New Star Wars Movie Denounced by Some as a Bloodbath: So What? (SPOILERS)

Before you read any further, this post does contain some spoilers for the new Star Wars film. Stop reading here if you don't want part of the story revealed. Otherwise, please scroll down.

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George Lucas is taking flak from parents' groups for showing so much violence in the upcoming “Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith.” Specifically, the violence mentioned was the Jedi being annihilated by the Sith and the murder of the Jedi younglings by Anakin and the clonetroopers.

Also, Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader is said to be particularly gruesome as he will sustain severe injuries at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi before he bursts into flames next to a lake of lava. Palpatine’s injuries at Mace Windu’s hands which leads to his disfigurement was said to be nasty too.

The film has received a PG-13 rating for a very good reason. Some parents are unhappy with that fact. Up until now, parents could let their kids go to Star Wars without them, but now that there’s a PG-13 rating on “Revenge of the Sith” they have to go with the children if they’re under the age of 13. Too bad. Get over it. That’s what the real problem is.

On the other side of the coin, some Star Wars fans have felt that George Lucas pulled his punches in the first two movies of the new trilogy. “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones” were very good movies, but once again, they were geared toward a younger audience. Jar Jar Binks, anyone?

“The Phantom Menace” felt like it had been sterilized of any dirt and grime. “Attack of the Clones” was better, but still Lucas held back. Some felt he should have shown Anakin killing more Tusken Raiders in a fit of rage after his mom died of her injuries and showed more Jedi being slaughtered on Geonosis. They thought the same thing about the titanic first battle between the Republic Clonetroopers and the Federation droid army toward the end of Episode II, but Lucas wanted a PG rating and cut stuff out.

Lucas is telling his story and can do so any way that he wants.

If one needs another perspective, look at the title of the franchise: “Star Wars.” Not “Star Kids” or “Star Barney” or “Star Wimps.” Star WARS.

Wars involve violence, do they not? They involve killing, do they not? Lucas has to establish that Vader helped the Emperor wipe out the Jedi. If Lucas was really mean-spirited about it, Jar Jar Binks would have been beheaded by a swipe of Anakin’s lightsaber in “Revenge of the Sith.” Doubtless this would have pleased many older fans, but would have been terribly upsetting to the kiddies who continue to dress up as Jar Jar at Halloween.

The speculation will finally end on May 19th. It has a PG-13 rating. So what? It’s about time!

Kids should be accompanied by a parent as a lot of bad stuff will be happening in this film. Better yet, parents should screen the film before allowing their under-13 children to see it.

Brain-Damaged Firefighter Wakes Up After 10 Years of Silence

A firefighter who was severely brain-damaged "woke up" after being silent for a decade and began speaking to his family and doctors.

He was injured fighting a house fire in 1995 and was buried under rubble after the burning roof collapsed. His air supply was cut for several minutes and he was left comatose for ten weeks. Afterwards he was in a non-responsive state.

According to the story, doctors say that it's unusual for a long-term patient to recover after ten years like this. The word of the day appears to be "amazing."

Here's the story.

Time for New News: Get Over the Runaway Bride

It’s time for the media to give the so-called “runaway bride” and her jilted fiancé room to breathe and to make their decisions on what they’re going to do next without national attention on them.

They should cover whether or not the bill for the four day search that was launched to find her will be sent to her, as that is a matter of public interest since it was taxpayer money that was spent to muster their entire police department into search parties.

They should also cover any criminal proceedings that may occur.

But leave the personal stuff alone; the press should be hanging out at city hall and the courthouse, not in front of her house reporting every little tidbit.

We’ve heard enough about this already.

Florida’s Expanded Self-Defense Law Falls Short on a Few Details

The State of Florida has enacted a new law that expands a person’s right to open fire on people that may or may not be threatening them or their families.

This is a law that is just waiting to be used and abused. It goes way past legitimate self-defense.

What will happen when someone comes knocking on an armed citizen’s door at night? Instead of finding out who’s knocking, will they open fire and kill a pizza man trying to find out where someone lives so he can deliver a pepperoni pizza? Instead of being prosecuted for criminal neglect as they should be, the armed citizen might claim self-defense and it will be legal because they thought the pizza man was trying to break in.

This law, while intending to protect people from criminals, also puts innocent life in the crosshairs as well.

Perhaps instead of letting people out of jail so soon, they ought to hold onto dangerous criminals longer and get rid of the gangs on the streets that threaten people. By getting the idiots into jail and keeping them there, they reduce the possibility of a situation where someone is forced to open fire to defend themselves from a criminal who means to do them harm.

The bill is not entirely bad. But it’s too broad and may allow criminal action to take place in the guise of legitimate self-defense.

A person does have a right to defend his or her family. But where does the line exist between using deadly force to deal with a perceived imminent threat, and outright self-defense?

The courts have to be able to determine that, and this law cuts them out of the process.

Someone who actually breaks into a house or attacks someone and gets shot should not be able to sue or press charges as is the case these days. That part of the new Florida law is entirely correct. It rights a wrong that has been responsible for sending the victim to jail and allowing the criminal to sue for damages. For what? Restraint of trade?

So, they ought to look at this law again, and make sure that the law is clearly spelled out so that there are no loopholes. Legitimate defense is one thing, but for a law to say that a person can now open fire WITHOUT trying to escape their attacker first is way out of line. It turns no-choice defense into aggression.

And it will be the untrained nincompoops that own handguns and have had no training whatsoever who will be quick on the trigger and slow on the common sense.

Laura Bush’s Roasting of President Bush…Priceless

The media has made a huge deal out of First Lady Laura Bush’s comedy routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night, and rightly so.

It’s about time that Laura got to show off what she can do. Her roasting of her husband was…priceless. Despite the joke about the male horse, which some overnight armchair reporters said went a little far, her punch lines and delivery was nearly perfect.

People are looking forward to seeing and hearing what Letterman and Leno have to say on their shows tonight about her performance.

The White House is said to be extremely pleased with the First Lady’s takeover of the President’s speech. He was an extremely good sport about it.

Two Teens Feared Lost at Sea Found Safe and Sound

In a miraculous turn of events, two teenagers who were feared dead were found safe, six days and one hundred miles away from where they went off course. The pair were on a Sunfish sailboat and put in around Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, despite a small boat warning due to high winds and tide.

The boys realized they were in serious trouble almost immediately, and attempted to swim back to shore with the sailboat in tow, but the tide was too strong and they were swept out to sea. They were swept northward and were spotted six days later off of Cape Fear, North Carolina.

Here’s the story. What a happy ending!

Another Pro Wrestler Dies Young: Conflicting Stories on What Happened

Chris Candido, a wrestler working for the TNA promotion passed away this morning at the age of 33. He had suffered an injury at a pay-per-view on Sunday and had surgery on Monday to correct the problem. It’s not clear what happened to him after that.

Pro wrestling has had a major problem for a long while: their wrestlers, while bigger and stronger than any of the previous generations, use steroids and other drugs that cause heart attacks and major health maladies. They also take more chances in and out of the ring too.

As a result, today’s stars die younger than the previous generations of stars before them.

Here’s an incomplete list of well-known wrestlers/managers that have died before their time (not in any particular order & which North American promotions they made their names in are included in parenthesis):

• Chris Candido, 33, cause unknown (TNA)
• Road Warrior Hawk, 34, heart attack (NWA, AWA, WCW, WWF/WWE)
• “Mr. Perfect” Curt Henning, 44, cocaine-induced heart attack (WWF, WCW)
• Chris Adams, 46, murdered (UWF, WCW)
• Renegade, 27, suicide (WCW)
• “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer, 32, heroin overdose (NWA)
• Bruiser Brody, 42, murdered (Many promotions)
• Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy, 40, heart failure (WCCW)
• “Crash” Holly, 32, suicide (WWE)
• Brian Pillman, 35, heart attack (WCW, WWF)
• Yokozuna, 34, heart failure (WWF)
• Eddie Gilbert, 33, heart attack (Mid-South, UWF, WCW)
• Miss Elizabeth, 42, drug overdose (WWF, WCW)
• “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith, 39, heart attack (WWF)
• Gino Hernandez, 29, suicide (NWA, WCCW)
• Dino Bravo, 45, murdered (AWA, WWF)
• Hercules Hernandez, 47, heart attack (Mid-South, NWA, WWF)
• “Ravishing” Rick Rude, 40, heart attack (WCCW, NWA, WWF, ECW, WCW)
• Owen Hart, 34, died in ring from 78-foot fall off of ceiling (Stampede, USWA, WWF/WWE)
• Pitbull II, 36, oxycontin drug overdose (ECW, NWA)
• Russ Hass, 27, heart attack (MCW Southern)
• David Von Erich, 25, drug overdose (WCCW/NWA)
• Mike Von Erich, 23, suicide (WCCW)
• Chris Von Erich, 21, suicide (WCCW)
• “Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich, 33, suicide (WCCW, NWA, USWA, WWF)

There were others. When one considers how few pro wrestlers there are, the incidence of deaths from "other than natural causes" or "cancer" is alarmingly high. It's much higher than many other professions.

It’s very sad to see so many wrestlers that I grew up with dying so young. The Von Erichs kept killing themselves; that was hard to believe. Die-hard fans were heartbroken over all the Von Erich brothers but one (Kevin) going to their graves. Wrestling’s “first family” was gone forever.

Wrestling needs to clean up its act and get their talent away from drugs that are killing their best and brightest stars. Steroids are dangerous and they are illegal. The wrestlers don’t need watermelon-sized muscles to be excellent performers. Many of the performers above were top-card draws for the promotions; why aren’t the promotions being stricter on drug testing?

