The Breathless Leftist Lie of the Day!

Judge John Roberts served with Longstreet!

From Washington's other newspaper comes this clever headline

In Article, Roberts's Pen Appeared to Dip South

and the following breathless reporting created by what appears to be a twelve year old girl with socialist leanings.

When John G. Roberts Jr. prepared to ghostwrite an article for President Ronald Reagan a little over two decades ago, his pen took a Civil War reenactment detour.

The article, which was to appear in the scholarly National Forum journal, was called "The Presidency: Roles and Responsibilities." Roberts was writing by hand a section on how the congressional appropriations process had evolved.

A fastidious editor of other people's copy as well as his own, Roberts began with the words "Until about the time of the Civil War." Then, the Indiana native scratched out the words "Civil War" and replaced them with "War Between the States."

OMG!!! He's gonna kill African-Americans! After he calls them "blacks" first!

The handwritten document is one of tens of thousands of pages of Roberts files released over the past several weeks from his 1982-1986 tenure as an associate counsel to the president.

While it is true that the Civil War is also known as the War Between the States, the Encyclopedia Americana notes that the term is used mainly by southerners. Sam McSeveney, a history professor emeritus at Vanderbilt University who specialized in the Civil War, said that Roberts's choice of words was significant.

McSeveney? What kind of made-up hoodoo name is that? "Bartender, I'll have a McSeveney and Seven."

"Many people who are sympathetic to the Confederate position are more comfortable with the idea of a 'War Between the States,' " McSeveney explained. "People opposed to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s would undoubtedly be more comfortable with the words he chose."

John M. Coski, the historian and library director of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, said the term was commonplace in the South until the 1960s or early 1970s. He said some people use "War Between the States" out of habit, others think it quaint or iconoclastic, and still others use it because they believe the Confederacy was right to secede.

"You can't always draw the inference that someone who uses the term does so with an ideological intent, but at the same time you can't be blind to the fact that some people do," Coski said.

Reagan used the phrase "War Between the States" in at least a few speeches he gave in the South. But in the end, someone must have had second thoughts about using it with this more national audience. When the article was published in August 1984 under Reagan's name, it employed the more generally accepted "Civil War" terminology.

Why don't I get comments on posts like the last two?

Not enough Natalee Holloway, I reckon.

Speaking of Professor Rummel...

...my brain really hurts after all the work it had to do for that last post, so without further ado, I would like to depart from the normal course of my blog and bring you some adult content.

No, not that, kiddies.

From the blog Democratic Peace by R. J. Rummel, Professor Emeritus of Political Science:

I've posted a number of blogs on the genocide/democide in Sudan, such as "6,000 More Darfurians to be MURDERED in July", and so far the response by the democracies and the UN has been tepid. This is because the major media has not been engaged in informing the public of this horror. Were they to show daily the dead and dying children, the starving, the destroyed villages, the refugee camps, the dying in makeshift hospitals, and so on, for photo after photo, as they are doing for the terrorist attacks in Iraq, then something would be done by pubic demand. This is from "ThinkProgress.org:

Apparently you can’t even pay TV networks to cover genocide: American Progress created a television advertisement for beawitness.org , our netroots campaign that calls out the television news media for their deplorable coverage of the genocide in Darfur. Over the last few days, three Washington DC television affiliates, NBC-4, CBS-9, and ABC-7, informed us that they refuse to air the ad.Since the major networks seem to have their hands full covering stories like Natalee Holloway and the Runaway Bride, does what the media won’t — puts the spotlight on Darfur, and suggests that genocide warrants increased coverage...

In a democracy, there is a simple equation: daily photos of dead, dying, and starving children ---> public outrage and demands for intervention ---> outraged politicians ---> intervention to stop the killing. It was the photos of starving Somalian children that provoked the American intervention in Somalia, and although the death of American Rangers and our hasty withdrawal gave the intervention a bad name, It SAVED ABOUT A MILLION SOMALIANS FROM STARVATION. But, you never hear about that.

The world can be a very bad place, kiddies. What makes it worse is people are responsible for most of the bad stuff.

The good news? We have free will. (Oh, Fyodor, you soft-headed old utopian!)

Conservative War Critics' Dilemma:

Do humans desire freedom or to cling to cultural habits?

Here's s fascinating article from FrontPage Magazine (they're on a serious roll over there) by S.T. Karnick. It asks an important question, even if (especially if?) one removes current events from the discussion.

I believe the question to be moot, however. If Professor Rummel et al. are correct, representative democracy and the rule of law should solve our problems with Islam. Or, more properly, representative democracy and the rule of law should solve Islam's problems with us.

Let's use Iraq as an example. Even if its fledgling democracy produces a constitution based on Islamic law, as long as the mechanisms of democracy are protected, a state that is no threat to its neighbors (and therefore, by extension, to us) will result.

A democracy that allows female genital mutilation? (See below.) Certainly that is abhorrent. But that does not threaten us here or our interests elsewhere. And remember one of the great lessons of the spread of freedom we have learned since 1776: If not sufficiently free, people will seek more freedom.

Imagine you are a female Iraqi chemist ten years from now, living in the Democratic Islamic Federal Republic of Iraq. (Fine. You name it.) Your life is good, but you want more for the daughters you plan to have someday. You believe female genital mutilation is wrong. What do you do?

Take your skills as a chemist and emmigrate to a place globally known as a haven for chemists of all colors, creeds, languages, and both sexes. (Hint for the bad guys: Its initials are U, S, and A.)

Now, whether or not a stable democratic government can survive in Iraq (or Afghanistan, Indonesia, Canada, or the good ol' USA itself, kiddies - get it?) is a different question. But if it can, the world will be a better and safer place.

Enough of my amateur attempts at being serious. On with the real thing!

