Declaration of Martial Law Needed in New Orleans to Stop Looters and Shooters

With armed gangs of desperate residents of New Orleans running around, looting, robbing, shooting up police stations with AK-47s and other crimes going on, it's time for authorities to declare martial law in New Orleans and other affected communities.

Washington should respond by freeing up the local National Guard to police up the trouble areas, to disarm the populace and protect the rescue workers.

The lawlessness must end so that rescue workers can go in safely and get needed supplies to those people trapped in flooded areas and get everyone out. The looters and shooters are only making it worse for themselves, not better. What's the point in a person stealing a TV set when that person's house is underwater and there's no electricity or infrastructure?

The Guardsmen must have clear rules of engagement, and a declaration of martial law will assist in that endeavor. It's a detestable thing to do, but the law is outgunned and cut off from outside assistance.

Idiots in New Orleans Endanger Rescue Workers' Lives: That's Not Right

People have a right to disobey evacuation orders and risk their own lives, but do they have a right to subsequently endanger the lives of rescue workers who have to rescue their stupid asses?

THEY DO NOT!!

Granted, there are some who do not have any other choice but to stay put due to economic reasons, but those idiots who decided to voluntarily stay in in areas (like New Orleans) and "wait it out" should face criminal action for disobeying mandatory evacuation orders.

Those orders are issued not only to protect the general public from danger, but also the rescue teams that have to pick up the mess afterwards. By disregarding evacuation orders, people put other people attempting to rescue them into mortal peril. They have NO RIGHT to do that!

People should think about the consequences of their actions before they tell the mayor or governor or government what to do with their evacuation orders.

Hurricane Katrina Slams into Gulf Coast: New Orleans, Mobile Under Water

Hurricane Katrina has delivered a knockdown blow to parts of the Gulf Coast.

Mobile, Alabama is underwater. The National Guard has been sent in to secure the city.

New Orleans now faces unprecedented environmental catastrophe after the hurricane left parts of the city thirty feet underwater, slammed oil platforms into bridges, flooded neighborhoods, tore buildings and houses apart and flooded or destroyed water treatment plants, chemical plants, oil refineries, cemetaries and other places that don't do well when mixed with H2O. Looting has been reported as well.

Upwards of one million Americans may be homeless. It has been a long time since a densely populated area was hit by a powerful hurricane; FEMA is writing a new book on how to handle situations like this.

New Orleans could be underwater for weeks or months. The levees that were constructed to keep the water out of the below-sealevel city are now keeping the floods in New Orleans. And water is still flooding in. What can be done now?

And what can we do to help?

The best thing we can do is donate money to the Red Cross and, if you live near neighbors who got flooded out, open your home to their families until the government and Red Cross can set up alternative housing. Volunteer at the refugee camps. And pray for the survivors, the mourning, and for the rescue teams who are arriving on-station to help those communities that need the help the most. May God protect them all.

Anti-Gay Church Protests at Funerals of Two GIs Killed in Iraq

Utter madness and stupidity!!

A church that is poisonously opposed to the gay lifestyle showed up at the funeral services of two Tennessee soldiers who died in the service of their country, saying that God was punishing American soldiers for fighting on behalf of a country that "harbors gays."

Oh, those poor families.

No matter how one feels about homosexuality, there is a time and a place for protesting and a funeral definitely is NOT the place to pull a stunt like this.

Those protestors should beg for forgiveness for what they have done to these two grieving families and communities. Yes, they had the right to do so, but come on! This is far worse than protestors shouting at Walter Reed Army Hospital. (See previous post for info on that fiasco).

Those families wanted closure and for the funerals for their loved ones to go well; they got hatred and anger over something that they didn't care about at the moment as they prepared to bury their dead.

Disgraceful and tasteless! Is there no sense of decency in those protestors?

"God hates fags" and "God hates you" should not be buzzwords for protestors to use against others. Is that not taking the name of God in vain? For a church to do it is sickening, scandalous and worthy of nothing but contempt.

