Bedrock Guy

Another celebrity idiot? Star Who?

2006-01-22T11:59:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure who exactly Star Jones is, or what she does (I know, I could just Google her and find out), but apparently she is some type of celebrity, as she was discussing the war on ABC's "The View".

Drudge Report has the details here.

She broke down the causes for the war against terror to some very simple reasons.

Apparently, this war simply revolves around ego and who has the biggest genitalia.

""You don't negotiate with terrorists," said Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the show's youngest host.

"You don't negotiate," Jones interrupted, "but I do think you figure out when there is a solution that's diplomatic that doesn't result in [loss of] human life. "What do we have to lose to check it out?" Star said.

"You know what?" she then added, "At some point, one of these men has to put it back in his pants and zip up the zipper at some point."

"This isn't somebody whipping it out," shot co-host Meredith Vieira.

"You know what, I'm a little tired of posturing back and forth," Jones replied."

Ms. Jones, now that's a great, articulate, and well reasoned response. "I'm a little tired of posturing back and forth."

Bottom line, when the show's co-hosts, Ms. Vieira and Ms. Hasselback, debated Jones' answers, Jones' tired of the exchange. Typical celebrity response. Ask them to actually discuss the issues instead of issuing a cute, inane sound bite, and they fold.

Thousands dead because of bin Laden, and Jones thinks it's about egos. What a buffoon.

Note on the use of the word genitalia. I'd use another word, but hey, it's Sunday, and I'm just not going there today.

Left winger rails against milbloggers for their objectivity

2005-10-12T18:15:00.000+02:00

I started blogging because of guys like this (and the people I sat next to last November at dinner). Reading his latest rant, this time against the “bias” of soldiers writing about the war, I’m glad I decided to start and continue blogging.

I'm amazed that this guy displays so much animosity against military personnel who blog. He states that he used to be in the military. He questions their accuracy and objectivity, saying he would believe main stream media accounts before he'd believe military personnel. That's a very telling indicator of his mindset.

He obviously doesn't understand the demographics of the milblogging community. The milbloggers are not a cabal of careerists spinning the war. Most of the time, they are younger, lower ranking enlisted and officer personnel just trying to tell their stories and highlight the positive aspects of whatever campaign in which they are serving.

Why is that so hard for this left winger to understand?

Katie Couric – Clinton apologist

2005-10-12T18:08:00.000+02:00

Ah, Katie. Still working hard to be "objectively" in favor of anything the Clinton's have done over the years while being vicious and gasp, judgmental, towards those who might actually disagree with you.

She interviewed Louis Freeh, who's written a book about his time as the FBI Director during the Clinton Presidency.

Here's one view of the interview:

"Former FBI Director Louis Freeh wasn't on this morning's Today show for very long before his credibility was immediately questioned by Couric. After her introduction and a generic 'why did you want to write this book?' query Couric pounced in just her second question: Couric: "You know many people have viewed this book in reviews and, and newspaper accounts so far as your effort to settle scores with the President. Do you think, you obviously, there's no love lost between the two of you, that's very, very clear. Do you think your personal animus might be coloring your professional perspective so much that you can't be objective about what was really going on during the administration?"

While the buzz around Freeh's book surrounds his account of the Clinton scandals Couric managed to ask just two questions about them before to asking about the FBI's pre-9/11 preparedness."

Dana Milbank, the Washington Post’s new body language expert

2005-10-12T18:04:00.000+02:00

In yet another amazing example of just how far the MSM will go to write derogatory things about this Administration, Dana Milbank shows us that he can count the number of times the President blinked when asked questions during an interview with Matt Lauer.

Milbank then analyzes this highly scientific data and concludes that President Bush was uncomfortable and wanted to be elsewhere.

I thought we all learned about body language in the various EO, team building, and leadership classes we have attended during our careers. This is news? That the President of the United States, during a war, has a lot of things on his mind? Must have been a slow news day in Milbank's lane.

How many times did Milbank have to watch the video to determine the number of blinks? Is Milbank correct in his count? If the President had blinked only 8 times as opposed to 12 times, would that have indicated something else, say, that Milbank was full of himself?

If you want to understand the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party, read this

2005-10-12T18:01:00.000+02:00

Terry Neal of the Washington Post has written an interesting article about the issues facing the Democrats in their quest to win elections against what is perceived to be a weakened GOP.

Asking if the Democrats need their own Newt Gingrich to focus Democratic philosophy and shape it into a coherent, workable action plan to win in the 2006 mid terms, Neal suggests that the Democrats need something more substantial than the current Republican scandals to focus attention on what the Democratic Party stands for and why voters should elect its representatives to power.

Of particular interest are the links to articles and websites illustrating how the more left wing factions in the Democratic Party contemptuously argue against more moderate, centrist ideas within the Party. Nothing like a good, in house brawl to shake out an organization.

Veteran and affiliated groups sue Kerry over remarks and actions during the campaign

2005-10-12T17:54:00.000+02:00

This will be interesting. The gentleman who created the documentary, "Stolen Honor," which aired during the presidential campaign and which portrayed Kerry in a very negative light, is suing Kerry and his Pennslyvania campaign manager.

The article claims that "This may be the first time in American history that a presidential candidate was sued for actions taken by him and his campaign during an election. It may also be the first time that an antiwar activist was sued, if only tangentially, for allegations made about American military personnel."

The left wing blogs were awash in venom about the creator of the documentary and Sinclair Broadcasting during that period. Now, it seems some people are fighting back in the courts. I doubt this effort will result in anything and Kerry can certainly afford the legal fees, but nonetheless this is something about which Kerry cannot be happy, if only for the continuing emphasis on not his service, but his behavior AFTER he returned from the Vietnam War.

Newsflash – former FBI director writes that Bill Clinton had moral and ethical problems while President

2005-10-07T23:21:00.000+02:00

Isn’t this old news? Clinton, lack of morals and ethics, etc, etc, etc.

Still, yet another illustration of what Clinton was like in office will undoubtedly be revealed in the new book by the former Director, Louis Freeh.

“In the book, “My FBI,” he writes, “The problem was with Bill Clinton -- the scandals and the rumored scandals, the incubating ones and the dying ones never ended. Whatever moral compass the president was consulting was leading him in the wrong direction. His closets were full of skeletons just waiting to burst out.”

The director sought to distance himself from Clinton because of Whitewater, refusing a White House pass that would have enabled him to enter the building without signing in. This irked Clinton. “I wanted all my visits to be official,” says Freeh. “When I sent the pass back with a note, I had no idea it would antagonize the president,” he tells Wallace.Returning the pass was only the start of the rift. Later, relations got so bad that President Clinton reportedly began referring to Freeh as “that F…ing Freeh.” Says Freeh, “I don’t know how they referred to me and I really didn’t care,” he says. “My role and my obligation was to conduct criminal investigations. He, unfortunately for the country and unfortunately for him, happened to be the subject of that investigation,” Freeh says.

In another revelation, Freeh says the former president let down the American people and the families of victims of the Khobar Towers terror attack in Saudi Arabia. After promising to bring to justice those responsible for the bombing that killed 19 and injured hundreds, Freeh says Clinton refused to personally ask Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to allow the FBI to question bombing suspects the kingdom had in custody – the only way the bureau could secure the interviews, according to Freeh. Freeh writes in the book, “Bill Clinton raised the subject only to tell the crown prince that he understood the Saudis’ reluctance to cooperate and then he hit Abdullah up for a contribution to the Clinton Presidential Library.” Says Freeh, “That’s a fact that I am reporting.”

Tolerance at work – Hamas style

2005-10-07T23:18:00.000+02:00

Hamas in Gaza. Any questions?

"A VISION of an Islamic society that bans mixed dancing and sternly disapproves of homosexuality has been given by Mahmoud Zahar, the most senior leader of Hamas in Gaza.

After controversies when a Hamas-led council halted a dance festival and Islamist gunmen stopped a rap band performing in Gaza, Dr Zahar defended the enforcement of a strict interpretation of Islam.

“A man holds a woman by the hand and dances with her in front of everyone. Does that serve the national interest?” Dr Zahar said on the Arabic website Elaph. “If so, why have the phenomena of corruption and prostitution become pervasive in recent years?”

Because of successes by Hamas in municipal polls and its likely strong showing in January’s parliamentary elections, secular Palestinians fear that it will try to impose its ultraconservative vision on them. Its Gaza heartland has no cinemas or bars, yet the West Bank has a brewery and Ramallah restaurants serve wine.

Dr Zahar condemned homosexual marriage, saying: “Are these the laws for which the Palestinian street is waiting? For us to give rights to homosexuals and to lesbians, a minority of perverts and the mentally and morally sick?”

And these are the guys to whom the EU wants to hand over $250 million. Right.

I look forward to the various gay advocacy groups in the U.S. protesting this latest example of tolerance in the Middle East, you know, just like they have protested Iran hanging those two gay Iranian teenagers.

Yes, I know there was very little protest of that barbarism by western gay advocacy groups. Much easier to beat up the U.S. for everything, isn't it?

I love the way the WaPo buried Berger’s latest antics

2005-10-07T23:11:00.000+02:00

"Former Clinton Aide Violated Probation
Berger Ticketed for Reckless Driving"

Uh, didn’t this guy Sandy Berger used to be the NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR for the President of the United States, Bill Clinton. Well yes, he was.

The "...Former Clinton Aide..." was not quite an “aide” as the Post headline says. An aide is an assistant. The NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR is definitely not an aide.

You don’t suppose the Post and its left wing editors wanted to help minimize this story do you? On the Post Web Page, this article is listed simply with the title, "Former Clinton Aide Violated Probation."

Yes, Berger, the guy who stuffed classified documents down his pants after perusing them in the Library of Congress, something which if you or I had done, would land us in jail. He got a fine probation, and the loss of his clearance.

“On Sept. 8, Berger was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and surrender his security clearance for three years after pleading guilty to unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. He paid the fine Sept. 9, court records show.

Berger, who served as national security adviser to President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001, admitted to stuffing copies of documents in his coat jacket as he left the National Archives in 2003 while preparing for questions from the Sept. 11 commission. He also admitted destroying some of the records at his office and lying about possessing them.

Officials with the Sept. 11 commission and the Archives have said that nothing was lost because the documents were logged and there were copies of all of them.”

If Al Gore is serious about democracy and freedom of speech, he’ll fight this attempt by the UN and the EU to gain control of the web

2005-10-07T23:09:00.000+02:00

But then again, he’s a Democrat. They care what these two organizations think and want to be liked by them.

This takeover by the EU and the UN is not a good thing for those interested in the free exchange of information. Neither of these organizations is interested in the growth of democracy, a true “liberal” exchange of ideas, or representative governments.

Think EU bureaucrats combined with UN influence peddlers and swindlers (oil for food, Congo sex scandals, etc). Scared yet?

From the Guardian. “You would expect an announcement that would forever change the face of the internet to be a grand affair - a big stage, spotlights, media scrums and a charismatic frontman working the crowd.

But unless you knew where he was sitting, all you got was David Hendon's slightly apprehensive voice through a beige plastic earbox. The words were calm, measured and unexciting, but their implications will be felt for generations to come.

Hendon is the Department for Trade and Industry's director of business relations and was in Geneva representing the UK government and European Union at the third and final preparatory meeting for next month's World Summit on the Information Society. He had just announced a political coup over the running of the internet.

Old allies in world politics, representatives from the UK and US sat just feet away from each other, but all looked straight ahead as Hendon explained the EU had decided to end the US government's unilateral control of the internet and put in place a new body that would now run this revolutionary communications medium.

The issue of who should control the net had proved an extremely divisive issue, and for 11 days the world's governments traded blows. For the vast majority of people who use the internet, the only real concern is getting on it. But with the internet now essential to countries' basic infrastructure - Brazil relies on it for 90% of its tax collection - the question of who has control has become critical.

And the unwelcome answer for many is that it is the US government. In the early days, an enlightened Department of Commerce (DoC) pushed and funded expansion of the internet. And when it became global, it created a private company, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) to run it.

But the DoC retained overall control, and in June stated what many had always feared: that it would retain indefinite control of the internet's foundation - its "root servers", which act as the basic directory for the whole internet.

A number of countries represented in Geneva, including Brazil, China, Cuba, Iran and several African states, insisted the US give up control, but it refused. The meeting "was going nowhere", Hendon says, and so the EU took a bold step and proposed two stark changes: a new forum that would decide public policy, and a "cooperation model" comprising governments that would be in overall charge.”

Does this AP/Reuters photographer collaborate with the terrorists in Iraq?

2005-10-07T23:07:00.000+02:00

Looks that way.

Take a look, read the information provided, and view the photos. Seems like a good argument has been made that Bilal Hussein might be really close and friendly with the enemies of his fellow Iraqis. Bet BBC just loves this guy.

If you were listening, the President just told you…

2005-10-06T22:12:00.000+02:00

…what this war is all about.

Islamic fascism.

“WASHINGTON -- President Bush accused Islamic militants on Thursday of seeking to "enslave whole nations and intimidate the world" and charged they have made Iraq their main front.

"The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia," Bush said. The president has been stepping up his defense of his Iraq policy in the face of declining public support for the war and a crucial test in Iraq with the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum.

In a speech before the National Endowment for Democracy, Bush likened the ideology of Islamic militants to communism. And he said they are being "aided by elements of the Arab news media that incites hatred and anti-semitism."

