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From James Q. Wilson, one of AmericaÂ’s greatest living political scientists.

AS FOR THE European disdain for our criminal culture, many of those countries should not spend too much time congratulating themselves. In 2000, the rate at which people were robbed or assaulted was higher in England, Scotland, Finland, Poland, Denmark and Sweden than it was in the United States. The assault rate in England was twice that in the United States. In the decade since England banned all private possession of handguns, the BBC reported that the number of gun crimes has gone up sharply.

Some of the worst examples of mass gun violence have also occurred in Europe. In recent years, 17 students and teachers were killed by a shooter in one incident at a German public school; 14 legislators were shot to death in Switzerland, and eight city council members were shot to death near Paris.

The rest of the article is a masterpiece as well, coming from the pen of a distinguished scholar, not a polemicist. I encourage you to read it.

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She not only seems intent upon bashing Catholics, but also upon imposing a religious test for holding public office.

On today’s edition of the ABC show, “The View,” the discussion turned to the Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday affirming the partial-birth abortion ban. In an angry tone, Rosie O’Donnell asked, “You know what concerns me? How many of the Supreme Court judges are Catholic, Barbara?” Walters responded, “Five.” O’Donnell: “Five. Five are Catholic. Separation of church and state, America.” Walters then said that when the Catholic justices were vetted, they said they would not vote in a particular way because of their religion. But she then said, “It is interesting they’re Catholic.” After others spoke, Walters said she thought the justices were able to separate their faith from everyday life. To which O’Donnell replied, “From your everyday life but not hopefully from the foundation of our government. Separation of church and state.”

So, Rosie, do you want to placed a quota on the number of Catholics that can hold public office – despite the fact that such a quota would clearly run afoul of the Constitution? For that matter, have you read the various opinions in the case to find out what the legal and constitutional reasoning was behind the decision – or did you simply let your bigotry run rampant as you look at the religion of the justices?

Oh, and as far as the issue of “separation of church and state” – which is a phrase that appears nowhere in the Constitution or Bill of Rights – maybe it is time that we have a little separation of fat, ugly, obnoxious, bigoted lesbian and talk-show. Disney-ABC Television Group needs to give Rosie O’Donnell the Don Imus treatment.

Oh, and on a side note, it looks like Rosie isn't alone in stoking the fires of America's oldest and most persistent prejudice.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Church and State, Stop the ACLU, The Virtuous Republic, Perri Nelson's Website, The Pet Haven Blog, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Pursuing Holiness, Rightlinx, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, , Pirate's Cove, The Right Nation, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, Adam's Blog, basil's blog, MONICA, Phastidio.net, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao's Blog, , Jo's Cafe, Allie Is Wired, stikNstein... has no mercy, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, CORSARI D'ITALIA, Gone Hollywood, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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She not only seems intent upon bashing Catholics, but also upon imposing a religious test for holding public office.

On today’s edition of the ABC show, “The View,” the discussion turned to the Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday affirming the partial-birth abortion ban. In an angry tone, Rosie O’Donnell asked, “You know what concerns me? How many of the Supreme Court judges are Catholic, Barbara?” Walters responded, “Five.” O’Donnell: “Five. Five are Catholic. Separation of church and state, America.” Walters then said that when the Catholic justices were vetted, they said they would not vote in a particular way because of their religion. But she then said, “It is interesting they’re Catholic.” After others spoke, Walters said she thought the justices were able to separate their faith from everyday life. To which O’Donnell replied, “From your everyday life but not hopefully from the foundation of our government. Separation of church and state.”

So, Rosie, do you want to placed a quota on the number of Catholics that can hold public office – despite the fact that such a quota would clearly run afoul of the Constitution? For that matter, have you read the various opinions in the case to find out what the legal and constitutional reasoning was behind the decision – or did you simply let your bigotry run rampant as you look at the religion of the justices?

Oh, and as far as the issue of “separation of church and state” – which is a phrase that appears nowhere in the Constitution or Bill of Rights – maybe it is time that we have a little separation of fat, ugly, obnoxious, bigoted lesbian and talk-show. Disney-ABC Television Group needs to give Rosie O’Donnell the Don Imus treatment.

Oh, and on a side note, it looks like Rosie isn't alone in stoking the fires of America's oldest and most persistent prejudice.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Church and State, Stop the ACLU, The Virtuous Republic, Perri Nelson's Website, The Pet Haven Blog, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Pursuing Holiness, Rightlinx, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, , Pirate's Cove, The Right Nation, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, Adam's Blog, basil's blog, MONICA, Phastidio.net, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao's Blog, , Jo's Cafe, Allie Is Wired, stikNstein... has no mercy, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, CORSARI D'ITALIA, Gone Hollywood, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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For practical reasons, if nothing else.

Doctors in New York have removed a woman’s gallbladder with instruments passed through her vagina, a technique they hope will cause less pain and scarring than the usual operation, and allow a quicker recovery. The technique can eliminate the need to cut through abdominal muscles, a major source of pain after surgery.

The operation was experimental, part of a study that is being done to find out whether people will fare better if abdominal surgery is performed through natural openings in the body rather than cuts in the belly. The surgery still requires cutting, through the wall of the vagina, stomach or colon, but doctors say it should hurt less because those tissues are far less sensitive than the abdominal muscles.

The notion of taking a different direction for to reach abdominal sites is a good one, though there are already options for gallbladder removal that involve only a tiny incision through the belly button.

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For practical reasons, if nothing else.

Doctors in New York have removed a womanÂ’s gallbladder with instruments passed through her vagina, a technique they hope will cause less pain and scarring than the usual operation, and allow a quicker recovery. The technique can eliminate the need to cut through abdominal muscles, a major source of pain after surgery.

The operation was experimental, part of a study that is being done to find out whether people will fare better if abdominal surgery is performed through natural openings in the body rather than cuts in the belly. The surgery still requires cutting, through the wall of the vagina, stomach or colon, but doctors say it should hurt less because those tissues are far less sensitive than the abdominal muscles.

The notion of taking a different direction for to reach abdominal sites is a good one, though there are already options for gallbladder removal that involve only a tiny incision through the belly button.

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As I read this description of yesterdayÂ’s Senate testimony by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, I couldnÂ’t help but be put in mind of the trial of Charles Darnay in DickensÂ’ A Tale of Two Cities.

Democrats turned the Senate Judiciary Committee into a circus-like political rally Thursday, complete with chants from costumed demonstrators. Alberto Gonzales was the most sober man in the room.
How does "The World's Greatest Deliberative Body" treat the nation's chief law enforcement officer?