Here's the story on the funerals.

New Orleans in Big Trouble: Monster Hurricane Likely to Hit City

New Orleans is in chaos.

People are running for their lives as re-energized Hurricane Katrina barrels toward the city, pushing a 28 foot wave swell in front of it.

If the hurricane does what they're predicting, New Orleans may never be the same again. Levees are not expected to hold back the water this time and so parts of the city may be submerged for months to come.

The Red Cross is asking for help in the form of donations as this disaster is unfolding along the Gulf Coast. Contact your local Red Cross to help.

Scientists Confirm December 26th Tsunami Went Around the World

In a reminder of how powerful last year's Asian earthquake and tsunami actually were, scientists working at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle published a study in Science Express that says that their research confirmed tidal gauges around the world detected the approaching tsunami and that it was tracked by satellite.

By the time the wave reached other parts of the world it was between three and twenty inches high. Other nations were spared the thirty foot monster wave that slammed into South Asian nations and killed hundreds of thousands of people and made millions homeless.

Our understanding of how currents and underwater ridges affect wave patterns has been increased exponentially by the tsunami and the information is still coming in.

Boy Scouts Retire 9/11 Flag and End Debate Over Authenticity

One of the famous 9/11 American flags is no more.

Boy Scouts in Ashburn, Virginia, conducted a flag retirement ceremony yesterday, ending the controversy surrounding that particular flag.

Questions lingered after a contractor acquired the flag on E-bay. Simply put, no one was sure that the flag that was purchased was the one that was at the Pentagon after suicide hijackers plowed an airliner into the U.S. military command center. It was said to have been flown from a crane working on the still-burning Pentagon (at that time).

It's sad that people argued about this great symbol and couldn't agree on whether it was "authentic" or not. Posh. It was real and authentic to the people who loved that flag.

I support the decision to retire the colors. People shouldn't argue about our nation's flag. If people won't treat it with the respect that it is due, then it should be retired from service and not kept as a trophy by anyone.

The Scouts involved in the ceremony should be commended for retiring the colors in a respectful and thoughtful and correct manner. The Flag Code has been obeyed.

Here's the story.

And here's the Flag Code. Be prepared for some surprises on correct displays of the flag and respect for the flag.

Walter Reed Army Hospital Targeted by Anti-War Demonstrators

There are reports coming out (that the major media is ignoring) that Walter Reed Army Hospital has been the site of anti-war protests and that it's been going on weekly since March.

Protesting at a hospital??!!!

Where wounded military personnel are trying to get their lives back on track after suffering combat injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan??!

Counter-demonstrations now too??!

It's totally and completely out-of-line for protestors to target a hospital where many personnel come back home with life-changing and life-threatening injuries.

They don't need to hear people screaming anti-war slogans, or look out the window and see protest signs; it isn't helping them recover their physical and mental health.

All protests at Walter Reed should cease and the protests moved closer to political venues. Of all the idiotic, stupid things to do!

Here's the story.

Seriously Obese Woman Files Complaint Against Her Doctor After He Tells Her to Lose Weight

This one is a little irritating.

A woman who has serious weight problems filed a complaint after her doctor told her to lose weight before it seriously jeopardized her health or led to an early death.

Everything he is said to have said to her was accurate. Serious obesity is like having one or two or three extra people wrapped around one's self.

So instead of feeling sorry for herself and complaining, why isn't she losing the weight and saving her own life?

America does have a major weight problem. Don't believe it? Go take a walk down the street and have a look for yourself.

People who do stuff like this against their doctors without good reason also cause our medical costs to go higher. They should knock it off.

Lance Armstrong Controversy: Race Officials Have Already Convicted Him

Lance Armstrong is denying reports coming from the French magazine L'Equipe that he used a banned substance in 1999 to win his first Tour de France.