"Against such an enemy, there's only one effective response: We never back down, never give in and never accept anything less than complete victory," Bush declared.

He spoke as recent polls show declining American support for the war that has thus far claimed more than 1,940 members of the U.S. military. His Iraq policy faces a crucial test in Iraq's Oct. 15 referendum on a new constitution, a vote that Bush has said terrorists will try to derail.

"We are facing a radical ideology with inmeasurable objectives to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world," Bush said.”"

Meanwhile, Moonbeam Gore is upset that the Democrats no longer have a monopoloy on information dissemination in America. More on that later. But, just to give you a head start on why we should be glad this gentleman did not become President, go here. Then start asking about Gore's focus.

Theft is theft - eminent domain siezures only make it legal

2005-10-06T22:06:00.000+02:00

Whether it’s the government stealing your land is irrelevant. Eminent domain may be legal, but it's frequently not right. See the previous statement.

Michelle Malkin highlights a landgrab by Democrats in New Jersey. It’s not pretty. The rest of the entry describes how eminent domain continues to be abused in other places in America.

As I’ve said before in this space, sooner or later, these eminent domain land grabs, authorized by political cronies and influence peddlers, will end in violence. Fortunately, a number of state legislatures are working to correct the errors of the recent 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court (of note, it was the liberals who all voted for the government to sieze your property to increase the tax base).

This organization seems to be part of the wave combatting this legal theft by local and state governments. http://www.castlecoalition.org/

The mainstream media debacle in New Orleans

2005-10-06T22:00:00.000+02:00

Given the inaccuracy and bias displayed by this substantial deployment of media to cover Katrina, how can you trust anything these people say about the war and our enemies? Bottom line, you cannot.

And Gore wants us to allow more of these types on the air?

“Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore, commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, said that reporters got bogged down trying to tell people how bad the situation was rather than "gathering facts and corroborating that information."

Amazing how opininions and bias get in the way of objective journalism by MSM types.

And we are worried about American education?

2005-10-06T21:57:00.000+02:00

In Russia, the young adults do not even know who Lenin was.

From James Taranto in "Best of the Web."

"Rodney Dangerfield Revolutionary. The hunk of meat formerly known as V.I. Lenin "has been lying in state on public display" for eight decades, the New York Times reports, but these days the bygone Bolshevik can't get any respect:

"Lenin," mused Natasha Zakharova, 23, as she walked off Red Square on Tuesday, admitting that she was not quite sure whose body she had just seen. "Was he a Communist?""

The New York Times reviews the ongoing debate in Russia about Lenin and whether or not his remains should remain in Red Square.

Why is it ALWAYS the ACLU and the Democrats who try to protect sex offenders?

2005-10-06T21:47:00.000+02:00

Read about this law in California which protects sex offenders at the expense of the public.

Then read on about how the Democrats on the committee responsible for public safety do not seem much concerned about that topic. Nor do their ACLU allies.

"Nevertheless, the ACLU opposes AB 438, and Assembly members Mervyn Dymally (D., Compton), Jackie Goldberg (D., L.A.) and committee chair Mark Leno (D., San Francisco) all voted no. For representatives serving on a public safety committee, these three seem oddly unconcerned with public safety. Mr. Dymally lately has been arguing that it's wrong to deny illegal immigrants driver's licenses, but this is probably just the latest blip in a long career of entitlement politics. Ms. Goldberg and Mr. Leno, however, seem to have a particular habit of positioning themselves against anyone trying to promote an orderly civic environment in California."

ACLU, Dems, Sex Offenders - an interesting combination in California.

First they came for Winnie the Pooh and Piglet…

2005-10-05T19:23:00.000+02:00

...maybe they'll come for Doonesbury next. No, odds are the offended ones will go after the creators of this great cartoon, Cox and Forkum.

So much for "tolerance." Since Winnie and Piglet are "offensive", they must be purged. Jeez.

Mark Steyn has more.

Hey America, are you listening?

2005-10-05T19:14:00.000+02:00

Mark Steyn writes about how the Islamofascists keep trying to kill everyone and why in "Islamist way or no way."

“That's why they blew up Bali in 2002, and last weekend, and why they'll keep blowing it up. It's not about Bush or Blair or Iraq or Palestine. It's about a world where everything other than Islamism lies in ruins.”

Let that sink in a bit. These terrorists attacks against civilian tourists are not about Israel, Palestine, Iraq, or anything which the apologists for Islamic fascists say are “legitimate” concerns.

“…nobody seriously thinks what happened in Bali has anything to do with Iraq. There are, in the end, no root causes, or anyway not ones that can be negotiated by troop withdrawals or a Palestinian state. There is only a metastasising cancer that preys on whatever local conditions are to hand. Five days before the slaughter in Bali, nine Islamists were arrested in Paris for reportedly plotting to attack the Metro. Must be all those French troops in Iraq, right? So much for the sterling efforts of President Jacques Chirac and his Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, as the two chief obstructionists of Bush-Blair-Howard neo-con-Zionist warmongering these past three years.”

The Islamofascists do not want to “coexist” with us. They want us, and our society, dead or converted, to their fascist social structure.

Remember the scene in Independence Day in which the President has a short conversation with the captured alien which Will Smith shot down? The President asks, “What do you want?”

The alien answers, “we want you dead.”

The same goes for the Islamofascists. They want us dead. Time to stop thinking otherwise and fight this war for the future of western civilization. We've found our root cause.

Calvin and Hobbes – It’s been 10 years?

2005-10-05T18:48:00.000+02:00

The 3 volume set, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, was released for sale Tuesday. Don't tell Favorite Wife, but I ordered a set.

The WaPo carried a great article in the WaPo about the strip and the writer, Bill Watterson. As I read the article, just thedescriptionss of the comic strips themselves brought back some pleasant memories. Nicely written article by Neely Tucker, who obviously understands the attraction of reading Calvin and Hobbes. For once it seems, an MSM reporter actually has some expertise about what is written. OK, yes, since the reporter likes the comic strip he/she obviously lacks objectivity, one of my usual complaints about the MSM. But hey, we are talking comic strips here, not how the MSM totally blew the Katrina coverage.

In an amazing coincidence, the Stars and Stripes stopped carrying Calvin and Hobbes as of 1 October. Something about, it's no longer being created, yada, yada, yada. The Stripes has started a number of new comic strips, most of which seem to have been created by people living in dark, depressing worlds where they use a lot of charcoal.

Donald Sutherland, left wing crybaby and Bush hater

2005-10-03T22:05:00.000+02:00

For goodness sakes, is this really the guy I once watched in Kelley’s Heroes?

No, can’t be. Oddball had a pair. "Woof, woof."

Sutherland the actor is nothing but a left wing, Hollywood whiner. We are at war, and he’s on Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation crying about Republican Nazis. Jeez. Get a grip instead of giving aid and comfort to the enemies of our nation.

“At one point during the session, Sutherland started crying: "We stolen our children's future... We have children. We have children. How dare we take their legacy from them. How dare we. It's shameful. What we are doing to our world."

Sutherland now plays some cretin in the new left wing Hillary Clinton ad staring Geena Davis which masquerades as a TV show. Reading this embarrasing rant about Sutherland certainly doesn’t make me want to watch the show (incidentally one of the writers used to work for Hillary – no coincidence there, right?).

"We're back to burning books in Germany," Sutherland said of NBC's editing out of Kanye West's comment on Bush during a hurricane relief telethon.”

My question: Do the Germans know this? If not, contact Donald Sutherland for details and locations of these book burnings.

We owe Debra Burlingame a tremendous debt

2005-10-03T21:54:00.000+02:00

Contrast the focus and spirit of Debra Burlingame with the sniveling of Donald Sutherland.

Ms. Burlingame exposed the effort of the left wing to turn a proposed 9/11 memorial at the WTC into yet another “hate America” project.

Governor Pataki ended the left wing scheme the other day by cancelling the project. Heck, even Hillary came out against the project, which shows you just how anti-American and hateful it truly was.

“Ms. Burlingame's face, never inscrutable, reflects afresh some of the fury she must have felt at the time. Composure is only a part of her arsenal. "Anger can be very, very productive, as long as it's focused and you don't lose your mind. After the London bombings [in July], someone asked me, 'Have we become complacent? Do you miss 9/11, when people had more unity?' And I say, 'No, no, no. What I miss is the anger. And the clarity. That's what I miss... "”

Ms. Burlingame, we too miss the anger over 9/11. The left wing has certainly forgotten about it, and I think a great deal of the country has as well. Thank you for helping us remember how this war began on 9/11 and for blocking left wing attempts to make us feel guilty about our history.

“The EU…is very firm on this position.”

2005-10-03T21:51:00.000+02:00

Gaining control of the Internet that is.

NOT Iranian nukes, Islamic fascism, UN incompetence or any other number of major problems facing this world.

No.

The EU is going to be “firm” on being able to assign .edu or .com suffixes to your internet addresses.

When has the EU been firm on anything aside from bureaucratic squabbling and blaming the U.S.?

Focus people, focus. Now, about that little problem with allowing Turkey in the EU, Islamic fascism, arms sales to China, a resurgent dictatorship in Russia, etc, etc, etc.

Why does President Bush keep walking away from tough fights?

2005-10-03T21:47:00.000+02:00

Harriet Miers? For goodness sakes. Just go here and read. Depressing.

She donated money to the Al Gore campaign in 1988. Yes, she’s a bedrock Republican isn’t she? Yes, I know, people change. That's why I continue to be optimistic about many of my relatives. Anyway....

Conspiracy theory: Bush expects a tough fight on Miers, perhaps a loss, given her lack of a track record and judicial experience. A tough, ugly fight over Miers will force the Democrats to expend a great deal of venom. Following a gracious withdrawal by Ms. Miers for the good of the country, Bush will bring in the true conservative nominee and dare the Democrats to fight a second battle. They won’t have the horsepower, or consensus, to do so, and Bush can therefore really stick one to the Dems. Karl Rove will mastermind this plot.

Wishful thinking on my part?

You think so?

2005-10-03T21:42:00.000+02:00

I love this headline on the WaPo Web Page: “Debate over whether to rebuild New Orleans district may expose tensions over race, poverty.”

As you link to the article itself, the subtitle becomes, “Race and Class Frame Debate on Rebuilding New Orleans District.” Well, that certainly is a bit more clear, and a bit less surprising.

Now, Ceci Connelly does raise some good points in the article.

“Yet even some liberal activists, people who have worked to buoy the fortunes of the Lower Ninth, are beginning to talk favorably about clearing it away -- if residents are well compensated and given suitable housing elsewhere.

"It would be negligent homicide to put people in the Lower Ninth," said Russell Henderson, a veteran community organizer who has formed the Rebuilding Louisiana Coalition. "If you put people back in there, they're going to die."

But scraping away the Lower Ninth would most certainly change the already delicate equations of racial and economic politics in one of America's poorest cities, a city that was 67 percent black but is likely to have a smaller black majority once it is resettled. LSU's Colten fears middle-class Gentilly and wealthy Lakeview -- just as prone to severe flooding -- will nevertheless be rebuilt, while the Lower Ninth is abandoned.

The temptation will be to "open up spaces where there has been a lot of poverty," similar to the urban renewal projects of the 1960s, he said: "Those were seen as a way of cleansing a problem. It didn't eliminate poverty; it just moved it."

Lolita Reed Glass is suspicious that property owners such as her mother will be offered $5,000 for land that is resold for $500,000. Dubbed a "Betsy baby" because she was born nine months after that hurricane brought water to the eaves in the Lower Ninth in 1965, Glass grew up hearing how her mother and seven older siblings punched a hole in the roof to escape the deluge. When they returned, her father added three bedrooms, a bath and laundry onto the pale-blue shotgun house to accommodate his growing family.”

The left wing and the Democrats will be torn between their desire to do the right thing (for the right reasons), which I believe mandates moving these unfortunate residents to new locations and ensuring they receive fair value for their homes and property (yes, even if they do not have adequate insurance) and the fear that by moving so many Democratic voters out of this area that the Democrats will lose political power in the area (as if that would be a bad thing).

This will be a fascinating situation to watch develop and I’m sure we will see the usual fair minded Americans of all races and political outlooks weigh in on the debate.

I, for one, will be outraged if they give these unfortunate people only the tax assessed value of their homes and property and then turn around and sell the land to developers for outrageous sums. That would seem a bit like a rather perverse form of eminent domain in the face of this tragedy.

Finally, I would appoint a Federal Task Force to specifically oversee the expenditure of funds on this project and Katrina relief in general. The Democratic politicians in Louisiana have shown themselves over time to be, how shall we say, less than ethical when it comes to the use of public funds. Why provide these Louisiana politicos another chance to feed at the public trough at our expense?

New book believes Islamic fascism poses a threat similar to the Germans and Nazism during WWII

2005-10-03T21:33:00.002+02:00

A new book by Toney Blankley theorizes that Islamic fascism poses a threat similar to the Germans and Nazism during WWII.

Tough to disagree with the sentiment expressed by Blankley in his book, “The West’s Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?”

The Washington Times has carried excerpts. A few highlights:

He is very concerned about “Eurabia.” He should be. He believes that if European governments do not begin to respond to Islamic fascism within their cities and countries that Europeans will respond in a vigilante fashion. I believe he gives the Europeans too much credit for recognizing the issue and for having the courage to take action as required.

