But it does not fit the approved narrative, so the media has not played it up.

After all, to do so would show that the only lie in "Bush lied us into war" is coming from the mouth of those defaming the President. The folks at Washington Hotlist make the case.

[U]nfortunately, many liberals have either ignored the story or have simply refused to put a legitimate portion of thought into what it alleges.

Saddam Hussein let the world think he had weapons of mass destruction to intimidate Iran and prevent the country from attacking Iraq, according to an FBI agent who interviewed the dictator after his 2003 capture.

But wait, I thought George W. Bush made up those pesky rumors about weapons of mass destruction?  After all, he needed to even the score for his daddy, whilst securing rich oil reserves.  Right?

Typically, IÂ’d have my doubts about the political slant coming from CBS, but now that Dan Rather is gone, IÂ’ll take my chances.  According to a CBS report, Saddam Hussein told the FBI that he did not anticipate a U.S.-led invasion over the alleged presence of weapons of mass destruction.

<According to FBI agent George Piro, “For him, it was critical that he was seen as still the strong, defiant Saddam.  He thought that (faking having the weapons) would prevent the Iranians from reinvading Iraq.”

But, the most telling portion of the article:

“He told me that he initially miscalculatedÂ…President BushÂ’s intentions.  He thought the United States would retaliate with the same type of attack as we did in 1998Â…a four-day aerial attack.  He survived that one and he was willing to accept that type of attack,” Piro said.

So, not only did Hussein spread and then maintain his own lies about weapons possession, but also he was willing to place his people in danger pending a small-scale aerial attack.  All for the sake of power and pride.

And what of that four-day attack in 1998?  In political terms, the ineffectiveness of the preemptive strike Hussein recalled – and its very real and literal power to embolden Hussein (after all, it was the sole reason he believed the U.S. would wimp out) proves that many Democrats (cough, cough – Clinton) have no backbone when it comes to dealing with international criminals and their governments.  Had Clinton actually done his job properly, we wouldnÂ’t even be talking about this right now.  Instead, he chose to start a job he didnÂ’t intend to finish.

But wait, thereÂ’s more:

“Hussein had the ability to restart the weapons program and professed to wanting to do that, Piro said. 

“He wanted to pursue all of WMD…to reconstitute his entire WMD program.”

If you are sensible, you will take the following away from the aforementioned details: Saddam Hussein successfully tricked the American people (and portions of the international community) into believing that he had reignited his weapons program.  He did so for political purposes, although he did actually hope to one day possess weapons he would have no doubt used against his enemies (America, included).  Then, when the U.S. bought into his insanity and just so happened to have a president with enough sense to stop taking HusseinÂ’s threats for granted, America reacted.

Unfortunately for the left, this debunks many mistaken notions.  Bush did not lie or manipulate information.  He simply worked with the same evidence that John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and other leading Democrats consulted.  They, too, voted for the war (not Bill, of course) based on the same intelligence information.  And not for anything, but if they are going to allege being manipulated by a man whose intelligence they regularly degrade and belittle, then they are even more absurd than I previously thought – and consequently even more foolish then they claim Bush is.

Now lets look at that.

Saddam wanted the world to believe he had (or was working to acquire) WMDs. Saddam was willing to risk a Clinton-style bombing attack on his nation because he had become convinced that the United States lacked the will to do more, based upon the repeated weak-kneed response of Bill Clinton to his provocations during the 1990s. What's more, it was his goal and his intent to restart the WMD programs, and he was just waiting for the opportunity.

Now remember -- those are the assertions of Saddam to his interrogator -- words which exculpate George W. Bush, a man for whom Saddam had no love. They do a great deal to explain why EVERY MAJOR INTELLIGENCE AGENCY IN THE WORLD believed Saddam was seeking WMDs.

So you can make the claim that "Bush lied" -- but only if you want to willfully ignore the facts.

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After the horrific Baby Grace case, Galveston now has another body of a dead baby simply abandoned by those who took the childÂ’s life.

The body of a baby boy was discovered this morning in the grass near the side of a Galveston road, police said.

The body, described as a child between 4-months and 6-months-old, was discovered about 10 a.m. near Seawall Boulevard and Ferry Road, Lt. Jorge Trevino said.

"A couple was driving on Cherry Hill and saw what they thought was a doll," Trevino said. But something looked odd and they stopped and discovered the body next to a child's car seat, he said.

Trevino said it appeared that the child may have been thrown from the car while sitting in the car seat.

I cannot fathom how one could kill one’s own child – much less dump the body like a bag of litter along the side of the road. There are so many of us who would love to hold that child and call him (or her) our own. I pray that the authorities quickly locate the responsible parties, and that they are soon sentence to death for this heinous crime.

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What a life!

Margaret Truman, the only child of former President Harry S. Truman who became a concert singer, actress, radio and TV personality and mystery writer, died Tuesday. She was 83.

Truman, known as Margaret Truman Daniel in private life, died at a Chicago assisted living facility following a brief illness, according to a statement from the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence. She had been at the facility for the past several weeks and was on a respirator, the library said.

Living 83 years has to be called a good long life – and this lady made the most of it. She crossed every facet of the entertainment industry during her lifetime, becoming a noted author of a series of entertaining mystery novels at an age when most folks are starting to slow down and contemplate retirement.

But my favorite story is this one – one which reminds us that every president is human, and that it is human nature for a parent to defend a child.

She made her professional singing debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1947 and gave her first Carnegie Hall concert two years later. Critics generally praised her poise but were less impressed with her vocal talent.

When Washington Post critic Paul Hume wrote after a 1950 concert that she ''is extremely attractive on the stage ... (but) cannot sing very well. She is flat a good deal of the time,'' her father fired off a note on White House stationery scolding Hume for a ''lousy review.''

''I have never met you, but if I do you'll need a new nose and plenty of beefsteak and perhaps a supporter below,'' the president wrote.

The note made Page One news -- but was not the sort of publicity an aspiring artist seeks. Years later she was able to laugh about it: ''I thought it was funny. Sold tickets.''

Yes, she was truly “Daddy’s little girl”.

To her surviving family, I offer my condolences on this great loss of a true lady.

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You get situations like this one in San Antonio.

A former San Antonio police officer set to be sentenced this week for allowing his live-in girlfriend to deal methamphetamine was hired by the department in 1994 despite being rejected two years earlier for reasons including a drunken driving conviction, a newspaper reports.

Background investigators also concluded that Joseph Anthony Evans tried to hide a criminal trespass arrest, a hit-and-run conviction and an internal investigation of sexual misconduct at a corrections officer job. He'd also been rejected by Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

San Antonio police had also originally denied Evans a badge because polygraphs showed deceptive or inconclusive answers to questions ranging from illegal drug use to stealing from employers.

"Joseph Evans is not San Antonio Police Department officer material," investigator Ignacio Cantu wrote in a 1992 memo recommending rejection.

