Instructional Series: What to Do If You Get Threatening E-mails from "PayPal"

I've received two fradulant e-mails from someone claiming to be PayPal in the last twelve hours.

The fake e-mails will ask for you to enter or update your personal information. If you should get one like this from paypal, you should forward the e-mail AS-IS to spoof@paypal.com

Do not add commentary. Just forward the thing, then they will e-mail you back and tell you if it's a fake or a legitimate e-mail. They NEVER ask for personal information in an e-mail...that's how to tell if it's a fake.

Do not click on any of the links in these e-mails. They will take you to a fake paypal web site, then will have you enter your user name and password. That's the danger...they then have your account information and can start spending your money.

If you give them your social security number and birthdate as well, you can kiss your identity goodbye. Someone else will take over your life and it'll take YEARS to straighten out.

Does $70 Billion Tax Cut Translate into $70 Billion Less in Congressional Pork?

NOT!! Tax cuts should translate directly into government spending cuts and, specifically, pork spending cuts.

Will it happen? It should, but past experience says that it definitely won't.

Riders are killing the federal budget and the Republican tax cuts without corresponding cuts in federal spending are ill-advised. At current spending and income levels, it is being projected that we will hit the $10 trillion debt mark soon.

We're going to drown if they don't get their spending under control.

Letter From Iran Also Ignores Pre-9/11 Bush Isolationism: Bush Was Happy to Step Back from World Stage Until 9/11 Forced Him Back Onto It

Does anyone remember a time when President Bush was focused more on domestic agenda items than international ones?

In the time period between the election fiasco of 2000 and the events of 9/11, people in this country and around the world thought that the U.S. was entering an isolationist era. President Bush's overseas trips were few and far in between.

Then 9/11 happened. Shortly afterwards, President Bush ramped up U.S. involvement overseas in a huge way and the country was set on it's current course.

People blame Bush for the current state of international/U.S. affairs, but it should be noted that if 9/11 hadn't been carried out by al-Qaeda, we would still be at peace. But the terrorists intervened and it paved the way to where we are today.

And Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. Their hands are drenched in the blood of innocents. So they don't have too much room to talk either, and especially in God's name. The tone of the Iranian President's letter is appalling in that way.

They need to change their tune and fast.

Iranian President's Letter to President Bush Provides Plenty of Topics for Good Sermons at a Mosque, But Does Nothing to Address Nuclear Crisis

One would have thought that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's eighteen page letter to President Bush would devote at least one paragraph to a political settlement of Iran's troublesome nuclear problem.

There was not a single paragraph that addressed the issue. In fact, there was not a single word about it. The word "nuclear" is used once and it is used to criticize Washington's wariness of Iran's potential nuclear capability.

The Bush Administration examined the letter for any proposals that would have given both nations a foundation for talking and then rejected it when they failed to find anything useful in it.

A one-page letter from Ahmadinejad proposing a halt to Iran's nuclear program, an immediate termination of Iranian support of international terrorism and an abandonment of fiery rhetoric against Israel in exchange for a non-aggression pact would have led to immediate talks between Washington and Tehran. It could have also lead to an eventual exchange of ambassadors between the two countries.

Ahmadinejad fails to grasp that this is not a religious matter with a religious solution. This problem requires a political solution.

In fact, religious discussions are a separate issue from the nuclear issue entirely. So are the failings (in the Iranian President's own words) of liberalism and democracy. As a teacher, Ahmadinejad should remember that despotism and theocracies precede gigantic body counts, as Nazi Germany, Armenia, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Darfur and Saddam's Iraq have shown us.

This nuclear crisis is entirely of his making. He's the one who wants nuclear arms, not Bush.

President Bush should write back a one-page response with some kind of political solution to Ahmadinejad and his mullah overseers, who are the true rulers of Iran and see what happens. Let the scholars debate Islam and democracy and the politicians negotiate.

Political Apointees in Defense Department Should Have Served in Military so that They Have an Idea as to What the Military Needs to Fight a War

The supreme law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, makes it clear that command of the U.S. military resides with the elected civilian leadership of the government, and not solely with the military brass itself. That is how it should be.

But common sense says that political apointees to the top leadership positions at the Defense Department should have military experience so that they understand military strategy and provide what the military needs to fight and win a war.

Given the dangerous times we live in, future Presidents should nominate qualified people for these positions and not someone because of their political connections (though they are useful) or to reward a political favor as has happened in the past. (I'm not referring to Rumsfeld--he's a former Navy pilot). And the Senate, when confirming the leadership of the Pentagon, should be asking the kinds of questions that will prevent such an event from happening.

Jury Awards $2.25 Million to Innocent Man Who Came Within Nine Days of Being Executed: Case Highlights Troubled Death Penalty System

Back at the beginning of May, news broke that a Virginia jury had awarded $2.25 million to a man who was wrongfully convicted of a heinous crime and came within nine days of being executed for that crime.

DNA evidence cleared him and tied a convicted rapist to the 1982 murder.

This is no poster boy for the anti-death penalty movement, but it again calls into question a system that rends an ultimate solution before all the evidence is properly looked at and new technology is brought to bear on questionable evidence. In the case of Earl Washington, the evidence itself was fabricated. He spent nearly ten years on death row.

How many more cases like this are out there?

White House Report on Bird Flu Pandemic Paints a Bleak Picture: Doomsday Scenario Projects 2 Million American Dead & Up to 1/3 of Work Force Sick

The White House recently released a study on what it's plan would be if the U.S. were to be hit by a pandemic bird flu. The paper included three hundred recommendations.

It projects two million American dead, widescale labor shortages, travel bans, voluntary quarantines, closure of public gathering places, National Guard deployments to deliver food and medicines, use of flu masks and gloves and an array of other ideas. Employers are being encouraged to allow people to work from home if possible.

It also says federal involvment would be mininal and that communities and states would be on their own. That's a little troubling. Hopefully the CDC would stay involved on all levels in developing a vaccine if such an outbreak were to hit.

Catch Up

Going to be doing quite a bit of catch-up. In the time I haven't been posting, I've been writing stuff in my journal for eventual posting on this blog.

Enjoy.

Republicans in Congress Object to FBI Search of Accused Congressman's Office

Lawmakers up on Capitol Hill are screeching about an FBI search of Congressman William J. Jefferson's Washington offices as part of an FBI corruption investigation.

House Majority Leader Hastert told President Bush that the search was unconstitutional and was a violation of the separation of powers clause of the Constitution.

Huh??!

According to reports, the FBI had probable cause to believe that Congressman Jefferson had been hiding information from them in his Washington office after smuggling certain items out of his New Orleans home after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore. They got a valid search warrant from a judge in good standing and executed the warrant.

If Congressman Jefferson was using his office to hide stuff from the FBI, then the FBI had every right to search the office for those materials. Furthermore, that would make it a law enforcement matter, not an executive branch "invasion" of the legislative branch as the screeching Congressional leadership have been bellyaching about. The FBI's search warrant spelled out exactly what they were looking for, so other confidential records would not have been seized.

Do members of Congress really think they're above the law? If they do, then they ought to do the noble thing and RESIGN! They're the same as everyone else in all matters, including criminal law.

The Constitution does NOT excuse Congress from following the law.

More Mexican Government Hypocrisy: Illegals Barred From Employment in Mexico

Mexico is so concerned about it's citizens being able to gain U.S. citizenship and hold U.S. jobs that they've stuck their nose in at every opportunity. Yet in their own country, non-native born people cannot get a job.

Here's the story. It's a really interesting read.

So not only does Mexican law exclude illegals, but it also excludes Mexican citizens who came from elsewhere but have gone through the Mexican naturalization process. It's a racist and xenophobic policy. That's exactly what they're saying about our system while ignoring their own shortfalls.

Perhaps Mexico should practice what it preachs to others who threaten THEIR BOTTOM LINE.

Defense/Katrina Bill Needs to Be Split Into It's Main Components: What Does the Iraq War Have to Do With Hurricane Katrina Relief Operations?

The Defense/Hurricane Katrina bill making it's way through Congress should have been considered separately and not combined with a potential Farm Aid bill.

In addition, the entire package is now playing host to an additional $14 billion in pork added by some Senators.

The rape of the system continues unabated. Have they no shame?

Predictions Are Coming True: U.S. Tells Mexico That National Guard Deployment Along Border Will Be Temporary

President Bush has told Mexican President Fox that any National Guard deployment along the U.S./Mexico border will be temporary. How temporary is temporary? A week? A month? Until after the November elections?

This Administration doesn't appear to be serious about securing the southern border.

They should either commit the troops to a long-term stay, or keep them home. It would be a waste of time, money and resources to deploy them and then pull them off the line a short time later.

More election year nonsense.

Plan to Put National Guard on Border With Mexico Under Current Administration is Probably Not a Good Idea

There have been reports that President Bush is considering putting the National Guard on the border with Mexico to stem the tide of inbound illegal border crossers.

It would probably be a waste of money from this Administration, given the fact that they are still pushing for a guest worker program and the Administration is in lock-step with at least half the Senate over granting amnesty for illegals. If that's true, then the troops may well be under orders not to interfere with illegal border crossings.