With his panel breaking for lunch, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy was seen giggling as a departing Attorney General Gonzales was subjected to crowds holding up signs and bellowing "Resign!" in the hearing room. After Gonzales returned for the afternoon session, noisy demonstrators were allowed to roam freely around the room with their placards. At the hearing's final gavel they sang and shouted taunts.

Why didn't Leahy have the Capitol Police clear the room? Why didn't the ranking Republican, the liberal Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, call on Leahy to do so? Or someone on the committee concerned with the Senate's highfalutin reputation?

They didn't because that mob demanding Gonzales' scalp is what the hearing was all about. The senators may have worn suits and ties and spoken in softer tones (though not always), but their blood lust for the White House is just as fervent as the extremists who wore orange garb and pink police costumes and had "Arrest Gonzales" duct-taped on their backs.

Leahy’s actions and inaction were a disgrace to the Senate virtually unrivaled since the founding of the Republic (perhaps exceeded only by the failure of Democrats to come to the aid of Charles Sumner as he was brutally beaten at his desk by a fellow-Democrat from the House of Representatives) – and the grandstanding by members of the committee indicates the proceeding had even less concern with justice than the proceedings at Salem in 1692.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Church and State, Stop the ACLU, The Virtuous Republic, Perri Nelson's Website, The Pet Haven Blog, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Pursuing Holiness, Rightlinx, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, , Pirate's Cove, The Right Nation, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, Adam's Blog, basil's blog, MONICA, Phastidio.net, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao's Blog, , Jo's Cafe, Allie Is Wired, stikNstein... has no mercy, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, CORSARI D'ITALIA, Gone Hollywood, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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As many Americans begin questioning the rationale of denying legal adults the right to drink, now the state of Texas wants to infantilize legal adults in the area of smoking, too.

You're old enough to vote and serve your country at 18, but you'd have to wait a year to buy cigarettes under a bill approved Thursday by the Texas Senate.

"The further you can put this (legal age) off, there's a much better chance that people will not start to smoke," said Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio.

His Senate Bill 448, approved 26-4, moves to an uncertain future in the House, where it doesn't yet have a sponsor. Rep. Garnet Coleman, a Houston Democrat on the House Public Health Committee, said he doesn't have a position on the bill but would like to see it aired.

"I'm in favor of restricting who can buy cigarettes," Coleman said, "but I think there are a lot of people who are going to say, 'Enough is enough. You've taxed me to death, now you're saying that someone (age 1 can't buy cigarettes.' "

You can get married at 18. You can vote at 18. You can join the military and fight and die for your country at 18. Precisely why the hell shouldnÂ’t you be able to smoke (or drink) at 18?

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But then again, his long litany of hate-filled and racist comments already told us that – and since he was addressing a group run by arch-racist Al Sharpton, we shouldn’t be surprised by this.

Speaking at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network event in New York, Biden said President Bush, Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove are responsible for what he called “the politics of polarization.”

Biden said Republicans have created an environment that brings bad things to the United States.

“I would argue, since 1994 with the Gingrich revolution, just take a look at Iraq, Venezuela, Katrina, what’s gone down at Virginia Tech, Darfur, Imus. Take a look. This didn’t happen accidentally, all these things,” he said.

I wish I was stunned – but this is typical of the Party of Hatred, Imbecility, and Surrender.

UPDATE: One newspaper has the courage to speak out.

So if we have this straight - partisan Republicans are now responsible for ImusÂ’ show (on which Biden was a frequent guest) and the massacre at Virginia Tech? And this man thinks he should be president?

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Well, given the amount of data that DoubleClick and Google gather on private individuals, some are arguing that it is.

Google's proposed $3.1 billion purchase of online ad firm DoubleClick would merge two powerful digital data gatherers that track people's online activities, raising serious privacy concerns that the Federal Trade Commission should investigate, consumer advocates allege in a complaint to be filed with the FTC today. The deal would create a firm with access to more information about consumers' Internet activities than any other company in the world, the Electronic Privacy Information Center said in its complaint.

"Google will operate with virtually no legal obligation to ensure the privacy, security and accuracy of the personal data that it collects. At this time, there is simply no consumer privacy issue more pressing for the commission to consider than Google's plan to combine the search histories and Web site visit records of Internet users," the complaint says.

Hopefully this matter will be closely scrutinized.

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Progress is being made in fixing the broken Texas Youth Commission.

The Texas Senate unanimously approved fundamental changes in the Texas Youth Commission on Thursday, supporting efforts to reduce the population at its facilities, improve staff-to-offender ratios and require enhanced training for guards.

Senate Bill 103, by Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, passed 30-0, and is part of the promised overhaul of an agency reeling from accusations that incarcerated youths have been sexually and physically abused by staff at many of the state's 15 correctional facilities.

The Senate is trying "to rebuild, restructure TYC from the bottom up," he said, adding that his bill would create "checks and balances, a wide open system that is transparent. It'll change the whole culture in the way we treat our young people."

Soon after the bill passed, agency officials announced the firing of a high-ranking official in Austin and the resignation of four of his colleagues. All but one had served on the agency's executive council, and all, said spokesman Jim Hurley, "were on board when the agency failed in a spectacular way on a national stage. All were running the agency when the wheels came off."

Now that the folks who let the agency get out of control are gone, there could be some hope. but whill any of the policians who let the situation get this bad pay a price?

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As a history teacher, I get all sorts of brochures and fliers from companies that sell educational trips. I've often thought that I might like to sponsor one with my students, but I've been wary of doing so. After all, at least once a year I hear some horror story about a trip gone bad. That's why it is important to go with a company that is established and reputable.

Hemisphere Educational Travel has been in the business of arranging student travel for nearly four decades. Founded by a teacher for for students and teachers, the company is one of the recognized leaders in the field. And there are two other great things about Hemisphere Educational Travel -- they will meet or beat the prices offered by the competition AND teachers and chaperones travel free. Both of those features can put such trips within reach of your travel budget and meet with the requirements of your school or district. So teachers, if you are considering offering a student travel opportunity, consider Hemisphere Educational Travel.

Paid Endorsement.

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I lived in St. Louis when the Rams picked Lawrence Phillips -- a talented thug with a tendency towards violence and a history of abuse of women. I was shocked -- but hey, he was the best player out there, so what were the Rams to do? It was a gamble that didn't pay off.

Now, such a pick might not happen -- because the NFL has begun to crack down on bad behavior.

Many NFL team officials say they will be less likely to draft players who misbehave off the field because of the league's new conduct policy, which allows Commissioner Roger Goodell to impose lengthy suspensions on misbehaving players and punish clubs with significant numbers of offenders.

Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome said that he and his peers have been feeling additional pressure since Goodell first told them during a meeting of general managers at February's NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis that teams would be held accountable for players' misdeeds.

