly resented by viewers" who could initially think their equipment has gone wrong. So it suggests the new system could throw up a warning on screen when it is enforcing advert viewing. The patent also suggests that the system could offer viewers the chance to pay a fee interactively to go back to skipping adverts.

If companies wish to run advertising on their shows, that is fine. But if they want to hijack my equipment to force me to watch, they will be boycotted. What next – televisions and video players that don’t allow me to change the channel or stop watching once a feature has started?

Posted by: Greg at 10:09 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It his 92 degrees here today -- and topped 100 elsewhere int he state of Texas.

And for the first time in years, the state ordered rolling blackouts.

Hundreds of thousands of homes throughout Texas went without power for brief periods this afternoon as unseasonably warm weather and both planned and unplanned power plant outages led officials to call for rolling blackouts.

Shortly after 4 p.m. officials with the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, the organization that monitors the grid for about 85 percent of the state, declared an emergency and asked power distributors to turn off about 1,000 megawatts of power.

The cuts were spread throughout the state, with Houston-based CenterPoint Energy cutting power for fifteen-minute intervals to about 78,000 customers using about 260,000 megawatts, according to a spokeswoman.

In Dallas about 80,000 TXU Electric Delivery customers using 380,000 megawatts saw their power go out for 15 minute intervals, according to a spokeswoman.

By 6 p.m. ERCOT declared the emergency over and rolling blackouts could stop.

My Darling Democrat, the Apolitical Pooch and I got hit with one of the blackouts in the first or second wave, right around 4:15. Our power was out no more than 20 minutes -- and I was fortunate that Gmail autosaved a very long email to a friend.

And it might not be over. It will be another hot one tomorrow -- and possibly through the week.

Here's hoping that power doesn't go out tomorrow during the school day, when the students are taking the TAKS test.

Posted by: Greg at 03:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of my great joys as a kid in the Washington DC area was visiting the Smithsonian. I loved wandering between the different museums during the course of a long day. Will that experience change if they begin charging admission to the various buildings?

The Smithsonian leaks free richness, the kind of palatial, spatial dripping wealth probably enjoyed by emperors who walked barefoot on such cool marble floors. Fattened by life, they no doubt listened to the same delicate trickle of waterfalls in indoor gardens and admired paintings by the masters.

But this kind of opulence is, in these museums, open to the common person. So you wander about the various Smithsonian facilities because you can. Because the museums are free. Open to anybody in the world. You wonder as you wander what kind of people come here in the middle of the day and what do they seek? Would they still come if it cost them a buck, as a member of Congress recently proposed? Simple math: With 25 million visitors a year, if you charged a dollar each for admission, you could raise $25 million for a great institution in need of cash. There are, after all, renovation projects to pay for, like the one at the National Museum of American History, which this fall is closing its doors for almost two years for major makeover.

But how would the experience of dropping in on one of the museums of the Smithsonian in the middle of a workday change if there were a cost attached?

An excellent discussion continues in the rest of the article.

Posted by: Greg at 10:49 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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That the Mad Mullahs and their minions are celebrating their illegal acquisition of nuclear material reinforces my belief that they plan on using nuclear weapons at the first available opportunity.

Dancers perform as they hold capsules of uranium hexaflouride, or UF6 gas during a ceremony in Mashhad, Iran's holiest city, Tuesday, April 11, 2006. Iran has successfully enriched uranium for the first time, a landmark in its quest to develop nuclear fuel, hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday, although he insisted his country does not aim to develop atomic weapons. In a nationally televised speech, Ahmadinejad called on the West "not to cause an everlasting hatred in the hearts of Iranians" by trying to force Iran to abandon uranium enrichment. (AP Photo/Mehr News Agency)

Will the world do what must be done? Will the US be forced to act in isolation? Or will we stand by while another rogue regime gains Weapons of Mass Destruction?

Posted by: Greg at 10:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I just don’t know what to say about this story, other than that this is some really weird stuff.

In Waynesville, a small county seat in the mountains of western North Carolina, people whispered about the three older men who lived together south of town.

They were lovers, and there were rumors that the trio had turned a room in their house into a dungeon where they filmed sadomasochistic sex scenes — and then posted them on the Internet.

Someone asked the local sheriff to investigate the men, but his officers determined their activities, although unorthodox, were perfectly legal.
Last month, however, the men were arrested on charges that shocked the community.

Authorities say they performed castrations and other types of genital surgeries on at least six people. Detectives searching the home found bloody scalpels, syringes, and prosthetic testicles in a room the men referred to as "the dungeon."

Officers confiscated a video camera apparently used to record the procedures, as well as scores of CDs and computer files. They also seized a Tupperware container from the kitchen freezer holding what appeared to be human testicles.
The suspects acknowledged performing surgeries, but they told investigators that the procedures were completely consensual and that the men who requested the operations traveled long distances for the procedures.

Like I said – I really don’t know what to say. I bet CourtTV has fun with this trial.

Posted by: Greg at 10:19 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I just donÂ’t know what to say about this story, other than that this is some really weird stuff.

In Waynesville, a small county seat in the mountains of western North Carolina, people whispered about the three older men who lived together south of town.

They were lovers, and there were rumors that the trio had turned a room in their house into a dungeon where they filmed sadomasochistic sex scenes — and then posted them on the Internet.

Someone asked the local sheriff to investigate the men, but his officers determined their activities, although unorthodox, were perfectly legal.
Last month, however, the men were arrested on charges that shocked the community.

Authorities say they performed castrations and other types of genital surgeries on at least six people. Detectives searching the home found bloody scalpels, syringes, and prosthetic testicles in a room the men referred to as "the dungeon."

Officers confiscated a video camera apparently used to record the procedures, as well as scores of CDs and computer files. They also seized a Tupperware container from the kitchen freezer holding what appeared to be human testicles.
The suspects acknowledged performing surgeries, but they told investigators that the procedures were completely consensual and that the men who requested the operations traveled long distances for the procedures.

