Virgina Monologues

Nice shirt. Sad that this is the most attention the NIT has received in decades. Anyhooo, congrats eers.

'Flying Imams' add passengers to lawsuit

We knew it would happen.

MINNEAPOLIS — Six Muslim men removed from a plane last fall after being accused of suspicious behavior are suing not only the airline but the passengers who complained _ a move some fear could discourage travelers from speaking up when they see something unusual.

The civil rights lawsuit, filed earlier this month, has so alarmed some lawyers that they are offering to defend the unnamed "John Doe" passengers free of charge. They say it is vital that the flying public be able to report suspicious behavior without fear of being dragged into court.

"When you drive up the road towards the airport, there's a big road sign that says, `Report suspicious behavior,'" said Gerry Nolting, a Minneapolis lawyer. "There's no disclaimer that adds, `But beware if you do that, you might get sued.'"

The six imams were taken off a Phoenix-bound US Airways flight on Nov. 20 while returning home from a conference of Islamic clerics in Minneapolis.

Other passengers had gotten nervous when the men were seen praying and chanting in Arabic as they waited to board. Some passengers also said that the men spoke of Saddam Hussein and cursed the United States; that they requested seat belt extenders with heavy buckles and stowed them under their seats; that they were moving about and conferring with each other during boarding; and that they sat separately in seats scattered through the cabin.

If the case against the passengers is not torpedoed by summary judgment, with all of defendant's legal fees charged to the plaintiffs, it will be a sin.

Lanny Davis on Fred Thompson

Everyone remembers Lanny, the lil Bill Clinton schmuck, now a Hill shill, has been thrown out by the former Royal Family to throw all 'enemies' under the bus. But he is scared. Not by Mitt. Not by Rudy. Not by McClain......... But by FRED:

So let me just limit my positive comments by saying: He is authentic and powerfully smart and very fair.

I hope he isn’t the GOP nominee because he would be very difficult to beat — although my candidate, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), and he, if they were the Democratic and Republican nominees, respectively, would ensure a great and high level of debate on the issues, rather than “gotcha” attacks back and forth that both of them, I am certain, completely reject.

So Sen. Thompson — you can say that I strongly disagree with you because you are too conservative and am supporting Sen. Clinton. But honestly: I think an awful lot of Democrats and independents would share with me their high level of respect for you, as well as their concern that you may be the most difficult Republican to beat in November 2008.

This isn't a nefarious plot, it is respect, that the enemy has for the man who should be Prez.

UPDATE: And Margaret Carlson 'drools'.

An 'Independent Judiciary', Democrat style

While sifting through all the bombastic, chest-thumping pedantry from Democrats (and some Republicans) I unearthed this lil gemstone which sheds a great deal of light on the Democrats' notion of an 'independent' judiciary, insulated from the vicissitudes of partisan politics:

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Supreme Court watchers often speculate about aging justices holding off retirement until the election of a president who will pick an ideologically similar replacement.

Some conservatives are now questioning whether a federal district judge in South Dakota is doing the same thing – and getting help from two colleagues who have taken on some of his cases.

U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann, 69, put off his retirement after two fellow Democratic judges agreed to share his workload, a move that could allow someone from their party to get Kornmann's job if a Democrat is elected president in 2008.

Kornmann and one of the other judges acknowledged the arrangement in interviews with The Associated Press. Joseph Haas, the federal clerk of court for South Dakota, also confirmed that some of Kornmann's caseload was reallocated last fall.

Kornmann, who handles cases in Aberdeen and Pierre for the northern and central sections of the state, said he could have reduced his caseload and become a senior judge last fall. But he stayed on full-time after U.S. District Judges Karen Schreier in Rapid City and Lawrence Piersol in Sioux Falls took on about two-thirds of the criminal cases in Pierre.

Democratic President Bill Clinton appointed all three in the 1990s.

“The other judges don't want me to retire,” Kornmann said. “I don't plan to do anything for a time. I could have taken senior status in September but in view of them helping out that much, I decided not to do it.”

When asked why they helped, Kornmann joked: “They think I'm such a wonderful judge. It has nothing to do with who the president is.”

He added: "It might have something to do it."

This disgusting lout, suckling off the taxpayer's teet, defies even the appearance of independence and impartiality and then has the audacity to be ever so coy about it. Where are the subpoenas, committee hearings, calls for resignations?

IMPEACH KORNMANN

Hat tip: Talk host Mark Levin

Thursday afternoon dirty cat blogging

No more Law and Order reruns?

Probably not, if Fred Thompson enters the race:

If Fred Thompson, the one-time Tennessee senator better known to most Americans as district attorney Arthur Branch on "Law & Order," runs for president, some of his fans may be in for a letdown. Television stations are expected to drop reruns of the show temporarily if he makes a real-life bid for the White House.

Federal campaign law requires broadcasters to give all candidates equal time on the airwaves. That rule applies to entertainment programs like "Law & Order," meaning stations which run the show would be required to give other GOP candidates a like amount of prime time television exposure.

This the kind of stupid thing which happens when the government decides to regulate political speech.

Stella lost her groove again

and her 'lil fag' too.

Interesting read

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - A wristwatch buried in the ice at the North Pole three years ago was found by a boy more than 1,800 miles away after it floated ashore on the Faeroe Islands.

Niels Jakup Mortensen, 11, spotted a black box near his home on Suduroy, the Faeroes' southernmost island, his mother Anna Jacobsen said. Inside, she said, was a watch that had been buried at the North Pole by Joergen Amundsen, a descendant of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen.

Jacobsen said the watch discovered by her son earlier this month was still working, and was accompanied by a letter from Joergen Amundsen. "It was so unbelievable," she said. "It had been buried in the North Pole."

Full article.

Remember...

Barack Obama's national experience, 2 years, + Hillary Clinton's national experience, 6 years = Fred Thompson's national experience, 8 years.

Kerry and cohorts destroy swiftboat nominee

The thoroughly boring, French-lookin, gravitas-less, rich-woman-leech, John F. Kerry, finally has his revenge for the 2004 election. He successfully torpedoed the nomination of the ambassador to Belgium, Sam Fox, because he gave $50,000 to the Swiftboat Veterans. Vengeance must be so sweet.

Glass Houses: Bush v. Gore: Private Environmentalism

Interesting differences pointed out between George Bush's Waco 'White House' and the sprawling Al Gore residence:

Glass houses.

Fred Thompson beats Hillary?

YES, according to Rasmussen:

Fred Thompson, a movie star turned U.S. Senator turned TV star, has been publicly considering entering the 2008 Presidential Sweepstakes to fill what some see as a void in the Republican Primary field.

The first Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey involving Thompson shows the former Senator from Tennessee essentially tied with the Democratic frontrunner, Senator Hillary Clinton. It’s Thompson 44% Clinton 43%.

He trails Obama by 8 percentage points, but FDT has not even announced.