"That falls on us," Newsome said, "that there are some players now we may have to pass on because I don't want to put [Ravens owner] Steve Bisciotti in that position or put this organization in that position to be held accountable for a player that I knew had some issues."

Such considerations during the pre-draft evaluation process are not entirely new to scouts, executives and coaches. With millions of dollars in player contracts at stake, it has long been standard practice for teams to conduct background checks and probe players' psyches in interviews. With some regularity, players have plummeted on draft day because of fears by teams about possible misbehavior.

At next weekend's NFL draft, the issue could be an important one. Pro Football Weekly reported Wednesday that three top draft prospects -- Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson, Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams and Louisville defensive tackle Amobi Okoye -- admitted to past marijuana use during interviews that the league tapes with players at the combine and distributes to the teams. But there's been no indication that any of the three failed the drug tests taken by players at the combine. That falls under the league's substance abuse policy, not the conduct policy, and it's unlikely that their draft status will be significantly affected.

Other draft-eligible players with conduct-related issues include Florida defensive tackle Marcus Thomas, who was dismissed from the team in November for violating the terms of his pending reinstatement from a suspension for violating the school's substance abuse policy; Texas running back Ramonce Taylor, who was arrested last year on a marijuana charge; Texas cornerback Tarell Brown, who was arrested in September on drug and weapon charges and last month on a marijuana charge (the drug charge from September was dropped); UNLV cornerback Eric Wright, who left Southern California after being arrested in 2005 on suspicion of sexual assault, although prosecutors declined to press charges because of insufficient evidence; and California running back Marshawn Lynch, who in January was accused of sexual assault and domestic violence by a former girlfriend but was not charged. Lynch is being projected by many draft observers as a first-round selection.

Now this will be interesting -- do some of these players drop in the draft given the new policy -- including the recent suspensions of two NFL stars? Or will it be business as usual for the teams?

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One of my former students just got back from rehab this week. She had started to do a few pills, and quickly moved on to what I will politely call "more than a few" pills a day -- to the point that she eventually found herself unable to function on a day-to-day basis. She needed help, and she needed it bad.

Fortunately, her parents found a drug detox and rehab programs for teens through the use of the internet. And that is where www.4rehabilitation.com comes into the picture. They provide a referral service for drug detox and rehab programs of all kinds so that you can find the proper program for you or your loved one.

It is my deepest hope that you never need to use such a service, but if you do I encourage you to contact www.4rehabilitation.com

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Alec Baldwin's daughter missed his phone call -- and now a judge has banned him from contact with the child in light of his abusive message to her.

After Ireland failed to answer her father's scheduled morning phone call from New York on April 11, Alec went berserk on her voice mail, saying "Once again, I have made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone," adding, "you have insulted me for the last time."

Switching his train of thought, Baldwin then exercised his incredible parenting skills and took a shot at his ex-wife, declaring, "I don't give a damn that you're 12-years-old or 11-years-old, or a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care about what you do." The irate Baldwin went on to say, "You've made me feel like s**t" and threatened to "straighten your ass out."

"This crap you pull on me with this goddamn phone situation that you would never dream of doing to your mother," screamed Baldwin, "and you do it to me constantly over and over again."

Before hanging up, Baldwin warned the child, "You better be ready Friday the 20th to meet with me." That's tomorrow.

We've learned that on Wednesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner Maren Nelson heard the tape and temporarily suspended Baldwin's visitation rights. A hearing is set for May 4, where the judge could permanently deny Baldwin visitation or contact with Ireland.

We shouldn't be surprised -- anyone who has ever heard Alec Baldwin give an interview with anyone but the most fawning reporter knows that he has serious anger management problems -- and believes his own press releases that he is the greatest actor on the planet. Why should we be surprised that he would speak this way to his own child?

Hey, Alec -- the universe does not revolve around Uranus.

UPDATE: HereÂ’s an appropriate decision by Baldwin.

Alec Baldwin has taken a vow of silence after a recording of a volcanic tirade by the actor to his 11-year-old daughter appeared in US media reports.

No great loss, especially if this becomes a vow of perpetual silence.

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What about a Christian one? Or one devoted to members of a particular ethnic group? I mean after all, we all look (or looked) for certain traits and characteristics in a mate that were important to us? Aren't religion and ethnicity important?

Personally, I think they are. After all, one's religious faith is often very important to one's sense of self, and compatibility. Why shouldn't there be a dating service that helps one "screen out" those who don't share that very important characteristic? Now I'm not talking about some sort of discriminatory program based upon superiority -- simply assistance in finding someone who is compatible.

So take my question about a Jewish dating service? offering classifications based upon such important issues as religious values and ethnic heritage is a very positive thing in my book. After all, these commonalities can be the very glue that hold a relationship together. It is certainly better than the old "looking for a red-head who likes cogs and long walks on the beach, doesn't it? It is likely that a shared set of beliefs is a much stronger cement than "what's your sign, baby", isn't it?

That is why so dating services have gotten much more scientific in their services for matching folks up. We see in-depth surveys about attitudes and backgrounds designed to help make matches more precise. And if such services operate in a manner that are non-discriminatory, I think the specialization is all for the good.

Paid Endorsement.

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After all, Islam traditionally treats women as inferior and lacking in the full rights due a man.

Elections Canada has begun to contact Muslim organizations to gauge their feelings on how to accommodate veiled women if photo identification becomes necessary to cast a federal ballot, Sun Media has learned.
Sameer Zuberi, with the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he spent 30 minutes on the telephone with an Elections Canada representative on Tuesday.
"They asked about how we can deal with this and what are the ways we can deal with it," said Zuberi.
Zuberi said veiled Muslim women should be given the option of unveiling in front of another woman.

Of course, there is this little bit of absurdity from the representative of another group.

Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation, said veiled women should not be asked to show their faces.
"If somebody comes in with a valid ID then it doesn't matter how you're dressed," said Mouammar.

Never mind, of course, that the veil would obscure the identity of the individual in question – making the question of whether they possess a valid ID something more than an academic exercise.

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Hillary Clinton had this reaction to yesterdayÂ’s partial birth abortion infanticide decision.

"TodayÂ’s decision blatantly defies the CourtÂ’s recent decision in 2000 striking down a state partial-birth abortion law because of its failure to provide an exception for the health of the mother."

Excuse me, Senator, but it is the proper place of the Supreme Court to determine that a precedent is wrong, and to overrule it.

Unless, of course, you have a problem with the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education to “defy” the venerable precedent set in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that “separate but equal” segregation was not a violation the 14th Amendment.

So, Senator, do you believe that the Supreme Court has the right and obligation to overturn wrongly decided precedents – or do you believe that our public schools should still be segregated?

Or is it possible that your ignorance of the US Constituiton renders you unfit to be President -- or Senator, for that matter?

