Judicious Asininity

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Sun Aug 31, 2003

Djibouti Immigration Policy

An African Solution

In an attempt to cure illegal immigration problems Djibouti has this solution:

The immigrants, mainly Ethiopians and Somalis, have been told by authorities they must leave the country for "security" and "economic" reasons.

And if they refuse:

Illegal immigrants who did not leave would be deported, government spokesman Ali Ahmed Koulet told the BBC.

You must leave and if you fail to leave we will deport you?
Hmmmm. Like many governments in Africa this one seems to favor the lose/lose approach to all problems. This sounds to be another failure in the making.

What we need here is perspective

The issue: Sorting out the news of gloom and doom

Pat Bankston has an interesting article in the NWI Times dealing with perspective as related to the doom and gloom portrayed in the media:

We inarguably have the unique ability among animals to predict what might happen in the future and modify our behavior accordingly, especially to avoid danger. That is perspective, from roots that mean to "look" or to "see" (specere) and "through" (per) or to see ahead.

Our perspective has to be garnered through interpretation of an onslaught of information from radio, TV, computers, books, magazines and a gaggle of people who make a living interpreting that information from their own perspective.

That's the problem. How can you develop your own perspective about how the world works in a time of overwhelming, and often contradictory, waves of perspective from others.

So what to do? How do you keep life in perspective when you are bombarded with news of doubtful value to your life?

Perhaps the answer is to understand human nature enough to view the cacophony of over-the-top rhetoric as what it is -- an effort by other people to get your attention. Not to educate, only secondarily to inform, but always to keep you looking or listening, often by frightening you.

And then when people look at you and ask, "Ain't it so bad?," but it does not involve immediate threat to your life, your limb, your food supply, your home or those of your family, you can say, "No, it's not so bad. Let's keep this in perspective so that in the fullness of time we can react appropriately." Chimps, you see, cannot easily tell the difference between a real cheetah and a stuffed cheetah placed in their jungle by a curious anthropologist. So they all scream and yell and run away, even though the stuffed cheetah cannot harm them.

We humans can tell the difference, even if some among us are screaming that the cheetah is real.

Lessons? Don't be a chimp and go read the rest.

Bad News Bears

Banking on Failure

The Sophorist points to an article by Victor Davis Hanson who manages to clarify some of the doom mongering going on in various quarters concerning Iraq and the war on terror in general:

Here at home, Democratic contenders for the presidency are an increasingly shrill lot. After listening to Messrs. Kerry, Dean, or Graham, we would never glean that the war had gone well, that the Iraqis were liberated, and that things are looking up. Instead, accusations of quagmire and near-disaster comprise the standard stump speeches. Some allege that too many Americans and too much money is committed to Baghdad. Other rivals swear that we need more soldiers and investment — the common theme being only that whatever the official position of the administration is, it must be wrong.

Aside from the acute embarrassment that will arise should textual or material evidence of weapons of mass destruction, and of Saddamite ties with al Qaeda, soon appear (and they will) — or should Iraqis begin to craft a consensual society — the Democratic elite increasingly run the risk of having it appear to the American people that they thrive on bad news and sputter on good.

Run the risk?? Too late for that. The majority of people have already witnessed the lenghts that Democrats will go to win. From the chad wars of Florida to blocking economic stimulus plans to the obstructionism exhibitted in the halls of Congress the evidence that Dems hope resides in this country's failure is clear. This sad and disgusting trait exhibitted by the Democratic party's leadership points to the even more sad fact that power is more important to many Dems than America's health. No, they don't run the risk of "having it appear to the American people that they thrive on bad news". They have already took the chance and lost.

Sat Aug 30, 2003

Dumber than the French

Democrats Refuse to Learn

Some people just refuse to believe their eyes and learn from the lessons that failure has taught others. Take the liberal Democrats for example. While they attempt move the U.S. further into a complete welfare state Europeans are trying to escape the quagmire they find themselves in due to the same ideas.

In and of itself, the news may not mark a revolution: The German state will soon stop paying for its citizens to visit health spas whenever they feel the need to reinvigorate themselves.

But the move heralds a much wider shift, as Germany and other major European nations join a wave of reform sweeping the Continent, and start to overhaul the social safety net they can no longer afford.

And even as they say farewell to cherished benefits, European citizens appear resigned to their disappearance. Stuck in a low-growth rut for the past three years - the worst such stretch in a decade - they say they are ready to relinquish some of their perks if that will set their economies right.

"Some fundamental changes are going on," says Ulrich Schröder, chief European policy analyst at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt. "There is a similar tendency across the Continent, an increasing readiness for reform."

Not that anyone is proclaiming the death of the welfare state, which has characterized Western Europe since the end of World War II. German workers still enjoy twice as many holidays as their American counterparts, mandatory state insurance schemes guarantee everyone almost cost-free healthcare from Britain to Greece, and French government pensions will remain generous however they are reformed.

Which brings this question to mind. Are liberal Democrats dumber than the French?

Gray Davis Pulls Out All Stops

Buys Indian Support

Govna Davis has bought hisself some Indian votes:

Public policy analysts on Friday condemned a proposal that Gov. Gray Davis made behind closed doors to
give Indian tribes the right to choose two members of the commission that regulates tribal gambling in California.

"It's beyond the perception of impropriety," said Bill Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and author of "Gambling in America: An Encyclopedia." "It's 'You vote for me, you give me money and support; I give you this.' It's wrong. People can do this with smiles and winks and all of this, but to put it in actual words — incredible! It's an incredible sellout."