It's sad that the head of the Tour has already convicted Armstrong, even though an analysis is not completed and the science itself used by the newspaper is faulty.

Even the newspaper admits that the testing process is highly dubious, but it didn't stop the Tour director from saying: "We are very shocked, very troubled by the revelations we read this morning. He also said "I feel confused and disappointed without a doubt like many sports people."

Fair enough.

Then, just a few hours later, without waiting to hear from Armstrong, his doctors or anyone else, the Tour director accused Armstrong of cheating and demanded an explanation based on "solid scientific proof" from the newspaper. BS solid proof!

Note to the Tour director: thanks for waiting for the entire story, idiot, like you said you were going to.

According to Breitbart.com, testing old samples with the new procedure to detect EPO (which commenced in 2001) revealed that fifteen samples from 1999 tested positive for the banned steroid EPO; forty from 1998 tested positive.

There's only two possibilities: Either the riders were breaking the rules, or the test was somehow giving off false positives, which is a possibility.

There's no way to go back and test the test. We'll never know the truth unless someone admits to cheating.

If he's innocent, Armstrong ought to be considering suing the Tour, the director of the tour, and the newspaper for defamation of character, which is a crime in France as well as in the U.S. They've gone and made a statement that harms Armstrong's reputation with no solid proof.

They have only the good word of a scandal-drivel magazine that has a bone to pick with Armstrong. And if Armstrong comes out and says "I'm sorry; I made a mistake," then professional-level cycling will be set back for years.

I'm disgusted with this entire farce. Is there no set procedure for something like this in the Tour de France?

Pat Robertson Comments Against Hugo Chavez Amusing and Serious at the Same Time

Pat Robertson's recent tirade against Venezuelan President Chavez was amusing and serious at the same time.

Saying that the U.S. should assassinate Chavez, Robertson was quickly criticized by both the communist government of Venezuela and the U.S. State Department. That's the serious part.

Venezuela also says that the U.S. should punish Robertson for his remarks. That's the amusing part.

Let's examine that demand.

Robertson's remarks are indeed at the very heart of the matter. But there's more important issues than the occasional rantings of an off-the-charts religious leader/speaker.

Unlike Chavez's Venezuela, we do not lock up people for expressing their (at times misguided) opinions about national or international leaders.

Venezuela should get its own house into order and restore freedom of speech to the Venezuelan people instead of telling the U.S. to lock up American citizens for expressing the same type of free speech that is now banned by Chavez's regime.

On the other side of the coin, Robertson's assassination comment flies in the face of his religious background. It doesn't make any sense. Is he encouraging evil to stop evil?

Here's his comments on the 700 Club:

"We have the ability to take him (Chavez) out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability."

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Robertson suggesting blowing up the State Department in October 2003 with a nuclear device. He does have a reputation for saying off-the-wall kinds of things. He should be chastized as he has been; murder is wrong, no matter what.

This is not a case of the U.S. vs. Venezuela. This is Pat Robertson vs. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Venezuela is making this bigger than it is. If they're worried about Chavez's safety if he were to come here, then perhaps he should stay home. Or in Cuba with his friend Castro.

And if Pat Robertson is encouraging evil to stop evil, then he's really losing it.

Washington DC Airspace Mission Clarified: Pentagon Wants Dept. of Homeland Security to Administer Laws and Leave Shooting Up to Military

The question of who is in charge of Washington DC's airspace has been partially resolved.

The question was between the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. DHS wanted authority to be able to arm their recon planes for shoot-down missions, while the military already had the hardware and the mandate to do so.

In the last couple of days, it has been revealed that the Pentagon wants the DHS to perform a law-enforcement type of role and to leave the military stuff to the military (story here). An F-15 Strike Eagle is better equipped to stop an inbound suicide aircraft than an armed Customs Citation aircraft, after all.

A memo being circulated around the press says that the Pentagon prefers a "badges to bullets" role for DHS, and this makes sense.