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How is the employment of the killer's sister relevant -- or newsworthy?

The sister of the gunman responsible for the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history works as a contractor for a State Department office that oversees billions of dollars in American aid for Iraq.

Sun-Kyung Cho is employed by the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, according to U.S. officials and a State Department staff directory that says she works from an annex near the department's headquarters in Washington.

Messages left on her office voicemail, in which she identifies herself as "Sun Cho," were not immediately returned on Wednesday.

The Virginia Tech gunman was her brother, Cho Seung-Hui. Thirty-three people died in the rampage Monday, including the 23-year-old student, who committed suicide.

Spokesman Sean McCormack declined to discuss Sun Cho's status but told reporters "this person is not a direct-hire employee of the State Department." He declined to comment further, citing privacy concerns. Other U.S. officials confirmed she works for a contractor.

Nothing in the article ties Ms. Cho to her brother's evil deeds -- besides her name and parentage. Why do a profile on her at all -- unless one is seeking to discredit the Bush administration, or the mission to help Iraq become a stable democracy after decades of oppression. Is it possible that the media is so interested in doing so that the life, accomplishments, and reputation of a young woman must be sacrificed because of the evil done by her brother?

Ms. Cho needs to be held up as an example of hard work and accomplishment -- not made a sideshow freak at her brother's carnival of horrors. The AP owes her an apology.

H/T Malkin

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Why do we let these men sit in moral judgment of anyone on matters of race relations -- or anything else?

Sharpton never apologized for falsely accusing a former assistant district attorney in 1987 of sexually assaulting black teenager Tawana Brawley. A New York grand jury determined the whole Brawley affair a hoax, and the assistant DA successfully sued Sharpton and two other defendants for defamation. A unanimous, multiracial jury awarded the assistant DA $65,000 from Sharpton. No apology.

In 1989, after the "Central Park Jogger" was viciously attacked and left for dead, Sharpton called the jogger a "whore" and accused her boyfriend of committing the crime. No apology.

Jesse Jackson also criticized Imus. But in 1984, when the Washington Post's Milton Coleman reported Jesse Jackson called Jews "Hymies" and New York "Hymie-Town," the reverend initially denied the statement. Days later, Jackson apologized for his anti-Semitic remark, thus taking longer to apologize than did Imus for his racist, sexist remark. Jackson's friend and confidant, the Nation of Islam's Minister Louis Farrakhan -- publicly threatened black reporter Coleman on radio and warned the Jews, "If you harm this brother [Jackson], I warn you in the name of Allah this will be the last one you harm." Jackson refused to condemn Farrakhan's remarks.

Being a "civil rights leader" means never having to say you're sorry. And it also means you get a pass on viciously racist words and deeds that far surpass the misdeeds of Don Imus -- who deserved to be fired.

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Interesting. I thought they told us that they had no idea who he was, and that campus police had never had any dealings with him. Could Virginia Tech have been lying to us? Or were they merely incompetent?

Campus authorities were aware 17 months ago of the troubled mental state of the student who shot and killed 32 people at Virginia Tech on Monday, an imbalance graphically on display in vengeful videos and a manifesto he mailed to NBC News in the time between the two sets of shootings.

* * *

The hostility in the videos was foreshadowed in 2005, when Mr. ChoÂ’s sullen and aggressive behavior culminated in an unsuccessful effort by the campus police to have him involuntarily committed to a mental institution in December.

For all the interventions by the police and faculty members, Mr. Cho was allowed to remain on campus and live with other students. There is no evidence that the police monitored him and no indication that the authorities or fellow students were aware of any incident that pushed him to his rampage.

Despite Mr. ChoÂ’s time in the mental health system, when an English professor was disturbed by his writings last fall and contacted the associate dean of students, the dean told the professor that there was no record of any problems and that nothing could be done, said the instructor, Lisa Norris.

The quest to have him committed, documented in court papers, was made after a female student complained of unwelcome telephone calls and in-person communication from Mr. Cho on Nov. 27, 2005. The woman declined to press charges, and the campus police referred the case to the disciplinary system of the university, Chief Wendell Flinchum said.

Mr. ChoÂ’s disciplinary record was not released because of privacy laws. The associate vice president for student affairs, Edward F. D. Spencer, said it would not be unusual if no disciplinary action had been taken in such a case. On Dec. 12, a second woman asked the police to put a stop to Mr. ChoÂ’s instant messages to her. She, too, declined to press charges.

The police said Mr. Cho did not threaten the women, who described the efforts at contact as “annoying.” But later on the day of the second complaint, an unidentified acquaintance of Mr. Cho notified the police that he might be suicidal.

Mr. Cho went voluntarily to the Police Department, which referred him to a mental health agency off campus, Chief Flinchum said. A counselor recommended involuntary commitment, and a judge signed an order saying that he “presents an imminent danger to self or others” and sent him to Carilion St. Albans Psychiatric Hospital in Radford for an evaluation.

“Affect is flat and mood is depressed,” a doctor there wrote. “He denies suicidal ideations. He does not acknowledge symptoms of a thought disorder. His insight and judgment are sound.”

The doctor determined that Mr. Cho was mentally ill, but not an imminent danger, and the judge declined to commit him, instead ordering outpatient treatment.

Officials said they did not know whether Mr. Cho had received subsequent counseling.

Which raises a different issue -- our society does not generally allow for the forcible treatment of metal illness, and has not done so since the compassionate liberal reforms of the 1960s threw open the gates of the nation's insane asylums and mental hospitals. Individual autonomy has been the rule for four decades, and the right to refuse treatment for mental illness has been viewed (quite properly, might I add) as a basic right of every citizen, just as it is for virtually any other medical condition. Unfortunately, that leaves a gaping hole through which the truly dangerous like Cho can walk.

And then there is federal and state education law, which further restricts what colleges and universities (not to mention public schools like the ones where I teach) can do when faced with a mentally ill student. They are liable if they don't act to protect the student and others from a mentally ill student's behavior -- but are also liable if they take any action deemed "discriminatory" against that same student. Small wonder, then, that Cho was allowed to remain at Virginia Tech.

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Yeah, it really does suck to get a defective car, loaded with problems that cannot be fixed. Maybe it is a design problem, a manufacturing defect, or some other problem -- but some cars are simply snake-bit from the day you drive them off the lot. Fortunately, in most states there are laws to protect you in such a situation.

But one of the things you usually need in such situations is a layer, just to get the dealer's attention. The Burdge Law Office is a law firm that can help you deal with that lemon car and protect your legal rights to a remedy under the laws of your state. And not only that -- if you are not from Ohio, they can refer you to lawyers in your own area of the country that specialize in dealing with those evil lemons!