Kinda like the fox guarding the hen house. But, desperate times call for desperate tactics. At least he is showing his true colors now.

French Colors

Sounds Familiar

Just in case anyone missed this and just in case anyone out there still believes that the French actually have a clue about anything here's a reminder:

In an Aug. 25 speech that was almost surreal for its flighty idealism, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called for a "new world organization" to replace the United Nations as it is currently structured.

At an annual conference in Paris bringing together 200 top French diplomats and Foreign Ministry officials, de Villepin reiterated his view that the United States must cede power to a new "collective-security" organization. "[B]uilding a new world, founding a new order" was "urgent," he insisted, "an immense task that is incumbent upon us." It was France's role to lead Europe to become "one of the founding pillars" of the new system, he said.

The new collective-security system should be "founded on collective responsibility and world democracy," de Villepin said. In particular, he said that France was now looking favorably to the idea of enlarging membership of the U.N. Security Council and vesting it with expanded powers. While he provided no specifics in his speech, aides later said that he believed Germany, Japan, India, Brazil and a major African power such as Nigeria all should be given permanent seats on the council, along with veto power over all Security Council resolutions, including those authorizing the use of force.

Mob rule by the ignorant and most tyranical nations on earth. Grand idea.
Since the Emperor Misha has already hit this pretty hard I'll leave it at that. More comments are also located at Pave France. See what the U.S. is up against? Sheer unadulterated idiocy combined with absolute dreamy eyed idealism that is so far from reality that all one can do is shake their heads at the lunacy espoused by these jealous, envious, and dangerous fools. Sorry, guess that was something else to say.

Mass Murderers Captured in Iraq

Quick Action by Iraqi Police Nab Terrorists

Quick action by Iraqi police resulted in 4 arrests for the recent bombing that killed over a hundred people:

Iraqi police have arrested four al-Qaida-linked suspects in the bombing of Iraq's holiest Shiite Muslim shrine, a senior police official told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The official, who said the explosion death toll had risen to 107, said the men - two Iraqis and two Saudis - were caught shortly after Friday's car bombing.

The police official, who led the initial investigation and interrogation of the captives, said the prisoners told of other plots to assassinate political and religious leaders and to damage vital installations such as power plants, water supplies and oil pipelines.

The police official said the suspects claimed a recent wave of bombings were designed to keep Iraq in a state of chaos so that police and American forces would be unable to focus attention on the country's porous borders, where suspected foreign fighters are believed to be infiltrating.

The four men arrived in Najaf three days before the bombing and had been staying with a friend who did not know their intentions, the official said.

American officials believe militants from Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran are coming to Iraq to attack Western interests. President Bush said earlier this month that more foreign "al-Qaida-type fighters" have moved in.

Last week, a shadowy group that takes its name from the alias of Mohammed Atef, Osama bin Laden's top deputy, claimed responsibility for the U.N. headquarters bombing.

The Abu Hafs el-Masri Brigades - one of three groups to claim responsibility for the attack - made its claim on a Web site, but U.S. officials said they could not authenticate it and it remained unclear if the group exists or has any link to al-Qaida. Atef was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in November 2001.

This quick action leads me to believe someone knew these people were not acting in the best interest of Iraq prior to the bombing. In any event, the arrests are still good news and my guess is that Iraqis will quickly grow tired of having a few people continually attack people and infrastructure. Hopefully this scenario will come to pass and the terrorists will begin to feel the force of the population opposing them. That, is definitely what is needed in Iraq. But, will it happen?

Fri Aug 29, 2003

Are you a NeoCon?

Find Out Here

The Christian Science Monitor has a quiz for those of you who are curious about your political leanings. This is contained in a series of articles dealing with neoconservatives. It actually pretty interesting and probably worth your time to see.

Also, there's an interesting site called Nation Master which is described as "a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. Using the form above, you can generate maps and graphs with ease on all kinds of statistics. What's more, you can select exactly which countries you want to include".

Newsweek (Sept. 1, 2003) does its bit in the War on the War on Terror

Ten days before the 2nd anniversary of 9/11 they give pride of place to an Arab American who's upset about the treatment of terrorist associates and Al Qaeda members

Randall Hamud, an Arab-American lawyer attacks the administration for acting against suspected terrorists. The opinion piece is titled "We're Fighting Terror But Killing Freedom" and the subhead reads"Are the Rights of My Arab and Muslim clients really expendable? Only if we're ready to give up our own."

Those two lines typify the position of those who oppose the War on Terror. According to Hamud, by paying particular attention to the activities of Arabs and Muslims, the administration is going to deprive Americans of their constitutional [and civil] rights. The obvious response is that our failure to pay sufficient attention to the activities of Arabs and Muslims led directly to the death of 3,000 innocent Americans (including some Arabs and Muslims) in the biggest strike -yet- by radical Islam in its ongoing war on Western civilization. Hamud complains about the treatment of three young Arab men who were acquainted with two of the 9/11 terrorists. He claims they knew nothing about the 9/11 plot. Maybe so, but these gentleman are Muslim and let us not forget that. Their religion tells them to lie to infidels, and it tells them it is their sacred duty to Allah to subvert the law of the United States. One of the Hadiths (an account of the Prophet's words and deeds) tells how the Prophet gave Muhammed bin Maslama, one of his followers, permission to lie to Ka'b bin al-Ashraf, a Jewish poet who had offended the Prophet, in order to kill him. That is sufficient precedent for a Muslim to lie to an infidel. The refusal of a Muslim FBI agent to wear a wire when interviewing another Muslim on religious grounds is another dangerous example of a Muslim placing his religion above the law of the United States.