In its unswerving and forceful opposition to the War in Iraq and in particular the nation-building efforts that have followed the quick military victory that resulted in the ouster and capture of Saddam Hussein, the antiwar right has exposed a terrible dilemma at the heart of the farther-right reaches of American conservatism.
In arguing against the Bush policy in Iraq, publications such as The American Conservative and blogs such as Lawrence Auster's View from the Right have repeatedly accused the Bush administration of adopting what the attorney and journalist Spencer Warren aptly characterizes as “the PC mantra that all societies and cultures are equal.”
Two days ago, for example, Auster demonstrated this assumption in commenting on some Muslims’ practice of female genital mutilation: “For Bush and his supporters to think that peoples who believe in such things and practice them are essentially like us and that, above all else, they desire individual freedom (if only someone will deliver it to them), is the wildest fantasy” (emphasis in original).
In a statement yesterday on his site, Auster continued this line of argument: “Muslim countries including Iraq widely practice the butchery of female genital mutilation. The adoption of a democratic constitution in Iraq is not going to change that deeply ingrained custom. A society that practices such monstrous cruelty toward its own girls and women will continue to be cruel generally, and accept the use of violence and terrorism. Therefore... Bush’s strategy must fail.”
Auster makes an important point about the persistence of cultural habits. He and other conservative writers also rely on this premise in arguments about immigration, pointing out that it is impossible for the United States adequately to assimilate large numbers of people from radically different cultures.
However, what Auster is explicitly denying in the present case, and what antiwar conservatives in general tend to sidestep in arguments about Iraq is the powerful effect of something in which he and others on the right strongly profess belief: the common characteristics that all people share as a result of human nature.
It is these characteristics that the Bush administration means to depend on in Iraq (and which are essential to any strategy of assimilating immigrants into American society). The administration may well be wrong to believe such a liberation of Iraqis' inner nature possible, but the arguments that Auster and other antiwar conservatives make regarding human nature actually lend support to such a view of human possibilities.
In a letter to this author and others, the journalist and attorney Spencer Warren, an antiwar conservative, pointed out that the great flaw of the left is its denial of human nature:
”[R]adical egalitarianism...is not the American tradition of equality of all individuals before the law, but of the absolute equality of result, custom, and historical tradition, including absolute equality of every society and culture on Earth—and the elimination of any differences dividing peoples...[S]uch extreme equality that abolishes difference is not the natural order.”
Warren then identifies the historical source of this point of view: “The drive toward coerced absolute equality has been the radical project for more than 200 years, since the French Revolution.” (Full disclosure: Warren has borrowed this distinction from my article on “The Origin of Modernity,” published in the Summer 2005 issue of The National Interest.)
He then attributes this attitude to the Bush administration: “Ironically, this egalitarian view, in the broadest sense, is the premise of Pres. Bush's policy in Iraq—that societies in that region—including their religion—are not so different from ours and can develop into free societies with some help and a good constitution. Time will tell. But the bizarre conjunction of this policy premise with the PC agenda demonstrates the profound contemporary influence of the radical egalitarian ideal.”
Warren is perfectly correct to point out that some societies and ways of life are indeed better than others. In addition, he is right to share Auster's belief that cultural habits are a matter of valid concern in public policy discussions.
Moreover, Warren improves on Auster's argument by acknowledging that the belief in total freedom from restraints of human nature is not a liberal idea but a radical one, and that the idea traces back to the beginnings of what has been commonly called the Enlightenment.
However, in arguing against Western projects of nation-building in the "developing world," conservatives such as Auster and Warren (and Buchanan and the like) face a huge dilemma: their belief in a common human nature (though one that certainly permits a wide variety of human customs and organizing beliefs) is a strong argument against radicalism of the left, but it is not useful in refuting the logic of projects based on a belief in a common human nature, which Bush's nation-building action in Iraq most certainly is.
I believe that the interaction between human nature and human culture is more complex, variable, and flexible than Auster and other antiwar conservatives tend to think. The acknowledgment of this truth is central to the classical liberal (and modern conservative) position, and from such a point of view, it appears that antiwar conservatives would make much more headway by two means:
1. Acknowledge that the Bush administration is reasoning from what the antiwar conservatives believe to be a valid premise (that all human beings share commonalities through what is called human nature) when the administration argues that the people of Iraq have the potential to live democratically. (By the way and to make it perfectly clear, I personally consider the commonalities of human nature to be a rock-solid truth based on science, strongly confirmed by modern insights in sociobiology.)
2. Argue that the mission the administration has set itself conflicts with human nature, specifically the human tendency to cling to cultural notions that, however perversely, accomplish certain things necessary to human existence (such as the need for physical and emotional security, etc.).
I would be very interested in any such arguments. In fact, Auster may have had something of the sort in mind when he argued today, “President Bush and his neoconservative supporters justified spreading democracy to Iraq on the basis that all people are the same, all people want the same individual freedoms that we want, and therefore all people are ready and able to adopt liberal democracy based on universal individual rights.”
This appears to be a small step toward acknowledging that both Bush and Auster accept the reality of human nature and that their disagreement is a factual one about the persistence of culture in the case at hand: Which is stronger in the present case—the natural human desire for freedom, or the natural human tendency to cling to cultural habits and assumptions?
Such an agreement would place the right’s arguments over Iraq on a factual basis instead of the current false vision of a conflict of fundamental worldviews. Perhaps even more important is that it would enable all parties on the right to remain steadfast in our recognition of what unites us: our belief in human nature and opposition to radical visions of human mutability and the consequent longing for utopian schemes to transform civilization and human beings.
That, after all, is where the most important war is being fought.

...while her son was a faithful Catholic gentleman and a hero.

This article, also from FrontPage Magazine, is a bit of amateur freudian anal-ysis (I know, I know.) from Michael Reagan guessing La Sheehan's Bush-hatred is really projected hatred of her dead son, the All-American hero.

Sigmund Freud had a concept he called “projection, which has been defined as a defense where the ego deals with unacceptable impulses and/or terrifying anxieties by attributing them to someone in the external world.

In many ways I think that explains the behavior of the media’s current patron saint, Cindy Sheehan, whose hate rhetoric aimed at President Bush is really meant for someone else who she can’t admit even to herself is her real target. To do so would represent one of those “unacceptable impulses” Dr. Freud was talking about.

In this case it could well be that Cindy Sheehan is projecting her rage at George Bush when the one she really despises is her late son Casey, who died as a hero in Iraq, precisely because he did die a hero in Iraq.

The more I listen to Cindy Sheehan and consider her past actions and her past words, it occurs to me she has always been a liberal, she’s always been anti-military, and she’s always been anti-Republican. It appears that she raised Casey in such an environment, yet despite that what does he do? He not only joins the military engaged in a war she bitterly opposes, but to add insult to injury when his enlistment runs out, he re-enlists although he knew that by so doing it meant he would be sent to Iraq where a war his mother despises is being fought.

Think about that. What Casey did was to reject not by words but by deeds his mother’s most closely-held beliefs.

Then, to make matter worse in her eyes, this son volunteers to go on a dangerous mission even his superiors warned him against, and dies as a result. Casey Sheehan's sergeant asked for volunteers. Sheehan had just returned from Mass. (Emphasis mine. - F.G.) After Sheehan volunteered once, the sergeant asked Sheehan again if he wanted to go on the mission. According to many reports (and according to his own mother) Casey responded, "Where my chief goes, I go."

So, Casey Sheehan was a Catholic gentleman. No surprise from this corner, kiddies. May God have mercy on his brave soul.

He went, and it cost him his life. You can almost hear her saying to his spirit, “How dare you spurn me and turn your back on me? How dare you go join the military, and then how dare you volunteer to fight against the innocent Iraqi freedom fighters and get yourself killed?”

Casey Sheehan’s heroic action has embittered Cindy Sheehan. And her actions have embittered her family who bitterly resent her exploitation of her son’s heroic death in behalf of her political extremism. Here’s what they wrote to Matt Drudge:

“The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the expense of her son’s good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our president, silently, with prayer and respect.”

Cindy Sheehan says she wants to ask the president, “Why did you kill my son?” She knows that George Bush did not kill her son. The butchers she supports with her far-out liberal activism killed Casey Sheehan and that activism is now resulting in the deaths of other young Americans because she is giving aid and comfort to our enemies and encouraging them to persist in their terrorism, giving them hope that if her views prevail the U.S. will lose its will and pull out. And so the fight goes on, and more Casey Sheehans die as a result.

And she says of her son, "He died for oil. He died to make your friends," Bush’s friends, "richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East."

How dare he?

Cindy Sheehan doesn’t need to talk to the president. A talk with a therapist would be more appropriate.

You are right on target up until that last sentence, Mike. Mrs. Sheehan should repent, partake of the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, return to her husband, and sin no more. Much, much, more effective than any "therapy".

Cindy Sheehan is a commie...

Here is an interesting article from FrontPage Magazine on La Sheehan written by Lee Kaplan, who shows us the commie creeps behind the Ignorance Mom.