Paid Endorsement.

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And if you are going to make yourself a cog in the repressive machinery of a human rights violating entity like Red China, expect to be sued.

A human rights group sued Yahoo on Wednesday, accusing the Internet giant of abetting the torture of pro-democracy writers by releasing data that allowed China's government to identify them.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, says the company was complicit in the arrests of 57-year-old Wang Xiaoning and other Chinese Internet activists. The suit is the latest development in a campaign by advocacy groups to spotlight the conduct of U.S. companies in China.

As they seek a slice of the booming Chinese market, Yahoo and other American companies have sometimes set aside core American values, such as free speech, to comply with the communist government's laws.

The suit, in trying to hold Yahoo accountable, could become an important test case. Advocacy groups are seeking to use a 217-year-old U.S. law to punish corporations for human rights violations abroad, an effort the Bush administration has opposed.

In 2003, Wang began serving a 10-year sentence on charges that he incited subversion with online treatises criticizing the government. He is named as a plaintiff in the Yahoo suit, which was filed with help from the World Organization for Human Rights USA, based in Washington.

Yahoo is guilty of "an act of corporate irresponsibility," said Morton Sklar, executive director of the group. "Yahoo had reason to know that if they provided China with identification information that those individuals would be arrested."

I'm ashamed of the Bush Administration for opposing this suit -- and wish that they would instead seek criminal penalties against Yahoo, Google, and other companies that seek to make money by turning democracy advocates over to oppressive regimes for their exercise of a right as fundamental as freedom of speech.

What next? Will Yahoo cooperate with Islamists in identifying targets for beheading due to their "Islamophobic" statements and sentiments?

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My wife really wants to go on a cruise -- an Alaskan cruise, if you want to be specific. It may not happen for a while, but I am committed to taking her on one eventually.

Now there are a lot of great sites out there for searching for cruises. Among those is the one found at www.directlinecruises.com, where you can find cruises on all the major cruise lines. Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruises & Celebrity Cruise Line are all available for your consideration. And best of all, some of the cruises available are leaving from popular East Coast ports in New York, Boston, New Jersey & Pennsylvania, so it is not necessary to travel long distances before the cruising begins! Prices are great, too!

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But only the ones who engage in speech that is "crazy".

It's probably more effective, though, to find and remove these potential killers — and try to deny them the most lethal hardware. That means we must detain them for their words and deny them guns.

As we see time and again, the right to bear arms and be crazy is a deadly combination.

And given the Left's willingness to classify opposition to certain political agenda's as a form of mental illness (ie "homophobia" -- the moral belief that there is something wrong with homosexual behavior, as was the clear and consistent Christian teaching ofevery Christian denomination until until only few years ago; or "Islamophobia" -- the opposition to jihadi terrorism), this is rather frightening. But then again, we've already seen where such detentions of the "mentally ill" because of their exercise of the right to freedom of speech -- it was a favorite tactic in the Soviet Union to crack down on dissent.

But given Cragg Hines' Froma Harrop's opposition to the Second Amendment, it isn't surprising to see him willing to abandon the First Amendment as well. She's just a little bit more honest about it than the average left-winger.

UPDATE: I was notified about the error in identifying the author of the piece earlier today, and fixed it as soon as I came home.

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Drug abuse happens in our society, all too often. So does alcoholism. And as a teacher, I can tell you that they happen among my students. Not long ago, in fact, one of my students had to enter rehab because her drinking had gotten so out of control that she was smuggling alcohol into class in a bottle of apple juice -- she could not make it through the day without drinking!

Where do you turn when you need to seek help for a young person in need of rehab? Well, there are many fine adolescent drug treatment facilities out there -- including Echo Malibu, located on the California coast in Malibu. The program is one based upon Empowerment, Choices, Hope and Opportunity, and is designed to teach these young people to make better choices in life.

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This from an article about the consequences of the state of Texas appointing a conservator to begin fixing the problems at Texas Southern University -- which could include the loss of accreditation by the school for not having a multi-member board of directors.

Beyond degrading the value of degrees earned at TSU....

Given the reputation of this corrupt open-enrollment school -- which is little more than a four-year community college with a graduate program and a law school -- I don't think that the loss of accreditation could do much harm to the value of a TSU degree.

UPDATE: Well, at least the Houston Chronicle is willing to call for the state to do something about this pathetic institution. But in typical fashion, TSU regents are unwilling to act in the best interests of the school.

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Contrary to the wailings of the supporters of legalized abortion infanticide, this decision does not overturn the ill-considered and flawed precedent established by Roe v. Wade. Rather, it reinforces that precedent by recognizing that the government does have a compelling interest in limiting late-term abortions, which Roe itself indicates can be banned. And this decision does not even go that far, merely allowing the restriction of a single method of abortion infanticide that kills a child that has effectively been delivered.

he Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench.

The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

The opponents of the act "have not demonstrated that the Act would be unconstitutional in a large fraction of relevant cases," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion.

The decision pitted the court's conservatives against its liberals, with President Bush's two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, siding with the majority.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia also were in the majority.

It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how — not whether — to perform an abortion.

Roe v. Wade allowed for regulation of second and third trimester abortions -- and a ban on the latter. How can the supporters of Roe complain?

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After all, why should the Constitution get in the way of imposing political correctness and silencing conservatives who dissent from the liberal orthodoxy?

Displaying a dramatic disregard for students’ constitutional rights, a committee of the University of Rhode Island (URI) Student Senate voted on Monday to derecognize the College Republicans student group. For months, the Student Senate has demanded that the group publicly apologize for advertising a satirical $100 “scholarship” for white, heterosexual, American males. The College Republicans refused to apologize and contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help. FIRE is now calling upon URI President Robert Carothers, who has already informed the Senate that it could not compel student speech, to reverse the decision to derecognize the group.

“Neither the Student Senate nor anyone else at URI has the power to force the College Republicans to say things against their will,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “As bad as it may be to tell people what they cannot say, it is still worse to tell them what they must say. The Supreme Court has long recognized that compelled speech is not compatible with free societies. It is stunning that URI’s student government would show such contempt for fundamental rights, especially after URI’s own president explained it to them.”

The College Republicans student organization first advertised the satirical “White, Heterosexual, American Male” “scholarship” in November, 2006. The scholarship consisted of a nominal $100 to be awarded to someone fitting those criteria who submitted an application and an essay on the adversities he has faced. College Republicans President Ryan Bilodeau explained that the point was to use satire to protest scholarships awarded on the basis of race, gender, or nationality. Over 40 URI students applied for the “scholarship,” many submitting equally satirical application essays.