With everyone from the Secret Service to the military already armed to the teeth and ready to blow aircraft out of the air if one gets too close to the Capitol, it would have made a dangerous air corridor even more perilous for wayward pilots (bad) and for idiot jihaddists (good).

Remember, the role of the military is to kill the enemy and to break things. DHS is to keep the enemy away from our shores and to gather intelligence about threats to the American people that are already here.

With the Air Force controlling the airspace around Washington and the Secret Service on the ground, plus whatever anti-aircraft batteries are around Washington, it makes for a well-protected Capitol with interlocking layers of defense. One more layer would have confused things.

Koran Not Allowed in Courtroom Swearing-In of Witnesses

Here's one worth considering. The implications are troubling.

A widespread tradition in the U.S. legal system is for witnesses to lay their hand on a Holy Bible and swear to tell the truth.

But what if someone wanted to swear on something other than a Bible?

The Koran for example.

In Gilford County, North Carolina, area Muslims attempted to donate copies of the Koran to the county courthouse for swearing in of Muslim witnesses during trials. The judge in charge refused the donation, saying only Christian Bibles could be used for the tradition (story here).

Muslims do not use Christian Bibles, so it makes sense to allow the use of the Koran for this tradition. Christians and Muslims and Jews worship the same God, so why couldn't a Koran or a Torah be substituted? Same God, different flavor.

To disallow another religion's holy book for this tradition opens Pandora's Box to having the tradition discontinued altogether. Now that the ACLU is involved, that is likely to be one avenue that they (the lawyers) will attempt to pursue.

Do we want the tradition to continue, or do we want to risk having it banned altogether? The latter is not something that Christians want.

Something to think about.

San Francisco City Council Bans...the USS Iowa??!

This one takes the cake.

San Francisco City supervisors have decided to ban the USS Iowa from being berthed in San Francisco harbor. The vote was 8-3.

The World War II-era battleship was scheduled to take her place as a museum near the downtown waterfront area. The Iowa was retired in 1990 as part of a reduction of the U.S. Navy fleet and many people living in San Francisco lobbied to have the historic ship brought to San Francisco.

But the supervisors, in a remarkable display of shortsightedness and stupidity, cited opposition to the Iraq War and the military's stand on gays.

Those are contemporary issues that have nothing to do with the role that the USS Iowa had in American history.

This is the kind of censorship that many in San Francisco have fought against for years. It's a slap against many Americans from across generational lines who fought aboard and died aboard that ship. And it's a slap to the nation.

The veterans are getting screwed again. This time it's because the San Francisco supervisors want to score brownie points with their constituents on issues that have little to nothing to do with the Iowa itself or with the World War II or Korean War veterans.

This is just like people going into other peoples' front yards and destroying American flag displays (that are meant to honor those men and women who are fighting for their lives overseas) to express their opposition to the Bush Administration.

It's misplaced and misguided, whether it's an idiot who does it, or a group of elected/appointed officials who do it.

Congratulations to Stockton, California, who will be getting the ship instead. They will proudly display the ship and honor her veterans properly, unlike the ingrates on the San Francisco supervisory board.

Here's the story. Many in San Francisco are very upset with this decision and it isn't sitting well.

Oversight Committee Blasts NASA for Reckless Launch Schedule and Behavior

In a stunning departure from the official party line, members of an oversight committee blasted NASA for an overagressive launch schedule and for displaying the same type of behavior which lead to the Columbia and Challenger disasters.

Foam came off the shuttle Discovery as it blasted off from Cape Canaveral several weeks ago. This problem was supposed to have been fixed by NASA as this problem led to the destruction of Columbia upon re-entry two years ago. It was later discovered that a hole had been blown in the left wing after two pounds of foam hit the shuttle and that the hole allowed superhot plasma to enter the shuttle.

In addition, they said that NASA did a poor job of assessing shuttle risks, and "...making the shuttle's return to space more complicated and costly than it needed to be."