Like I said – I really don’t know what to say. I bet CourtTV has fun with this trial.

Posted by: Greg at 10:19 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I love the Apolitical Pooch, who is the best (and most spoiled) child-substitute a couple could possibly have. That said, I donÂ’t know that I would ever go to these lengths to get her back if she ended up in the pound.

A Glen Carbon man didn't have money to bail his dog out of the county pound, so he busted him out instead, police said.

Things got messy, though. Police said they suspect he first mistook the Humane Society for the pound and broke in there, then released three other canines with his dog to cover his tracks.

Madison County prosecutors filed burglary charges Tuesday against Thomas P. Carroll, 20, who is accused of breaking into the county's Animal Control Department building in rural Edwardsville to get back his dog, a Weimaraner named Titus.

Sheriff's deputies were called Monday to the Animal Control building in rural Edwardsville and the neighboring Metro East Humane Society building. Both buildings had been burglarized. Nothing was missing from the Humane Society building, but four dogs were missing from the Animal Control building.

Carroll was identified as the owner of one of the missing dogs. He had been notified a few days earlier that the Animal Control Department had his dog, but he said he wasn't able to pay a $125 fine required to get Titus back.

Detectives think Carroll broke into the Humane Society building first, thinking his dog was there. They also suspect he released the three other dogs at the Animal Control building as a diversion. The three other dogs were found nearby.

Carroll remained Tuesday in the county jail with bail set at $50,000 by Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr.

Titus, located at the home of CarrollÂ’s parents in another county, is awaiting extradition.

Posted by: Greg at 10:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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At least it is if you look at the scientific data.

It stopped in 1997.

For many years now, human-caused climate change has been viewed as a large and urgent problem. In truth, however, the biggest part of the problem is neither environmental nor scientific, but a self-created political fiasco. Consider the simple fact, drawn from the official temperature records of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, that for the years 1998-2005 global average temperature did not increase (there was actually a slight decrease, though not at a rate that differs significantly from zero).

Yes, you did read that right. And also, yes, this eight-year period of temperature stasis did coincide with society's continued power station and SUV-inspired pumping of yet more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

In response to these facts, a global warming devotee will chuckle and say "how silly to judge climate change over such a short period". Yet in the next breath, the same person will assure you that the 28-year-long period of warming which occurred between 1970 and 1998 constitutes a dangerous (and man-made) warming. Tosh. Our devotee will also pass by the curious additional facts that a period of similar warming occurred between 1918 and 1940, well prior to the greatest phase of world industrialisation, and that cooling occurred between 1940 and 1965, at precisely the time that human emissions were increasing at their greatest rate.

I grew up in the 1970s, when the threat we were warned about was global cooling.

Could it be that we are just seeing normal fluctuations over a typical ecological cycle?

Posted by: Greg at 08:19 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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If homosexual groups have time to complain about this, they really have nothing to complain about in American society.

The Dodge Caliber's "Anything but Cute" advertising campaign featuring a fairy in one television spot is anything but funny to some in the gay community.

Some viewers and gay rights supporters have complained the Chrysler Group commercial -- dubbed "Too Tough" and featuring a fluttering fairy zapping buildings and trains into cuter-looking gingerbread houses and toy trains -- is offensive and borders on homophobic.

The fairy is unsuccessful at transforming a black Caliber and is mocked by a male passer-by walking a dog. "Silly little fairy," he says.

As retribution, the fairy turns the pedestrian's button-down shirt and jeans attire into white shorts and a polo shirt draped with a preppy sweater. His black dog leash becomes four pink ones connected to Pomeranians. The suggestion, some say, is the man was turned into a homosexual.

"It directly finds humor with the term fairy, referring not just to the type that flies around with a magic wand, but also the universally recognizable gay stereotype of an effeminate gay man," the Commercial Closet said in an online review of the ad. The Internet-based group monitors marketing tactics that could be offensive to gays and lesbians.

I like the response from Chrysler spokesperson Suraya Bliss.

"We were pretty surprised that there are individuals that are making the conclusion that sexual orientation can be determined by the type of clothes you wear and the type of dog that you're walking," Bliss said.

"Are they suggesting that men that wear colored shirts are gay Â… or that all gay men dress alike? What we would ask someone to do is look at the ad for what it is," she said. "The ad is about the Dodge Caliber, which is a small car that stands apart from the competition because of its aggressive styling, styling that's anything but cute -- the tagline for the campaign."

IÂ’ve heard it said that when the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems look like a nail. I guess when the only thing that matters to you is sexual orientation, everything looks like a slur.

Linked To Debbie Schlussel

Posted by: Greg at 10:40 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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This headline clearly is designed to elicit sympathy for this poor teenager.

Irving shooting victim, 16, could face charges

But then you read the article.

From what I see here, there is no shooting victim. Instead, there is a lucky criminal.

A Dallas County grand jury will likely decide whether a 16-year-old boy shot in Irving on Wednesday should face criminal charges for attempting to rob a 45-year-old man at gunpoint.

Irving police spokesman Officer David Tull said the teenager approached the 45-year-old man in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 9400 block of E. Valley Ranch at about 9 p.m. Wednesday. Police did not release either personÂ’s name Thursday.

The man was talking on his cell phone in a parked pick-up truck when the teen wielded a gun and demanded the phone and the manÂ’s wallet. The man told the boy he was reaching for his wallet, but instead grabbed his gun, which was next to him. The man then pushed the boyÂ’s arm up and simultaneously shot him, Officer Tull said.

The teen, who was struck in the chest, spun around and then fled on foot. Fearing he may return, the man in the truck drove off and then called police.