Hamud then complains about the death threats he allegedly received when he sought to represent Zacarias Moussaoui's mother. She retained Hamud to try to persuade the "alleged 20th hijacker" and admitted al Qaeda member to cooperate with his defense lawyers. Moussaoui is acting according to the al Qaeda handbook. He is doing everything in his power to subvert the US Justice system and is having some success. As I noted in a previous post, he should have been treated as an unlawful combatant and put before a military tribunal.

Hamud tells us he is a secularized Muslim, and that "Today, Islam in America is much more fundamentalist". Thanks for the warning. The "local Muslims didn't trust me at first but that changed when they saw me vehemently defending my clients in court and protesting the government's treatment of Arabs and Muslims in the media." There is no indication that Hamud or his fellow worshippers protested about the Arabs and Muslims closely associated with his clients who murdered 3000 people in one of the most evil acts in modern history.

Hamud praises Judge Shira Scheindlin for ordering the release of Osama Awadallah. According to Bill O'Reilly,

The Jordanian national was charged with lying to a grand jury about his association with two of the 9/11 killers. According to the FBI, Awadallah met with Nawaf al-Hamzi 40 times.Al-Hamzi died when the plane he helped hijack crashed into the Pentagon. In Al-Hamzi's car parked at Dulles Airport was Awadallah's number. When the Feds raided his apartment in San Diego, they found a picture of Usama bin Laden. Yet, Judge Scheindlin released this man over the objections of the Justice Department, and threw out some of the charges against him.

Hamud complains about the treatment of Jose Padilla and asks "Since when does the Constitution allow citizens arrested on U.S. soil to be held beyond the reach of the courts?" The short answer is, when the war time commander-in-chief orders it. Perhaps Hamud hasn't heard about the fate of the Nazi saboteurs, including US citizens, who were caught on US soil during WWII. The Supreme Court agreed with the action taken against these little fish. They didn't come close to matching the record set by the 9/11 hijackers.

Hamud claims he's "not fighting for Arabs and Muslims; I'm fighting for all of us". But the only people he seems to be worried about are associates of the 9/11 terrorists and admitted terrorists. He sure as hell isn't on my side.

People Leaving Democratic States

Why, Why, Why?

Daniel Henniger gives the answer in the Opinion Journal:

The most significant voting bloc in California's famous recall election isn't Hispanics or angry male Democrats but the people who were so eager to weigh in that they've already voted--with their feet.

The economies of California, New York and Illinois have been supported for years by inflows of foreign-born immigrants, and they still come. But this census shows large net losses even of recent immigrants in these three blue states. Almost certainly these are the most motivated, successful new arrivers, who know a lot about maximizing their gains.

Go take a look at the rest. There are some very interesting figures, like this:

Monstermoving.com lets you discover relative buying power if you lived somewhere else. Let's type in L.A. and Tucson, just next door: "A salary of $30,000 in Los Angeles has the same buying power that a salary of $13,448 has in Tucson." For Las Vegas the figure is $13,241. If on top of this they elect a Gray Davis governor, why stay?

New Yorkers' third-favorite refugee camp is North Carolina. Easy to see why: You've got to earn $45,000 in the Big Apple to buy what $7,191 gets in Durham. As the Census report dryly puts it: "Five times as many people moved from New York to North Carolina as moved in the opposite direction." Yes, retirees go to Florida, but the size of the flow is mind-boggling; in five years, 308,000 New Yorkers went there. It is now economically irrational for a middle-class person to retire in New York City.

You might also want to compare such places as Paris and Berlin with Charlotte and Tallahassee. I'm sure there will be some 'astonishing' similarities to the above comparison in more ways than mere moola.

The California/Aztlan governor's race

Immigration and assimilation could become major issues

These two quotes from the Washington Times coverage of the race highlight what could become major issues.

Before Mr. Schwarzenegger arrived in the state's farm belt, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) called on him to step down from the advisory board of U.S. English, a group that seeks to make English the official language of the United States.

Mr. Bustamante, meanwhile, defended his membership in the radical group the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan (MECHA, from the Spanish acronym) while he was a student at California State University at Fresno in the 1970s, and said he still supports the group.

MECHA calls California and the rest of the American Southwest "Aztlan" and says it needs to be "liberated" and revert to Mexico. The group's motto is "For the race, everything; for those outside the race, nothing."

Schwarzenegger stands for the traditional view of American immigration - assimilate and live the American dream. Bustamante seems more interested in supporting Hispanic issues. Lowell Ponte takes Bustamante apart in this Frontpage piece. We'll likely see liberal writers attacking Schwarzenegger for his free-wheeling life in the 70's, and his support of Proposition 187.

Supporters of illegal immigrants try to blur the distinction between those who come to America legally and assimilate and those who come illegally and reject assimilation. Personally, I cannot fathom how people who break the law by coming into the US illegally can be ignored. or worse, supported by elected officials sworn to uphold the law. That's what proposition 187 was about. So, will the governors race become a referendum on legal versus illegal immigration?

A Christian's response to vegetarianism

I can't wait for his response to Nudism

Read the whole letter over at the NRO Corner. Great closing.

9/11 Horror Relived

Transcripts Released

Photo from CNN's story.