Among those of her comrades less remarked upon is the Crawford Peace House of Crawford, Texas. Aside from being one of Sheehan’s most vocal backers, Crawford Peace House is a front group for several radical causes, among them the support of Palestinian terrorism and Ba’ath Party insurgents under the guise of promoting “peace” activism. The group’s homepage features a photo in which the entire area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean—what is now Israel—is wiped off the map. This is supplemented by an ahistorical banner complaining about “Israel’s attacks, invasions and occupation.” (No mention is made of the successive Arab assaults on Israel from its birth in 1948, then again in 1956, 1967, and1973.) To stress the point, the site displays a tired rant by one Hadi Jawad, in which all the problems of the Palestinians are blamed on Israel.

Look at the photos above the essay, however, and you will see where Cindy Sheehan’s newfound ally stands: There you will find Eugene Bird, an anti-Jewish conspiracy theorist who has managed to blame the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib on the Israeli Mossad. “We know that the Israeli intelligence was operating in Baghdad after the war was over,” Bird has claimed, wondering aloud whether there were any “foreign interrogators…that were recommending very, very bad treatment for the prisoners.” A firm believer that the U.S. is manipulated by sinister Israeli interests, he advocates action “to restore a political environment in America in which voters and their elected officials are free from the undue influence and pressure of a foreign county, namely Israel.”

To read a report of a recent Crawford Peace House demonstration, just click over to the radical left-wing website Indymedia. If you scroll down to the final photo, you will see how the people of Crawford react to these anti-American, anti-Israeli zealots. Note that there are plenty of Palestinian flags. Yet the only American flags you will see are flying on poles in the front yards of houses and local businesses. The final photo in the Indymedia article shows a nearly empty Crawford, Texas, sidewalk. No doubt the locals had better things to do than watch a gang of radical subversives declare their solidarity with terrorism and parade their contempt for the U.S.

That Cindy Sheehan would willingly associate herself with groups like the Crawford Peace House is not surprising. An opponent of the war in Iraq before her son re-enlisted in the military, Sheehan had already associated with people like Medea Benjamin of Code Pink, whose organizations supported sending human shields to Saddam Hussein’s regime and who sent money to aid the other side in Fallujah. Another of her prominent supporters is United for Peace and Justice, whose head, Medea Benjamin's ideological twin Leslie Cagan, is a longtime member of the Communist Party USA. Along with many of the activists currently converging on Crawford, the group opposes U.S. policy in Iraq and throughout the world.

All of this casts doubt on Sheehan’s efforts to remake her image as a grieving patriot. “I love my country,” Cindy Sheehan says in a recent television commercial. And yet, during an appearance at San Francisco State University, she said before a similar crowd as the one sponsoring her in Texas, “This country isn’t worth fighting for.” Similarly, at a Sacramento rally that Cindy Sheehan attended, a videotape captured a U.S. soldier being hanged in effigy.

From The My Idiot Italian Cousins Department:

Italy's Red Cross reportedly aided Iraq fighters

Italy’s Red Cross treated four Iraqi insurgents and hid them from U.S. forces in exchange for the freedom of two Italian aid workers kidnapped last year in Baghdad, an official said in an interview published Thursday.

Maurizio Scelli, the outgoing chief of the Italian Red Cross, told La Stampa newspaper that he kept the deal secret from U.S. officials, complying with “a nonnegotiable condition” imposed by Iraqi mediators who helped him secure the release of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who were abducted on Sept. 7 and freed Sept. 28.

“The mediators asked us to save the lives of four alleged terrorists wanted by the Americans who were wounded in combat,” Scelli was quoted as saying. “We hid them and brought them to Red Cross doctors, who operated on them.” (Thanks to MSNBC via CNSNews.)

Sadly, Ol' Mother Russia has always been cracked.

From MosNews.com:


More Abortions Than Births in Russia — Health Official

Russians, whose lives are shorter and poorer than they were under communism, have more abortions than births to avoid the costs of raising children, Bloomberg.com reported Tuesday quoting the country’s highest-ranking obstetrician.

Yeah. Everyone knows nobody ever dies under communist rule.

About 1.6 million women had an abortion last year, a fifth of them under the age of 18, and about 1.5 million gave birth, said Vladimir Kulakov, vice president of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. “Many more” abortions weren’t reported.

“The appearance of a first child pushes many families into poverty,” Kulakov said today in the government’s official newspaper, Rossiskaya Gazeta. “Potential parents first try to start a career, stand on their feet and so forth.”

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the ensuing hyperinflation and depression deprived millions of Russians of their incomes and savings and discouraged couples from having children. By 2000, the number of pensioners in Europe’s most populous country outnumbered children and adolescents for the first time.

The increase in poverty and the decline in the quality of health care since the fall of communism have left about six million women and 4 million men — seven percent of Russia’s 145 million people — incapable of having children.

“This is a critical level,” Kulakov said.

Part of the problem is a lack of job prospects. Careers traditionally favored by Russian women, such as in education and medicine, no longer pay a decent salary, which leads to fewer births and ultimately a smaller population, Kulakov said.

For every 1,000 Russians there are 16 deaths and just 10.6 births, a gap that isn’t being filled by immigrants, leading to a population decline of about 750,000 to 800,000 a year.

Out of every 1,000 Russian newborn babies, more than 12 die before they are one year old, an infant mortality rate five times higher than in Iceland and three to four times higher than in Finland, Sweden, Spain and France, Russia’s Federal Statistics Service reported last week.

The average Russian man now dies at 58.8, the shortest life expectancy in Europe and five years fewer than 15 years ago, the Statistics Service said. Russian women have the fourth-lowest life expectancy in Europe, 72 years, the service said, citing its own data and figures from the World Health Organization and European Union.

What does Brak have against our military installations?

Brak.














BRAC Panel Votes to Pull Thune's Chestnuts From Fire

Oh, BRAC.

From The Why Is That Goat Bleating In My Computer? Department:

Islamists Seek to Organize Hackers' Jihad in Cyberspace

A Web forum for Muslim extremists is calling on its members to organize an Islamist hackers' army to carry out Internet attacks against the U.S. government.

The site has posted tips, software and links to other resources to help would-be cyber-warriors.

The Jamestown Foundation, a District-based nonprofit with a history of extensive ties to the CIA, said that it has monitored postings on a new section of an extremist bulletin board called al-Farooq.

According to Jeffrey Poole, a researcher for the foundation, the forum "represents a how-to manual for the disruption and/or destruction of enemy electronic resources, including e-mail, Web sites and computer hardware."

The new section was set up two weeks ago, according to a briefing written by Mr. Poole and distributed by the foundation, which added that one member of the forum has called for the creation of an Islamist organization, which he dubbed "Jaish al-Hacker al-Islami," the Islamic Hacker's Army.

The would-be Islamist cyber-warrior, who calls himself "Achrafe," pointed out that organization of large numbers of attackers is a key force multiplier in some forms of Web warfare -- such as denial-of- service attacks in which the target's servers are bombarded with so many requests for information from other parts of the Internet that they effectively are shut down.

The foundation described in detail a "hacker library" maintained on the al-Farooq site, offering special software that can be used to steal passwords; tools and tips on anonymous Web surfing; and programs the site says can destroy or disable a target computer if installed on it.

Ron Gula, a former National Security Agency official who worked on computer security issues, said that many of the hacking efforts made by such groups are "amateurish" and "lost in the background noise" of other hackers and Internet criminals.