This is why pro wrestling isn’t fun to watch anymore. Too many heart attacks and drug overdoses and the resulting devastation to the wrestlers' families, friends and fans. The message that the promotions send to their young fans is too raunchy as well; that needs to be substantially changed.

Word Games and the Federal Budget: Dems & Reps Love ‘Em

When reading about President Bush’s $2.6 trillion federal budget being signed into law, one must read between the lines. Whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican in the White House, the other side ALWAYS criticizes the President’s budget.

Here’s the real deal:

The way that politicians define a “cut” is if this year’s increase in funding is smaller than last year’s. For instance, if the Federal Gobbledegook Program (my example, not a real program) got a 10% increase in budget last year, and will get a 7% increase this year, in political terms that’s a “cut.” Politicians ignore the fact that the Federal Gobbledegook Program is still getting a 7% increase over last year’s budget. It’s a nasty word game that they play.

Further, they take the 3% “cut” and multiply it out by five or ten years and then get on TV and say that the budget will take billions out of a program over five years or ten years.

Republicans did the same thing when Clinton was in office; now the Democrats are raking Bush over the coals for his “cuts” to health, education and so forth. Yet, miraculously, all of the programs that received “cuts” this year are still ahead of where they were in last year’s budget.

Word games are a politician’s favorite game. And the media plays right along.

Gone But Not Forgotten: MIAs Remembered on 30th Anniversary of the End of the Vietnam War

Thirty years ago today, North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon and ended the Vietnam War. In observances over there and over here, both sides remembered the horror of war and the loss of so many.

The loss of over 58,000 U.S. soldiers still haunts our nation and the 1,800 men still missing and unaccounted for is a reminder of what still needs to be done.

The recovery of all the men listed as “Missing in Action” will finally close a painful chapter of American history. Until this is accomplished, those families will continue to languish. That isn’t right.

Thirty years is too long to wait to learn that a love one died on some distant battlefield or died in a prisoner of war camp. This issue must be resolved; we owe it to those families, to the men who fought and died there, and to the tens of thousands of veterans who made it home.

NASA Moves Launch of Space Shuttle From May to July

NASA is backing away from its overaggressive launch schedule for the space shuttle Discovery by moving the launch date from May to July. This is not a set-back; it is a very good move.

NASA needs more time to complete the modifications to the Discovery and work to implement all the recommendations of the Columbia Disaster commission that NASA put together to investigate the causes of the break-up of shuttle Columbia over Texas two years ago.

The space agency had been making noise recently, saying that they were going to have to water down the recommendations in order to be able to launch the shuttle in May. Unacceptable!

NASA shouldn’t even consider igniting a rocket booster that blasts seven human beings, a 4.3 million pound machine with three engines and tens of thousands of moving parts, a large fuel tank filled with 1.6 million pounds of propellant, two solid rocket boosters and the hopes and dreams of an entire nation into space by weakening their own safety rules.

Hopefully they’ll delay it again (if they have to) in order to fix the problems.

Prosecution’s Star Witness Testifies in Favor of Jackson

Michael Jackson’s ex-wife is causing the prosecutors in his child molestation case to have kittens.

Her testimony today is not what the prosecution expected to hear. She admitted that what she said in a 2003 Jackson-produced rebuttal video to Martin Bashir’s “Living with Michael Jackson” production was NOT scripted as the prosecution has said. Here’s the story.

This is another indication of what's going to happen when the jury gets the case.

There will be a hung jury; Jackson will walk away a free man.

The prosecution case is falling apart faster and faster. Judging from the parade of highly questionable witnesses, it's safe to say that the prosecution killed their own case.

And the circus continues (on the taxpayer dime, mind you). It doesn't matter if Jackson did what they say he did or not. Not anymore. The prosecution made that possible. And all in the name of settling a decade-old grudge. So much for justice being served.

If by some stroke of fate Jackson is convicted (highly unlikely), there's enough prosecutor screw-ups floating around to have Jackson appeals for years to come. Also on the taxpayer dime. Celebrity justice, anyone?

House Ethics Committee Needs to Get to Work and Quit Wasting Time

The politically powerful (and influenced) House Ethics Committee needs to get to work. They’ve been arguing about which rules to follow for months. Enough!

Here’s a few thoughts: the idea of politicians sitting in judgment of their own peers is utterly stupid and self-defeating. That committee should vote itself out of existence and a committee of judges should take over that job (IF the House is serious about ethics).

That panel of judges should be independent and not have any relationships with anyone in Congress. It would be like an independent counsel and their recommendations would be passed on to the full House for consideration.

The half-measures and changing of rules when an investigation is in progress must end!

Chemical Safety Bill Needs to Pass in Congress Soon

The two houses of Congress have been batting around a bill that will require additional security at the nation’s 15,000 chemical plants. It has been stalled due to the introduction of amendments to the bill that attempt to regulate the chemical companies themselves.

Security concerns need to be separated from all other considerations at this time.

The bill should focus on getting more security fences, guards, cameras, and emergency response services in place to stop terrorists from trying to start huge chemical fires or explosions near the population centers.

The focus needs to move away from the government trying to tell the companies which chemicals they can use and which ones they cannot.

Instead, chemical plants should have an assigned classification based on the chemicals that are there and build the new security measures around that rating. The classifications should be based on chemicals that have the most potential to be damaging or destructive to humans should those chemicals be set on fire or blown up by terrorist bombs. The higher the plant is on the classification list, the more security it needs.

There may already have such a classification system in place, but security must be upgraded at all plants, not just some of them.

This bill needs to happen NOW. And this should be part of the Homeland Security budget as well. Protecting America’s chemical plants should be a joint operation between the companies and the government. This cannot wait any longer.

Michigan Newspaper Suffers Anthrax Scare

The Midland Daily News was partially closed yesterday as HazMat teams removed an envelope containing a white powder that was sent to the editor of the paper.

The substance proved not to be anthrax, but no chances were being taken. Seven workers at the Daily News were sent to the hospital and everyone else was quarantined for several hours.

It's very unfortunate that people continue to do stuff like this; it's another form of domestic terrorism. Hopefully the police will be able to get some fingerprints and make an arrest. They need to make an example of someone for this "joke" that was in very poor taste.

Midland is home to the world headquarters of Dow Chemical as well as several Dow chemical plants, so the powder is being tested for other properties other than anthrax as well.

Here's the story.

Doctor Proposes New CPR Technique

MSNBC reported a story about a doctor who wants to change how CPR is done. Currently the American Heart Association and the Red Cross teach adult CPR with a 15:2 chest compression to rescue breath ratio. To review, here is the technique from start to finish (for an unconscious adult who is NOT choking) :

• Survey the Scene
• Determine Responsiveness
• Call 911
• Head Tilt/Chin Lift
• Look, Listen & Feel for Breathing
• 2 Rescue Breaths
• Check Pulse--No Pulse, Start CPR. (We'll assume there is no pulse).
• Start four cycles of 15 chest compressions to 2 rescue breaths.
• After the fourth cycle of 15:2, recheck pulse. If pulse present, continue rescue breathing. If no pulse present, go for another four cycles of 15:2.

The doctor in this story says to skip the rescue breaths and just do chest compressions. He says that the current CPR technique is causing more people to die and has convinced Tucson, AZ, to use his technique. Early results appear promising, but more research needs to be done.

A note to all CPR-trained people: unless/until the American Medical Association says otherwise (as well as the Red Cross and American Heart Association), continue the current technique. If they go with any new techniques, you'll get the new training the next time you go to recertify. This is still in the early stages of development.

GOP Control of Congress Remains in Danger Over Schiavo Case

During the debate over Terri Schiavo's fate, GOP lawmakers tried to intervene in the case by transferring the case from district into federal courts.

The federal judges subsequently thumbed their noses at the Congress and allowed Terri to die. The culture of death won another victory.

The general feeling out there is that the GOP intervened for the wrong reasons; and that it has given the general public the impression that the Republicans have gone too far to the right. This situation is on the same level as that funeral service for Minnesota Democrat Paul Wellstone which the Democrats hijacked and turned into an all-out political rally. Democrats lost big-time in the elections after that debacle.

In the Schiavo controversy, the politically damaging memo that was circulated in GOP ranks said that Republican lawmakers should intervene as it would play well with their conservative supporters back home. Bad move. The aide who circulated this memo was sent packing.

Then came the attempt to call the comatose Terri to Capitol Hill to testify before Congress. They knew full well that Terri wasn't going to be able to speak to them, but they did it to get the tube re-inserted. It was a delaying tactic; nothing more. Terry's deterioration continued while this was happening. This was totally ineffective and caused the loss of precious time.

Then came the quick decision from Congress to transfer the case from state into federal courts via a newly passed law, for which President Bush cut short his holiday and returned to Washington so he could be on hand to sign it. The GOP went out on a limb on this one and hoped that the courts would take advantage of their "good" legislation to get the case into their courtrooms and save Terri's life. They didn't. Schiavo died.

Congress should have gone about this differently. The sad truth is that from the moment the case was transferred to federal court, Terri was doomed. This was a state matter, not a federal one. Those federal judges who thumbed their noses up at Congress were not about to tell Congress that it was out of line because they might have been impeached by the same lawmakers who passed this ill-considered and hastily drawn-up bill.

The GOP really needs to move a little left; the Democrats need to move a little right and the moderates need to raise hell with the leadership of both parties for leaving them behind. As it stands now the GOP will probably lose some seats because of their blunders in the Schiavo case, but how many depends on what they do to court ALL their bases of support.