In a meeting on February 19, the Student Senate’s Student Organizations Advisory and Review Committee (SOARC) prohibited the College Republicans from disbursing the money. The group agreed that it would not give out the $100, but SOARC decided that even advertising the satirical “scholarship” violated URI’s anti-discrimination bylaws and demanded that the group publish an apology in the campus newspaper. Unwilling to apologize, Bilodeau appealed SOARC’s decision. The Senate denied that appeal.

FIRE wrote to Senate President Neil Cavanaugh on March 13, stating that because the Student Senate derives its authority from a public university, it must comply with the First Amendment prohibition on compelled speech. The Student Senate, however, in a memo to the College Republicans on March 27, ruled again that the College Republicans must publish an apology and claimed authority to force them to do so. That sanction was later reduced to an “explanation” to be published in the campus newspaper and a mandatory apology to be sent to all of the students who applied for the scholarship.

The College Republicans agreed to publish an explanation of its intentions, but refused to write any apologies. FIRE wrote to URI President Robert Carothers the following day to urge him to intervene in the situation. FIRE wrote, “URI administrators have a legal duty to step in where the Student Senate has failed and to check its attempt to trample upon students’ most basic freedom of conscience.” And in a letter dated April 6, President Carothers did indeed instruct the Senate in no uncertain terms to drop its unconstitutional demand for an apology. Carothers wrote that the mandatory apology “does not meet constitutional standards as laid forth in the First Amendment and in subsequent court decisions interpreting the standard.”

But at a meeting on Monday night, SOARC nonetheless unanimously voted to ignore both its constitutional obligations and CarothersÂ’ directive and derecognize the College Republicans for refusing to issue an apology. SOARCÂ’s decision will be voted on by the entire Student Senate on Wednesday, April 25.

FIRE wrote another letter to Carothers yesterday calling upon him to immediately reverse SOARC’s decision to derecognize the group. FIRE wrote that “y fulfilling this responsibility as a public official, you can teach the Senate leadership that they must respect the rights of URI students and help to instill in them an understanding of the full repercussions for repeatedly and recklessly defying the Constitution.”

“URI’s student government thinks it is above the law—that it can take fees extracted from students by a state university and yet ignore the constitutional obligations that come with them. It is sadly mistaken,” Lukianoff said. “President Carothers must act now to stop this rogue organization from conducting these unlawful acts under the aegis of the university.”

FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nationÂ’s colleges and universities. FIREÂ’s efforts to preserve liberty universities across America can be viewed at www.thefire.org.

It strikes me that only one course of action is open to President Carothers -- using his authority as the president of the University of Rhode Island to disband the Student SenateÂ’s Student Organizations Advisory and Review Committee and the entire Student Senate, replacing them with organizations that clearly and unambiguously are bound by the United States Constitution (which those two organizations legally are though they claim otherwise) and which accept the limitations that the Bill of Rights imposes upon them.

Posted by: Greg at 11:43 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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No, not the material sent to NBC News by the evil bastard responsible for the Hokie Horror, nor even the fact that he sent it to some media outlet.

No, the shocking thing is their decision to turn it all over to the police.

Sometime after he killed two people in a Virginia university dormitory but before he slaughtered 30 more in a classroom building Monday morning, Cho Seung-Hui mailed NBC News a large package, including photographs and videos, lamenting that “I didn’t have to do this.”

Cho, 23, a senior English major at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, killed 32 people in two attacks before taking his own life.

NBC News President Steve Capus said the network received the package, which was not addressed to a specific person, in Tuesday afternoonÂ’s mail delivery, but it was not opened until Wednesday morning. The network immediately turned the materials over to FBI agents in New York.

But wait -- I thought that the press turning information over to the media is unethical and a threat to freedom of the press. You know, "making the press an investigative arm of the state" and all that crap we hear every time the news media wants to withhold evidence of a crime -- especially when they are the only folks who know the identity of the criminal, such as those who illegally leak classified national security information to them.

I guess that principle are only principles for these people when they disagree with the actions of the criminal -- and when they are not complicit in the crime.

Oh, and by the way -- this material does show how depraved that the murderer Cho really was.

Posted by: Greg at 11:35 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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One more act of terrorism against Christians in a Muslim country -- but at least they weren't detained by police and made to miss their flight home.

Three people have been killed in an attack on a Turkish publishing house which prints Bibles and Christian literature, according to media reports.

CNN Turk television said the victims' throats had been cut and that police had detained six people in connection with the incident on Wednesady at the Zirve publishing house in Malatya.

Television pictures showed casualties being carried out of the building and one man

The attack follows the murder earlier this year of Hrant Dink, an Armenian-Turkish editor, by an ultra-nationalist.

Dink's killing prompted extra security measures to be taken for writers and journalists.

I guess they recognize the importance of shutting down a publisher of Bibles -- for the Truth will set men and women free from the evil that ensnares them. And so we have this day three more saints in heaven.

H/T Gateway Pundit

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Who is Eric Schiffer?

What can I say -- Eric Schiffer is an actor who is in discussion to appear in a comedic "buddy flick" with an "A-list" star in the near future. He is also starring in an independent remake of of the old Charles Bronson vehicle, Death Wish Returns. He is also the author of Emotionally Charged Learning, a book that explores the nexus between education, emotions and entertainment that makes management, and knowledge transfer into an exciting new phenomenon. Furthermore, he has a history as a successful entrepreneur.

Indeed, it appears that Eric Schiffer is a true Renaissance Man, a veritable font of knowledge and entertainment in our midst! He is an intriguing individual, and i encourage you to learn more about him.

Sponsored by Hollywood News Entertainment.

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On the morning after the Columbine massacre, one of my 11th graders asked me what I would do if a gunman were to enter our school -- an especially pressing issue given that the classroom was on an inside corridor with no windows and only one door.

My response?

"I would put myself between you guys and the guy with the gun -- and pray that you would get out even if I didn't."

On Monday, Professor Liviu Librescu did exactly that for his students.

As Jews worldwide honored on Monday the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, a 76-year-old survivor sacrificed his life to save his students in Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech College that left 33 dead and over two dozen wounded.

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter when the man attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio.

Several of Librescu's other students sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he had blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said Librescu's son, Joe.

"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."

Librescu was respected in his field, his son said.

"His work was his life, in a sense," said Joe. "That was a good place for him to practice his research."

I honor the sacrifice and memory of Liviu Librescu, and hope that I will have the strength to emulate him if ever faced with his choice -- and pray I never have to do so.

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If you are in the UK, you've got a great site available for buying, selling, and trading DVDs, CDs, Games or Books with your fellow subjects of the Queen -- Hitflip UK!

