To Hell with the Truth

May 31, 2006
So What If The Duke Accuser Lied?

It's hard to believe anyone could write the following line, but John McCann does it anyway in today's Durham Herald-Sun:

"The lacrosse boys brought it on themselves, though -- even if the accuser's lying."

This is despicable. Would McCann, who is black, even think of writing the same thing if the case involved a white accuser and 44 black members of the football team? Of course not.
McCann brushes off the injustice suffered by the Duke lacrosse players with the trite phrase, "that's what can happen when you don't keep your nose clean." This is a cowardly cop-out, not to mention McCann is invoking a standard that is unrealistic as well as unjust. Does he mean anyone who attends a party where there is beer and strippers can be falsely accused of anything under the logic that attending the party in the first place isn't "keeping your nose clean?"
Setting aside the fact that three young men stand accused of a crime that could cost them the better part of their lives behind bars, the forty-four Duke players who have not been charged with committing any crime didn't deserve to have their reputations trashed and their season cancelled, or to be stigmatized and abandoned by the Duke faculty and university administration. To suggest the players brought all this on themselves by the mere act of attending a party is more than grotesquely unfair, it's also a clever way to absolve those in the media and the community whose behavior toward the Duke players has been so shameful throughout this entire episode.
I understand it's difficult for some to focus on the facts in this case because the facts, at least at the moment, aren't very favorable toward the accuser. As a result, this case is upsetting a whole host of traditional liberal stereotypes and tactics, not the least of which is a seemingly innate liberal reflex to attack white males as symbols of privilege and racial oppression whenever possible.
McCann's suggestion that the Duke players deserve the way they've been treated "even if the accuser's lying" shows just how warped that mentality can be and represents a new low point in the whole tragic saga.

Thanks to Real Clear Politics

Gotta Love Philly!

Michelle Malkin has this about a Philadelphia icon.

Flowers for Iran

Secretary of State Rice announced today that the U.S. will join our European Union "allies" in talks with the Iranian government to try to persuade them to abandon their quest for nuclear weapons. A package of "incentives" would be included in the deal.

How's this for an incentive? Give up the nukes or we will blow your freakin' a$$e$ back to the Stone Age!

Sick Day

Things I'm Sick of Hearing By Doug Patton

As I write this, today feels like a day to just "vent," so here goes…
I'm sick of hearing about high gas prices. The national media is obsessed with the issue, hoping that the more stories they run about big, evil, price-gouging oil companies versus poor, victimized, SUV-driving consumers, the more the American people simultaneously will learn to hate their gas guzzling vehicles and President George W. Bush.I'm sick of hearing that the president's low poll numbers are due to his handling of the war on terror, especially the war in Iraq. If the self-righteous inventors of The News would stick their heads out of their ivory towers long enough to see past their own political prejudices, they would realize that the president's poll ratings are, in large part, the result of his own abandonment of virtually every conservative constituency he has asked to trust him for the last six years. With the exception of modest (and so far temporary) tax cuts and a couple of seemingly solid Supreme Court appointments (one of which had to be forced upon him), there is precious little in the president's domestic agenda for a social and/or fiscal conservative to love.
I'm sick of hearing Ted Kennedy tell me how unfair it is that the rich have more than the poor. When he redistributes his portfolio among the less fortunate, then I might have a modicum of respect for the old windbag. Until then, he can just shut up and keep his greedy hands off my modest income.
Likewise, I'm sick of hearing John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Arlen Specter and Chuck Hagel blather on about what is fair and decent and right, as if only they have the righteous understanding to know such things.
I'm sick of hearing that everyone has a right to be proud of his or her race, creed, gender, sexual preference, marital status, religion and national origin - everyone except happily married conservative white male heterosexual Christian Americans.
I'm sick of hearing that Islam is a religion of peace that has been hijacked by a radical few. Of the approximately 1.5 billion Muslims in the world today, it has been estimated that at least 150 million of them are in support of the goals of worldwide terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda. That's a pretty big hijacking. If ten percent of American Christians supported abortion clinic bombers, we would all be under surveillance.
I'm sick of hearing political correctness on every TV show. King Solomon was right when he said there is nothing new under the sun, but come on, Hollywood, get an idea in your heads that doesn't involve bashing Republicans, conservatives, pro-lifers, businessmen, Christians, the Pentagon or the NSA.
I'm sick of hearing about all the jobs that Americans won't do. Yank all the "safety nets" out from under able-bodied Americans and just watch how quickly they will take those jobs.
I'm sick of hearing that millions of illegal aliens cannot be removed from our country. Make it a felony to be here and a felony to hire them and watch how quickly they leave.
I'm sick of hearing that requiring people to learn English is discriminatory. You bet it is, and that is a good thing. I was raised to believe that discriminating people were ones with high standards. We have made the word "discriminate" synonymous with "bigotry." That is nonsense.
Finally, I'm sick of hearing that America is a nation of immigrants. I welcome anyone from anywhere who yearns to legally breathe free and who will swear allegiance to my country, but don't call me an immigrant. My ancestors have been in this country since well before the Civil War, and my wife's ancestry extends back before the founding of this nation. Read my lips: as for me and my house, we are not immigrants. We are Americans!
Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to federal, state and local candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including TheConservativeVoice.com and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at dougpatton@cox.net.
Hat tip to: Right Wing News

Gored

If this were not so serious, it would be truly funny. Okay, it's funny anyway.

Dirty Harry

Does he really expect us to buy his explanation? Please read this.

Doctors Consider Presidential Surgery

President Bush was rushed to Bethesda Naval Hospital earlier today where physicians considered the efficacy of performing an emergency assectomy on the Commander in Chief.

Doctors report that while most people are content to bury their heads in the sand under similar circumstances, the President has overstepped this boundary and deeply introduced all of his cranium and much of his mandible into his nether region.

According to Dr. Miles Toogo, Chief Rectoligist, "Mr. Bush must have resorted to extreme political contortions to achieve his current state."

White House spokesman Tony Snow said that the First Lady is at his side and expects that the President will fully recover from this 'minor setback'.

Fox in the Henhouse

El Presidente approves of Bush immigation plan. This cannot be a good thing.
And then there's this.
And this

President Bush has No Onions!

I don't know what Republicans are drinking, but they need to stop, now! Read this from Fox News.

Quote Of The Day: Al Gore Says Its OK To Lie About Global Warming Because Darn It, It's Important!

"In the United States of America, unfortunately we still live in a bubble of unreality. And the Category 5 denial is an enormous obstacle to any discussion of solutions. Nobody is interested in solutions if they don't think there's a problem. Given that starting point, I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous (global warming) is, (emphasis mine) as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are, and how hopeful it is that we are going to solve this crisis." -- Al Gore

Hat tip to The Corner for the story.

And my thanks to Right Wing News

John McCain, RINO

Michele Malkin has this.

A Different Approach

Hat tip to Dr. Sanity

The Law Should Not Apply to Us

Congressmen seem to be saying, "We're not above the law, but the law is beneath us."

Read this.

This is Still True

"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life." —John F. Kennedy

Dennis Prager on Liberals

Here is an excellent assessment by a leader in Conservative thought.