Make no mistake: that tube should have been reinserted; the judges in Florida were wrong to allow the tube to be removed; this was no woman in a mere coma. Some think Terri's condition was something new or was a twist on something old, but now that she's gone, further research on Terri's condition is not possible.

Someday, someone else will display the same signs and symptoms as Terri and it may be recognized as a new medical condition that is worthy of study. And hopefully Terri's name will be remembered when that day comes.

Get your act together, Congress, and knock off the stupid political games and grandstanding!

NASA Still Rushing to Get Shuttle Operational--Bad Move

A New York Times story indicated that documents leaked to the paper show that NASA is having problems meeting the standards laid out by the space shuttle accident board and that they are looking for ways to loosen up some of the standards to get the shuttle into space faster.

Bad move.

NASA really ought to delay launching any shuttles for a year and fix the problems. What's it going to take to really change the culture at NASA? Another destroyed shuttle? Another seven bodies? People on the ground getting killed by another Columbia-style break-up? A seven-ton piece of the shuttle crashing into a school?

Perhaps it is time to retire the current shuttle fleet in favor of a stronger design that is more resistant to penetration by debris. If NASA can't operate it's equipment with minimal actual risk and has to play with rules to get the shuttles off the ground, it is not acceptable.

The other part of this is that there are risks to space flight. Those risks have to be dealt with as things happen. Softening the rules increases those risks unnecessarily.

Myanmar Government Accused of Using Chemical Weapons on Rebels

The government of Myanmar (in southeast Asia bordering Thailand) has been accused by human rights watchdog groups of using chemical weapons on rebel forces two months ago.

There has been a long-running war between the government there and rebels who represent a wide variety of interests, including the country's fledgling democracy movement. It is feared that mustard gas canisters were airbursted inside rebel lines as the government fights to maintain its military junta that came to power in 1962.

If it is found that they did use chemical weapons, the international community should isolate Myanmar diplomatically and economically until all of their stockpiles of chemical weapons are either destroyed or surrendered.

Any country that uses chemical weapons for any reason should be barred from possessing them in the future.

Here's the report.

Endgame Approaching in Jackson Case: Culkin to Testify

Sources are saying that Macaulay Culkin will be testifying on Michael Jackson's behalf soon in the molestation trial of the singer.

Endgame.

Culkin's testimony could make or break either side's case. If he says that nothing happened and isn't destroyed by the prosecution's cross examination, it'll be another nail in the coffin of the prosecution's case.

If he testifies that Jackson did abuse him, it could be enough to revive the prosecution's dying case IF he survives the defense's proven ability to destroy the credibility of witnesses.

In either case, it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. Here's the CNN story.

Interesting Note on Bolton Confirmation Hearings

It's interesting to note that President Bush's nominee to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations is being criticized for being a screamer to his subordinates.

Managers and owners should sit up and take note of this situation. How they treat their employees may come back to haunt them when they least expect it. Bolton's nomination may be terminated over that very possibility. There's a lot of politics in play, but in the end, here's the bottom line:

No one likes a jerk for a boss.

"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." --Scott Adams

World Press Did a Decent Job of Covering Announcement of New Pope

Thank you to the world press for observing Catholic traditions on electing a new Pope. No one violated the secrecy edict that the cardinals had put into place, so everyone learned of the new pope at the same time.

They did a good job of covering the news of the new pope's election, but the analysis of Benedict XVI's possible direction of the future Catholic church was mixed at best. Liberal observers were much more critical while conservative observers were much more supportive.

The players all fell in as expected: CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN and ABC all highlighted the negatives of the new Pope's past writings and actions, while Fox News covered the new Pope in a party atmosphere. The Fox News coverage was much more enjoyable. They were also able to cover the "controversies" (disagreements actually) around Benedict XVI without ruining the moment.

Someone needs to explain to the networks that there is no such thing as a "liberal" Catholic. Either a person is or is not a Catholic. And that person has to live with and by their decision.

DeLay's Criticism of Justice Kennedy Raises Important Questions

Tom DeLay went on the attack yesterday, criticizing Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's decisions from the bench, saying that the Justice uses the Internet to do scholarly research on legal issues and bases his decisions on international law.

While DeLay's criticisms are political and part of a huge political firefight between Democrats and Republicans, his comments do raise a couple of red flags:

• Is the Supreme Court supposed to look at international law when deciding on U.S. Constitutional issues? The supreme law of the land is the United States Constitution, not the United Nations or any international treaty that the U.S. has signed. There have been rumblings that some of the Justices were researching international treaties and basing their decisions on those treaties, and not the Constitution. That is hard to believe, but the Justices should be basing their decisions exclusively on the U.S. Constitution. There should not be an international flavor to American legal practices.

• Looking on the Internet for ironclad legal insight is a risky thing to do for a Supreme Court Justice. Anyone can change information posted on the Internet. Doesn't the high court have its own database with every legal decision ever made in it, that is constantly scrutinized by batteries of attorneys and so forth for accuracy? Justices should be looking at legal opinions there, and not at web sites that may have glaring mistakes or personal opinions mixed in there.

So DeLay's comments, while aimed at his detractors who want him out of his job in the House, did raise some good talking points. Here's the original story.

German Cardinal Is Elected Pope--First German Pope in 1,000 Years

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany was elected as the Catholic Church's new leader and assumed the papal name of Pope Benedict XVI.

Benedict XVI is much older than when John Paul II was elected; he's 78. The last pope to be in his upper 70's when he was elected was back in 1730.

And yes, he is an ultra-conservative. Many liberals around the world are dismayed over the new Pope's stand on abortion, homosexuality, female priests, celibate priests, the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and other polarizing issues. Conservatives are pleased that the church won't be undergoing radical changes and will continue to fight against secularism and will not give in to so-called "liberal" Catholics who want to "modernize" the church.

Some people don't seem to realize that the cardinals are dead-set against relativism and chose a man who would fight it tooth and nail. People also have to understand that the cardinals did not want another long reign and so chose an older man as the pontiff.

Also, because Pope John Paul II's reign was so long, his influence will be felt for a long time to come. To have a more liberal pope at this time would have risked splitting the church even more than it is already. By introducing change more slowly, the church can adapt better in the long run, instead of rocking the boat so soon after John Paul II's death. That's what some of the cardinals are saying.

For those who were hoping for a Latin American, African or Asian pope, they still might. But in the meantime, Benedict XVI is the rightful leader of the Catholic Church and deserves the religious allegiance of the world's Catholics.

May his voice protect the innocent and defend the weak; may he use his his strength as the leader of a billion Catholics worldwide to continue the church's opposition to polarizing issues (abortion, death penalty, gay marriage, etc), and resist the same type of secularization that has taken hold of some of the other Christian religions.

Finally, may he take steps to bridge the gaps between Catholics and Jews by opening up the Vatican archives of Pope Pius XII to scholars to settle the matter of the Holocaust. Only after the truth is known can there be moves toward settlement of differences between the Vatican and the world's Jewish people on this divisive issue. For this pope to come out and directly apologize for the Vatican's inaction during World War II would mean a great deal to the survivors.

The smart money says this pope will live up to his reputation on some issues and bend a bit on others. Changes will probably be minimal, but new ways of thinking about issues may come out. This man is said to be a brilliant theologian, so the church may reflect that in it's thinking.

World Press Should Honor Vatican Traditions of Electing New Pope

The world press should respect the secrecy of the papal conclaves going on in Vatican City as they strive to elect Pope John Paul II's successor. In today's day and age, the rush is always on for the networks to be the first to break the news to their viewers.

There's no need to "scoop" their competitors in this case. All they need to do is focus their cameras on the Sistine Chapel's chimney twice a day (1200 and 1900 GMT+2). If the smoke coming out of the chimney is white, the new Pope will be presented to the world one hour later.

The cardinals and attendants face excommunication from the church if they reveal what's happening in there. They're not going to talk. The Swiss Guards won't either. So the media should wait like everyone else.

Tom DeLay Situation: Get Rid of 'Em All

The Democrats are currently engaged in a campaign to get the GOP leader of the House to step down for perceived abuses of power. The Republicans have done this to Democratic leaders in the past too.

The Republicans in charge of the ethics committee keep switching rules back and forth to suit their particular needs and to shield their people from the full weight of the ethics committee from coming down on their offending members. Democrats have done this in the past too.

It's been said that vulnerabilities are exploitable weaknesses. That saying holds water in the U.S. Congress.

Here's how the American people should handle this: next election time, vote for a breath of fresh air and get new people in there who aren't moldy from too much time in politics. This is why there is a strong push for term limits in many U.S. states.

Congress should follow its own rules and not be allowed to change rules to protect their people.

Changes Needed in Judicial Confirmation Process

There should be a law requiring the Senate to have a 'yes' or 'no' vote within a certain timeframe of EVERY nominated person under consideration for a federal judgeship.

For members on both sides of the aisle to delay judicial nominees is not right and it is not fair. If there is a problem with a particular nominee, bring it up, ask the nominee about it, then allow the vote to happen.

Let these people get on their lives instead of making them wait months or even years for a Senate vote.

Filibustering should end at the end of the timeframe and the vote should then be taken.

Two Families Declare War on Each Other After Their Teens Begin Dating

Talk about something from the pages of Mark Twain, who wrote of family blood feuds in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn!

Two families who don't like each other went at it with guns blazing after a teen from one of the families began dating another teen from the other family. The shoot-out left six wounded and no one is talking to the police.

The Crescent City Police Department in Florida is watching members of both families very closely to make sure that this feud is over and that there will be no reprisals.

Here's the story. Unbelievable!

