TheChurchMilitant: 2006-10-15

Friday, October 20, 2006

Paying long overdue homage to an American hero.

The York Dispatch: Headstone to mark grave of one of the first black Army officers

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- In an unmarked grave in a grassy corner of small cemetery lie the remains of Lt. Stephen Swails, one of the first black commissioned officers in the U.S. Army.

Although almost a forgotten footnote in history, Swails served with the 54th Massachusetts in the black regiment's desperate attack on Confederate Battery Wagner in 1863 -- an attack recalled in the movie "Glory."

Swails, who was born in Columbia, Pa., would survive the Civil War to become a state senator, a lawyer, University of South Carolina trustee and mayor of Kingstree.

And next week, re-enactors portraying members of the 54th Massachusetts will join historians and public officials to dedicate a stone marker at Swails' grave more than a century after his death.

The Oct. 28 ceremony caps a two-day commemoration of Swails' life sponsored by the new African-American Historical Alliance, a group working to increase the awareness of the involvement of blacks in the Civil War and Reconstruction in South Carolina.

"What we are doing in terms of recognizing him is reaching back to a part of our state history that is not often talked about," said Michael Allen of the National Park Service in Charleston.

"The African-Americans that were part of the new South Carolina after the war were very extraordinary folks," he said.

Researchers determined where Swails' grave was in the black cemetery by using old records from the Avery Institute for African-American History at the College of Charleston, said Krista Robertson, a spokeswoman for the alliance.

Across the street is Magnolia Cemetery, which has a section where more than 1,70 0 Confederates are buried. In another section of Magnolia are the remains of crews of the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate submarine which was the first in history to sink an enemy warship.

Swails was born in 1832, the son of a black father and white mother. By 1860, he was working at a hotel in Cooperstown, N.Y., and he married.

In 1863, he enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts and became a first sergeant. He survived the attack on Wagner but in February 1864 was wounded at the Battle of Olustee in northern Florida where the 54th Massachusetts also fought.

Swails was then promoted to second lieutenant by Massachusetts' governor John Andrews although the Army did not recognize the promotion until the following year.

After the war, Swails was employed for the Freedman's Bureau in Charleston and worked in Kingstree.

He also married a woman from the Charleston area and had four children. It's not known what happened to his first wife, said Billy Jenkinson, a Kingstree attorney who has extensively studied Swails' life.

Swails was a delegate to the South Carolina constitutional convention and became a state senator. He also served as a delegate to three Republican national conventions and was one of the first blacks elected to the Electoral College.

But when whites came back into power at the end of Reconstruction, Swails resigned from the Senate.

"He was politically active in Williamsburg County and was told to leave under the threat of death," Jenkinson said.

As whites took back power Swails simply "was black and he didn't belong," Jenkinson said. "He was never accused through all of Reconstruction of doing anything wrong."

Later, Swails worked in Washington for the Postal Service and Treasury Department. He took ill in 1899 and returned home to Kingstree where he died the next year.

He was probably buried in Charleston because that's where his wife's family's burial plot was, Jenkinson said.

"Turn-of-the-century Charleston was not a prosperous place. A lot of cemeteries used wooden headstones," said Jenkinson, adding it was unlikely there was ever a stone marking Swails' grave.

"By this time next week there will be," he said.

On the Web: African American Historical Alliance: www.aahasc.org.

Ann Coulter is the enemy of the weak-minded totalitarians among us.

Only Ann dares put the left-fascist thugs in their places.

O.J. Trials for Terrorists by Ann Coulter

The Democrats claim they want to treat terrorism as a criminal law problem, but when we give them an American citizen convicted of aiding terrorists -- as happened this week -- a Democrat judge gives her a slap on the wrist. Or he was going to give her a wrist slap until someone told him that wrist-slapping was banned under the Geneva Conventions, so he let the wrist off with a warning.

Last year, a New York jury found Lynne Stewart guilty of helping her former client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, communicate with his Egyptian-based group of murderous terrorists, appropriately known as "the Islamic Group."

The blind sheik needed to instruct his followers to abandon a truce and resume murdering innocents, but he couldn't get the message through because, by sheer coincidence, he was in prison for conspiring to murder innocents here in America by plotting the first World Trade Center bombing. So Stewart and a "translator" met with her former client in prison and took his messages for transmission to his followers in Egypt.

With the full constitutional protections Democrats want for terrorists in Guantanamo, Stewart was convicted by a New York jury last year.

This week, Judge John Koeltl -- appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1994 -- spurned the prosecution's request for a 30-year sentence and gave Stewart 28 months for being a terrorist's mule. Now she'll clog up the criminal justice system with endless appeals for the next several years -- using procedures that liberals also want for Guantanamo detainees.