Are we supposed to hope they move on to the type of terrorism that needs no expertise - like blowing up a bus full of women and kids?

"Between 1 and 5 percent of the Internet is infected [with viruses, spyware, worms or other malicious software] at any one time," Mr. Gula said. (Thanks to The Washington Times for the heads up.)

The latest from CNSNews.

Planned Parenthood Accused of Secret Deal on Contraceptive

(CNSNews.com) - A pro-life group is charging Planned Parenthood with having a secret deal with the manufacturer of the "morning after" pill that would enable the nation's largest abortion provider to make millions of dollars in profits selling Plan B kits. Full Story


Anti-War Protests Target Wounded at Army Hospital Washington

(CNSNews.com) - The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton." Full Story and See Video


Bolton Accused of Causing Chaos Ahead of UN Summit

(CNSNews.com) - Less than three weeks before more than 170 nations' leaders meet for a major world summit in New York, media around the world are reporting that the Bush administration's point man at the United Nations has thrown plans for the gathering into disarray. Full Story


Asian Financial Hub Warned of Possible Terror Attack

(CNSNews.com) - The al Qaeda terrorist network may be planning a terrorist attack in a major city in Asia as a bid to undermine investor confidence and cause serious economic damage, one of Europe's leading terrorist investigators has warned. Full Story

Back again to incomprehensibility.

The moral of all the stories, kiddies? People all over the world are the same. They're all dumbass morons.


Ben-Gurion's legacy still inspires youth...to have sex

Is David Ben-Gurion turning in his grave?

It turns out that the secular students at the Sde Boker Academy in the Negev also know how to uphold a time-honored tradition – a tradition to have sex on the graves of Israel's founding father, David Ben-Gurion , and wife Paula.

According to two graduates of the Institute's high school, students at the school have been losing their virginity at the site for years.

"My friends and I always talked about it," one grad told Radio South. "We'd heard about it for years"

The student said that while he had never had sex at the gravesite, many of his friends "seized the opportunity" to maintain the school tradition.

"One friend told me all about it," he said. "He called his girlfriend and asked her to come with him that night to the graves. Two hours later, he came back and told me what they'd done."

The director of the Sde Boker Academy, Yaakov Aini, said in response he had never heard of the goings-on at Ben Gurion's grave, but said that if the reports were true, "it is shameful, distorted, and very serious."

But Ben Gurion's grandson, Dr. Yariv Ben-Eliezer, wasn't so concerned.

"If the information is true, I think it's great. I'm happy that years after my grandfather died, he continues to inspire our youth and still gives the country an erection."

WTF????

"But I wouldn't have thought a cold, hard stone was the best place to have sex," he said.

This, I understand.

A model displays lingerie maker Triumph International's new Hanshin Tigers bra, commemorating the Japanese baseball team's 70th anniversary, in Tokyo August 26, 2005. The bra, embroidered with the team's logo on the cups, comes with a pair of shorts and a skirt and will go on sale with a limited-edition run of 100 sets from late September for 21,000 yen ($190). REUTERS
(Thanks to Mainichi Daily News for the heads up.)

From The Inscrutable Nipponese Department:

A young job-seeker takes a seat in front of executives of ImageNet Co., one of Japan's top Internet apparel retailers, during an interview on top of Mount Fuji, August 24, 2005. The job interview was held atop Japan's highest mountain to make sure new employees have what it takes to scale the heights of business, the company said. 11 applicants out of 20 succeeded in reaching the 3,776-meter summit on Wednesday to attend the interview to try for one of four jobs on offer. Photo: Reuters
(Thanks to Mainichi Daily News for the heads up.)

From The Our Idiot British Cousins Department:

On second thought, if you can get chicks in bikinis to pick the lice out of your hair (or if you're British) it might not be such a bad deal.

London Zoo unveiled a new exhibition -- eight humans prowling around wearing little more than fig leaves to cover their modesty.

The "Human Zoo" is intended to show the basic nature of human beings as they frolick throughout the August bank holiday weekend.

"We have set up this exhibit to highlight the spread of man as a plague species (Yes. Of course. - F.G.) and to communicate the importance of man's place in the planet's ecosystem," London Zoo said.

The scantily-clad volunteers will be treated as animals and kept amused at the central London zoo with games and music.

"I actually think the fig leaves will be enough to cover us up, it's no worse than a swimming pool," said volunteer Simon Spiro, 19, from New Malden, south of the British capital.

Spiro, selected from dozens of hopefuls in an Internet competition, said he was excited by the prospect of monkeying around on the zoo's Bear Mountain.

"I'm a veterinary student so the idea of working for a zoo was something that appealed to me.

"I thought it would be fun and interesting because I'm an outdoorsy kind of person," he said.

Brendan Carr, 25, from Aylesbury, southern England, wrote a poem in his bid to get on the mountain.

"I'm funky like a monkey and as cool as a cat, talk more than a parrot, up all night like a bat," it went.

"I got a laugh like a hyena but get the hump like a camel, so cover me in fig leaves as I'm the ultimate mammal."

Website of the Day.

JunkScience.com

Kyoto Count Up!
February 16, 2005
Updated August 22, 2005


The seemingly interminable Kyoto countdown is over - now we begin to count UP (the cost).

Since coming into effect February 16, 2005, the Kyoto Protocol has cost the world about US $78,645,452,391 (When I last looked. Go here to watch the numbers fly. - F.G.) while the potential temperature saving by the year 2050 so far achieved by Kyoto is 0.000815589 degrees Celsius (to get activity on the clock we had to go to billionths part of one degree, which obviously cannot be measured as a global mean) and yes, that really does represent about $100K per billionth of one degree allegedly "saved." Guess that means for the bargain price of just $100 trillion we could theoretically lower global mean temperature by about 1 °C.

So, how do we arrive at these incredible numbers?

Firstly, the now widely acknowledged "saving" (amount of warming avoided) potential for complete implementation of Kyoto is ~0.07 °C by the year 2050. Since skeptics (e.g. Pat Michaels) and advocates (Kevin Trenberth, for example) alike have signed off on the figure we see no need to dispute it. Further, even though the US and Australia have sense enough to stay clear of energy rationing schemes like this we are prepared to cut The Protocol a great deal of slack and pretend that figure is achievable by the EU and fellow travelers. Thus our potentially "saved" temperature figure is simply 0.07 °C/45 (the amount per year assuming a linear progression) further divided down to an accumulation per second. Granted, this is not likely a very accurate nor realistic representation but hey, we don't even know the absolute mean surface temperature of the planet within ±0.7 °C anyway.

For our cost values we basically went with the optimistic guesstimate of $150 billion per annum compliance cost. This figure is divided to an amount per second and accumulated in 0.05 second increments. Granted, we could have used much more aggressive cost estimates but we just can't see the governments of the EU, Japan and maybe Canada being permitted to squander any more funds that could be usefully applied to such frivolous pursuits as domestic health care, third world development aid or even infrastructure repair and replacement.