Violent Chinese Demonstrations at Japanese Embassy & Businesses in Beijing Prompt Japanese Call for Apology

In the latest escalation between Japan and China over a blazing World War II history row, Japan is demanding a Chinese apology for the damage done to its embassy in Beijing, for the damage to their ambassador's residence and for damage to Japanese-owned Beijing companies and shops. The Japanese are also demanding compensation to foot the bills for repairing everything.

This was after thousands of angry rock and bottle-throwing Chinese civilians pelted the Japanese embassy and destroyed several businesses as an anti-Japanese rally quickly became violent. Here's what happened.

Japan angered China by its apparent "whitewash" of Japanese atrocities before and during World War II with regards to its invasion of China in Japanese middle-school history texts. The situation has not improved and has caused severe diplomatic problems between Japan and China.

There was already tension over disputed islands in the South China Sea, the recent incursion of a Chinese Navy submarine into sovereign Japanese waters, and disputes over underwater gas fields which lay beneath the seabed and between the two Asian economic superpowers. The history textbooks, written by Japanese nationalists, are causing no small amount of headaches in Beijing and Tokyo.

It's too bad all of these things are happening at the same time. It has not been helpful to the six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear problem, nor has it helped ease tensions between China and Taiwan. In addition, Beijing and some of the other Asian nations are uneasy about Japanese troops going overseas on peacekeeping missions or Japan's limited participation in the Iraq War.

Japan could throw water on the fire by taking another look at the textbooks and perhaps delay the release of the offensive textbooks for a while until a suitable alternative can be found. The two nations are trading partners, but that may be affected next if things don't improve on the other issues.

Hopefully they settle their differences without it escalating any further.

KKK & Nazi Auction Cancelled For the Wrong Reasons

Recently an auction that was to be held in Mason, Michigan, and featured Nazi and KKK auction items was cancelled due to apparent KKK efforts to recruit new members in the area that the auction was to be held. Here's that part of the story.

It was a good decision made for bad reasons.

It's unfortunate that the auctioneers even scheduled the event, which drew very negative international press attention to the area, and was an insult to all the victims of Nazi genocide and KKK atrocities over the years.

It's very appropriate for it NOT to be held since ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp by the advancing U.S. 3rd Army are being held in Germany today.

Some 56,000 people were killed at the Buchenwald death camp. Some were worked to death, others were shot, others were killed in sickening medical experiments by Nazi doctors. Here's the story.

THAT'S why the auction in Michigan should have been cancelled. Not because the Ku Klux Klowns put out literature, or because someone who was attempting to pressure the auction to be cancelled produced and distributed some venomous literature which looked like it was KKK material.

The KKK and other white supremacist groups adopted Nazi ideas, symbols and beliefs; they need to be fought aggressively and having a KKK auction is not conducive to accomplishing that.

For Nazi and KKK auctions, rallies and parades to be accepted by mainstream America is a bad precedent and gives a green light to malcontents to come in, have their parades and protests and then to leave the area (that didn't want the auctions and protests in the first place) in worse shape than they found it.

The auctioneer is wondering what to do with the "artifacts." Destroying them seems to be a good solution.

Michael Jackson May Get Off: Case Not Going Well for Prosecution

Defense attorneys in the Michael Jackson case have demolished several of the prosecution witnesses, getting them to admit to lying on the stand. The accuser's brother, an ex-guard, an ex-maid and a few others have been painted in a very bad way, and it can only help the defense case.

The prosecution's notion of bringing up past accusations to gain ground is not working. While the tabloids have enjoyed printing every detail of every accusation, money appears to be a huge factor in this case and it's crippled the prosecution's effort to convince the jury that Jackson is a child molester.

The Jackson defense has said that $20 million was paid out to the 1993 accuser to make the case go away because Jackson didn't want his name dragged through the mud back then. He did not admit that he abused the kid; he just wanted the accusations to go away.

Jackson's accuser's mom has a reputation for suing people for everything in sight. The accuser himself has a lengthy juvenile record. So many prosecution witnesses have credibility issues that it's downright shocking that the prosecution put them on the stand, knowing full well that an experienced defense attorney would zero in on those weaknesses. Here's one story. Many have tried to sue Jackson; some succeeded, most failed.

The defense case is about to begin, and a star-studded celebrity circus seems likely. The prosecution will have to attack the credibility of the defense witnesses.

One person could make or break the entire case: former child-star Macaulay Culkin. The prosecution seems unwilling to call Culkin as a witness but the Jackson defense might since two or three prosecution witnesses have testified seeing Jackson abusing Culkin. He has released statements saying that nothing happened. His testimony could turn the tide in either direction.

There's no doubt that Jackson is odd. There's almost universal agreement on that point. Lapses in judgment...definitely. Having someone else's kid sleep in his bed with him was not a brainstorm on Jackson's part. And Jackson himself is his own worst enemy. He will lose the case if he takes the stand. Most of his press conferences on these cases have been unbelievable disasters.

If the prosecution wants to win this case, it needs to stop the parade of unreliable witnesses, and focus on presenting facts in the current case. The strategy of presenting past accusations has distracted attention from the "here and now" and the prosecution must do a better job of communicating what it feels Jackson may have done to the twelve jurors. That's a huge job. And they need to prosecute Jackson in court, not in the media.

The defense has to keep Jackson in his seat and continue doing what it's been doing. They need to settle the Culkin question by getting him on the stand and take him out of the equation. Here's another story.

No matter which way this thing goes, it's doubtful that the truth will emerge from the garbage in this case and real closure will not happen. Celebrity justice is like that. Remember OJ?

Rwanda Observes Horrific Anniversary of Start of Genocide

On this date in 1994, Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana 's aircraft was shot down over Kigali, Rwanda, and within hours of that assassination, machete-wielding Hutus took to the streets of Rwanda and began slaughtering their Tutsi neighbors and moderate Hutus who protested the killings. The Rwandan military joined in

Close to a million people lost their lives over the following one hundred days.

Eleven years later, 760,000 people are accused of participating in the slaughter. That's 10% of Rwanda's remaining population.

Here's the story.

How can the U.N. NOT change the way it confronts genocide in the face of such a colossal failure?

NASA Rush to Launch Discovery Next Month Is A Bad Idea

NASA is in a huge hurry to get the space shuttle Discovery off the ground and back into space, despite being worried about foam coming off the shuttle's external fuel tank and causing the type of damage that doomed the Columbia two years ago.

According to NASA, a repair kit that could allow spacewalking astronauts to repair damage to the wings or body of the shuttle is still two years away from being completed.

Discovery was scheduled to be rolled out today, but NASA engineers detected a crack in the external fuel tank. This does not bode well for NASA's over-aggressive schedule to launch the shuttle and get the shuttle program back on track. After some delay, the engineers decided to continue the roll-out despite the "inperfections" in the tank.

The shuttle design has not been altered so that it deflects foam coming off the external fuel tank at 500 mph; the external tank has not been altered enough either. It's a disaster waiting to occur again. It's amazing that the Columbia disaster didn't happen long before it did. Two hundred changes have been made, but they're still worried about the foam problem.

NASA should slow things down and get the problems fixed properly.

Too Much Pope Coverage? NOT!!

There is an online debate going on as to whether the TV networks are covering the Pope's funeral too much and ignoring other stories from around the world.

Not according to the ratings.

Early indications are that 2 billion people will watch the funeral Mass on Friday, which would be the largest audience in the history of television.

All the networks are reporting increased ratings since the Pope passed away on Saturday.

John Paul II has earned the coverage he's getting. Saturday's post on the Pope explains why.

Opposition to Patriot Act Grows

With the Patriot Act coming up for renewal at the end of 2006, civil libertarians are revving up their campaign to either stop that from happening or make significant alterations that bring it back into line with the Constitution.

Some of the controversial aspects of the current bill include: unlimited federal access to medical records, library records, school records, video store rental records, credit reports, limited restrictions on wiretaps, electronic eavesdropping, surveillance without due cause, reduced reasons for search warrants, pen/trap orders (written phone tap orders) and subpoenas with limited veto power from the judge. All they have to do is tell the judge that the person is a suspect under the auspices of the Patriot Act and BOOM! The investigators can take a liberal interpretation of Constitutional protections. They can also "sneak and peek" (secretly enter a house, look around for what they want, without a warrant) under the current Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act has already been abused by the FBI. It's been used to charge people with crimes who would be better charged under prior laws. Take for example the multiple cases of lasers being fired at aircraft cockpits from the ground as the aircraft were taking off or landing.

Instead of charging the individual with crimes such as interfering with a flight crew, public endangerment, negligence and so forth, the FBI used the Patriot Act. In the first case, they admitted that there was no terrorism involved, but the man's actions were "foolhardy and negligent." (Here's that story.)

The man involved was also not under investigation for terrorism beforehand, as the Patriot Act was intended for. He may well get off for his stupidity and for the FBI misusing the Patriot Act. The penalties under the other laws are more severe than violations of the Patriot Act in that case.

It should be noted that five state governments and 375 communities in 43 other states have passed anti-Patriot Act measures to register their displeasure with the Act.

The new Attorney General wants it renewed in its entirety (here's that part of the story), but that's not a smart idea. The government is already taking liberties with it's new power to fight terrorism.

A government having that much power available and is as secretive as this one is something to be feared and should be denied further power UNLESS there is a checks-and-balances system to correct abuses.

Either change it or get rid of it.

Japanese Rewrite of School History Texts Angers China and South Korea

Japan is rewriting history...literally. And they are angering their neighbors.