At Stewart's sentencing, the judge noted that the defendant's actions had not resulted in any deaths. I'll have to remember that in case I'm ever on trial for attempted murder. "Hey, your honor, did I mention that the guy lived? Yeah, the darn gun jammed on me. Go figure, huh?"

In rejecting a 30-year sentence in favor of a 28-month sentence, the judge commended Stewart for her "public service, not only to her clients, but to the nation" for representing members of the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground. In a sane world, that would have justified a longer sentence, not a shorter one.

Amen to that, Sister!

If only Democrats could turn the entire war on terrorism over to the courts, they could release terrorists and terrorist sympathizers with wild abandon -- and Nancy Pelosi or Hillary Clinton would never have to take a position.

When Americans are allowed to vote, a fireman's vote counts as much as George Soros' vote. But if liberals can just get terrorists into the judicial system, a Clinton-appointed judge can rule on a defense funded by George Soros -- precisely what happened in Stewart's case. Note that even in liberal New York City, average citizens on the jury voted to convict Stewart, despite her Soros-funded defense.

Democrats run apparently sane candidates for office, like James Webb in Virginia and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, who can puff up their chests and pretend they want to pursue terrorists -- while carping about any and all military action in the terrorists' general direction. Instead, let's turn terrorists over to courts full of Clinton and Carter judges! Democratic candidates get to look tough, and the terrorists go scot-free.

Exactly.

It would be frightening enough to treat terrorism as a criminal law problem if it were Republicans saying it. But these are Democrats. Their idea of a major criminal case is Tom DeLay's campaign treasurer accidentally depositing a campaign contribution into a checking account rather than a savings account.

By contrast, terrorists imprisoned in Guantanamo for trying to kill Americans must be treated as innocent little lambs. Oh, to be there when Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman is exonerated due to previously unavailable "DNA evidence"!

After President Bush signed a law this week providing for military tribunals for terrorists being held at Guantanamo and prohibiting their torture, Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin said, "We will look back on this day as a stain on our nation's history." (Note to Democrats: It's still too soon to use "stain" as a metaphor for a White House brouhaha.)

Democrats stood outside the White House shouting "Torture is a crime!" and "Bush is the terrorist!" Yep, these are the people who claim they're going to keep us all safe, America. Everybody good with that?

Gen. George Washington tried Major John Andre, Benedict Arnold's British co-conspirator, by military tribunal and ordered Andre hanged within 10 days of his capture. Nazi saboteurs, including an American citizen, captured on U.S. soil during World War II were tried in secret by military commission and promptly executed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Nuremberg trials were a form of military tribunal.

But Democrats think military tribunals aren't good enough for the terrorists plotting to kill Americans today. Liberals are going to make the terrorists love us! What better way to start than with criminal trials in front of judges like John Koeltl?

Pope Benedict XVI on Faith and Politics.

ZENIT: Politics Shouldn't Undercut Life or Family, Says Pope

VERONA, Italy - Benedict XVI reminded politicians, particularly Catholics, that their choices and programs cannot go against human life or the family.

The Pope's appeal resonated today in Verona, where the Church in Italy is holding its national ecclesial congress on the theme "Witnesses of the Risen Jesus, Hope of the World."

Addressing more than 2,700 people, including bishops and delegates from all the Italian dioceses, the Holy Father dedicated an important part of his address to Christian commitment in politics.

According to Benedict XVI, it is necessary to address with "determination and clarity the risk of political and legislative options that go against fundamental values and anthropological and ethical principles rooted in the human being's nature."

The Pope pointedly referred "to the defense of human life in all its phases, from its conception to natural death, and the promotion of the family founded on marriage."

This implies avoiding the introduction "in public ordering of other forms of union that will contribute to destabilize [the family], obscuring its peculiar character and irreplaceable social role," he said.

Public worth

The Holy Father also clarified how the relationship must be between the Church and politics.

Christ "came to save the real and concrete man, who lives in history and the community; therefore, from the beginning, Christianity and the Church have also had a public dimension and worth," the Pope recalled.

Jesus Christ "brought a novelty to relations between religion and politics, which has opened the way to a more human and free world, through mutual distinction and autonomy between the state and the Church, between what is Caesar's and what is God's," Benedict XVI noted.

Religious freedom itself, "which we experience as a universal value, particularly necessary in today's world, has its historical root here," he added. "Hence, the Church is not and does not seek to be a political agent. At the same time, she is profoundly concerned for the good of the political community, whose soul is justice."