Sophomoric Behavior

Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Monday, May 22, 2006 9:43 p.m. EDT

Madonna 'Shocks' With Concert Crucifixion

Less than 12 hours after Madonna crucified herself on a mirrored cross, the
Catholic League expressed its discontent with the concert stunt.
The
controversial diva wore a crown of thorns and sang while hanging from a cross
during Sunday night's opener of her "Confessions" world tour at The Forum in
Inglewood.
"Knock off the Christ-bashing," Catholic League president Bill
Donohue said in a statement Monday. "It's just pathetic."
Though Donohue
said that Madonna "has been spicing up her act with misappropriated Christian
imagery for a long time," he thought that her faith in Kabbalah might inspire
new respect for religion.
"I guess you really can't teach an old pop star
new tricks," he said. "Poor Madonna keeps trying to shock. But all she succeeds
in doing is coming across as a boring bigot."
A message left with Madonna's
spokeswoman was not immediately returned.
The "Confessions" tour continues
through Sept. 4 with dates throughout North America and Europe.

2006 Associated Press.

Why is this acceptable, but images of Mohammed are not?

What Does This Mean?

I realize that I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but would someone kindly inform me what the new mantra from the Left, "Truth to Power" means? Is it some kind of obscure rallying cry like ''Bush lied, people died" or "Hell no, we won't go"? Why do liberals love slogans and chants so much?

He Took This Home?

FOXNEWS.COM
Social Security Numbers for Millions of Veterans Stolen From V.A. Official's Home
Monday, May 22, 2006
WASHINGTON — Personal data, including Social Security numbers of 26.5 million U.S. veterans, was stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee this month after he took the information home without authorization, the department said Monday.
Click here to read the statement by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said there was no evidence so far that the burglars who struck the employee's home have used the personal data — or even know they have it. The employee, a data analyst whom Nicholson would not identify, has been placed on leave pending a review.

It is certainly comforting that the thieves may not know what they have. Well, they do now!
Thank goodness for open government.

And What Did You Do Today?

This is truly amazing. It was his idea and his parents showed support, not discouragement to this young fellow. Congratulations to them all.

Religion and Government Schools

This is unbelievable.

The Tie That Bonds

As of this writing, Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds are still tied for career home runs at 714 each. Bonds will soon be chasing Hank Aaron's record of 755.

I never liked baseball. I loved baseball! Only the Army taught me more about camaraderie, teamwork, and pushing my physical limits. For fifty years I have made the 'great American pastime' a large part of my life. Memories of watching the god-awful Phillies at Shibe Park, playing Little League, and seeing Stan "The Man" Musial's final game in person continue to make me smile.

I fear I will soon like baseball. And you know why.

Pardon My Insensitivity

Barbaro is a horse. A very famous horse, but a horse nonetheless. He broke his leg in several places while running in the Preakness Stakes. This is sad because he may have to be euthanized.

Why is a horse getting so much media attention? Where is the mainstream media when Islamic terrorists are beheading people? Where is their outpouring of emotion when Muslim women are stoned to death for being raped by Muslim thugs? When the President of Iran threatens to destroy Israel, where is their outrage?

But, a horse breaks a leg, now that's news.

They are Losing

LIBERTY

"Morale is slipping in Iraq. Fighters are growing doubtful of success. A comprehensive strategy for winning the conflict is nonexistent. Is this an assessment of the U.S. military? No, it is an assessment about the insurgents who oppose the elected Iraqi government. While U.S. opinion polls show a growing number of Americans are pessimistic about the prosecution of the war, documents authored by an al-Qa'ida operative and seized by U.S. soldiers...offer hope to the American side that success may be closer than we think... From comments made by al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden and others, we know the terrorists believe America will give up as it did in Vietnam, Lebanon and Mogadishu when a majority ceases to support an operation. This is the main strategy of the terrorists. The documents not only underscore that strategy, they reveal the terrorists' frustration in their inability to make it work beyond an occasional car bombing, attack on a police station or civilian gathering... These documents ought to encourage not only the U.S. government, but also American public opinion, that the virtues of patience and commitment are likely to achieve the stated objectives of freedom and a self-sustaining Iraqi government." —Cal Thomas
courtesy of The Patriot Post

Wish I Could Write Like This!

FAMILY

"Anybody old enough to drink coffee knows that embittered divorcees can and do manipulate their children. Not just women, but men, too. But because mothers more often are awarded custody of children, they more often draft their children to share their bitterness. The biggest losers in such cases, of course, are neither the mothers nor the fathers, but the children, who deserve to have unfettered access to both parents, assuming there's no abuse, without having to tote the adults' emotional baggage. Whether parental alienation meets the scientific standards of a 'syndrome' is a battle researchers can wage among themselves. The underlying message, meanwhile, is that there needs to be a presumption of shared custody following divorce, again, assuming no abuse. Life is alienating enough without the help of one's own parents." —Kathleen Parker
courtesy of The Patriot Post

Let's Vote Them ALL Out!

House Votes to Continue Offshore Drill Ban

May 20, 2006
By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
Despite talk of an energy crisis and the need for independence from foreign oil, Congress seems to be in no mood to open more of the country's coastal waters to energy development.
The House late Thursday rejected an attempt to end the quarter-century ban on oil and natural gas drilling that has been in effect for 85 percent of the country's coastal waters from Alaska to New England despite arguments that new supplies are needed to lower energy costs.
Lawmakers from Florida and California, who led the fight to continue the drilling moratorium, said they feared energy projects as close as three miles from shore could jeopardize multibillion-dollar tourism industries in their states.
"People don't go to visit the coasts of Florida or the coast of California to watch oil wells," Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., said.
The issue, which dominated debate on a $25.9 billion Interior Department spending bill, saw the sides split largely along geographic, not partisan lines. Republicans and Democrats from coastal states opposed lifting the drilling restrictions.
The fight to open the waters off both coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico to energy companies _ at least for natural gas _ was led by Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa.
He called natural gas "the mother's milk" of an array of industries from chemical and fertilizer companies to the makers of bricks, and said if there isn't more gas found domestically, prices will remain high and industries will be forced overseas where the fuel is cheaper.
"This is about the economy of America," said Peterson, pleading with fellow lawmakers to end the offshore drilling moratorium that Congress first imposed in 1981 and which it has been extended every year since. It covers virtually all outer continental shelf waters outside of the western Gulf of Mexico where U.S. offshore oil and gas wells are concentrated.
"Natural gas beyond three miles belongs to all Americans and we are entitled to use it," argued Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, whose district, like Peterson's, lies far from the ocean waters that were at the heart of the House debate.
Most lawmakers made clear they felt otherwise.
First, the House rejected by a lopsided 279-141 vote an attempt by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, to lift the long-standing moratorium as it applies to oil drilling.
Then the House voted 217-203 to put back into the Interior bill the language _ stricken last week by a committee at Peterson's request _ that also continues the ban on natural gas drilling in those same waters.
The overall bill was approved 293-128 and sent to the Senate.
"Drilling for natural gas means drilling for oil," argued Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., citing industry pronouncements that where there is gas, often oil is found and probably would be developed. "Drilling three miles off our coast will not lower gas prices today or anytime in the near future."
Peterson sought to ease the coastal-state lawmakers' concerns.
Lifting the moratorium wouldn't mean drilling right away, he said. The presidential moratorium would not be affected by the congressional action, he said. And President Bush has said he has no intention of tinkering with the moratorium, which also had been the policy of his two predecessors.
But Capps said if Congress lifts its ban, there would be growing pressure on the White House to do the same.
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., was more blunt. "Our coasts are simply too valuable to risk this. I can't depend on the president. The president is an oil man."
Separately, by a 252-165 vote, the House, directed the Interior Department to renegotiate contracts on oil leases that allowed companies to avoid federal royalty payments even when oil prices soared. To get companies to renegotiate the contracts _ which date back to the 1990s but involve leases still producing _ it barred companies from receiving new leases unless they renegotiate the earlier ones.
In other action on the Interior bill, the House:
_ Approved a restriction on road-building in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
_ Barred the Interior Department from selling wild horses for slaughter as part of its wild horse and burro adoption program.
_ Told the Environmental Protection Agency not to implement a 2003 directive that environmentalists contend reduces wetlands protection.
Separately, an attempt to debate climate change _ and for the first time bring up for a vote the idea of mandatory caps on greenhouse gases _ was blocked. A "sense of Congress" resolution on the subject was ruled out of order.
The climate provision offered by Rep. Norman Dicks, D-Wash., would have put lawmakers on record as agreeing that human actions were contributing to global warming and that carbon emissions into the atmosphere should be limited.
___
The bill is H.R. 5386
___
On the Net:
House: http://www.house.gov
Copyright © 2006 Townhall.com
Find this story at: http://www.townhall.com/news/ap/online/gov/congress/D8CTKGRO0.html