The 16-year-old was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital where he was listed in serious condition Thursday. Police said the bullet entered his upper chest and exited out the left side of his back. When police arrived at the scene, the teen did not have a gun on him but police later recovered one about an hour later.

Let's see -- attempt to rob someone at gunpoint, and you are somehow a "victim"? Not a chance, folks!

And i'll be honest -- i find the closing sentence sort of disturbing.

The man in the truck will likely not face charges, Officer Tull said.

Probably will not be charged? Seems like ther e is no basis to do anything other than award him a medal and a gift certificate for some time at the local shooting range so that if there is a "next time" he drops the perp so he cannot run off.

UPDATE: Seems they have updated teh headline -- no doubt due to reader outrage.

It now reads as follows.

Police: Irving teen was attempting robbery when shot

Much better.

Posted by: Greg at 09:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What else could you call it if you face criminal penalties for being too poor to purchase mandatory health insurance?

The Massachusetts legislature approved a bill Tuesday that would require all residents to purchase health insurance or face legal penalties, which would make this the first state to tackle the problem of incomplete medical coverage by treating patients the same way it does cars.

Gov. Mitt Romney (R) supports the proposal, which would require all uninsured adults in the state to purchase some kind of insurance policy by July 1, 2007, or face a fine. Their choices would be expanded to include a range of new and inexpensive policies -- ranging from about $250 per month to nearly free -- from private insurers subsidized by the state.

Romney said the bill, modeled on the state's policy of requiring auto insurance, is intended to end an era in which 550,000 people go without insurance and their hospital and doctor visits are paid for in part with public funds.

"We insist that everybody who drives a car has insurance," Romney said in an interview. "And cars are a lot less expensive than people."

Tuesday's votes approving the bill -- 154 to 2 in the House and 37 to 0 in the Senate -- were the culmination of two years of politicking and several months of backroom negotiations, as rival health-care plans from Romney and the two Democrat-led chambers were hammered into one.

So I guess the option for the truy poor in Massachusetts will be to leave the state or stop living, won't it. Because that is the fundamental difference between car insurance and health insurance -- you can avoid the car insurance requirement by not having a car, but the only way to avoid the health insurance requirement is by dying or moving. How progressive!

And as I read this article, this will be enforced in a manner that only those who follow the law and file state income tax returns or who provide truthful identifying information at hospitals will face penalties. I guess that means our our illegal alien friends will skate, while needy Americans are penalized for relying on their government for assistance when facing hard times.

Posted by: Greg at 10:36 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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If these charges are true, I'd welcome the possibility of him getting a death sentence. Unfortunately, we are too "enlightened" to give it to him.

The deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security was arrested last night on charges that he used the Internet to seduce an undercover Florida sheriff's detective who he thought was a 14-year-old girl, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

Brian J. Doyle, 55, was arrested at his Silver Spring home at 7:45 p.m. and charged with seven counts of using a computer to seduce a child and 16 counts of transmitting harmful materials to a minor, according to a sheriff's office statement.

Agents with the department's Inspector General's Office, the U.S. Secret Service, the Montgomery County police and the Polk County Sheriff's Office served a search warrant and seized his home computer and other materials, the statement said.

Doyle was online at the time awaiting what he thought was a nude image of a girl who had lymphoma, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in an interview with Fox News' "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren." "We wanted to make sure he was using that computer and talking to detectives at the time of the arrest," Judd said.

What is almost as disturbing is his breach of agency security, disclosing phone numbers and other information to his intended victim -- who he believed to be a child.

However, I'm not particularly disturbed that this is the second DHS official arrested on kiddie sex charges -- if one accepts the notion that 1% of the public falls into this category of sick freaks, then it was bound to happen. We've seen it with clergy, teachers, and other groups. Why not Homeland Security Department employees?

UPDATE: You know, even a liberal like Dana gets things right sometimes.

UPDATE 2: Here's an interesting bit of information on this mutt -- he's a registered Democrat and former employee of Time Magazine.

Posted by: Greg at 10:26 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I saw this headline this morning.

Poll: Most Open to Letting Immigrants Stay

But then comes the story.

A slim majority of Americans are open to allowing undocumented workers to obtain some sort of temporary legal status to remain in the United States, with stronger support for the idea among Democrats, younger adults and more educated Americans, a new poll finds.

Overall, 56 percent of Americans favor offering illegal immigrants a shot at some kind of legal status; roughly two-thirds of those ages 18-34 like the idea and an equal share of those with a college education agree, the AP-Ipsos survey found.

Ahhhh... a slim majority. Not "Most" -- a bit more than half. A majority to be sure -- but not "Most" any ore than it would be correct to say that "Most Americans Voted For Bush In 2004".

So what is it -- sloppy work or intentional inaccuracy?

Posted by: Greg at 02:59 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco didn't bother to try to use the school buses of New Orleans to to save residents from the oncoming Hurricane Katrina -- but now a use has been found for these flooded-out hulks.

Sell them on eBay to raise money for the under-funded, sub-standard New Orleans schools that remain open.

Starved for cash, the New Orleans school district is taking a long shot and hoping to sell its flooded, unsalvageable school buses on eBay.

Some submerged to their roofs in the black flood waters, the yellow school buses were widely photographed in the days after Hurricane Katrina and have become an icon of the city's devastated school system.

School officials acknowledge the sale of the buses on the Internet auction site may puzzle some people used to more traditional school fundraisers like bake sales.

"There's no shame in it. Not one bit," said school board president Phyllis Landrieu. "This is a new mechanism for selling things. I think it's very upbeat what we're doing."

Only 23 of 117 Orleans Parish public schools have reopened. They face a $111 million shortfall - about a quarter of the district's $430 million annual operating budget. The district also has $264 million in outstanding debt, carried over from before Hurricane Katrina.

A total of 85 schools flooded, and wind damaged many more. It took three months for the first public school to reopen. Now, the schools that are holding classes have around 9,500 students, about 15 percent of the 60,000 enrolled before the storm.