The Bush Administration's track record on illegal immigration hasn't exactly been stellar and they are reacting to the public backlash instead of being proactive and dealing with the problem. The proof will be if the President announces amnesty for the illegals already here during the President's Oval Office speech on Monday.

This move is more electioneering to prop up a faltering Presidency and a failing Senate.

Diplomatic Relations With Mexico Should Be Temporarily Severed to Register U.S. Displeasure with Mexican Government Interference in U.S. Affairs

Mexico's flagrant violations of U.S. sovereignty over securing our side of the border must be checked immediately and the best way to do so is to sever diplomatic relations with Mexico--at least temporarily.

They must be made to understand that their continued interference in our internal affairs is unacceptable. Here's a current list of Mexican transgressions currently in progress or that have already happened, and the stories below are a small sample of what's been happening:

Mexican Government Targets Arizona Law Against Human Smuggling
Mexican Lawmakers Join Protests in Los Angeles
Mexican Government Slams Georgia Anti-Illegal Alien Law
Mexican Ads Push Immigration Reform
Mexican Government Denounces Fees on Illegal Immigrant Wire Transfers
Chertoff Promotes Guest Worker Program With Mexican Lawmakers in Tow

We don't need foreign interference from a government that treats all illegal immigrants in Mexico as felons and does a fair amount of human rights violations itself.

Stay out of our business, Mexico.

U.S. Decision to Tell Corrupt Mexican Government Where Minutemen Patrols Are Actually Increases Danger Along Border Area

The Minutemen project has been continuing in the Arizona desert with Minuteman patrols interdicting illegal border crossers since the beginning of April.

In the last couple of days, it has emerged that U.S. authorities have been informing their Mexican counterparts of Minutemen movements, where they are, and what they are doing. This is not a good decision and here's why:

During the first Minuteman project, it emerged that Mexican and Hispanic gangs were going to go to the border area to kill as many Minutemen as they could find. MS-13 was one of the gangs threatening to do precisely that. The Brown Beret gang was another.

The Mexican government has a huge corruption problem.

Who is to say that any information passed to Mexican authorities won't end up in the hands of the very ones who are threatening violence to stop the Minutemen? The drug cartels and gangs have friends in the Mexican government. And they have vowed to "teach the Minutemen a lesson."

When an entire group of Minutemen get gunned down in a hail of bullets from Mexican gangs in the Arizona desert and who have the precise location of the Minutemen patrols courtesy of the U.S. and Mexican governments, whose fault will it be? And what will follow? A border war? Armed vigilantes crossing the border in both directions seeking revenge? The Rio Grande turning into a river of blood?

The odds are that this decision will lead to American deaths on our side of the border. There HAS to be a better way to deal with this.

Tony Snow as White House Press Secretary Was a Good Choice: Now He'll Get to Tangle with the Washington Press Directly

President Bush made a good selection in choosing former Fox News commentator Tony Snow as his Press Secretary.

He's got a tough job ahead of him and the Washington press may not give him much of a honeymoon as is traditional with new press secretaries.

But it stands to reason that he won't need much of one.

His talk-show radio and interview demeanor will allow him to take on everyone in that press room and come away with his armor intact. His predecessor's armor was in tatters almost from day one and the press drew blood on him daily.

Snow will run the show. The only thing that he has to watch out for is if he injects his own personal opinions (which sometimes runs contrary to the White House as has been covered in the media lately) into the question and answer sessions.

This is something that has caused the downfall of at least one press secretary over the years, but I think Tony Snow will do just fine.

Band-Aid Fix to Severe Bleeding: Bush Moves on Oil Won't Fix the Problem with Oil Speculators

President Bush's latest moves to affect the prices at the gas pumps don't address what's causing the price of a barrel of oil to hit around the $70 per barrel range and the price of refined transportation to hit $100 a barrel or more.

A major part of the problem is oil speculators.

Who regulates them?

They react to fear of future events, while largely ignoring the current level of supply, demand and reserves that the oil companies are waiting to process.

A single problem in a single oil field which might affect the flow of oil by a miniscule amount is enough to cause the speculators to panic and drive the cost of oil up.

The current list of excuses include fear of Iran and fear of what the West might do about Iran's nuclear program; fear of terrorist acts in Nigeria; fear of violence in the Middle East, fear of Willowby the Gorilla farting in his cage; and every lame-brained excuse that grabs a headline. For example, over the weekend Iran's president threatened to attack Israel if the West attacks Iran; the price of a barrel of oil almost immediately hit close to $75.

And then when those fears of oil disruption go unrealized, the price goes down slowly, compared to the fast jump upward in prices. Gas prices should fall just as fast as they increase.

But it's not happening because the system is being abused. As a result, the price of oil and gas is overvalued by at least 40%.

And on that point, the ongoing investigations will not yield any results, because the problems are happening outside the box, while the investigations are focused INSIDE the box. What good is an investigation if it only focuses on the tail end of the industry? They need to go after the speculators, too, where they'll find what they're looking for.

Former WWE Standout Nikolai Volkoff Running for Maryland House of Delegates

Fans of the former World Wrestling Federation (WWF) remember the name Nikolai Volkoff well.

Before every WWF/WWE match, he would enrage the fans in the arena and those watching on TV by insisting that fans rise to their feet amd show respect as he sang the Soviet National Anthem, while dressed in Soviet-style ring attire and waving the Soviet flag around. He became one of the most despised villians in wrestling history while taking on the likes of Hulk Hogan, Sgt. Slaughter, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, the Junkyard Dog and other popular wrestlers, while teaming with the equally-despised Iranian Iron Sheik.

In later years, he became a fan favorite and on occasion would sing the U.S. National Anthem.

He became a U.S. citizen about ten years ago and is currently a code inspector in and around Baltimore. He's also running for a seat for the Maryland House of Delegates as a Republican.

Nikolai is considered to be an underdog in the race, but he's hoping to follow in the footsteps of his friend Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who became the Governor of Minnesota. Good luck Nikolai.

False Valor: Fake Medals of Honor Cheapen the Real Ones

There's a growing problem with people claiming to have been awarded the Medal of Honor and wearing the medals (that are fakes or belong to someone else).

There are at present 113 living Medal of Honor recipients. The government knows who they are, where they live, and what they did to receive our nation's highest military honor.

Unfortunately, according to reports, the real heroes are vastly outnumbered by the liars who claim to be among their number. What a sad state of affairs.

There's a high price to be paid for falsely wearing a Medal of Honor. The current punishment is one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 aims to make it a crime to wear any military medal and claim to be a recipient when one is not. It will also make it clear that those honors belong solely to our brave former and active military personnel who have/are getting shot at, bombed, and whatever else takes place in the war zones.

This is a good act and should be acted upon soon.

Cost of Neo-Nazi Rally Still Being Tallied, but It's Close to $250,000 So Far

The bill to local and state governments for providing protection during last weekend's neo-Nazi rally in Lansing is still being tallied, but latest estimates put the total price tag at close to $250,000 so far.

Here are the numbers being reported by various departments and agencies:

Michigan State Police----$171,000
City of Lansing---$75,000
Other Assisting Police Departments--Still Unknown

The next time the neo-Nazis come to town, they ought to send a certified check for $500,000 first and let them pay the bills. Why should the taxpayers be left to pay the bill?

The police did a great job in keeping order downtown. Their careful planning and execution of the plan kept a potentially explosive situation under control and they should be recognized for their hard work.

More to follow on this.

Boycott the Boycott: Hold a National Shopping Day on Monday

People hold off shopping this weekend and do it on Monday to defy the pro-illegal crowd that has threatened to grind the economy to a halt with their protests that very day.

And Congress had better not buckle under the pressure either. Any member of Congress who does should be voted out of office at the next opportunity for bowing to demands from illegals who refuse to follow the rules.

No amnesty for lawbreakers. It's not fair to immigrants who go through the system properly.

"Nuestro Himno" Is Not The U.S. National Anthem in Spanish--It's Simply A New Version of "We Shall Overcome"

There's been a lot of hooplah the last few days over the so-called Spanish-version of the "Star Spangled Banner."

Few points here.

First of all, this is a immigrant rights song, not the U.S. National Anthem. Every movement has some sort of an anthem. In the civil rights movement, the song titled "We Shall Overcome" was and is seen as a civil rights theme song.

If it was a Spanish version of the U.S. National Anthem, then it would have been the exact translation to the "Star-Spangled Banner." But the words are not the same; hence it is not associated to the official U.S. National Anthem.

This new song shares the melody to the "Star-Spangled Banner," but in actuality, it's a new version of "We Shall Overcome" and other "official" themes to movements.

I don't find anything wrong with it, so long as it is not held up on the same level as the official U.S. National Anthem, because clearly it isn't the same.

Checks From Government for Fuel Rebate? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

Some senators are pushing around the idea that the U.S. government should write out checks to every taxpayer for $100 as a kind of gasoline "rebate" while gas prices are so high.