Hat tip: postpolitical

Selena Roberts takedown

KC Johnson writes an outstanding and prolific blog, Durham in Wonderland, which chronicles the Duke lacrosse fiasco. In this piece, Johnson takes on Selena Roberts, the NY Times shill who has been hypercritical of the Duke lacrosse team, and the “the irrefutable culture of misogyny, racial animus and athlete entitlement" which moves her so greatly. We learn more about Ms. Roberts, a champion of diversity:

According to her Times bio, Roberts is a resident of Westport, Connecticut, a suburb in Fairfield County. The US Census Bureau's fact page reveals that Westport is a bastion of neither racial nor economic diversity. Of its 25,598 residents, 24,560, or 95.5 percent, are white. Westport has a grand total of 292 African-American residents. Barely 1 percent of Roberts' fellow townsfolk, in other words, are black.

What about economic diversity? The median family income in Westport is $153,131, more than $100,000 greater than the median family income for the United States as a whole. And a grand total of 104 families live below the poverty level. Barely 1 percent of Roberts' fellow townsfolk, in other words, are poor. The town website has forms for people who need to store their boats--either on water or on land--and for residents-only tennis and golf facilities.

Obviously diversity was not a factor in moving to Westport. Seems like a charming enough place though. If you can afford it. Most effective use of Census data as a billy club. Ever.

For Ms. Roberts and her ilk, the guilt or innoce of the Duke Three is no longer of consequence. The more important issues are the undefined and ethereal 'cultures' the case exemplifies. It is about urinating off of a porch, saying the 'n' word and hiring a stripper of a different race. A bogus prosecution fraught with unethical and perhaps criminal prosecutorial conduct does not matter. Three young men still on trial on trumped up criminal charges does not matter.

Pathetic.

GOP Straw Poll

This is a straw poll conducted off of blogger sites. Obviously that means it skews conservative, but the results are still impressive for Fred Thompson and these are the activists which vote in primaries:

2008 Primary Straw Poll Results

5600 ballots cast

First Choice:
F. Thompson 2244 (40.1%)
Giuliani 911 (16.3%)
Gingrich 682 (12.2%)
Romney 647 (11.6%)
Hunter 316 (5.6%)
Tancredo 242 (4.3%)
(none) 194 (3.5%)
McCain 135 (2.4%)
Brownback 114 (2%)
Huckabee 62 (1.1%)
T. Thompson 36 (0.6%)
Gilmore 10 (0.2%)
Pataki 7 (0.1%)

Let's simplify this thing. We'll call the number of votes (none) gets the Mendoza line. Any candidates polling beneath the Mendoza line, should be given their walking papers.

Allahpundit catches a piece I missed also, Bob Novak: Fred!’s wife urging him to run

Wonkette's Well Wishes for Tony Snow

"Snow, despite being fairly smarmy, is not actually one of the individuals currently fucking everything up that we’d happily say cancer is too good for, so we wish him a speedy and full recovery."

What a darling.

Right thinkin editorial seeks the truth

Rogue Prosecutors: Mike Nifong, the poster child for misusing the justice system for a personal agenda, may soon get his comeuppance, his targets freed. Sadly, the same can't yet be said of Patrick Fitzgerald and Johnny Sutton.

Paul Caulfield, a writer for Inside Lacrosse Magazine, told Fox News last week that several sources had told him the three Duke lacrosse players charged with rape, assault and kidnapping charges will soon be freed with all charges dropped. We welcome the result and are not surprised by it.

We also won't be surprised or disappointed if the life of Durham, N.C., District Attorney Nifong soon becomes a legal hell, with lawsuits filed by the families, disbarment by the North Carolina State Bar or even worse.

In the spring of 2006, Nifong was facing a difficult primary in a racially divided electorate. He trailed in the polls and his campaign was so short of funds he had to personally loan it $30,000.
Then, in the middle of March, an "entertainer" at a party held by members of the Duke lacrosse team handed Nifong a political gift — a case of an African-American woman charging three well-off white college kids with rape and sexual assault.

Nifong would milk the case for all it was worth, making unprecedented public and racially inflammatory declarations of the three accused players' guilt. This came as the case unraveled from the start, with the accuser telling several versions and a DNA test that by itself was exculpatory.

Nifong would get what he wanted: victory in the May 2 primary and the Nov. 7 general election.

That May, Nifong filed a statement saying the prosecution was "not aware of any additional material or information which may be exculpatory in nature." In December, after Nifong was reelected, the head of a DNA laboratory revealed that he and Nifong knew in April there was no DNA from the players found on the victim or her clothing.

For the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence, for inflammatory public statements and for lying to the court and to the bar, Nifong faces ethics charges from the state bar and a June 12 hearing date. The state bar's complaint says Nifong's actions constitute a "systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion . . . prejudicial to the administration of justice."

Collin Finnerty, 19; Dave Evans, 23, and Reade Seligmann, 23, their lives and reputations damaged, hopefully will be free soon. Not so lucky are Scooter Libby and Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, pursued with equal passion for equally personal reasons, by U.S. attorneys Patrick Fitzgerald and Johnny Sutton.

Fitzgerald pursued the case against Libby for lying to investigators concerning the "outing" of Valerie Plame even though he knew who leaked her name, that leaking her was not a crime and that the name of the Vanity Fair cover girl was public knowledge. He pursued it to justify spending years and millions in taxpayer dollars. He pursued it to save his reputation. Libby was his trophy.

It's bad enough Compean and Ramos were prosecuted for doing their jobs, protecting our border. But the lengths U.S. Attorney for Western Texas Johnny Sutton went to get their convictions would make Mike Nifong proud.

At issue is a second incident involving their accuser being caught smuggling more drugs into the United States in October 2005 after being given immunity in exchange for his testimony against the two agents concerning their February confrontation.

It is that second incident that Sutton successfully concealed from the jury. As Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R.-Calif., has pointed out, "The prime witness against these two border patrol agents was involved in another major load of drugs and the prosecution made a conscious decision to keep these facts from the jury."

Sutton and Fitzgerald appear to be equally ambitious prosecutors who, like Nifong, engage in "systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion" to achieve their ends, perhaps new jobs or at least retention in a Democratic administration after 2008.

The real mystery in the U.S. attorney firings that have subsequently dominated media attention is why Fitzgerald and Sutton were not on the list.

OK. We know they are innocent. We know the accuser is a liar. Prosecute her. Make her admit her lies. Give the Duke 3 their walking papers.

This might be the dopiest thing ever...

Profound stupid nudists...... Pervs, the tititilation factor is negative three. Slightly better than a senior home nudist colony, but not by much.

Outstanding Article on Kelo and Property Rights

STEVEN GREENHUT
Sr. editorial writer and columnistThe Orange County Registermailto:Registersgreenhut@ocregister.com

Isn't that nice?

The city of Manhattan Beach is renaming an oceanfront park, Bruces' Beach, after Charles A. and Willa Bruce, an African-American couple who had purchased the land in 1912 and developed it into a beachfront resort in the 1920s.

The Bruces were driven off their land in the mid-1920s, according to a Los Angeles Times article last week, after city officials became uncomfortable with the idea of numerous black people sunbathing and dining at Bruces' Lodge. At the urging of the local community, the officials discovered a compelling public interest in creating a public park on that very spot, and they used the power of eminent domain to drive the couple away.
The land sat vacant for years, but the goal was accomplished – keeping "them" out of the neighborhood.

I'm pleased to see today's council members recognize the evil deed of their predecessors. But it's about 80 years too late for the couple. And I can't help but laugh at one sentence that will be inscribed on the plaque that will soon grace the park: "Those tragic circumstances reflected the views of a different time."