Where were these people in the days prior to the launch of the Discovery?

NASA is listening to the oversight committee (for now) and has cancelled all shuttle launches until March 2006.

Today NASA announced they bumped the Atlantis and put the Discovery back onto the schedule, despite the damage done to the shuttle from this last trip. They are evidently preparing the Atlantis for a heavy-lift job to the International Space Station in September of next year. Apparently Atlantis can carry more payload than the Discovery can.

While the reasoning for bumping Atlantis is sound, perhaps they should take their time in fixing Discovery, instead of rushing it back into service. All of the re-usable tanks should be retired since the foam comes tearing off of them during liftoff.

If NASA intends on continuing to fly thirty-year-old airframes into outer space, they should be in great shape and be fully operational. And if something isn't working, the mission should be scrubbed until it does work.

And the "we're going to launch regardless of whether the fuel gauge is working or not" attitude needs to get thrown out the window. That kind of attitude is precisely what the oversight board is criticizing. Hopefully NASA doesn't start sweeping stuff under the carpet again and hope that everything goes well.

They did it with the booster rocket O-rings on Challenger, and they did it on the foam with Columbia. They CAN'T afford to do those kinds of stunts. Their entire program depends on good decisions and bringing those shuttles and crews back to earth safely.

Here's the story. Get it right NASA.

North Carolina Governor Refuses to Pardon Man HE Wrongfully Convicted

If a state screws up a prosecution and sends the wrong man to jail, and discovers that it screwed up, is it not the responsibility of the state to free the wrongly convicted man AND to clear the man's name?

Um, well.....YES!!

But the governor of North Carolina is refusing to pardon a man that he wrongfully convicted when he was the prosecuting attorney of the municipality before he was the governor.

The wrongfully accused was convicted of raping a five-year-old and a six-year-old a little over twenty years ago; the victims have recanted their testimony and told the state that the victim's grandmother, now deceased, told them to lie to protect their nine-year-old cousin who actually committed the rapes. The cousin is serving a life-sentence for murder.

The original conviction was thrown out by a judge and the current prosecutor threw out new charges, saying the man was innocent.

But the governor won't do the right thing and clear this man's name. At the same time he pardoned another man who was cleared by DNA evidence after serving twenty years for rape.

The governor of North Carolina should issue the pardon and an apology. It's one thing to send an innocent man to jail, discover a mistake, and issue a pardon, but quite another for the governor of the state to deny a pardon that will allow the freed man to get on with his life. Now the wrongfully accused has to wait until 2009 for a new governor to have the brass to do the current governor's job and carry out a governor's obligation.

This is wrong. Here's the story.

.xxx Domain Names for Porn Sites a Good Idea

There has been a debate going on over whether or not the domain .xxx should be established for porn sites, which would, in effect, create a virtual red-light district on the Internet. Opponents say this would legitimize pornography on the Internet.

What's to legitimize about it? Smut is already there.

However, instead of making the .xxx extension voluntary, which would allow porn sites to maintain their .com sites, it should be required that all XXX sites switch over to .xxx extensions. This would make it easy for parents and schools to block these sites from being viewed.

The porn industry is resisting the idea as they do not want their sites to be filtered easily.

It's too bad that they don't take more civic responsibility in protecting kids and put their trash out on display for everyone to see.

Get with the program, people.

Woman Continues to Wait for Meeting With Bush: Meeting Highly Unlikely in Texas

It is highly unlikely that President Bush will meet with the activist mom who is camped outside of his ranch.

Why should he?

Every Tom, Dick and Harry (and Sally) who has a particular grievance will also do the same thing in the future if he decides to meet with her.

It's bad enough that she lost her son in Iraq. But she's making her own cause worse by using her platform to comment on other issues that have nothing to do with hers. She's gone from grieving mom who wants to meet with Bush to discuss what the meaning of "is" is to anti-Israel activist to a host of other comments on Bush policies. The rabid anti-Bush group MoveOn.org has gotten into the act too.