This idea should be dropped immediately.

Where are they going to get the money to do this? And what happens the next time? Will they do it again? For that matter, why are they even considering using taxpayer money to fix an oil industry problem?

Now, if they were going to collect the money from the oil industry first, that would be different. But out and out using federal money? No way.

This is pure electioneering.

75 Nazis Show Up at Rally; 800 Counter-Demonstrators Do Too; Another 800-1000 Attend Diversity Rally

The collective IQ of the Lansing area has shot back up with the departure of the National Socialist Movement protestors yesterday following their rally.

Approximately 75 neo-Nazis showed up out of 200 expected, around 800 counter-demonstrators participated in the Noise Blockade, and around 900 were at the diversity rally that the neo-Nazis did leave alone following their own rally. Other news agencies are reporting similar numbers.

By my count, that's approximately 75 NSM members vs. approximately 1,700 Noise Blockade demonstrators and diversity participants. For some reason, the rest of the Nazis stayed home.

It was too bad that people broke part of the fence down and went after the NSM members; it was unnecessary. Sixteen individuals were arrested. It seemed like some in the crowd wanted to fight the police because they could, but backed down.

Hate to tell the Nazis "I told you so" (thhhp!!), but I DID tell them so.

So much for the largest white power rally of 2006. Good riddance.

Duke Rape Case Seriously Flawed: What is Really Going On?

The recent lacrosse team rape scandal at Duke University has thrown an uncomfortable spotlight into how election year politics can screw up a case as badly as this one has been.

We have witnesses to the alleged crime changing their stories. We have two team members charged with rape (one of whom wasn't there when it allegedly happened). We have a prosecutor trying the case in the media. The defense team is doing the same thing.

We have DNA results that do not support the charges; the prosecutor is now saying that the FBI crime lab is unreliable and is having a private company do the testing. There is now open discussion that the accuser isn't being honest. On the other side, the team hasn't helped its own cause by refusing to cooperate. And the mud-flinging is well underway from both sides.

There's a technical term for a court case like this: fiasco.

Why proper procedures were not followed in investigating a very serious crime should be looked at when the dust settles.

Also, why all the team players' names were released to the media even though they were not charged with a crime was a poor decision.

It's been one blunder after another. When will it end?

Neo-Nazis Are In For a Shock at Their Rally: Heavy Turnout at Noise Blockade Expected

I learned today that many MSU professors are giving extra credit to students who go to the neo-Nazi rally and join the Noise Blockade of the Nazi rally in Lansing tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon. In addition, many ministers are pushing for their congregations to attend the Noise Blockade, or go to the diversity rally at a local high school fieldhouse.

In another good sign, the NSM has announced that it will not crash the diversity rally and that they would stay in the capitol. That's very good news; they may have gotten wind of the potentially huge turnout of counter-demonstrators in and around the capitol.

Something that made the news tonight caught my attention: state police bus service to and from the rally has been set up for the neo-Nazis into the designated protest area. I don't think I like this idea very much, but if it keeps the protesters apart, then so be it.

The fence is all but set up; I couldn't get downtown to take a good look tonight. Too many road closure signs out and Friday nighters down there. The police are already out in force, making sure that the capitol is secure and ready for tomorrow's rally and counter-rally.

While I loathe the neo-Nazi message and how they choose to express it, they are exercising their First Amendment rights to say what they want. But they should be reminded that inciting to riot is not protected speech; nor is using violence against others to further their hate message.

Look at it this way: the sooner they say their piece, the sooner they'll leave.

And the counter-demonstrators should keep their cool and keep it verbal. The Nazis definitely wouldn't mind a huge free-for-all (as was demonstrated in Toledo last year). Don't give it to them. Violence is unnecessary.

Calling a Spade a Spade: Security Fence Is There for The Protection of the Neo-Nazis, Not the Community

Preparations for this weekend's neo-Nazi rally moved into full swing as the various police departments began erecting a fence around the planned Nazi protest site.

The National Socialist Movement (NSM) had gone to court to prevent the fence from being put up, but a judge decided to let the Lansing and Michigan State police departments do their jobs and keep the Nazis and everyone else from tearing one another apart. This was a wise decision by the court.

The NSM court action is more proof that the group wants to maximize the possibility of an outbreak of violence during the protest and that they have nothing but bad intentions in holding their rally in Lansing. Why else would they want a fence that's there for their protection removed?

It's going to be funny to watch the Nazis have their message drowned out by the Noise Blockade, which the anti-Nazi demonstrators are (rightly) calling their rally.

Mexico's Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds: Mexico Mistreats It's Own Illegal Migrant Population While Criticizing U.S. Debate on Same Issue

Typical.

Mexico has been an outspoken critic of the U.S. debate on illegal immigration, while at the same time mistreating it's own illegal population. Illegals in Mexico are felons!

Perhaps Mexico should get it's own house in order before telling us how to run ours. As troubled as our system is in dealing with illegal migrants, it's still better than Mexico's.

British Approach to Dealing with Iran May Be the Correct One: Bush Administration Should Listen to What They're Saying

Tony Blair seems to have indicated that Britain would be unable to provide military support for an assault on Iran due to Britain's current international commitments.

Some of the Prime Minister's cabinet members are suggesting that an approach similar to what brought Libya back into the international community would be more beneficial than if a Western coalition were to turn Iran into a parking lot.

The British suggestion raises some excellent points.

We've learned from past experience (Iraq) that when the West starts making demands, war follows. When deadlines are set, war follows. When sketchy intelligence is taken for the gospel truth, or is ignored, war follows. When claims of enemy WMDs ready to be launched within minutes are issued by coalition governments, war follows. When this Administration says "trust us--we're right about this", and they turn out to be wrong, how can this Administration expect us to trust them this time with Iran?

The Bush Administration says it doesn't know how far away Iran is from making an atomic bomb. But again, we are faced with statements coming out of the Administration that Iran must comply with it's demands or else. It's the "or else" part that is particularly alarming, especially when "regime change" is again being touted in Washington. And again, we see the UN Security Council splintering under pressure.

We don't need another war; we need a solution that doesn't involve the U.S. military as the primary instrument for a political resolution.

Given all of this, the British strategy seems sound. Working with Iranians outside the current radical government and in key locations inside Iran could well turn the situation around.

Hopefully Bush listens to his closest international ally and not to the Bush cowboys (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Chertoff & Gonzales) when formulating a strategy to deal with Iran. No disrespect to Condi Rice intended in that last sentence. But she's part of the problem too.

Hopefully President Bush is listening to the ideas coming out of Britain.

Neo-Nazi Comments on This Blog Explored: Blaming Others for Their Problems is Their Trademark

I seem to have touched a nerve with my last posting.

A prominent neo-Nazi took notice of my last entry and decided to post a comment, to which I responded in the same way.

He said some things in his comments that I thought about overnight and throughout the day today. After sharing his comments with some close friends out here, I've decided to make some points here based on his comments in addition to the comments I made in my initial response.

His entry was based on my stated belief that many people will be attending the National Socialist Movement to protest the neo-Nazi rally...quite probably in the thousands. I think he thought I was talking about thousands of people attending the diversity rally, rather than the neo-Nazi rally.

I'm not hearing about anyone going to the diversity rally; they'd rather protest the NSM rally. And that's what everyone is gearing up for. The Lansing Coalition Against Nazis (LCAN) and the Anti-Racist Action Network (ARA) have been very busy getting volunteers together to protest the skinhead presence.

His comments in their entirety:

Thousands?

LOL

Thousands haven't turned out for a "diveristy celebration" in years.

About 100 angry kids will attend the "militant anti-Nazi" demonstration, and as many people as the City can afford to pay will attend the diversity rally. Then, the press will at least double their actual numbers and report that they "outnumbered" us.

LOL

Any other belief about what will happen shows a deep immersion in fantasy that is probably not in the best interest of your mental health.

I found it interesting that he thought that it would be angry kids attending the anti-Nazi demonstration. There will more than likely be at least that and many more. He's also forgetting about the MSU turnout as well as the church turnout.

And his comment that the city of Lansing would pay people to attend the counter-protest was REAL interesting. If he was keeping up on Lansing-area news, he would have known that the city is facing an $11 million shortfall in the current budget and can't afford to pay people to be there---except the police of course. The mayor has enough political enemies on the city council that something like that happening would raise a major screaming match and everyone would know about it. In advance.

So I find it laughable that they're already making up excuses for being outnumbered at their own rally (which hasn't even happened yet).

The last comment he made about fantasy was very amusing to me. He should practice what he preaches: after putting forth conspiracy theories about the city of Lansing paying people to go to the diversity rally, about the press inflating the numbers of people who were actually there, of only angry kids attending the anti-Nazi rally, and his worrying about my mental health (thank you), perhaps he should focus on his own mental health instead.

Blazing hatred of others causes more mental problems than fantasy does. I'll take fantasy over neo-Nazi propaganda and excuses EVERY time.