Hitflip UK has a music exchange and used book swap, segmented by genre to help you list items appropriately or find just what you are looking for.. DVDs, CDs, Games or Books -- they are things that you will find at Hitflip UK if you surf on over right now. So if you are a science fiction fan like me, you can find that book by Isaac Asimov or DVD of classic Doctor Who episodes that you have been looking for. So drop on by Hitflip UK, and their interesting blog, today!

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I've said in the past that I'll vote for a Nazi or a Communist -- or worse yet, Hillary Clinton -- before I vote for John McCain for President because of his role in imposing campaign spending regulations that fly in the face of the clear language of the US Constitution.

Today, Bradley Smith lays out the constitutional problems with such regulations.

In his most recent Townhall column, Armstrong Williams has laid out a plan that he claims will "divorce" money from politics. In the process, Williams employs every tired canard of the campaign finance "reform" community.

But a few words were noticeably absent from Williams' column. There was no mention, for example, of "the First Amendment." Nor was there any mention of "free speech." And while I looked for "freedom" and "liberty," alas, these too were absent. This comes as no surprise. Advocates of political speech regulation have for so long felt unconstrained by the First Amendment's seemingly clear command, that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech," that they now ignore it as a matter of course.

The closest Williams comes to addressing the constitutional problems with campaign finance regulation is the bare assertion that "giving money is not giving voice." But it most certainly is. In modern society, money facilitates speech. It costs money to publish a newspaper or operate a broadcast station. It is not possible to run a political campaign or effectively criticize officeholders without spending money for signs, advertisements, rallies, mailers, and more.

In his column, Williams had gone so far as to quote a misguided senior citizen who wants political speech limitation and regulation.

But I (and millions of Americans, a few of which are even lawmakers) disagree. First, giving money is not giving voice. Second, privately donated money is not necessary for a campaign if "clean" or public money is given equally to each candidate. I agree with the political activist Doris Haddock who literally walked across the country at the age of 88 in hopes of bringing about true campaign finance reform. She said, "If money is speech, then those with more money have more speech, and that idea is antithetical to a democracy that cherishes political fairness. It makes us no longer equal citizens."

Haddock, of course, is wrong -- unless one wishes to argue that the existence of large corporate media like the television networks, New York Times, and Time Magazine are also "antithetical to a democracy that cherishes political fairness" and "makes us no longer equal citizens." After all, the vast spending of these news organizations ALSO give them an unequal voice that can drown out the voices of the less well-heeled among us (such as this blogger) and get them access that the common man cannot obtain. Would Haddock (and Williams) accept the argument that "money is not speech" and therefore allow Congress to limit the budgets of news organizations and the amount that Americans spend to access the same? Or how about regulations, similar to those imposed upon advocacy groups, that ban reporting upon or editorializing about candidates and officeholders for 25% of an election year? Of course not!

Smith then points out the fundamental understanding of the Founders about the nature of men and the nature of our constitutional republic -- and Williams' fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment.

When the Founders drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they were not naïve. They knew that men weren't angels, and that factions would sometimes try to harness the power of government for their own benefit. They wrote the First Amendment with full knowledge of this threat. Indeed, they wrote the First Amendment because they also knew that one of the surest checks against government corruption was the unfettered ability to criticize those in government. Williams' scheme abandons these cherished First Amendment principles. The likely result is more and harder to detect corruption. The long term effects could be even worse. As the Founders knew, prohibiting ordinary citizens from effectively discussing politics is no prescription for clean government. It is a prescription for tyranny.

Money may or may not be speech, depending upon how you look at it -- but cutting off private money is a sure way of strangling the speech of citizens, an action which the Founders would have rightly labeled tyranny and which they would have understood merited the exercise the rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment to dislodge the tyrants.

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My wife and I know the pain associated with infertility, and at one time gave consideration to seeking help with this problem through in vitro fertilization. We ultimately decided against this option due to unrelated health concerns with my wife, but we both recognize the value and importance of such services.

Dr. Randy Morris is an infertility specialist providing IVF and PGD services at clinics in the Chicago area. A quick visit to his website will provide you with multiple sources of information bout those two types of services and their relative merits. The site is easy to navigate, and allows potential patients to begin the decision-making process and make contact with the clinics. Frankly, I'm impressed by the wealth of information provided.

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What else would you expect from the New York Times?

Not much is known about the gunman, who killed himself, or about his motives or how he got his weapons, so it is premature to draw too many lessons from this tragedy. But it seems a safe bet that in one way or another, this will turn out to be another instance in which an unstable or criminally minded individual had no trouble arming himself and harming defenseless people.

* * *

Our hearts and the hearts of all Americans go out to the victims and their families. Sympathy was not enough at the time of Columbine, and eight years later it is not enough. What is needed, urgently, is stronger controls over the lethal weapons that cause such wasteful carnage and such unbearable loss.

Which ignores, of course, that the problem is likely to be one of illegally obtained guns -- guns already banned under the statutes that exist -- and not legally obtained weapons. Indeed, as I've already noted, the laws and regulations in placed guaranteed that the stable and non-criminally-minded students lacked the means to stop this individual from continuing his rampage.

And, of course, there is the Houston Chronicle.

Proponents of unfettered access to firearms rely on the rallying cry, "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." That's true. The horrifying reality is that too many Americans — afflicted with mental illness, alienation or hatred — are ready and willing to take life. And they can arm themselves to the hilt without ever undergoing a background check.

While Virginia Tech police believe they know who was responsible for the shootings, his motives remain a mystery that might never be satisfactorily solved.

Meanwhile, the mass murderer is another in a series of American figures who combine a fascination with deadly weapons, easy access to them, a grudge against the world and an unexplained capacity for cruelty.

And given the description of the weapons used in this shooting, it appears that they were not legally obtained at all -- meaning that even the most stringent background checks would have been ineffective because buyers and sellers of illegal weapons, by definition, will ignore any law designed to limit gun sales.

At least the Washington Post showed a little moderation, asking questions rather than immediately urging that potential victims law-abiding citizens exercising their constitutional rights be further restricted and disarmed.

The atrocity at Virginia Tech sparked instant and fierce debates, online and elsewhere, even as survivors were fighting for their lives. Under what circumstances, and where, did the gunman obtain his weapons? Would the university have suffered the same tragedy if Virginia law did not prohibit the carrying of guns on campus? Should metal detectors be ubiquitous in American classrooms and dormitories? And why are gunmen so apt to carry out their lethal rampages at American schools?

So many questions -- and a same resistance to the siren call of the failed solution of limitation on gun rights.

I have to agree with the Post's conclusion as well.

As the debates rage and questions are raised, the mourning will go on. But the parents, relatives and friends of the victims at Virginia Tech will not mourn alone. Their tragedy is America's too.

Posted by: Greg at 10:49 PM | Comments (129) | Add Comment
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I reported on this case when it happened, and feel great compassion for this young man.