Middle-school text books have continued to minimize wrongs done in Japan's role in World War II and have chosen to gloss over the more unpleasant parts of Japan's wartime role. South Korea and China have expressed disappointment that Japan continues to "...justify and glorify wrongs committed in the past." (BBC Story)

China and South Korea were two nations that were invaded and occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army during the years prior to and during the war. The Chinese were particularly offended by the textbook describing the Nanjing Massacre, in which 300,000 Chinese civilians were slaughtered, as an "incident." China also doesn't want Japan to get a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council because of ongoing border and history disputes.

South Korea is upset because the textbook describes an ongoing border dispute between Japan and South Korea as an "illegal South Korean occupation" of disputed islands that are between the two countries and are claimed by both nations. The texts also skip over the part where 200,000 Korean women were used as sex slaves by Japanese soldiers.

Protests have been occurring in both South Korea and China in the last few weeks over these problems.

Japan should really tone it down if it wants to have the support of its neighbors in other matters. Why Japan is doing it now is a mystery, but it undermines Japanese democracy, openness and credibility when it tries to rewrite history in this way.

Darfur Referred to International Criminal Court: Too Little, Too Late

The U.N. Security Council referred the slaughter in the Darfur region of Sudan to the International Criminal Court, abrogating its responsibility for dealing with the situation.

Once again the United Nations failed to stop the attempted slaughter of one ethnic group by another. And it dares to say that Sudan failed to stop the slaughter from happening? Did the pot just call the kettle black??! Here's the Reuters story.

Sudan was participating in the annihilation of the Christians and had no interest in heeding the warnings of the United Nations. It's a paper tiger and Sudan knew that. The government of Sudan has no issue in blaming certain individuals so long as it doesn't get caught in the same net. It watched as the U.N. went running out of Rwanda in 1994 and saw an opportunity to use the Arab militias to get rid of a group of people that it didn't like.

300,000 dead later, the inept U.N. Security Council turned the situation over to the Hague. Sudan's going to get away with this. Somehow "miscarriage of justice" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Rwandan Hutus Declare End to Their Armed Struggle

Rwandan Hutus who participated in the killing of 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994 have declared an end to their armed struggle after promises of safety from the Rwandan government.

This was achieved after the Hutus moved into the eastern part of Congo and began killing people there too after being driven from Rwanda by government military forces. They quickly wore out their welcome in Congo and had engaged in a guerilla war against the Congolese military.

This particular faction is referred to as the FLDR and has some 10,000 members. The FLDR was filmed killing Tutsis with machetes by international camera crews who were covering the genocide in 1994.

It should be noted that the Rwandan government did not promise amnesty, only safety from retaliation from their victims' families who survived the slaughter. Ethnic strife has plagued the region since before 1994 and the end of hostilities is a good start to rebuilding the region.

Having said all that, hopefully the U.N. war crimes tribunal will begin holding trials for the guilty and begin the long process of establishing the rule of law to make certain that something on this scale does not reoccur.

Since the U.N. failed to stop the killing in 1994, they should do their jobs now and make sure that it doesn't happen again.

Minuteman Project Update: Volunteers Partially Deployed, No Problems Yet

Law enforcement agencies in the southwest are reporting that Minuteman Project volunteers are fanning out along the Mexico/Arizona border. Just moments after a group of Minutemen arrived at their posts, a group of illegals was spotted and the Minutemen contacted the Border Patrol. Eighteen arrests were made.

It's still too soon to see if this project will help stem the tide of illegals coming over the border, but early indications look fine.

There is also a question as to whether a smear campaign is going on against the Minutemen. Some have accused them of being white supremacists, others have called them vigilantes. Some undoubtably do have those characteristics, but not all of them. For the media and the government to label them all as troublemakers is wrong.

If the government were to do a better job of keeping control of the border, these civilian groups coming in to "assist" would be unnecessary.

Just watch: if there is a single incident, the media, government and ACLU will be quick to brand the entire idea as racist, unfair and vigilante. They will also take action to end the Minuteman project in a New York minute.

Here's the update.

End of an Era: Pope John Paul II Passes Away

Catholics around the world are mourning the passing of Pope John Paul II, who taught the world how to live and then taught the world how to die.

The world has lost a champion of the poor, of the unborn, of the helpless, of decency and optimism; in a world beset by evil tidings, he was often the lone voice of compassion for those who had no voice of their own.

He will always be remembered as a leading international advocate of human rights, as a scholar and writer, as a major catalyst in the fall of communism, as a healer of divisions that lasted for over a thousand years; of healing rifts between Catholics, Jews, Muslims and other Christian denominations that split off from the Catholic faith hundreds of years ago.

He is also the most-seen man in existence, visiting at least 125 countries for a total of over 200 foreign visits during his reign as supreme pontiff.

John Paul II knew that the job of the pope was not to make decisions that were popular; it was to make people more conscious of sin and to turn people away from it. Some did; others exercised their God-given free will and ignored the voice of wisdom.

John Paul II’s strength on behalf of religious freedom and human dignity will be missed.

Farewell, Holy Father.

Terri Schiavo Dies: Debate Far From Being Over

Terri Schiavo starved to death this morning.

There are no winners in this tragedy and the debate is a long way away from being settled. May her soul rest in peace.

Petting Zoo Sickness Update: More Bad News

Twenty-two children are confirmed as being afflicted with the Florida petting zoo sickness which has left many of them fighting for their lives.

Twenty-four others are under observation as well.

It may well be time for the states to regulate petting zoos if they haven't already, or ban them. Kidney failure in so many kids is no isolated incident.

The E. coli bacteria is suspected of making many of these children sick. The bacteria can be passed on via animal droppings, the animals sleeping in it and unsuspecting children petting them. Others have been diagnosed with the potentially deadly hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can also be passed on the same way.

Here's the story.

Starving to Death is Not a Nice Way to Die

The last caller of the day today on Limbaugh's radio program was a woman who watched as her mom starved to death after having her feeding tube removed. It was not a pleasant death.

She described her mom's skin as taking on a liquid look, her ears curving inward from the lack of moisture, her eyes sinking into the back of her head, diarrhea, skin rashes, sores in her mouth and on her skin, blindness, no gumline left in her mouth to put her teeth in, and five long days later, death.

The culture of death lets people believe that this is a humane way to let someone die. It's not humane, it's so damned barbaric that it belongs to a medical profession...from about four hundred years ago.

Cruel and unusual punishment for someone (Terri Schiavo) who has become an inconvenience to her cheating husband.

Project Minuteman: What's Going to Happen?

There have been ramblings in the news about a group calling itself the Minutemen who are heading to the U.S./Mexico border to assist the Border Patrol in stopping illegal aliens from crossing over into U.S. territory. An organized crime syndicate has vowed to "teach the Minutemen a lesson" and the U.S. government is sending additional border guards to the areas where the Minutemen will be operating. Here's the deal:

The Minuteman Project was started by a group of American citizens who believe that the United States border is under constant attack from waves of illegal border crossers from Mexico.

They will be taking up roving patrols along the Arizona/Mexico border, where 52% of the illegal border crossings occur. According to the Minuteman Project website, they have 1,022 men and women who will be participating in the project, which runs from April 1-April 30 and is headquartered in Tombstone, Arizona. Many of the volunteers will be armed.

They will be joined by a battery of ACLU attorneys, who have vowed to keep a close eye on the activities of the Minutemen, to make certain that those who are caught are not deprived of rights.

In addition, the crime syndicate called Mara Salvatrucha, which has 20,000 members in the United States and branches on the Mexican side down to Central and South America, has been making noise about teaching the Minutemen a lesson. They have a reputation for being ruthless killers. Here's a story on them.

The Mexican government is also threatening legal action against the Minutemen.

Finally, white supremacist literature has been found in and around Tombstone. Everyone's getting into the act.

No one wants to see the U.S./Mexico border turn into a war zone between vigilante groups and gangs. But things are going to be tense down there for some time. Illegal border crossings are a major issue and need to be addressed, but this probably isn't the best way to do it.

Newly Discovered Documents Show 1981 Assassination Attempt on Pope John Paul II Was Planned By Soviets

According to just-released documents from the former East German secret police files, the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II was organized by the Soviet Union. While that is no great surprise, this treasure trove shows that the KGB organized the plan, ordered their Bulgarian counterparts to do the hit, and had the East German Stasi coordinate the operation and then cover the trail and eliminate any loose ends.

The Bulgarians then recruited Turkish extremist Mehmet Ali Agca to kill the Pope. Letters were found by the Germans which indicated the Stasi requested Bulgarian intelligence to help cover up the operation.

After the Pope was shot, and the would-be-assassin was arrested, Agca claimed the operation was under the control of the Bulgarian embassy to Italy. The Bulgarians denied involvement and said that the Italian secret police force was trying to smear Bulgaria and socialism.

Because John Paul II had gone after communism and was preaching about freedom, dignity and religion in his native Poland (and in Eastern Europe), which was under the control of the Soviets, Moscow perceived him as a threat and decided to kill him to silence him.

They failed and Pope John Paul II's leadership and outspokenness helped free Eastern Europe from Soviet domination. It's good that the truth came out now; John Paul II is approaching the twilight of his reign and his life, and it's entirely appropriate for his questions (and the world's questions) about the assassination attempt to be answered.

Here's the story.

Blockbuster Video Decides to Throw in Towel on "End of Late Fees" Scam

Blockbuster Video has agreed to pay $630,000 to claimants in 47 states who were taken in by their "End of Late Fees" campaign and to issue refunds to thousands of others.

The problem started when Blockbuster announced that they were ending their late fees. What they didn't tell customers was that if a video wasn't returned after a certain amount of time, the customer's credit or debit card would be charged to replace the video. Once the video was returned, the replacement charge on the credit card would be returned EXCEPT for $1.25 or the full price of the rental which Blockbuster would keep to "restock" the video.