Big Trouble: Neo-Nazis May Crash City Diversity Celebration

A planned neo-Nazi rally in downtown Lansing and a planned diversity rally designed to counter the presence of the neo-Nazis in the state capitol may now be on a major collision course as the skinheads announced that they may attend the diversity rally so that the public can "help them celebrate their white heritage."

There goes the neighborhood.

No matter what excuse the neo-Nazis make for invading other parts of the city, all they are doing is looking for trouble. They've already got trouble in the form of thousands who are planning on turning out to protest against the National Socialist Movement rally.

Hopefully someone is telling the neo-Nazis that inciting to riot is not protected speech. They should hold their damned rally and then get out of dodge peaceably. And the people who are going to protest ought to let them leave without making a bad situation worse.

If things get out of hand, there's no telling where everything will end up.

Who Cares if Millions March in Support of Pro-Immigration? Millions WON'T!

One overlooked note of interest on the immigration protests happening in major cities across the nation: while hundreds of thousands or millions may march in protest to show support for illegal immigrants, millions WON'T show up because they don't support our borders being violated and the law being broken.

Just because large turnouts happen at these rallies doesn't mean that everyone feels the same way about it. The voices of dissent are being overlooked or ignored to further the cause of the pro-illegal crowd.

Those who are speaking up are being labeled bigots by the pro-illegal crowd. That isn't right or accurate either.

Everyone has to follow the rules. There are no exceptions; but some people would break with procedure to allow 12 million people who are here without permission and without documentation to stay here. How can they do this without knowing anything about the people that they're trying to make into citizens?

And what happens the next time around?

Kid of Courage Remembered

Today is the 16th anniversary of the death of AIDS activist and pioneer Ryan White.

He fought to make the world realize that AIDS was not restricted to one segment of the population; that it was a worldwide threat and that casual contact wouldn't pass the disease from person to person.

I had an opportunity to visit his grave seven years ago in Cisero, Indiana, and was struck by the beauty of the site, the incredible headstone and the words inscribed on it. It was a fitting monument to the titanic fight that Ryan put up to educate others as he fought to be allowed to go to school like everyone else.

We remember Ryan's courage and inspiration that he gave to others.

Senate Failure to Reach Agreement on Immigration Bill is Actually the Best Thing That Could Have Happened

The Senate's inability to reach agreement on the immigration bill is a perfect illustration of why they should table the entire issue until a new Congress is seated in January as I said in an earlier post.

It's all election year politics. When you mix an election year into the normal flow of business through Congress and the White House, it makes for potentially very bad laws that come out of the process; then we're stuck with them.

Way to go, Senate!!

Gore's Off the Point (Again): Global Warming Has Happened, Global Warming WILL Happen Again

It's pretty much been established that global warming has happened repeatedly in the past, and that it will happen again. Global warming is inevitable, and all we can do is move out of the way of the changes that are to come.

After all, if there wasn't global warming, Earth would still be in the last Ice Age from 18,000 years ago, wouldn't it?

Al Gore and the environmentalist left need to shift gears away from stopping global warming, and begin talking about what to do WHEN global warming really starts to hit. They just don't seem to be getting it: if we were to stop all atmospheric pollution today, it would probably delay the onset of global warming, but it wouldn't stop it. That's the science and the only fact that really matters.

We can do what the environmentalists and Al Gore are doing and waste time blaming man's excesses for causing (yeah, right) global warming, or we can deal with the real issues that lay in front of us.

Here's what the establishment needs to be considering and talking about: what we're going to do about the East, West and Gulf Coasts where cities will be underwater and the oceans will be further inland from where they are now. Or when the world starts to cool off following a period of global warming, where growing seasons will be shorter, the days cooler and the winters harsher.

How do we save New York, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle and countless lesser cities and towns/villages at the water's edge from the rising oceans? Do we build barriers around them to keep the water out? Do we abandon them and evacuate the people who live there? Do we move the cities inland? That's the kind of thinking that we need now.

Every ocean-side nation on the planet must adopt similar lines of thinking as well.

According to liberal think-tanks, the oceans will rise 20 feet by the year 2100. By that measure, that's plenty of time to create a plan and execute it. But will we?

Pope John Paul II Remembered: First Anniversary of His Death

Catholics and others around the world are remembering the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, on the first anniversary of his death.

Others can succeed him, but never replace him. His shoes are too big to fill.

Rarely has a single human being touched the lives of so many others. May the example he laid down during his life inspire others to stand up for what is right rather than what is popular. He showed us the way. May God grant us the strength to follow in his footsteps.

South Carolina Plan to Execute 2nd Time Child Molesters Goes Too Far: They Need to Strengthen First-Time Offender Sentences

Bear with me on this one.

I am of the opinion that South Carolina's move to enact legislation providing for a death penalty for 2nd time sex offenses against children is a move in the wrong direction.

There's a very good reason why.

We are all in agreement that child molesterers should be SEVERELY punished the first time around and that there should be no opportunity for convicted sex offenders to do it again.

But, when the legal system is dealing with something like a child's memory to provide crucial evidence against someone who has done a sickening thing to them, traumatized them, done stuff that permanently affects their relationships with others, and possibly turns them into future sex offenders themselves (as studies have shown), the likelihood of the child's recollection being in error may have a major effect on a death-penalty case.

This margin for error is unacceptable.

People convicted of sex crimes against children should never be allowed to walk free again. But the states keep releasing them back into the general population after serving a too-short sentence.

What will happen when a person is executed for a second-time offense, then the child later changes his/her story and it turns out that it was someone else who did the crime?

No, this is a bad idea. They need to strengthen FIRST-TIME offense sentencing and keep a second time from happening. That's a better solution than the idea currently under discussion in South Carolina.

Changing One Person on His Staff Isn't Enough: Bush Must Give Congress a Bloody Nose, Give the GOP a Kick in the Pants & Really Shake Up His Staff

Changing the White House Chief of Staff is one small step in the right direction for President Bush. But it isn't nearly enough for him to recapture any momentum that he had after defeating John Kerry.

President Bush needs to go after Congress now, especially since he's in the process of losing several major battles. There's a weapon in his arsenal that he has yet to use: veto, veto, veto. Bush has to veto everything in sight and make Congress negotiate with him over allowing "friendly" bills to even pass. Let them override him if they can.

Next, he has to heave the GOP through the nearest window to get their attention. Since half of the Republicans in Congress are behaving like liberal Democrats these days, he needs to identify those GOP members who are trying to distance themselves from him and campaign (without their approval) on their behalf in their home districts. If it sinks some of the campaigns, then so be it.

Then he needs to get rid of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Chernoff, Gonzales and Rice. They are responsible for about 75% of Bush's problems, mismanaging the war in Iraq, leading FEMA to it's lowest level of preparedness since it was started, threatening the Constitution with the concept of Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges ("In times of war, the law falls silent"), and mismanaging U.S. foreign policy.

A U.S. President must rely on the people around him, and this President's friends have let him down.

Sometimes a President's friends are not the best choice for the positions which have huge impacts on people. Secretary of State, SecDef, Justice, Homeland Security and VP are not just political appointments; they need the right people who will wield their power wisely and have experience in those fields. IF the President's friends have those qualifications, then fine, but if they don't, then they shouldn't hold those offices.

Bush needs to get it in gear before it is too late.

Renegade Cat Attacks Neighbors: A Practical Solution

A cat from hell is making quite a reputation for himself, clawing and biting a half dozen people in recent days in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Here's the solution: shoot the cat.


DUH!!!

Congress Needs to Table Immigration Discussion Until January

Congress needs to table the immigration debate until January.

It's apparent that Congress is making decisions based on what they think will win them the most votes in November and not according to their own values and principles and what's good for the country.

A new session of Congress is the only way out of this immigration mess that is getting worse by the day.

Half the Republicans in Washington sound like liberal Democrats. And they accuse President Bush of being a lame duck President? The lame ducks are in Congress. And President Bush is acting like a liberal himself, even though he isn't running for re-election.

This is disgusting.

We Don't Need New Anti-Illegal Alien Laws; We Need the Government to Enforce Laws Already on the Books

There's been a lot of hooplah in Washington and in major U.S. cities the last couple of weeks over pending legislation that is meant to deal with the illegal alien population that is in the country.

The U.S. doesn't need new laws to deal with the matter; it needs to enforce existing laws. It's a waste of time for Congress to revisit this issue, unless they are amending current laws. They should get with the President, budget the Border Patrol and the INS, and get on with it.

As a talking point, people also shouldn't be objecting to putting up a barricade that covers the entire border with Mexico either; only illegals and troublemakers avoid the established LEGAL border crossing checkpoints. So why shouldn't it be a felony from this day forward to cross the border without going through one of the border crossings? There are plenty to choose from.

Every nation on earth has a right to decline entry of people into it's territory; illegal border crossers deny our nation the right to say "no" or to find out WHO or WHAT is coming in. It's kind of like having a total stranger walk straight into your house without knocking and without giving the homeowner the right to deny entry. A person's house is his/her castle. Our country is the same way and these strangers are coming in without knocking (at best) or breaking in (at worst). Both are crimes.