Good grief! Upon what basis would any police department ever hire this guy?

Oh -- maybe this one.

Two officials involved in the hiring of Evans, who is black, say other applicants recommended for rejection during the administration of Chief William O. Gibson also were let onto the police force when the department was under pressure to meet affirmative action goals.

Sandoval, who retired in 1997, said he overrode other rejections from applicant screeners amid political pressure from City Hall to hire more black and female officers.

* * *

[Former police academy commander Larry] Birney said he remembers none of the episode. But he did recall that Evans wasn't the only rejected minority applicant whom Sandoval hired over his objections.

"I wouldn't say it was common but it wasn't uncommon, either. I can tell you horror stories," said Birney, who declined to talk further on the record.

See what happens when one puts the color of someone's skin over the content of their character. You loose the latter to get the former -- and in the process do harm to the very institution you were trying to improve.

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1 Here in Houston, back in the early 70's we had Carroll Lynn (sp?) in charge of hiring for the police academy. At the same time Lynn had a private security business which he kept populated with new employees by stealing them from the city employment line. I am aware of at least two officers who finally did make it to HPD, after having been told they were not qualified only to be hired into the security company by Lynn. These were top quality officers who stuck it out until Lynn was out of the loop. Lynn eventually became police chief and then was convicted of a hand full of felony charges and wound up in prison. I guess the sword cuts both ways.

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I realize that some folks prefer to see the Second Amendment as antiquated and irrelevant, but I disagree strongly. And every time I see stories about a school shooting, i wonder if things might have been different if trained faculty members had been permitted to exercise their Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. And in situations like what we saw last year at Virginia Tech, I think of how quickly the murdering scumbag could have been dispatched if even one of his victims had not been disarmed by government edict.

That's why I find legislation like this to be a good sign.

Two Mesa lawmakers are drawing up legislation to give teachers — and some students — a chance to carry firearms on campus.
The proposals by Sen. Karen Johnson and Rep. Russell Pearce would allow anyone who has obtained a state permit to carry a concealed firearm to bring it onto public-school campuses, something now a crime under state law. It also would overrule similar policies at community colleges and state universities.

Yeah -- teachers and college students would be treated like adults. And lest you think this statute would let just anyone come onto campus packing heat, the law is very specific about who can do so.

In limiting the measures to those with concealed-weapons permits, they would require that those given the right to bring guns onto campuses undergo background checks, be fingerprinted, go through state-mandated training in laws governing when they are allowed to use deadly force and prove they can handle their firearms.

In other words, trained individuals from a subset of the population repeatedly demonstrated to be unlikely to misuse that weapon would no longer be arbitrarily banned from exercising the concealed-carry privilege.

This proposal resonates with me because I teach. School shootings make me wonder what I could do to protect my students in the event there were a gunman on campus -- and the answer right now is nothing except cower with them in a corner with the lights out and the door locked. There ought to be something more, and I hope that such a law is considered and passed here in Texas.

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And that is a step forward for Saudi women.

Women in Saudi Arabia can now stay in a hotel or a furnished apartment without a male guardian, according to a government decision that comes as the country faces increasing criticism for its severe restrictions on women.

The daily Al-Watan, which is deemed close to the Saudi government, reported Monday that the ministry issued a circular to hotels asking them to accept lone women — as long as their information is sent to a local police station.

Yeah, and I wonder what will happen with that information once it gets to the police? Will they be contacting parents, brothers, and husbands -- which will potentially enable continued physical abuse or honor killings of women trying to escape abusive situations?

But they still can't drive or be alone with an unrelated man -- which leads to the question of how these women will get to a hotel in the first place. But then again, there are reports that the driving ban may be lifted by the end of the year.

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If the reports of layoffs are true, there probably will be quite a few.

Yahoo is planning to lay off hundreds of employees in an effort to increase its profitability, prop up its deflated stock price and narrow the focus of its sprawling Internet portal to a smaller number of crucial areas, people close to the company said Monday.

The final number of layoffs from YahooÂ’s work force of about 14,000 is yet to be determined and is likely to be announced around the end of the month, perhaps during YahooÂ’s conference call on Jan. 29 with analysts after it reports fourth-quarter results, these people said.

Company executives are still trying to determine exactly which areas will be cut. One person close to the discussions said a final plan, or perhaps a few alternative plans, would be submitted to the board at a coming meeting. The planÂ’s final shape may be influenced by the companyÂ’s fourth-quarter performance, this person said.

Yahoo declined to comment specifically on any plan for layoffs. In an e-mail statement, a company spokeswoman, Diana Wong, said: “Yahoo plans to invest in some areas, reduce emphasis in others, and eliminate some areas of the business that don’t support the company’s priorities. Yahoo continues to attract and hire talent against the company’s key initiatives to create long-term stockholder value.”

Some blogs have reported a 10-20% reduction in force, but analysts are viewing that as unlikely. However the report of "hundreds" being laid off could still be a reduction of 5% -- a significant amount indeed. WIll other tech companies follow suit?

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More trouble in the dead-tree media.

The top editor of The Los Angeles Times has been forced out for resisting newsroom budget cuts, executives at the paper said Sunday, marking the fourth time in less than three years that the highest-ranking editor or the publisher has left for that reason.

The removal of the editor, James E. OÂ’Shea, by the publisher, David D. Hiller, mirrors the odd spectacle of a little more than a year ago, when the previous publisher, Jeffrey M. Johnson, was fired for refusing to eliminate newsroom jobs as directed by the paperÂ’s owner, the Tribune Company. In each case, a longtime Tribune executive was expected to rein in costs at the paper, but instead sided with the newsroom and lost his job for it.

The departure of Mr. OÂ’Shea appears to contradict statements by Samuel Zell, the Chicago real estate magnate who took over the company last month and is now its chairman and chief executive. Mr. Zell has repeatedly criticized the previous regime of the financially troubled company for trying to improve the bottom line by cutting costs, and he has said that he thinks the path to profit lies in finding new revenue, not paring costs.

Calls to Mr. O’Shea, Mr. Hiller and a spokeswoman for Mr. Zell were not returned. A Tribune spokesman referred inquiries to Nancy Sullivan, a spokeswoman for The Los Angeles Times, who said, “I don’t have any comment for you.”

Fewer readers equals fewer dollars equals fewer staffers. O'Shea couldn't accept that, and so he had to go.

Frankly, papers like the LA Times need to accept that, as part of major media conglomerates, they need to pool their reporting across the sister publications. In that sense, they will operate like local affiliates of the major television networks do, packaging national news with their local reporting -- and sharing their local reporting with other network affiliates.

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Interesting, isn't it, that we keep finding ways that nature is responsible for phenomena associated with global warming?

Another factor might be contributing to the thinning of some of the Antarctica's glaciers: volcanoes.