“The radical Islamists are able to rationalize concessions to modernity with ancient-sounding mumbo jumbo while still sounding like authentic fundamentalists, the only true voice of Islam.

The Nazis overwhelmed German society with these methods 70 years ago. There is building evidence that the radical Islamists are moving ever more successfully down the same path -- particularly within the younger generations in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in the United States."

He views current Islamic fascism as a “post modern” issue, stating these fanatics frequently advocate what Islam believes immoral in order to facilitate the continuance of jihad.

I just ordered it from Amazon.com. Light October reading on the future of our civilization.

There is no excuse for this in modern America

2005-10-03T21:25:00.000+02:00

None.

I’m sorry, but I have no sympathy for Fantasia Barrino and her claims of being illiterate at the age of 21.

She says she cannot read. How did this happen? Doesn’t she have responsibility for this? Who and what system enabled her illiteracy?

Chris Mathews and NBC News – Stuck on Stupid

2005-09-27T19:25:00.000+02:00

Congressman King takes Mathews and the MSM on. And knocks them out.

Radioblogger uses Mathews' interview with King to show just how pompous these left wing TV pundits can be.

Congressman King, towards the end of the interview, reminds Mathews that President Bush may have few more things to do that are more important than watching Mathews and his cronies on TV.

[Full disclosure. A close friend gave me a copy of Chris Mathews book, autographed, a few years ago. I read it, and enjoyed it.]

More left wing inaccuracies from the New York Times

2005-09-27T19:23:00.000+02:00

This time on education.

This NYTimes reporters must have learned his math from Krugman, “America’s looniest liberal pundit.”

While we are talking about how the media misrepresents things

2005-09-27T19:14:00.000+02:00

Let's talk Louisiana. Murders and Deaths in the Superdome, or lack thereof.

Total number of dead during Katrina: Wrong.
Total number of dead in the Superdome: Wrong.
Who is at fault: Wrong (Sorry, MSM - the hurricane wasn't Bush's fault).

Even the left wing LA Times is criticizing its fellow “professionals” and how they reported the events in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

"Mayor C. Ray Nagin told a national television audience on "Oprah" three weeks ago of people "in that frickin' Superdome for five days watching dead bodies, watching hooligans killing people, raping people.""

Now there’s a surprise, Mayor Nagin said something stupid? Wow, who would have thought that after watching him on TV for the past month?

"Journalists and officials who have reviewed the Katrina disaster blamed the inaccurate reporting in large measure on the breakdown of telephone service, which prevented dissemination of accurate reports to those most in need of the information. Race may have also played a factor.

The wild rumors filled the vacuum and seemed to gain credence with each retelling — that an infant's body had been found in a trash can, that sharks from Lake Pontchartrain were swimming through the business district, that hundreds of bodies had been stacked in the Superdome basement."

I don’t understand the “Race may have played a factor" comment.

Is the LA Times implying that the MSM, left wing reporters have racist tendencies? That the left wing MSM reporters allowed their own biases to influence how they reported the news? That the left wing MSM reporters may even be, in reality, biased against people of color?

Just checking. Left wingers, just like MSM journalists, could never be biased.

No blood for oil, but who cares if we kill more in smaller cars?

2005-09-27T18:58:00.000+02:00

Not the left wingers, that’s for sure.

From Jay Nordlinger in National Review Online:

"In the ongoing category of Only Thomas Sowell Could Have Written That: “Many of the same people who cry ‘No blood for oil!’ also want higher gas-mileage standards for cars. But higher mileage standards have meant lighter and flimsier cars, leading to more injuries and deaths in accidents — in other words, trading blood for oil.”"

"Brutal."

For the record, Favorite Wife and I do not own an SUV. We do own two foreign cars that go REALLY fast (Actually, three, but Favorite Daughter does not go fast in hers/mine). Some of my friends and relatives, however, do own SUVs. I still love them and do not consider them unpatriotic for using gas at prodigious rates or for endangering me in a side crash as their bumper plows through my side window, side air bag, and side of my head.

Some real fine young men in Central Florida…

2005-09-27T18:49:00.000+02:00

... allegedly attacked their female middle school classmates on the bus, then allegedly used cell phones cameras to document their crimes. Apparently these young heroes attend Tavares Middle School, in Lake County, Florida.

Kind of stupid too, don't you think?

Another interesting aspect of this debauchery, aside from the fact that these scum are being charged with a felony, and their ages (12-14), is the fact that the news channel website published their photos. These criminals are juveniles. I was surprised to see the photos.

What must pass for cogent thought in the minds of people of this age who would do something of this nature? Can you imagine what they think of girls and women if they are willing to do something like this now? What type of culture developed pigs like this? What will they be like as they "mature?"

Worse, how many more of this type are out there?

I’m sure this has nothing to do with illegal immigration

2005-09-27T18:45:00.000+02:00

"In L.A., immigrants bypass English"

Quoting from the article, “In California, Spanish is more important than English, [said] Paik. "I haven't found any inconvenience because I don't speak English.”

Maybe that situation should change, or do we want to become like the Balkans?

A great description of how unions are failing, increasing your costs, and become more partisan

2005-09-27T18:43:00.000+02:00

By Mickey Kaus at Slate

Money paragraph.

“"Historically," as Yglesias notes, unions have selflessly helped Democrats solve a number of national problems (Social Security, medical care for the elderly, civil rights, worker safety, unemployment insurance). Unfortunately, what's left are the national problems where this New Deal pairing didn't work because unions actively stand in the way of solutions. Two of these problems, in particular, are among our biggest: a) Unionized teachers stand in the way of the educational changes that might ameliorate our twin education crises (inner city disaster and suburban mediocrity). And b) unions stand in the way of the best solution to the welfare problem….”

Inbound from Iraq - A daughter returns home

2005-09-26T21:17:00.000+02:00

An old friend of mine notified me tonight that his daughter, a West Pointer serving in Iraq during the past year, is coming home. She's inbound tonight for Fort Lewis.

I've known her mom and dad since 1976. This young officer has a twin sister, and these ladies were born a few years after I started my career. Now one of them is a combat veteran.

I know her mom and dad, and family, are glad she's coming home, as are we all. I don't talk with God very often, but I thanked him tonight. A great deal.

Protesting the War

2005-09-26T18:29:00.000+02:00

I suppose some people were really looking forward to the dance of the moonbats in D.C. last Saturday. For me, it just stirred up many emotions towards those who support the enemies of democracy and freedom while protesting the war.

As simplistic as some of you may view my opinions, I have always agreed with the President when he said (I'm paraphrasing), you are either with us or against us.

So, hitting the Web from Europe, I'm treated to photos of these moonbats, and these moonbats, which in turn leads you to reading Cindy "al Queda" Sheehan comments and photos with one of America's leading anti-Americans.

As one blogger pointed out, the protesters in D.C. weren't anti-war, they were anti-American. And yes, I do think you can question someone's patriotism if, during time of war, they protest against the war and undermine the soldiers and their efforts.

Global Cop has great photos of the protest, and begins with shots of counterprotestors. He transitions to the heart of his "photo essay" showing individual shots representative of the wierd pathologies of these left wingers.

The picture at the top of this post is my favorite (thanks to Global Cop), showing an obviously concerned, deeply committed young woman tormented by the people she confronts. Fashionably dressed in her faux Ranger patrol cap, I'm pretty sure she is desparately attempting to understand the twisted mentality of those she faces across the street. How could they possibly be in favor of a war against the enemies of freedom and democracy? How could they possibly be in favor of supporting our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq? Don't they understand the inherent goodness of Cindy Sheehan and her fellow moonbats?

This gentleman, David Adesnik, at Oxblog.com, provides interesting commentary about the protest, examining it with a critical eye toward the main stream media coverage which, somehow, shockingly, failed to analyze the true left wing nature of the protestors and the anti-American nature of many of these groups. Reading thru his entries, however, I do get the sense that he was more comfortable with the protestors than he was with the defenders of freedom and democracy, but that is of course, just my perception.

Back to blogging

2005-09-26T18:23:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone. I've hardly blogged at all the last two months. Between traveling and some major projects at work, its been tough to do. I admit to a bit of boredom with blogging as well, hence my admiration for the masters like Instapundit and Andrew Sullivan, who have been doing it daily, and well, for years.

Since I've reduced my blogging, the President's approval ratings have declined precipitously. Now, I'm not sure there is a direct link, but if I use the same logic that our left wing friends always do, then, hey, its a cinch that since I've resumed blogging that the President's numbers will improve.

My Beanhead English 'P would, I'm sure, take issue with my logic.

The Bush Team needs to speak clearly about the war effort

2005-08-30T20:32:00.000+02:00

This is "a war to be proud of."

Despite what has not gone well, the sheer magnitude of the success of the United States, Britain, Australia, Poland, and our other allies often eludes those with a vested interest in defeating a Republican administration. Heck, given how this administration handles the media and mangles its messages, I wonder how anyone can know how we are doing or theorize about its evolution.

I've complained often that my biggest complaint about this administration and the war is the less than cohesive message about the war's importance and how well we have done thus far.

Maybe Iraq vexes us on a daily basis, but on the whole, a lot has gone right in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the rest of the world where terrorists, dictators, and extremists linger. The successes thus far sure have not been do to the UN and Kofi, Gerhard, or Chiraq. They have occurred because of Bush, Blair, and the rest of the team, including the American Army.

Christopher Hitchens, a superb writer who broke with the left wing after 9/11, illustrates just what the President could talk about in regards to the war.

"DOES THE PRESIDENT deserve the benefit of the reserve of fortitude that I just mentioned? Only just, if at all. We need not argue about the failures and the mistakes and even the crimes, because these in some ways argue themselves.

But a positive accounting could be offered without braggartry, and would include:

(1) The overthrow of Talibanism and Baathism, and the exposure of many highly suggestive links between the two elements of this Hitler-Stalin pact. Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who moved from Afghanistan to Iraq before the coalition intervention, has even gone to the trouble of naming his organization al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

(2) The subsequent capitulation of Qaddafi's Libya in point of weapons of mass destruction--a capitulation that was offered not to Kofi Annan or the E.U. but to Blair and Bush.

(3) The consequent unmasking of the A.Q. Khan network for the illicit transfer of nuclear technology to Libya, Iran, and North Korea.

(4) The agreement by the United Nations that its own reform is necessary and overdue, and the unmasking of a quasi-criminal network within its elite.

(5) The craven admission by President Chirac and Chancellor Schröder, when confronted with irrefutable evidence of cheating and concealment, respecting solemn treaties, on the part of Iran, that not even this will alter their commitment to neutralism. (One had already suspected as much in the Iraqi case.)

(6) The ability to certify Iraq as actually disarmed, rather than accept the word of a psychopathic autocrat.

(7) The immense gains made by the largest stateless minority in the region--the Kurds--and the spread of this example to other states.

(8) The related encouragement of democratic and civil society movements in Egypt, Syria, and most notably Lebanon, which has regained a version of its autonomy.

(9) The violent and ignominious death of thousands of bin Ladenist infiltrators into Iraq and Afghanistan, and the real prospect of greatly enlarging this number.

(10) The training and hardening of many thousands of American servicemen and women in a battle against the forces of nihilism and absolutism, which training and hardening will surely be of great use in future combat.

It would be admirable if the president could manage to make such a presentation. It would also be welcome if he and his deputies adopted a clear attitude toward the war within the war: in other words, stated plainly, that the secular and pluralist forces within Afghan and Iraqi society, while they are not our clients, can in no circumstance be allowed to wonder which outcome we favor.

Can the Republicans find a good candidate for 2008?

2005-08-27T14:29:00.000+02:00

The poll results indicate that Guiliani leads the list of prospective Republican Candidates.

Who did I vote for? Guiliani as the candidate and Thompson as the fantasy candidate (though I seriously thought about Rice, and would in reality, vote for her in a heartbeat if the Republicans nominated her).

Despite that, I'm concerned now, just as I was in 1999 and 2000, that the Republicans do not possess a deep field of potential Presidential contenders.

And now the "contenders":

Giuliani: Strongest state is New Mexico (49.3%), home state of New York is safe (46.1%). His strongest big states are CT (41.7%), NJ (37.1%), WA (34.7%). However, the headline-stealer is his support in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, vote-rich New South states with large urban centers: TX (34.6%; are Cowboys fans keeping Allen down?), NC (33.7%) and FL (31.8%). Giuliani also gets strong support in more libertarian-leaning Western states (MT, NM, AK, WY) but the sample sizes are nothing to write home about. Other big state results: CA (30.1% -- despite being blue, CA tends to be a bellwether among Republican voters), OH (31.4%), PA (29.0%), and MI (30.5%).

Allen: Look at map above, and you’ll see Allen isn’t a Southern candidate so much as he is a border state candidate. Allen stomps in the Old Dominion (50.2%), and wins WV, KY, MD, and IN, with some spillover strength into states like OH, IL, PA, and MO. He has a seemingly anomalous win in RI and takes both the Dakotas and performs well in Minnesota -- did a couple of folks up north remember who was NRSC Chairman when Tom Daschle was retired? His strongest Deep South states are AL (his 7th best finish), NC (his 10th), SC (his 18th), and GA (his 19th). In the big states: CA (20.4%), TX (17.0%), NY (11.6%), FL (18.4%).