As far as the illegals who are already here, the laws should be followed. Employers need to fill out the proper paperwork which establish American citizenship. Those arrested for minor crimes need to be turned over to the INS for processing. There are dozens of requirements that are not universally followed and they should be.

There's a ton of things that have to happen. The way things are going right now, they won't and we'll have a bigger mess than we have now.

Afghan Man's Converting to Christianity is NOT an Act of Mental Illness: One Insult After Another Highlights Problems With a 12th Century Society

A Christian man facing the death penalty in Afghanistan for converting to Christianity from Islam will be evaluated for mental illness and will be "treated" instead of being executed by his government.

How long he remains in "treatment" or what it will consist of is unknown, but it is believed that Muslim clerics will have him killed on the streets if he simply walks out of jail. They have already threatened to incite their followers to do precisely that.

Western governments have been consulting with the Afghan government over this situation, but President Karzai and his people have done little, preferring to call call the man "crazy" or "insane" or "mentally ill." It's 12th Century thinking cloaked as 21st Century psychology. And since Afghanistan is under Islamic law, it won't change either.

In actuality, this Afghan Christian is probably saner than the clerics and religious authorities over there are.

His kids should be returned to him and he should be allowed to leave Afghanistan unharmed.

First It Was Lack of Body Armor, Now It's the Weight of It: Soldiers Stow Armor Because It Slows Them Down

Back to the drawing board.

After the outcry over the lack of protective body armor for front-line combat forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, military planners and suppliers began shipping body armor to the war zones in large quantities after ramping up production.

Unfortunately, some of the troops are refusing to wear it as it's heavy, cumbersome and not helpful when soliders have to run, crawl through small openings, or when they have to jump over or climb stuff. Further, commanding officers in the field have made wearing the armor optional.

The challenge now will be for manufacturers to come up with armor plating that is as-strong or stronger than the current body armor, but thinner, lighter and less bulky as well.

It's good that the military is finally taking steps to deal with this situation and that those troops who want it have it.

This is an opportunity to take body armor technology to the next level; the brass should again respond to the needs of those serving on the front lines.

Matt's Safe Schools Law is Long Overdue; This Bill Deserves Unanimous Support from Legislature and Governor

Michigan House Bill 5616 and Senate Bill 1156 are two of several anti-bullying laws that are being considered by the Michigan legislature.

It's about time that this issue was tackled head-on and dealt with.

One of the most frustrating things I've seen as a past substitute teacher is seeing kids bullied by others and being told that "boys will be boys" by administrators in certain school districts when I reported the incidents. In those schools the only way administrators would get involved was if there was an altercation.

Other schools did an admirable job when I reported bullying. The problems were dealt with swiftly and decisively; reports were taken, kids were interviewed, parents were called and disciplinary action taken.

All schools should handle bullies as well as the schools I spoke of in the previous paragraph did. "Boys will be boys" is a lame-brain excuse for someone to duck the responsibility that they have to intervene when a kid is being bullied.

Fourteen-year old Matt Epling was harassed and harassed until he was driven to desperation and then to suicide because too few tood up for him as upperclassmen at his mid-Michigan school smeared raw eggs and syrup on him and laughed. People watching laughed too and thought nothing of it until they heard that Matt had killed himself due to many incidents like this one. I can't imagine the hell that his family has gone through.

The impending Michigan legislation is named for Matt (Matt's Safe Schools Law).

No kid should ever be bullied. No kid should ever feel the need to take revenge on fellow students in the form of a Columbine-like attack or be driven to commit suicide because of a preventable thing like bullying.

This is a major problem that is finally being given the attention that it is due. This should have been done soon after the disaster at Columbine High School and not six years on. That's too long.

After the bills are consolidated, this law will require school districts to train staff and students and provide age-appropriate punishments for bullies. These policies will be up to each school district; most of the individual schools I've substituted at are up to the task, but there are a couple where a change in leadership will be needed before there is progress. The problem IS that bad.

Some in the Michigan legislature think the local schools can handle the problem all by themselves and don't need the state to get involved. They're dead wrong. Their ignorance is regrettable.

This requirement will save lives. How can they be opposed to that?

Criminal Lafave Complains About Being Ostracized for Molesting Her 14-Year Old Student

Debra Lefave, the former teacher who caused a huge scandal for her molestation of one of her students, went on Fox News and complained about people not being very nice to her after the inept district attorney in Ocala, Florida, dropped all charges on her because her victim didn't want to testify.

That's too friggin' bad. She should have thought about the consequences of her actions before she engaged in criminal behavior with a minor. She should be in jail for what she did, and I have no sympathy for what she's going through.

She ought to quit her crying about her situation and stay OFF the news if she doesn't want her face IN the news. She's NO victim.

Election-Year Politics Displayed By Congress During Ports Brewhaha Needs to Be Considered

There's some unsettled issues on the recently scuttled Dubai Worldports deal that need to be examined a little closer.

The United Arab Emerates is considered to be a friendly Arab nation. They were a voice of moderation in oil production and often responded positively to U.S. requests to not follow OPEC's decisions to cut production.

For their opening their port up to American warships, providing fuel and portside services, and being a good friend to the U.S. military, Congress effectively told them to "go to hell" because two of the ninteen 9/11 hijackers were from the UAE.

If we were to follow the same line of thinking that Congress did in deciding to kill the deal, then the following nations would be unacceptable as well because their citizens have participated in terrorist acts against us: Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Spain, Sweden, France, Denmark, Australia, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Bangladesh, Iraq, Afghanistan, Algeria, Kenya, Qatar, Yemen, Mauritania, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Egypt. Let's not forget the United States itself either.

Many of those other nations (including our allies in Europe) have more than two al-Qaeda or Taliban recruits as well. We do too.

The election year politics involved in this controversy makes me wonder exactly how many members of Congress know what the difference between a "terminal" and a "port" is (see my earlier post in this very subject). Clearly many of them didn't know the difference, didn't bother to look them up, or didn't care.

There's a world of difference between the two words; and Congress kept referring to the "ports" being under the control of the UAE company, when it was actually the "terminals" that were clearly mentioned in the deal.

When Republicans and Democrats jump onto the same bandwagon (based on a distortion) in an election year, it does nothing for their credibility, which is already stretched beyond belief.

During the upcoming debates between the various candidates, they and their opponents should be asked (in a surprise question) to define a "port" and a "terminal" and the incumbent should be asked first. Some will definitely have egg in their faces when they stand there with a blank expression on their faces.

I would laugh my head off.

Afghan Man Faces Death for Converting to Christianity: Despite Advances, Afghanistan is Still a 12th Century Nation

A man living in Kabul is on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity and faces the death penalty if he is convicted.

Because Afghanistan is under Islamic law, it is considered to be a capital crime to reject Islam. The presiding judge called the man's "crime" an "attack on Islam," but he's gravely mistaken.

It is not an attack on Islam; it is an attack on Christianity. Here's why:

If they execute this man, it is not a matter of Muslims killing a Muslim; it is a matter of Muslims killing a Christian. It's against a man who did nothing but find a faith that sustained him more than the religion that he was born into.

Afghanistan's deputy Human Rights Commissioner is no help either, saying if the man was acquitted, it would be a victory for the Taliban. What a bunch of hooey!

The Taliban's version of Islam would support the execution of this Afghan Christian simply because he was a Christian; where does the Commissioner get off saying that the Taliban would gain a victory out of this? I don't see which version of Islam is any better if the defendant, Abdul Rahman, is executed for accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

It's apparent that radical Islamics are once again running Afghanistan. They're no better than the Taliban if this travesty goes any further.

Having a Pre-Emptive Strike Option Available is a Good National Security Policy: Problem Arises When Deciding if Pre-Emption is Necessary

The President's decision to keep a pre-emptive strike option as part of America's foreign and national security policies has raised the hackles of the left and of the anti-war movement, but only a total fool would take it off the table as some have demanded.

The policy itself isn't the issue; it's deciding under what conditions the policy of pre-emptive strikes or war would be justified.

Situation 1: If North Korea launched a conventional missile attack on Japan and North Korean generals were heard arguing on the radio whether or not to launch their nuclear missiles against Tokyo and at U.S. military bases in Japan and South Korea, would the policy be justified?

Situation 2: If China used nuclear weapons on Taiwanese military bases as it invaded the island, and attacked U.S. Navy ships on the high seas, would the policy be justified if U.S. spy satellites spotted the Chinese fueling and preparing their ICBMs for launch?

Situation 3: If Iran was be seven years away from developing a nuclear bomb, would the policy be justified today?

Situation 4: If another 9/11-style attack occurred, and 300,000 Americans die in the attack, should we attack Syria and Iran and North Korea because they might try to take advantage of the situation?

Going to war over possible threats vs. actual threats are at the heart of the matter. Where is the line drawn?

Situation #1 & 2 would have been provocation enough to turn parts of both North Korea and China into parking lots immediately. The Iranian nuclear program is still a ways off, so immediate military action without significant Iranian provocation would not be justified.