In an article published Sunday on the Web site of the journal Nature Geoscience, Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey report the identification of a layer of volcanic ash and glass shards frozen within an ice sheet in western Antarctica.

"This is the first time we have seen a volcano beneath the ice sheet punch a hole through the ice sheet" in Antarctica, Vaughan said.

Volcanic heat could still be melting ice to water and contributing to thinning and speeding up of the Pine Island glacier, which passes nearby, but Vaughan said he doubted that it could be affecting other glaciers in western Antarctica, which have also thinned in recent years. Most glaciologists, including Vaughan, say that warmer ocean water is the primary cause of thinning.

Unless, of course, there are volcanoes on the other side of the continent causing melting there -- and don't forget that the water released by the volcanoes will help raise the temperature more generally.

But regardless, we find AGAIN that there is a natural phenomenon resulting in one of the "proofs" of global warming. And yet somehow the faith of the acolytes of than new religion remains unchanged.

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I'll have to talk to my rocket scientist buddies at church today (I live only a couple miles from Johnson Space Center) to see if they have more information on this situation with the Ares I rocket.

Dare I suggest that it is a problem that needs fixing sooner rather than later?

NASA is wrestling with a potentially dangerous problem in a spacecraft that has not even been built yet.

Engineers are concerned that the new rocket, meant to replace the space shuttle and send astronauts to the moon, could shake violently during the first few minutes of flight, possibly destroying the entire vehicle.

"They know it's a real problem," said Paul Fischbeck, a Carnegie Mellon University engineering professor who has consulted on risk issues with NASA in the past. "This thing is going to shake apart the whole structure, and they've got to solve it."

If not corrected, the shaking would arise from the powerful first stage of the Ares I rocket, which will lift the Orion crew capsule into orbit.

NASA officials hope to have a plan for fixing the design as early as March, and they do not expect it to delay the goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020.

Yeah, shaking the entire spacecraft into little pieces -- especially with human beings inside, does seem like a bit of a problem to me.

But then again, I'm no rocket scientist.

Seriously, though, I hope to see this problem resolved by March like they are talking about -- otherwise it damn well ought to slow down the push to reach the moon again by 2020. After all, while space travel will never be risk free, it ought not be a suicide mission.

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An interesting cloning dilemma.

A scientist has achieved a world first... by cloning himself.

In a breakthrough certain to provoke an ethical furore, Samuel Wood created embryo copies of himself by placing his skin cells in a woman's egg.

The embryos were the first to be made from cells taken from adult humans.

Although they survived for only five days and were smaller than a pinhead, they are seen as a milestone in the quest for treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

But critics fear the technology could be exploited by mavericks to clone babies and accused the scientists of reducing the miracle of human life to a factory of spare parts.

Researchers from the Californian stem cell research company Stemagen employed the same technique used to make Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, to create the embryos.

They took eggs donated by young women having IVF and replaced genetic material with DNA from the skin cells of two men.

Needless to say, this is a storm of controversy. It has been only a matter of time before we went from the cloning of embryonic cells to this cloning of adults – even though this particular experiment was terminated at 5 days.

What questions need to be dealt with?

1) Is it proper to clone human beings at all?
2) What rights do cloned individuals have?
3) At what point do cloned individuals acquire rights?

I don't propose to have all the answers to these questions – just the questions themselves. But it appears answers are needed sooner rather than later.

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So, will the project to create pollution-free electricity off of Cape Cod be permitted to move forward?

The nation's first proposed offshore wind-energy project cleared its most formidable hurdle yesterday as the US Minerals Management Service declared that the wind farm off Cape Cod would have little lasting impact on wildlife, navigation, and tourism.

The agency's nearly 2,000-page draft environmental impact statement makes clear that the federal government is inclined to approve construction of the 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound, 5 miles from the nearest coastline, unless major new concerns arise during a public comment period. Federal approval would probably come late this year or early next year, and remaining state permits are not expected to be a major obstacle, given that Governor Deval Patrick is in favor of the project.

The problem, of course, is not Cape Wind Instead, it is the CapeWindbag, Senator Teddy the Hutt (D-Chivas Regal). He is concerned that there might be a smudge on the horizon, miles off shore, to obscure a fingernail's breadth of his view. Such a sacrifice has been too much for him and the wealthy NIMBYs who have sought to prevent the project from moving forward.

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How much will it cost you when you buy that new car?

The only problem is, based on what we know now, it'll cost automakers some $85 billion to comply. When all costs are factored in, other estimates put the total cost at about $18 billion a year.

* * *

"We've done even more research," [GM Vice Chairman Bob] Lutz said, "and (the cost per car of new CAFE standards is) going to be in the range of $4,000 to $10,000, with an average of about $6,000."

And that will be on every car -- even though there are vehicles (like the one I drive) that already meet the standard. The automakers are just going to have to raise all prices to absorb the cost of meeting the new standards -- there are no two wys about it. After all, that is how any business sets its prices -- by taking into account all costs.

And what does it mean to the consumer?

Let's put that in perspective. The average cost of an automobile in 2006 was $27,958, according to the Comerica Automotive Affordability Index. So our new energy bill is, in effect, going to be a 21.4% tax hike on the current car prices. Oh, didn't they tell you that?

That's right -- my car that cost $15,000 will end up costing close to $20,000 just based upon this new regulatory cost -- effectively a hidden tax. And what will that mean as my car gets older?

In fact, the higher prices of cars will encourage consumers to keep their older, dirtier but cheaper vehicles for much longer. So the actual benefits will be less than forecast.

History bears this out. In 1970, just before the first CAFE standards were imposed, the average car on the road was about 5 1/2 years old. By 2000, the average car was 9 years old — thanks to the higher costs of buying and operating new cars, a direct result of higher fuel efficiency and safety standards.

Yep -- my car will be in service until it literally cannot move. That means that instead of driving it until 2011 or 2012, I'll be driving it until at least 2015 or 2016, because that extra chunk of cash will put a new car out of my reach (after all, we know how small teacher raises have been here in Texas).

And that doesn't even get into the auto safety issues.

Higher prices. More pollution. Unsafe cars. That is the legacy of this new legislation.

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My question is whether or not we will be able to afford to charge these cars up if electricity prices increase.

The Toyota Motor Corporation, which leads the worldÂ’s automakers in sales of hybrid-electric vehicles, announced Sunday night that it would build its first plug-in hybrid by 2010.

The move puts Toyota in direct competition with General Motors, which has announced plans to sell its own plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, sometime around 2010.

Katsuaki Watanabe, the president of Toyota, announced the companyÂ’s plans at the Detroit auto show as part of a series of environmental steps.

Mr. Watanabe said Toyota, best known for its Prius hybrid car, would develop a fleet of plug-in hybrids that run on lithium-ion batteries, instead of the nickel-metal hydride batteries that power the Prius and other Toyota models.