The 9/11 transcripts have been released amid controversy. Irregardless of how you feel about the release there are some things that should be remembered about that day. These transcripts may help refresh some memories about:

The horrible deaths that many people experienced.
The enemy of us all who caused this horror.
The feelings you experieced as you witnessed this attack.

A Small Victory has a lot to say on this subject so I will simply use a few of her words here:

Imagine my horror when I went to the CNN page this morning and saw an image of the Word Trade Center towers, smoking, burning, on the verge of collapse.

My stomach clenched and my heart stopped, briefly. Of course, the towers couldn't be burning again, because they are no longer there. Still, seeing that image jarred the most basic part of my memory from that day. That entire sinking, drowning feeling hit me with full force.

I recovered within seconds and my stomach eased itself back into place before it went into a tailspin all over again, reading the transcripts of the Port Authority radio and phone transmissions from 9/11.

Never forget and vow to fight to the death against those who would destroy us. It's the only way.

Liberal Immigration Policy

Appears to Encourage..........Illegal Immigration

Here's a few recent instances of some asinine immigration policies:

The state Assembly is poised to pass a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain California driver's licenses.

While they're at it, perhaps Assembly members can vote to erect signs at state borders and airports that say: "Welcome, criminals."

SB60, as passed by the state Senate, prohibits the Department of Motor Vehicles from checking to see if California's newest drivers were ever convicted of murder or other violent crimes. SB60 also would make it illegal for the DMV to share fingerprints with American law enforcement agencies -- unless there's a warrant for a specific individual for a specific offense.

And this:

It is odd that liberals would fervently support a government program to suppress the wages of low-income Americans, especially minorities. But they do. The program is called high-level immigration.

The latest evidence that untrammeled immigration into America, both legal and illegal, harms the economic interests of low-income workers comes from a report by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. It found that natives and established immigrants in the United States earn 11 percent less when they work with new Hispanic immigrants. Minority workers are especially hard hit -- they earn an average of 14 percent less. The more new immigrants there are, the less the other workers make.

And this:

The American dream of home ownership, complete with the white picket fence, is alive and well for those who break our laws and break down our fences to get in.

Last week, The Washington Post published a rosy front-page tale headlined, "Illegal Immigrants Buy Into Homeowning Dream." The article detailed how illegal aliens in the Washington, D.C., area are successfully hooking up with cunning mortgage brokers and complicit lenders to secure home loans. Despite federal laws making it illegal to violate the borders, overstay visas, and recruit, harbor and encourage illegal aliens, the Post notes that the illegal alien home loan schemes are "legal."

Just what part of 'illegal' is it that these people do not understand?
Get a grip people. These ideas and practices are rediculous. Next thing you know there will be a move to allow illegal immigrants to vote. Care to guess what party will benefit from that?

Thanks to The Sophorist

Head on Over and Take a Look

Thanks to The Sophorist for linking to Judicious Asininity. Go on over and take a look at his fine site. In this post he points to a link on the Unofficial Bush/Cheney '04 site where you can email a letter to the editor of all your local papers at once. This would be a fine tool for those who want to speak out on various matters in their local area. This tool is also on the Official Bush/Cheney site. Go on over and check out the Sophorist and visit the Bush/Cheney sites for more info.
For anyone else who has blogrolled JA lately please use the comments to this post to add info about your site. Thanks to all who visit here. Feel free to use the comments to add your opinions on any matter or to leave feedback about JA.

FCAT Lawsuit

The System just Ain't Fair

The NAACP has a problem with the state of Florida because black students cannot pass standard assessment tests:

The NAACP filed a federal complaint against Florida's education department Thursday, seeking to stop use of statewide assessment tests until the achievement gap between minority and white students is eliminated.

The complaint to the federal Office for Civil Rights, released by the group Thursday, also seeks to achieve racial balance in schools among students and teachers and alleges that Florida has intentionally discriminated against black students.

The lawsuit asks to have federal education money withheld from Florida until the state implements a plan to close racial disparities.

The NAACP claims that Florida is violating its constitutional duty to provide a quality education to all students, saying schools that are mostly minority are not receiving the same resources and have inferior facilities.

On yeah, it has to be the system Obviously some schools must not have text books to study and thus find their students unprepared to pass these tests that are intended to measure a minimum level of proficiency for the grade level. Yep, it's got to be the system's fault, it always is. And we all know who runs the system.

Thu Aug 28, 2003

Dreaming of Being Cloned?

Seeking the Fountain of Youth?

It might be best to wait a spell:

New fears have been raised about the health of cloned animals after three cloned adult pigs dropped dead from heart attacks.

The pigs were created using a variation on the technique that made Dolly the sheep. A Taiwan-based team rammed a whole adult cell into a fertilized egg that was emptied of its own genetic material1.

Of four piglets born, one died within days. The remaining three have now collapsed and expired of heart failure at less than six months of age, team leader Jerry Yang of the University of Connecticut in Storrs revealed this week. "It was totally shocking," says Yang. He has dubbed the fatalities 'adult clone sudden death syndrome'.

Sorry for the bad news.

Driving the Left Crazy

It Don't Take a Whole Lot

World Net Daily has a list of 22 things about the Bible that drives the left crazy. Here's a sample:

A quick glance at the Bible, and it's not difficult to see why the tight sphincter of the left further asphyxiates that bug up their tuchis. The Bible is full of nightmares for leftist red-tape mongers and professional rule-imposers. Take these examples:

Moses parted the Red Sea without first performing an environmental impact study.