Explain that 'Freedom' Thing Again

Coin image omits 'In God We Trust'
By JESSAMY BROWN
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
A Keller school district parent said political correctness has run amok at her daughter's elementary school, where the principal chose to omit the words "In God We Trust" from an oversize coin depicted on the yearbook cover.
Janet Travis, principal of Liberty Elementary School in Colleyville, wanted to avoid offending students of different religions, a district spokesman said. Students were given stickers with the words that could be affixed to the book if they so chose.
Debi Ackerman of North Richland Hills said she is offended by the omission. It's yet another example of a politically correct culture that is removing Christian references from all public places, she said.
"I think it's really ridiculous," said Ackerman, whose daughter Tawni, 10, took the book home Thursday afternoon. "Now it has come to this. ... When is it going to end?"
She likened the situation to retailers that use "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" in their displays and advertising.
"First, we can't say 'Christmas' trees. It's 'holiday' trees. Then it's 'holiday' decorations," Ackerman said. "It just doesn't make any sense to me."
Officials chose an image of an enlarged nickel for the yearbook cover because this is Liberty Elementary's first year and because the nickel has a new design this year.
The nickel design features President Jefferson and the word Liberty in cursive, with the words "In God We Trust" along the right edge.
Keller administrators agreed with the decision, which Travis made in conjunction with a school parents group, district spokesman Jason Meyer said. District policy states, in part: "The District shall take no action respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech."
Principals must strive to remain neutral regarding religion, Meyer said.
"It's not always easy to make everybody happy when we are making decisions," he said. He said Travis was unavailable for comment Friday.
Michael Linz, a Dallas attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the district's move was appropriate, sensitive and constitutional.
"Sometimes administrators and schools are really caught trying to make appropriate decisions with respect to people's views. Someone is always going to complain," he said. "I think that the school administrators were drawing the appropriate line by trying not to offend others."
Many parents have said they like the $16 yearbook, which chronicles the school's inaugural year, said Tom Gardner of Colleyville, president of the Liberty PTA. Parents donated photos of events, he said.
Ackerman suggested that the school could have used a different symbol for liberty, such as the Liberty Bell or the Statue of Liberty, if it was concerned about giving offense. But Gardner said those symbols may not be acceptable to everyone, either.
"We are a public school," he said. "We sure do not want to step on anybody's toes. I don't think any harm was intended."
Liberty Elementary School
Opened: August 2005
Enrollment: 331
Address: 1101 McDowell School Road W., Colleyville
SOURCE: Keller school district
Jessamy Brown, (817) 685-3876 jessamybrown@star-telegram.com
Hat tip to Little Green Footballs

Are You "Really Cool"?

Why don't the Dixie Chicks just go away?

Nagin Re-elected!

Next time, let's just let the sea reclaim this Sodom of the Bayou.

Bit of a Rant

War… what is it good for?

“War is Hell,” declared General William Tecumseh Sherman. Of course, he was correct. All the levels of Hell as described by Dante Alighieri are present in the violent conflict between opposing forces that is war.
Why does mankind insist on continuously waging war when we are fully aware of the horrible death and destruction that ensues from it? Are we not, as human beings, higher than beasts, and therefore capable of living side by side in harmony with our fellows?
The answer to the second question is a qualified “yes”. The answer to the first is a bit more complicated.
Women, by the design of God, are nurturers and teachers. Men are providers and protectors. Yes, this is a gross oversimplification, I know, but both women and men innately desire the safety of their progeny foremost, and themselves secondarily. Involved in this are loyalty to family, self, tribe, and nation. Survival is a very large motivating force in our lives.
When some people outside of our coalition attempt to usurp our chances of survival for their own purposes, no matter what they may be, we rise to the occasion. When faced with the choice ‘kill or be killed’, only one decision can be made.
Now some who are cowards would have you believe that it is better to live in bondage than to die for what is just and right. Yes, we are obligated to protect these people as well.
Remember, diplomacy without underlying threat is useless. War is a horrible price to pay for anything, but is by far better than the inevitable consequence.

Nevada's Own Harry Reid

The following from Ankle Biting Pundits:

I'm reading this article about the Senate's debate over an amendment to make English the official language of this country, and I'm just in awe of the utter stupidity of this man who has a shot at being Senate majority leader come 2007:
Quote:
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada went further. "I really believe this amendment is racist. I think it's directed basically to people who speak Spanish."Of course this sent Senate Republicans into a panic attack and eventually they settled for a watered-down symbolic declaration that English is a 'common and unifying language'. But for Harry Reid, a US senator, to call an amendent that makes English the offical language of a nation where the majority of her 330 million citizens of all races speak nothing but English a "racist" policy is mind-numbingly stupid. What, Mr. Reid, do only whites speak English in this country? What about Blacks and Hispanics that speak only English: are they racist as well? Geez-o this dimwit gives me migranes!

Monkey See

We wonder if this helps explain why Democrats march in lockstep.

Monkeys Found Using Primitive Linguistic Grammar
Thursday , May 18, 2006
By Bjorn Carey

If you're a putty-nosed monkey and you hear a friend whoop out a loud "pyow" call, you know there's a leopard sneaking around and it's time to boogie.
Similarly, if you hear a "hack," it means you should watch out for a hungry eagle.
A new study reveals that these monkeys can mix the two calls into a "pyow-hack" sequence to broadcast other types of information.
The findings, reported in the May 18 issue of the journal Nature, indicate that non-human primates can combine calls into higher-order sequences that have a particular meaning.
Putty-nosed monkeys, Cercopithecus nictitans, are about the size of a cat. They live among the trees in African rainforests. Their three main goals in life are to reproduce, eat and not get eaten.
To take care of the latter objective, the monkeys rely on two calls.
If the male lets out a "pyow," the monkeys scramble away from the lower levels of the trees.
If they hear a "hack," they climb away from the canopy to avoid getting picked off by an eagle.
Researchers from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland followed a group of putty-nosed monkeys for two months and recorded the lead male's calls.
They observed that the males sometimes let out a combination of "pyow-hacks," which on average gets the pack moving a little quicker and further — up to 100 yards in half an hour — than either call on its own.
"They might make a 'pyow-hack' in response to a predator, but the strange thing is they also do it early in the morning while foraging," said study co-author Klaus Zuberbuhler. "If the male wants to move on, he produces that sequence, which is followed by the group moving."
Once the male makes the call, which is sometimes spurred on by input from the elder females in the group, the rest of the monkeys congregate around the leader to see which way to head next.
"The visibility in rainforest is terrible, maybe 10 meters, which is why these acoustic signals are so crucial," Zuberbuhler told LiveScience.
Thanks to FOXnews.com

Malkin on Murtha

What has happened to Rep. John Murtha? Is it not treason to lend aid and comfort to the enemy? Read about it here.