Certainly, racial views have changed, but the fundamental view that allowed the "public" to steal the Bruces' property has not changed. In fact, the times are worse now than they were then with regard to property rights.

In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the now-infamous Kelo decision that governments have every right to take property from its current owners and give it to other private owners for virtually any reason at all. If city officials believe the new developer will pay more in sales tax than the old homeowners, then it's fair game. Back then, the city had to at least find a public purpose – i.e., a park – as a pretense for the theft. These days, if officials think a neighborhood is "blighted," then they can give the land to a developer for pennies on the dollar. Blight means anything that officials say it means.

Just like Brooklyn. RATner wants land, RATner gets land. People who have lived in Ratner's Bneighborhood for generations are gettin their asses booted. Bloomberg is silent. Mayor Bloomberg is decidedly silent.

Just as bad if not worse than any Demorat...

NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

My rant:

I would vote for Hillary before him (correction: if the vote was between him and Hillary, I would sleep late). He is a local politician. He has an instinctual need to micromanage people's lives. He is not Big Government. He is Mega Government. In any other state, he is a left wing Democrat. He is shrewd though. He raises taxes after he takes office, but drops them and sends out refund checks, just prior to elections. Most candidates show some principles. Bloomberg disguises his. He fucks the outer counties on snow days, but Park Avenue is always clean. NYC recently had a big ice storm, a couple of inches of snow, but a thick bed of solid ice underneath. Bloomberg gives a presser talking about how simple it was to just just shovel out. Took me 2 hours to melt the ice so I could move my car. Condescending piece of shit Mayor Bloomberg. I long for the days of Dinkins.

Are you kiddin me Katie Couric?

In a 2 and a half minute 'question', Katie Couric asks John Edwards about launching a Presidential campaign after his wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer. How many times can a journalist inquire, "some say..." in a simple query? If you have a question, ASK IT!

I won't question the Edward's family's decision to stay in the race. That is their decision. I pray for Elizabeth Edwards in her battle against cancer. All strength to her.

How the Liberal Mind Works

Evan Sayet deconstructs 'liberalism'. It is 48 minutes long but it is riveting.

Hat tip: Red Satellites.

School pricipal won't excuse military children's absences

The principal says he is former military and maybe so. Read on and tell me if you think he has an agenda:

TUCSON, Ariz. — When her husband comes home to Tucson on leave from Iraq, Keila Rios could face a dilemma she finds infuriating.

She plans to take their children out of school for a week to spend time with their Army dad.

But when she asked for makeup work they could do at home, she initially was told they'd receive zeros if they didn't go to class.

The head of the charter school they attend declared the absences inexcusable and told the Arizona Daily Star that Rios' children would not be allowed to make up missed assignments. It now seems the principal is reconsidering.

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," said Rios, 29, of her March 19 conversation with Lee Griffin, principal and founder of Children Reaching for the Sky, an elementary charter school.

Her husband, Staff Sgt. Enrique Rios, 30, is due home sometime this week for a two-week rest and relaxation leave. Some of it falls during the school's spring break and the family asked for an extra week off.

Keila Rios said Griffin told her that families pull kids out of class for all kinds of reasons — from beauty contests to Disneyland vacations — and said it wouldn't be fair to approve her request for makeup work when he's refused the others.

"I said, 'We're not talking about Disneyland here. Their father has been at war for the last eight months and all we have is this little bit of time together.' God forbid if he goes back to Iraq and something happens to him," Keila Rios said.

Enrique Rios, a Cholla High Magnet School graduate, is overseas with the 82nd Airborne Division of Fort Bragg, N.C. His wife and children are living in Tucson with his parents while he's at war.

Keila Rios said Griffin told her that families pull kids out of class for all kinds of reasons — from beauty contests to Disneyland vacations — and said it wouldn't be fair to approve her request for makeup work when he's refused the others.

"I said, 'We're not talking about Disneyland here. Their father has been at war for the last eight months and all we have is this little bit of time together.' God forbid if he goes back to Iraq and something happens to him," Keila Rios said.

The couple has an 11-year-old daughter, Khalina Polanco, and an 8-year old son, Andres Rios, attending the charter school, and a 2-year-old boy at home.

"I'm disgusted," Enrique Rios wrote in an e-mail to the Star. The principal "obviously isn't a patriot and has no understanding of what it is like to put your life on the line," he said.

Griffin told the Star he is a former soldier himself, and that he supports the troops and sympathizes with the family.

The Rioses are "awesome" parents and their children are exceptional students — but rules are rules, he said in a telephone interview Thursday morning.

"We have a policy saying we don't give out makeup work for unexcused absences. We can't pick and choose and give preferential treatment."

Several hours later, it appeared Griffin might be backing away from his hard line.

Keila Rios said she received a phone call from him around 4 p.m. Thursday. She said Griffin then said he was prepared to view her situation as a family emergency, and as such, her children could make up missed class work.

Griffin could not be reached after that by the Star.

State law gives school principals discretion to decide when an absence is excusable. Several principals contacted Thursday said they'd have no problem accommodating a military family in the Rios' situation.

"Oh my goodness, yes," said Jerry Gallegos, principal of Manzo Elementary School, a west Tucson public school. "If the dad just came back from Iraq, I would honor the parents' wishes."

Clay Connor, principal of Academy of Tucson Elementary School, said military families at his school have been in the same situation.

"We would try to come up with a win-win solution," Connor said. "We work with the parents when there are extenuating circumstances."

Keila Rios said she hopes her last talk with Griffin marked the end of the problem.

She and her husband "have been worrying all week," she said. "It was very upsetting to think the children's grades would suffer if they spent time with their dad."

The Guns of Faroe

Some shots of English guns in Skansin, the old fort in Tórshavn from the Snarking Dawg's intrepid Faroese correspondent:

Headline of the Day

from Allahpundit: Koran thrown on the floor in Yemen; one dead, five injured

McCain: Not meeting fundraising goals

It has become the spectre of a great American groveling. It is so difficult to criticize John McCain because of all he has to have endured as an American.

John McCain has endured more pain in defense of this nation than I could ever conceive of. How could I? But I still have to evaluate issues on the merits.`

Does my opinion hold less weight than his because I havent sacrificed nearly as much?

Jim Cramer Sunk?

I don't know. I am not a Wall Street type. I don't even play one on TV. But sayin things like this:

"A lot of times when I was short at my hedge fund . . . meaning I needed (a stock) down, I would create a level of activity beforehand that could drive the futures," said Cramer. "It's a fun game and it's a lucrative game."

.....just doesn't sound right.

Fred Thompson, please jump in the fray

Every day you are absent, you lose hundreds of thousands, if not millions in critical campaign dollars. You have an excited base. Your potential supporters are more energized than any other candidate. We Repubs are on the fence about who we will vote for. We like many of the announced candidates but we are not not energized by them. Early polls aside, without a candidate we can rally around, the Republicans will lose. Senator Thompson, you can shape the course of this country and the world, if you run for President. You have a legion of people at your behest. Please acknowledge us... by letting us know that you are seeking the Republican nomination. Your country needs you.

Thank you.