Plug-in hybrids differ from the current hybrid vehicles in that they can be recharged externally, from an ordinary power outlet. In a conventional hybrid the battery is recharged from power generated by its wheels.

I'm really curious how efficient these plug-in hybrids will be. How far will the go between charges, and how much energy will they use? The numbers in this article are not encouraging -- and the car still uses gasoline to operate. I guess i don;t see the advantage or the practicality.

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I'm curious how the Democrats will try to spin this one as a failure.

Iraq's parliament adopted legislation Saturday on the reinstatement of thousands of former Baath party supporters to government jobs, a key benchmark sought by the United States as a step toward national reconciliation.

The bill was approved by a unanimous show of hands on each of the law's 30 clauses. Titled the Accountability and Justice law, it seeks to relax restrictions on the rights of members of Saddam Hussein's now-dissolved Baath party to fill government posts.

It is also designed to reinstate thousands of Baathists in government jobs from which they had been dismissed because of their ties to the party.

Let's be clear -- de-Baathification had to happen, just as de-Nazification had to happen in Germany in 1945. The problem was that it went too far. Most low-level officials in Germany were reinstated in place quickly. That didn't happen in Iraq. Undoing the problem has been an important key to creating stability in Iraq. And now the question has been settled.

H/T Captain's Quarters

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Temperatures have gone up so much that it is snowing in places where no one can remember it having happened before.

The flakes melted quickly. But the smiles, wonder and excited story-swapping went on throughout the day: It snowed in Baghdad.

The morning flurry Friday was the first in memory in the heart of the Iraqi capital. Perhaps more significant, however, was the rare ripple of delight through a city snarled by army checkpoints, divided by concrete walls and ravaged by sectarian killings.

"For the first time in my life I saw a snow-rain like this falling in Baghdad," said Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, a 63-year-old retiree from the New Baghdad area.

"When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early '40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad," Abdul-Hussein said, referring to snow as a type of rain. "But snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination."

But I'm sure that someone will show up and explain to me how all the very cold weather is a sign that the earth is getting very hot. After all, the notion of man-made global warming is religion, not science. This is just one of its many miracles that defies natural explanation.

UPDATE: See, this didn't take all that long.

Climate change is still nudging up temperatures in the long term even though the warmest year was back in 1998 and 2008 has begun with unusual weather such as a cool Pacific and Baghdad's first snow in memory, experts said.

"Global warming has not stopped," said Amir Delju, senior scientific coordinator of the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) climate program.

Last year was among the six warmest years since records began in the 1850s and the British Met Office said last week that 2008 will be the coolest year since 2000, partly because of a La Nina event that cuts water temperatures in the Pacific.

"We are in a minor La Nina period which shows a little cooling in the Pacific Ocean," Delju told Reuters. "The decade from 1998 to 2007 is the warmest on record and the whole trend is still continuing."

Interestingly enough, the records start (in the 1850s) during a period called the Little Ice Age. Is it any wonder that the temperatures today would be higher -- and that the natural cyclical fluctuations in temperature would be evident?

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Sir Edmund Hillary, who conquered Mt. Everest, has died.

Edmund Hillary, 88, a beekeeper-turned-mountaineer from New Zealand who with his Sherpa guide in 1953 became the first men known to conquer Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak, died early today at Auckland City Hospital. No cause of death was reported.

Hillary's 29,035-foot climb up the Himalayan mountain was achieved amid subzero temperatures, unpredictable winds and daunting crevasses, and with a grade of equipment now considered primitive. The ascent ended a decades-long quest undertaken by countless men to test human endurance. In the 1920s, English adventurer George Mallory memorably quipped that he wanted to climb Everest "because it's there" and perished trying.

On May 29, 1953, the successful ascent and return by Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in a team led by British army Col. John Hunt made them instant international celebrities.

"Well, we've knocked the bastard off," an exhausted Hillary famously said upon his return from the apex.

And despite having reached the pinnacle of his chosen avocation at a relatively young age, Hillary spent the next half century productively, promoting humanitarian and environmental causes. In addition, he continued his explorations and difficult treks , reaching the South Pole and crossing Antarctica. He also wrote extensively about the explorations, and became a best-selling author.

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Love her, hate her, or feel ambiguity towards her (yes, there are two or three out there), I don't believe there is a decent human being in the country who could read this column and not feel compassion for Ann Coulter.

he longest baby ever born at the Albany, N.Y., hospital, at least as of May 5, 1926, who grew up to be my strapping father, passed away last Friday morning.

As Mother and I stood at Daddy's casket Monday morning, Mother repeated his joke to him, which he said on every wedding anniversary until a few years ago when Lewy bodies dementia prevented him from saying much at all: "54 years, married to the wrong woman." And we laughed.

What can I say except that I wish I had the opportunity to have met this man who Ann describes so lovingly and with such obvious admiration.

But the most touching part of the piece comes at the end -- where, appropriately, she talks about the end.

And last Friday morning at 2 he passed away, in his bedroom with Mother. The police and firemen told my brother that they kept trying to distract Mother to keep her away from the bedroom with Father's body, but she kept padding back into the bedroom to be close to him.

The couple had been married for over half a century. I wish I could the opportunity to meet her mother as well. She sounds like quite a lady. Her father obviously invested wisely when he bribed his FBI colleagues to allow him to ask her out first.

And so to Ann and her brothers, I offer condolences on the lost of their father. And to her mother, Nell, I offer my condolences on the loss of the companion of most of her lifetime -- and the assurance that they will meet again, for there can be no doubt that a love like theirs endures for all eternity.

Posted by: Greg at 01:49 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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So they claim, with regard to reaching Mars.

Russia is leading the race to complete a manned mission to Mars and could land a Russian on the Red Planet by 2025, a leading scientist was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"We have something of a head start in this race as we have the most experience in piloted space flight," the director of the prestigious Space Research Institute, Lev Zelyony, told Interfax news agency on Tuesday.

The goal of becoming the first country to land a human on Mars is "technically and economically achievable" by 2025, he said.

However, if their portions of the International Space Station are any indication, I doubt this. Their components have been the source of most problems up there. I really doubt that the Russians will ever reach Mars -- unless they are planning on sending men to Mars in spacecraft held together with duct tape and baling wire.

Posted by: Greg at 12:16 PM | Comments (294) | Add Comment
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Will this be the future of American health care once the government is put in charge of it all? And is this sufficiently outrageous for Americans to speak out against the police state mentality established by so-called "child welfare workers".

The Garfield County All Hazards Response Team broke down Tom Shiflett's door Friday night and, following a court order, took his son for medical treatment.

The doctor's recommendation: Take Tylenol and apply ice to the bruises. The boy was back home a few hours later.

The kid had a fall. His father treated him responsibly, just like parents of my generation would have done. But a single nosy neighbor called an ambulance without bothering to find out what the exact situation was, and touched out a wholesale invasion of the rights of the Shiflett family.