It's the Conservatives Fault

Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 11:07 p.m. EDT
Hillary Clinton: Right Wingers to Blame for Abortion

2008 White House hopeful Hillary Clinton is blaming right wing "ideologues" for denying women access to contraceptives - leaving them no choice but to end their unwanted pregnancies with abortion.
The move to withhold contraceptives "was started by a small group of extreme ideologues who claim the right to impose their personal beliefs on the overwhelming majority of the American people," Clinton declared in an e-mail to supporters on Wednesday.
"They're waging this silent war on contraception by using the power of the White House and their right-wing allies in Congress," she complains, adding, "and so far, they're getting away with it."
So just how are these right wing ideologues driving up the abortion rate? Clinton explains:
"Low-income women, denied access to contraception, are having more unwanted pregnancies - four times as many as those for higher income women. And almost half of all unwanted pregnancies end in abortions."
The former first lady didn't explain, however, why - in places like New York City, where high school nurses' offices distribute candy-flavored condoms - the abortion rate continues to soar.
In January, for instance, the New York Daily News reported:
"For every 100 babies born in New York City, women had 74 abortions in 2004, according to newly released figures that reaffirm the city as the abortion capital of the country ... That means 40 out of 100 pregnancies in the city ended in a planned abortion - almost double the national average of 24 of 100 pregnancies in 2002."

Take That!

Baseball fans show how they feel as Bonds nears Ruth's homer total.

Ham Sandwich to be Indicted!

Reliable sources from inside the Beltway report that a ham sandwich with known ties to Karl Rove will be indicted early next week.
The sandwich, whose name is being withheld by authorities pending a good reason, is said to be in good spirits and confident of being fully exonerated. An anonymous nobody stated that various condiments are suspected of being unindicted co-conspirators.

The President has apparently called an emergency meeting of the top secret "How the Hell do we get out of this one?" committee.

The Duke Lacrosse Team

This group has a 100 percent college graduation rate. Sixty percent have a 3.0 grade point average or above. During the past four years, 80 percent have made a national honor roll. Members regularly volunteer at more than a dozen community agencies, building houses for the homeless and serving in soup kitchens, while raising more money than any other group for the Katrina Relief Fund.

Thanks to Kathleen Parker and Townhall.com

One Nation's Courage

Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Israel 'Will Not Allow' Iran Nuclear Weapons
Kenneth R. TimmermanWednesday, May 17, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- The brother of newly-elected Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said here on Monday that Israel "will not allow" Iran to acquire nuclear weapons capability, and will launch a unilateral military strike if necessary to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities.
Dr. Josef Olmert, a spokesman for Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in the early 1990s, told an audience at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles that "Iran is an existential issue" for Israel, because successive Iranian leaders have openly evoked the possibility of a nuclear exchange with the Jewish state.
Olmert now works with Israel's mission to the United Nations in New York and with "The Israel Project," an advocacy group in Washington, DC.
His brother, who became Prime Minister after elections in March, will visit Washington, D.C. next week to meet with President Bush. Accompanying him will be Dr. Eli Levita, deputy director of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, who will brief U.S. officials on what Israel has learned about Iran's progress toward nuclear weapons capability.
"Iran will not be allowed to get to the point where they will have the capability to destroy the state of Israel," Olmert said. "We shall prevail, and Iran will fail."
He was addressing a forum on Iran organized by Israel Christian Nexus, a group that brings Christian churches and synagogues together in support of the state of Israel.
Asked by the audience whether Israel favored regime change in Iran, as advocated by many Iranian-American organizations, the younger Olmert said that "Israel can't wait for the hope of regime change in Iran. Time is running out."
He noted that the timetable for military strikes must occur when Iran develops acquires the capability to make nuclear weapons, long before it acquires the weapons themselves. "People tell me that this means months and not years," he added.
Many intelligence agencies, including Israel's, believe it could take several additional years to actually produce an arsenal of weapons. Iran announced it had succeeded in enriching uranium last month, a milestone that Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph has said is the "point of no return" in achieving weapons capability.
Israel needed to make its intentions clear, as a warning to Iran but also to its friends in the United States and elsewhere, Olmert said. "We believe the Iranians when they say they want to wipe Israel off the map. We take them seriously. We monitor their activities. We have the ability to monitor their activities."
Israel recently launched a new spy satellite, Eros-B, capable of photograph objects on the ground as small as 70 centimeters, according to Ha'aretz newspaper. Commenting on the April 24 launch, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that Israel would not "turn a blind eye" to the Iranian threat.
Iran has announced it will install 3,000 additional centrifuges in its buried enrichment plant at Natanz by the end of the year. While the satellite can not see what is taking place inside the plant, it can observe comings and goings, and log how many trucks arrive – key indicators of the type of activity taking place at the plant.
Olmert recalled the warnings issued to incoming President Ronald Reagan in January 1981 about the threat Israel saw from Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program, a time when Olmert was in the government.
After three months, the Israeli warnings ceased and the Americans "simply assumed" that Israel had changed its assessment of Saddam's nuclear plans and that the attack was off the table, Olmert said
When Israel launched an air strike against Iraq's French-built nuclear reactor (nick-named "O'Chirac" after then French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, who signed the deal with Saddam in 1975), Reagan administration officials professed "shock," even though they had been warned repeatedly, he said.
The same could happen today with Iran, he warned.
Israel would much prefer taking part in an international coalition with the United States and Europe to disarm Iran, but would strike alone if that became necessary, he said.
"If a decision has to be made by an Israeli leader, it will be carried out in the right time and it will be successful.
"Take it for granted. We shall not allow this to happen," Olmert added, referring to a nuclear-armed Iran.
Israeli leaders have escalated the rhetoric about Iran's nuclear weapons program in recent weeks, with former prime minister and Nobel Peace prize winner Shimon Peres telling the Jerusalem Post that Israel, too, could "wipe Iran off the map," just as Iran had threatened to do to Israel.
On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Malaysia that Israel "one day will vanish," and predicted the same fate would befall America.

Chutzpah!

You won't believe this!

Cindy and Windy at D.C. War Protest

From The Sydney Morning Herald, Photo courtesy of Reuters
Photo removed for humanitarian purposes

Standing alongside anti-war movie star Susan Sarandon, she (Sheehan) told the rally: "I'm wearing my son's [army] jacket. I always wonder if he was wearing it when he was killed. I search the back for bloodstains but the stain will always be on my heart," she said.

Ms Sheehan, who will be in Australia next week, told reporters afterwards that Mr Howard and Mr Bush were "fools".

"I am going to be rallying the Australian people, who I know are overwhelmingly against George Bush and this war.

"Quit supporting my country and supporting crimes against humanity. You don't spread peace by killing people."

Sarandon concurred. "Stop supporting Bush and the war crimes," she said.

"It's not working. No matter what you think their role is, it's not happening. So before you sacrifice anyone else you should pull out."

Does the word 'traitors' come to mind?

Immigration or Invasion, continued

Heather Mac Donald on the President's speech:

Dangling strings of shiny trinkets, President Bush tried last night to make contact with the restive natives. Six thousand National Guard troops on the border! Infrared cameras! Biometric work cards! Those baubles will dazzle ‘em, the Bush speechwriters must have concluded, and they’ll never notice that we’ve changed nothing in the border-breaking status quo.