Any political credibility that she might have had is being rapidly depleted.

It almost looks like she's running for office while she's got the spotlight.

Ordinary people do not have meetings with the President of the United States on demand. That's not how the system works.

Still, she did lose her son. It's impossible not to be sympathetic to what she's going through and that she's losing her marriage. (Her husband filed for divorce on Friday, citing irreconcilable differences). Many marriages do not survive long after the death of a child.

What should she do now?

She should go through Congress to get her meeting with President Bush at the WHITE HOUSE, not in Texas, not with supporters and not in front of the TV cameras.

Bush's neighbors didn't do anything to deserve all-day and all-night protests for thirty non-stop days. I'm sure they'd appreciate an end to the protests and counter-protests and would enjoy hearing of a quiet meeting in Washington.

New Internet Worm Hits Microsoft Windows: What's the Solution?

Simple.

Switch to Linux immediately.

It's free and can be configured to be similar to a WinXP desktop.

Seriously, go read about Linux, do the research, and see if Linux (Mandrake/Mandriva Linux in particular) is what you need. Tired of Windows crashing? Lose the installation disk and don't have the original receipt? Tired of having a bullseye painted on your computer and your most important files that you need to work at risk?

I'm on week 4 of my Linux experience so far. It's nice to have a computer that doesn't crash anymore. OpenOffice does enough to make the transition away from MS Office easy. If you can't live without it, there are programs that create a Windows environment (without all the garbage) that allow many of your Windows programs to work in Linux.

So think about that next time your computer goes down with a virus and all your meticulous work is lost.

Israel Begins Withdrawal From Gaza: Troubling Images on TV

Forced (permanent) relocations of people cause more harm than good in the long run. The U.S. found this out generations ago; Israel is learning this lesson today. We're watching this Israeli disaster unfold live on international TV.

Israel is buying peace with the Arabs by withdrawing its soldiers and citizens from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. To do so, it is using the Israeli Army and police to forcibly remove people from their homes and transport them in cages to other parts of Israel. IN CAGES. Are they out of their minds?

This was the best solution that the Israeli and Palestinian politicians could come up with?

This action will initiate more bloodshed instead of stopping it. It's among the dumbest things the Israeli government has ever agreed to.

Why couldn't there have been Jewish enclaves in a Palestinian state?

Detroit is NOT Nation's Most Liberal City

Detroit was named the "most liberal" city in the state by a recent analysis and poll. It beat out Ann Arbor, New York, Boston, and other liberal bastions.

The poll is wrong.

Why?

The company that did the analysis, the Bay Area Center for Voting Research in California, or BACVR, is refusing to disclose their methodology in tracking voting patterns in 237 U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 or more.

It looks and sounds like they used voting patterns alone in making their pronouncement.

Looking at voting patterns only gives part of the picture. What about the opinions of those who don't vote or didn't vote in the range of elections analyzed by the BACVR? How far back did they go? Why did they limit their search to cities with populations of 100,000 or more?

Detroit is not the most liberal city in the nation; it's not even close.

Berkley CA, San Francisco CA, and Ann Arbor, MI, are three more likely choices due to high student populations than Detroit is.

Shuttle Makes It Home Safely: Thanks Be to God and to NASA Engineers Who Were Right

The space shuttle Discovery landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California a short time ago.

You could almost hear the collective gasp of relief as the shuttle came out of the darkness and made a perfect landing, rolling to a stop and settling onto the concrete as NASA rolled out the red carpet.

The stakes in this successful landing of the damaged shuttle were never higher. If Discovery had been destroyed during re-entry, it would have been the end of the shuttle program; Endeavor and Atlantis would have been retired from service the next day and not in 2010 as scheduled.

Hopefully NASA is working on the next generation of spacecraft to replace the shuttle fleet and will have it ready to fly in five years or sooner if something goes wrong on a future shuttle mission.