Gingrich: Newt-mania is entirely an outside the Beltway phenomenon right now: he’s the Reader’s Digest candidate. Gingrich scores the worst in D.C. at 3.2%, and gets just 7.2% in Virginia (NH is his second-worst state). Up and down the Eastern seabord, there’s little interest in Mr. Newt. Flyover Country’s a different story: he comes close in Idaho, finishes a strong second in Iowa, and is locked in a three-way tangle in Indiana, but owing to how evenly his support is spread out, he wins no states. The Deep South, including his home state of Georgia, is another area of strength: LA (20.4%), GA (20.4%), MS (19.5%). He also does well in a smattering of states that transcend regional boundaries (save except for the establishment redoubts): OR (20.2%), MO (19.3%), AZ (18.8%).

Romney: Governor Romney turns in the biggest winning percentage of any candidate in any state – not in Massachusetts, but in Utah with 52.1% of the vote. His second-best state: RI, a mini-MA, only more zealous about it – 19.4%. In Massachusetts, he’s at 18.6%, second to Giuliani. And he’s tied for second in N.H., currently his fourth best-state at 16.1%. Bigger states he does well in tend to be out West: AZ (12.6%), CO (12.6%), and CA (11.9%). Five of his bottom ten states are in the South. (Romney is probably the best example of these state-by-state breakdowns making perfect sense.)

McCain: Vermont, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York. These states would all be near the bottom of Republican support in a general election, but they adorn John McCain’s top 10. His support is concentrated conspicuously along the Northeast Metroliner Corridor – guaranteeing him frontrunner coverage in the MSM. His home state of Arizona is well down the list with an 8% McCain vote, less than half of what he gets in D.C. This seems low, except it’s nearly double what he gets in neighboring Western states: NV (4.2%) and CO (3.1%). McCain and Chuck Hagel are apparently the favorites of lefty trolls crossover voters as results from Balloon Juice and RedState seem to indicate. In a less mischievous vein, are non-Republicans in loose screen national media polls driving up McCain’s numbers from their lows among Republican activists in forums such as this one?

Sheehan camp being funded by Ben's ice cream money

2005-08-26T21:07:00.000+02:00

ABC News in San Francisco reports the following about the funding behind the Sheehan anti-war campaign.

"Their bills are being paid by True Majority, a non-profit set up by Ben Cohen, of Ben and Jerry's ice cream fame.

Ben Cohen: "People are willing to listen to her and we want to do as much as we can to make her voice heard."

Cohen's liberal group has teamed up with Berkeley-based moveon.org, an anti-Bush group co-founded by Joan Blades. "

So, I suppose that technically it's not Ben and Jerry's, but....only one of the founders.

And you are still going to that ice cream store for what reason?

Come to think of it, I think AAFES sponsors these guys on military bases. Time to do some checking. If so, maybe we should start asking why the military is supporting Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

I must be getting grumpy...

2005-08-26T20:56:00.000+02:00

...or maybe I'm just irritated that friends of mine are being mortared nearly every day and are in firefights, while left wingers and anti-war types undermine my friends and servicemembers.

I've never had any sympathy for the anti-war crowd, during Vietnam, Desert Storm, or OIF.

Now the left wing scum are harassing our wounded.

I think BlackFive says it best:

Jesus Loves Protestors

Everyone Else Thinks

THEY SUCK!!!

Why I stopped using Google for news

2005-08-26T20:34:00.000+02:00

I stopped checking the Google news site when I became aware, through a number of bloggers like Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs, of the amazingly transparent bias of the Google news team.

Whether it was their selective choices for advertisements or news sites, the Google team seemed to consistently select the most left wing or extreme sites to represent "news."

Today, Charles Johnson shows how that Google bias represents itself in hateful, anti-Israeli type articles from Arab new sources.

"Google News Hits Bottom, Digs

This is what happens when you have an automated news headline generator that draws on a database of news sources hand-selected by left wing lunatics; a headline currently featured at Google News:

The Google News system is broken. In a very big way. The Wahhabi schemers who run sites like ArabNews are well aware of this, and are exploiting it relentlessly to spread their propaganda.

07:21 PM PDT link: 160 comments link onlylast comment: Baldy 10:05:47 am 8/26/05email this article "

The French were wrong on Iraq, Bush won the election, so now...

2005-08-25T22:12:00.000+02:00

...the French are going after another American, Lance Armstrong.

The French simply cannot stand for America to lead in any aspect of life.

Sounds like Lance is going to fight back. I hope so.

As I told my boss yesterday, hmmmh, the French are making accusations against yet another American. Wonder why. I doubt there is anything at all to the French accusations.

Lance kicked their butt for a number of years, now the French think they can get even with 6 year old accusations. Typical.

Left Wing extremists at Ground Zero

2005-08-24T21:54:00.000+02:00

The big money supporting left wing extremism in America and the Hate America crowd are working diligently to take over the memorial at the World Trade Center site at the International Freedom Center.

This Cox and Forkum cartoon provides the graphics and a good summary highlighting the fact that these lefties want to turn the memorial to our dead and 9/11 into a left wing forum for attacking America and asking us to apologize for a variety of global ills.

The New York Daily News provides more details.

"A global network of human rights museums is urging the International Freedom Center to downplay America in its exhibits and programs at Ground Zero, the Daily News has learned.

The outrageous request is the latest controversy to torment the Freedom Center, whose leaders have tried to dispel the perception that it would be a home for America bashers.

"Don't feature America first," the IFC has been advised by the consortium of 14 "museums of conscience" that quietly has been consulting with the Freedom Center for the past two years over plans for the hallowed site. "Think internationally, where America is one of the many nations of the world."

Those words rang hollow with some 9/11 family members.

"I can't think of a greater insult than to invite museums from other countries of the world to come and exploit what should be America's memorial," said Jack Lynch, who helped carry the body of his firefighter son Michael, 30, out of the rubble"

Can you imagine what these left wing apologists and the Hate America team would have done with the Pearl Harbor Memorial? The Marine Memorial at Arlington? Yes, you can.

Isn't it time to start fighting back against the Hate America left wingers? I think so.

Who thought of calling the memorial the "International Freedom Center?" How about, "The Attack on America" as a way of showing what the memorial, and the subsequent war on Islamic extremism, are all about?

Pat Benatar

2005-08-24T21:13:00.000+02:00

The best rock musician ever, IMHO!

When I was a young cadet at West Point, and then a lieutenant in 2-77 Armor at Fort Lewis, Pat Benatar ruled.

Over time, I've periodically returned to listen to her songs. Favorite Daughter frequently watched with some amusement as I told her what I had been doing when I listened to Benatar.

Example: 0300, open jeep, with Specialist (later Command Sergeant Major Peters), driving through the desert plateau of Yakima Firing Center looking for brokedick tanks. A bit undisciplined, but, we had a great time listening to Benatar.

So, Favorite Wife returned from Florida on Monday. Today, her package arrived, and inside, Favorite Daughter had inserted Pat Benatar's Greatest Hits. Wow, what a great present. Thanks Favorite Daughter.

Note: Before the Army learned to do commericials (Be All You Can Be still tops the list!) we used to sit around and drink at night and develop Army recruiting commericials. I'm still convinced that Benatar singing "Hit me with your best shot" while an M1 Tank roamed the battlefield killing all in its path with that 120mm main gun would have been the all time best recruiting commercial. Oh well.

This is news?

2005-08-23T22:33:00.000+02:00

According to the front page of the WaPo, obesity is UP in 49 of 50 states.

They needed an advocacy group to tell them the obvious.

Note to the Post. Sit in the Charlotte and Atlanta airports for a few hours. Ask us if you are surprised.

Since when did the obvious become newsworthy?

Jeez. Back to my low fat Pop Tarts and Diet Coke (with Lime).

Not my kind of Christian

2005-08-23T22:07:00.000+02:00

Pat Robertson.

Since when is it a Christian leader's responsibility to advocate the assassination of a foreign ruler? More here.

Hey, I'm not a Chavez fan. I consider him to be a quintessential enemy of the United States and human rights. Down the road, we might have to go to war with Venezuela over the actions of Chavez. But not yet.

I think Venezuela may have some trouble, however, taking the moral high ground. But, let it be said about left wing South America dictators and their fans: shame has never been a problem with these guys.

In the meantime, prior to the declaration of war, how does one reconcile advocating assassination with Christian values?

Time for the Bush team and the Republicans to cut Robertson loose. I know, I know, he might cost us some votes. But why do we want to be linked to someone like Robertson?

Yet another reason to dislike the French

2005-08-23T20:49:00.000+02:00

As if we needed one.

A good illustration of why Eastern Europe despises France. MUNICH.

The legacy continues as France attempts to bully any eastern European nation which supports America in the Middle East.

Czech remembers French duplicity prior to WWII. As it should.

We should remember it now, regardless of how much France may support us anywhere but Iraq.

The continuing threat of old Soviet bio labs

2005-08-21T12:14:00.000+02:00

I’m not sure which concerns me the most, the threat of accidental release, the threat of terrorist or gang capture of the pathogens, or the threat that the underpaid scientists will sell out to the bad guys for cash.

"The labs today are seeking to fill a critical role in preventing epidemics in regions where medical services and sanitation have deteriorated since Soviet times. But an equally pressing challenge is security: How to prevent the germ collections and biological know-how from being sold or stolen.

"They often have culture collections of pathogens that lack biosecurity, and they employ people who are well-versed in investigating and handling deadly pathogens," said Raymond A. Zilinskas, a bioweapons expert and coauthor of the draft report on the antiplague system. "Some are located at sites accessible to terrorist groups and criminal groups. The potential is that terrorists and criminals would have little problem acquiring the resources that reside in these facilities."

Managers of the old antiplague stations are aware of their vulnerabilities but lack the most basic resources for dealing with them, according to the Monterey authors and U.S. officials. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, budgets at the institutes have fallen so steeply that even the simplest security upgrades are out of reach. One facility in a Central Asian capital could not even afford a telephone and had no way of contacting police in the event of a break-in. At least two antiplague centers outside Russia have acknowledged burglaries or break-ins within the past three years, though there are no confirmed reports of stolen pathogens or missing lab equipment, Monterey officials said."

What's this AF Lieutenant Colonel doing when he's not allegedly defacing cars?

2005-08-21T01:04:00.000+02:00

Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Alexis Fecteau was arrested recently in Denver for allegedly vandalizing cars at Denver International Airport.

World Net Daily published his photo.

What type of cars did he vandalize? Apparently ones with Bush bumper stickers. He supposely would black out the sticker and then use spray paint to paint an "expletive" on the vehicle.

'Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau, who supervises 41 full-time and part-time reservists at the National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs, Colo., is suspected of vandalizing 12 cars at Denver International Airport over a six-month period, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. "Lieutenant Colonel Fecteau has been charged with one count of felony mischief and six misdemeanor counts related to the vandalism," Jackson said.'

Now, let's theorize on his future. A full time officer violates his oath by suppressing political speech, committing criminal acts, and embarrasing the service.

Can anyone say, "show cause" board?

The left wingers are massing to defend his actions.

I'm only 78% American? Jeez!

2005-08-21T00:51:00.000+02:00

"You're as American as red meat and shooting ranges. Tough and independent, you think big. You love everything about the US, wrong or right. And anyone who criticizes your home better not do it in front of you!"

This neat little questionnaire allows you to determine your "American-ness".

Apparently I should not have admitted to drinking wine and failing to watch NASCAR. Oh, and I should have voted for a constitutional admendment against burning the flag.

It probably added hidden penalty points for the length of time one spends outside of CONUS.

Jane Fonda - we still remember about Vietnam

2005-08-21T00:18:00.000+02:00

When I taught military history at West Point a few years ago, the cadets would enter class on the day we started the block on the Vietnam War to a picture of ol Jane Fonda sitting in the chair of a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun.

I used that picture to not only disparage the anti-war effort, but also to give the cadets a sense of the scale of the left wing anti-war effort which undermined the war effort in which our fathers so valiently engaged in for years.

Now, 30+ years after she first consorted with the enemies of liberty and democracy in North Vietnam, Jane Fonda has announced that she will tour the country protesting our war against this generation of terrorists.

Well Jane, the 42d Infantry Division has found you a piece of equipment with which you might be familar. A Soviet made anti-aircraft gun. With a seat.

Fly on over to Iraq, meet our soldiers, and have your picture taken again. Just for old times.

The caption reads, "Ms. Fonda, we're holding your personal seat in Tikrit."

Jane, we will never forget what you did during the Vietnam War. Never.

Cindy Sheehan - left wing tool

2005-08-20T23:48:00.000+02:00

I've been observing this circus with some interest while I was back in the states.

She has my sympathy for the death of her son, an American soldier, during combat operations in Iraq.

My sympathy, however, extends no further. Her son was a volunteer who served his nation bravely. Too bad the same cannot be said for his mother.

She's entered the political world now, supported by various left wing extremist groups, and is attempting to undermine our war effort.

This blogger sums it up very nicely about why she should be allowed to meet a certain former President.

Happy Birthday to Favorite Sister

2005-08-04T22:08:00.000+02:00

Hope you have a great day Sis!

Bolton at the UN - His First Day

2005-08-04T22:06:00.000+02:00

Jim Lileks has the facts on John Bolton's first day at the UN.

I'm glad that President Bush used a recess appointment for this mission. Nothing sends a signal better to the enemy than ignoring their protests.