Creating a biometric card is meaningless if you don’t penalize employers who ignore it. No fortifications at the border can withstand the avalanche of people seeking to violate our laws so long as they know that once they get across the border, they’re home free in a 3,000-square-mile sanctuary zone. But Bush said nothing about worksite enforcement. If this administration wanted to end illegal immigration, it would exchange those 6,000 National Guard troops for 6000 immigration agents with the mandate to enforce the laws that Congress passed 20 years ago.

Nowhere was the White House’s contempt for the American people more manifest than in Bush’s double-talk on amnesty, however.

First he demonizes those who have argued for immigration-law enforcement and grotesquely distorts their position: “Some argue that the solution is to deport every illegal alien and that anything short of that is amnesty,” Bush alleged.

I know of no one who has called for deporting every illegal alien. Instead, thoughtful analysts like Mark Krikorian have laid out the attrition strategy: Engage in just a little bit of enforcement to create a huge deterrent effect. After DHS deported 1,500 illegal Pakistanis following 9/11, 15,000 more left on their own.
And opponents of amnesty do not argue that anything short of mass deportations equals amnesty. They make a much simpler argument: Amnesty equals amnesty. Bush’s advisers apparently think that the public can be fooled into believing that if there are a few procedural requirements to gaining legal status, the end result—amnesty—simply disappears. Those procedural requirements are themselves a joke. As Mickey Kaus has explained, Bush’s “illegals-must-wait-at-the-end-of-the-line” line is a con: by remaining in the country and jumping into the citizenship line, rather than the visa line, illegals have catapulted way ahead of law-abiding intending immigrants waiting in their home countries for a visa. But even if the procedural requirements for amnesty were grueling, the final result is the same: people who are in violation of the law are granted lawful status.

The tens of millions of aliens contemplating an illegal trip across the border will grasp that truth immediately; the Bush team thinks that the American public will not be so quick to see through the bait-and-switch bromides. The next month will tell if that gamble is right.
— Heather Mac Donald is a contributing editor at City Journal.

Semi-militarizing the Border

From the President's speech tonight:

"One way to help during this transition is to use the National Guard. So in coordination with governors, up to 6,000 Guard members will be deployed to our southern border. The Border Patrol will remain in the lead. The Guard will assist the Border Patrol by operating surveillance systems … analyzing intelligence … installing fences and vehicle barriers … building patrol roads … and providing training. Guard units will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities – that duty will be done by the Border Patrol. This initial commitment of Guard members would last for a period of one year. After that, the number of Guard forces will be reduced as new Border Patrol agents and new technologies come online. It is important for Americans to know that we have enough Guard forces to win the war on terror, respond to natural disasters, and help secure our border."

Perhaps the Guard can also be in charge of making snacks and organizing bake sales.

Monkey Business

Spain May Grant Human Rights to Apes
From the desk of Jos Verhulst on Thu, 2006-04-27 19:32

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo (25 April) reports that Spain’s governing Socialists are submitting a bill to grant human rights to four species of animals. The species are chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans: the so-called ‘great apes’ or ‘pongids’ (grandes simios in Spanish).
The purpose of the bill is to ensure that Spain adheres to the international Great Ape Project, granting the animals the right to life, freedom and not being tortured. The GAP motto is: “Equality beyond humanity”. Its declaration says: “We demand the extension of the community of equals to include all great apes: human beings, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans.”

Rebuttal from The American Thinker

Letter to the Editor

The following is from today's column from Neal Boortz.

To the Editor:
Recently large demonstrations have taken place across
the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of
illegal immigration. Certain people are angry that the U.S. might protect its
own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and once here, to
stay indefinitely.
Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests.
Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you
discover me in your home you insist that I leave. But, I say, "I've made all the
beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors: I've done
all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest ... except for
that part where I broke into your house.
"According to the protestors, not only must you let me stay, you must add me to your family's insurance plan and provide other benefits for me and my family. My husband will do your yard work because he too is hard-working and honest ... except for that breaking in thing.
"If you try to call the police or force me out I will call my friends who
will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be here. It's
only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just
trying to better myself. I'm hard-working and honest .... ummmmm .... except for
that breaking in thing.
"Besides. What a deal it is for me! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of selfishness, prejudice and being anti-housebreaker!
Did I miss anything? Does this sound reasonable to you?
If it does, grab a sign and go picket something. If this sounds insane to you
call your senators and enlighten them because they are stumbling in the darkness
right now and really need your help.
(Name? _______________)

Justice for All

Now that Mother's Day is done, here's an Irish saying for those who have wronged her.

May the curse of Mary Malone and her nine blind illegitimate children chase you so far over the hills of Damnation that
the Lord himself can't find you without a telescope.

This is War, Folks!

Mark Steyn has an answer for those who feel that terrorist information gathering is too intrusive here.

Portrait of a Horse's A$$

Her beauty exceeded only by her charm, Margaret Carlson epitomizes why we should all be serious about birth control.

Sunday, May 14, 2006
What CIA needs is new president
By MARGARET CARLSONGUEST COLUMNIST (sic)
When the GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee immediately objected to the prospect of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden heading the Central Intelligence Agency, I knew the president would appoint him. Nothing stiffens The Decider's spine like someone presuming to contradict him.
In some ways Hayden, former head of the National Security Agency, is actually a high-water mark in Bush headhunting. Hayden's resume, unlike those of Harriet Miers, Michael Brown and Michael Chertoff, is at least thematically related to the core requirements of the job.
Yet Rep. Peter Hoekstra, head of the intelligence committee, has valid reasons for calling Hayden the wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not that he's a military man -- four CIA heads have been that -- but that the military has already grabbed an outsized amount of authority over intelligence under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who can shape it to his liking when it's in his own back yard.
Nor do members of Congress share the White House's view that its tough-on-terrorism credentials are burnished only by elevating the man who gave us warrantless wiretaps and then demonstrated a disturbing enthusiasm for repeating Karl Rove's talking points in defending them.
Hayden's nomination is one more chapter in the Bush administration's campaign to simultaneously punish the CIA for not completely rolling over in the run-up to the war and blame it for suckering the Congress and public into the worst foreign policy disaster in a generation. It's quite a card trick for the president and vice president to slice and dice the info to their needs, add homegrown material from Rumsfeld's shop as needed, and then claim we were all fooled by the same faulty data.
Since then, George W. Bush's plan on intelligence is the opposite of the old saw that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. His is "if it ain't broke, break it." Then put the fix in.
Bush started by appointing former low-level CIA case worker and Florida Rep. Porter Goss to replace George "Slam Dunk" Tenet. And what a heckuva job Goss did until he was shown the door several days ago.
Goss brought in a raft of political operatives from Capitol Hill who knew nothing about intelligence and everything about insulting the Langley veterans who helped end the Cold War. His strange choice as executive director was Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who resigned Monday amid reports in The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere that he took part in poker games at the Watergate Hotel arranged by Brent Wilkes, a contractor and longtime friend of Foggo's.
Wilkes was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case that sent former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to federal prison for accepting bribes. Prosecutors are investigating whether Wilkes and the fellow contractor who bribed Cunningham provided Watergate suites and prostitutes to him and others, the Journal reported on May 2. A CIA spokesman confirmed to the Journal that Foggo attended some of the poker games but said he never saw any prostitutes or did anything improper.
Thank goodness for what bloggers are calling Watergategate. Mere rank incompetence isn't usually enough to move Bush to get rid of an appointee.
The spin out of the White House about Goss' resignation is that he was having a turf war with intelligence czar John Negroponte, whose very job it is to end turf wars. If that's the positive spin, imagine what the truth must look like.
Negroponte is the winner in the assault on the CIA so far. He has limited training for the job and it's hard to know precisely what he's going to do. Is the intent to merge all intelligence operations into his? If so, we're in for the Bureaucratic Rumble of the Century between him and Rumsfeld.
Is he going to put all his eggs into the high-tech basket, reducing the already depleted clandestine operations at the CIA?
Hayden is all about equipment. The greatest high-tech bungle of recent years is the multibillion-dollar hole dug at the NSA by his Trailblazer system, which was recently put out of its misery. Although Hayden's machines sometimes worked, as when the NSA recovered the message on Sept. 10, 2001, that "Tomorrow is zero hour," he lacked the human intelligence to translate it.
If Bush opts to overweight technology, intelligence may turn out to be one more policy area in which the president is duped by someone else's fantasy.
The CIA could use some oversight, which it would have if Congress were still alive, and needs more analysts who know the countries, languages and gathering places of the terrorists we seek to defeat. Most of all, it needs a firewall making it impervious to manipulation by presidents and their minions. That's one thing we know won't happen on Bush's watch, no matter who sits at the top.
Margaret Carlson writes for Bloomberg News; mcarlson3@bloomberg.net.