Jesus gave a Sermon on the Mount where he talked of giving to the poor, and spoke out against greed, and all without charging attendees $300 per ticket. (Barbra Streisand only).

The term "The Three Wise Men" is insensitive to the intellectually challenged. That should be changed to the "Trio of educationally advantaged amateur astronomers."

Instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they should have brought hummus, incense and a representative from Child Protective Services.

The Virgin Mary didn't first meet with consultants from Planned Parenthood.

Ten plagues and still not a single person thought of nationalizing health care?

Adam didn't ask Eve for verbal as well as written consent before touching her.

Of course Cain killed Abel. He was obviously suffering either from bipolar disorder, low blood sugar, emotional abuse as a child, or societal neglect.

There's more, 22 in all. Go See.
Link via Eckernet

The U.N. Encourages Terrorism

Accorded Legitimacy to terrorism

A SoCal Law Blog post reports an interesting op-ed by Alan Dershowitz regarding the U.N. and terrorism:

For more than a quarter of a century, the U.N. has actively encouraged terrorism by rewarding its primary practitioners, legitimating it as a tactic, condemning its victims when they try to defend themselves and describing the murderers of innocent children as 'freedom fighters.' No organization in the world today has accorded so much legitimacy to terrorism as has the U.N.

Can You Say 'Relatively disorganized, indecisive and perhaps overly drawn to ambiguity'?
Thanks to SoCal Law Blog for adding Judicious Asininity to its blogroll and for visiting. Go on over and take a look. It's well worth the trip.

Psycho Apology

Stereotyping Works Both Ways

In what may pass as an apology or at least as clarification the authors of the pot stirring 'study' dealing with psychological differences associated with left- vs. right-wing thinking have this to say:

It's wrong to conclude that our results provide only bad news for conservatives. True, we find some support for the traditional "rigidity-of-the-right" hypothesis, but it is also true that liberals could be characterized on the basis of our overall profile as relatively disorganized, indecisive and perhaps overly drawn to ambiguity -- all of which may be liabilities in mass politics and other public and professional domains.

That ladies and gentleman, is hitting the nail on the head! That disorganization, ambiguity, and indecisive nature also proves to be a substantial liability in such matters as national defense and the war on terror. Were the Left in control on 9/11 they would still be trying to figure out where to move the rubble from the WTC and how best to provide maximum over-time pay for the labor organizations involved in the work. Uh-Huh. This leads one to conclude, probably correctly, that the best possible leaders would have characteristics removed from the fringe of both extremes. Like, you know, moderates who combine the best of both views. Duhhhhhh!

Wed Aug 27, 2003

Why blacked-out New York did better in 2003 than 1977

The people didn't get better; the cops did

I hope Mayor Bloomberg reads Heather MacDonald. She is so on the money

The cops started making arrests soon after the power stopped, and in large numbers—up to two-dozen hoodlums at a time. Getting these early-birds in custody stopped them from wreaking further havoc and sent a strong message to copycats that lawlessness would not be tolerated.

Paganism?

The Saga Continues

One of the primary reasons that I oppose those who wish to totally separate our government from religion is that I figure there will be no end to the demands of the fringe. This will result in a society of petty bickering and insultees.
Here's an example of going to the extremes I refer to:

As protesters continued to roar in Alabama over the court-ordered removal of a religious monument, a lone woman stood before Tarrant County commissioners on Tuesday, saying that the bronze statue of a panther represents "paganism" and should be removed from government grounds.

Where will it end? I say end it now and tell everyone to just get the %&%&% over it. See, I don't always have to cuss. But this surely makes me want to.

Wouldn't life be wonderful under Sharia law?

So why are NOW and the NAACP virtually silent on this issue?

Africa Online reports that the

Sharia'h appeals court once again postponed her [Nigerian Mother Amina Lawal] appeal against her death by stoning sentence after being convicted of adultery last year

The evidence of adultery is the fact that she had a child out of wedlock. If Sharia legal standards applied in the US, 60% to 70% of African-American mothers would be sentenced to death by stoning. A smaller percentage of non-African-American mothers would face the same penalty. Victims of rape would also be at risk unless they could find four Muslim men who witnessed the act and would testify on their behalf. Four Supreme Court justices wouldn't make the cut unless they were Muslims.

Christianity and Judaism have long outgrown such inhumane brutality. Yet a substantial element of present day Islam still thinks that way and wants Sharia law to prevail. It doesn't quite tally with the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Gray Davis Rushes to Pack the Courts

Gotta Git While the Gittin's Good

Most Democrats are leery of appointing judges these days but Gray Davis is loading up the bench in California:

Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday continued a push to fill judgeships before the Oct. 7 recall election, naming a Santa Cruz County judge to a long-vacant seat on the 6th District Court of Appeal and appointing six other judges statewide.

Davis named seven judges in five different counties, including appointing Superior Court Judge Richard McAdams to the San Jose-based 6th District, which reviews appeals involving many of Silicon Valley's most important criminal and civil cases. The governor also promoted a San Diego appeals court justice to be presiding justice of her court.

With the latest round of judicial appointments, Davis has filled 29 judgeships since mid-July, around the time the recall election was certified. Davis went more than three months without naming a judge in California before July, and overall had appointed 19 judges during the first half of this year.

Having a good judge in the right position could come in handy for the Dems when the post-recall fight begins.

Is malaria making a comeback in the US?