Bummer - left wingers didn't flee after all.

2005-08-04T21:54:00.001+02:00

Remember all the left wingers who said they would leave America after President Bush was reelected?

They lied. Again.

Is the left wing media incapable of anything?

2005-08-04T21:48:00.000+02:00

And the media wonders why we hate them.

I just saw this on Drudge.

The NY Times is investigating the adoption records of the Judge Roberts' children.

The left can't find anything else on Roberts, so they are attacking the children.

What type of world does the left wing live in? I really can't fathom the depths of their depravity.

Glen Justice? That's a rich name for a New York Times reporter. That's the last thing in which the NY Times is interested.

I hope the blowback on the media because of this is intense, focused, and effective.

Howard Dean - Pride of the Democratic Party

2005-08-01T20:09:00.000+02:00

Jeez. He has to be a Hillary plot.

He blamed the recent ridiculous Supreme Court decision on eminent domain on the "President and his right-wing Supreme Court...." How could he have done that?

For gosh sakes Howard, all the left wing justices voted for it. It was a 5-4 decision. All those conservative justices despised by you and your extremist friends. voted against it, because, SHOCKER, they believe more in the rights of the individual than the rights of the state and the friends of Democratic and Republican businessmen.

This man Dean is an embarrassment to the Democratic Party. Hope he stays in place.

More insanity at the University of Maryland - Europe

2005-07-25T19:33:00.000+02:00

Why does UofM Europe instructor Peyton Glass hate anyone who's not a liberal?

I don't know. Ask him. He works, according to his letter in the European Stars and Stripes, for UofM in England.

Wouldn't you just love to have an open minded, tolerant instructor who generated lively discussion without abusing you because your political views differed?

Most people would. So...if you would, don't enroll in any UofM classes in which Peyton Glass is the instructor.

But, just so you know I'm not making this up, here's his letter in full. Read it carefully, noting how he insults his students' viewpoints.

A liberal ‘apologizes’

I — and my other second-rate colleagues
on the faculty of University of Maryland University
College — would like to apologize to the author of “Leftist ideas rule academia” (letter, July 2) for our spreading of liberal doctrine in our classrooms.

We have been unbelievably inconsiderate in failing to take into consideration the havoc that having to consider alternative points of view creates in the conservative mind. Accordingly, these changes to the UMUC curriculum will be made:

As an English teacher, I take responsibility for promoting what we liberals smugly refer to as “literature,” with its tendency toward asking questions rather than supplying answers. To
accommodate conservatives, questions will be mostly eliminated. Hamlet’s “To be or not to be, that is the question” will now be taught as “To be. Yep, that’s the answer.” Trashy liberal novels such as “Huckleberry Finn” will be replaced by “Aesop’s Fables” and “The Collected Writings of Bill O’Reilly.”

History. At no time will America be shown to have done anything morally questionable at any place or under any circumstances.
Slavery never happened; or if it did, it was invented by the French.

Geography. Maps will show only the United States and those countries currently supporting us, such as Great Britain and
Guam.

The sciences. As every good conservative knows, the universe was created on April 23, 6004 B.C. at 9:23 a.m.
Central Standard Time by Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh. Everything was perfectly constructed and therefore there is no need for the liberal concept of “evilution.” Other liberal notions to be removed from the classroom will include gravity, the heliocentric solar system (the absurd idea that the Earth goes around the sun — a heresy for which liberal propagandists
Galileo and Copernicus were rightly condemned), and the concept of the “round Earth.”

We hope this clears everything up, and, again, we’re really sorry for confusing everybody.

Peyton Glass
Harrogate, United
Kingdom

Peyton, just so you know, you're not confusing anyone. Left wing bias in academia is a pretty well recognized phenomenon. Part of the landscape. The sad part continues to be the lack of recognition of how your bias affects your teaching environment and also cuts off discussion in class. I'm sure, however, that such a thing never occurs in Peyton's classroom.

The Empire Strikes Back

2005-07-25T19:30:00.000+02:00

Who ever said the Stars and Stripes was boring never read the letters to the editor.

The fiendish editors have massed a number of responses to the left wing gibberish above from Peyton Glass. As you might imagine, a few readers of the paper decided that Mr.(?) Glass went a bit too far in his sarcasm, leading to these delightful letters to the editor on Saturday, 23 July.

A delightful mix of which calls Mr. (?) Peyton exactly what he is: a narrow minded left wing bigot with a poorly defined sense of tolerance that only his left wing academic fellow travelers would appreciate. Again, I've reprinted them in full below.

A conservative ‘apologizes’

Apparently the writer of “A liberal ‘apologizes’” (letter, July 18) knows the political views of every single person who ever did anything productive or counterproductive anywhere in history.

So I, as a conservative, because I am patriotic and believe in strong family values, am responsible and apologize for all negative occurrences and I realize that liberals are the smartest, most well-educated, open-minded, kind-hearted, well-intentioned people since the dawn of human existence.
When the letter writer talks about appreciating “alternative points of view” and in the same article bashes the “conservative mind,” this makes his argument petty and moot. Also, to suggest that universal forces or “liberal notions” (as the letter writer put it) such as gravity have a political affiliation is beyond absurd.

I suggest before he sends another letter about how oppressive the opposing view is, he buy a full-length mirror and stand in front.

Jason Bensley
Riedstadt, Germany

Civility not part of curriculum

In regard to “A liberal ‘apologizes,’” the author’s comments — meant to be tongue-in-cheek, or simply mean-spirited — smack of the same institutional arrogance that led the speaker at the recent graduation in Germany to espouse his particular viewpoint, regardless of his audience (“UMUC graduation speaker stirs up controversy,” article, June 14).

While they can pat themselves on the back for bringing academic “truth” to the assembled, and stand satisfied at how they enlightened the uninformed with their viewpoints, the fact is, there is a time and a place for everything. For those who worked so hard to obtain a degree, having the event culminating their achievement turn from a celebration of their accomplishment into an ego-driven forum for political rants is simply uncalled for.

It’s a shame Western Civ is offered, but civility itself isn’t on the curriculum.

Kevin Lewis
Harrogate, England

Why print the letter?

Please explain to me what the point of printing the letter “A liberal ‘apologizes’” was, other than to inflame and upset conservatives and furthermore portray to people that conservatives are ignorant or stupid.
A newspaper such as Stars and Stripes, which in many cases is the only newspaper a servicemember has access to, should be a source of unbiased news. While opinions are obviously biased, printing a letter such as this serves only to inflame opposing views and can show Stripes as a left-leaning news source.

Out of all the letters Stripes receives every day, it shouldn’t have been too hard to pick out something that isn’t a piece of political trash.

Sgt. Sean Gavett
SHAPE, Belgium

Lack of good judgment

It’s unfortunate to see “A liberal ‘apologizes.’” As a professional educator, the letter writer showed a lack of good judgment by using Stars and Stripes to engage in a battle of philosophy with a student. He should have thought about the possible repercussions of his actions. He also should have thought about the University of Maryland University College’s image before he submitted his letter.

I hope the UMUC board of ethics looks into his actions. Finally, it’s unfortunate that the writer feels he has to demean conservatives for what he thinks they believe.

I have had the pleasure of taking courses through UMUC and have met professors who have engaged in passing off their personal opinions (both liberal and conservative) as part of the curriculum. It’s unfortunate that it happens, but it does. However, when discussions based upon opinion occurred between professor and student, a level of respect for each other’s beliefs was maintained at all times.

The letter writer should have either kept his opinions on a professional level or realized that he should have kept his opinions to himself. He also needs to remember that without the continued revenue coming in from the student body that he is demeaning, he may find himself without a job.

Tech. Sgt. Donald Hoobler
Iraq

Left wing principal wouldn’t allow a picture of the President in classroom

2005-07-23T16:25:00.000+02:00

Interesting story in Smoking Gun from New York, where the left wing wife of a NY state assemblyman allegedly told an elementary school teacher to remove a picture of President Bush from the classroom. She also allegedly harassed the young female teacher who has filed suit. The harassment centered on items such as the President's photo and the teacher's work with Republican organizations.

The alleged "principal" culprit in this case is one Joyce Becker-Seddio, the wife of state Assemblyman Frank Seddio, a Brooklyn Democrat.

"In her U.S. District Court complaint, a copy of which you'll find below, Caruso contends that she was retaliated against by Becker-Seddio because of her political work, which has included volunteering at last year's GOP convention and membership in the Republican National Committee. Caruso, who taught first and third graders at Birch Lane, also claims that when the principal spotted the Bush portrait late last year--it was hanging among photos of other U.S. presidents--she "became outraged and insisted that the picture be removed."

Yes, can't have a picture of that fascist Republican hanging in the middle of our American, bastion of tolerance, elementary school, can we Ms. Becker-Seddio.

Incidents like this reinforce Favorite WifeÂs concern about my entering the teaching profession. She realizes the profession has more than its fair share of left wing, union loving fanatics (and intolerant ones at that) and knows what a guy like me would do when introduced into that type of mix. Still, it would be fun. Think of the possibilities.

Can you imagine my principal telling me I could not have a picture of the President in my classroom? I wonder if Ms. Becker-Seddio allows the American flag in the classroom? Pledge of Allegiance?

Note: Red text added as a revision.

The Germans transferred the anti-American diplomat in NY

2005-07-23T16:22:00.000+02:00

Wow, even the German Foreign Ministry must have realized what a public relations debacle this “gentleman” and his wife were for trans-Atlantic relations.

Wonder where he will end up? I vote for North Korea or the Sudan.

Enjoy your new job, anti-Ami jerk.

I just knew he was a Democrat

2005-07-23T16:19:00.000+02:00

A few days ago, I blogged about this.

Right Wing News has more.

Keep remembering little nuggets such as this when Democrats complain about questioning their patriotism. We are at war, in a war of ideas, and these guys continue to believe trashing America and the flag has no ramifications.

I know, I know. I'm a fascist just for bringing this entire problem to your attention.

The enemy was trying to kill us before Iraq, AND Afghanistan, AND 9/11

2005-07-23T16:17:00.000+02:00

I know that’s irrelevant to the left wing anti-war side of the fence, but I do enjoy showing them how off base their rhetoric and hate continues to be.

The Anchoress has pictures. She could have gone even deeper into history, but what she has shown makes the point well enough.

Senate Democrats – chutzpah or just a lack of shame

2005-07-23T16:12:00.000+02:00

A little of both I believe.

Watching Senator Schumer (D (-), NY) has become a fascinating hobby. His ability to spout left wing ideology is amazing, and his comments about Judge Roberts, the need for documents, and Roberts’ lack of time for a judge, well, are just mind boggling in their idiocy.

The best part about Schumer’s complaint that Roberts has relatively little time as a judge: he lacks the time in office because of the Dems in the Senate.

Read on.

“Mr. Schumer lamented that Judge John Roberts, who was confirmed in 2003 for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, "does not have a long and fulsome record -- he's only had two years as a judge." We agree that his record is anything but "fulsome," which means "offensive and disgusting," as the senator would know if he had looked it up. The senator made it clear that he and other Democrats will demand what will almost certainly amount to the largest disclosure of confidential memoranda in the history of the Senate's judicial-confirmation process. Since Judge Roberts previously served as an associate counsel in the Reagan White House and as deputy solicitor general (1989-93) in the Justice Department of the first Bush administration, the memoranda are nearly limitless.

To paraphrase Saddam Hussein, Senate Democrats will seek to unleash the "mother of all document dumps." The way Mr. Schumer tells it, the situation -- like being an orphan -- is a regrettable fact of life. "If [Judge Roberts] was a judge of 15 or 20 years -- [it would] be a little different," Mr. Schumer explained with a straight face. "You'd have a long record. But we don't." So let the document dump begin.

Why does Judge Roberts have so little experience as a judge? It's because Mr. Schumer and his Democratic colleagues tried to spike Judge Roberts' chances of becoming a judge long before he finally reached the bench. In January 1992, President George H.W. Bush nominated Judge Roberts to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Sen. Joe Biden, a Democrat who then was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, refused to grant even a hearing. In May 2001, President Bush nominated Judge Roberts to the same court. Despite receiving what the Democrats considered to be the gold-standard endorsement -- a unanimous, well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association -- Mr. Schumer and his fellow Democrats refused to give Judge Roberts a hearing over the next 19 months. A Republican-controlled Senate finally confirmed Judge Roberts in May 2003 when he was nominated a third time.

Like the mercy-seeking orphan, Mr. Schumer would not be in the position he finds himself today if Democrats had not killed Judge Roberts' judicial opportunities in 1992, 2001 and 2002. Just as the murderous orphan deserved no mercy, Mr. Schumer should not expect to go fishing in waters so far over his head.”

The Democrats in the Senate truly have no shame.

Ich bin ein WIERDO!

2005-07-21T22:16:00.000+02:00

Some German newspapers have reported that Micheal Jackson may soon be moving to Berlin.

Lucky Berlin.

Apparently Herr Jackson feels more comfortable in Berlin, where he dangled his baby over the balcony a few years ago, then the United States, where as you know, he has been so oppressed the last several years that even Jesse Jackson provided support.

So, Berlin, lock up the younger teenagers, alert the media, and enjoy the circus. Consider it our gift to you after your support in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This looks good on paper

2005-07-21T22:05:00.000+02:00

To win the GWOT and maintain our security, this probably needs to be done.