That is a hidden late fee.

So Blockbuster was sued by an unknown number of people, claiming to have been taken in by this and today's action by Blockbuster is meant to rectify the situation.

Here's the story.

Quick Question on Schiavo Story

A quick question...

If starvation is supposed to be painless for a truly vegetative person, why does Terri Schiavo need a morphine drip to stop the pain?

U.S./Pakistani/Indian Arms Triangle: What is the U.S. Government Doing?

The Bush Administration announced plans to sell F-16 and F/A-18s to Pakistan in appreciation for its support in the war on terror.

Pakistan's nuclear rival, India, threw a fit and so now Washington has announced plans to sell the fighters to India as well.

Why is the U.S. selling arms to these nations who are already armed to the teeth and don't like one another? They've fought three wars already. Now they're nuclear armed, and the last major confrontation that they had over Kashmir and a terrorist attack on the Indian government two years ago led to 1.5 million soldiers from both sides being deployed to their common borders and waiting for the order to start fighting.

Until Pakistan and India move their militaries away from their borders, sign a non-aggression pact, settle the Kashmir issue and resume trade and travel, the U.S. government should not be selling top-model fighters like the F-16 to either side. They're liable to use them on one another or adapt them to carry their nuclear bombs.

A nuclear exchange between these two rivals will have worldwide effects as radioactivity will not be contained to Pakistani and Indian territory, so it's in our best interests to help keep the lid on and not provide first-strike weapons to either side.

The U.S. can find better rewards for Pakistan that won't threaten India's security, thereby necessitating the need for Washington to offer India a similar deal. That would also be true in the opposite direction.

Petting Zoo Sickness: Six Children in Critical Condition

What in the world is going on?

Children are suffering from kidney failure and are struggling to stay alive after being exposed to a deadly bacteria at petting zoos in Florida.

At least six children are known to be sick; an unknown number might be suffering as well. Doctors at one Orlando hospital diagnosed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can be caused by the e. coli bacteria via an animal's droppings. Other sources other than the petting zoos are also being investigated, such as contaminated food or drink.

At least one child was already on kidney dialysis.

This is unbelievable!

Kids Under Seige: Keep Sex Offenders Locked Up

An Amber Alert that had been issued for ten year-old Jetseta Marie Gage was cancelled after her body was found in rural Iowa.

The young girl was allegedly taken from her home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and killed by an aquaintance who had a criminal record for sex crimes against kids.

This follows a terrible situation in Florida where a sex offender kidnapped and killed young Jessica Lunsford. The entire nation hoped that Jessica would turn up safe, but was disappointed when it was discovered that Jessica had been murdered more than a week later.

We either need to lock up these offenders permanently or change the system so that they can be closely monitored and tracked. Enough of this! The police have a difficult enough time finding first-time offenders, but to lose track of these idiots who have already been convicted of crimes against children is intolerable.

Kids are dying at the hands of these crazed lunatics. The criminal justice system needs to do much more to prevent this from happening again and again.

Schiavo Case Hopeless: Governor Bush, Bypass the Courts

Governor Jeb Bush needs to take radical action to save Terri Schiavo's life. Civil authorities have passed a death sentence on this woman, though she has done no wrong.

When will people wake up and realize that a human life is not something to be thrown away? Abortion is wrong, the death penalty is wrong and withholding food and water from a woman who may well live for decades and improve is definitely wrong. This is the culture of death that has been created in the United States. And Terri will die to satisfy that culture.

The federal judges won't touch this case for two reasons: Congress flouted established procedure by ordering federal courts to look at the case instead of BANNING the practice of withholding food and water from the terminally ill; AND they don't want to make a decision that might start to unravel Roe v. Wade. So the courts are sidestepping the issue of slapping Congress around AND protecting unjust laws that allow things like abortion and the death penalty, which has been imposed on Terri.

This is not about the right to die. This is about the system executing a woman who can't speak for herself and arbitrarily deciding that a dead Terri would protect the system. They have no moral authority to make a decision like that.

Governor Bush needs to realize that an innocent woman is being executed for no reason, and the courts are upholding that sentence because of ego and because they are protecting the death penalty, Roe v. Wade and other anti-life measures. The system is broken down; Terri shouldn't die because of that breakdown, so Governor Bush should break some rules, rescue Terry, and do what he can to save her life if it's not too late and worry about the consequences later.

Enough litigation, already! Oh, and for those who would compare an action like this to what Janet Reno did with Elian Gonzales, Elian was not being starved to death by his Florida relatives and wasn't in danger of dying. That was Reno's impatience with the courts. In Terri's case, time is not on her side. She's starving to death and ten year-olds are being arrested for trying to bring her a glass of water!

Who Knows Best: A Pregnant 14 Year-Old's Mom, or an Abortion Clinic?

Some parents have had some issues with groups like Planned Parenthood telling them that they have no right to stop their young daughters from getting contraceptives or getting an abortion. Here is a story of this scenario run amuck down in Illinois. Read the article first then read the rest of this post.


It's shocking, it's morally offensive, and it should be illegal for what happened in Illinois to happen. A fourteen year-old does not have the judgement to analyze possible long-term consequences of getting an abortion. GROWN-UPS sometimes don't either. The girl's mom had every right to tell them to stop as her daughter is a minor and lives under her roof.

The mom of the rapist should be thrown in jail along with her pedophile son for allowing this to happen to a young teenager, and for trying to cover up the statutory crime with a murder of an unborn child.

Who loves the girl and has her best interests at heart? The clinic, or the girl's mom?

Terri Schiavo Case Headed to U.S. Supreme Court

The Terri Schiavo case headed to the Supreme Court early today as two lesser federal courts ruled against restoring the feeding tube to her as her parents had wanted.

The Supreme Court may not even take the case, or if it does, may not issue a ruling until it is too late. But then again, the conservative-leaning court may intervene quickly. It's hard to tell.

Terri's case appears doomed. This is a major setback for the extended pro-life movement and only goes to show that everyone needs living wills so that if they become too sick to communicate that the person's wishes will be followed.

Most judges are not medical doctors and cannot personally examine the patient and form a medical opinion. How many MDs are in Congress? A handful?

Congress got involved for all the wrong reasons and passed faulty legislation. This is a way of saying "See? See what we did? We did good, voters. But the evil courts ruled the wrong way!!" It just smells of politics all around; that stupid memo that circulated through the GOP Congressional ranks stating that this act would play well with their conservative base is the proof of it. The ugliness of American politics really came out on this.

If Congress wanted to do this correctly, then they should have passed a law banning the removal of feeding tubes from the terminally ill until a group of doctors and the person's family agreed that there was no hope of recovery or something along those lines.

Then the Congress would have been challenged in the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the law. The key would have been to keep this between the family and the doctors who were providing care and keep it out of the courts.

Instead Congress ordered the higher courts to examine this one case. Can one branch of government order another to do something like this? The checks and balances system has been weakened by Congress and only the Supreme Court can fix it now.

Constitutional scholars seem to agree that Congress overstepped its bounds by doing what it did in the way that it did. Follow that?

Terri should be kept alive. This is no ordinary case of a comatose woman; she was clearly responding to her parents; her mental capacity may have been diminished a great deal, but mere mental incapacitation is not grounds for starving her to death.

Put the tube back in and allow her to die in her own good (natural) time. And the Supreme Court should put Congress into its place by slapping down this law.

Not Again: Teen Gunman Kills Family & Shoots Up School

In the worst school shooting spree since the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre, a Minnesota student went on a rampage and killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend before he drove to his school, killed an unarmed school guard and six others before killing himself.

Seven others were wounded at the school, which is in the Red Lake Ojibwa Nation. Police were also fired on as they stormed the building to save the students and staff. One officer was said to have returned fire.

With heavy hearts we again find ourselves asking “why did this happen again?”

The metal detectors at the school worked fine but didn’t stop this kid from killing the guard manning the checkpoint and opening fire on his fellow students.

Armed guards might have stopped the shooter, but then again, they might not have. Do we turn our schools into fortresses to stop things like this from happening?

It’s a very disturbing question to a very serious problem.

U.N. Security Council Reform Badly Needed

Kofi Annan announced a proposal to reform the United Nations and to add more permanent seats to the U.N. Security Council and, presumably, the all-powerful veto that goes with those seats. He wants to add two from Africa, three from Asia and one from Latin America.

Consider this: why should the permanent seats have resolution-killing veto power?

Because the U.S., Russia, China, France and Great Britain possess nuclear weapons? Other countries do too (in varying states of development): Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, India and others that are suspected of working on developing these weapons. Does military might make a country eligible to have a permanent seat and the super-veto power on the Council?

Because the five permanent members were victorious in World War II sixty years ago? To the U.S., that was about five wars (and countless smaller campaigns) ago. Germany and Japan ceased to be the enemy after they surrendered and were rebuilt by the victorious Allies.

Proof of U.N. Security Council bumbling: Europe and the U.S. did not intervene in Rwanda. They haven’t done anything to stop ethnic cleansing in Darfur. It was not the Security Council that stopped the Serbs in Bosnia, it was NATO air strikes; Russia vetoed U.N. action. Now a renewed conflict appears to be just over the horizon there too. Serbia wants Kosovo territory back, and Macedonia is moving toward an independence vote in 2006.

The U.N. Security Council was paralyzed over Iraq; they couldn’t enforce seventeen often-quoted resolutions calling for Iraq to disarm and gave the U.S. administration a silent (and unintended) affirmation to go after Iraq’s (still) sought-after WMDs by trumping one another's motions with their all-powerful veto. It was like watching five bullies beat up ten weaklings to get their way while they were trying to beat the tar out of each other.