Speaking about the incident from his home in the Apple Tree Park on Monday, Shiflett was very upset. Perhaps most offensive, Shiflett said, was that law enforcement didn't announce there was a warrant before breaking into his home south of New Castle.

"I would have let them in," he said. "It was traumatic to my children, and it's unnecessary."

His spouse, Tina, and his six of 10 kids who are still at home were shocked at the manner of entry. Tina said law enforcement, wearing masks, broke down their door with a battering ram and pointed guns in her children's faces.

"They didn't need to bash into my home and slam my kids to the floor," Tina said, adding later, "I think they get a kick out of this."

She said law enforcement threatened criminal charges should the family even try to follow Jon or find out where he was taken. Jon was returned hours later, around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

"In all there was not one shred of evidence found that we had done anything wrong or that Jon had not been properly cared for at home," Tina said.

Oh, and lest there be any doubt that the parents knew what they were doing in the first place, Tom Shiflett is a trained medic who could recognize any danger signs in his son. But that was not sufficient for the paramilitary force that stormed the Shiflett home and kidnapped young Jon under the guise of protecting his health, telling his parents that they were subject to imprisonment if they even attempted to be present while their son was forcibly treated without their consent.

This isn't a case of medical neglect. I've seen those -- indeed, I've actually had to report such cases to the authorities. This is a case of a kid with a bruise being taken by force and ordered to receive the exact care his parents were already providing. Jobs need to be lost over this incident -- and punitive damages awarded.

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Darwin really ought to have kicked-in in this situation.

A New Zealand man risked life and limb by dangling upside-down in the sea to take close-up pictures of a circling Great White shark, reports said on Monday.

Builder Gary Porter asked friends to hold him by the ankles from their small boat as he dunked his upper body in the water to snap the four-metre predator less than two metres away.

"I just wanted to get some photos of this amazing creature," Porter told Radio New Zealand.

"I've got a few regrets about not hopping in with it and having a good swim with it."

No.

Nuh-uh.

No freakinÂ’ way in hell!

No picture is worth this risk.

Not even one of Heidi Klum naked and smeared with chocolate sauce.

Nothing.

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In a world where we are threatened by Al Gore with ever increasing temperatures, glacial melting, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, we get this headline.

Frozen Iguanas Fall From Florida Trees

Do you think this is a joke?

It's raining iguanas in South Florida.

A remarkable cold snap that brought temperatures in the mid-30s to the Miami area Thursday morning also brought lizards falling out of trees at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne, the Miami Herald reported.

"We have found dozens on the bike path after a major cold snap," said park manager Robert Yero. "When they warm up in the sun, they come back to life."

So great is this trend of global warming that these poor reptiles are frozen into torpidity in America's semi-tropical vacation and retirement paradise. And while they are a non-native species that has wreaked havoc with the local ecosystem, that doesn't negate the obvious conclusion – namely that there is clearly no increase in winter temperatures.

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Treat every gun like it is loaded.

These guys didn't -- and should consider themselves to be very lucky.

Two southern New Mexico men are recovering after accidentally shooting themselves while trying to trace a loaded .357-caliber Magnum as a pattern for a tattoo.

The Otero County Sheriff's Department identified the men as Robert Glasser and Joey Acosta. Both are 22.

The sheriff's department says deputies responded to the shooting in Chaparral on Thursday evening, but Glasser and Acosta were already on their way to a hospital in nearby El Paso, Texas.

Authorities say Glasser was struck in the hand when the gun accidentally went off. Acosta was hit in the left arm.

The injuries were non-life threatening.

And these idiots were lucky.

My guess -- a couple of gang bangers wanting to look tough with their own home-made tattoos. Well, now they'll have "street cred" with their bullet wounds -- as long as they leave town and head to a place where nobody knows the story of how they got shot.

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Let's get that Crystal Ball out.

Well, maybe not that Crystal Ball, even though it is a classic tune.

How about these predictions, though -- after a year where I went (really generously speaking) 5 out of 10.

1. Castro is reelected in Cuba -- and still clings to both power and life at the end of 2008.

2. A drawdown of US troops continues in Iraq, with stability increasing even as Democrats like Reid and Pelosi continue to claim that we have lost the war.

3. Democrat ticket in 2008 -- Hillary-Obama

4. GOP ticket in 2008 -- Romney-Thompson (following a brokered convention that sees Rudy promised the position of AG and McCain the position of Secretary of Defense).

5. November 2008 -- Romney Wins! Cornyn beats Noriega in Texas Senate race -- and Shelley Sekula Gibbs returns to Congress after defeating Nick Lampson following a hard fought primary runoff against Dean Hrbacek. Ron Paul loses in his bid to be reelected to Congress as well as his quest for the White House.

6. Pakistani elections will be delayed until the end of February, and will make Pervez Musharraf a mere figurehead as the parties of the late Benazir Bhutto and former Nawaz Sharif win a majority of seats in Parliament, allowing them to ignore the former general.

7. No successful terrorist attacks in the US in 2008 -- but an airplane bombing abroad will make airport security a renewed priority.

8. Conservatives will be happy as the Roberts Court continues to hand down strict-constructionist decisions. Gun rights, voter ID, and capital punishment decisions will delight most Americans while sending the ACLU into a fit of apoplexy.

9. England is overjoyed with the announcement of the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton -- and shocked by a sudden, unexpected royal death.

10. And going out on a limb again this year -- Muslims riot yet again over a perceived slight to Muhammad.

BONUS PREDICTION: The Houston Texans end the 2008 season at 10-6, making the playoffs for the first time in team history.

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If ever there has been a case of reaching a conclusion first and then searching for evidence and a theory to back that conclusion, this is it.

A research paper that won a Hebrew University teachers' committee prize finds that the lack of IDF rapes of Palestinian women is designed to serve a political purpose.

The abstract of the paper, authored by doctoral candidate Tal Nitzan, notes that the paper shows that "the lack of organized military rape is an alternate way of realizing [particular] political goals."

The next sentence delineates the particular goals that are realized in this manner: "In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it can be seen that the lack of military rape merely strengthens the ethnic boundaries and clarifies the inter-ethnic differences - just as organized military rape would have done."

The paper further theorizes that Arab women in Judea and Samaria are not raped by IDF soldiers because the women are de-humanized in the soldiers' eyes.

So let's make this clear -- the act of rape occurs in time of war because the enemy has been "de-humanized" and the sexual assault of their women is therefore not seen as morally culpable. On the other hand, the failure to rape the women of the enemy is a sign that the enemy has been "de-humanized" and that sexual assault of their women does not happen as a result. In other words, every course of action that might be taken is a sign of the enemy having been "de-humanized", and a presumed racist attitude towards the enemy.

Am I the only one who sees the fundamentally absurd nature of this academic paper?