The emphasis is mine. Can she really believe that the CIA should be independent of the President? And, Maggie, George "Slam Dunk" Tenet was a Clinton appointee, remember?

Lord deliver us from Liberals for they know not what they do, or worse, they know it full well.

Update: I can't let this go.

From her bio...

"Margaret Carlson was named a columnist for TIME magazine in February 1994. Her column, Public Eye, makes Carlson the first woman columnist in the magazine's 78-year history.

Prior to coming to TIME, Carlson served as the magazine's deputy Washington bureau chief, after serving as a White House correspondent."

I have to ask how was she Time's "deputy Washington bureau chief" if she wasn't already employed by Time?

I'm so confused.

Perhaps they meant to say, "Prior to becoming the magazine's deputy Washington bureau chief, Carlson served as a White House correspondent."

But, then again, who am I to question Time?

A Reminder

A VIDEO by an al-Qaeda member posted on the Internet overnight calls on Muslims to attack Denmark, Norway and France for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

"Muslims avenge your Prophet .... We deeply desire that the small state of Denmark, Norway and France ... are struck hard and destroyed," said Libyan Mohammed Hassan, who escaped from US custody at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan last July.
"Destroy their buildings, make their ground shake and transform them into a sea of blood," said Hassan, dressed in military fatigues and a black turban, and holding an assault rifle.
Hassan, also known as Sheikh Abu Yahia al-Libi, was one of four Arab terror suspects who broke out of the high-security detention facility at Bagram, the main US military base in Afghanistan.
Courtesy of News.Com.au

Say What?

Excuse me, but I'm a bit skeptical about this.

What Size is Your Carbon Footprint?

No doubt you've heard the TV ad by Beyond (nee British) Petroleum that tries to make you feel guilty about contributing to pollution and climate change.

Get the skinny here.

Amazing update from The Onion.

Peggy Noonan Speaks Out

"It may take a defeat in November for the GOP to unlearn the lessons of power... One gets the impression party leaders, deep in their hearts, believe the base is... base. Unsophisticated. Primitive. Obsessed with its little issues. They're trying to educate the base. But if history is a guide, the base is about to teach them a lesson instead." —Peggy Noonan

Thank you to The Patriot Post

Mohamed ElBaradei (Again)

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Iran has legitimate security concerns that the United States must address if the crisis over Tehran’s nuclear programme is to be resolved, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday.
“This is primarily a regional security issue,” Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) he told a debate in The Hague.
“Iran is surrounded by countries that have nuclear weapons, Russia has nuclear weapons, Pakistan has nuclear weapons, Israel has nuclear weapons, Iraq has used chemical weapons against them. There is a sense of insecurity,” he said.
“When you talk about the Iranian issue, the only solution is a package that should inter alia include security issues.”

Thanks: Little Green Footballs

We Concur

ARNOLD KLING:
This November, I am looking forward to seeing the Republicans lose control of Congress. I would say to the Republicans, as Oliver Cromwell reportedly said to the Rump Parliament, and as Leo Amery reprised during Neville Chamberlain's final crisis as Prime Minister, "You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately... Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"
The whole oil-company-baiting, education-centralizing, entitlement-expanding, earmark-loving lot of them can be tossed out, as far as I'm concerned. Then we can start over.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi plans to use control of Congress to launch an investigation into the Bush Administration. For those of us who have not been drinking the Kos Kool-Aid, this seems like a questionable enterprise.

Hat tip to: Instapundit

Goodbye to a Great Boxer

Sad news here.

The U.N. Gets Tough

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog welcomed on Thursday moves to avert possible U.N. sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program and appealed for compromise as Iran’s president said he was ready to talk.
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he was pleased the U.N. Security Council was holding off from sanctions against Iran as Europeans work on a package of benefits to induce Tehran to cooperate.
“I’m very optimistic. I hope both sides will move away from the war of words, I hope the pitch will go down, I hope people will adopt a cool-headed approach,” he told a news conference at Amsterdam airport. “We need compromises from both sides.”
“I hope that at this stage we will use more carrots before we think of using sticks,” he said. “It is a very good idea that the Security Council is holding its horses.”

Hat tip to Little Green Footballs

Disgraceful!

Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 5:49 p.m. EDT

Albright Encourages Direct Talks with Iran

The nation's military forces are overstretched and the U.S. should seek direct talks with Iran instead of making threats, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said.

"The last thing we need is to invade another country," Albright told an audience of 800 people during a speech Tuesday night in Seattle.

Albright also suggested that an official high in the Bush administration should give a speech in response to a letter that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent Monday to the president.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other officials have portrayed the 18-page letter, the first from an Iranian head of state to an American president in the 27 years, as a stalling tactic while the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council discuss what to do about Iran's nuclear program.

Albright, who served in the Clinton administration, was in town to promote "The Mighty and the Almighty," her book on the role of religion in international relations.

� 2006 Associated Press.

Surely she's not suggesting that we act unilaterally?

Our Wise Government Spending

Read this from USA Today.

Is it in the Constitution?

Wouldn't it be interesting to take a poll of the American people (especially since Liberals love polls) asking them where in the U. S. Constitution it mentions 'separation of church and state'?

How about the 'right' to privacy?

Just asking.

Right-Wing Revisionist History?

Read about it here.

Judge Luttig Resigns

Who can blame him? Hot Air.com has more.

What Would South Florida Do Without Scientists?: "Katrina-Size Hurricane Would Devastate South Florida, Scientists Say" —Knight Ridder (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)
Hat tip to The Patriot

Get Rid of This

Please, let us remove the stupid epigram, "It is what it is," from any further use. It only allows one to display an inability to articulate an idea or a reason.
Also, to paraphrase a famous twentieth century philanderer/philosopher, it depends on what the meaning of "is" is.