Congratulations to NASA on getting the shuttle and its crew home safely.

Two Jackson Jurors Change Their Minds: Too Little, Too Late

Two jurors from the Michael Jackson trial now regret their decisions to acquit the singer on the serious child-molestation charges that were brought by a young cancer patient.

Both jurors have pending book deals.

Both are dodging their responsibility for letting Jackson off the hook. If they thought he was guilty, then why didn't they fight tooth and nail for a guilty verdict?

Instead, one of the aspiring authors say that the other jurors should be "ashamed for letting a pedophile off the hook." They failed to convince the other jurors that they were right. Instead of confronting the other jurors, they said "oh well", voted 'not guilty' and went home. They copped out. The other jurors were honest about their votes on the verdict. These two jurors clearly were not.

This is also another illustration as to how badly the prosecution bungled the case. They should have stopped the parade of useless witnesses (especially the boy's mom) and gone after the testimony of the boy from the first case, plus any others that had made accusations in the last ten years. There are apparently quite a number of them that didn't make it into the headlines. The prosecution did not introduce enough doubt about Jackson into the jury deliberations for them to convict.

It should also be said that these two jurors will say just about anything to raise publicity about their upcoming books.

So the other jurors ought to feel mad at their two turncoat jurors for casting them in a bad light; there's more than enough blame to go in both directions. The entire verdict cannot be blamed on nine or ten others when it took twelve to reach a verdict.

Farewell Peter Jennings: Lung Cancer Claims Life of ABC News Anchor

ABC News announced to the world that their longtime anchor, Peter Jennings, died of lung cancer at age 67 on Sunday. Jennings' death is a reminder to all of us that the battle to find a cure for cancer is far from over and we have a very long ways to go.

I didn't always like his politics, but he was an American and Canadian treasure.

A veteran newsman, he left his mark on ABC News; many aspiring journalists looked to Jennings as an example of how one reporter could shape how the public viewed the world around them.

Jennings' huge contribution to the coverage of 9/11 will never be forgotten. He spent more than sixty hours on the air the week that the twin towers came crashing down and provided the nation with a much-needed sense of continuity. He probably did not realize it at the time but his deep voice and smooth speaking style did much to calm his larger-than-usual audience. Unlike the other networks, when you turned ABC News on during that week, you didn't see a second stringer sitting there; you saw Jennings.

When he announced that he had cancer on April 5th, he said something that has stuck with me since then. He said "...that almost 10 million Americans are already living with cancer and I have a lot to learn from them. And living is the key word." People at the Relay for Life echoed this sentiment all night when I was there doing my walking for the cause.

What a magnificent outlook on his condition. He must have known that he was in dire straights when he was diagnosed, but he never gave up hope and fought it tooth and nail. The fact that Jennings lost his fight to the cancer doesn't change the fact that he inspired others to take on their cancer and struggle to live.

Goodbye Peter Jennings, and thank you for your courage.

NYT Pokes Around Judge Roberts' Adoption of His Two Children: Abuse of Power

The New York Times began making it's own headlines as it sent out reporters to investigate Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts' adoption of his two children.

There are privacy laws in place to protect the privacy of the families who adopt children for a reason. His adopting of two children has absolutely no bearing on how suited he is for the position on the Court.

The newspaper has said that it stopped after making initial inquiries about the adoption process itself and whether Judge Roberts followed the rules. The probe detected no problems.

Hopefully the Times has gone no further on this particular issue. There are far more important matters for them to look into that have a direct bearing on the nomination.

Brake Failures on F/A-18 "Hornet" Leads Navy to Question Whether Brakes Need to Be Redesigned

When the military comes forward and admits that they have discovered a problem in a premier weapons system, then the problem is very serious indeed.