We enter an area which contains lots of gray areas with the "act of terrorism" situation outlined above. In that case, the Axis would have to make threatening moves first; the policy of pre-emption would not be justified unless they threatened U.S. interests following a massive terrorist attack and/or there was solid proof that they were involved in the terrorist action. If they were shown to be involved, it would be an act of war, which puts it into a different category completely. Article 51 of the U.N. Charter would apply there.

This policy must be used in the future with overwhelming evidence to back it up that establishes that the U.S. is in actual mortal peril and facing imminent attack.

If this policy is kept in future Administrations, the U.S. President will have a very unenviable task in deciding these issues, should they arise. May he/she choose wisely.

What's Worse? A Government that Withholds Information to Protect Security, or a News Media That Manipulates News For It's Own Secretive Purposes?

This is the stark choice that Americans seem to be facing these days.

We have an Administrative that is very secretive about just about everything, which leads many to complain that there should be more transparency in government.

We have a news media that distorts major news stories so that they fit the media's unknown agenda, and has the ability to repeat incorrect information over and over until it is believed to be general knowledge.

Which is more dangerous to the truth?

ABC News recently covered a story about a treasure trove of documents that were released by our government that were seized from Saddam Hussein's government, which show strong evidence of Saddam's intelligence network working together with bin-Laden and other hot topics. Nine documents were released; after the news network wrote up the gist of the documents, they added an editor's note to each one, discounting the documents. The reason: questionable sources.

It's pretty bad when several major news networks no longer follow their own rules on getting at least three sources to corroborate their OWN stories, but are quick to discount official U.S. and Iraqi government sources on evidence that disagrees with the media's viewpoints on controversial topics, such as WMDs in Iraq.

The government can release accurate information to a huge audience ONLY with the cooperation of the major news media. The ABC news story only confirms that the media doesn't feel beholden to the U.S. public to report the news as it is and let people decide themselves. They would rather write the news for their own political purposes.

And they accuse Fox News and the alternative media of manipulating the news? WHAT A JOKE!!

U.N. Security Council Must Share Burden of Responsibility for Iraq War: Their Resolutions Lead to War As Much as Faulty U.S. Intel Did

Some on the United Nations Security Council are pretty smug these days, telling the media and the U.S. "see, we told you so" as it relates to Iraq.

If memory serves, it was not the U.S. government who ordered Iraq to allow U.N. inspectors in to inspect Iraq's nuclear programs in the form of seventeen resolutions, it was the U.N. Security Council and the Secretary General who did.

It was those resolutions that declared that Iraq would suffer the consequences if it didn't allow the inspections to occur. "Unfettered access" were the popular buzzwords being thrown around the Security Council.

Further, members of the U.N. said during the lead-up to war that under the U.N. charter, only the U.N. could authorize war between two member nations; otherwise any war would be considered illegal. This lead President Bush to declare that he wouldn't wait for a permission slip from the U.N. to defend America.

So, before the Security Council gets too carried away again and starts passing resolutions on Iran's nuclear program, the Council needs to recognize that their resolutions on Iraq did great harm and helped to lead to the current state of affairs between the U.N., the U.S. and it's coalition partners, and Iraq. With Iran on the Security Council's agenda, they need to be reminded that their resolutions helped pave the way for war, and that they should proceed with great care.

Those members of the Security Council who are smug about what's happening in Iraq should also be ashamed of themselves. If they vote for such language in a resolution, then they should be prepared to contribute troops to the mess that follows.

"Brokeback Mountain" Author Slams Oscar Award Loss; Angry Rant in British Newspaper: So What?

The author of "Brokeback Mountain" slammed the Academy Awards for choosing "Crash" over the movie version of her book, saying that voters were "out of touch not only with the shifting larger culture and the yeasty ferment that is America these days but also out of touch with their own segregated city."

Which city? Which culture is she referring to? The one she doesn't even live in? Ms. Wyoming herself?

Her rant was published in the British Guardian newspaper. She went after Hollywood, the Academy Awards, Lionsgate Films (the company that released "Crash", which she labeled "Trash"), and everyone who thought that "Crash" was a superior movie. She also insulted the audience inside of Kodak Theater, LA itself, and everyone she could think of.

Here's what her 1,000+ word rant was trying to say: WAAAAAAAAH!!

She forgot to mention that the Academy Awards wasn't voting on her short story. They voted on the MOVIE, which she had nothing to do with. Here's how the author (Annie Proulx) responded to an Associated Press telephone interview on the movie:

AP: How did you feel about seeing it on the big screen?

Proulx: It was really quite a shock because I had had nothing to do with the film. So for 18 months, I had no idea what was happening. I had no idea if it was going to be good or frightful or scary, if it was going to be terribly lost or sentimentalized or what. When I saw it in September, I was astonished. The thing that happened while I was writing the story eight years ago is that from thinking so much about the characters and putting so much time into them, they became embedded in my consciousness. They became as real to me as real, walk-around, breathe-oxygen people. It took a long time to get these characters out of my head so I could get on with work. Then when I saw the film, they came rushing back. It was extraordinary—just wham—they were with me again.

So she ought to quit her crying. It was her story, but definitely not her movie.

I didn't see either film, but I'm enjoying watching Hollywood and the media squirm over the repercussions of the Academy DARING to vote for "Crash."

Security Council Deadlocks on Iran: So What Else is New?

Are we really surprised that the U.N. Security Council deadlocked on what to do about Iran?

Of course not.

Russia and China are trying to get Iran off the agenda and back into the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) fold. The U.S., Great Britain and France are trying to get the council to take action.

It is my opinion that council action is not going to happen because Russia and China both want a nuclear-armed Iran to confront the U.S. and keep it occupied while they go after their own military goals.

Russia wants a weaker U.S. so it backs off of future Russian aggression against the Ukraine, Georgia and Chechnya, and China wants to go after Taiwan with a full-scale invasion.

Both probably wouldn't mind seeing the U.S. mixing it up with North Korea either; it would work to their advantage as well, in spite of what both are saying about North Korea's nuclear program.

So the U.S. should conclude it's business in Iraq soon and not get into shooting wars with Iran or with anyone else until our military is replenished and retooled.

Threats of U.S. military force are heeded only if the nation being threatened believes that the U.S. has the strength to back up it's threats with overwhelming force. And the general view is that we do not have enough front-line forces in reserve to deal with other international emergencies should they arise.

We have to define what victory is in Iraq and move toward it; when the stated goal is achieved, we withdraw from Iraq.

Politicians have to learn that military strength is a valuable commodity and not a personal plaything to be discarded when it's mission is either accomplished or cancelled.

Milosevic Dies in the Hague: Embarassing Performance for the International Tribune

Ex-Yugoslavian dictator Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in his prison cell at the Hague this morning.

The inept ICC was no match for the former ruler of Yugoslavia as he turned his war crimes trial into a farce, and now they've lost their best chance to establish a bonafide record against an established war criminal and murderer.

They wasted years on this trial and have nothing to show for it but egg in their faces. 200,000 lie dead because of this man and he slipped through their fingers because they were not in charge of their own courtroom. Why? They successfully produced verdicts against fifty-six others accused of lesser war crimes during the Balkans wars.

They need to do some serious revisions to their court procedures to prevent something like this from happening again.

Even the trials at Neuremburg of Nazi war criminals didn't last as long as Milosevic's did, and there was no end in sight at the time of his death.

A historic opportunity has been lost.

No Doubt About It: Roe v. Wade Must Go, But What Happens Then?

South Dakota fired a massive broadside at the foundation of abortion rights (namely, the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision) in the form of a ban on most abortions. Mississippi and Tennessee appeared poised to follow suit. Good for them.

It should be noted that should South Dakota achieve victory and Roe is overturned by the Supreme Court, abortion will not end.

Rather, it would go back to the state level and each state would decide what it's laws on abortion would be, which is the way it should be. The federal government should stay out of this. If a state wishes to ban abortion, that's it's business.

Now, some are questioning whether the Religious Right would maintain it's strength and cohesion should their primary goal be achieved: the overturn of Roe v. Wade, or if it's strength as a national force would disappear as it focused on individual state campaigns to ban abortion.

They shouldn't be.

While it's very likely that the anti-abortion crowd will focus on banning abortions in as many states as possible, the Religious Right as a national movement isn't going anywhere.

The last time I checked, stem cell research, displaying the Ten Commandments and Nativity scenes on public property, preserving "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegience and "In God We Trust" on our currency, intelligent design, prayer in schools and creationism vs. evolution are a very long way away from being decided. Plus there's a war on.

Just because abortion would disappear from the national stage should Roe be overturned, that is no reason to believe that the Religious Right would go away, as some commentators have said they think would happen.

There will be lengthy court battles in many states which will end up in state Supreme Courts. Then there will be appeals in federal courts. Two questions: will the Supreme Court accept another abortion case based on those lawsuits, and what role will activist judges play in legislating from the bench? The courts will be tied up for years deciding all of these issues.