Time to rethink the ban on the safest insecticide - DDT

Most US cases of Malaria are contracted overseas. According to this News Report locally contracted case are starting to turn up in Florida. West Nile is already established in much of the US. Do we want Malaria, a far worse mosquito borne disease, to reestablish itself in US territory?

Currently used insecticides are more expensive, more toxic and shorter lived than good old DDT, savior of millions until the Environmentalist lobby got it banned despite little, if any, scientific evidence that it was dangerous, let alone more dangerous than the alternatives.

Green Beret tells the truth about Iraq

Liberal media and Democrats don't

Former Green Beret lieutenant colonel and writer Gordon Cucullu has a piece posted on the Foxnews site that explains what is going on in Iraq from a professional's perspective. It makes a welcome change from the wimpish pap that leftist media types, exemplified by Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation reporter Andrew Gilligan, have been feeding the public. Key quotes

The wonder to those of us who trained to be guerrillas is not that there is so much activity right now in Iraq but so little. If the situation was reversed and our special ops guys were advising the resistance, the entire country would be aflame. A well-trained, organized force supported by a significant percentage of the Iraqi population would have scores of bombings daily along with dozens of assassinations

Criticism is surfacing that President Bush has turned Iraq into a battleground for terrorists. If that is truly the case then, well, good: Better to fight them in Iraq where they are isolated, vulnerable and the rules of engagement permit our professionals to engage and eliminate them, than to have to fight them here. If Iraq is the catalyst that is bringing these vermin out of their holes in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Palestine, then, hooray, we have achieved yet another tangential benefit by fighting the war.

Texas Eleven Afraid to Go Home

Hope Resides in Lawsuit

The runaway Texas Democrats are still on the lam:

Fearing they'd be arrested, members of the Texas 11 Senate Democratic Caucus had decided early today not to return this morning to the state they left a month ago to prevent action on a redistricting bill.

At a couple points Tuesday, the runaway senators - absent from Austin since fleeing July 28 - had decided at least five of their members would fly via charter aircraft to Laredo to attend the opening hearing of a lawsuit they hope eventually will provide them an avenue to return to Texas.

"Because of very credible information that we have gotten out of Austin, no senators will be making the trip this morning," Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio said early today. "We felt there was a possibility that we would be caught and trapped, and so we wanted to act with extreme caution."

Stay tuned for the next episode.

Tue Aug 26, 2003

Washington and God

Someone's got it All Wrong

The Instapundit says:

As George Washington noted, "the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."

I'm willing to ignore, as de minimis, things like "In God We Trust." But there's nothing de minimis about what Roy Moore was attempting. He wanted to make a statement, to the effect that George Washington was wrong, and that the United States is a Christian nation. He wanted, in other words, to establish Christianity as the officially sanctioned religion. And that's not, er, kosher. It's quite obvious that Moore has more in mind than merely making a cultural/historical statement about the role of the Judeo-Christian tradition in law. And to suggest otherwise is either to be completely clueless or to, er, bear false witness.

Now, I tried the link that the Professor supplied but it was a 404. But I did locate an article on the Washington Dispatch that seems to stand in direct contrast to the partial passage that Instapundit attributed to the first president. See for yourself:

This is the real George Washington. Religion, says he, is a critical factor, both in the establishment and perpetuation of our laws. The connections between private and public felicity, and morality and religion are numberless. Religion is the very spring from which popular government sprang, the foundation of the fabric.

Thus, government should not stand neutral as regards religion, nor embrace a secular approach (as did the French; his comment was directed against the French), nor a communist approach (which would abolish religion in private affairs as well); no, rather, a proper understanding of the nature of self-government indicates that government ought to “promote,” religious and moral principle as “an object of primary importance,” especially in institutions of learning, that public opinion in future generations might continue to be enlightened.

Besides, the magnificent Farewell Address, at every turn, Washington fearlessly
spoke his mind about God’s hand in securing our liberties and the need to humble
ourselves before him.

There seems to be quite a discrepancy between Prof. Reynold's George Washington and Mr. Farrell's. This leads me to the conclusion that one of them is wrong. Since the link the Professor credited as supplying the Washington quote failed, there is no way to check out that source. This is further complicated by Mr. Farrell's article where he states:

It seems, according to this unidentified source, that George Washington once said: "The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

The problem is, Washington never said it; and not only are these not Washington’s words, but never was there a statement more out of character for a man than these ascribed to Washington. George Washington, perhaps more than any other Founder, saw the hand of God everywhere: early on in his life, in the French and Indian War, in the American Revolution, and in the establishment of the American Government under the US Constitution. And, judging by the volume of quotes he made on this subject, George Washington was not afraid to make his feelings known.

Like I said, somebody is wrong. The 'quote' the Professor attributed to George Washington appears to come from some text in the Treaty of Tripoli signed by President Adams. So I ask you, who is 'completely clueless' or appears to, 'er, bear false witness'?

The media is not to be trusted on Iraq

The low rate of casualities in Iraq is actually good news - it could be far worse

KBZ at Zobgy tracked down some statistics on death rates in the US armed forces. He notes that

over the last 18 years, about 1,350 violent, non-combat related deaths [homicides and suicides] occurred each year in the armed services.

In a comment on that post, Jake noted that "During the period 1945-1947, German guerrilla groups caused 6,000 Allied deaths. They especially loved to kill Russian officers." Those statistics put the 140 killed in Iraq since formal hostilitie ceased into perspective. But, one could never accuse the media of having any sense of perspective, especially it they can use each casualty to bash Bush.