“Britain is drawing up a new blacklist to block alleged terrorist sympathizers from entering the country and deport those already here, officials announced Wednesday, detailing expanded efforts to head off violence such as the July 7 bombings.

Officials also said they had reached an agreement to extradite terrorism suspects of Jordanian nationality to that country. Civil libertarians have expressed concern that the deportees could be subjected to torture and other abuses, despite Jordanian pledges of good treatment.

The crackdown is part of a government campaign to root out what it views as fundamental causes of the July 7 attacks, following the disclosure that the four men who appear to have carried out the suicide bombings were young British Muslims who turned into fanatics. At least 56 people, including the bombers, died in the attacks and 700 were wounded.

Britain has for years seen itself as a haven for political refugees, including some considered extremists by other European countries and the United States. But the bombings have led the government to reconsider both its immigration policies and its tradition of freedom of speech.”

Now, the dark side of this type of legal statute.

How long before a left wing administration in Britain, or the U.S., defines terrorism down? After all, in Britain, before 7 July, they seriously contemplated a law which vitually forbids criticism of religious groups, a law advocated by Muslim organizations. Not heard much about that since 7 July, so I need to do some more research on its status.

In the U.S., would a Hillary Clinton administration maintain that anti-abortion groups are advocating terror if a guy like Rudolph (how did he not get the death penalty) belonged to their group? Would they arrest and deport the leadership of conservative think tanks for advocating the removal of left wing leaders in a Clinton administration?

Could a right wing administration (you know, just like the one we have now) define abortion as terrorism and murder and in turn prosecute the pro-abortion groups for advocating murder?

Not being paranoid at all, just thinking out loud. After watching various prosecutors use RICO to prosecute non-gangsters, and the Supreme Court advocate seizure of private property to increase the tax base, I no longer take the impossibility of such left wing antics for granted.

We all know terrorism when we see it. The question is, how the government may later define it down and in turn suppress free speech and individual liberties.

UTEP – professor currently in Britain – animal rights terrorist?

2005-07-21T22:00:00.000+02:00

A days ago I blogged about animal rights extremist groups and an attack on a lab of the University of Iowa.

According to the Telegraph, seems there is an American leader of these groups gathering his forces in Britain. Tony Best, a professor at the University of Texas, El Paso.

Hope Tony Blair and our FBI are listening.

Now, the question is, will the University of Texas at El Paso keep a guy like this on their faculty?

The left wing sliming of Roberts has begun

2005-07-21T21:38:00.000+02:00

A not so subtle attempt by the WaPo to imply that Judge Roberts would not be impartial to the mean greedy corporate world in which he was once a counsel. And of course, look who his wife works for.

I seem to recall some issues in the not so recent past in which a few Democratic justices on the Court were called on conflicts of interest such as this in which they did not recuse themselves. Somehow, the Post reporters apparently failed to mention that history.

Dionne doesn’t like the President’s “conservative” choice

2005-07-21T21:35:00.000+02:00

How many times did Dionne use the word “conservative” in this column about Judge Roberts?

A lot, and no I did not count.

OK, yes I did. Six times.

How many times did he use the word “conservative” as a perjorative? That’s the more important question, as it illustrates Dionne's, and much of the MSM’s, inherent left wing bias against middle of the road America.

Five times he used "conservative" in a negative fashion. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on the sixth time, but it’s close.

A few choice gems from Dionne’s mean spirit and bigoted column about Judge Roberts and conservatives. This guy is already hysterical, and we've just begun. Imagine what Dionne will be like when President Bush nominates the next Chief Justice. Jeez. My comments are in red.

"Roberts' opponents need to lift the argument to the level of principle. It doesn't matter how nice or smart Roberts may be. What matters is that on a court where so many cases have been decided by 5-to-4 votes, Roberts's convictions and philosophy matter far more than his biography.

I love the comment about the "level of principle". This of course would be necessary, I'm just guessing, because the Democrats so infrequently visit that level, preferring to muck around in the slime of left wing extremism?

"The issues at stake are not abstract. They have to do with the government's power to protect the environment, to safeguard civil rights, including the rights of the disabled, and to provide protections for employees and consumers. It's admirable that this son of a steel executive worked some summers in a steel mill. More important is how he would rule on cases involving steelworkers and other working men and women.

Anyone who doubts that Roberts will be a consistent conservative vote on the court should examine the avalanche of endorsements that immediately fell his way from right-of-center groups. Brian Fahling of the American Family Association's Center for Law and Policy called Roberts an excellent choice. The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, said the nomination of Roberts provided "an unparalleled opportunity to restore the proper role of the Supreme Court." Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice called the nomination "great news."

These gentlemen are not "squishes," to use the popular right-wing word for conservative sellouts. They care passionately about moving the court to the right. If they think Roberts will do that, the rest of us should pay attention"

Yes, hide the women, children, and disabled, because Judge Roberts and the CONSERVATIVE majority on the court are coming for them. Unions too (if we have any left worth their salt).

Dionne implies that Roberts should be feared because of who supports his nomination. Let me restate that: A man is known by his enemies, and in this case, if his enemies are the pro-abortion crowd, People for the American Way and Ralph Neas, and the Kos kids, than Judge Roberts must be a great candidate for the Supreme Court.

But while Roberts could expand Scalia's power, the nominee's background is more similar to Rehnquist's. Like the chief justice, Roberts has been a loyal Republican Party operative. He was reportedly involved in the Bush legal effort in 2000 to block further recounts in Florida. We always knew that the Supreme Court conservatives who helped put this president in office were paving the way for an even more conservative court. Roberts's nomination is the fruit of that effort. Surely he should be questioned closely about one of the most outrageous decisions in the court's history and his role in the Florida fiasco.

Unlike of course, the four liberals on the court who twisted logic in multiple directions in order to allow a Gore Presidency. Question away, Mr. Dionne, America is already tired of that discussion. Show just how little ammunition you have against a great nominee by rehashing Al Gore's loss. I still can't believe how badly Gore blew that election. I mean, you're still crying for a guy that could not even win his home state.

There will be no excuse for discovering too late that Roberts is every bit as conservative as his supporters think he is.

You are absolutely right. When the hearings have been completed, America will realize that the Supreme Court has a new justice who is smart and capable, and who realizes the role of the American judiciary, unlike the hysterics such as Dionne, Schumer, Leahy, and Teddy.

“There are apologists amongst us”

2005-07-21T21:31:00.000+02:00

I wrote this before the latest attacks on London this afternoon.

Norm Geras takes on the left wing apologists for the enemy in this column in the Guardian. To its credit, the Guardian, a bastion of left wing media in Britain, published it.

“The 'We told you so' lot have been bleating on about Iraq ever since the atrocities of 7/7 - it is time to fight back”

The apologists all understand why these people are dead right?

The dead and missing of the 7 July attacks. Fortunately, it seems the scum failed to do much damage today. Incompetent swine.

Well, left wing apologist for the enemys, we all know why the people whose faces we see in the Guardian are dead and missing. They are dead and missing because the terrorists for whom the apologists make excuses killed them. On a bus and in the Tube, in order to demonstrate the power of their miserable little fascist ideology.

I’ll never understand how the “root cause” group continues to go on about “why they hate us.” Such anguish fails to focus on the strengths of our liberal democracy and the potential it has to improve the lives of our citizens and people in less fortunate parts of the globe.

Such anguish also is cowardly in nature, preferring to figure out how to keep the bully from again noticing and attacking you. Sorry, boys, not in my name do you need to keep apologizing to fascists.

So, my tortured left wing friends, it's our fault these scum want to kill us.

Right.

Was it something I said?

2005-07-20T20:28:00.000+02:00

The traffic to this site skyrocketed at about 1320 EST. Most of the hits were from Spanish language blogsites.

I have absolutely no idea what caused the traffic spike, unless it was my post on 19 July about Spanish reaction after the March 2004 terrorist attack.

We will now resume normal programming.

Red Ken is back on message in London

2005-07-20T19:27:00.000+02:00

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, made some outstanding statements on the day of the London attack.

Here's what he said then:

"....I wish to speak through you directly, to those who came to London to claim lives, nothing you do, how many of us you kill will stop that flight to our cities where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another, whatever you do, how many you kill, you will fail."

I see, however, that his left wing roots have again gained control of his brain housing group and that he is, once again, spouting the usual left wing extremist rhetoric, the moral of which is: West bad, war your fault.

“Western foreign policy has fuelled the Islamist radicalism behind the bomb attacks which killed more than 50 people in London, the British capital's mayor Ken Livingstone said on Wednesday. Livingstone, who earned the nickname "Red Ken" for his left-wing views, won widespread praise for a defiant response which helped unite London after the bombings. But he has revived his reputation for courting controversy in recent days. Asked on Wednesday what he thought had motivated the four suspected suicide bombers, Livingstone cited Western policy in the Middle East and early American backing for Osama bin Laden. "A lot of young people see the double standards, they see what happens in (U.S. detention camp) Guantanamo Bay, and they just think that there isn't a just foreign policy," he said.

Police say they believe there is a clear link between bin Laden's al Qaeda network and the four British Muslims who blew up three underground trains and a double-decker bus on July 7.

"You've just had 80 years of Western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of a Western need for oil. We've propped up unsavoury governments, we've overthrown ones that we didn't consider sympathetic," Livingstone said.”

That’s right Ken. We caused these people to want to kill us. Was this before or after they decided to hate human rights, women, gays, and religious tolerance?

Well, I guess we know where Atta got his instincts for mass murder

2005-07-20T18:47:00.000+02:00

From his dear old hate spewing, Islamic fascist father in Egypt.

Mohamed el-Amir, whose son Mohamed Atta impressed his father by flying an airplane into the World Trade Center, expressed no sorrow for the recent attacks in London.

Based on this article, the CNN producer must have had a most enjoyable visit with this hateful person, Mr. el-Amir. Wonder if CNN paid this hate-monger for the meeting?

"El-Amir said the attacks in the US and the July 7 attacks in Britain were the beginning of what would be a 50-year religious war, in which there would be many more fighters like his son.

Speaking to a CNN producer in his apartment in the upper-middle-class Cairo suburb of Giza, he declared that terror cells around the world were a "nuclear bomb that has now been activated and is ticking".

Cursing in Arabic, el-Amir also denounced Arab leaders and Muslims who condemned the London attacks as being traitors and non-Muslims.
He passionately vowed that he would do anything within his power to encourage more attacks."

So, since we’ve been under attack by scum such as this since at least 1979 (U.S. Embassy in Iran), that means we are in year 26. Only 24 more to go.

On a more serious note, we all realize this war against Islamic fascism will be a long, drawn out and extended struggle as the West helps this religion find a solid middle ground and purge itself of its fascist minority. Still many battles to be fought, however, to insure the preservation of liberty and human rights and prevent the destruction of western civilization.

California Attorney General thinks its ok to abuse the American Flag

2005-07-20T18:44:00.000+02:00

Or else why would he allow this type of art in his office?

He also, incidentally, indicates that prison rape remains an acceptable punishment. Wonder if his thoughts and comments about GITMO reflect that type of lawlessness as well?

Why aren't human rights groups protesting against the actions of Microsoft, Cisco, and Yahoo in Red China?

2005-07-20T18:17:00.000+02:00

For that matter, why aren't we?

Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post details how these three companies provide technological means for the Red Chinese to suppress democratic debate.

Her comments about legality versus morality address this issue squarely and without hysteria. What these three companies are doing might be legal, but is it ethical for U.S. companies to provide dictatorships with the means to suppress their people?

Seems like that's exactly what MSFT, CSCO, and YHOO are doing.

Seems like this should be an issue for shareholders to address at the next meeting. I'm a bit more disgusted with this behavior than say, executive compensation.

"If this isn't illegal, maybe it should be. After the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, the United States passed a law prohibiting U.S. firms from selling "crime control and detection" equipment to the Chinese. But in 1989, the definition of police equipment ran to truncheons, handcuffs and riot gear. Has it been updated? We may soon find out: A few days ago, Rep. Dan Burton of the House Foreign Relations Committee wrote a letter to the Commerce Department asking exactly that. In any case, it's time to have this debate again. There could be other solutions -- such as flooding the Chinese Internet with filter-breaking technology.

Beyond legality, of course, there's morality. And here the judgment of history will prove more important than whatever Congress does or does not do today. Sixty years after the end of World War II, IBM is still battling lawsuits from plaintiffs who accuse the company of providing the "enabling technologies" that facilitated the Holocaust. Sixty years from now, will Microsoft, Cisco and Yahoo be doing the same?

The other issue, of course, concerns the defense of America. How much of the technology provided by these companies will be used to fight the American military when the war with Red China occurs in the future?

Why is Google establishing a lab in Red China?

Sooner or later...

2005-07-20T18:08:00.000+02:00

...the Supreme Court decision concerning eminent domain will lead to violence.

Some poor guy will be run out of his house by the local government so that private developers (who have contributed handsomely to local politicians) can build on the land to "increase the tax base."

Imagine a man who works his entire life, pays the mortgage off on his house or business, and now sees it threatened by a land grab sanctioned by liberal justices on the Supreme Court.

The man feels powerless in the face of the law and local government as they snatch something he has worked hard to build, only to hand it off to their cronies in the private sector.

Will the left wing see this as understandable (given their logic of understanding terrorists)?