The school district plans to put one bus up for sale on eBay this week. If it succeeds, more of the 259 ruined buses will be offered.

"It's an example of how bad the situation is that we would have to come up with this idea," said Richard White, schools spokesman.

The district plans to contract out its student transportation.

I wonder whose brother-in-law or cousin will get that contract -- and whether the corrupt political system of Louisiana will allow the eBay cash to go towards education, or towards graft.

Oh, by the way -- here is the link to the auction.

Posted by: Greg at 10:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We've heard it from Rev. Jesse Jackass Jackson and others -- holding an election in New Orleans today would disenfranchise thousands, and result in a white electorate deciding the direction of a black city. The election must be delayed.

Here is one example.

From the very top, let's get something straight.

I think that Ray Nagin, the black mayor of New Orleans, did a terrible job of planning right before Hurricane Katrina hit the city. His leadership during the storm, when people were stranded and dying, was abysmal. And his leadership hasn't gotten any better in that tragedy's aftermath.

That said, I'm appalled that the U.S. Justice Department has blessed the disenfranchisement of black voters in the Big Easy's upcoming municipal elections.

The hurricane and subsequent floodwaters forced more than two-thirds of New Orleans' population to flee that city. Indeed, officials urged and ordered many reluctant residents to leave.

Officials directed residents to get on buses and planes headed out of the Gulf Coast disaster zone. Many of the evacuees had no idea where they were being taken. Against their will, many ended up in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and other cities hundreds -- even thousands --of miles from their devastated New Orleans neighborhoods.

Now that the city is scheduled to hold elections for mayor, guess what? No special provisions are being made to accommodate voting by New Orleans residents who are involuntarily exiled outside Louisiana.

To make matters worse, the U.S. Justice Department, which is charged with making sure that minority voting rights are not being denied, has approved this totally unfair plan.

Don't forget, many of the people forced out of New Orleans were black and poor. Many who have been able to stay or to move back already are white and/or have some measure of financial wealth. Though 23 people have signed up to challenge Nagin, the real race is between Nagin and either Mitch Landrieu or Ron Forman, both of whom are white.

Yet the issue here is not race. It's fairness -- for everyone.

So while the issue ostensibly isn't race for this author (David Porter of the Orlando Sentinel), it is all about race.

But what about the reality on the ground in the New Orleans area?

Interestingly enough, here is what a demographic analysis of the city and the surrounding areas shows. according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

A substantial majority of New Orleans' registered voters still reside within the city or its suburbs, and their racial makeup closely mirrors that of all registered voters before the storm, according to new data commissioned by the secretary of state.

The new data challenges the popular notion that the out-of-state votes of displaced New Orleans residents loom large over the April 22 election, as well as the perception that in-town voters are overwhelmingly white and those out of town are overwhelmingly black, said Greg Rigamer of GCR and Associates, who produced the data as a consultant for the state.

In the first statistical portrait of registered voters, as opposed to overall population, Rigamer's company found that about 80 percent of the city's 297,053 registered voters either have not filed a change of address form or have listed a new address within the metro New Orleans area, the data show. The actual percentage of voters living locally is not that high -- not everyone who has moved informed the post office -- but the data strongly indicates that a majority of voters remain nearby, Rigamer said.

"If I was a candidate running this race, I'd really focus on the local voters," Rigamer said.

Further, the data shows the proportion of white voters to black voters living in the metro area -- although not necessarily in Orleans Parish -- remains almost the same as before the flood, about 32 percent white and 62 percent black. And the data on race is more reliable, Rigamer said, because of the massive size of the sample.

In other words, there is no raqcial or economic disenfranchisement if the vote is held today. The elections can be safely held without unduly impacting any group covered under the voting rights laws of the United States.

Isn't it a bitch when liberal talking points rund smack-dab into a pile of contradictory facts?

Anyone want to bet that it makes a difference?

Posted by: Greg at 10:37 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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And in the course of that service performed deeds of heroism so compelling that Desmond Doss was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Not bad for a pacifist who refused to carry a weapon out of a profound respect for the word of God and human life.

Desmond T. Doss, Sr., the only conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II, has died. He was 87 years old.

Mr. Doss never liked being called a conscientious objector. He preferred the term conscientious cooperator. Raised a Seventh-day Adventist, Mr. Doss did not believe in using a gun or killing because of the sixth commandment which states, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). Doss was a patriot, however, and believed in serving his country.

During World War II, instead of accepting a deferment, Mr. Doss voluntarily joined the Army as a conscientious objector. Assigned to the 307th Infantry Division as a company medic he was harassed and ridiculed for his beliefs, yet he served with distinction and ultimately received the Congressional Medal of Honor on Oct. 12, 1945 for his fearless acts of bravery.

According to his Medal of Honor citation, time after time, Mr. DossÂ’ fellow soldiers witnessed how unafraid he was for his own safety. He was always willing to go after a wounded fellow, no matter how great the danger. On one occasion in Okinawa, he refused to take cover from enemy fire as he rescued approximately 75 wounded soldiers, carrying them one-by-one and lowering them over the edge of the 400-foot Maeda Escarpment. He did not stop until he had brought everyone to safety nearly 12 hours later.

When Mr. Doss received the Medal of Honor from President Truman, the President told him, “I’m proud of you, you really deserve this. I consider this a greater honor than being President.”

Mr. Doss’ exemplary devotion to God and his country has received nationwide attention. On July 4, 2004, a statue of Mr. Doss was placed in the National Museum of Patriotism in Atlanta, along with statues of Dr. Martin Luther King, President Jimmy Carter, and retired Marine Corps General Gray Davis, also a Medal of Honor recipient. Also in 2004, a feature-length documentary called “The Conscientious Objector,” telling Doss’ story of faith, heroism, and bravery was released. A feature movie describing Doss’ story is also being planned.