If the media gave as much attention to the 40 odd daily homicides that occur on an average day in the US, then they could easily create the impression that the US is an extremely dangerous place to live. We know that impression would be wrong. Same with Iraq.

This is not to minimize the tragedy of each casualty. The killers need to be hunted down and eliminated and the military is doing that quite effectively, not that the media will tell you about the successes, unless a really big fish goes down.

Hate America 101

Get'em While They're Young

One high school is trying its best to prep their students for a good liberal college education:

Some parents in Farmington, Mich., are crying "anti-Americanism" over a high school international affairs class.

The course is offered to juniors and seniors in the Farmington School District and focuses on America's role in the Middle East.

But it's not the topic that's angered some students' parents. It's the class readings, many of which come from left-wing Web sites like Alternet.org, Indymedia.org, Progressive.org and War-times.org, that vigorously attack the Bush administration.

Naturally, some people are not pleased with this. But alas, it's too late to stop this year.

Whites Win Against Affirmative Action

Perseverance Pays Off

Well glory be, some white job applicants have forced some sense into an affirmative action policy in Boston:

A federal judge has ordered the Boston Fire Department to hire four white men who successfully challenged the department's affirmative action policy and award them back pay and the seniority they would have earned had they not been passed over for lower-scoring minorities three years ago.

For the first time since the affirmative action plan was put in place 30 years ago, the city will be forced to compensate white applicants who say the hiring policy violated their civil rights.

"I think hopefully we're just going back to normal, the way it was meant to be, so that now they are just hiring the best person, regardless of race or color," said attorney Harold Lichten, who represents the four men who challenged the hiring plan in court along with a fifth white man who was recently hired by the Fire Department after earning a perfect score on the civil service exam.

In his four-page decision released yesterday, US District Judge Richard G. Stearns stressed that his order was limited to the four men who sued and wasn't intended to establish a precedent with respect to other white applicants who were also passed over in October 2000. A Globe analysis showed that 70 white men and women were bypassed in favor of minorities who scored lower.

It took some doing but these men finally made the 'system' listen to their reasoning. 'Bout time.

Stinking Job

First Smokers, Then Fatties, Now, Stinkers

Add stinking to the list of banned human conditions:

Stinking is now a violation of Murfreesboro's city policy.

A city employee's persistent offensive body odor has prompted the City Council to mandate good hygiene, including a ban on using too much perfume or cologne.

What's next? I don't know but this one should include banning foul bodily emissions to cover the heathens we all have to face in enclosed areas. Maybe next time.

Pipes on Being Borked

Setting the Record Straight

Daniel Pipes can now speak his mind regarding the tactics used by those who ~~opposed~~ obstructed his nomination:

IN the months since President Bush nominated me to the board of the United States Instititute of Peace, confirmation etiquette has obliged me not to talk about my nomination. I thus found myself having to remain mute as opponents said what they would about me.
For five months, I quietly endured Sen. Edward Kennedy borking me as someone not "committed to bridging differences and bringing peace" and a Washington Post editorial criticizing me as "a destroyer" of cultural bridges, among other slings.

So, how did some come to discern me as hostile to Islam? I see this resulting from two main developments.

Distortion: My political opponents - Islamists, Palestinian irredentists, the far left - cherry-pick through my record, then triumphantly brandish selectively-quoted snippets to malign me.

Confusion: I strenuously draw a distinction between the religion of Islam and the ideology of militant Islam; "militant Islam is the problem. moderate Islam is the solution" has virtually become my mantra. But these are novel and complex ideas. As a result, my enmity toward militant Islam sometimes gets misunderstood as hostility toward Islam itself.

Go see the rest.

Mon Aug 25, 2003

The Alliance

Come on In

Kindly note the banner for The Alliance located on the upper right menu area. All members are starting to put up their banners and this train is about to leave the station.
If you are interesting in joining The Alliance before the mad rush it would be a good time to do so. Even though space is not limited there will be some measures taken that will provide benefits to those who join early. Go on over and take a look.

Missing WMDs Found?

May Be

Considering the amount of time Saddam had to move his WMDs due to the dance at the U.N. this story may prove to be true:

U.S. intelligence suspects Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have finally been located.

Unfortunately, getting to them will be nearly impossible for the United States and its allies, because the containers with the strategic materials are not in Iraq.

Instead they are located in Lebanon's heavily-fortified Bekaa Valley, swarming with Iranian and Syrian forces, and Hizbullah and ex-Iraqi agents, Geostrategy-Direct.com will report in Wednesday's new weekly edition.

U.S. intelligence first identified a stream of tractor-trailer trucks moving from Iraq to Syria to Lebaon in January 2003. The significance of this sighting did not register on the CIA at the time.

U.S. intelligence sources believe the area contains extended-range Scud-based missiles and parts for chemical and biological warheads.

Don't hold your breath waiting but do keep an open mind to what is a very real possibility.

France Still Doesn't Get It

or Do They?

Patio Pundit links to a JPost article that requires registration to access:

What would it take for the EU to stop supporting Hamas? Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, diplomatic advisor to Jacques Chirac, had this to say:

If we find that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are indeed terror groups opposed to peace, we may have to change the EU's stand," said Gourdault-Montagne. "However, we mustn't limit ourselves to one, clear cut, position."

You just can't make this stuff up. These guys are beyond parody. I'm mildly surprised that Chirac nominally opposes Al Qaeda.