Saturday Night Lazy Ass Bloggin

Old Ben Gardner didn't fare too well

I have always thought of Jaws as the perfect movie - direction, dialogue, acting, suspense. So, here are my favorite Jaws quotes, (which is basically everything Quint says plus a couple of others), courtesy of IMDB:

Quint: Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down to the pond and chasing bluegills and tommycocks. This shark, swallow you whole. No shakin', no tenderizin', down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you've gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers, I don't want no mates, there's too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.
**********************
Mayor Vaughn: Fellows, let's be reasonable, huh? This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of a half-assed autopsy on a fish... And I'm not going to stand here and see that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock.
**********************
Quint: [trying to hurry Brody into the boat] Come on Chief, this isn't no boy scout picnic. See ya' got ya' rubbers! [Quint laughs wildly]
**********************
Quint: Here lies the body of Mary Lee; died at the age of a hundred and three. For fifteen years she kept her virginity; not a bad record for this vicinity.
**********************
Quint: [seeing Hooper's equipment] What are you? Some kind of half-assed astronaut? [examining the shark cage]
Quint: Jesus H Christ, when I was a boy, every little squirt wanted to be a harpooner or a sword fisherman. What d'ya have there - a portable shower or a monkey cage?
Hooper: Anti-Shark cage.
Quint: Anti-shark cage. You go inside the cage? [Hooper nods]
Quint: Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark. [sings] Quint: Farewell and adieu to you, fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu, you ladies of Spain. For we've received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so nevermore shall we see you again.
*********************
Quint: You wanna drink? Drink to your leg.
Hooper: I'll drink to your leg.
Quint: Okay, so we drink to our legs!
*********************
Quint: Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him.

Our 21st Century Military

The Hillaritary:

Welcome blowback in German wife beating case

One of the most disgusting acts of capitulation by a western judiciary. I blogged about it here. Thank heavens Germans have recognized how weak kneed their judiciary has become. And, thank heavens, there is outrage.

FRANKFURT: A German judge has stirred a storm of protest here by citing the Koran in turning down a German Muslim wife's request for a fast-track divorce on the ground that her husband beat her.

In a remarkable ruling that underlines the tension between Muslim customs and European laws, the judge, Christa Datz-Winter, said the couple came from a Moroccan cultural milieu in which it is common for husbands to beat their wives. The Koran, she wrote, sanctions such physical abuse.

News of the ruling brought swift and sharp condemnation from politicians, legal experts and Muslim leaders in this country, many of whom said they were confounded that a German judge would put seventh-century Islamic religious teaching ahead of German law in deciding a case of domestic violence.

This Dhimmi judge said, in essence; Islamic law allows men to beat their wives; German law respects Islamic law; German law allows Islamic men to beat their women. That is a wholesale license for Muslim men to pummel their spouses in Germany. Excellent work by this justice to respect diversity.

To those who want to kill me...

KISS MY LEFT KNUT!!!

Early Saturday Morn Faroe

Political Firings?

Investors Business Daily delves deeper into the political motives of the Democrats seeking to ouster Gonzales and questions Bush's lame executive privilege defense:

The "political" firings of the eight U.S. attorneys by the Bush administration were in fact based on merit. Case in point is the former U.S. attorney for California's Southern District, Carol Lam. We are dumbfounded that the White House, instead of arguing minutia about executive privilege, simply doesn't come out and say why Lam and the other seven were justifiably dismissed.

Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif.. vented about the Bush administration's "bunker mentality" in response to the Democrats' fishing expedition. But as recently as last June, Feinstein wrote to now-targeted Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to express her concern that Lam's failure to adequately prosecute alien smugglers endangered the lives of Border Patrol agents and might bring even more dangerous smuggling syndicates to the California border region.

"It has come to my attention that despite high apprehension rates by Border Patrol agents along California's border with Mexico, prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of California appear to lag behind," Feinstein wrote.

You would think that Senator Feinstein would be applauding at least one firing. What are the chances? Now let's see more emails from Democratic politicians to the Justice Department about United States Attorneys.

We want full disclosure and honesty, don't we?

Pseudomamma - a new fetish born!!!

It's real. It's strange. It's disturbing. (you were warned)

Hat tip: fyremandoug

Fred Thompson on immigration reform

Interview with Laura Ingraham:

"Don't tell me we can't do it because I am gonna pay another nickel for a banana."

Re: Tony Snow

All my best wishes to Tony Snow, White House press spokesman on his impending operation to remove a growth in his abdomen. He is a tenacious fighter who has overcome colon cancer before and I have little doubt he won't again overcome.

And memo to the vile maggots who populate the swampy underground of HuffPo - I won't wish cancer upon you. Because I am better than you.

Target of Dhimmitude

Muslim cashiers at some local Target stores who object to ringing up products that contain pork are being shifted to other positions where they don't need to, the discount retailer said Saturday.

The Minneapolis-based Star Tribune reported last week that some Muslim cashiers at local Targets had declined to scan pork products such as bacon because doing so would conflict with their religious beliefs. They would ask other cashiers to ring up such purchases, or sometimes customers would scan those items themselves.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. has now offered its local Muslim cashiers who object to handling pork the option of wearing gloves while cashiering, shifting to other positions or transferring to other nearby stores.

"We are confident that this is a reasonable solution for our guests and team members," Target spokeswoman Paula Thornton-Greear said in a statement e-mailed to the Associated Press on Saturday.

Thornton-Greear said it was a localized problem and it would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

"It is not an issue in most of our stores in the Twin Cities," she said in separate comments via e-mail. "There is also no indication that this is an issue in the Minnesota market overall or nationwide."

Islam teaches that pigs are unclean and eating pork is a sin, and some Muslims feel selling or handling pork is also forbidden because it would make them complicit in the sins of others.

Well, at least Target hasn't completely capitulated. Originally, when a Muslim cashier refused to ring up a customer's fatback, they would bring in a new cashier to handle the pork item. What a ridiculous inconvenience for the customer. Muslims always have a right to work for a retailer which doesn't shovel swine. I have never heard of a Jewish person voice such an objection. Another example of the Muslim axiom - we don't bend to society, society bends for us.

Delta Smelt

Activist judge turns off the SoCal faucet:

The state must stop running the giant pumps that send water to Southern California unless wildlife officials approve the continued killing of protected salmon and Delta smelt, a judge ruled today.

The decision by Judge Frank Roesch of Alameda County Superior Court gives the state Department of Water Resources 60 days to get the necessary permission from wildlife officials. Granting permission could, in turn, require massive efforts to increase salmon and smelt populations elsewhere.

Many environmentalists blame the exporting of Northern California water for causing sharp declines in the number of some fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The pumps operated by the state are located near Tracy and send water to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.

The Delta smelt and winter and spring run Chinook salmon are protected by the state's Endangered Species Act.

Officials with the Department of Water Resources said they are reviewing the decision.

Shutting down the pumps could paralyze the state's water system, but activists behind the lawsuit said they doubted that would happen.

"We're pleased that the judge has dissipated the smoke screen that DWR and water users tried to put up. Now our attention turns to getting full mitigation for the salmon and smelt," said Bill Jennings, head of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.

Interesting Republican polling data

According to this, Newt, Hagel, Huckabee, Hunter and even Romney have big problems.