John Conyers Redux

Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Tuesday, May 9, 2006 11:25 p.m. EDT
John Conyers: U.S. Owes Slavery Reparations

The left wing Democrat who will become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee if his party wins back Congress in November wants to hold full blown congressional hearings on whether the government should pay African Americans reparations for slavery.
Michigan Rep. John Conyers has attracted attention in recent months for his House resolution calling for an impeachment investigation against President Bush.
But another Conyers cause-celeb is reparations, which he's been advocating since 1989, when he first introduced legislation to establish what he calls, "The Commission to Study Reparations Proposals for African American Act." ( H.R. 40)
In a press release posted to his official congressional web site, Conyers explains how he intends to handle the hot-button issue.
"My bill does four things:
• It acknowledges the fundamental injustice and inhumanity of slavery.
• It establishes a commission to study slavery, its subsequent racial and economic discrimination against freed slaves.
• It studies the impact of those forces on today's living African Americans.
• The commission would then make recommendations to Congress on appropriate remedies to redress the harm inflicted on living African Americans."
Conyers says:
"I chose the number of the bill, 40, as a symbol of the forty acres and a mule that the United States initially promised freed slaves. This unfulfilled promise and the serious devastation that slavery had on African-American lives has never been officially recognized by the United States Government . . . "
He goes on:
"Just as we've discussed the Holocaust, and Japanese interment camps, and to some extent the devastation that the colonists inflicted upon the Indians, we must talk about slavery and its continued effects."
Though Conyers reintroduces his reparations resolution every year, would-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has never indicated whether she'd back the controversial proposal.

John Podhoretz on President Bush

"(T)he president is losing support from conservatives and Republicans. There are all sorts of theories about why this is true, like how they don't like his spending plans and don't like his immigration policies. Fine, but he had the same immigration plan in 2004 and spent like a sailor in his first term and still had over 90 percent support during that election year.
So here's a theory: Republicans and conservatives have grown weary of defending Bush. They've been fighting and fighting and fighting for years, and they see no letup in the hostility toward him or in the energy and determination of his critics. Faced with that implacable opposition, they've grown not disaffected but disheartened.
They thought they were on a winning team. Now they're not so sure, and they're feeling let down, the way passionate sports fans do when their guys stumble and fall in the second half of the season. In this case, though, the economic data and other markers of progress suggest that the second half isn't actually going badly at all."

Huh?

A ratings downer for Fox News

By Scott Collins, Times Staff Writer, May 8, 2006

Some recent ratings news no doubt gladdened the hearts of Fox News Channel haters.First, Nielsen Media Research reported that Fox News' overall prime-time lineup dropped 17% last month compared with a year ago (MSNBC grew 16% during the same period, while CNN plummeted by 38%).

Full L.A. Times article here. Never mind. I don't post links that require registration.

Nevertheless, isn't it interesting that Fox is the subject in the headline, while the more than double decline of CNN is mentioned only parenthetically? Anyway, these may be several reasons for the Fox ratings drop.

• Bob Beckel
• Brenda Butner
• Wesley Clark
• Eleanor Clift
• Alan Colmes
• Steve Doocy
• Susan Estrich
• Geraldine Ferraro
• Kimberly Guilfoyle
• Ellis Henican
• E. D. Hill
• Juliet Huddy
• Mike Jerrick
• Julian Phillips
• Geraldo Rivera
• Shepard Smith
• Greta Van Susteren
• Juan Williams

and, sometimes, Bill O'Reilly

Just my two cents

VE Day

Beacon News (Aurora, IL) by Robert Michler
Today — May 8, 2006 — is the 61st anniversary of the surrender of Germany in World War II, ending the war in Europe.
The United States declared war on Germany and Italy following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other United States military bases on Dec. 7, 1941. Take time to pause and thank our United States Expeditionary Force and our Allied Forces for Victory in Europe.
It was a hard-fought battle in Europe following the Normandy Invasion in June 1944. Soviets had pushed the Germans 1,000 miles from Moscow. United States, British and French troops closed in from the West. Italy capitulated. Mussolini was executed. Hitler committed suicide. Nazi leaders fled to Copenhagen. Allies took Berlin. German forces surrendered May 8.
Japan continued fighting in the Pacific until their surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.
Take time to tell our younger generation about World War II and the sacrifices made by the Greatest Generation in fighting a two-front war — one in Europe and one in the Pacific. Military veterans of World War II are now in their late 70s and older. Take time to talk to them and have them tell you about World War II.
Hat tip to Lucianne

From Ankle Biting Pundits

I’m just getting around to reading this press release (pdf) but apparently May 13th is “Youth Pride Day” in Boston, in which Boston Common will be transformed into “Rainbow City” and:
Quote:
Scheduled events-hosted by drag king Heywood Wakefield (Aliza Shapiro) - include a rally at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common featuring speakers and the winner of the first ever Youth Pride "Words of Wizdom" contest, as well as three awards to those the youth feel have been an inspiration to the GLBTQ community. Following the rally, the Boston Women's Rainbow Chorus will perform numbers from The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz as our 'lollipop kids' prepare to set off along the red-brick Freedom Trail, past the golden 'Oz-like' dome of the Massachusetts State House and through the streets of Downtown Boston. The celebration will conclude with a music and resource festival back 'home' at the Common. The festival will feature interactive games and activities as well as a chance to purchase goods from various vendors including some of our very own youth vendors. Admission to this event is free.
I suppose I’m not entirely surprised. This is the state that is trying to force gay marriage onto the rest of the nation via judicial decree. But what is uniquely disturbing is that the event is sponsored by and paid for in part by the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, as in Governor Mitt Romney, erstwhile candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.

Ten More Things I Didn't Know

Professor Mike Adams explains here.

This is Sad

After more than five years as President, is this really as good as it gets? Maybe he thought it was funny.

Jon Miller

Watching the game between the Philadelphia Phillies, of whom I've been a fan for 53 years (no, it hasn't been easy), and the San Francisco Giants, I have reached the conclusion that Mr. Miller is a pandering idiot. Spewing from his fo-ul mouth was nothing but praise for his favorite illegal drug abuser, Barry Bonds.

A nickel I should have for every time he mentioned his name in glowing terms!

And this praise to the man who claimed he thought that the 'cream' and the 'clear' was flaxseed oil?

incidentally, Jon, the word "foul" is one syllable.

Sunday Recipe

Feeling a little nostalgic today, as I do on occasion, I recalled a lunch that Mom would prepare from time to time for the family.

Mom's Grilled Ham and Cheese

___________________________

Ingredients: 2 slices white bread each buttered on one side

2 slices boiled ham

1 slice Swiss cheese

thin slices of tomato

thin slices onion

a little salt and pepper

dash of oregano (secret ingredient)

Assemble and grill on stovetop. Serve with a bowl of hot Campbell's tomato soup. Hmm...Possibilities!

World War II Warrior

1992 Marlene Dietrich dies

Actress Marlene Dietrich died on this day in 1992. Born in Berlin, Dietrich came to the United States in 1930 after considerable success on the German screen. She allegedly spurned several offers to return to Germany and star in Nazi films. She became a U.S. citizen in 1939 and worked tirelessly during and after World War II to sell war bonds and entertain troops. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom and named Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor.

Courtesy The History Channel

Los Rangers?

Read about it.

Homicide Bomber Recruiting Down

Imam Amal Yabba Dabadou of Flagellistan reports that recruitment of potential martyrs has dropped by 67% in recent weeks. Reliable sources state that there are now only 38 virgins at or above the age of consent remaining in Paradise for exploitation.

Dabadou counters with, "Well, while the definition of 'virgin' is constant, we can certainly negotiate the age of consent."

Those Wacky Palestinians

AFP/Samuel Aranda

What is an American?

One answer is here.

Thanks to The Patriot Post

Porter Goss Gone!

Porter Goss has resigned today as CIA Director. What is going on? More when we get it.