Update August 22, 2005:

Our cost estimate is extremely conservative - see: "Cost of ending global warming 'too high'" - "BRINGING global warming to an end would cost almost half global GDP - €13,000bn - at least, one London analyst has calculated. Charles Dumas of Lombard Street Research says this is many times the cost of dealing with the damaging effects of global warming." (Unison.ie)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Full report available at http://www.lombardstreetresearch.com/Content/Home.asp

Global warming's £10 trillion cost (The Scotsman)

The above guesstimates do not include the billions allocated to "global warming" research ($2 billion per annum in the US alone), "alternative" energy research ($3 billion in the US) and subsidy ($? lots, with forced market share), public indoctrination education campaigns, public monies misdirected to NGOs and other pressure groups or the donations frightened out of the public by the various foundations and alleged charities acting against human interest. These additional funds are the gravy train of Big Warming, a multi-billion-dollar industry devoted to generating scary scenarios and pronouncements of impending doom to further their own agendas or simply maintain their grant stream and employment. Curiously, Big Warming presents the absurd idea that warming advocacy is purely altruistic while the paltry few hundred thousands in donations or grants that were (I don't know if they still are) available to help present the counter case somehow invalidates the science or opinion of anyone who dares to disagree - a position actively promoted by the mainstream but actively Left-leaning media. Quite how multi-billions don't influence while a few thousands "obviously corrupt" we have not been able to discern.

Many billions of dollars have already been squandered on this farce and now it really begins.

What a stupid game this is.

Making the world safe for fascism...

...or, Fascism: America's newest export.

From Yahoo!News comes news of the profoundly ignorant and evil ruling of a federal judge in San Francisco by the name of Jeffrey White, who fancies himself a jurist, a scientist, all three branches of government at once, and, apparently, a god.

In a landmark ruling, (I'll say. - F.G.) a US judge endorsed a lawsuit charging two federal agencies with wrongly funding international oil and gas projects that promote global warming, court documents showed.

Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation have supported fossil fuel projects worldwide without considering the potential harm to the planet, according to the complaint.

A pretty nifty trick, considering global warming does not exist.

The suit asks the court to compel OPIC and Ex-Im, whose directors are appointed by US President George Bush, to comply with environmental regulations and shift funding to alternative energy sources and conservation programs.

"This lawsuit is part of a broader effort to realign economic and industrial activity with ecological constraints," Mayor Jerry Brown of the California city of Oakland told AFP on Thursday.

Judge Jeffrey White ruled on Wednesday that environment groups Greanpeace and Friends of the Earth and the US cities that united to file the suit have legal standing to make their claim and a point worth pursuing in court.

"It is profoundly important because it is a major step forward in holding these agencies to a rule of law, in this instance a rule of environmental law," Brown said of the ruling.

OPIC and Ex-Im ignored national Environmental Protection Act mandates while approving more than 32 billion dollars in loan guarantees and insurance for oil and natural gas projects in the past decade, the suit charged.

Projects included the largest new oil fields in South America, Russia, Southeast Asia, West Africa, Mexico and the Caspian Sea region, according to the suit filed in 2002.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Zephyrinus, pope and martyr. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading is 1 Thessalonians 4: 1-8.
Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 25:1-13.


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to Saint Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Animal Flesh Recipe of the Day.

From Rachel Ray and Food Network comes a frugal idea featuring today's victim of human specieism, the noble chicken.


Chicken Divan Tonight, Chicken Tetrazzini Next Week


Base chicken recipe:
1 quart chicken stock
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or the equivalent of freshly grated Salt and pepper


Divine Divan:
1 pound broccoli spears
8 ounces Gruyere, shredded to 2 cups


Tremendous Tetrazzini:
2 tablespoons butter
12 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 pound wide egg noodles, cooked to al dente and hot
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup (a couple of handfuls) grated Parmigiano
2 ounces slivered almonds, toasted


Suggested side for Chicken Divan: 1 (10-ounce) bay baby salad greens
White wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil, for dressing
Salt and pepper
Bread and butter, for the table

Suggested side for Chicken Tetrazzini:
Mixed Greens with Vegetable Streamers and Confetti
1 (10-ounce) bay baby salad greens
1 baby zucchini or 1/4 cucumber, seedless
1 carrott, peeled
1/2 red bell pepper
2 scallions
3 tablespoons fresh herbs, mix from what you have on hand
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons (3 turns around the bowl) extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Bread and butter, for the table


Bring 1 quart chicken stock to a boil in a wide, deep skillet with lid. Add chicken breasts. Return broth to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and poach the chicken 8 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside. Reserve the broth for the sauce. In a skillet, saute shallots in oil and butter for 2 minutes. Sprinkle in 3 tablespoons flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in 1 cup wine and reduce by half, 1 minute. Ladle in chicken broth, whisking sauce as you do. Stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream. Season sauce with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Bring to a bubble and reduce heat to low. Slice the chicken into 1/2-inch strips and add to the pan. Coat chicken in sauce. At this stage, in order to have enough for 2 meals, remove half of the chicken in sauce and transfer to a container with a tight fitting lid. Cool the chicken, cover, and freeze for the tetrazzini, recipe follows.


To assemble Divine Divan:
simmer broccoli spears in 1-inch water, covered, for 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Top with half the grated Gruyere and half of the base chicken recipe. Top chicken with remaining Gruyere and brown until bubbling and golden under preheated broiler, about 2 minutes. Serve with dressed salad greens and bread.


To assemble tetrazzini:
reheat defrosted base chicken recipe in microwave oven. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small pan. Saute mushrooms 5 minutes, until tender. Toss drained hot egg noodles with chicken and mushrooms. Transfer mixture to a baking dish and top with bread crumbs, cheese, and almonds. Brown under preheated broiler until topping is even golden brown. Place pan 6 inches from heat source. Topping will brown in 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with salad and bread. Place greens in a bowl. Using a vegetable peeler, peel strips of zucchini or cucumber into the salad bowl. Repeat with carrot. The vegetables will look like party streamers. Finely chop pepper, scallions, and fresh herbs to make colorful confetti. Sprinkle chopped vegetables into bowl. Toss salad at the table with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, to your taste.
Serve with bread and butter.

A veritable cornucopia of hot TV news babes.

Today's babes are: (TOP TO BOTTOM) Cherokee Ballard and Ali Meyer of KFOR in Oklahoma City.

Patricia Lopez, Jennifer Zeppelin (!), Ericka Lewis, and Stephanie Riggs of KCNC in Denver.




Vicki Liviakis of KRON in San Francisco.
Mary Tan, Bridgette Bornstein, and Karen Leigh of WCCO in Minneapolis/ St. Paul.

The 2006 Mexican presidential campaign kicks off after Labor Day — in Los Angeles...

...or, Mexican politicians have major league huevos.


The leading contenders are planning appearances in L.A. this fall, campaign aides confirm, in a bid to capture the attention and support of their country's newest constituency.

Last month, Mexicans living abroad were granted the right to vote by mail, beginning with the presidential election in July 2006.

There are estimated to be 10 million adult Mexicans living in the United States, and experts say a third or less are eligible to vote, though it is anybody's guess how many will cast ballots. About 37 million people, 64% of the registered electorate, voted in Mexico's 2000 presidential election.
The front-runners want to make every vote count, and they have little time. Mexican election laws forbid campaign appearances outside the country after candidates are selected this fall.

The right to vote abroad, and the billions of dollars sent home by emigrants each year, has turned the spotlight on a group of men and women more accustomed to being ignored.

"This is finally the chance to ask them what we want them to do for us in the United States, and for our families back home," said Primitivo Rodriguez, a voting rights advocate in Mexico. "As Mexican Americans have dramatically decreased their dialogue with the Mexican government, this shows the growing presence of a new Mexican voice in the U.S."

If these bastards weren't flaunting our laws this would be one funny story.