Roe's days are numbered, God be Praised, but the fight will really intensify when it does finally fall. The end of Roe will be the beginning of a messy new fight. Red and blue state maps will not apply as some states will quickly go one direction on legislating abortion, others will go the opposite direction, while others will duke it out in their state legislatures, in the offices of the various governors, in the courts, and out in the streets.

It'll be a huge mess.

Neo-Nazis Unwanted in Lansing: Take Your Signs and Stick 'Em Where the Sun Don't Shine

The neo-Nazis are in town, setting up signs which are publicizing their rally that will take place on the steps of the state capitol.

The collective IQ of the area is rapidly diminishing with the arrival of the skinheads.

They should crawl back under the rock that they came from and take their hate with them.

We don't need the domestic disturbances that will accompany their hate rally; Lansing and other surrounding communities have enough to deal with without the skinheads and anti-skinhead protestors trying to tear one another apart.

Breach vs. Overrun: Terminology Errors Didn't Help Clarify Situation in New Orleans

There has been (and continues to be) a great deal of confusion over who knew what and when as New Orleans was flooding.

Here's the latest picture:

The government says it was worried about the ocean overrunning the levee system surrounding New Orleans. They did not anticipate a breach, or outright break, in the walls.

According to dictionary.com, here are a couple of definitions:





breach: An opening, a tear, or a rupture. A gap or rift, especially in or as if in a solid structure such as a dike or fortification.









overrun: To overflow.







The results would be radically different: with an overrun, water would have come over the walls then stopped after the storm surge receded, while with the breach, the water would keep coming in until a levee was fixed or, in New Orleans' case, if Lake Pontchartrain emptied to a point just below the level of the breach. They fixed the levees before the lake emptied, but the damage had already been done.

So when President Bush said "No one could have anticipated that the levees would breach," he was being honest. They were worried about an overrun of the levees.

It doesn't excuse what happened, but it does clarify some points.

"Crash" Beats Out "Brokeback Mountain" At the Academy Awards: Why Were the "Experts" Shocked?

Many people were surprised that "Crash" beat out "Brokeback Mountain" for Best Motion Picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

I wasn't.

Racism issues resonate with a more of the general population than gay issues do, and the Acadamy voters are a reflection of the general population.

That's simply the way it is.

Uniform Chain of Command Recommendation from 9/11 Report and Katrina Report NOT Implemented by Feds Yet

The 9/11 Commission report and the Hurricane Katrina Federal Response report both have one recommendation in common that should have been dealt with LONG before now: a unified chain of command for all agencies responding to a disaster.

It was originally recommended by the 9/11 report. Confusion reigned during and after the terror attacks happened; emergency response teams were on different radio frequencies, rescues efforts were duplicated while others who actually needed help didn't get it until it was too late, no one knew who was in charge, and the situation worsened after the World Trade Center towers collapsed into the streets below.

After the commission issued it's report, it was assumed that the government was addressing this issue and had fixed the problem.

Ninteen months later, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, leaving an area the size of Great Britain in ruins. And the same problems surfaced during and after the storm roared ashore.

And the official report from the White House recommended a unified chain of command.

Question: what the hell have the people in charge been doing for the last ninteen months? And what are they doing right now to fix the problem?

They need to quit screwing around, cut any red tape that it's in the way, fire some people and put people in who will carry out the reforms. And then all departments need to follow the plan.

Enough, already!

Gone Too Soon: Christopher Reeve's Widow Dies of Lung Cancer

Dana Reeve, the widow of the late Christopher Reeve, died Monday of lung cancer at the age of 44.

She won worldwide respect for her strength in caring for her actor-activist husband after his spinal cord injury eleven years ago. He died in 2004 and she had carried on his crusade to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.

She leaves behind a teenaged son and two stepchildren.

May she rest in peace.

What Are We Not Being Told About Dubai Port Deal?

It's fair to say that everyone's gotten a large amount of political BS from Congress and the White House with regards to the Dubai Ports World acquisition of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company in the last few days.

The political toilet surrounding this deal overflowed into the Oval Office and into the media as Democrats and Republicans attacked the White House position of supporting the purchase and transfer between two private firms.

Now, the question is this: what is REALLY going on?

Are we talking about TERMINALS, which is defined as "a facility where cargo containers are loaded or unloaded from ships to land vehicles, for further transport" or a PORT which is defined as "a natural or artificial harbor and its terminal facilities for the transfer of goods and passengers to or from waterborne means of transport?"

My understanding is that this deal is for the loading and unloading of cargo onto or off of ships at the terminals of six American seaports. The ports themselves remain under U.S. government/law enforcement control, while the terminals are administered by the Dubai company, which is controlled by the UAE government. The port security is handled by American security, while the security IN and AROUND the terminal itself are handled by Dubai Ports World.

The government must do a MUCH better job in explaining who would be in charge of what.

In addition, if only 5% of incoming containers are inspected by port authorities before they are handed off to the terminals for transport to their final destinations, then whose responsibility is it to get it up to 100%? The SAME government that is bellyaching about this terminal deal.

The government needs to quit screwing with itself and fix the problem NOW. They can start by passing legislation which prohibits foreign companies from controlling terminals that ship cargo across state lines. They can do that, you know. Then they should appropriate money in the budget to bring the inspection process up to scratch and keep it that way.

National security is not a political hot potato and it's quite disappointing to see the politicians wasting time arguing about this. They are behind schedule on meeting their obligations as it is. And if they don't do their jobs, let's FIRE 'EM ALL in November!

School Wrong to Suspend Students for Viewing Web Site on Their Own Time

Here's another strange one.

A school out in California suspended twenty middle school students for viewing a web site that contained "graphic threats" from one student at the school to another.

The student making the threat is under threat of expulsion for doing it. The incident happened on the popular MySpace.com site that many students use to post stuff on. The police are also trying to use anti-hate laws against the student as it contained several slurs. These investigations are entirely appropriate.

Here's the problem: the other students did not view the web site at school, nor during school hours. They viewed it from their own homes on their own time with their own family or personal computer.

Does the school have a right to do what it has done to the students? There was no criminal wrongdoing on the part of those students who simply viewed the post and then moved on to other sites on their own time, on their own computers outside of school.

It seems to me that the school already has their suspect in hand; the others shouldn't be punished, unless they made similar kinds of threats on the web too. Student safety is a valid school concern, but the information being presented suggests that there was no further threat to student safety once the original transgressor was caught.

This will probably end up in court.

Sticker on Bike Causes Terror Alarm: DUH

Four Ohio University buildings were evacuated when a bicycle was mistaken for a bomb.

The problem began when the bike was parked on the campus; it happened to have a sticker on it that said "this bike is a pipe bomb." People panicked, the buildings were emptied and the bomb squad was called in from 65 miles away before the administration at Ohio State realized it was the name of a band from Florida.

Come on, people.

THE SKY IS FALLING!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!

Some Common Sense IS Out There: States Moving to Limit Eminent Domain

Following the horrific Supreme Court decision which greatly increased the power of governments to seize private homes in favor of development and higher tax revenues, many states are limiting the scope of eminent domain seizures.

No government has the right to take away a person's home in favor of ripping it down and putting a shopping center or other development without the consent of the person that they are trying to remove.

The negotiations should be between the landowners and the developers; government shouldn't be involved. They should be protecting the rights of homeowners who decide to say 'no' to any offer that a developer gives them and punish developers who harass those landowners who decline the developer's offer.

The only way that the government should be involved is if it seizes a property for non-payment of property taxes.

It is unbelievable that the Supreme Court ruled to open Pandora's Box the way it did. And it's a relief that the states are applying a generous amount of common sense (that the Supreme Court was missing in their decision) to deal with the injustice being dealt to landowners.

Patriot Act Misapplied Again: Man Charged With Shining Laser into Jet Cockpit

Here they go again with misapplying the Patriot Act.

A court in New Jersey applied the Patriot Act against a man who was charged with firing a laser into a jet cockpit and a police helicopter and sentenced him to two months probation.

TWO MONTHS PROBATION??!

Existing statutes should have been applied; he would have gotten significant jail time AND probation. Instead this man is getting two months probation for endangering a commercial jetliner on landing approach and a police helicopter some time later.

They need to either upgrade the Patriot Act sentencing guidelines or stop applying it and let more stringent federal laws punish the transgressor.

Bird Flu Could Enter U.S. Through New Mexico or Louisiana: States Allow Cockfighting and Transportation of Fighting Birds

The U.S. has gaping holes in its efforts to keep avian bird flu out of the country.

It stems from the fact that New Mexico and Louisiana allow cockfighting (rooster fights) and the fact that the Animal Welfare Act allows for combat roosters to be transported over state and national lines to those states where the bloodsport is legal.

The concern comes from overseas, as some people have gotten bird flu from their contaminated combat roosters, mainly in Thailand.

The current conventional wisdom is that each time the bird flu jumps from an animal to a human, it increases the possibility of the bird flu mutating into a monster epidemic/pandemic that goes airborne, easily infects humans, and is resistant to antibiotics. This must not be allowed to happen.

The U.S. government should ban the import and/or transport of combat roosters to any U.S. territory, whether cockfighting is legal in the states or not.