Mr. Doss died Thursday morning in Piedmont, Ala. He is survived by his wife, Frances; his son, Desmond T. Doss, Jr., and his brother, Harold Doss.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 31, at Heritage Funeral Home, located at 3239 Battlefield Parkway, Fort Oglethorpe.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 1, at 3 p.m. at the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church located at 4829 College Drive East in Collegedale.

Burial will take place on Monday, April 3, at 11 a.m. at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the Doss family requests that donations be sent to the Desmond Doss Museum Fund at the Georgia-Cumberland Conference office (P.O. Box 12000 Calhoun, Ga., 30703).

This man, ladies and gentlemen, was a true hero. We look at today's crop of "peace activists" and find a motley crew of ne'er-do-wells and whiners who have little respect for this country or its soldiers. Contrast the actions of Desmond Doss with the refusal of the recently rescued Christian Peacemaker team hostages to offer so much as a word of gratitude for the actions of military personnel who rescued them from terrorists who kidnapped them and murdered one of their number.

I have no doubt that Mr. Doss is this day in Paradise, in the company of the One True God.

ADDITIONAL TRIBUTES: MFVOV, Missing Link, Chaotic Synaptic Activity, Mudville Gazette, The Daily Brief, Hit and Run, Eric Berlin, Slobokan, Riehl World, Chatter, Two Malcontents, Fred Schoeneman, Blackfive

UPDATE: The Washington Post has this obituary, which is very good. It notes that Doss was not the only conscientious objector to receive thh Congressional Medal of Honor, merely the first. The other, Cpl. Thomas W. Bennett, a medical aidman who died while serving during the Vietnam War, also received the nation's highest military honor.

I urge you to click below to read the extended entry, where I have reproduced the full text of the citation that accompanied his Medal. You will be awe-struck by the degree of bravery exhibited by this man over the course of several days. Such Christ-like devotion to his fellow man in the face of his own possible death -- including while seriously wounded himself -- brought tears to my eyes. more...

Posted by: Greg at 02:51 PM | Comments (25) | Add Comment
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I could have told you this without spending the money on the survey.

Heck, I have told you this without spending the money on a survey.

Amid growing concern about the city's homicide rate and overburdened social services, a new poll finds Houstonians increasingly weary and wary of the 150,000 Louisiana evacuees who landed here after fleeing Hurricane Katrina.

Three-quarters of Harris County residents surveyed by Rice University sociologist Stephen Klineberg say the influx of Katrina evacuees, many of whom remain seven months after landfall, has put a "considerable strain" on the Houston community.

Additionally, two-thirds say evacuees bear responsibility for "a major increase in violent crime," and twice as many local residents believe Houston will be "worse off" rather than "better off" if most evacuees remain here permanently.

The preliminary results of Klineberg's annual survey, which is expected to be finalized later this month, suggest that a sizable fraction of area residents have tired of their guests from New Orleans.

"These results reflect what I'm hearing from my constituents," said U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston. "I think the percentage of people unhappy with the deadbeats from New Orleans would be larger but for the big hearts of Houstonians who want these folks to get back on their feet, as I do."

Why the shift in public opinion? Increased crime, increased violence ins chools, the strain placed upon cstate, county, and city services, the indications that the federal assistance Houston (and the entire state of Texas) was promised in September will not be forthcoming.

Oh, yeah -- we are also tired of able-bodied folks siting on stoops and curbs sipping on forties.

Culberson said the sentiment is much stronger, at least in his district (which includes west Houston, the Texas Medical Center and much of western and northwestern Harris County). He said his constituents are concerned about rising crime and no longer want to house New Orleanians who choose to rely on social services.

"If they can work, but won't work, ship 'em back," he said. "If they cause problems in the schools, if they commit crime, there ought to be a one-strike rule — ship 'em back."

Although Culberson said he has been trying to attach such a provision to pending legislation, it's unclear how such an idea could be implemented.

"Whatever we want to do, these are American citizens, and they can stay here if they want," said Eckels. "The difference is, when they're here and they get into trouble, there are consequences. They put up with a lot of things in New Orleans that we don't put up with here."

In other words, we don't liek the fact that our quality of life is being dragged down to the level that existed in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina.

Perhaps the biggest issue is this one -- we are getting indications that New orleans will welcome back the productive citizens, but not rebuild housing for the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum. The result will be "urban renewal via hurricane", with the poorest of the poor dumped in our backyards permanently. We were glad to help -- and are even still willing to help -- if we don't, ultimately, have to bear the burden permanently -- and alone.

Posted by: Greg at 11:40 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Gregory Kane of the Baltimore Sun responds to a story in his own paper from earlier this week – and notes that instead of criticizing teens who reproduce while still in high school, we no stigmatize those who find out-of-wedlock pregnancy and birth unacceptable.

Can I be the only one who finds something wrong with this quote?
"They didn't cater to pregnant girls at all. They don't have any sympathy for you. The attitude is, 'It's your fault.'"

Thus spake Alyssa Boyd, with all the wisdom accumulated from living 17 long years on this earth, in an article by Sun reporter Sara Neufeld that ran Monday.

According to Neufeld's article, Boyd was a top student at Western High School before she got pregnant and transferred to the Laurence G. Paquin Middle/High School, which has a history of giving pregnant girls the opportunity to continue their education.

Now I wouldn't presume to judge Ms. Boyd for getting pregnant. The truth is, I can't. In today's society, we judge folks who object to teen pregnancy. Heaven forbid we should judge the teens themselves.

But I'm having trouble with Boyd's line about "the attitude is, 'It's your fault.'"
Well, Ms. Boyd, aside from the young man who made you pregnant, just whose fault is your pregnancy, exactly?