A German Judge Cites Koran in Divorce Case

Whoever captioned the headline above, to this article, really does the story a disservice.

Luckily, the blogosphere has Pamela of Atlas Shrugs to capture the true outrage:

GERMAN JUDGE:OK TO BEAT WIFE, IT'S IN THE KORAN

He beat her and threatened her with murder. But because husband and wife were both from Morocco, a German divorce court judge saw no cause for alarm. It's a religion thing, she argued.

The Koran seems to have become the basis for a court decision in Frankfurt.The case seems simply too strange to be true. A 26-year-old mother of two wanted to free herself from what had become a miserable and abusive marriage. The police had even been called to their apartment to separate the two -- both of Moroccan origin -- after her husband got violent in May 2006. The husband was forced to move out, but the terror continued: Even after they separated, the spurned husband threatened to kill his wife.

Read more at links above.

Harry Smith sheds even the veneer of objectivity

in an interview with Tony Snow this morn. If you read the transcript and learned that it was James Carville who had conducted the interview, you wouldn't be the least bit surprised. It has all the hallmarks of agenda driven slam piece, the sarcasm, the condescension and the refusal to address any of the interviewee's points. Please read (commentary is from Newsbusters, the link above).

HARRY SMITH 7:03 AM ET: You know the news, the House panel has authorized subpoenas. The senate is likely to do so today. Is the White House ready to invoke executive privilege? [Note the provocative question from the top; Smith raising the stakes by suggesting the White House might invoke executive privilege].

TONY SNOW: Well, first, you're way ahead of the game right now, Harry. People have authorized subpoenas, they haven't served them.

SMITH: The people are pretty aware of what the deal is. You've basically offered a chat -- [note Smith's mocking use of "chat" to describe the White House proposal].

SNOW: No, wait --

SMITH: No, no, no, go down to the hill --

SNOW: No, no, wait, harry. You've framed the issue falsely. Let me help you out a little bit --

SMITH: Let's cut to the chase. Why not go down there and let these people testify under oath?

SNOW: First, what you're assuming is the center of action is the White House. This is a decision, a decision process that began at the Department of Justice, was executed by the Department of Justice. So the first thing you want to ask yourself is "what happened?" The Department of Justice said every key official is available. You can all go down there, testify under oath. The second thing is, they're going to make available any documentation and any communication anybody needs. Now what you need to understand, Harry --

SMITH: Tony, even from a cursory look at these e-mails it looks like it reaches much farther than the justice department.

SNOW: No, it doesn't. What it means -- if you take a look at the e-mail, harry it appears there were some communications like "what we're thinking about" --

SMITH: Karl Rove wasn't involved? Harriet Miers wasn't involved? Come on. [Said in a derisive tone].

SNOW: This is where -- I think what you're trying to do is create a narrative that I'm not so sure the facts are going to justify. This is why what we're trying to do is get everybody to figure out what's the deal. Let me start again --

SMITH: Hang on, hang on --

SNOW: Let me explain this point --

SMITH: Perception --

SNOW: Harry, come on --

SMITH: No, listen --

SNOW: The perception is you're trying to badger me into creating a fight between the White House and the legislative branch. What we're trying to do is something pretty extraordinary. The legislative branch has no authority over the White House --

SMITH [now in full flight as Dem inquisitor-in-chief]: Tony, here's what it looks like. These people who serve at the will of the president, or the pleasure of the president, have been kicked out for undue political influence. Even on the front page of the "Washington Post" today you have the lead prosecutor in the big tobacco case saying the Alberto Gonzales justice department, quote/unquote, political interference is happening at justice across the department. When decisions are made now in Bush attorney general's office, politics is the primary consideration. The rule of law goes out the window.

SNOW: Harry, you're sounding like a partisan rather than a reporter here. Let me -- please permit me to try to explain what's going on. Because if you take a look also, reporting in New York Times, what they've said is a look at the documents, which indicate there's no political interference. When people have looked at the available documentary evidence in the case of the U.S. attorney, zippo. So I think what you need to do is to stop trying to make this political interference and maybe do what we're asking members of congress to do, which is figure out what the facts are.

SMITH: When it comes down to evoking executive privilege, I want to return to you some of the words you wrote during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Most of us want no part of a president who is cynical enough to use the majesty of his office to evade the one thing he is sworn to uphold, and that is the rule of law. Is that not what we're most interested in?

SNOW: No, we're interested in facts and the rule of law. Please permit me to explain. You've mischaracterized the offer we've made. You've put it in a slanted way and I'm shocked here --

SMITH: No, no, honestly, have a transcript --

SNOW: Every --

SMITH: From your press briefing yesterday.

SNOW: Yes.

SMITH: Why don't you allow there at least to be a transcript from this offer to the members of congress?

SNOW: You're looking at this through a straw. I think the American people probably deserve to know what the offer is and the offer is this -- any shred of information anybody needs is going to be available. And what you're -- what we don't want is kind of a Perry Mason scene where people are hot-dogging and grand-standing and trying to score political points. If you want the truth, we're going to make the truth possible. Everybody's going to be able to find out everything. Furthermore -- let me make the point I've tried to make a couple times.

SMITH: Very quickly.

SNOW: The executive branch doesn't have to do anything. What we've decided to do is make available any communication -- if anybody's worried about the communication the white house may have made with somebody, they're going to get it. If they're going to want to get an answer and want to get the facts from somebody, they're going to get it. What they're not going to get is the ability to create a show trial atmosphere. People are tired of that. They probably would like to get the truth. Wouldn't you?

SMITH: You bet. You owe it to me.

A Tale of Two Dungys

A few weeks ago Tony Dungy was lauded for being the first black NFL head coach to win a Super Bowl. Desservedly so. He is a symbol of class an honor in a league too often populated by thugs and criminals. Interesting to see how long the media lovefest will last after this:

Dungy: 'I embrace' same-sex marriage ban

Harkening back to the Justice Department's 'Golden Era'

Pre-Bush/Gonzalez. Pre-Reagan. Hell, even pre-Nixon. The Sixties. The decade when liberalism flourished. Bobby Kennedy running Justice. Then Katzenbach. Then Ramsey Clark, still a modern day champion of leftist herois.. Ahhh those heady days:

From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to "neutralize" him as an effective civil rights leader. In the words of the man in charge of the FBI's "war" against Dr. King:

No holds were barred. We have used [similar] techniques against Soviet agents.
[The same methods were] brought home against any organization against which
we were targeted. We did not differentiate. This is a rough, tough business.

The FBI collected information about Dr. King's plans and activities through an extensive surveillance program, employing nearly every intelligence-gathering technique at the Bureau's disposal. Wiretaps, which were initially approved by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, were maintained on Dr. King's home telephone from October 1963 until mid-1965; the SCLC headquarter's telephones were covered by wiretaps for an even longer period. Phones in the homes and offices of some of Dr. King's close advisers were also wiretapped. The FBI has acknowledged 16 occasions on which microphones were hidden in Dr. King's hotel and motel rooms in an "attempt" to obtain information about the "private activities of King and his advisers" for use to "completely discredit" them.

FBI informants in the civil rights movement and reports from field offices kept the Bureau's headquarters informed of developments in the civil rights field. The FBI's presence was so intrusive that one major figure in the civil rights movement testified that his colleagues referred to themselves as members of "the FBI's golden record club."