Update here

Good Question

Patrick Kennedy And Ambien Posted by bulldogpundit on Friday, May 05, 2006 (12:51:38)
To me the big story is not whether Patrick Kennedy may or may not have been driving while under the influence. In fact, until someone presents hard evidence that he was drinking alcohol, other than just the fact that he is Teddy's son, I have no reason to doubt his story that Ambien is the real cause of the accident. Ambien does crazy things to people, and Kennedy's explanation for what happened is entirely believable.But the big story to me is why the Capitol Police officers did not even take him in for a blood alcohol test, or a urine test, which would have easily confirmed or ruled out the use of alcohol (and the urine test possible showing traces of Ambien). I can tell you from my time as a prosecutor that in a situation where there is a traffic accident in the middle of the night and the person appears disoriented there is no way he would just be given a ride home without further investigation, especially since doing so causes crucial evidence (i.e. the traces of alcohol or drugs in the system) to be lost.Kennedy said he asked for no special consideration, and given his apparent condition and lack of evidence to the contrary, I believe him. The people who really need to be investigated here are the members of the Capitol Police, especially the person in charge who allowed Kennedy to be taken home.
Thanks to Ankle Biting Pundits.

TV Salesladies

Admission time... I have a weakness for beautiful women. Thank you, Lord, for seeing to it that I was born a member in good standing of the male persuasion.

Nobody else could convince me how much I need a 14" paella pan the way Shivan Sarna of Home Shopping Network can. She seems to be genuinely nice and very intelligent, whom Fox News Channel should consider as a future correspondent.

Equally charming is Jill Bauer (scroll down to 'Meet the Hosts') of QVC. When this goddess recently returned from maternity leave, it was a glorious day indeed! If my credit card could talk, it might disagree.

Thanks to both ladies for bringing a little sunshine into the world.

Peggy Noonan on the Moussaoui sentencing here

From Neal Boortz

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.

John Bolton

This from Expose the Left:

US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton testified before the House subcommittee on international relations today and got in a little argument with Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Rep. Kucinich asked John Bolton about Sy Hersh’s “New Yorker” article on Iran, to which Bolton said he didn’t see it because he doesn’t have time to read “fiction”:

KUCINICH: Have you ever heard of that report?
BOLTON: I’d never heard of the report, I never read the article, nor do I intend to.
KUCINICH: Do you have any interest as to whether or not—as the U.S. Ambassador, you don’t have any interest as to whether or not U.S. Marines are actually operating in Iran right now?
BOLTON: I said I had not heard of the report and I didn’t intend to read the article in “The New Yorker.”
KUCINICH: If I gave you this article right now, walked it over, would you look at it?
BOLTON: I don’t think so, honestly, Congressman, because I don’t have time to read much fiction.
KUCINICH: We know that U.S. Troops are in Iran. How does this affect U.N. Negotiations?
BOLTON: Congressman, you know more than I do, that’s all I can say.

Home Run Records

With Barry Bonds closing in on Babe Ruth's 714 career home runs, isn't it time we put the record (now held by Hank Aaron at 755) into perspective?

Of major leaguers with at least 1,000 plate appearances Aaron ranks 34th with one homer in every 16.38 at bats, just ahead of the great Willie Mays who had a home run every 16.49 at bats.

Third on the all time list is Barry Bonds, one per 12.91 plate appearances. Second is The Babe, one per 11.76. And the best home runs per at bat statistic with a 1:10.61 ratio is Mark McGwire. Incidentally, McGwire had 131 fewer homers than Ruth.

So tell me, who is the greatest long ball hitter of all time?

Thomas Sowell Musings

This man is a genious. Read more.

Television Blues

Not usually a whiner about TV fare, I can no longer hold a civil tongue. There is now so much drivel on the tube that Newton Minnow would be spinning in his grave, except that he's still alive.

Here are some of my TV beefs:

1. The Geico Gecko needs to go. Everyone knows that geckos don't speak with a British accent. Therefore, by extension, he is a fraud and should be relegated to roadkill.
2. The Nancy-boy who sings the lyrics that sound something like, "I'm franktoe baa for the moment, and she feels bad, nevah, nevah," and on it goes. I don't even know what the product is (thank goodness for the remote).
3. Paula Abdul needs to refocus. Save that, "You moved me," crap for backstage or the boudoir.
4. "Yo, yo, dawg. Check it out!" Randy Jackson, use the King's English if you must speak at all.
5. The Cox Cable Guy is an animated character that interacts with actual humans. "Around The Horn" host Tony Reali should sue for unauthorized use of his likeness in a contemptible way.
6. Bill O'Reilly is the pompous, bloviating personification of puffery.
7. Alan Colmes. Need I say more?
8. Jerry Rivers, aka Geraldo Rivera, must have gone completely off the deep end when the long forgotten Capone tunnel turned up nothing.
9. The "Lost another loan to ditech" guy is pathetic.
10. Bill O'Reilly is a megalomaniacal buffoon.

I feel better now.

September 11, 2001

Immigrants did this!

The New Black Panther Party

Panthers here 'for the long run'

BY PAUL BONNER : The Herald-Sunmailto:Herald-Sunpbonner@heraldsun.comMay 1, 2006 : 11:52 pm ET
DURHAM -- Rebuffed from entering Duke's campus, the New Black Panther Party and Durham residents chanted "black power" and "shame on Duke" Monday as they marched to the house where a black woman was allegedly raped by white members of Duke's lacrosse team.
There, at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. and earlier at a campus entrance off Duke University Road, the group spoke out in defense of the alleged victim and called for convictions of the two lacrosse players accused of rape and kidnapping.
"Stop the attacks on the victim," group leader Malik Zulu Shabazz said. "Stop making it appear that the accuser is the criminal instead of the defendants."
About a dozen party members wore black berets and military fatigues reminiscent of the original Black Panther Party. A foundation associated with the earlier group, however, says it has no connection to the present one.
Shabazz said his group has been unfairly portrayed as extremists and interlopers in the Durham case. He said the group has wide support in Durham and will remain involved in the case "for the long run."
Local NAACP leaders and ministers on Monday criticized the party's involvement.
The Panthers announced eight demands, as general as stopping rape and as particular as converting the Duke-owned house where the crimes allegedly occurred into a rape crisis center.
They also included that defendants Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann be found guilty. Shabazz, an attorney, was asked repeatedly how that demand squared with the law's presumption of innocence. It would be the only just outcome, he replied.
"How do you find the two defendants in this case?" Shabazz shouted.
"Guilty," the crowd shouted back. (emphasis mine)
About 30 local residents participated, including school board member Jackie Wagstaff and activist Victoria Peterson.
When the group, with Shabazz at its head, tried to enter Campus Drive, they were turned back by Duke Police Chief Robert Dean and Aaron Graves, vice president for campus safety and security. University officials said previously they want to allow students to study for exams, which began Monday, without disruption.
The group then walked, with a police escort, two miles to the Buchanan Boulevard house, where they gave more speeches, then prayed in a circle. On Monday night the group held a town meeting at St. Joseph's AME Church.
In its own press conference Monday, the NAACP and Durham ministers criticized the New Black Panther Party and announced plans for a conference on domestic and sexual violence and other issues May 16 at First Presbyterian Church.
The NAACP welcomes free speech and even "agitation," but not with "a message of hate toward other minorities," said its state president, the Rev. William J. Barber II. The reference was to allegedly anti-Semitic remarks by Shabazz compiled by the Anti-Defamation League on its Web site. Barber was joined in the statement by Rabbi John Friedman of Judea Reform Congregation.
The ministerial group said its planned conference also will address racism, "classism" and the news media.

Here we go again.