Efforts to amend the Animal Welfare Act have failed thus far; cosponsors in the House and Senate tried to attach an amendment to a Department of Defense Bill, which they shouldn't have done. It should have been a stand-alone bill: the Senate unanimously passed the amendment, and the House amendment had two hundred cosponsors. But the amendment was killed in committee.

Hopefully the state governments of Louisiana and New Mexico do the right thing and ban both the import of foreign birds and criminalize cockfighting, since it has been shown to be an avenue for avian bird flu to contaminate humans.

But the U.S. government should get with the program and pass the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act regardless of what Louisiana and New Mexico choose to do.

Press Criticizes Decision to Delay News of Cheney Hunting Accident: So?

The press is complaining about not being notified that the Vice President was involved in a hunting accident immediately after it happened.

Too bad.

Perhaps they could point to the part of the Constitution or the law that requires the White House to inform the press IMMEDIATELY that the Vice President was involved in a hunting accident?

Maybe they would have dropped their cameras and rushed to the scene to render first aid? NOT!!

The press didn't NEED to be informed ASAP. They would have swarmed the scene and interfered with a rescue situation to get the story out.

Granted, this is a very interesting story; but the press can go jump in a lake with their demands. They're not next of kin.

Thousands of Displaced Katrina Victims Facing Eviction: This Isn't Right

Monday will be a national disgrace.

It's when thousands of Katrina families will be turned out into the streets to fend for themselves, in spite of the fact that the government hasn't done what it promised to help them. Many are still waiting for FEMA trailers that are currently sitting unoccupied at an airport in rural Arkansas.

What the hell are we paying taxes for?

Our government would rather spend money to rebuild Iraq (that will never be a true democracy), but not on fellow Americans who got ran out of their own homes because the government-built levees surrounding New Orleans failed. This isn't right.

Until the government fulfills it's pledge to rebuild the Gulf Coast, it shouldn't be putting ANYONE onto the streets just yet. They have a LONG ways to go before this should be even considered.

Yahoo Should Be Punished for Helping Chinese Government Jail Chinese Pro-Democracy Writers

Yahoo screwed up. Again.

The Internet company aided Chinese authorities in their persecution of Chinese dissidents by providing evidence that led to Chinese dissident Li Zhi being sent to prison for eight years for writing in favor of democracy and trying to join a pro-democracy group.

This is the second time that Yahoo has helped the Chinese communists put pro-democracy writers into jail. The first dissident was sentenced to ten years in prison for writing about what kind of effect that communist rule was having on average Chinese citizens and about protest movements that the Chinese government put down with extreme levels of violence. Yahoo helped lock him up too.

Yahoo needs to STOP assisting the Chinese communists in their oppression of people with different views than the official Chinese Communist Party line.

Yahoo is guilty of conspiring with the Chinese government and should be punished! And so should any Internet company that puts pro-democracy supporters under threat from their oppressive governments by giving assistance in convicting them of POLITICAL crimes.

If China becomes a democracy one day, hopefully the Chinese people will remember which companies were willing to sacrifice their freedom for the sake of profit.

Yahoo should be ashamed of what they have done for their bottom line.

Iranian Newspaper Plans on Holding Holocaust Cartoon Contest

Iran's Hamshahri newspaper announced an international contest for Holocaust cartoons to see if the same papers who printed the Mohammed cartoons would also print the Holocaust ones.

One clear result will come out of this for the entire world to see:

Jewish reaction to it will be much more mature than militant Islamic reactions to the prophet cartoons has been. Don't expect to see Jewish demonstrators burning down Iranian embassies, burning Muslim flags or parading children through the streets chanting anti-Iranian or anti-Muslim slogans as the militant Muslims have done in recent days. Nor will they attack the embassies of Western nations who do run the cartoons.

The international reaction will probably be very muted in contrast to the juvenile-like violence taking place in the Islamic world.

It should be noted that the hostage-taking Iranian President's friends control this newspaper, and that this also is not about freedom of speech, but keeping the hatred of Israel and Jews alive in the Muslim world.

Since Iran and most of the Muslim world have no free speech or free press, they have little credibility in making critical observations about the free press in other nations and have no right to ask Western media outlets to spread their anti-Jewish venom to make a point.

Freedom of speech is no more a weapon for Islamic nations to use against their enemies than it is for a Western newspaper to use as a shield to hide behind instead of admitting to a major screw-up.

So if this Iranian terrorist paper wants to publish their hatred and demand that Western newspapers republish them, they should probably print them into toilet paper form so that they'll have a practical use afterwards.

These Holocaust cartoons will probably be much worse than the prophet cartoons as the Holocaust cartoons will be based on revenge-style hatred and will be propaganda, not free speech.

Ricky Holland's Parents Charged with Murdering Him

The developing Ricky Holland story out of Williamston took another turn today when the prosecutor charged both parents with murdering Ricky. If convicted, they face life in prison.

Tests to determine how the boy died are continuing.

These people (the boy's foster-parents) have some nerve, watching as hundreds of volunteers from around the region turned out to search for the boy after the foster-parents reported him missing on July 2nd of last year and KNOWING full well that the boy was already dead.

Innocent until proven guilty, I know, but they told the cops precisely where to find the body and swore that the other had killed him. That's incriminating enough as it is. If there was an accident, why didn't they call the police straightaway, instead of inventing a bunch of HOOEY about what happened to this child?

Here's the LSJ collection of stories on this case.

European and American Use of "Freedom of Speech" in Real-World Situations are Clearly Not the Same

The ongoing cartoon row between the Islamic world and the West has illustrated major differences in how freedom of speech is applied in real-world situations.

One European newspaper after another ran the Mohammed cartoons simply because they could. After it blew up in their faces, they took the HOW DARE ANYONE ATTACK OUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH!! defense. This militant approach isn't helping Europe's cause.

In contrast, American newspapers didn't run the cartoons simply because they could; a few outlets did run them, but, according to some of these newspapers, they ran them deep inside their papers with various explanations of why they did so, and to let readers decide for themselves if the cartoons were offensive or not.

For the most part, most American papers and broadcast outlets refused to air the photos as they subscribe to the notion that fighting words (or pictures) are not protected speech. Yelling FIRE in a packed room which leads to a stampede is not protected speech either. These cartoons have the same effect as fighting words. They shouldn't have, but they did.

The failure that happened was when the Western newspapers ignored what was already happening in the Islamic world and ran the cartoons. They did so regardless of the serious consequences that were playing out on the news right in front of their faces. If one is trying to extinguish a fire, does one throw gasoline on the fire to put it out? DUH!!!

This is not about a threat to freedom of speech. This is about newspapers realizing that they've made a catastrophic mistake but choosing to hide behind the freedom of speech instead of admitting their mistake and getting it right.

This also shows that in spite of what happened to it on 9/11, America is a more tolerant society than the Europeans give it credit for. The fact that most American news sources refused to show the photos out of respect for the various Islamic faiths is proof of it for one thing; American news media is also more open to admitting when they make a mistake.

Remember Memogate on CBS's 60 Minutes program during the 2004 U.S. Presidential election campaign? Remember the outrage following incorrect reports that the Quran was flushed down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay? Both news agencies involved apologized there.

Europe needs to get their act together and get this right.

Using freedom of speech as an excuse to cover up deeply irresponsibile behavior should not be tolerated by any free society; especially if people are dying because of what the newspapers did. This is a sickening situation.

Conflict Over Anti-Islamic Cartoons: Newspapers Are Fueling the Fire

A major culture clash is taking place between Europe and the Islamic world.

It stems from European newspapers depicting caricatures of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, which are viewed as highly insulting to the Muslim world. A newspaper in Denmark ran the cartoons first, and other European newspapers in Germany, France and Norway ran them as well.

A rage far worse than what was seen during the Abu Gharib prison photo scandal has enveloped much of the Muslim world; militants are threatening to kill Westerners in reprisal in Palestine and other countries.

The outrage stems from Islamic law that strictly prohibits Mohammed from being portrayed visually.

The original idea was to see if cartoonists drawing the original cartoons would change their work in the face of "offending Muslim sensibilities" or if they would go all-out and do what they wanted. Most went all-out; the cartoons were printed and protests around the world began.

Then more newspapers printed the cartoons.

Consider: after the severe political backlash against Denmark, why did other newpapers in other nations run the cartoons as well, knowing that it would enrage the Muslim world even more and reinforce a Muslim-held belief that Europe was Islam-hostile? And that it would give Muslim extremists another excuse to kill Westerners?

The real problem is that the cartoons don't just insult Islamic extremists; it offends every Muslim, including moderate and neutral Muslims. The ban on Mohammed drawings and pictures is observed by the Shiite and Sunni sects of Islam.

I am sensitive to free-speech issues, but when free speech causes innocent people to die, then there's a problem, and the less said the better. For that reason, I will not post the photos here and contribute to an innocent person or persons being beheaded by sword-waving extremist idiots.

This should never have made it into print in the first place. The more the photos are reproduced, the worse this will get, and the deeper the divisions between Islam and the West will become.