The FBI's formal program to discredit Dr. King with Government officials began with the distribution of a "monograph" which the FBI realized could "be regarded as a personal attack on Martin Luther King," 4 and which was subsequently described by a Justice Department official as "a personal diatribe ... a personal attack without evidentiary support." 5

Congressional leaders were warned "off the record" about alleged dangers posed by Reverend King. The FBI responded to Dr. King's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize by attempting to undermine his reception by foreign heads of state and American ambassadors in the countries that be planned to visit. When Dr. King returned to the United States, steps were taken to reduce support for a huge banquet and a special "day" that were being planned in his honor.

Read more. Plenty of meat there. This is the kind of independent judiciary we need once again.

If you march alongside people like this..

you ARE unpatriotic.

Zombie has more Link not available at time of post).

When animal rights activists go Knut(s)

File this away in the 'scratching-my-head-am-I-really-reading-this' category:

'We want this baby polar bear dead' say animal rights lobby

Tiny, fluffy and adorable, Knut the baby polar bear became an animal superstar after he was abandoned by his mother.

He rapidly became the symbol of Berlin Zoo, whose staff bottle-fed him and handed out cuddles in between.

At three months old, however, the playful 19lb bundle of fur is at the centre of an impassioned debate over whether he should live or die.

Animal rights activists argue that he should be given a lethal injection rather than brought up suffering the humiliation of being treated as a domestic pet.

"The zoo must kill the bear," said spokesman Frank Albrecht. "Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws."

When Knut was born in December, his mother ignored him and his brother, who died. Zoo officials intervened, choosing to raise the cub themselves.

But Albrecht and other activists fret that it is inappropriate for a predator, known for its fierceness and ability to fend for itself in the wild, to be snuggled, bottle-fed and made into a commodity by zookeepers.

They argue that current treatment of the cub is inhumane and could cause him future difficulties interacting with fellow polar bears. "They cannot domesticate a wild animal," added Ruediger Schmiedel, head of the Foundation for Bears.

The charity cites a similar case of a baby sloth which was put to sleep after being abandoned by its mother last December in the Leipzig city zoo.

But Berlin Zoo holds different opinions. Its chief vet Andre Schuele says the activists' criticisms would make him angry if he could take them seriously. "Polar bears live alone in the wild. I see no logical reason why this bear should be killed."

Schuele also argued that given the increased rarity of wild polar bears, it makes sense to keep them alive in captivity so that they can be bred. "Polar bears are under threat of extinction, and if we feed the bear with a bottle, it has a good chance of growing up and perhaps becoming attractive as a stud for other zoos," he said.

Knut, who recently made the official A-list when he was pictured by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz for an environmental protection campaign, is scheduled to make his public debut at the zoo in the next few days.

I particulalrly liked this quote from the article's comments section, made by Rm from Sydney Aus.:

"So, a healthy bear in excellent shape should be terminated because animal 'lovers' do not approve of his alternative lifestyle?"

LMAO

Ohhhh silllllllly

I am just kidding.

300

Saw 300, and loved it. Sets and effects were incredible. Everything was computer generated, but you wouldn't know that without being foretold. Dialogue was weak but tolerable. Writer could have dug up some old Churchill speeches. This review sums it up for me.

Liberal notions of speech - nuke the Dawg

My thread was nuked on Talkleft's Duke Discussion Boards:

I don't know if I can post there anymore. I called out 'Duke 3 supporters' for engaging in conversations with those indicting the Duke 3 because they hired black strippers. There is a lil cabal there that continue to support a continued prosecution because, 'something happened that night'. When you strip down everything they have said, that, is the substance of it.

It just seemed ridiculous to me to argue about whether or not people peed off a porch is a criminal manner. But if you go to that site, you will see that they argue that point over and over again. Ditto with the 'n' word. Who said it and when? Somehow the evidence, which isn't evidence about the guilt of the accused, reflects on their guilt or innocence.

My comments were also wiped off of an anti-Fox News site about the bogus memorial they are promoting. See my post below.

Liberals dubious grasp of free speech on college campuses

Hot Air with excellent coverage, here. The website discussed, here
.

Liberals purport to be defenders of the First Amendment. But when they don't like what they hear, they devise new paradigms to re-characterize the speech they don't like - 'hate speech'. But look at what many leftists believe to be 'hate speech' - if you believe that homosexuality is wrong, you communicate in hate speech, if you believe that affirmative action is racist, you communicate in 'hate speech'. The video elaborates on it.

Please watch.

Don't Believe the Hype

Their is a new website online which purports to be an Iraq veteran's memorial. Seems like a noble effort whereby families of fallen soldiers post video tributes of their lost love ones. Don't believe the hype. Here is their links page:

American Family Voices
Campaign for America's Future
Code Pink
Displaced Films
Drinking Liberally
Free Speech TV
GI Special
Gold Star Families For Peace
Gold Star Families Speak Out
Gold Star Wives of America
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Military Families Speak Out
MoveOn.org
North Texas Vets
Progressive Democrats of America
SEIU
Sojourners
Soldiers Angels
Soldiers of Today and Yesterday
The Common Good
True Majority
United for Peace and Justice
United Spouses Association
Unitarian Universalists
Veterans for Peace
Votes for Peace
War Relief Kids
Young People For

Every fallen veteran needs to be memorialized, whether they themselves are left, right or indifferent. Every family's sacrifice must be acknowledged, whether they are left, right or indifferent. We can be united in that. But there is no such union when radical left wing groups and radical left wing groups only, are solicited to support a memorial. It is a sham.

Jeopardy's menage a trois

Allahpundit has video of a three way tie on jeopardy.

German Homeschooling Setback

Melissa Busekros

Melissa Busekros, a 15 year old German girl was being homeschooled by her parents when she was ripped apart from her family, taken into custody by the state and forced to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Her parents have not been allowed to visit her. German courts upheld the government's actions. More background here. Now the doctor's evaluation s in and it does not look promising for Melissa to be reunited with her family anytime soon. They say she suffers from 'school phobia':

In summary, the current clinical-psychiatric findings show that an emotional disturbance of childhood or adolescence exists in M.. It is linked with a severe school phobia and a massive self-esteem problem. (ICD-10: F92.0)

As it isn't furthermore not possible for the parents to judge the danger to their daughter correctly, and make the necessary decisions about the daughter's further development or the type and length of the treatment and the schooling, the responsibility for her residence, healthcare and representation before officials and authorities should rest with the youth welfare office in Erlangen.

Melissa Busekros was examined by us. She has a childhood emotional disorder, severe school phobia and an oppositional denial-syndrome. Melissa lacks insight into her illness and the need for treatment, and considers herself healthy and her behaviour fully normal. M. needs urgent help in a closed setting if need be, and subsequent special education treatment to ensure schooling.