The military is notorious for covering up defects in various weapons systems, such as the Osprey plane/helicopter hybrid (crashes), the Bradley fighting vehicle (early armor problems), the F-16 Fighting Falcon (engine failures early on), the Patriot missile (didn't hit incoming missiles or accidently shot down allied aircraft), the failure of several subsystems on the B-1 bomber when it underwent a conversion from a nuclear bomber to a conventional bomber in 1993, the problems with the brand-new Stryker fighting vehicle (armor problems), and other issues that the military was reluctant to share with Congress or with the American public.

For them to come forward on the problem with the Hornet's braking system is nothing short of extraordinary. Here's the story. Now that they've identified a potentially fatal hazard, they need to fix the problem on every F/A-18 currently in use or being built.

Israeli Civil War Edges Closer: Soldier Lynched After Killing Four Settlers in Pullout Protest

An Israeli civil war in the near future?

Probably not, but the frightening possibility edged closer after an Israeli soldier shot and killed four settlers during a protest; a crowd of settlers lynched the soldier in response. Israel is preparing to pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank very soon and is forcing all Israeli troops and citizens to leave as well. Some are resisting.

Israelis are now killing Israelis. This was something that was considered unthinkable until an Israeli assassinated former Prime Minister Rabin back in the mid-1990s.

Current Israeli Prime Minister Sharon condemned the "Jewish terrorist" and urged Israel's Arab population to remain calm during the transition period.

Note: Arab-Israelis are being forced to relocate as well as Jewish, Christian and secular Israelis.

Tensions are very high as the pullout is scheduled to begin within the next several days.

Congress Investigating Palmeiro Statement of "No Steroid Use" While Under Oath

This is sounding familiar. And the finger-wagging is back.

"I have never used steroids. Period."

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman--Ms. Lewinsky."

Congress is investigating whether baseball slugger Rafael Palmeiro lied under oath when he told a Congressional committee on March 17th that he had never used steroids.

Yet here he is now, suspended for ten games from the Baltimore Orioles after a random drug test (allegedly) revealed the presence of a powerful steroid called Stanozolol.

And now on to the denials. At first he said the test results were invalid, then he said he had no idea how this banned substance got into his body, then he says he made a mistake, now no one knows what he will say next.

Will his fans buy what he's saying?

Ridiculous: Bush's Security Precautions at National Jamboree Contributed to Heat Sickness

It's come out over the last week that President Bush's security people harbor some of the blame for over three hundred people developing heat maladies at the Boy Scout National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia.

42,000 Boy Scouts and leaders were made to go through security checkpoints, metal detectors and so forth before waiting for two hours before President Bush was due to arrive. Those are established White House security procedures.

This was a Boy Scout jamboree, not a political rally on a college campus. Those security procedures should have been modified for this event.

How long does it take to determine that a Scout or a leader is not carrying a projectile weapon and is no threat to the President or his entourage?

Some of those youth (and adults) were out under the blazing sun for HOURS, waiting for the President, who didn't even come that day.

More should have been done to prevent this from happening.

President Bush's speech that he eventually gave at the Jamboree was quite good, and the Scouts were happy that he was there visiting them. But the security people making them wait for hours in hundred-plus degree heat was ridiculous!

Marine Battalion from Ohio Takes Heavy Casualties: nineteen Die in Two Days

Unbelievable.

In a shocking reminder that there is still a war going on, news broke that a small Ohio town lost nineteen of its Marine sons over the last two days.

The unit was engaged in heavy combat in western Iraq; five Marines died yesterday as they were on sniper duty; fourteen others died today after an improvised explosive device (IED) went off next to their transport.

It is widely believed that no other unit has been hit as hard since the start of the war.

Brook Park, Ohio, is suffering greatly from the loss of so many of their own.

This calls into question the practice of keeping "hometown" reserve units together in combat areas. During the Vietnam War, reservists were sent into different units so the likelihood of a disaster like this one striking a single town was minimized.

Since so many reservists are in Iraq and Afghanistan under the "modern" system, it is very possible that something like this will happen again.