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Labor unions are up in arms over this one -- but ignore the fact that this is a restriction that can be easily circumvented.

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that employers have the right to prohibit workers from using the companyÂ’s e-mail system to send out union-related messages, a decision that could hamper communications between labor unions and their membership.

In a 3-to-2 ruling released on Friday, the board held that it was legal for employers to prohibit union-related e-mail so long as employers had a policy barring employees from sending e-mail for “non-job-related solicitations” for outside organizations.

The ruling is a significant setback to the nationÂ’s labor unions, which argued that e-mail systems have become a modern-day gathering place where employees should be able to communicate freely with co-workers to discuss work-related matters of mutual concern.

Imagine that -- the work email system should be used for work. You aren't allowed to use your work email for union activity -- which is akin to using company letterhead for union solicitations.

There is, of course, a way around this. With all the FREE email programs out there -- Gmail and the like -- you can establish an address that you are can use for union activity as much as you want. And you can still send your notices TO employees at their company email address under the decision. And employees could, presumably, use their work address to email back to that free email address.

Posted by: Greg at 03:09 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Proving that a certain GOP presidential candidate doesn't know jack about our nation's foreign policy.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stuck a toe in the presidential race Friday, taking strong issue after Republican Mike Huckabee accused the administration of having an "arrogant bunker mentality" on foreign policy.

"The idea that somehow this is a go-it-alone policy is just simply ludicrous," she said, briefly weighing in on politics during a State Department news conference in Washington. "One would only have to be not observing the facts, let me say that, to say that this is now a go-it-alone foreign policy."

In response, Huckabee said he held Rice in high regard but questioned whether she had read the entire Foreign Affairs journal article in which he made the "bunker mentality" remark that has drawn fire from fellow Republican candidates.

"Certainly she has a right to speak out. She's still a citizen. I respect her very much," Huckabee told reporters as he campaigned in Iowa.

But he added: "Did she actually read the article or is she reacting as others have to the headlines and to the synopsis that has been printed?"

No, Governor, she read the whole thing -- and she is reacting to the comments of an amateur who is willing to lie about our foreign policy for his own political advantage. Fine, we expect that from Democrats. We expect that from Ron Paul. And now it seems we should expect such things from you. What do all of these individuals have in common -- THEY ARE NOT CONSERVATIVES.

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I've refrained from commenting on this matter for a couple of days -- I wasn't sure how to approach it -- but the story in today's Houston Chronicle merits some mention.

International space station astronaut Dan Tani offered a passionate tribute to his mother on Friday, two days before her funeral service in the Chicago suburb of Lombard, Ill.

Rose Tani, 90, died Wednesday of injuries suffered when her car was struck by a freight train in the community 20 miles west of Chicago.

"My mother was a complete joy," said Tani in a statement distributed by NASA, his first public comments on her death. "Those who knew her will know that words cannot describe her vitality, generosity and warmth. She was my hero. We will all miss her dearly."

The tragedy marked the first time an American astronaut has experienced the loss of an immediate family member while on a space mission.

* * *

Services for Rose Tani were scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m., CST, at the First Church of Lombard United Church of Christ, where the family has worshipped for years.

Other survivors include sons Richard and Steven and daughter Christine.

Tani planned to record a tribute to his mother from the space station to be played at Sunday's service.

Also, Tani's family plans to record the service so that it can be transmitted to him later by NASA, said Evans.

My heartfelt condolences go out to the Tani family as they face this shocking tragedy. They are in my prayers at this time.

This is a reminder of something that NASA folks take for granted, but we outside of the space program never even think about.

"Living on the space station means that I experience all aspects of life — be they joyous or tragic — while circling the Earth without a convenient way to return," said Tani. "Of course, I was aware of this situation before my mission, and I fully accept that I will proudly complete my mission and join my family when I return."

Thursday night, the men from church had our annual Christmas party. I was part of the minority there who had no NASA connection, either current or former NASA employees or contractors. I asked about this situation, and was somewhat surprised to find that there actually was already a protocol for handling this sort of situation. And as Dan Tani points out, the reality of space travel is that there is really no option for coming home in such a situation.

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It may, according to some analysts, as the law's requirements of less safe, less popular cars with higher fuel efficiency kick in.

For automakers, tougher fuel economy laws signed by President Bush this week represent a big challenge. For Houston's petrochemical industry, they could mean big business.

To hit the targets, automakers not only will need to develop more efficient engine technologies, but reduce the weight of vehicles, a shift that could open the door for greater use of plastics.

Chemical plants in this region produce many of the raw plastics that already are being used to make auto components.

"Materials manufactured at our facilities in Texas and many other areas of the world will be instrumental in meeting customer needs and new industry standards," said Steve Henderson, president of the Americas for Dow Automotive in Auburn Hills, Mich. The company has manufacturing sites in Freeport, Seadrift and LaPorte that produce materials used in automotive components.

But while chemical companies see opportunity ahead, others see limits to how much plastic and other lightweight materials can be added to vehicles without compromising safety or increasing costs.

Of course the new law is going to compromise safety. Of course it is going to raise costs of vehicles even further. But damn it, it is going to get us to 35 MPG like the greenie-weenies insist we must in order to be in compliance with the dogma of the religion of global warming as proclaimed by the Prophet Al Gore.

But on the bright side, it will boost the local economy, even as more Americans die on the roads and highways of America.

Posted by: Greg at 03:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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UPDATE: Dear God, I recognized that this was a horrible tragedy. I didn't think the story could get any more gut-wrenching. It has.

Authorities now know the remains found Thursday morning by a commuter on the Gulf Freeway are those of a 12-year-old boy. They know he was a fifth-grader at Schneider Middle School, and that his mom reported him missing later that day.

But they don't know how Traveon Jamel Jordan LeBlanc ended up crossing the busy interstate, where it's theorized he was struck by several vehicles.

And that this boy's classmates spent much of the day on Friday, the last school day before Christmas, speculating that it might be their friend who had been killed and then having their fears confirmed, tears at my heart even more. may God send his healing mercy down upon his friends, his teachers, and his family .

Read this story of what appears to be a horrible accident here in Houston, and tell me what is missing from it.

Investigators are trying to determine the identity of a person they theorize may have been struck several times while trying to walk across the Gulf Freeway.

A motorist called police early Thursday morning to report seeing what appeared to be human remains in the main lanes of the freeway.

Investigators with the Houston Police Department and Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, while combing the freeway, would later find various pieces of a body.

The macabre scene, which police believe was the result of a pedestrian struck by several vehicles, slowed southbound traffic to a crawl for five hours.

Police could not determine the individual's gender or approximate age and investigators are calling on the public to help identify the person. Officials say the person could have been black. Little else is known.

"We're asking for anyone who was driving by that area before 6:40 (a.m. Thursday) to call us if they saw anything suspicious or out of the ordinary," said HPD spokesman John Cannon.