I’m one who finds the quote absurd, but I’m not surprised. I’ve heard stuff along that line too many times in the past. Heck, I had one 18-year-old single mother tell me that her THIRD out-of-wedlock, in-high-school pregnancy was all the fault of the state of Texas – because Medicaid wouldn’t pay to tie her tubes after the second baby and “its not like they can expect me to stop having sex, since I live with their daddy!”

She thought I was an awful human being when I explained that unless a team of Texas Rangers knocked down her door and held her in place while then-Gov. George W. Bush personally impregnated her, it was not the fault of the state of Texas.

After all, how could I be so lacking in sympathy, or have the attitude of “It’s your fault.”

I mean, it isn’t like we can expect a little self-control.

Posted by: Greg at 01:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Gregory Kane of the Baltimore Sun responds to a story in his own paper from earlier this week – and notes that instead of criticizing teens who reproduce while still in high school, we no stigmatize those who find out-of-wedlock pregnancy and birth unacceptable.

Can I be the only one who finds something wrong with this quote?
"They didn't cater to pregnant girls at all. They don't have any sympathy for you. The attitude is, 'It's your fault.'"

Thus spake Alyssa Boyd, with all the wisdom accumulated from living 17 long years on this earth, in an article by Sun reporter Sara Neufeld that ran Monday.

According to Neufeld's article, Boyd was a top student at Western High School before she got pregnant and transferred to the Laurence G. Paquin Middle/High School, which has a history of giving pregnant girls the opportunity to continue their education.

Now I wouldn't presume to judge Ms. Boyd for getting pregnant. The truth is, I can't. In today's society, we judge folks who object to teen pregnancy. Heaven forbid we should judge the teens themselves.

But I'm having trouble with Boyd's line about "the attitude is, 'It's your fault.'"
Well, Ms. Boyd, aside from the young man who made you pregnant, just whose fault is your pregnancy, exactly?

I’m one who finds the quote absurd, but I’m not surprised. I’ve heard stuff along that line too many times in the past. Heck, I had one 18-year-old single mother tell me that her THIRD out-of-wedlock, in-high-school pregnancy was all the fault of the state of Texas – because Medicaid wouldn’t pay to tie her tubes after the second baby and “its not like they can expect me to stop having sex, since I live with their daddy!”

She thought I was an awful human being when I explained that unless a team of Texas Rangers knocked down her door and held her in place while then-Gov. George W. Bush personally impregnated her, it was not the fault of the state of Texas.

After all, how could I be so lacking in sympathy, or have the attitude of “It’s your fault.”

I mean, it isnÂ’t like we can expect a little self-control.

Posted by: Greg at 01:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After Rita and Katrina, folks down here do not want to see any more major tropical weather systems coming to Houston.

The Texas coast from Corpus Christi to the Louisiana border is likely to be the target of higher than normal hurricane activity over the next 10 years, private forecaster AccuWeather said today.

The 2006 hurricane season will be more active than normal and could bring a devastating storm to the U.S. Northeast also, the forecast said.

The outlook comes after the most costly hurricane season on record in 2005, with storms crippling New Orleans and other parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast and briefly knocking out a quarter of domestic fuel production.

* * *

Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Mississippi coast last August with winds above 135 mph and a 30-foot-high storm surge, causing more than $60 billion in damage.

Katrina was followed by Hurricanes Rita in Texas and Wilma in Florida. Each wreaked more than $10 billion of insured losses, making 2005 the most expensive year for hurricanes ever.

Bastardi said this year's storm activity will be above normal, but could be less active than 2005.

Forecasters are looking for a big storm to hit the Northeast this year. I don’t like the sound of that – but please, not Houston! One evacuation is enough.

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It is not an unreasonable question, given their decision to traffic with the enemy during time of war.

Our readers have reacted with outrage to our report that NBC News secretly interviewed a Taliban terrorist in Afghanistan, "Commander Ismail," who kills U.S. military personnel. We asked: What's next? Exclusive footage of American troops being massacred while NBC News and Commander Ismail look on and film it for the evening news?

One reader responded: "Just wanted to thank you for the report about NBC and their seditious and treasonous acts. There can be no doubt that the big media outlets in this country have tried their best to undermine this country and this President at every turn…The New York Times should be tried under the treason and sedition laws for their part in aiding and abetting the terrorist in revealing the NSA wiretapping program. These traitors have weakened this country's defense, [they] triumph the rights of the terrorist bastard scum and blame President Bush for everything under the sun. They will stoop to ever deepening lows as evidenced by the childish and hateful behavior towards the President and the First Lady at Mrs. King's funeral. There is no bottom to the pit these snakes come from. Keep up the great work."

Read what else Cliff Kincaid’s readers have to say on the matter – it isn’t pretty.

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It is not an unreasonable question, given their decision to traffic with the enemy during time of war.

Our readers have reacted with outrage to our report that NBC News secretly interviewed a Taliban terrorist in Afghanistan, "Commander Ismail," who kills U.S. military personnel. We asked: What's next? Exclusive footage of American troops being massacred while NBC News and Commander Ismail look on and film it for the evening news?

One reader responded: "Just wanted to thank you for the report about NBC and their seditious and treasonous acts. There can be no doubt that the big media outlets in this country have tried their best to undermine this country and this President at every turnÂ…The New York Times should be tried under the treason and sedition laws for their part in aiding and abetting the terrorist in revealing the NSA wiretapping program. These traitors have weakened this country's defense, [they] triumph the rights of the terrorist bastard scum and blame President Bush for everything under the sun. They will stoop to ever deepening lows as evidenced by the childish and hateful behavior towards the President and the First Lady at Mrs. King's funeral. There is no bottom to the pit these snakes come from. Keep up the great work."

Read what else Cliff Kincaid’s readers have to say on the matter – it isn’t pretty.

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I’m glad they caught this guy, suspected of murder in both my city and his own. And I’m glad that this no-class gang loser has a nickname that fits him – at least until they fry him.