The U.S. immigrants come largely from poor villages in half a dozen Mexican states. But they learn trades and earn American salaries, extending a strong influence over family and friends back home. Their success inspires more and more Mexicans to seek a better life up north. And their growing numbers trigger unease among many Americans.

Now they have the attention of Mexico's political leaders.

The leading presidential contender, according to polls, is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who stepped down last month as mayor of Mexico City to campaign full time. His campaign lieutenant first talked of a Southern California visit during the inaugural of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in July.

So far, none of the candidates have set dates, each apparently waiting to first see what the other is going to do.

Before the mail-in balloting was approved, Mexicans living abroad had to return to their homeland if they wanted to vote.

Now the stakes have risen. When Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the founder of Lopez Obrador's left-of-center Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, came to Los Angeles in May 2000 to campaign for president, he drew about 250 supporters to an Olvera Street rally.

If Lopez Obrador could plan his visit for Sept. 15, Mexico's Independence Day, "we'll have at least 100,000 people" lining the streets of Huntington Park, said Felipe Aguirre in a telephone interview from Maywood. The paralegal is the party's former California chairman.

How sick is this? I don't imagine any American pol would dare deny them a permit for this nonsense.

Roberto Madrazo and Arturo Montiel, both seeking the nomination of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as PRI, will be their party's first rivals to campaign toe to toe in the United States when they visit Los Angeles this fall.

Fetal-pain study omits a baby butcherin' bias.

Surprise!

Remember yesterday's breathless leftist lie of the day? (I think I have a new feature for my humble blog!) The fairy tale basically said undifferentiated tissue masses in the womb don't feel pain so don't think twice, go ahead and chop 'em all up.

Well, today's Philly Inquirer points out the so-called "scientific study" of studies was really babytoir propaganda slapped together in under ten minutes in a hybrid car owned by a NARAL operative.

But their seven-page article has a weakness: It does not mention that one author is an abortion clinic director, while the lead author - Susan J. Lee, a medical student - once worked for NARAL Pro-Choice America.

JAMA editor-in-chief Catherine D. DeAngelis said she was unaware of this, and acknowledged it might create an appearance of bias that could hurt the journal's credibility. "This is the first I've heard about it," she said. "We ask them to reveal any conflict of interest. I would have published" the disclosure if it had been made. (Thanks to the conservatives' favorite serial adulterer for the heads up.)

News flash to the dumbass! Hey, egghead! People will lie to acheive their goals.

Yes, scientists too.

Opinion Journal Editorial: Iraq's Federalist Papers

Iraq's first freely elected government continues to vindicate the belief that the Mideast can be transformed, starting with Saddam Hussein's former tyranny. Its draft constitution, which appears headed for parliamentary approval tonight, reflects a remarkable spirit of compromise--and even enlightenment--among the country's political, ethnic and religious factions.

The word "compromise" is key here. If we were drafting the document, there are many things we might have done differently. But the point of democracy is that countries have to find their own way on difficult issues. Americans also shouldn't be too quick to conclude that anything that sounds odd or unfamiliar to liberal ears is evidence of failure. While this constitution does indeed contain general appeals to religion, it is fundamentally a document that empowers legislators, not clerics.

Take the role of Islam, which is designated as "a" (not "the") "basic source of legislation." Some critics see this as evidence of incipient theocracy. But in what Western democracy are laws not generally in accord with the Judeo-Christian moral heritage?* In any case, interpretation of that clause will be up to elected representatives.

*Ah-ha! That's why the left doesn't get this.

Joe Sobran on intelligent design, neo-darwinism, education, religion, America, and, quite frankly, every everything.

(Note: The link above will take you to Joe's current on-line column. The archive is here. Not all of his past columns are available in the archive.)

President Bush has propelled the subject of evolution onto the cover of Time magazine. He favors the idea of “intelligent design,” which holds that life evidently comes from a Creator rather than a long series of accidents. And he supports parents who don’t want Darwinism to enjoy a monopoly in public schools.

He’s quite right, of course. When all is said, Darwinism remains mere speculation. It presupposes that the entire universe is physical, period. But what if there is more to it? What if mind is more than the peculiar matter of the brain? Why should we rule out the possibility that human reason reflects something divine in the very nature of things?

This is one of those ideas that drive liberals nuts. But why should there be any controversy about whether parents should control their children’s education? Because liberals are afraid that parents might insist that their children learn the wrong stuff. Such as religion.

That would violate the separation of church and state, as, I suppose, would teaching public-school pupils that the Declaration of Independence is correct about the self-evident truths that all men are created equal and that the Creator who did the creating has endowed us with unalienable rights. Imagine what would happen if everyone believed that! The next thing you know, someone might ban slavery, and then where would we be?

The American Republic was founded expressly on what liberals deride as “creationism.” If you don’t like it, maybe this country is wrong for you. I certainly wouldn’t want to make anyone feel unwelcome here, but there it is.

But let’s hear the other side of the story. Time quotes Steven Pinker, the noted Harvard psychologist, who reminds us, “In practice, religion has given us stonings, inquisitions, and 9/11.” Not to mention pedophile priests! So who needs it?

There we have an excellent one-sentence summary of the liberal’s history of religion. When I saw the World Trade Center collapse, I had exactly the same thought: “There goes religion again! No atheist would ever do a lousy thing like that.”

Ouch!

But doesn’t morality get a boost, at least, from religion? Professor Pinker again: “Morality comes from a commitment to treat others as we wish to be treated, which follows from the realization that none of us is the sole occupant of the universe.” Thus the so-called Golden Rule derives not from religion, as vulgarly supposed, but from science.

Heehee.

Before Darwin, we humans thought we were the sole occupants of the universe, so we naturally had stonings and inquisitions. Since Darwin, we have become much nicer. Except for guys like Stalin and Hitler, who drew somewhat different lessons from evolution.

“Overcoming naive impressions to figure out how things really work,” Professor Pinker opines, “is one of humanity’s highest callings.” Highest? Who says? Hasn’t Darwin taught us that words like highest and lowest express the egotism of our species? And if you believe that some beings are “higher” than others, you may wind up believing that there is a “highest” being — God — and start stoning those who are “lower.”

President Bush went to Harvard too, and some might say that he emerged unscathed. I wouldn’t know about that; I went to a minor college in Michigan whose most remarkable product was a serial killer. (Whether he was Darwinian or religious I can’t say.)

My point being simply that parents should have the right to decide how their children are educated. Each of us has not only unalienable rights, but also, according to three members of the U.S. Supreme Court, the right to define the universe. Not just part of the universe, mind you, but the whole thing. This principle, you’ll recall, was formulated by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

That would seem to cover evolution, would it not? Why should I have to teach my child that his remote ancestor was a gorilla? It’s bad for discipline. When he gets old enough to define the universe for himself, he may have his suspicions. Or he may exercise his constitutional right to define himself as the sole occupant of the universe, which he seems to believe anyway, in spite of everything I’ve tried to tell him. Meanwhile, while I’m paying the bills, I’ll define the universe.

A real woman puts paid to the lies of the "Ignorance Mom", Cindy Sheehan.

The president singled out Tammy Pruett of Pocatello, Idaho, who now has four sons in Iraq and whose husband and another son returned from war last year.

"Tammy says this -- and I want you to hear this -- 'I know that if something happens to one of the boys, they would leave this world doing what they believe, what they think is right for our country,' " Mr. Bush said.