Police do not know when or if the person was killed after being struck by vehicles on the Gulf Freeway.

The article continues on in a similar vein to the end.

The more I read, the more I was struck by the missing detain. Where, exactly, on the Gulf Freeway did this incident occur. Surely we could have been given an exit or two in order to provide a frame of reference for readers. After all, the Gulf Freeway runs from downtown Houston to Galveston Island -- all of which is part of the Houston metropolitan area. And if you were not caught in the traffic jam, would you necessarily know where the incident took place. You know, especially if you were a teacher driving that stretch of road at 6:30 on the way to school and who didn't get out of school until 3:00 (I lived just off Gulf Freeway for four years and took it to work daily), you might never have been aware of the closed highway and the search for body parts.

Come on, Chronicle "professionals" -- why couldn't you offer your readers these salient details?

By the way, thanks to alert commenters on the website for noting that the incident took place between Airport Blvd and Edgebrook.Authorities now know the remains found Thursday morning by a commuter on the Gulf Freeway are those of a 12-year-old boy. They know he was a fifth-grader at Schneider Middle School, and that his mom reported him missing later that day.

But they don't know how Traveon Jamel Jordan LeBlanc ended up crossing the busy interstate, where it's theorized he was struck by several vehicles.

Posted by: Greg at 01:52 AM | Comments (101) | Add Comment
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Imagine that -- work done with public funds needs to be accessible to the public. What a novel concept.

It is barely a drop of ink in the gargantuan omnibus spending bill that Congress just passed. But a provision that would give the public free access to the results of federally funded biomedical research represents a sweet victory for a coalition of researchers and activists who lobbied for the language for years.

Under the bill's terms, scientists getting grant money from the National Institutes of Health would now have to submit to the NIH a final copy of their research papers when those papers are accepted for publication in a journal. An NIH database would then post those papers, free to the public, within 12 months after publication.

The idea is that taxpayers, who have already paid for the research, should not have to subscribe to expensive scientific journals to read about the results.

That populist line -- spearheaded by patient advocacy groups seeking easier access to the latest medical findings and supported by libraries whose budgets have had trouble keeping up with rising journal subscription costs -- ultimately overwhelmed objections from journal publishers. Those firms had complained bitterly that proponents bypassed the congressional committees that could have carefully compared the new approach to less disruptive systems for making information available to the public, some of which are already being used by other science-funding agencies.

I love the response from one of the lobbyists for the journal publishers -- "It's not over yet."

Yes, it is. It is called FEDERAL LAW. Comply or die when the lawsuits fly.

Posted by: Greg at 02:56 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Some headlines just seem too obvious for words. Take this one from todayÂ’s Houston Chronicle.

Gunfire leads to the discovery of body

Shots fired. Dead body. Not a surprise. After all, when you are inside the city limits, it is unlikely that you are going to hear shots fired by someone hunting for game.

Posted by: Greg at 01:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Could an undetectable mini-asteroid be the end of the world as we know it?

AN ASTEROID too small to be picked up by telescopes could wipe out a city, killing up to a million people, a leading scientist has warned.
Objects less than 460ft across are not currently detected, but research suggests they pack a far mightier punch than previously feared.

A computer simulation carried out in the United States shows asteroids as small as 100ft wide could cause "airbursts" similar to one that flattened 1,250 square miles of Siberian forest almost a century ago.

Dr Mark Boslough, in a report published in New Scientist, said: "It is becoming clear previous models are not right. If one of these events hit an area of high population density, it could kill a million people."

I’ve always wondered about the possibility of another “Tunguska event” occurring – and the effect of such an event over a city. Imagine the possibility of something like this happening over, for example, San Francisco or Paris or Tokyo. There would be mass devastation. Similarly, a modern blast of this sort in Russia or China might trigger a nuclear response before there was even time to investigate what happened.

Posted by: Greg at 01:06 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The cell phone has become ubiquitous in America. Most of us have (at least) one. And they cost a pretty penny, too -- more than our land lines do. So why is anyone surprised by this report.

With Americans cutting the cord to their land lines, 2007 is likely to be the first calendar year in which U.S. households spend more on cell phone services, industry and government officials say.

The most recent government data show that households spent $524, on average, on cell phone bills in 2006, compared with $542 for residential and pay-phone services. By now, though, consumers almost certainly spend more on their cell phone bills, several telecom industry analysts and officials said.

"What we're finding is there's a huge move of people giving up their land line service altogether and using cell phones exclusively," said Allyn Hall, consumer research director for market research firm In-Stat.

As recently as 2001, U.S. households spent three times as much on residential phone services as they did on cell phones. But the expansion of wireless networks has made cell phones more convenient, and a wider menu of services, including text messaging, video and music, has made it easier for consumers to spend money via their cell phone.

"Frankly, I'd be shocked if (households) don't spend more on cell phones at this point," said Andrew Arthur, vice president of market solutions at Mediamark Research & Intelligence.

When taxes, fees, and everything else is taken into account, I spend something like $15 more a month for two cell phone lines on a family plan than I do on our home phone (until you throw in my internet service which comes on the same bill -- but that would be cheating). And when you look at families of four and five with everyone carrying a cellular phone, it must cost significantly more.

And, of course, there are the folks with no land line, just a cell phone.

My question is when prices will drop as demand increases.

Posted by: Greg at 11:09 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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What do you do when you know your unborn child WILL die shortly after birth?

When Rob and Gina Harris found out they were expecting their first child they say were overwhelmed with gratitude and filled with thoughts and plans for their future family.

"We had all these visions and dreams for what our baby would grow up to be," said Gina.

Rob Harris said, "At our 20 week ultrasound we found out that he was a boy so I went out to the Nike store and had to buy a little sports outfit."

An ultrasound also revealed a problem about their unborn son, David.

"I didn't have amniotic fluid because David most likely did not have kidneys," said Gina.

Doctors explained that amniotic fluid is critical for lungs to develop. The condition that the Harris' son had is called Potter's Syndrome. It is extremely rare and extremely serious.

"The doctor told us that the babies usually die of respiratory failure after they are born," said Gina.

The doctor explained that as long as the baby was inside Gina's womb he'd be able to grow and thrive. Gina could provide everything her son needed. The question was: Could their son live on his own?

Gina Harris said her mind filled with thoughts and fears.

"I thought about how it would be to give birth to a baby that might not survive," she said. "I thought about being pregnant and people excitedly asking me about the baby and the future and me always knowing the future was so uncertain. I was scared."

"The doctor said that the majority of women with the diagnosis like this would terminate the pregnancy," said Rob. "And as he started to say that Gina said, 'No.' She just stopped him."

Gina says that in her heart she was certain of one thing. She was already a mom. She says God had given her a child and she already felt a deep connection with her son.