While the Security Council bickered under the current system, 200,000 lives were extinguished in Darfur, one million Rwandans were murdered, 200,000 people were killed over the years while the Security Council bickered over Bosnia, 1/3 of all Catholics living in East Timor were killed by the Muslim government of Indonesia between 1975-1994; the list is too long and too tragic to continue.

Failure after failure can be laid at the Security Council’s feet because the permanent members have trump veto power; it doesn’t matter what the other fourteen members wanted; if one permanent member vetoed a resolution, the resolution died on the spot.

That power should be ended and resolutions should be passed with a simple majority. The U.N. needs consensus, not obstructionism.

The current U.N. Security Council is broken and will remain broken while five members have super-veto power. It needs to be ended. That's what the Secretary-General should be doing instead of adding more permanent seats.

Rwanda Genocide Revisited: UN Failing in Darfur

"Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it."

It's happening.

Rwanda 1994: Rwandan soldiers and Hutu gangs slaughtered an estimated 800,000-1,000,000 people, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The U.N. tucked tail and ran out of Rwanda, leaving the gangs to slaughter who they wanted when they wanted for whatever reason they wanted. Combat troops from Europe were sent in to evacuate Westerners from Rwanda and then left. While they were there, U.N. peacekeepers were armed, but not allowed to shoot; at least eighteen peacekeepers were killed by the militias. The events of that genocide were portrayed in the 2005 film "Hotel Rwanda."

Darfur 2005: The body count there is 200,000 and still rising. The U.N. is again preparing to evacuate from the region after being threatened by the gangs, militias and government soldiers who are more interested in slaughtering members of different tribes than listening to the U.N. men who have guns but won't intervene. The U.N. Security Council has threatened sanctions against Sudan, but they pull back when the metal meets the meat.

Instead of tucking tail and running again, the U.N. ought to send in reinforcements who can intervene and arrest the Janjaweed butchers and government people who are participating in the genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Instead of watching news reports of what's happening, saying "that's terrible" and then turning the channel, all Westerners should go see "Hotel Rwanda" and then tell their leaders to pressure the U.N. to do much more. The U.N. is falling down on the job. Again.

Most Americans cannot imagine how slaughters like what happened in Rwanda can take place. It's inconceivable to most.

The closest approximation to something like that taking place in America would be an all-out collapse of authority nationwide and the emergence of a dominant group that had all the weapons, and sent their thugs into the streets to drag people out of their homes and murder them only because of their skin color or because a military warlord wanted a section of town cleared out for their own purposes.

That's what happened in Rwanda in 1994, and what has happened for the last year in Darfur.

And all that most Westerners are willing to do is say "that's terrible" and then flip the channel. Talk about a major disconnect.

Jessica Lunsford: What Was Her Killer Doing Out of Jail?

The second major story coming out of Florida last week was the abduction and murder of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford. A convicted sex offender confessed to her kidnapping and murder.

What was this animal doing out of prison in the first place??! With a rap sheet as long as his, he should never have been allowed to walk the streets as a free man ever again.

There's something to be said for "three strikes and you're out" laws. If Florida had this in place, he could have been stopped years ago.

Instead, we are left with utter devastation, recriminations and a legal system that isn't doing enough to stop these terrible crimes before they happen.

Schiavo Bill: Good and Bad

The nation has been captivated by the Terry Schiavo case down in Florida and everyone is getting involved.

Congress and the President signed off on the Schiavo bill early this morning, which transfers the case to federal court. This was done after a state court judge allowed the feeding tube to be removed from the Florida woman fifteen years after she went into a vegetative coma. The parents want to keep her alive, the husband wants to allow her to die. Very nasty things have been said by both sides about the other, which is very unfortunate.

Republicans in Congress circulated a memo saying that strong action on this case on their part would play well with their religious voters and so the rush was on to intervene. Democrats decided that this belongs in state court and that the bill was/is unconstitutional.

Analysis: Is Terry really brain dead? She reacts to people around her; if she simply laid there, hovering between life and death, that question would be easier to answer. She does not show any brain-wave activity, yet her body is communicating with people when they talk to her. The definition of what brain-death is needs to be decided in the court system, so they should not be rushing to allow this woman to die. Her parents are right on this.

Analysis: The Constitution is being trampled in favor of brownie points for certain politicians who want to please their constituents. This is a bad move. Congress does not have the authority to move a court case from state into federal courts. The independent judiciary does not take orders from Congress in this way; it is questionable as to whether a federal judge will even look at the case and may cite separation of powers between the branches of federal government and the relationship between the states and the federal government. A federal judge may rule this law to be unconstitutional instead of ruling on the case itself.

Conclusion: while the politics are going on, Terry is starving to death. Shame on Congress for acting in their own interests instead of Terry's, shame on our culture for propagating a culture of death, shame on the GOP for putting so much political capital into a very bad law that weakens the Constitution, and shame on the courts for ruling against right-to-life measures in general.

A living will would have ended this debate long ago, but since there wasn't one, everyone is taking advantage of a terrible situation. The long and the short for the public: make a living will that explains exactly what you want if you are unable to make decisions for yourselves anymore. Don't allow the courts to get involved because they will make a mess of things.

Law of the Sea Treaty Needs to be Rejected by the U.S. Senate

It's been brought to light recently that the U.N.-brokered Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) is due to be voted on by the U.S. Senate.

Originally designed by the U.N. in the 1970's, the treaty turns over control of the ocean floor to the United Nations, who have the responsibility of creating a beaucracy to oversee activities on, over and beneath the world's oceans. President Clinton signed a modified version of the treaty in the 1990's, but the bill just got around to being voted on by the Senate.

According to Research International, the treaty ".. focuses primarily on navigational and transit issues. The Treaty also contains provisions on the regulation of deep-sea mining and the redistribution of wealth to underdeveloped countries--as well as sections regarding marine trade, pollution, research, and dispute resolution."


The Bush Administration has indicated support for the LOST agreement, but it's a very bad idea. President Reagan objected to this treaty in the 1980's for the following reasons (and they are still valid today):

• Restriction and regulation of the movement of warships on the high seas.
• Restriction of free enterprise in favor of redistribution of wealth.
• Regulation of deep-sea mining with yearly payoffs to the U.N.
• Corporations cannot protest U.N. actions; the country of origin of the corporation can.
• Nations are taxed for use of the oceans without the consent of the people of those nations.
• Redistribution of minerals to landlocked nations in disproportionate numbers restricts available minerals for the rest of the world.
• A U.N. court decides disputes over and above previous international treaties.

A treaty that demands that its signatory nations turn over their sovereignty on the high seas to the United Nations is a bad thing. Control of the world's oceans belongs to the entire world, not one nation or organization.

Sink this treaty and fast, Senators.

Congress & Baseball: Let the League Tend to Itself

Why is Congress getting involved in pro baseball?

Don't they have more important things to do than spend time and resources questioning baseball players on whether or not they used steroids?

This is political grand-standing in an American past-time and Congress ought to investigate how much it's spending on this photo op. Get to work, people, and let baseball tend to baseball.

Hezbollah As a Legitimate Political Force in the Peace Process? BS!!

The Bush Administration has begun making noise about accepting Hezbollah as part of the political mainstream in the Middle East if it were to lay down its arms and push for peace.

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!

Before Hezbollah is accepted into the mainstream, it ought to produce the people who engineered the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beruit in 1983. 241 American soldiers died in that deadly blast and led to the U.S. withdrawing its peacekeeping force from Beruit.

Hezbollah was responsible for that outrage. Those troops were there to stop the mass- killings that Hezbollah was carrying out against the Lebanese. So before we go welcoming Hezbollah to the mainstream, it has to prove that it wants peace and apologizes to the 241 families that its suicide bombers murdered and hands over those responsibile to either the U.S. or to the Hague.

This olive branch is inappropriate until Hezbollah gets out of the terrorism business permanently.

China Will Invade Taiwan--What Will the U.S. Do?

Efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the China/Taiwan situation suffered a huge setback when China passed a law authorizing use of overwhelming military force if Taiwan declares its independence. Chinese President Hu Jintao told his military to prepare for war in accordance with the unanimous vote of the Chinese assembly.

Washington should immediately throw out the "One China" policy and go with "One China, One Taiwan" policy and recognize Taiwan as a free and independent democracy. Europe should stop making plans to lift an arms embargo against China and should also recognize Taiwan should it declare formal independence.

Think about it: communism was abhorant enough to the Nationalists that they fought a war against the Red Chinese and fled for their lives when they lost. Why would they now accept it? China's behavior in Tibet is the perfect example of what will happen if Taiwan falls to Chinese military aggression.

So, what will happen if Chinese shock armies begin coming across the strait and make landfall on Taiwanese territory? What will Washington do?

Hopefully whoever is U.S. President when China invades will feel that Communism itself is a crime against humanity and will not allow a democratic Taiwan to fall to that evil. And hopefully the European Union chooses democratic principals over money.

Jackson Accuser's Brother Lies Under Oath

The prosecution's case against Michael Jackson suffered a major setback today when the brother of Jackson’s accuser admitted he was lying on the stand and that he had lied in another unrelated case.

Did anyone bother telling this kid that lying under oath is a crime, and that the damage he may have done could have ruined a man’s life? Crimes have been committed, and it's not just Jackson who stands accused now.

This trial is a long way from being over, but the prosecution suffered heavy damage to its case today.

This kid will have to live with what he has done for the rest of his life, and if the boy’s mother put him up to this, she ought to go to jail, regardless of the outcome of the trial.