The hunt for a suspected gang leader linked to homicides in both Houston and New Orleans ended early today with his arrest in Kenner, La., police said.

Officers arrested Ivory "B-Stupid" Harris, 20, about 3 a.m. while serving a search warrant at a home in the New Orleans suburb.

Harris was charged with murder for the Feb. 28 shooting death of Jermaine Wise, 22, in New Orleans. Officers found the victim dead about 1:30 a.m. inside a car parked along the 5300 block of Constance Street.

Houston police said Harris is apparently connected to the Dec. 28 slaying of Steven Kennedy, 24, at 1303 La Concha.

Harris was reported to be travelling with Jerome Hampton, 24, who has been charged with Kennedy's death, which police said was a revenge killing for the 2003 murder of James "Soulja Slim" Tapp, a New Orleans rapper.

Hampton, known as "Man-Man," was arrested Mar. 12 by New Orleans police.
Harris also is linked to two other murders in Houston, one that occurred on Dec. 17 and a second on Jan. 4. Police said the slayings may have resulted from disputes over women.

To date, however, Harris has only been charged with a Dec. 18 armed robbery case at Greenspoint Mall, Houston police said.

B-Stupid – sounds about right to me.

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This is too weird.

Talk about a wild night near Seguin. A cow came flying out of its trailer, sent DPS and police scrambling, and left two police cars going up in flames.

"It was almost hard to believe," said Detective Sergeant Maureen Watson. She has been in law enforcement for 15 years, and says she "never had a day like this. I mean the best way to characterize this it, is it's bizarre. It's really really strange."

It's strange because it started out with a truck towing cattle, and ended in fire.
Watson told News 4 WOAI, "We believe the gate of the cattle trailer came open, and the cow, for lack of a better phrase spilled out onto the Interstate. It was pretty chaotic for a while."

Several cars hit some of the cows. One cow died. DPS troopers called for backup.

That's when one officer was nearly run down by a speeding truck, carrying two illegal immigrants inside.

Seguin Police were out looking for those illegal immigrants. They parked their cars in the hot grass, burning two of them including that brand new 2006 Crown Victoria. Watson said, "Well, all of a sudden, another officer who'd arrived on the scene, alerted the sergeant that there was a fire."

Everything inside was destroyed, including tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment designed for the patrol cars.

"You start off with kind of a bizarre accident with these cows spilling onto the interstate. That leads to other accidents, that leads to a car chase, that leads to a foot chase," Watson recalls.

The two Mexican immigrants, ages 21 and 23, are in custody for illegally entering the country and evading arrest. Watson says they have replacement cars for now, but hope the city council will vote to get new cars soon.

Uh, yeah.

Posted by: Greg at 10:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've noticed a trend at school of more fights for trivial reasons. You know, someone steps on a shoe or makes a rude comment and the "victim" comes out swinging. I'd assumed it was just high spirits on the part of kids or increased awareness on my part -- but now I see it is probably part of a larger trend.

Andre Vincent Jr. was inside a Forestville carryout, joking with a neighborhood acquaintance. When the wordplay turned tense, Vincent, 19, tried to defuse the situation, waving off Wendell E. Jones and saying, "Ah, y'all a clown."

Thirty minutes later, as Vincent stepped to his car with a group of friends, Jones, 22 at the time, sneaked up behind him and fired six bullets into his head. As Jones walked away, court testimony would reveal, he snickered, "Who's the clown now?"

The 2004 murder was part of what law enforcement sees as an alarming trend in Prince George's County: low-"flash point" killings, in which attackers resort to deadly violence over trivial confrontations.

Police say the trend, in part, drove the sharp increase in the county's homicide count last year: 173, a record and a spike from the 148 that occurred in 2004. Twenty people have been killed in the county as of yesterday, compared with 33 by the same date in 2005.

Any speculation on what causes this increased tendency to resort to deadly force over trivial insults? Any suggestions over what to do about it?

Posted by: Greg at 11:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Chuck Colson makes an interesting connection between a celebrated young man and a trend in Western society.

We’ve all been moved by the striking success of Jason McElwain, the autistic boy from upstate New York whose phenomenal basketball play won a game for his team when hope seemed gone.

But will there be more shining stars like Jason? Not if current trends continue.

While watching the news reports, I felt great for Jason and his family. As the grandfather of an autistic child, it was wonderful to see a reminder that these wonderful kids can be helped and can exceed our expectations.

But, as a Christian, I was struck by a savage irony: At the same time that Americans were touched by one disabled child, countless disabled children in the West face annihilation.

For example, in the Netherlands, medical protocols allow for the killing of disabled infants. As Wesley Smith points out, “disabled” includes Down syndrome, hemophilia, and other conditions that don’t prevent people from living happy lives. All that matters is that the child’s death “serves the interests of their families.”

Here in the United States, children with Down syndrome have been systematically “targeted for elimination.” A combination of amniocentesis, abortion, and pressure from physicians has made bearing a child with Down syndrome an heroic act.

Given this track record, can anyone seriously doubt what will happen as more disabilities can be detected through genetic screening? The pressures to abort children with possible disabilities will be immense. Just last Sunday, the New York Times Magazine had a chilling story about doctors being sued for “wrongful birth” because they have failed to warn the mother of defects in time for her to get an abortion.

It would be a shame if the sentimentality over the Jason story blinded us to the most important lessons we can learn from kids like Jason: What makes their lives worth celebrating is not what they do; it’s who they are. For me, what really mattered most was the love and respect shown to Jason by both his teammates and the crowd.

It’s a model for how all life should be treated, and anything less is missing the point altogether.

I spent a year working to provide educational and vocational services for developmentally disabled adults, and consider it to be one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. That year taught me more about what matters in life than any of the other 40+ years I have lived. As a result, I can only add a hearty “amen” to Colson’s observations.