Now, calm down. I'm not advocating violence. I'm just theorizing what will happen in a nation frustrated with local politicians and judges who are beholden to the moneyed classes.

This column in the LA Times shows the dismal track record of public projects stemming from these land and property seizures.

I wonder if the MSM will track the ultimate results of the despicable land grab in CT which was the basis of the recent Supreme Court case.

Mark Steyn on "Yellowcake Joe Wilson"

2005-07-19T21:47:00.000+02:00

Mark Steyn. Mandatory reading anytime he posts or authors an article.

He's even less impressed with Joe Wilson than I.

Steyn thinks the CIA leaked info to influence the 2004 election as indicated in my favorite part of this article:

"As I wrote in this space a year ago, an ambassador, in Sir Henry Wootton's famous dictum, is a good man sent abroad to lie for his country; this ambassador came home to lie to his. What we have here is, in effect, the old standby plot of lame Hollywood conspiracy thrillers: rogue elements within the CIA attempting to destabilize the elected government."

Read on.

"Karl Rove? Please. I couldn't care less. This week finds me thousands of miles from the Beltway in what I believe the ABC World News Tonight map designates as the Rest Of The Planet, an obscure beat the media can't seem to spare a correspondent for. But even if I was with the rest of the navel-gazers inside the Beltway I wouldn't be interested in who ''leaked'' the name of CIA employee Valerie Plame to the press. As her weirdly self-obsesssed husband Joseph C. Wilson IV conceded on CNN the other day, she wasn't a ''clandestine officer'' and, indeed, hadn't been one for six years. So one can only ''leak'' her name in the sense that one can ''leak'' the name of the checkout clerk at Home Depot.”

In other words, Plame wasn’t covert last summer, and Wilson knew it.

“This controversy began, you'll recall, because Wilson objected to a line in the president's State of the Union speech that British intelligence had discovered that Iraq had been trying to acquire ''yellowcake'' -- i.e., weaponized uranium -- from Africa. This assertion made Bush, in Wilson's incisive analysis, a ''liar'' and Cheney a ''lying sonofabitch.''
In fact, the only lying sonafabitch turned out to be Yellowcake Joe. Just about everybody on the face of the earth except Wilson, the White House press corps and the moveon.org crowd accepts that Saddam was indeed trying to acquire uranium from Africa. Don't take my word for it; it's the conclusion of the Senate intelligence report, Lord Butler's report in the United Kingdom, MI6, French intelligence, other European services -- and, come to that, the original CIA report based on Joe Wilson's own briefing to them. Why Yellowcake Joe then wrote an article for the New York Times misrepresenting what he'd been told by senior figures from Major Wanke's regime in Niger is known only to him.

As I wrote in this space a year ago, an ambassador, in Sir Henry Wootton's famous dictum, is a good man sent abroad to lie for his country; this ambassador came home to lie to his. What we have here is, in effect, the old standby plot of lame Hollywood conspiracy thrillers: rogue elements within the CIA attempting to destabilize the elected government. If the left's view of the world is now so insanely upside-down that that's the side they want to be on, good for them. But ''leaking'' the name of Wilson's wife and promoter within the CIA didn't ''endanger her life'' or ''compromise her mission.'' Au contraire, exposing the nature of this fraudulent, compromised mission might conceivably prevent the American people having their lives endangered.”

A possible nightmare for the CIA and the Democrats

2005-07-19T21:36:00.000+02:00

Yet another scenario on what the special prosecutor in the Wilson/Plfame case might be looking for in addition to the source of the alleged exposure of a CIA operative. Jack Kelly theorizes that perhaps the prosecutor is looking to see if someone in the CIA leaked classified info to order to influence the 2004 election.

"Why is special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald pursuing so zealously the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame, since it is all but impossible to prove that the leaker or leakers committed a crime?

The Intelligence Identities Protection Act requires that the leaker have learned the identity of a "covert agent" from authorized sources. And it requires that the leak be deliberate.

The law defines a "covert agent" as someone working undercover overseas, or who has done so in the last five years. Plame had operated under non-official cover, but was outed by CIA traitor Aldrich Ames, and has been manning a desk at CIA headquarters since 1997."

So, if Plame had been “outed” already by a traitor in 1997, how could she have been considered covert by the summer of 2004?

"Liberals want Rove's scalp. But the revelation Friday (if true) that Rove learned of Plame's occupation from a journalist makes it most unlikely that he could prosecuted successfully under the Identities Act.

Maybe Rove -- or someone else -- lied to the grand jury. Or maybe Fitzgerald is investigating a different crime.

What if someone in the CIA was leaking classified information to influence the 2004 election? Uncovering a crime like that would be worthy of Inspector Javert's doggedness.

I suspect the biggest shoe in this case has yet to drop, and liberal journalists won't be happy when it does."

A CIA leak in order to influence the 2004 election. Wow. I thought the CIA was supposed to do that in other countries? If true, this would prompt a massive purge of the CIA and cement the Dems status as a party not to be trusted with national security. Neither of these outcomes benefits America.

The left wing MSM, as indicated by their contemptuous behavior the other day in the press room, want nothing less than Rove's head, and maybe that of the President. The recent Watergate stories have made them nostalgic, and now some of them want to be the next Woodward and Bernstien.

What’s wrong with America’s legal system, chapter 32, 444

2005-07-19T21:06:00.000+02:00

This young scholar, Sione Havili, representative of the greatest young men ever to play the game (NOT!), has decided that the University of Utah violated his rights. How? Read below.

"A football player who was convicted of felony arson has sued Utah's athletic director and former president, claiming he was not allowed to play for the Utes because of his criminal record. Sione Havili filed a lawsuit Friday in 3rd District Court against athletic director Chris Hill and former school president Bernie Machen, accusing them of violating his civil rights by not allowing him to walk on to the football team after he served his jail sentence. "

Sione Havili. Convicted Arsonist. Victim. Only in America.

The hate crimes of animal activists

2005-07-19T21:00:00.000+02:00

A chilling account of the extremism of animal rights activists. The author of this column, Mark S. Blumberg, a scientist at the University of Iowa whose lab was destroyed, illustrates the extreme nature of these organizations. Don't their actions seem, um, criminal? Surprisingly (or not so when you consider the party) Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey seems to think this type of action acceptable.

Another look at home grown terrorist groups in America.

Left wing suppression of speech in Washington state

2005-07-19T20:50:00.000+02:00

Of course, the left wing Seattle Post-Intelligencer fully supports this Democratic political work.

Ryan Sager writes about this issue in TCS.

The situation is this:

In April, Washington's Legislature passed a 9.5-cent-a-gallon gas-tax hike -- which would give the state the nation's highest gasoline tax. Public outcry was followed by the formation of a grass-roots group, No New Gas Tax, intent on overturning the new levy via an initiative -- Initiative 912.

Two talk-radio hosts, Kirby Wilbur and John Carlson of Seattle's KVI-AM (a Fox News affiliate), embraced the signature-gathering drive to put I-912 on the ballot. And that's when the trouble started.

The radio hosts were a bit too effective at getting the word out about the anti-gas tax initiative, so a county prosecutor with ties to the initiative's opponents decided to try to shut them up by making clever use of the state's campaign-finance-regulation machinery. San Juan County Prosecutor Randall Gaylord sued No New Gas Tax, alleging that the group had failed to list KVI-AM's commentaries as contributions to its campaign….

Mr. Gaylord, the prosecutor who apparently doesn’t have any real crimes to investigate, argued that “Advocacy on Wilbur and Carlson's shows…was really just an "in kind" contribution -- no different than a check written to a political committee. And, amazingly enough, a judge agreed with him. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham argued in his opinion that he was merely requiring "disclosure" of the contribution. But when it comes to campaign-finance regulation, disclosure is virtually always a precursor to restrictions."

If you think this is an isolated special case think again. Left wing judges and activists throughout the country are watching this for fallout, just as they are the recent Supreme Court decision on eminent domain. If this crazy judgement in Washington stands, look for more attempts to suppress political commentary on the radio and the print media.

One would think that left wing media like the New York Times and the Seattle P-I would be appalled by this. Hmmmh.

Maybe Sager is correct when he states, “The speech regulators, almost always on the political left, are happy to let you talk all day -- so long as what you say doesn't actually have any effect on anything. But if what you say starts driving fundraising or getting people out of their chairs and on the street collecting signatures, then you may well be an enemy of the state.”

I would love to see some investigative reporters start digging on both the judge and the prosecutor in this case. Follow their money so to speak.

Ebonics – San Bernardino School Districts – left wing insanity

2005-07-19T20:40:00.000+02:00

The San Bernardino school districts has decided to include Ebonics in some of the schools.

Another liberal attempt to maintain the “victim” status of their minority voters?
Day by Day illustrates one possible use of Ebonics which I overlooked. Sort of a Navajo Code Talkers scenario right?

Sure, teach your students ebonics, then, rationalize their total inability to function in the world outside the San Bernardino area. I highlighted the social science professor's comments in red. Why are social science professors always in the middle of liberal attempts to dumb down education?

"Incorporating Ebonics into a new school policy that targets black students, the lowest-achieving group in the San Bernardino City Unified School District, may provide students a more well-rounded curriculum, said a local sociologist.

The goal of the district's policy is to improve black students' academic performance by keeping them interested in school. Compared with other racial groups in the district, black students go to college the least and have the most dropouts and suspensions.

Blacks make up the second largest racial group in the district, trailing Latinos.

A pilot of the policy, known as the Students Accumulating New Knowledge Optimizing Future Accomplishment Initiative, has been implemented at two city schools.

Mary Texeira, a sociology professor at Cal State San Bernardino, commended the San Bernardino Board of Education for approving the policy in June.

Texeira suggested that including Ebonics in the program would be beneficial for students. Ebonics, a dialect of American English that is spoken by many blacks throughout the country, was recognized as a separate language in 1996 by the Oakland school board.

"Ebonics is a different language, it's not slang as many believe,' Texeira said. "For many of these students Ebonics is their language, and it should be considered a foreign language. These students should be taught like other students who speak a foreign language.'

Texeira said research has shown that students learn better when they fully comprehend the language they are being taught in.

"There are African Americans who do not agree with me. They say that (black students) are lazy and that they need to learn to talk,' Texeira said.

Len Cooper, who is coordinating the pilot program at the two city schools, said San Bernardino district officials do not plan to incorporate Ebonics into the program.

"Because Ebonics can have a negative stigma, we're not focusing on that,' Cooper said. "We are affirming and recognizing Ebonics through supplemental reading books (for students).'"

Mr. Cooper, may I suggest you may not be “focusing on that” because you realize the sheer long term destructiveness of teaching ebonics to already disadvantaged children. Then again, maybe you just don't like the well deserved negative publicity.

I really have no idea what this district is like, or what the cities and towns within this district are like, but would you, as a businessman or woman, EVER contemplate locating a business in this district knowing what they are teaching their students?

Who is to blame for educators and civic leaders who advocate such idiocy? Such programs pin students in a cycle of failure. Should not schools and educators work to raise the standards? How does teaching Ebonics raise the standards?

What’s next – Math based on “voodoo economics?”

How gullible does Al Gore think people are?

2005-07-19T20:36:00.000+02:00

Apparently, very gullible. After all, over 50% of American voters voted for him in 2000, right?

In an AP news article titled, "Gore: New TV Channel Won't Be Partisan," Al Gore discussed his new channel called Current.

"The 2004 Democratic candidate for president was asked if he was concerned the 24-hour news and information channel, called Current, would be perceived as having a political slant. It's scheduled to launch Aug. 1. "I think the reality of the network will speak for itself. It's not intended to be partisan in any way," said Gore, Current's co-founder (with businessman Joel Hyatt) and chairman of the board."

Right Al. I look forward to your non-partisan, evenly balanced blend of news and information.

The cowards in Spain did exactly what the enemy wanted them to do

2005-07-19T20:31:00.000+02:00

Vote Socialist. The Spanish people got scared after the March 11, 2004 attacks and voted for the Socialist candidate, EXACTLY what the terrorists hoped to achieve.

From Barcepundit:

"AS IF THERE WAS still any doubt at this point, the Spanish press reports today on a document found in the computer of one of the key perpetrators of the March 11 terrorist attacks in Madrid (link in Spanish, my translation):

A document found in the personal computer of Jamal Ahmidan, "The Chinese", undersigned by the Abu Hafs al Masri brigades and dated March 15, 2004 declares that the March 11 perpetrators intented to remove [Aznar's] Popular Party from the government.The document was recently found by police, according to the Cope radio network who has seen it. It says: "those who were suprised for our quick claim of responsibility in the battle of Madrid, let them know that there were other circumstances. In the case of Madrid, the time factor was very important in order to put an end to the government of Aznar the ignoble.

ABC (the Madrid newspaper, not the American or Australian TV network) reports further (also in Spanish) and reminds a very telling detail: when he was brought before a judge after the first 72 hours in isolation (permitted by Spanish anti-terror legislation), the first thing asked by Jamal Zougam, another of the key suspects of March 11, was: "Who won the election?"."

My questions:

1) What’s that say about the legitimacy of the current Spanish government?

2) What’s that say about the courage of the Spanish people who voted Socialist?

Did Joseph Wilson lie about the Niger issue?

2005-07-17T15:17:00.000+02:00

If so, was the leaker of his wife’s status justified?