By reason of the ascertained findings, at the present moment, we must proceed from the assumption that the child's welfare is endangered and also the conditions for inpatient placement a therapeutic special education facility are met. By reason of the severity of the symptomatology, the provision of stable and dependable contacts with peers and adult caretakers as well as the development of Melissa's very limited mental ability to cope with pressure can only be assured in such facilities.M. is incapable of leading the self-determined and self-structured life she wishes. The necessary measure is necessary for avoiding a considerable endangerment to her further physical and emotional development, and it can only be implemented in a special education setting, as previous experience shows that she whould avoid other measures.In addition, M. needs professional child and adolescent psychiatric treatment and care, that can be implemented in an outpatient setting. By reason of the detected clinical-psychiatric disorders, Melissa Busekros' psychological health has already deviated from the condition which is typical for the respective age for at least one year. M. has met the requirements for granting integration assistance as per (SGB VIII) §35a, section 1, sentence 2, No. 1, because without future professional therapeutic help there is the danger that her participation in the life of society is restricted.

'School phobia'? "Hell hath no fury like a bureacrat scorned".

hat tip: Freeper cornelis

Sunday morning iPod additions

Tomorrow, Wendy & Joey - Concrete Blond

Am I Evil - Diamond Head (the original - the Metallica cover may be heavier, but DH's is much more haunting)

London Calling (the whole dang album) - The Clash (why did I wait so long to do this?)

Porgi Amor (aria from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro)

Whipsmart & Cinco de Mayo - Liz Phair

Brian Wilson (live) - Barenaked Ladies

Halah - Mazzy Star

Astute Assessment of Fred thompson's Chances

..by William Rusher:

The battle for the Republican presidential nomination underwent a major transformation last weekend when Fred Thompson told Chris Wallace of the Fox News Channel that he is considering entering the race. This is no minor development. Bob Beckel, Clinton's longtime press secretary and now a Democratic commentator for Fox, promptly asserted that Thompson is the only possible Republican contender "who scares me," and he is right to worry.

Thompson first attracted national notice as the Republican minority counsel in Congress's investigation of the Watergate scandal.

Television viewers liked the imperturbable figure they saw, and parts in various Hollywood movies came Thompson's way. Then, in 1994, Thompson was elected to the U.S. Senate in a landslide to fill the remainder of Al Gore's term, which Gore had vacated on his election as vice president in 1992. Thompson was elected to a full term in 1996, and served as chairman of the Senate's Governmental Affairs Committee.

McCain Successful at Garnering European Vote

Its settled. France, Belgium, the Netherlands are in the bag. Only a time before Germany and Austria are there too. McCain is sewing up the Eurpoean vote with a vengeance.

I love that new tag - John McCain, formerly the leading Republican presidential contender.

John McCain, give up your pursuit of the Republican nomination. You will NEVER become President.

Support Fred Thompson and become his Secretary of Veterans Affairs. We need it back. We need a veteran to lead it.

When good guys attack

Via AR15

When Code Stink Attacks

Got this still over at Hot Air. Look. No, no, no. Not at Valerie Plame. She is eye candy. Got that Terri Garr thing goin for all you Nostalgiacs. It's the gal behind the gal. The one with the pink Impeach Bush shirt on, silly. Mansexual? Chick with a ****? This Code Pink thing is Red Hot.

Add pragmatism to the list

...of reasons why you should support Fred Thompson for President. Captain Ed reports that Thompson is questioning his support for the McCain-Feingold anti-speech abomination. Hallmark of a good leader - when ya dunn fud up, ya tern aroun and fix'er up.

***UPDATE*** The LA Times chimes in on our 'folksy' candidate.

Rush and Oxycontin

but we have seen that. How about a Kennedy and oxycontin,

For some strange reason...

and a reason completely unknown to this blogger, the New York Times demonstrates an uncontrollable need to humanize Barack 'Barry' Obama. This was a probing piece, with quotes from, his sister;

“I think Hawaii gave him a sense that a lot of different voices and textures can sort of live together, however imperfectly, and he would walk in many worlds and feel a level of comfort.”

his homeroom teacher;

“He had the same exact mannerisms then as he does now,” said Eric Kusunoki, Mr. Obama’s homeroom teacher at the Punahou School. “When he walked up to give that speech at the Democratic convention, we recognized him right away by the way he walked. He was well liked by everybody, a very charismatic guy.”

his almost sweetheart;

(Ms. Furushima seems to have lighted a fire in Mr. Obama’s high school heart, judging by his sugary entries in her yearbook in which he expressed regret that the two had never dated. “He never asked,” she said wistfully.)

the always necessary high school basketball coach;

“He was on a very, very strong team,” said his coach, Chris McLachlin. “Had he been on any other team in the league, he would have been a starter. But he practiced hard, and his work ethic might have been above everyone else’s. He practiced at the 10 a.m. juice break; he practiced at the lunch break at noon; and he was the last one to leave each day.”

the politically astute high school friend;

“He seems to have the skills that a lot of people in our class had, which is to pull diverse people together,” said Bernice Glenn Bowers, another classmate.

his profound high school poetry;

But he did have writing skills, composing poetry for the school’s literary magazine. One poem, “An Old Man,” lamented, “He pulls out forgotten dignity from under his flaking coat, and walks a straight line along the crooked world.” {teary blogger here}

Who is Barack Obama? Ask the New York Times.

***UPDATE*** Are you kidding me? Is this an orchestrated campaign? More pablum with quotes from the same characters mentioned above. And a darling pic:

OBAMA - THE POSTCARD

***UPDATE The Sequel***

A Tale of Two Candidates

Lets contrast this with a WashPo hitpiece with its provocative title, 'Revealing the Total Giuliani', about Rudy:

The attacks from his bully pulpit were legendary. Giuliani had no statutory control over the city's deplorable public school system. Frustrated, he began a campaign to hound from office the mild-mannered new schools chancellor, Ramon Cortines. Each day brought a new round of public ridicule. Cortines was "a captive of the bureaucracy," Giuliani complained. "He should grow up . . . and stop playing little victim," he said on another occasion. Unable to fire Cortines, he tormented him mercilessly until the chancellor surrendered and moved to California. Soon afterward, former mayor Ed Koch, a onetime ally, wrote a book about Giuliani. Its title: "Nasty Man."

The City Hall steps have historically served as New York's town square, hosting an unending stream of colorful protests and news conferences. But that proved too anarchic for the mayor, who tightened security -- before 9/11 -- to the point that reporters, politicians and interest groups were banned from the steps, rendering the place desolate. Only pressure from the City Council forced him to relent. The boss viewed the world in terms of friends and enemies. New York's top-tier elected black leaders -- all of them Democrats -- were written off as sympathizers of Giuliani's predecessor David N. Dinkins; Giuliani refused to meet with any of them for years. He counseled his aides to stay on the offensive -- and he illustrated the point every day. The mayor's battles with the media were pure theater: He'd storm out of news conferences, demean his questioners, pick fights. Nothing restrained him from turning to a Newsday reporter one day and dressing him down in front of his colleagues. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"WHO INVITED YOU?"

Global Warming Attacks NYC with a Vengeance

Precious Clams Up in Duke Lacrosse Case

But ABC News painstakingly reminds us that just because;

- there is no DNA evidence,
- the accuser has told multiple and conflicting stories,
- the DA has engaged in serious prosecutorial misconduct,
- there is alibi evidence for at least one player,
- the lineup was bad,
- the accuser has a history of making up similar accusations,
- the accuser has serious dependency problems,
- her fellow stripper says there was no attack,

etc., etc., does NOT mean that she wasn't raped by the Duke lacrosse players.