And so the couple affirmatively chose in favor of life for their son – knowing, as we all do, that this birth would lead to a death decades earlier than most of their child's peers.

And so they loved David, holding him and adoring him, for the six hours of life that their child was granted.

Some folks will criticize this decision – but like the Harrises, I see this as the only choice. Every new life is precious, and to snuff it out is simply wrong, even knowing that the child is doomed.

And with my wife and I having lost several babies to miscarriages, I know that I would give just about anything to have been granted even those few hours – and while I have not discussed the matter with her, I suspect that my wife would agree.

Bill Jempty of WizBang agrees, and shares the sad and painful experience of his wife with a similar choice. I offer my sincerest thanks to him for doing so. I encourage you to read his beautiful and touching story of the loss he and his wife experienced.

H/T Michelle Malkin, CatHouse Chat

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Claiming there is too much unfettered speech by “citizen journalists”, one journalism professor and former MSM reporter insists that the time has come to impose some fetters.

Having just anyone produce widely distributed stories without control can have the reverse effect from what advocates intend. It's just a matter of time before something like a faked Rodney King beating video appears on the air somewhere.

Journalism organizations should head that off. Citizen reports can be a valuable addition to news and information flow with some protections:

• Major news organizations must create standards to substantiate citizen-contributed information and video, and ensure its accuracy and authenticity.

• They should clarify and reinforce their own standards and work through trade organizations to enforce national standards so they have real meaning.

• Journalism schools such as mine at the University of Georgia should create mini-courses to certify citizen journalists in proper ethics and procedures, much as volunteer teachers, paramedics and sheriff's auxiliaries are trained and certified.

And who, may I ask, are YOU to determine how and whether I am permitted to fully and freely exercise freedom of speech and press under the First Amendment of the Constitution. Indeed, what possible penalty would or could you enforce against those of us who metaphorically flip you and your “journalism organizations” the bird when we continue to publish our material online or operate an unregistered Xerox machine? Or do you ultimately wish to establish a system whereby “registered journalists” and “journalism professors” grant nihil obstat and imprimatur to newsletters and blog posts before publication and distribution are permitted? After all, your so-called “professional standards” are nothing less than a call for restrictions – possibly enforced by the jackboot of government authority – upon a liberty that is not only ours by nature, but also which is enshrined in our Constitution. Your column is nothing less than a call for a grant of monopoly status to traditional media and to us the theory of a “living constitution” to make that document’s guarantees of freedom a dead letter.

H/T CaptainÂ’s Quarters, Hot Air, Daily Pundit, Stop the ACLU, The Glittering Eye

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You folks know that I support the death penalty – indeed, my major criticisms are that it is not imposed fast enough or frequently enough. But upon reading of New Jersey’s decision to do away with the death penalty, my response is one of support.

New Jersey lawmakers have voted to abolish the death penalty in the state, sending the governor a bill he has already said he will sign. The measure will make New Jersey the first state in more than 40 years to outlaw capital punishment.

New Jersey lawmakers have voted to abolish the death penalty in the state, sending the governor a bill he has already said he will sign. The measure will make New Jersey the first state in more than 40 years to outlaw capital punishment.

Let me be clear, however, that I don’t agree with the decision – and especially not like this paid lobbyist for stone-cold killers.

"This vote marks a new chapter in our nation's 30-year experiment with capital punishment," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes executions.

"New Jersey lawmakers are demonstrating sound judgment in abandoning capital punishment after learning of its costs, the pain it causes victims' families, and the risks the death penalty poses to innocent lives."

Actually, my experience is that VICTIMSÂ’ families are generally pretty supportive of the death penalty. On the other hand, KILLERSÂ’ families are generally opposed to just retribution against their kin. But Dieter seems to believe that the KILLERS are the real VICTIMS in death penalty cases, so it is understandable that he would make such a mistake.

Why, then, do I take such a laid-back position regarding the decision of New Jersey to end the death penalty? Because I believe in states rights under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution. If the people of New Jersey want to end the death penalty, that is their right – and precisely the way our federal system is supposed to work. That decision in no way impacts me or my state – until and unless SCOTUS does its “evolving standards” dance and attempts to impose New Jersey’s will on the rest of the country. In that case, however, the appropriate course of action would be impeachment of every member of the majority.

No, it will be quite interesting to watch what happens in coming months and years in New Jersey. What will happen to its murder rate? Will it rise or fall? I have my suspicions.

Michelle Malkin offers a different perspective.

Posted by: Greg at 11:44 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Our allies sure think so.

British spy chiefs have grave doubts that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons programme, as a US intelligence report claimed last week, and believe the CIA has been hoodwinked by Teheran.

The timing of the CIA report has also provoked fury in the British Government, where officials believe it has undermined efforts to impose tough new sanctions on Iran and made an Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities more likely.

The security services in London want concrete evidence to allay concerns that the Islamic state has fed disinformation to the CIA.

The report used new evidence - including human sources, wireless intercepts and evidence from an Iranian defector - to conclude that Teheran suspended the bomb-making side of its nuclear programme in 2003. But British intelligence is concerned that US spy chiefs were so determined to avoid giving President Bush a reason to go to war - as their reports on Saddam Hussein's weapons programmes did in Iraq - that they got it wrong this time.

A senior British official delivered a withering assessment of US intelligence-gathering abilities in the Middle East and revealed that British spies shared the concerns of Israeli defence chiefs that Iran was still pursuing nuclear weapons.

There are questions of a fake defector and a compromised wiretap that would allow disinformation to be fed to American intelligence services. So are we certain that we want to trust a guy who continually makes apocalyptic threats against his enemies to suddenly start playing nice?

Posted by: Greg at 10:35 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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We will likely be seeking disability for my wife in the near future. This story isn't encouraging.

Steadily lengthening delays in the resolution of Social Security disability claims have left hundreds of thousands of people in a kind of purgatory, now waiting as long as three years for a decision.

Two-thirds of those who appeal an initial rejection eventually win their cases.

We are fortunate. my job is secure, my health insurance is marginally acceptable, and we're not overextended like some folks who spent the last decade piling up debt.

But three years? To confirm what should be patently obvious from teh medical records.

That is discouraging.

Posted by: Greg at 11:13 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Because, of course, there is legally no such thing as gay marriage in Rhode Island. Duh!

A lesbian couple that married in Massachusetts cannot get divorced in their home state of Rhode Island, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The court, in a 3-2 decision, said the state's family court lacks the authority to grant the divorce of a same-sex couple because Rhode Island lawmakers have not defined marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman.

"The role of the judicial branch is not to make policy, but simply to determine the legislative intent," the court wrote.

Set aside what the particular issue is in this case. That quote is one that should be inscribed inside the eyelids of every judge in America. Courts are not supposed to make policy, but rather to apply the policies adopted by the political branches of government.

Posted by: Greg at 04:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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