I'm continuing to track this entire issue via various blogs on both sides of the aisle, but I'm not very sure about any of this. I do, however, think Wilson is a dirtbag and is involved in a partisan attempt by the Democrats to discredit any Bush Administration attempts to rationalize the Iraq campaign based on WMD.

The issue of his wife's status is, I believe, directly linked to his behavior, and it's unfortunate how the MSM gives him a pass on his actions relating to Niger and his partisan work with the Democrats.

If she was indeed a covert agent involved in CIA operations at the time of the discussions between whoever is involved, nothing her husband did would rationalize her exposure. In wartime, or anytime, exposing our covert assets should be a criminal offense.

But here, doesn't that depend on what the definition of "is" is?

Having said that, didn’t a lot of folks in Washington know about Pflames’ status as an agent? If so, how could she be considered "covert?" How could she have been “outed" if she was not covert?

I think we've passed the stage where rational decisions will be made in this case, criminal or otherwise. The politics and hatred of Bush and Rove make that abundantly clear.

This entry from the Volokh Conspiracy provides a good rundown on Wilson and Niger, his truthfulness, his wife's "covert" status, and the MSM treatment of Wilson.

A tribute to an American killed in London on 7 July

2005-07-16T12:46:00.000+02:00

The lone American known to have been killed in London on 7 July has been identified as Minh Matsushita.

The WaPo has a nice story on his interesting life. When you read it, think also of the sense of scale and of the inequity of such an interesting and dynamic person being killed by the one-dimensional fanatic scum suicide bombers, who did this based on some twisted belief in religious fascism.

The enemy hates people like Minh Matsushita. Unlike our enemies, we have lives, we life, and we are not afraid of new ideas. Mr. Matsushita is the antithesis of the scum who killed him, and he is representative of the values we cherish.

We need to win this war.

One of the murderers in London

2005-07-16T12:41:00.000+02:00

Hasib Hussain. Murderer and Terrorist. No matter what the BBC thinks, that's what this scum turned out to be after living in Britain.

This is what he looked like on the way to his target.

According to Yahoo, "This image taken from closed circuit television at Luton train station on July 7, 2005 released by London's Metropolitan Police Thursday July 14, 2005 shows Hasib Hussain, whom police have identified as the suspected suicide bomber who blew up a double-decker bus in London on July 7."

I’m sure the ACLU will lobby to help the “Arabic Assassin”

2005-07-16T12:30:00.000+02:00

This gentleman used to be an airport screener with TSA. Lovely. He was fired on 7 July after his leadership was informed about his other job. He's a rapper known as the Arabic Assassin.

“When Bassam Khalaf raps, he's the Arabic Assassin. His unreleased CD, "Terror Alert," includes rhymes about flying a plane into a building and descriptions of himself as a "crazy, suicidal Arabic ... equipped with bombs."

Until last week, Khalaf also worked as a baggage screener at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

"I've been screening your bags for the past six months, and you don't even know it," said Khalaf, who also said Thursday that he is not really a terrorist and that his rhymes are exaggerations meant to gain publicity.

Andrea McCauley, a spokeswoman for the regional Transportation Security Administration office in Dallas, said the agency checks criminal records before hiring screeners, but it does not investigate what people do in their spare time.

"We have eyes and ears in the workplace," McCauley said. "Once we discovered these Web sites, we fired him."

Well, that’s a relief. How many more like this guy are out there? How many people with a grudge against Israel who could be used to allow terrorists to infiltrate our security currently work for our government? I think it's good news that someone notified the government and it took action to remove Mr. Khalaf from government service. However, I believe we might just as likely been terrified of violating some EEO directive and that the same manager would have been hesitant to do so.

This case probably seemed pretty straight forward to the managers involved, so they felt comfortable removing Khalaf. I wager, however, that there exist other personnel situations of a similar vein that managers do not act on because of their concern with running afoul of EEO regulations and perceptions.

I have no evidence of this. I'm just theorizing based on my experience working with civilian and military personnel policies and procedures.

“Khalaf, 21, was hired on Jan. 16 and fired July 7, according to a TSA termination letter that cited his "authorship of songs which applaud the efforts of the terrorists on September 11th, encourage and warn of future acts of terrorism by you, discuss at length and in grave and alarming detail various criminal acts you intend to commit, state your belief that the U.S. government should be overthrown, and finally warn that others will die on September 11, 2005."

Khalaf, who was born in Houston and is of Palestinian descent, said working as a baggage screener was the best paying job he's ever had. He said he hoped to use any extra money he earned to produce his CD.”

Saudi rich guys are funding our enemies?

2005-07-14T20:49:00.000+02:00

Wow, this is shocking? How long has this been going on?

"WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government has suggested wealthy Saudi individuals remain "a significant source" of funds for Islamic terrorists around the world, despite widely-publicized efforts by the desert kingdom to shut down these channels.

The statement by Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey before the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, contrasted with earlier upbeat assessments by US officials that Saudi Arabia was making good progress in stemming the flow of private money to terrorist groups.
Levey said challenges posed by terrorist financing from within Saudi Arabia were "among the most daunting" his agency had to face as it tries to persuade Islamic nations to strengthen controls over their banks and charitable organizations.

"Wealthy Saudi financiers and charities have funded terrorist organizations and causes that support terrorism and the ideology that fuels the terrorists' agenda", Levey told lawmakers Wednesday.

"Even today, we believe that Saudi donors may still be a significant source of terrorist financing, including for the insurgency in

Iraq," he added.

US officials expressed particular concern about three Saudi-run charities that operate around the world: the International Islamic Relief Organization, the World Association of Muslim Youth and the Muslim World League.

I wonder if Americans receive a tax deduction if they donate to the American chapter of these charities. Anyone know?

Yes, I was being a bit sarcastic above.

The enemies of our nation and our way of life are being funded by oil money from rich Saudis. Maybe President Bush and Vice President Cheney, along with some of the Bush 41 crowd, need to have a candid conversation with the Saudi leadership.

Freezing assets? Special Ops raids? C'mon, let's be creative. One of our "allies" is a major source of funds for the enemy. Shouldn't we be doing something about this?

Happy Bastille Day

2005-07-14T18:10:00.000+02:00

From Wikipedia on the origins and meaning of Bastille Day. A lovely quote from Margaret Thatcher at the end of the post.

"Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year. It is called Fête Nationale (National Holiday) in France. It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the Fête de la Fédération was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern French "nation", and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution.

Margaret Thatcher once said of the French "who can trust a people who celebrate, as their national event, a jailbreak"."

And, who can argue with Margaret Thatcher?

Can we sue Frenchmen for having no sense of humor?

2005-07-14T17:51:00.000+02:00

Jeez.

The stakes for the Supreme Court are enormous

2005-07-12T20:28:00.000+02:00

Which means the left wing will stop at nothing.

I hope that whomever the President nominates, that they and their families are ready to be dragged thru the mud by these slimeballs of the left wing which now passes for the Democratic Party and its left wing allies. The left wing extremists mentioned in this article will do just that - drag the nominee and his or her family thru the slime.

I hope the right, once they identify the leaders of this left wing defamation effort, shines the spotlight on the leadership of these organizations and their private lives. If the left thinks its ok to dig into a Supreme Court nominee's personal and family life, then the left wing leadership should have the same scrutiny applied to them. That applies to the Senators on the Judiciary Committee who use information supplied to them from the left wing organizations. Then again, is there anything left derogatory about Ted Kennedy that we don't already know?

From the Washington Post, an indication that the left wing is failing in this country but will continue to drag the country down to accomplish its agenda.

“If the Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary the lobbyists head is unsuccessful, it will risk not only seeing the courts tilt decidedly more conservative but also seeing the liberal movement lose further credibility as an organizing and advocacy force in Washington. "The stakes are enormous -- they could not be any higher for us," Aron said. "Progressive organizations throughout the country understand how much is at stake with a change on the Supreme Court."

“After losing control of the White House when Bush took office in 2001, Democrats and liberals have largely turned to the courts as a last resort. In recent years, O'Connor -- an appointee of President Ronald Reagan and a conservative by temperament and ideology on many issues -- also cast crucial votes in support of liberal positions on abortion, the role of religion in public life and affirmative action.

"The court is their last bastion," said James Bopp Jr., general counsel to the James Madison Center for Free Speech and the attorney for conservative groups in many high-visibility cases. "That's why the left is so frantic. They can't win democratic elections, they cannot get their agenda through democratic means, so what they are left with is judicial tyranny as a means to get their agenda, and they have been pretty successful."

Despite its recent setbacks, the liberal coalition has some advantages as it spoils for the coming fight, Neas said. One of them is the long years its leaders have spent together in the trenches of judicial and civil rights battles. Neas, Henderson and Aron have been fighting on the same side for the past decades -- with their biggest victory as leaders in the "Block Bork" coalition that successfully pressured the Senate to reject Reagan's nomination of Robert H. Bork for the Supreme Court in 1987.”

Hate speech at MoveOn.org parties?

2005-07-12T20:26:00.000+02:00

And how they tried to hide it from the press.

Extremism v. Moderation. That’s very amusing coming from a MoveOn guy. Read Drudge below.

'Over the weekend, the liberal activist group MOVEON.ORG hosted over a 1,000 house parties across the nation to stop President Bush from nominating a “radical right judge” -- and the DRUDGE REPORT obtained an exclusive invite to one of their hottest parties.

Charles Fazio of Alexandria, VA was the host of one of the most widely attended MOVEON parties in the Washington, DC area.

The DRUDGE REPORT has learned because of Fazio’s registration success, his party was chosen to be a finalist on the WASHINGTON POST’s list of house party events it would use in its Monday edition to cover MOVEON’s weekend efforts.

In a desperate bid to sanitize his house party and control how its attendees would be perceived by the POST, the MOVEON host emailed talking points to his guests.

A copy of those talking points was obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT. Fazio warned his guests: “Its very important that if you talk to the reporter, you stay on message. Remember, it is quite possible that our event will be the one the POST uses to represent the entire MoveOnPac effort this weekend.”

The key message for the event: “The momentum is finally shifting away from extremism. We will not accept a extremist nominee. This is not about conservatism vs liberalism or Republicans vs Democrats, this is all about extremism vs moderation and we're on the side of moderation.”

The MOVEON host reminded his guests: “We don't want to come across as leftist, liberal activists. We want to come across as we are- regular folks who are finally saying enough is enough to the extremists; that we're not falling for their extremist rhetoric anymore and we're finally going to expend the effort necessary to get our country back.”

Fazio: “Please stay on message and just know that ANYTHING you say can be taken out of context and used against the effort.”

One last suggestion from Fazio to his liberal MOVEON party-goers: “Oh, because a photographer will be here, might I suggest we put away our ‘Bush is a Liar’ t-shirts. Let's look like they do.”

The Right has its loonies as well

2005-07-12T20:25:00.000+02:00

Good post below from Andrew Sullivan, who on a daily basis does a fine job highlighting extremists on both sides.

"ON THE FAR RIGHT: Not enough attention is paid, I think, to the paleocon attacks on the war against terrorism. The loony left is rightly exposed, but the loony right is more often ignored. This week, they have peddled theories that the Jews knew about the London bombings in advance; and Paul Craig Roberts, writing in the right-wing website, Newsmax, calls Blair "a war criminal under the Nuremberg standard." The religious right leaders, Falwell and Robertson, as well as Watergate criminal, Charles Colson, have also blamed America's alleged depravity for 9/11. Fred Phelps, a religious nutcase, delighted this week in the London massacres. I see little to distinguish these people from the Democratic Underground types. Except that the mainstream right is too squeamish sometimes in condemning them. Ever seen one of these guys ripped up on O'Reilly? Thought not."

I just finished sending a long email to an old colleague who called the Bush Administration "evil ideologues." While I obviously disagree with that, when you read the rap sheets on some of these guys listed above, you can understand the characterization. Anyone Republican should totally disassociate themselves from people like Phelps, who has a sick website and whose group has apparently protested at the funerals of our soldiers who have been killed in action. Extremism is not a virtue on either side, and the conservative movement needs to disown some people and groups.

Our trip to Cinque Terre

2005-07-12T20:24:00.000+02:00

Favorite Wife and I spent the 4th of July weekend in Italy, on the coast northwest of Pisa, in Cinque Terre. A lovely stretch of Italy with five beautiful coastal villages. We flew to Pisa via RyanAir (the not for grownups airline), then took the train to Monterosso. We spent two great days hiking, getting sun, and eating some superb food.

Some pictures below. I've still not mastered the photo part of blogging, and I do not really like the way in which Picasa inserts photos. More to follow.

In the meantime, please enjoy the photos of our trip. Favorite Wife and I have visited Monterosso three times in the last two years. A very relaxing place to visit and uncouple from the craziness of the world. Relaxing that is, AFTER you complete your fun trip with Ryanair.

2005-07-12T20:19:00.000+02:00

Typical street in Monterosso.

2005-07-12T20:18:00.001+02:00

The bluest water I've seen was off Cinque Terre. We took several boat rides. Great sun and some great views.

2005-07-12T20:18:00.000+02:00

Corniglia from the sea. We walk from down below on the right, through the town, then continued to the pathway exiting town on the left.

2005-07-12T20:17:00.000+02:00

OK, what's cooler? The sailboat or the dredging machine?

2005-07-12T20:16:00.002+02:00

Corniglia from the path we hiked from there to Vernazza.