Fred Thompson Update

"Draft Fred" PAC being announced today

Michael - I wanted to give you the heads up. The official "Draft Fred Thompson 2008" political committee is being filed with the F.E.C. as we speak and will be announced sometime tomorrow. It is being set up as an unauthorized/non-connected 527 committee and will serve as a vehicle for supporters from across the country to express their desire to see Senator Thompson run.

Momentum builds, Myra smiles. :)

***UPDATE*** Dan Riehl is encouraged by a Thompson call in to a radio show this morning.

***UPDATE DEUX*** Congresman Zach Wamp gives us 10 reasons why Thompson is the man:

1. He personifies strength and trust - the two primary characteristics people look for in a President.

2. He is a natural leader - let's face it. Some politicians are but most are not.

3. He is a consistent conservative - from national security and second amendment rights to the sanctity of life and traditional marriage, Fred is a strong conservative.

4. He has charisma - in the Senate they call it "gravitas." At home it's just plain old confidence. Fred knows who he is, where he came from and where we, as a nation, should go together.

5. He has plenty of experience - not a career politician, but from cleaning up government corruption to chairing select committees on Chinese missile technology, Fred Thompson has the right amount of experience.

6. He is highly electable - Fred Thompson has always been likeable. From the movie set to the Senate floor, he is just "good ol' Fred" to everyone he comes in contact with.

7. He has "star quality" - let's face it, we are at the height of the information age. The media overdoes it so someone who is media friendly and has some celebrity is advantaged.

8. He has a great sense of humor - during the difficult times in which we live, we need a touch of humor. Fred is serious minded but does not take himself too seriously.

9. He is comfortable in his own skin - What you see is what you get. Fred Thompson is the real deal and it shows.

10. He is a Tennessean - perhaps the biggest plus of all and sorry y'all...you have to be one to really understand.

This Dawg must take issue with number 10, but batting .900 aint too shabby.

A Family Affair

Mayor's Daughter Arrested

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor acknowledged Friday that her daughter, 24-year-old Elizabeth Frame, was arrested early Friday morning for drunk driving. A Tulsa Police report says an officer pulled over Frame’s vehicle just before 2 a.m. Friday near 15th and Cincinnati for running a red light.

In the report, it states the officer smelled an odor of alcohol and asked Frame to get out of the car, where she failed sobriety field tests. The police report says Frame admitted to having 2 to 3 beers and was hopping around to maintain her balance. The report goes on to say Frame refused a breath test, stating she wanted to call her mother first for counsel.

Frame was arrested for a misdemeanor, first time DUI and was released on $1,000 bond.

The mayor said Friday it was a family matter, they are a strong family and would handle it privately.

A family matter? Handle it privately? Did I miss something here?

'I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the Jew'

Words from Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

'"So, calling him a terrorist robs him of all of his humanity'

Words from Rosie O'Donnell (about Khalid Sheik Mohammed)

Global warming update.....

SIGNIFICANT SNOW AND SLEET POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...A STRONG COLD FRONT HAS PASSED SOUTH OF THE TRI-STATE AREA AND HAS BECOME NEARLY STATIONARY FROM THE MID ATLANTIC TO THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES. RAIN WAS FALLING OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. HOWEVER...WITH COLDER AIR MOVING INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTH...SLEET WAS MIXED IN. SNOW WILL ALSO MIX IN WITH THE RAIN AND SLEET OVERNIGHT...MAINLY INLAND.WINTRY PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO PICK UP IN INTENSITY DURING FRIDAY FROM SOUTH TO NORTH AS LOW PRESSURE CURRENTLY OVER THE GULF COAST DEEPENS AND MOVES NORTHEAST TO NEAR THE MID ATLANTIC COAST BY FRIDAY EVENING. THE LOW THEN RAPIDLY STRENGTHENS AND LIFTS NORTH ALONG THE NORTHERN MID ATLANTIC AND NORTHEAST COASTS FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY.PRECIPITATION COULD BECOME MODERATE TO HEAVY FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY NIGHT WITH 5 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS COASTAL LOCATIONS...TO AS MUCH AS 8 TO 14 INCHES OF SNOW AND SLEET NORTH AND WEST OF NEW YORK CITY

Wishin global warmin would accelerate rapidly.

Dumb and dumber

Didn't think I could do it, but I was able to find something dumber than the thousand dollar pizza. How about a spritz of some surrealist perfume.

Church school renames Three Little Pigs to avoid offending Muslims

How has the west become this stupid:

Church school renames Three Little Pigs to avoid offending Muslims

The story of the Three Little Pigs' battle with the Big Bad Wolf has delighted children since it was written more than 150 years ago.

But the tale highlighting the merits of hardwork and practicality has become the latest to fall victim to political correctness.

A junior school production of the children's story has been renamed the Three Little Puppies for fear of offending Muslims.

Organisers of a children's music festival have altered the popular characters and lyrics because of the multi-cultural nature of the youngsters involved and their parents in the audience.

***UPDATE*** Or, how about Three Gay Little Puppies

BRITISH children as young as four are being taught about same-sex relationships through fairytales and storybooks with gay and lesbian characters - and not everyone is happy.

A pilot scheme to introduce children to gay issues is running in several schools across England with stories such as King and King, about a gay prince, or And Tango Makes Three, about gay penguins who fall in love and raise an adopted child.

Last straw, the West is certifiably insane.

Thursday afternoon changing spots

New species of leopard with largest fangs in cat world discovered

Fred Thompson very close?

Some say so.

Senator Thompson, don't be a prima donna about this. There are many of us on your side. Please declare.

The wall of separation

Nice how a letter from Thomas Jefferson, who was not at the Constitutional Convenvention, gains the weight of Constitutional authority.

'Wall of separation'? What wall?? Liberal interpretations hav meant that kids have had Bilbles confiscated and lil prayin kids have been reduced to lawbreakers.

But now. Be a Muslim Kids not only need to be force fed honor this new religion, but to emulate it:

From England:

The issue of how Islam is taught in schools has become a political hot potato. In California one school, the Excelsior Elementary, took its teaching of Islam to seventh graders to extremes. School pupils were made to dress up in Islamic clothing, to memorize Koranic verses and even to fast during their lunch hour to mimic Muslim behavior during Ramadan. The Five Pillars of Islam were to be learned, pupils were encouraged to say "Allahu Ackbar" and using dice, the children played a "jihad game". The materials employed at the school stated: "From the beginning, you and your classmates will become Muslims."

Good thing the 'moderates have spoken'

Presidential Poll

From Sean Hannity's site:

Results: What GOP candidate are you most likely to vote for even if they have not announced yet?

1. Newt Gingrich 24.04%
2. Rudy Giuliani 15.31%
3. Mike Huckabee 1.71%
4. Sec. of State Condi Rice 5.43%
5. Sen. Sam Brownback 3.54%
6. Sen. Fred Thompson 40.94%
7. Sen. John McCain 1.46%
8. Gov. Mitt Romney 7.57%

Sailing with Big Mo at his back.

Is this the sign of a serious foray into the world of bracketology

.... or the sign of a desperate campaign on life support and sinking fast.

Toot Toot goes the McCain Train