In this connection, the Pontiff explained, the Church offers a decisive contribution.

"Christian faith purifies reason and helps it to be itself," he said. "With its social doctrine, argued from what is in conformity with the human being's nature, the Church contributes to make that which is just to be effectively recognized and then also realized.

"Indispensable for this objective are the spiritual and moral energies that allow the demands of justice to be placed above personal interests, or a social category, or even a state."

The Holy Father added: "The immediate task of action in the political field, to build a just order in society, does not correspond to the Church as such, but to the lay faithful, who act as citizens on their own responsibility."

Sadly, this is desperately needed.

The over/under on how many times the Sacrament of Penance is mentioned in this forthcoming document: 2.

ZENIT: Vote Planned on Guidelines for Holy Communion

During their annual meeting next month the U.S. bishops will vote on a statement designed to help Catholics properly prepare to receive holy Communion.

The proposed document, "'Happy Are Those Who Are Called To His Supper': On Preparing to Receive Christ Worthily in the Eucharist," is not intended to be a technical document for bishops, pastors or ministers.

Rather, it is addressed to all the faithful and suitable for individual reading, parish study groups, and other education programs.

Organized as a series of questions and answers, the statement explores topics such as what the Catholic Church believes about the Eucharist, who may receive holy Communion, and how Catholics can prepare to receive the sacrament more worthily.

Try going to Confession first. It has worked for saints and sinners alike for two thousand years.

The statement reiterates Church teaching that with "few exceptions, only those who are members of the Catholic Church may receive holy Communion at a Catholic Eucharist."

Huh?

Catholics should refrain from holy Communion, according to the statement, when they lack adherence to what the Church authoritatively teaches on matters of faith and morals or when a person is publicly known to have committed serious sin.

The bishops will meet Nov. 13-16 in Baltimore.

Nancy Pelosi: Union busting multimillionairess.

Peter Schweizer of FrontPageMagazine.com rips the kindly liberal dowager empress mask off La Pelosi and exposes the robber baroness who eats poor kids for breakfast underneath.

Do As I Say....

...We also have people like Hillary Clinton, Barbara Streisand or Nancy Pelosi. Some of these people on the liberal left actually are in positions of power and authority. When it comes to debating them and arguing with them, you probably have had the same experience I have, and that is that oftentimes people on the liberal left pose as our moral superiors...

I want to get to Pelosi, but in this article Mr. Schweizer also exposes the blatant hypocrisy of Senator Murder, Ralph Nader, and The World's Fattest Hypocrite, Michael Moore.

I have another section I like to call, “Workers of the World Unite Somewhere Else.” This is where we find Nancy Pelosi—Democrat leader in the House, the best friend of labor unions you can imagine. She says that labor unions are vital to negotiating good wages and working conditions. She won the Cesar Chavez award from the United Farmworkers Union in 2003. Remember that, the United Farmworkers Union. She is the top recipient of PAC contributions from the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union.

What’s interesting about that is, there were several strikes a few years ago in San Francisco, where she came down strongly on the side of the hotel employees and restaurant employees union and campaigned aggressively for them against other hotels. Of course she is the most reliable vote in Congress for organized labor.

What’s interesting about Nancy Pelosi is that she and her husband not only are very influential in the Democrat Party, they’re very wealthy. With Nancy Pelosi, her commitment to organized labor essentially ends when it comes to her own businesses. Nancy Pelosi and her husband own a Napa Valley vineyard that’s worth about $25 million. They grow very expensive grapes for very expensive wines, and they don’t use members of the United Farm Workers to pick their grapes. This winner of the Cesar Chavez award hires only hire non-union contractors.

There are plenty of union contractors in Napa Valley and there are other wineries that use them, its’ just that the Pelosis don’t have happen to among them. They also sell their grapes to non-union wineries. They recently held investments in two other wine businesses that were also strictly non-union.

But it gets even worse than that. Nancy Pelosi and her husband also own a chain of restaurants and a hotel in Napa Valley, California. Despite her public commitment to the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union, you better not join that union and work for the Pelosis, because you will end up getting fired. For example, they are partners in a hotel with 250 employees, which is strictly non-union. They are among the very few owners of Piati, a chain of Italian restaurants with 900 employees. Again, if you try to join the union when you work for the Pelosis in their restaurant, you will be fired.