A Little Credit for the Bush Team

Korean Talks Give Reason for Hope

At least one person see's reason to give the Bush team some credit for their hard work:

The Bush administration's skillful mixture of hardline whips and softline diplomacy regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons program is finally bearing fruit. The Pyongyang regime, reversing its insistence on talking bilaterally with the United States, has agreed to attend six-party multilateral talks in Beijing next week involving the United States, Russia, Japan, China and South Korea. This is the first large international confab on the North Korean nuclear crisis since it first erupted over a decade ago.

It's early yet but so far this has been accomplished without resorting to Goober Carter or giving N.K. billions of dollars and getting nothing in return. Maybe this thing can be worked out after all.

Understanding Power Plant Upgrades

Environmentalists and Democrats have been hammering Bush on the rule changes

You can get some background here and reporting on the reaction of environmentalistshere.

Under the old rules, the incentives meant power station owners would operate old power stations without investing in upgrades that would make them cleaner and more efficient. If they spent too much upgrading the plant, the EPA would force operators to install the pollution control equipment mandated for brand new plants. While the intent was good, the incentives were counter-productive.

Under the new rules, companies have an incentive to do upgrades that improve efficiency and reduce pollution. While that may not be the ideal result it is better than the one that resulted from trying to mandate the ideal result without considering the economic incentives. And that is the problem with so much of the green agenda - it ignores the economic impact and the need for economic incentives.

As the Worm Turns

Signs of Changing Attitudes

Some signs are beginning to appear that indicate that things may not be as they seem in Iraq:

Two car bombs and a series of attacks on the infrastructure this month have undercut popular support for those attacking coalition forces in Iraq, with many residents saying for the first time the resistance may be more than a homegrown nationalist movement.
"We have been reluctant to believe much of what the Americans say, but the more we look around, the more we can say, 'Maybe there is some truth into what they say' " said Shermine Abul Hassan, a Baghdad resident who described herself as "strongly anti-American."

Then there is this from, of all places, the NY Times:

As the area around Baghdad endured a week of repeated violence, a happier scene unfolded in this city, a two-hour drive to the south.

American soldiers, without helmets or flak jackets, attended graduation ceremonies of the Diwaniya University Medical School. At ease with the Iraqi students and their parents, the American marines laughed, joked and posed in photographs. One by one, the students walked up to thank them, for Marine doctors had taught classes in surgery and gynecology and helped draw up the final exams.

This would be a slighty different picture than many people are attempting to portray.
It is also a refreshing change from the obsession with doom and gloom.

More on the Patriot Act

Without Security there is No Liberty

Noel at Sharp Knife has more on the Patriot Act:

First of all, the Act was not imposed on an unwilling public by John Ashcroft, as many seem to assume. It was passed by both Houses of our legislature and signed by the elected-not-selected President. And has withstood review by the courts. Is that an iron-clad guarantee that a law is Constitutional? Nope. Ours is not a perfect system, merely the best yet devised. And those who claim the Act is a police-state policy are surprisingly free to convince us of their views.

Since ignorance abounds, let's pause to take a Yes/No quiz on the Bill of Rights:

Well, go take the test and read the rest.

Sun Aug 24, 2003

Lemon Test

Ghoul Stalks Establish Clause

You may have heard the 'Lemon Test' mentioned in relation to the Alabama Ten Commandments case, if so, you should read the update to this previous post. You will see something along the lines of this:

As to the Court's invocation of the Lemon test: like some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad after being repeatedly killed and buried, Lemon stalks our Establishment Clause jurisprudence once again, frightening the little children. Its most recent burial, only last Term, was, to be sure, not fully six feet under: Our decision in Lee v. Weisman conspicuously avoided using the supposed "test," but also declined the invitation to repudiate it. Over the years, however, no fewer than five of the currently sitting Justices have, in their own opinions, personally driven pencils through the creature's heart (the author of today's opinion repeatedly), and a sixth has joined an opinion doing so.

For my part, I agree with the long list of constitutional scholars who have criticized Lemon and bemoaned the strange Establishment Clause geometry of crooked lines and wavering shapes its intermittent use has produced.

Go take a look. It's not often that you get to hear a Supreme Court judge use such colorful language.

Lock and Load

Home Protection Time

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is getting more important in LaLaLand:

The recent rash of violent home invasion robberies frightens valley residents, and rightfully so.
"It strikes pure panic for a good reason," Stanislaus County Sheriff Les Weidman said. "Theft or a burglary -- that (makes you mad). But it doesn't affect you like when someone comes into your home and someone in your family is sexually assaulted. Or, you're dipped into a hot tub until you give up information (where valuables are kept). It's a violation of your family and your home. It's a living hell."

And it's what finally will drive some people to buy guns -- even people who were once anti-gun.

But gun experts -- from arms dealers to gun safety instructors to law enforcement officials -- share this opinion:

Unless you're absolutely sure you can kill an intruder, don't have a gun in the house.

And no one -- no gun dealer, no psychologist -- really knows whether you can do that until that moment of truth.

Well, here's something you can know for a fact right now. The police will not be able to help you in your time of need. They will not prevent an attack on you or your family. They might catch the criminal after the fact but that will not be much consolation if you are the victim of a violent crime. As a matter of FACT, it will be absolutely no consolation if you are D.E.A.D. or some horrible crime is committed against your family. So the question becomes whether you would prefer your own defense or no protection at all. That is a fairly simple choice for most people, even Californians.

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