"And I guess you couldn't ask for a better way of life than giving it for something that you believe in. America lives in freedom because of families like the Pruetts." The crowd, made up mostly of military family members, broke into cheers and "USA" chants.
(Thanks to The Washington Times for the heads up.)

Life imitates crap.

From that site with the awfully silly name, Breitbart.com (via Drudge) comes this story about the effect of TV on the poor.

Brazilians are illegally entering the United States in record numbers in hopes of finding jobs and better lives -- just like characters in a wildly popular Brazilian soap opera "America."

The number of undocumented Brazilians caught on U.S. soil is set to rise over four fold this year from 2004 -- a much bigger increase than for illegal immigrants from other Latin American countries, according to U.S. officials.

As authorities search for factors spurring the exodus, they have begun to look at the passion of Brazil's poor for "America," a soap opera that debuted in early March and shows illegal immigrants risking their lives to enter the United States to find jobs and romance amid the hardship.
"Any publicity raises the idea in people's minds they can make it," said one U.S. diplomat who did not want to be identified.

Like half of all Brazilian TV viewers, Tarcila Madureira Silva tuned in each night to the Globo network soap opera. She watched heroine Sol make it as a dancer in Miami and send money home to help her family, in between passionate scenes with her American lover.

Silva, 20, had already watched her neighbors build homes with money they earned from illegal work in the United States.

"I decided to seek a better life for my family," says Silva, who in July left behind her mother and two young brothers in the farming town of Gonzaga, Minas Gerais to make the 5,000 mile journey to the U.S.-Mexican border.

Like one in four illegal immigrants, she was picked up by U.S. authorities shortly after crossing. Though many get out on bail and get away, Silva was deported.

"The soap opera is true; here in Brazil poor people have no chance," said Silva, as her mother fretted over how they will buy food and pay the $65 monthly rent for their crumbling, mud-brick home.

I can't say I blame her or anyone else trying to come here. I wouldn't want to waste my life in some third (or second, for that matter) world cesspool.

But it is our country and sooner or later we will be forced to militarize our borders. Maybe a couple hundred bullet riddled corpses floating in the Rio Grande will convince people they should apply for visas.

Embrace Our Values or Leave.

So saith Australia, staunch ally in the fight we face.

The Australian government has stepped up a campaign against radical Muslims, saying those wanting to live under Islamic law or refusing to accept "Australian values" should leave. At the same time, it plans to monitor mosques to ensure that radical messages are not being taught.

Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday the government wanted "to penetrate the Islamic community and to try and get to the people who are preaching support for terrorism" to ensure that youngsters in particular were not being influenced.

He said he was not perturbed by competing religious claims -- people saying their religion was superior and labeling others infidels -- "but when it comes to praising people who are clearly terrorists ... that is not okay."

In an earlier radio interview, Howard said the government realized it could not change the minds of "hardened fanatics." They had to be identified and acted against. The main aim was to prevent those extremists from influencing young and impressionable Muslims.

Amen to all that, Brother.

Asked whether the authorities would keep a watch on mosques and Islamic schools, Howard replied: "Yes, to the extent necessary."

The government had no desire or intention to interfere with the practice of religion, "but we have a right to know whether there is, within any section of the Islamic community, a preaching of the virtues of terrorism, whether any comfort or harbor is given to terrorism within that community."
(Thanks to CNSNews for the heads up.)

The death of Japan.

CNSNews reports on the suicide of a people.


Despite policies aimed at reversing the trend, Japan's government reports a continuing decline in the number of children born, and for the first time in 60 years, the world's second-largest economy could record a population drop this year.

The implications are enormous for a country where more than 70 percent of welfare spending already goes toward age-related benefits.

The proportion of people over 65 years of age is more than 20 percent of the total population and projected to exceed 35 percent by 2050. At the same time, the pool of working-age Japanese continues to diminish.

Health ministry figures released this week show that more people died than were born in Japan during the first six months of 2005, resulting in a net population fall of more than 30,000.

Because a flu epidemic was blamed in part for a high number of deaths during the January-March period, the second half of the year could see a balancing out. But even so, the pattern is one that has been evident for years.

"A recovery trend is usually seen in the latter half of the year," the Japan Times quoted a health ministry official as saying. "But we cannot rule out the possibility that the overall population may shrink this year, depending on the circumstances.

"Three years ago, Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research estimated that the population would peak at 127.7 million in 2006 and then begin a steady decline, reaching 100 million by 2050.

Kennedy's thug Flug is on the case.

Bob Novak reports on Senator Murder's recall of a professional Democrass apparatchik known for slandering those who do not share the bad Senator's enthusiasm for killing.

An alert this week from backers of Judge John Roberts cautions not to take seriously Democratic complaints that they cannot stop his confirmation. A three-page memo sent to thousands of conservatives across the country warns that the assault on President Bush's first Supreme Court nominee is yet to come. A major reason cited for this belief is the man back at Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's side on the Senate Judiciary Committee: James Flug.

''It is hard to fathom (Speaking of fathoms, Senator Murder... - F.G.) Mr. Flug coming back to Capitol Hill after 30 years of private practice for anything other than a bitterly tough confirmation fight,'' says the memo, by three prominent Roberts backers. That argument is based on Flug's 38-year intermittent history as Kennedy's gunslinger. Not contained in the memo is Flug's clandestine activity since his return investigating at least one Bush judicial nominee, Appellate Judge William Pryor.

The Kennedy-Flug partnership blocking confirmation of Republican judges dates back to the defeat of President Richard Nixon's Supreme Court nominees G. Harrold Carswell and Clement F. Haynsworth. As Kennedy's rhetoric intensifies, the atmosphere leading up to next month's Roberts hearings feels like the eve of battle.

I had known Flug while he was a Kennedy aide in the late 1960s and in Kennedy's 1980 campaign for president. He returned my call last week, and I asked why Flug, now age 66, would return to a job normally filled by somebody 30 years younger. When he learned what I was after, Flug broke off the conversation and said he would resume the next day if he could. He never did.

I did not even get a chance to ask him about the Pryor nomination, but I talked to several other sources. When Flug returned to Kennedy's staff two years ago, he was immersed in the Kennedy-led attempt to reject Bush judicial nominees. Alabama Attorney General Pryor, nominated to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, was a principal target.

Documents concerning Pryor's fund-raising as founder of the Republican Attorneys General Association were leaked to Kennedy's office by a former RAGA secretary who took the documents without permission. Three sources, including one Senate aide, told me that Flug was the Kennedy staffer receiving the purloined material. The attempt to ambush Pryor was ruined when the plan was disclosed in a July 16, 2003, column in the Mobile Register by Quin Hillyer. Kennedy then accused Republicans of leaking confidential information. However, Pryor was one of three appellate nominees who this year was finally confirmed in the ''Group of 14'' agreement.

After my brief conversation with Flug, Kennedy's press office said the aide was too busy to talk to me. Over five days of repeated questions about his role in the Pryor confirmation fight, I received no answer. As to why he returned to Kennedy's staff, the senator's press aide referred me to a flattering profile of Flug in the Aug. 19, 2003, edition of The Hill newspaper. ''It was an extraordinary opportunity to maybe repeat history,'' Flug was quoted as saying.

The Hill interview did not indicate Flug's repetition of history when he returned earlier to help Kennedy battle a stiff 1994 re-election challenge by current Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Flug hired private investigator Terry Lenzner to research Romney, an arrangement that was kept off official campaign reports.