U.S. Military Wounds Recently-Released Hostage

The U.S. military suffered a major embarrassment over the weekend when it shot at a vehicle that was carrying a recently-released Italian reporter to the Baghdad International Airport, killing her escort and wounding her. Two different interpretations of the incident are being circulated.

The military is claiming that the car approached a checkpoint outside the airport and refused to stop, ignoring warning shots and bright lights that were intended to make the driver of the car stop. The Italian reporter is claiming that U.S. troops were targeting her and that there were no warnings. She had no proof of her version of the events.

It seems more likely that a mistake was made; who is more at fault will become clearer as time goes on. It seems like this reporter, who works for a Communist Party newspaper in Italy, has taken full advantage of this situation to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Italy by claiming that U.S. troops were out to kill her. She got her story, and international journalistic integrity will suffer because of it.

Even before this incident, the majority of Italians supported pulling their troops out of Iraq. With images of the flag-draped casket of the intelligence officer who was escorting her to the airport being broadcast throughout Italy, that will probably add fuel to the fire and add weight to the reporter’s version of events.

She has no proof that the troops were trying to kill her; she would be dead if they were. That part of her claim is utter nonsense.

It should be noted that this reporter went through a very bad experience in Iraq, being kidnapped and threatened by the insurgents for weeks before she was mysteriously released. Some are saying that someone paid off the kidnappers to release her, which will only encourage them to continue doing it.

Two possible outcomes from this: she'll set the record straight, or she won't and will continue to use the outpouring of Italian public support to influence public discourse on the war. Given the choices and her political affiliation, it seems likely that she'll choose the latter.

Supreme Court Finally Bans Executions of Those Who Commited Death-Penalty Crimes While a Juvenile

The U.S. Supreme Court decided to ban executions of people who committed death-penalty crimes when they were under the age of 18.

This will put the United States in line with the rest of the civilized world in terms of how the death penalty is applied. Each time an adult sentenced to death (for a crime committed before the age of majority) was executed, the U.S. violated international treaties that it had signed.

This is an important decision and a great victory for the American justice system, but it does not go far enough.

All uses of the death penalty must be abolished. No system is foolproof; many states do not even use DNA testing to verify if they have the right man (or woman) on death row. The states don’t want to spend any money on the people they condemn.

We cannot tolerate a system that may err (and send someone who didn’t do the crime) to their death with NO chance for them to fight back and prove their innocence. That is just plain wrong.

The DNA evidence may well prove that they are guilty too, so shouldn’t we AT LEAST have DNA testing in every case where another person’s life hangs in the balance?

Disaster at Sea: Two Boys Drown in Gulf of Mexico

An adventure with a group of young people ended in disaster as two fourteen-year olds perished in their overturned kayaks in the Gulf of Mexico.

The two became separated from their group, which came from Darlington High School in Rome, Georgia, and drowned. The entire group became disoriented and had to be rescued by the United States Coast Guard after the seas became too much to handle.

Had a very strong reaction to this story as everyone was hoping that the kids would be found alive and well. Hope was lost this afternoon with the announcement that the boys had been found dead. 4½ miles into open water is a long ways for a group of young teenagers.

Two of the leading causes of drowning in aquatics (in general) are boating mishaps and exceeding physical limitations and disabilities. Key questions that need to be asked: did the trip exceed the physical limitations of the group, given their ages? Did the kids have enough experience to be kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico? Was the supervision qualified to lead a foray like this? Did they do training beforehand and know how to handle themselves adequately to go onto a large body of water? Was the buddy system used properly? It doesn’t help the group if the two strongest kayakers or the two weakest kayakers were teamed up.

The author of this piece, a fifteen-year veteran lifeguard, took his first kayaking trip last year and found that he was not equal to the task as it was the first time he was in a kayak; nearly all of his boating experiences centered around canoes, rowboats, whitewater, motorboats and a limited amount of sailing time. Had he chosen any other form of watercraft (probably not sailing either), he would have been fine, but he didn’t properly train and was badly unprepared for what awaited him on a mere river. He had to pull out of the trip midway through because he tried to ignore the severe pain that he was in that had developed from being in such an uncomfortable position. He failed. He won’t make that mistake again.

The thought of going into the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic or Pacific without any type of training in an unfamiliar class of watercraft is unthinkable. Whatever happened in the waters off of Florida, it must be investigated fully; and it will.

May God bless the families of the lost, the members of the group who lived, and the school and community from where they came. May they be comforted by His healing hands.

Lebanese Government Collapses: Fallout from Assassination Continues

In continuing fall-out from the assassination of a former Lebanese Prime Minister two weeks ago, the Lebanese government resigned, bowing to internal and international pressure.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens protesting outside and watching the debate on TV let out a roar that reverberated throughout Lebanon, and indeed, throughout the region as the Prime Minster announced the resignations. The Lebanese people want their freedom restored, they want the Syrian occupation forces removed from their soil, and they want a government that is free from Syrian influence and a political system that is not influenced by Syrian military intelligence forces.

The changes taking place over there are astonishing; a few short years ago, such happenings would have been put down harshly by the Syrians, but the West has taken a strong interest in investigating the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed by a massive car bomb. That bombing has led to Syria being put under tremendous pressure to get their military out of Lebanon and to come clean on their activities with regards to terrorism in the region.

Syria handed over Saddam Hussein’s half brother Sab'awi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, who was #36 on the U.S. military’s list of most wanted men for his human-rights violations while Saddam was in power and for his role in leading the insurgency in Iraq. This is an attempt to get some of the pressure off, but it won’t work.

Lebanon appears headed for independence from Syria and all Syria can do is moan about how they’re being treated by the international community. Get over it, Damascus, and be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

Putin Getting Terrible Advice From His Advisors: Accuses Bush of Firing CBS Staffers

According to Newsweek magazine, Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Bush that Russia didn’t criticize Bush for firing the staffers at CBS after they aired false National Guard documents that led to a scandal at CBS. This comment came at their meeting in Slovakia last week at the end of Bush’s fence-mending trip to Europe.

Bush was criticizing the Russian crackdown on the free press in Russia, and Putin made the comment in responding to Bush’s concerns. Putin actually believes that President Bush personally fired the CBS people for criticizing him in the weeks leading up to the election. Bush explained that he has no power to fire people like that and that it was a CBS company decision, but Putin didn’t believe him.

Putin’s advisors are giving him very bad advice about U.S. politics and Putin is buying into it hook, line and sinker. It also explains Russia’s about-face in selling nuclear fuel to Iran after it said in a joint statement with the U.S. that Iran must not possess a nuclear weapon. Does he really think Russia will get back all of the spent nuclear power rods that could be used to build an Iranian nuclear weapon?

Will Russian soldiers enforce that part of their agreement? Will the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) be able to observe what goes on there?

It’s scary to think that someone who misunderstands the U.S. so badly is in charge of one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals and is a dictator at heart. Putin comes across as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, so the U.S. should keep a close eye on Russia until it embraces democracy more fully, and not just in name only.

Here's the story.

Israel Over-Reacting Again; Threatens to Suspend Peace with Palestinians Over Latest Terror Bombing

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon is at it again. After the latest terror bombing (which he blamed on Syria), he has threatened to suspend the fragile cease-fire that was signed a mere three weeks ago with Palestine.

If the truce is going to hold and peace is to be achieved, Israel should be helping the Palestinians instead of blaming them for every terrorist attack that is launched by terror groups that may not even be operating out of Palestinian territory.

Israel needs to take a more even-handed approach to the Palestinians and quit weakening their new democratic leader. That just plays into the hands of Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and about twenty other groups that don’t like Israel and are beyond the reach of Palestinian security forces.

Pope Hospitalized Again: Resignation Talk in Media Rekindled

Pope John Paul II was rushed back to a hospital in Rome this morning where he spent ten days earlier this month; almost as quickly, the media vultures quickly returned and set up the media circus again. And again, they began talking up a possible papal retirement.

Do they not get it? This pope will die in office, so they should leave him alone. The Catholic Church has gone months and even years without a pope in centuries past, and the church survived then. It will survive through whatever happens to John Paul II, whether he dies in the hospital or at the Vatican, or he is left speechless for the remainder of his days.

If they want to report on the pope’s condition, fine, but they should stop fueling this dead-end story. If this Polish man decides to fight to the bitter end, he will. And it looks like he has, based on his public statements of thanks for prayers for around the world, and for his asking for strength to continue his ministry.

Those are not the words of someone who is planning on retiring or "resigning" as the world media brazenly puts it.

Kid Suspended for Tossing Rubber Band at Teacher

In a case of “zero-tolerance” having zero common sense, a 13 year-old kid was suspended from his southern Florida school for ten days after tossing a rubber band onto the desk of his teacher.

This happened after the boy picked up the rubber band and put it on his wrist. The teacher asked for the rubber band so the boy took it off and tossed the 1/10th ounce rubber band onto his teacher’s desk. As a result, the band was labeled a weapon, and the boy was suspended for ten days with an expulsion hearing scheduled for “threatening a teacher with a weapon.”

??!

In the Orange County School District, they have different levels of punishments, with Level 4 punishments for such things as: arson, assault and battery, bomb threats and explosives offenses.

This kid is being handed a Level 4 punishment.

Did the ¼ ounce rubber band explode on impact? Did it burn a hole in the desk? Did the rubber band blow out the windows in the room? Did it give the teacher a bruise? Did the rubber band sever the arm of the teacher? Did the 1/10th ounce rubber band threaten the life of the teacher? Of the students? Did the student try to kill the teacher with the rubber band? Did the student try to kill himself with the rubber band?

Some weapon. Yep. Uh-huh.