David Ritcheson had been a running back on the Klein Collins High School football team. He was homecoming prince as a freshman and had a girlfriend. He "hung out with the good crowd," he says, and had every reason to look forward to returning last fall.

But once classes resumed, Ritcheson was overwhelmed by the looks he got everywhere he went — in the halls, in the cafeteria, in classrooms.

The looks all said the same thing: You're a victim, how do you deal with it? Everybody knew what had happened to him, and the attack, he says, "was just so degrading."

In a case that drew national attention, Ritcheson, a Mexican-American, was severely assaulted last April 23 by two youths while partying in Spring. One of the attackers, a skinhead named David Tuck, yelled ethnic slurs and kicked a pipe up his rectum, severely damaging his internal organs and leaving Ritcheson in the hospital for three months and eight days — almost all of it in critical care.

In an hour-long interview at his home with his parents on Monday, Ritcheson agreed to be photographed and have his name made public. He reflected on his life before the attack, described the lengthy recovery that followed and looked forward to wresting something positive from the experience.

"How hasn't it changed me?" he asked, summing up the experience.

Today, Ritcheson will be in Washington, D.C., to testify before a congressional committee about why he feels federal hate crime laws need to be expanded. As much as he doesn't want to be a "poster child," Ritcheson is convinced he can do some good.

The problem with his position? The facts of his case show that a federal hate crime law is not necessary.

Tuck, 19, and Keith Turner, 18, both of Spring, eventually were convicted of aggravated sexual assault for attacking Ritcheson in the backyard. Tuck was given a life sentence, Turner 90 years.

Life in prison. Ninety years in prison. Excuse me, but it does not strike me that there is anything more that can be done, unless you simply want to take these two mutts out and put a bullet into the base of their skulls. It is rather like the call for a hate crime law here in Texas after the James Byrd dragging in Jasper -- where two of the three perps got the death penalty and the one who cooperated with authorities got life. How would you "enhance" those sentences?

Don't think perpetrators of hate crimes are getting punished sufficiently? Fine, I'll agree with you -- but the solution is not a hate crime law. The solution, instead, is to enhance the penalties for the underlying offenses, across the board, so that actions like theirs are punished harshly. Because after all, what is it we are out to punish -- the crime or the motive? The thoughts or the actions? I hope and pray that the answer is obvious.

Posted by: Greg at 10:30 PM | Comments (41) | Add Comment
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Screw this lineup for NBC's Sunday Night pre-game show!

Keith Olbermann has been named co-host of NBC's "Football Night in America" studio show, joining host Bob Costas and co-host Cris Collinsworth, and analysts Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber, it was announced today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. Olbermann will call highlights and debate the NFL news and issues of the day with his "Football Night in America" colleagues. This will be Olbermann's first network sports assignment in six years.

* * *

"Keith helped to elevate the medium of sports television earlier in his career, and now he will add his original style and flair to 'Football Night in America,'" said Ebersol. "I'm delighted to welcome him back into the NBC Sports family."

"This will, obviously, be great fun and a great privilege for me," said Olbermann. "To be reunited with NBC Sports, and Dick, and the entire production team, produces all the warm-and-fuzzies you'd be expecting. And even if they weren't old friends and colleagues, to get to work with the nonpareil of sportscasters in Bob, and the most insightful and honest of sports analysts in Cris, will be rewarding and challenging. I hope I can hold up my end of the equation."

Here's hoping the show tanks -- and indeed, I may skip the Sunday night game as well, just as my form of protest against the choice of the odious Olbermann.

H/T Hube at Colossus of Rhodey

Posted by: Greg at 04:08 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 250 words, total size 2 kb.

I spent my first couple of years of college in Lexington, VA, just up the road from Blacksburg. I've always had an affection for that school, as opposed to the snootier UVA. For that reason, today's horror cuts to the heart.

An outburst of gunfire at a Virginia Tech dormitory, followed two hours later by a ruthless string of attacks at a classroom building, killed 32 students, faculty and staff and wounded about 30 others yesterday in the deadliest shooting rampage in the nation's history.

The shooter, whose name was not released last night, carried two 9mm semiautomatic handguns and wore blue jeans, a blue jacket and a vest holding additional ammunition, law enforcement officials and witnesses said. Witnesses described the shooter as a young man of Asian descent -- a silent killer who was calm and showed no expression as he pursued and shot his victims. He killed himself as police closed in.

It will be interesting to learn why this evil happened, though it will not bring back the dead or heal the wounded and grieving.

But there is another point that has to be made.

Virginia Tech is a gun-free school. Students, employees, and visitors are not allowed to bring their guns to campus, even if they have a concealed carry permit and have met all of the stringent requirements to get one.

And so the law-abiding adults of Virginia Tech were disarmed by government policy.

As this murderer calmly executed his victims, not one had the means to actually engage in self-defense. As he massacred these innocents, not one of them could stop the evil-doer. All they could do was wait for help to arrive -- and die waiting.

Because you see, in the name of some sort of illusory security, these adult citizens were stripped of the essential liberty to defend one's own life -- while one man intent upon mayhem was unconcerned about the niceties of the campus gun ban.

Some will use this event to call for more gun control. That is not the solution. Rather, more guns in the hands of more trained and licensed individuals would have made Virginia Tech a safer place today -- and that is an equation that I would contend would be true at any college or university in the country.

Or in (almost) any workplace or any shopping mall.

Or any public place, for that matter.

How many more tragedies will it take, with disarmed citizens slaughtered like sheep, before America will wake up to the reality that more guns in more hands equals more safety?

Because, to use a trite cliche that happens to be true, when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns.

That is the lesson to draw from today's carnage.

UPDATE: Here's a thought from one of the disarmed concealed carry permit holders who attends Virginia Tech -- WRITTEN FOLLOWING LAST FALL'S INCIDENT.

Of all of the emotions and thoughts that were running through my head that morning, the most overwhelming one was of helplessness.

That feeling of helplessness has been difficult to reconcile because I knew I would have been safer with a proper means to defend myself.

I would also like to point out that when I mentioned to a professor that I would feel safer with my gun, this is what she said to me, “I would feel safer if you had your gun.”

The policy that forbids students who are legally licensed to carry in Virginia needs to be changed.

I am qualified and capable of carrying a concealed handgun and urge you to work with me to allow my most basic right of self-defense, and eliminate my entrusting my safety and the safety of my classmates to the government.

This incident makes it clear that it is time that Virginia Tech and the commonwealth of Virginia let me take responsibility for my safety.

Doesn't that argument look quite reasonable in light of the unfolding horror at Virginia Tech?

H/T Gates of Vienna, Combs Spouts Off

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Posted by: Greg at 03:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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