That record is why Flug is mentioned prominently in the memo sent out by Leonard Leo (Federalist Society), Jay Sekulow (American Center for Law and Justice) and Edwin Meese (Heritage Foundation). It cites the bitter Clarence Thomas confirmation when Democrats said they had no chance to win before beginning the real assault, warning the same can happen with Roberts.

Kennedy began stepping up his assault on Roberts in an Aug. 19 Washington Post op-ed, questioning whether Roberts ''will adopt a cramped and contorted (Just like Mary Jo as she drowned in your car. - F.G.) view of our Constitution that will turn back the clock.'' That sounds like a toned-down version of Kennedy's description of ''Robert Bork's America'' as a country of ''back-alley abortions'' and ''segregated lunch counters.'' Based on the past, has Flug returned to provide ammunition for the senator's attack machine?

Look out, kiddies. The totalitarian middle and the Leninist/Leninists have not given up yet.

The ultimate Tom Cruise t-shirt.

I just could not resist adding one more design from tshirthumor.com.

Too true.

T-shirts available here.

The Serial Killer Next Door

How's that for a headline, kiddies? It comes from our Blog of the Day, callieischatty. This is a real life horror story that is almost as scary as letting Senator Thrillkill foetussit for you.

OK let me tell you a story that is all true.

I lived for 7 years in a beautiful neighborhood in San Diego.....one of those lovely new devolpments of white stucco houses with red tile roofs and backyards full of bougenvilla and palm trees.

It was a semi gated community and like everyone else we bought our house brand spankin new. People came from all over the world to work at Qualcomm, Intel, Cisco and Nokia and thought nothing of dropping 650k for a house in a neighborhood with its own elementary school, play ground and pristine well groomed bike paths. It had that Pleasantville feeling of affuent suburban happiness. It never rained, the people were rich and beautiful and the sidewalks were always full of roller skating, scootering, bike rideing children.

Across the street from me, and right there was a guy named David Westerfield. David sits on death row now for the murder of seven year old Danielle Van Dam. I knew him pretty well and he was a computer guy of some sort just like everything else. Only two things set him apart from the rest of us. He was divorced, and had grown kids, and he liked camping and had this enormous 500k Airstream moter home parked at his house.

Does that name ring a bell?

When David came back from his 'camping trips' on Sunday night he would meticulously clean the RV. I mean it was weird. He would take out the rugs, the furniture and wash it all down with bleach and water. It used to take him a whole day. My youngest is full of mischief and when we would see him with the hose she would ask to hold it and want to squirt the RV. I never let her since I was afraid she would turn it on David! Thank God!

I wish to God I could tell you there was something that creeped me out about him but honest to goodness there wasn't one thing.

He had two nice kids he saw alot of, his house was really nice, he put a pool in and everything, it all seemed very normal to me. He was even nice, once when my husband was in Venezuala he helped me jump my van when my kid left the light on in the back.

I have nightmares about that sometimes.

He knew both my nice little girls by name.

We walked by his house every day. I gave a deposition in his trial. About the camper that is.

Anyhow, one night he snapped and went to the neighbors house when little Danielle was up in her bed. It was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep.

He took her out of her bed and brought her to the desert in the camper and killed her and left her body in this ditch.

Visit the Polly Klaas Foundation.

I get mail...

I posted excerpts from Arnaud de Borchgrave's Gaza column, and

callieischatty said...
Very interesting. I think gaza will fall into civil war and chaos no matter how much money we crank into it.

Let them find the money Suha Arafat owes them first.

Heehee. I had forgotten about that beard of Arafat's.

I think Israel should just build the wall more or less on the green line which they are doing, and just bag it and let them all work in Jordan or Egypt or where ever.

Let me first thank callie for actually getting through two of my posts. I believe that is some kind of record.

callieischatty reminds me of a neighbor's dolly my GI Joes used to regularly rescue and sometimes execute as a nurse turned enemy agent.

Not only will Israelis need a stout fence, they will have to shoot everything that moves near it. Stay tuned for updates on that story, baby.



Then, responding to my outrage over idiot foreigners telling us how to remember September 11, 2001 (especially since we have plenty of American idiots around to handle the job),


callieischatty said...
Amazing. You can't make this shit up.


Normally, I try to keep my little corner of Bloggerville scatology free.

But there is something about a chick talking dirty that is soooooo hot! (And she's right, too, and that's even hotter.)

Introducing "Senatrix Thrillkill".

She called the impending debate over Roberts' nomination a "big, big deal."
"I don't think in the last couple of decades there has been a Supreme Court appointment that could more tip the balance of the court," Feinstein said in a speech to several hundred Silicon Valley business executives. "That's how mega this vote is."

How's that lobotomy working for you Di? Mega child corpses be cool.

Feinstein, a moderate (HOLY CRAP! You might as well describe CNN as a news gathering and reporting entity. - F.G.) Democrat, has emerged as a pivotal figure. Judiciary Committee Republicans have enough votes to send Roberts' nomination to the full Senate for consideration, but Feinstein's committee vote could influence other Democrats.

As the only woman on the 18-member committee, Feinstein said she has a "special role and a special obligation" in grilling Roberts -- particularly on his views about the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

"I happen to feel that it would be very difficult for me to vote yes on a nominee I thought would overturn Roe vs. Wade," she said. (No thanks to CNN for this pile of propaganda.)

Her complete episode of flatulence didn't make it past the CNN censors. (After all, they can't let us know exactly what kind of totalitarian harridan she is.)

The following might be the same quote, embellished by the San Francisco Chronicle. Or maybe CNN screwed it up. Either way, you get our Lady Di's point: KILL! KILL! KILL!

"It would be very difficult for me to vote to confirm someone to the Supreme Court whom I knew would overturn Roe and return our country to the days of the 1950s," the 72-year-old Democratic senator said.

So, at-will baby butchering now defines America, eh, Senatrix Thrillkill? I've always thought so.

Introducing "Senator How Could Anyone Tell?"

From Capital News 9 (via Yahoo!News):

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is recovering after having a minor stroke earlier this week.

Reid went to the doctor's office Tuesday after feeling light-headed and physicians soon realized what was going on.

Headlines ripped from the headlines.

I know you saw it yesterday. It was everywhere.

Troops' Gravestones Have Pentagon Slogans was how Yahoo!News and AP said it.

The local yokel newspaper here in Flyover, USA said it this way:

Gilding The Gravestones

All kinds of terrible stuff went through my poor old brain when I saw these headlines. What in the world did CuriousGeorge BushMonkey do now? Visions of markers in Arlington National with slogans like "Bush #1!", "I Did Not Die For Oil", "I Loved Haliburton", and "Drink Coca-Cola" danced in my head.

But, as you can see at the top of this post, the whole kerfuffle was just another media creation. The Pentagon's crime? Carving "Operation Iraqi Freedom" or "Operation Enduring Freedom" on the markers.

Actually, this is a valuable public service. People indoctrinated in government schools will have no idea what war was being fought on the date of each servicethings death. Think of it as remedial history and then some.

BTW, what's the deal with those Stars of David and Crosses carved on the stones at taxpayer expense? How dare they! And what about the atheist troops? What the heck do they get on their stones? Darwin fish?

Oh, yeah. That's right, there are no atheists... (Want to see people squirm intellectually? Check out that last link.)

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Louis of France, king and crusader. I chose Louis as my confirmation name. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading for the Feast of St. Louis of France is Isaias 58:6-11.
Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 22:34-40.


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to Saint Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.