One other issue for Nancy Pelosi. I hate to pick on her, but it’s just so inviting. As they say in the military, it’s a target-rich environment. With Nancy Pelosi, another big issue is the environment. She always makes statements that, with us, the environment is not an issue, it’s an ethic, it’s a value. Which is a nice way of saying, “I love the environment, but not when it comes to our own businesses.” A lot of people don’t realize that, in 1996, Nancy Pelosi and her husband and fewer than 10 other partners wanted to build a golf course and country club outside of San Jose, California, called the CordeValle Country Club. In order to get approval to build on these 275 acres, they had to comply with some very stringent county environmental regulations. Now the California tiger salamander and the Western pond turtle are apparently endangered species and they’re very, very common on these 275 acres that the Pelosis wanted to develop.

So the agreement they struck with local regulators was, we’ll build the golf course, we’ll set up some holding ponds and we’ll create a natural habitat to make sure that these environmental endangered species survive.

Of course, they built the golf course. It opened in 2000. If you want to join, the membership is $250,000. But they never followed the environmental regulations. The ponds were never built for these endangered species. For seven years, they also failed to file any of the environmental reports required by the California Fish and Wildlife Commission. A 2004 County Environmental Compliance Report found all kinds of environmental problems on the Pelosis’ golf course.

Remember with Nancy Pelosi, her commitment to the environment is not just an issue, it’s an ethic and a value. What does that actually mean in practical terms? Did they turn around and build this habitat and comply? No, they solved the problem the old-fashioned way: they hired lobbyists and they got the environmental regulations changed. So if you go to the CordeValle Country Club today and play golf, it’s a wonderful course, but there will be no holding ponds. There will be no endangered species and the Pelosis seem to be quite happy with that.

Fyodor's Pro Football Picks of the Week.

Fyodor's College Football Picks of the Week.

1) The guys who set the lines are professionals. Their job is to make each game look as attractive as possible to everyone. That way they even out the amount of money bet on each side.

Instant translation: The house wins no matter who wins. That's why people get into the gambling business.

2) I am just a fan. I won't even keep track of these picks week to week if it gets too embarrassing.

3) There is no such thing as "inside information". Especially in the pros.

4) If those idiot touts on tv and in the paper were any good, they wouldn't go public with their genius. They'd sit at Harrah's sports book from open to close and then go out and buy $2,000 an hour hookers who dress like high school girls.

5) Gambling is stupid. You cannot win.

That being said, here are my college picks for this week.

Saturday 10/21

Texas (-5) at Nebraska
Take the Longhorns to cover. Big time.
FINAL: Texas 22 Nebraska 20 - Fyodor loses! (Excellent game.)

Louisville (-17.5) at Syracuse
I'll take Syracuse and the points.
FINAL: Louisville 28 Syracuse 13 - Fyodor wins!

Indiana (+30.5) at Ohio State
The spread is too big. Take the Hoosiers and the points.
FINAL: Ohio State 44 Indiana 3 - Fyodor loses! (ACK!)

Illinois (+18) at Penn State
A freshman third string QB? Take Illinois and the points.
FINAL: PSU 26 Illinois 12 - Fyodor wins! (Even with Morelli at QB, the offense stinks, but what is the defense's excuse?)

Mississippi State (+18) at Georgia
The Bulldogs stink, but I'll take them and the points on the road.
FINAL: Georgia 27 Mississippi State 24 - Fyodor wins! (heehee)

Kansas State (+14.5) at Missouri
Pick Missouri to cover.
FINAL: Missouri 41 Kansas State 21 - Fyodor wins!

Tulane (+32) at Auburn
Way too many points. Pick Tulane.
FINAL: Auburn 38 Tulane 13 - Fyodor wins! (I'll call this the Hangover Factor. The effects of good games and bad games can linger for weeks.)

UCLA (+13) at Notre Dame
I'll take UCLA and the points.
FINAL: Notre Dame 20 UCLA 17 - Fyodor wins! (Hey, Charlie! Where's the freakin' ground game?)

Washington (+23.5) at California
I'm picking too many road dogs this week, but I can't stop. Take the Huskies.
FINAL: Cal 31 Washington 24 - Fyodor wins! (Sweet.)

Boston College (+6.5) at Florida State
The Eagles have been inconsistent and they are on the road, but I'll take 'em anyway.
FINAL: BC 24 FSU 19 - Fyodor wins! (What was up with the all black unis for the 'Noles in the Florida sunshine? Of whom does Nike (the commie shoe thugs-not the Goddess of Victory) have naked photos?)

Texas Tech (-2) at Iowa State
I'm tempted to take the Cyclones, but Tech gets the nod. Stay away from this one, kiddies.
FINAL: Texas Tech 42 Iowa State 26 - Fyodor wins! (YES!)