Posted by: Greg at 12:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Chuck Colson makes an interesting connection between a celebrated young man and a trend in Western society.

WeÂ’ve all been moved by the striking success of Jason McElwain, the autistic boy from upstate New York whose phenomenal basketball play won a game for his team when hope seemed gone.

But will there be more shining stars like Jason? Not if current trends continue.

While watching the news reports, I felt great for Jason and his family. As the grandfather of an autistic child, it was wonderful to see a reminder that these wonderful kids can be helped and can exceed our expectations.

But, as a Christian, I was struck by a savage irony: At the same time that Americans were touched by one disabled child, countless disabled children in the West face annihilation.

For example, in the Netherlands, medical protocols allow for the killing of disabled infants. As Wesley Smith points out, “disabled” includes Down syndrome, hemophilia, and other conditions that don’t prevent people from living happy lives. All that matters is that the child’s death “serves the interests of their families.”

Here in the United States, children with Down syndrome have been systematically “targeted for elimination.” A combination of amniocentesis, abortion, and pressure from physicians has made bearing a child with Down syndrome an heroic act.

Given this track record, can anyone seriously doubt what will happen as more disabilities can be detected through genetic screening? The pressures to abort children with possible disabilities will be immense. Just last Sunday, the New York Times Magazine had a chilling story about doctors being sued for “wrongful birth” because they have failed to warn the mother of defects in time for her to get an abortion.

It would be a shame if the sentimentality over the Jason story blinded us to the most important lessons we can learn from kids like Jason: What makes their lives worth celebrating is not what they do; itÂ’s who they are. For me, what really mattered most was the love and respect shown to Jason by both his teammates and the crowd.

ItÂ’s a model for how all life should be treated, and anything less is missing the point altogether.

I spent a year working to provide educational and vocational services for developmentally disabled adults, and consider it to be one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. That year taught me more about what matters in life than any of the other 40+ years I have lived. As a result, I can only add a hearty “amen” to Colson’s observations.

Posted by: Greg at 12:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I wonder if Emily post deals with the proximity of a second wedding to the murder trial of your first spouse -- especially when the victims were your children.

Russell "Rusty" Yates will remarry this weekend, two days before his ex-wife, Andrea Yates, is retried for the 2001 murders of the couple's children.

On Saturday, Yates will marry Laura Arnold, a woman he met while attending Clear Lake Church of Christ, according to the Rev. Fairy Caroland, Yates' aunt.

"He's happy, and the family's happy," said Caroland, who added that the wedding date was set long before state District Judge Belinda Hill scheduled Andrea Yates' retrial.

Arnold has two sons, 21 and 9.

On June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates called police to her home, where they found the bodies of the five Yates children, Noah, 7; John, 5; Paul, 3; Luke, 2; and Mary, 6 months. All had been drowned in the family's bathtub. She was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Last year, the 1st Texas Court of Appeals overturned her capital murder conviction because of erroneous testimony from a forensic psychiatrist who was the state's expert witness. Two months later, on March 17, 2005, Andrea and Russell Yates' divorce was finalized, ending nearly 12 years of marriage.

Yates, 41, declined to discuss the wedding.

"It's not something I want to talk about," he said. "Just trying to keep my private life, private."

Yates and Arnold are to be married at Clear Lake Church of Christ on Saturday afternoon. Caroland said her nephew met Arnold after getting to know her 21-year-old son.

"He's simply trying to enjoy this without getting into a lot of stuff about it," Caroland said.

Yates told the Associated Press that he had informed his ex-wife of his plans to remarry.

"Andrea has been aware of it for a couple of months, and she wishes me the best, just as I wish her the best," Yates told the AP on Tuesday via e-mail.

Andrea Yates' attorney, George Parnham, said he was not certain how his client is handling the information.

"We all have to get on with our lives," he said. "This doesn't discount the things that happened on June 20th, but it saddens me that Andrea might be in any way negatively or emotionally affected by this."

A lot of folks around here still put a lot of the blame for the murders on Rusty -- this will just bring the debate forward again.

And it reminds me of why I'm so glad we didn't buy one of the houses we looked at in May of 2001 -- just a few doors down from the one where we saw the Dad playing with his four boys, and the odd looking mother holding a baby.

Posted by: Greg at 11:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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why should it be sufficient cause to fire a prison guard?

As if anybody needed more evidence of how difficult it is to fire a government employee, consider the case of Lovelock prison guard Amie L. Bianchini.

Ms. Bianchini was let go last November because prison authorities found out she and a fellow officer, Sean Hoferer, engaged in oral sex while on duty. The incident occurred in a bathroom at the prison while inmates were on lock-down status.

Mr. Hoferer quit his job once the incident was discovered. But Ms. Bianchini did not, so she was fired.

Had something like this taken place in the private sector, that would have been the end of the matter. But we're dealing with unionized public employees. So Ms. Bianchini fought her termination.

On March 2 a state hearing officer, Patrick Dolan, reinstated Ms. Bianchini with back pay. Under current prison regulations, Mr. Dolan found, the maximum penalty for Ms. Bianchini's actions is a 30-day suspension with pay.

Now, let's not be too quick to criticize Mr. Dolan. He is, after all, bound by state law and its various mandated parameters and procedures. But if regulations don't allow the dismissal of guards who are having sex while on duty, the state has a problem.

State prison officials say they will try to amend regulations so that guards can be fired the first time they are found having sex while at work. What a concept!

Watch the Nevada Corrections Association -- the union representing guards -- fight them tooth and nail.

You mean that sexual relations in the workplace -- even oral not-sex (after all, that was Bubba's argument with Monica) -- is not a private matter that is of no public concern?

Heck -- if we use the Clinton-Lewinsky precedent, this isn't even sufficient grounds for a suspension.

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Posted by: Greg at 08:10 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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