Iowa (+13) at Michigan
The Wolverines warm up for the Buckeyes. Pick Michigan.
FINAL: Michigan 20 Iowa 6 - Fyodor wins! (A midday hot streak, which could only mean...)

TCU (-12.5) at Army
Take Army and the points.
FINAL: TCU 31 Army 17 - Fyodor loses! (...time for a loss!)

Alabama (+11) at Tennessee
The Vols cover. Big time. Take Tennessee.
FINAL: Tennessee 16 Alabama 13 - Fyodor loses! (Tennessee always seems to screw up one or two games a year.)

Oregon (-3.5) at Washington State
My Upset Special of the Week! Take the Cougars!
FINAL: Washington State 34 Oregon 23 - Fyodor wins! (Hot diggitty!)

Rutgers (+6.5) at Pittsburgh
Pitt has been playing well and will have the home field edge, but this is Rutgers' year. Take the Panthers and the points - they'll keep it close.
FINAL: Rutgers 20 Pitt 10 - Fyodor loses! (Never mind.)

Oklahoma (+14) at Colorado
I think many people are underestimating Colorado's crumminess. Pick the Sooners.
FINAL: Oklahoma 24 Colorado 3 - Fyodor wins!

Southern Mississippi (+17.5) at Virginia Tech
I would not bet this game if I were a gambler. Tech is a much better team, but there is something rotten in Blacksburg. Pick Southern Miss.
FINAL: Virginia Tech 36 Southern Miss 6 - Fyodor loses! (What was I thinking? Everything's fine at Tech!)

Texas A&M (+3.5) at Oklahoma State
The Cowboys should romp over the Aggies. Take State.
FINAL: A&M 34 Oklahoma State 33 - Fyodor loses! (That's why they call it gambling, kiddies.)

Georgia Tech (+7) at Clemson
I'll pick Clemson, unenthusiastically.
FINAL: Clemson 31 Georgia Tech 7 - Fyodor wins! (With enthusiasm! Except for those purple uniforms. They are icky.)

Air Force (-13.5) at San Diego State
Are the Aztecs that bad? I think so. Pick Air Force.
FINAL: SDSU 19 Air Force 12 - Fyodor loses! (What?)

Fresno State (+32.5) at LSU
Just for fun, I'll take the Tigers to cover the huge number.
FINAL: LSU 38 Fresno State 6 - Fyodor loses! (Drat! Foiled by another hook!)

DAY 58: PLUTO HELD HOSTAGE

Support hot Turkish babes: Sedef Avci.

From the pages of The King Abdullah Gazette:

I guess what I am trying to say is this: Who cares where they're from? Look at them, you fool!

BTW, did I mention that I LOVE negative political ads?

Read about the history of American political campaigns, kiddies. Sometimes, you gotta tear the bastards down.

Wow. A judge with a conscience!

Choke on this one, Rendell, you fat crook!

The York Dispatch: Judge files lawsuit so she can give up raise

PITTSBURGH -- Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin has filed a lawsuit to refuse her 11 percent pay raise.

Orie Melvin said she does not want the raise, which increased her annual salary from $145,658 to $162,100.

Only Slow Eddie Rendell thinks she can't put her kids through college on 145 Gs a year.

The raise was part of a legislative pay hike enacted in July 2005, but repealed in November 2005, after public criticism. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reinstated the raises for judges last month.

Orie Melvin had previously asked that her pay be reduced, but court officials cited "legal, policy and administrative considerations" in refusing to do so. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts has told Melvin she can give back the money, but that she would be taxed as though she accepted it and would also receive a bump in her pension, according to her attorney.

The suit said nothing in the Supreme Court's ruling requires Orie Melvin to take a raise she does not want.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Commonwealth Court, named the state Treasurer's Office and the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts. Officials with each department declined to comment.

Beauty is a universal. It is the same all the time and everywhere.

I know I do not have to prove that to you good little kiddies out there, but not everybody who visits my idiot corner of Bloggerdom gets it, you know.

Remember the green-skinned Orion Slave Girls from Star Trek? Hotter than heck, right? And they were really green.

Christina Ricci as an Orion Slave Girl.

But, remember guys, they are still females. In the Star Trek episode "The Menagerie", the Commodore warned us:

"They're like animals. Vicious. Seductive. They say no human male can resist them."

Reese Witherspoon as an Orion Slave Girl.

Support hot Turkish babes: Various and sundry. (Part Eight)

Memo To The Iranian Slaves: Gut your slavemasters and hang their corpses from the nearest telegraph poles. Then you'll be able to download hot Turkish babes like folks in the civilized world.

From the pages of The King Abdullah Gazette, here are

BONUS Duygu Dikmenoğlu: