It seems House conservatives have finally grown a spine, blasting the President for his illegal alien backdoor amnesty program, and the Senate for their lax stance on immigration legislation.

All I can say is, Tancredo for President!

"I say let the prisoners pick the fruits," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, one of more than a dozen Republicans who took turns condemning a Senate bill that offers an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants an opportunity for citizenship.

"Anybody that votes for an amnesty bill deserves to be branded with a scarlet letter 'A,'" said Rep. Steve King of Iowa, referring to a guest worker provision in the Senate measure.

My personal favorite for the Republican '08 nomination, Tom Tancredo, broke ranks and criticized Pres. Bush.

"I don't think he's concerned about alienating voters, he's not running for re-election," said Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado. He said Republicans could lose the House and Senate over the immigration issue, and he said of the president: "I wish he'd think about the party and of course I also wish he'd think about the country."

He's right. And Hayworth put it succinctly:"Many of those who have stood for the Republican Party for the last decade are not only angry. They will be absent in November," he said.

Rohrabacher said Americans should be able to "smell the foul odor that's coming out of the U.S. Senate."

Asked a few moments later whether the same odor was emanating from the president, he said, "I have no comment."

Can anyone really blame the American people for their anger? The illegal immigrants who break the law to get here do not assimilate; they refuse to speak English, they don't pay taxes, and they cost an estimated $65 billion dollars to the US each year in social programs, medical care and warehousing them in prisons. I say that for the cost of illegal aliens to this country for just one year, we could afford to protect our boarders, both north and south!

Illegals are crossing our southern boarder at an unprecedented rate. Each minute, four people hop the boarder. That's 225 every hour, 2,700 every day and 1.3 million a year.

Adding insult to injury are the recent comments by Mexican President Vicente Fox, who threatens us every time we so much as think about boarder security.

"I dare say that in 10 years, the U.S. will be begging, will be pleading with Mexico to send it workers," said Fox, who meets with President Bush in Cancun today to discuss what he calls the "migration" problem.

In his March 3 remarks to the BBC, Fox warned that the United States had better take advantage of the Mexican labor pool while it has the chance, because when America starts begging for Mexican workers, "Mexico won't do it because it will have its people employed [here at home]."

"Mexico will level off it's population by year 2030," he explained. "Mexico will never pass 130 - 135 million people and then it will level-off so we won't have that kind of energy that youth, but more so, we will need them here in Mexico to sustain our retirement, pension families which will be many."

Fox opposes any kind of American wishes to protect the boarder militarily, or even the proposed fence building project: "I don't think building a wall or try to take that kind of measure will help the issue. I think we both have the capacity ... give migration a legal form, an ordered flow and a full respect to human rights of everybody."

Really? Then why do Mexican soldiers prevent Central Americans from crossing up into Mexico? Surely you could just give them a form to fill out and send them on their way...

Would you like some more outrage? Then how about the principle of Regan High School, Robert Pambello, who was ordered to remove a Mexican flag on Wednesday. He had hoisted it below the US and Texas State flag to support his predominately Hispanic student body, he says.
He has allowed students to carry about Mexican flags and leave class in protests.

Protests of what? Do they even know what they are protesting, or is this just a convenient excuse to cut class?

Some students want to try to raise the Mexican flag again, but this time, they want it over the Texan flag.

"Just because you're in the country doesn't mean you can't show your culture," said Lewis Ramirez, 16, a sophomore at Reagan High.

A text message sent by an HISD student Wednesday encouraged more walkouts.

Part of it read: "Do ANY of you know how much money our schools make for each student that attends everyday ... Imagine how much money they would lose if we didn't go."

HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra has vowed harsher punishments for students who continue to miss classes to protest.

The 50 Marshall Middle School students who made their way to City Hall on Wednesday, for example, could be suspended for up to three days, officials said.

The district had to spend $5,500 Tuesday to transport 30 busloads of students from City Hall back to Austin, Davis and Sam Houston high schools.

"Any student who engages in this kind of activity today can be suspended for up to three days, and may be removed from school outright," Abbott said. "There also are severe academic consequences."

I wonder if any of them know how much more money the school district will get when they miss class, are denied the opportunity to make up tests and homework (They weren't sick, they skipped!) , fail and are forced to repeat the grade? Seems to me like they get another year's worth of pay...

Just in case there is any doubt as to what is going on in California, I would invite everyone to follow this link...

The Mexica Movement doesn't want to assimilate, to live a peaceful life; they want "occupied Anahuac" back! Sound like anyone else we know...

Here's one you won't hear in the MSM:

Judge Allan Kornblum, who in 1978 co-authored the Foreign intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) said Tuesday that the President was duly authorized under the Constitution to order the wiretapping of suspected terrorists without first getting a warrant from a FISA court.

In this testimony before a Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Kornblum said the president's Constitutional Powers supersede FISA law, and therefore no violation was committed.

"If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now," said Kornblum, in quotes picked up by the Washington Times.

In fact, Kornblum took it a step further, suggesting that deferring to a FISA court would have been irresponsible.

"I think that the president would be remiss exercising his constitutional authority by giving all of that power over to a statute," he said.

Not surprisingly, you won't find this story or quote in any AP outlets. I know, I looked.

Everyone knows that blogging is a popular forum for people to express their opinions. Any Joe can have his humor, tell his stories and express dissent in a public forum where the possibilities for others to view it is endless; a far step from the ol' soapbox.

In Iran, bloggers are being arrested by the dozens for expressing discontent with the government. Some are reportedly being tortured and held in solitary confinement.

"Freedom of expression is really at stake at the moment," says Julien Pain, who runs the Internet Freedom Desk at the Paris based group Reporters without Borders.

"The Iranian authorities have been clamping down on regular media for a long time, but it's only in the last six months that they're harshly attacking cyber-dissidents and webloggers. It's really a serious situation."

The Iranian government has never allowed freedom of expression. They are just prohibiting it more lately. They recognize the danger that free thought and expression poses to them.

Bloggers Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both currently in prison in Iran.

Mr Sigarchi has been in detention since 17 January while Mr Saminejad was first detained in November.

Both men have used their blogs to criticize the government, but Iranian officials will not say if they are in trouble for blogging or not.

Iranian-born Hadi Ghaemi is following both cases for Human Rights Watch in New York.

"Major charges against Sigarchi included him giving interview to foreign radio, which is completely a violation of his right to free speech and expression," Mr Ghaemi says.

"He's being kept in a prison in the city of Rasht, which is his hometown in northern Iran. Bail for his release has been set at $200,000."

Mojtaba Saminejad has not fared much better, according to Mr Ghaemi.

"Saminejad was kept in solitary confinement for 88 days, and he was subjected to severe beatings and torture. He was briefly released on 27 January for a short time, but because bail had been set at $125,000, and he wasn't able to pay that, he was rearrested, and his conditions are unknown."

There are an estimated 46,000 bloggers in Iran. Every one of them must watch what he or she says, or watch his back. The surge in the number of bloggers started in 2000, when the Iranian government began close censorship of the media.

Sina Motallebi was a reporter for a Tehran newspaper, when in 2001 he began to feel the grip of the government crushing his work. He turned to weblogging.

"I felt free and uncensored in my weblog," he said.

He wasn't really free. He posted an entry critical of Iran's treatment of a political prisoner. He was soon summoned to apear in court. Over a span of a year and a half in 2002, he was summoned four more times. Finally, in April of 2003, he was arrested and thrown in jail.

"I spent 22 days in solitary confinement, and I was interrogated," he says. "I was under very, very severe psychological torture. Still, the effect of torture remains on my soul."

He was released after a family friend was able to scrape together his $60,000 bail. Motallebi acquired a passport and got asylum in the Netherlands; he now works for the BBC's Persian Service in London.

The circumstances for Iranian bloggers is dire. The Association of Iranian Blogwriters, or Penlog, is demanding the release of Mojtaba Saminejad in the absence of any formal charges.

I, for one, am glad that I live in a country where I can say what I wish without the fear of the Secret Service knocking my door down at three a.m., where I have a right to a speedy trial, and humane treatment. The international community must (probably led by America again) demand that Iran start obeying human rights laws.

I fear that within the decade we will have no choice but to go to war with Iran. They are smacking of the early days of the Nazis, and they must be stopped!

This story so floors me that I thought I would reproduce it and add my commentary in bold writing.

'Big Love': Real Polygamists Look at HBO Polygamists and Find Sex
"Big Love," HBO's new take on a fictional polygamous family in the suburbs of this city(Salt Lake City), was on the television. The Viagra-popping Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) was thrashing in bed with Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin), the youngest of his three wives. The five women watching the show were covering their eyes during the sex scenes, chiding the competitive wives, urging Bill to take control were critics with special credentials: a current or past polygamous marriage. I guess that qualifies them to critiqe the show...

And despite the show's flaws, these women called "Big Love" a cultural benchmark, one with the potential to cast a warmer light on their lives. Yeah, nothing warmer than sharing your bed/marriage with a slew of other women.

"It's a more realistic view of a polygamous family that lives out in society than people have known," said Anne Wilde, a widow who was part of a multiple family for 33 years. "It can be seen as a viable alternative lifestyle between consenting adults." Isn't that the line that liberals use to normalize deplorable, amoralal behavior? And what about the children produced by such a union(s)? Did they get a chance to consent to being raised in such a deplorable situation?

"Big Love," which had its premiere on March 12, has certainly made a noisy splash. Some television critics find it an intriguing twist on suburban family angst. Uh, most suburban families aren't poligamists. The Mormon Church contends that the show glamorizes a practice it renounced in 1890. Vicky Prunty, the head of the leading anti-polygamy group here and herself a former polygamist, dismisses it as a Hollywood fantasy for men. I don't know about that...Sometimes its all my husband can do to deal with just one of me... The first "Big Love" episode was watched by 4.6 million people (following "The Sopranos," which drew 9.5 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. A week later, the number for "Big Love" was down to 3.4 million after "The Sopranos" attracted 9.2. million.

For the women gathered in a hotel room here at the request of The New York Times to talk about the intersection of their lives and popular culture, more is at stake than good ratings. "This is a glimpse of a family that is mainstream," Whoa, stop right there. This family ain't mainstream. I don't know of any poligamists on my block! Mary Batchelor, a 37-year-old mother of seven and director of "Principle Voices," a leading polygamy advocacy group, said of the Henricksons. "There are hundreds of these families. It shows an aspect of polygamy nobody ever sees. Before, you saw families in crisis." She referred to media images of men being carted off to jail for beating women or children or marrying child brides. Yeah, because poligamy is a crime, and the culture is one of male supremacy beyond simply respecting being biblically submissive to one's husband.

"This is making all of America say 'Why is there a law against polygamy?' (I don't know, maybe because it's reprehensiblele?)" said a 55-year-old woman who wanted to be known only as Doris, because she feared repercussions at her new job after years of staying at home with her 14 children in suburban West Jordan. Nooo... You think folks would freak out if they found out you had a hubby with a bunch of other wives?"This guy is just trying to support his family, and the family is just trying to make it."OK, we're getting into normalizing freak behavior again. This is not a family,"Just trying to make it." Stop trying to make me sympathize with your deviant behavior.

While the women said "Big Love" had too much skin and not enough religion or humor for their taste, (Yeah, 'cause they're SO pious.)they agreed that it portrayed the Henricksons like any other American family, (Except for that whole poligamy thing.)especially in an era of mixed marriages of all sorts, gay partnerships, single parents and serial monogamy.As bad as that stuff is, it's still ONE AT A TIME!

In addition to Doris, Ms. Batchelor and Ms. Wilde, the women watching "Big Love" on this night included Linda, a 53-year-old widow and mother of four who said she lived for 30 years "in a plural situation" (Well, isn't that a nice way of putting it.)with 12 other wives; and another Mary, 52, who has been married for 10 years, has five children and whose sister-wife(Whoa, stop right there again! Sister-Wife? Ugh.) ("my best friend") lives up the street in a town called Bluffdale. She is an artist and high school teacher.

They did have some worries. "My concern is that this will stereotype and cause more prejudice from the mainstream Latter-day Saints Church," Mary said of the "Big Love" family. "People who are not Mormons will say, 'They are kind of normal,' (Nope, I'm not Mormon, and I don't think that this is 'kind of normal'.)but people in Mormondom will say, 'They are as disgusting as we thought' because of the sexual content." Like the characters in "Big Love," who talk about keeping their families below the horizon, these women were careful about providing private details. Ms. Wilde, for instance, declined to say how many sister-wives were in her family. Hey, I don't have to be secretive. I've got one husband. And how come successfulul women don't get a bunch of husbands? No, don't tell me...

The personal and the political sometimes converge, though. Ms. Batchelor is a second wife who became an only wife after the departure of the first wife ,that being Ms. Prunty, the co-director of Tapestry Against Polygamy. That nonprofit group's trustees and directors include formerly polygamous wives and family members, and its advisory board consists of legal and social-work professionals. Their main focus is to help people leaving polygamous families and to educate the public. Sounds sensible.

"Big Love" skims the surface of the intense dynamics in plural families,Plural families. I love that. No, really. How PC. Ms. Prunty said. Their isolation, secrecy and complicated logistics make them breeding grounds for forced marriage, under-age brides and abusive men, she said. The writers of the series have said that those issues will be addressed. Uh, huh. I'll bet.

"In reality, there's not a woman out there who's going to share a man without religion being a factor," Ms. Prunty said. "That's what's missing in the show. This seems like some male fantasy, some alternative marriage that is Hollywood."

While each episode, after discussions between HBO and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, includes a disclaimer that the Mormons long ago renounced polygamy (They're still going to be pretty mad!), thousands of polygamists who call themselves Mormon fundamentalists say they are following the church's original teachings on marriage, called "the principle." Some live in religious communities, others live independently.

C. Michael Quinn, a historian and former professor at Brigham Young University, said his research shows that the devotion of fundamentalist Mormon teenage girls to polygamy helps keep the practice alive. Dr. Quinn, the author of several scholarly books on Mormons, said the girls from polygamous families cannot imagine another life.They're teenage girls. They're trained to think that way, and have no real-world experience to contradict it. They are hand-bred victims. The boys, he said, cite the difficulties in supporting a big family but find wives among the girls in their community. Sure. Dad did it, and the church expects them to, also. See any similarities to another cultish religion here...?

"They believe polygamy was a commandment from God to the Mormon founder, Joseph Smith Jr., in the 1830's," explained Dr. Quinn, himself an excommunicated Mormon from a Mormon family that goes back seven generations. He estimates that one-third to one-half of about 30,000 to 50,000 Mormon fundamentalists are also polygamists; Tapestry Against Polygamy estimates that there may be as many as 100,000.

The fictional Henricksons are portrayed as independent fundamentalists. Middle-class and attractive, their three households include seven children in total and discreetly share a backyard. Bill is hustling to open his second home-improvement store. The show's darkest element is a creepy father-in-law, Roman (Harry Dean Stanton), the patriarch of a polygamous clan, who wants a bigger cut of Bill's business profits.

The women gathered to watch the show liked that a distinction was made between such groups and more modern, independent polygamists. They laughed at Roman but admitted he represented a certain reality. "There's diversity," Ms. Wilde said. But Linda added, "Please, we don't believe in forced marriage or child brides." Just thought she'd stress that again?

They also liked the cool and collected first wife, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn); disliked the second wife, Nicki (Chloë Sevigny), a secret shopaholic (A shopaholic? How terrible.)and Roman's daughter; and empathized with the efforts of the newest wife, Margene, to fit in. Bill, they said, was mismanaging his time and not standing up to the women,(Gotta keep those womenfolk in line, huh Bill?) who seem to fight constantly for his attention.Oh, good grief. In the show's second episode, Nicki and Barb are upset about the short robe that Margene wears to breakfast with the whole family (inappropriateiate! We don't want the kids to see any freakish behavior!)and spar about the need for the women to stick to "the schedule" for visits from the Viagra-enhanced Bill. I'm not EVEN going to go there.

"Viagra is not part of our culture," Linda said. "Our men don't need Viagra." She added that sister-wives would not put pressure on a man sexually. No kidding? So they're just there to satisfy him, and not the other way around? So, every third Tuesday night around 9 good for you?

Later in the show, when a friend asks Bill if he is thinking of "adding a fourth" wife, Bill demurs, saying that he has his hands full. "They're the path you've chosen; walk it with decency," the friend comments.

"That's a good line," Linda said, as the other women murmured their assent. And here I thought that one heard 'good lines' in a bar.

The creators of "Big Love," Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer (who along with the actor Tom Hanks (Tom Hanks? *sigh* Didn't see that one coming from him. Guess I can scratch him off of my 'still decent' list.)and Gary Goetzman are the executive producers of the series), said in a telephone interview that they were hearing all the criticisms and compliments. The show was conceived as a prism through which to look at the "struggle for the common good over the individual good" that exists in any family, Mr. Olsen said. He and Mr. Scheffer are partners in real life. Ah, so that's the angle...Normalize one abhorrent behavior, and then move on to the next?There's no agenda there, I'm sure.

"The pro-polygamists think it's too dark," Mr. Olsen said. "The anti-polygamists don't think it's dark enough. I think we've split the baby down the middle." The men said they spent almost three years researching the show, talking to experts and reading everything from sociological tracts to official Mormon records.

Mr. Scheffer said future episodes would explore some of the darker aspects of polygamy, like the abuses of patriarchy. There are already hints in the early episodes: Roman has at least one teenage bride.

Back in the Salt Lake City hotel room, where a light snow mixed with rain fell outside, Ms. Batchelor worried aloud about Bill and his wives. "I think they're a family in transition," she said. "I hope they're going to make it." Oh, puke.

Clinton chauffeur an illegal immigrant

NEWARK, N.J., March 27 (UPI) -- An embarrassing hole in security surrounding former U.S. President Bill Clinton turned up when one of his chauffeurs was found to be a wanted man.

Shahzad Qureshi, 42, was in one of three cars awaiting Clinton at Newark Airport last week when a Port Authority policeman happened to check license plate numbers.

The computer came back showing the Pakistani national had skipped a residency-status hearing in 2000, and a deportation order had been issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the New York Post reported.

Qureshi was still in jail Monday awaiting immigration processing, the report said.

I think that the American people need to ask: WHAT DID CLINTON KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?

For certain, this is an embarrassing proof to the point that our boarders need to be secure, and in the same week as the immigration bill getting so much attention!

A big nod to the Say Anything Blog; I thought this was so funny that I just HAD to steal it!

I saw this news story, and I think that it deserves to be repeated in its entirety. All I can say is, where do I get mine?

Teen-repellent shop siren silenced by human rights fears


Fri Mar 24, 12:56 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - A high-tech alarm audible only to youngsters which has dramatically cut loutish behaviour outside a British shop must be switched off over fears it infringes human rights, police said.


The Mosquito emits an irritating high-pitched pulse that most people aged under 20 can hear but almost nobody over 30 can.

The Spar grocery shop on Caerlon Road in Newport, south Wales said anti-social behaviour had plunged by 84 percent outside the premises since it was installed earlier this year.

However, human rights concerns have swatted The Mosquito -- and stung the shop's furious managers in the process.

"It's absolutely disgusting," a spokesman for the shop said.
"These louts can infringe on our rights to run a profitable shop for the community yet we can't dare infringe on their right to loiter and make life a misery for our shoppers," the BBC quoted him as saying.

A police spokesman said: "Gwent Police agreed to monitor a trial at a retail premises on Caerleon Road and there was an initial indication that it was successful at deterring anti-social behaviour and was positively received by the local community.

"However, it was decided by the Newport Community Safety Partnership (NCSP) that before endorsing the device, issues concerning health and safety and human rights need to be resolved."

A concerned NCSP spokesman told the BBC: "If the noise upset a baby in a pram or caused a dog in a neighbouring house to bark incessantly then these are issues we would have to address."

Here's one for the "Well, Duh" file...

Who would've guessed that you'd find a drunk in a bar?

Detectives in San Antonio, TX have begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk. The first sting op was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb and netted 30 arrests for public intoxication.

Carolyn Beck, the representative from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said that being in a bar does not exempt one from public drunkenness laws.

I suppose not, but this does seem a bit unfair. I mean, what do they expect from folks drinking in a bar?

"We feel that the only way we're going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this," she said.

"There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car," Beck said. "People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss."

I used to work in an ER. Believe me, I dealt with my share of stupid, stupid drunks. But I think the latter is just natural selection at work, and the former...Well, if we dealt with DUI in a more harsh fashion, like 25-life for a first offense, no parole, then maybe folks would take it more seriously. And if not, they'd be put away.

I've spoken with a few drunks in the ER that have been busted driving, and they will occasionally say things like, "I have the right to drive and I have the right to drink." Let's up the ante for those folks, and let the moderately well-behaved barflies alone.

Thousands of people filled Milwaukee, Wisconsin streets Thursday at a protest billed as "A Day Without Latinos" to protest the bill recently passed in the House that makes it a felony to be in the US illegally. The bill also imposes new penalties on employers who hire illegals and aims to erect fences along one-third of the US/Mexican border.

I say, why stop there? Go for a total fence.

Back to the subject at hand: Police estimated the protesters to number about 10,000. Organizers embellished a bit, estimating 30,000.

About 90 Latino-owned businesses on the south side were closed for all or part of the day in support, according to Voces de la Frontera, the rallies organizer. About a dozen businesses in Racine and Kenosha also closed as several hundred people protested in downtown Racine.

"We came to work, not to be discriminated against," said Juan Hernandez, who said his boss gave him and more than a dozen other restaurant workers permission to join the protest. "We want to be equal."

You want to be equal? No problem! Apply for citizenship! Do it right!

So 10,000 protestors came to one place? I think we should've rounded them up, checked for citizenship, and sent those who failed back to Mexico with a sincere thank you for making catching them so much easier!

As you may have heard, Paris is yet again on fire, this time due to rioting over a new labor law. The law states that the employer has a two-year 'at will' policy, in which a worker may be fired for any reason.

Workers find this unethical, due to France's astronomical unemployment rate. They fear they will never have job security.

It is probably only a matter of time until the French government caves... So I would like to offer this product.

Introducing: The French Army Knife!

Have you put on your makeup yet, ladies? Are you fond of those collagen products that are supposed to reduce wrinkles and make you look younger?

I hope your beauty products aren't made in China...

A Chinese cosmetics company (not identified by name for pending legal reasons) has been using skin harvested from the corpses of executed prisoners in products using collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments.

"A lot of the research is still carried out in the traditional manner using skin from the executed prisoners and aborted fetus," the agent was quoted as saying. The material, he said, was being bought from "biotech" companies based in Heilongjiang Province and was being developed elsewhere in China.

Aborted fetuses? That's even worse! Yet, the agent said that the use of skin and other tissues from the dead is not uncommon. In fact, they have a rather large supply: Last year China executed 3,400 prisoners.

"In China it is considered very normal and I was very shocked that Western countries can make such a big fuss about this," he said.

Here's yet another reason to put the screws to Iran:

US intelligence has reason to believe that OBL's family, including three of his sons and several of his wives, have taken up residence in Iran, which hosts a growing number of Al-Qaida members.

The intelligence was gathered through satellite eavesdropping and orbital surveillance.

"Iran is becoming more and more radicalized and more willing to turn a blind eye to the al-Qaida presence there," a U.S. counter-terrorism official told the Times.

They keep stacking up the reasons for us to go over there and take them out...It almost seems like they're begging us!

Carl Sheeler, a self-proclaimed "family man, US Marine veteran, business owner, educator and political outsider," is running for the US Senate in Rhode Island this fall...on the Democratic ticket.

That wasn't really that hard to guess, I know. The front page of his website has nothing to offer, no solutions and no platform, other than "Impeach Bush."

Did you know you can order tee-shirts and bumper stickers, too?

Here's a cute little quote from your buddy Carl:

"This campaign is about you and giving underrepresented, everyday people a voice. My name is Carl Sheeler and I want to be your voice as your next working U.S. Senator. I am running to be the tip of the sword to be certain our government starts to listen to us. We are tired of our failed energy policies . . . "

I found this vintage at my local international market. It looks really good...

It seems that the unbiased main stream news is at it again...one of ABC News' top producers, John Green, fired off a Bush-bashing company email.

Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report obtained an email by Green :


For those of you without glasses (sorry) it says: Are you watching this? Bush makes me sick. If he uses the "mixed messages" line one more time, I'm going to puke.

And before anyone gets started about how this can't be true because Drudge isn't a reputable news source, Green issued this statement:

"By now some of you have seen the Drudge Report featuring a private email I sent to a colleague in 2004. I want all of you to know how much I regret the embarrassment this story causes ABC. It was an inappropriate thing to say and I'm deeply sorry."

So much for the unbiased, 'just the facts' media, huh?

Alright, I'm calling President Bush and the media out on the carpet over this one.

It seems the Bush administration is sending sophisticated equipment to the Bahamas used to detect radioactive material in shipping cargo. It gets better: US customs agents won't be the ones to scan what is on its way to our ports, rather, a Hong Kong company has been contracted to operate the equipment and supervise the results of radioactivity testing.

The Bush administration says it is finalizing a no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. It acknowledged the deal is the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present.

Does this make sense to anyone?

The administration is negotiating a second no-bid contract for a Philippine company to install radiation detectors in its home country, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. At dozens of other overseas ports, foreign governments are primarily responsible for scanning cargo.

The president of Hutchinson Whampoa Ltd. is reportedly "in close" to senior leaders in the Chinese government, according to Larry Wortzel, head of an economic study group.

Get ready for some more obfuscation: Three years ago, the Bush administration effectively blocked a Hutchison subsidiary from buying part of a bankrupt U.S. telecommunications company, Global Crossing Ltd., on national security grounds.

China isn't exactly our friend, and after the firestorm over the Dubai Ports deal, this just doesn't make any sense. Some security experts questioned whether the U.S. should pay a foreign company with ties to China to keep radioactive material out of the United States.

To me, the worst part of this story is that after the huge stink the press made over selling the ports to A-rabs, not a single peep is being made about this! Where's the outrage?

Yuck. This is a huge crap sandwich, and I fear we're all going to have to take a bite...

It seems that those who run for Senate on the 'pro-choice' ticket may be going against the grain this election year: a new Zogby Interactive Survey shows that respondents in the contiguous 48 states shows 59% of people consider abortion ends a human life.

The survey was s commissioned by Associated Television News and the O'Leary Report. It included 30,117 respondents and was conducted from March 10-14 of this year. It carries a margin of error of +/- 0.6 percent.

The poll also showed that 71% of voters disagreed that the Senate should confirm only pro-choice Supreme Court Justices, while only 17% agreed with the statement. It also found that 59% of respondents considered an abortion to end a human life, while only 28% thought that it did not.

Associated Television News President Brad O'Leary, who commissioned the poll, added that much of the results may "spell disaster for Democrats who try to run on the abortion issue."

"There is absolutely no way a presidential or a congressional candidate running for office can grow their base if they insist on championing the abortion issue," Mr. O'Leary said.

The survey broke down to these statistics:

Abortion ends a human life (59% agree; 29% disagree)

The prohibition of federal funds for abortions abroad (69% agree with the prohibition; 21% disagree)

Abortion because of the sex of the fetus (86% agree should be illegal; 10% disagree should be illegal)

Requiring insurance plans to cover abortions where the life of the mother is not endangered (56% disagree with such a requirement; 12% agree)

When life begins (50% believe it begins at conception; 19% believe life begins at birth)

A new federal partial-birth abortion bill (50% want to see another bill; 39% don't want to see another bill)

Requiring counseling about a mother's options before undergoing an abortion (55% agree with such a counseling requirement; 37% disagree)

A 24-hour waiting period (56% agree with waiting period; 37% disagree)

Federal & state financing of abortions for poor women (51% disagree with financing; 37% agree)

Laws that charge a person who kills a pregnant woman with two murders (64% agree with such laws; 23% disagree)

Interesting! I can't wait to hear what NOW says about this...

Senior Muslim clerics insisted yesterday that Abdul Rahman be put to death. They warned that if the government frees him in response to Western pressure they will incite the people of Afghanistan to "pull him into pieces."

I'm sure we can rest assured that any reason he would be freed would just be 'Western pressure.' I don't even know why they are bothering with the pretense of a trial for this persecuted Christian man!

In a somewhat unorthodox move, Secretary of State Rice called Hamid Karzai asking for a "favorable resolution" to the former medical aid worker. As we all know, the penalty for converting away from Islam is death. So much for the religion of peace. (Again.)

"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered moderate and was even jailed three times by the Taliban for not being hard-line enough.

First of all, if this is moderate, I'd hate to see 'extreme.' Secondly, I wasn't aware that man is even capable of humiliating God. It has always been my understanding that when man blasphemes, he only humiliates himself.

As it stands, Rahman's future is up in the air. Muslim clerics want him dead, but Hamid Karzai has a "firm willingness" to stand by human rights requirements. The inside word is that the Afghan government is seeking to find Raoulf "mentally ill," thus avoiding the death penalty and satisfying human rights and pacifying the Islamic clerics at the same time.

No one who has met Rahman believes that he is insane.

"He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian," said Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque.

Public opinion is that Rahman should not be executed, but perhaps exiled. The bloodthirsty clerics of the Religion of Peace disagree.

"If he is allowed to live in the West, then others will claim to be Christian so they can too," Said Mirhossain, the top cleric at Hossainia Mosque said. "We must set an example. ... He must be hanged."

The clerics said they were angry with the United States and other countries for pushing for Rahman's freedom.

"We are a small country and we welcome the help the outside world is giving us. But please don't interfere in this issue," Nasri said. "We are Muslims and these are our beliefs. This is much more important to us than all the aid the world has given us."

We are Muslims and these are our beliefs...

Wounded soldiers and police officers in Kirkuk, Iraq who survived terrorist attacks often did not survive once they reached the hospital: one of the doctors working at the Republic Hospital was a covert member of a terrorist cell.

Dr. Louay secretly administered lethal injections to injured men that field terrorists failed to kill. The medication used to murder the wounded men was a blood thinner, which caused the victims to bleed to death.

"He was called Dr Louay and when the terrorists had failed to kill a policeman or a soldier he would finish them off," Colonel Yadgar Shukir Abdullah Jaff, a senior Kirkuk police chief, told The Independent. "He gave them a high dosage of a medicine which increased their bleeding so they died from loss of blood."

Louay's string of homicides stretched over a eight month period and totaled 42 victims that authorities know of. Louay was only caught because the leader of the cell, Malla Yassin, was captured and confessed.

"I was really shocked that a doctor and an educated men should do such a thing," said Col Jaff.

I for one, am not. These terrorists are on a different level from the rest of humanity, education or not. An intelligent and well trained terrorist is simply a more dangerous one.

Hillary Clinton pulled yet another one of her shrill, nutty statements Wednesday when she gave a response voicing her opposition to Rep. James Sensenbrenner's bill that would make illegal entry into the US a felony. She called the GOP bill "mean-spirited."

Her opposition to such a bill should send up a big red flag to anyone not to vote for her in 2008 , but Hillary put a little more icing on the cake with this statement:

"It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures," she declared, before adding: "This bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself."

Huh? So now republicans are criminalizing Christ? Man, are we evil or what?

It seems that the EPA has discovered the real reason for global warming: Greenhouse gases being emitted by the unprecedented number of humans on the planet.

The Federal government has passed a bill requiring all Americans to don the proper warning signs, and will institute emission control legislation forcing all citizens to control the greenhouse effect by consuming foods that are digested to emit more environmentally friendly by-products. The foods will include: Tofu and most raw vegetables. Meat and grains will be prohibited.

Citizens will be required to pass bi-annual emissions checkups, and those who fail will have six months to repair the problem, or be mandated to consume only a vitamin and electrolyte liquid mixture.

An American man is seeking to have his obligation to his seven -month old daughter legally terminated, because her mother gave birth to her against his wishes.

In what the National Center for Men has dubbed the Roe VS Wade case for men, Matt Dubay, 25, said that the news of his impending fatherhood came as an unwelcome shock. Dubay claims that after a one-night stand with 20 year-old Lauren Wells, she became pregnant despite telling him that she was both infertile and on contraceptives.

Both? It seems rather a waste of money to bother with contraceptives if one is infertile...You think this'd be a big red flag, but apparently Mr.Dubay wasn't thinking with the proper head.

Now faced with a child support order of $500 per month, Dubay says that not paying is his constitutional right.

"I don't believe men have any say," he complained last week from his home in Saginaw, Michigan. "Whatever a man has to say is simply ignored."

"I painted a very clear picture at that point that I was not ready to be a father," he said. "I was not ready to be a part of the child's life."

The picture he painted involved Wells having an abortion. She informed him that not only would she not have one, but he would have to pay his share in their daughter's upbringing, regardless of his wish to have her or not.

While Dubay's lawsuit doesn't seek to force adoption or abortion on expectant mothers, his federal lawsuit claims that men who face fatherhood without their consent should be able to opt out of fiscal responsibility.

I would think that the opportunity to opt out involves not getting a girl pregnant.

The founder of the National Centre for Men, Mel Feit, said says that as a result of Roe vs Wade, "women now have the freedom and security to enjoy lovemaking without the fear of forced procreation".

Forced procreation? Have these guys not heard of the pill?

But, he said: "Men are routinely forced to give up control, forced to be financially responsible for choices only women are permitted to make, forced to relinquish reproductive choice as the price of intimacy."

He claimed that the lack of male reproductive rights violates the principle of equal protection under the American Constitution. "A man must choose to be a father in the same way that a woman chooses to be a mother," Mr Feit said.

In cases of IVF where the father doesn't want frozen embryos used, yes. But when it comes to good ol' fashioned sex, the man has the pre-emptive option to not impregnate a woman using birth control or abstinence. In Dubay's case, trusting a total stranger to be on birth control (and infertile) was his mistake. He should have brought along his trusty raincoat, if you get my drift.

Saying that she was "disappointed" in her ex-boyfriend's decision, Wells said: "I believe that life begins at conception and blossoms. I take responsibility for my acts and will do my best as an adult and mother to protect and provide for our daughter."

Dubay has never held his daughter, and met her only once, at the lab facility where her paternity test was performed.

I say this lowlife is nothing but a deadbeat dad trying to escape the consequences of his actions! If he's so deadset against having a child, he should've taken measures to prevent it.

President Bush said yesterday that America would defend Israel with military force against Iran, if necessary.

The President cited comments made by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel to be wiped off of the map, and said that Iran's stated objective to destroy Israel is a "serious threat."

"But now that I'm on Iran, the threat to Iran, of course - the threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel. That's a threat, a serious threat. It's a threat to world peace; it's a threat, in essence, to a strong alliance. I made it clear, I'll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally, Israel."

If this isn't a public warning to Ahmadinejad, I don't know what is. I wouldn't be surprised if we have to shut him down in the next five years...

I didn't know that Muslims had glitzy telegvangelists, but apparently they do!

Amr Khaled is a young, smiling, friendly Islamic preacher that stresses love, mercy and tolerance. During his sermons, Khaled is sometimes telling the faithful what they're not used to hearing from clerics -- that Muslims aren't blameless in tensions, that the West is not always bad and that dialogue is better than confrontation.

"A young Muslim goes to Europe with a forged visa, takes unemployment insurance there, then goes on TV and says, 'We're going to expel you from Britain, take your land, money and women,'" Khaled said recently on his weekly program on the Saudi satellite TV channel Iqraa, trying to explain mistrust of Muslims in Europe. "It's a rare example but it exists."

Did I wake up in an alternate universe this morning?

The 38-year old native of Egypt is a favorite of women and upper-class Muslims. He is shaven, wearing only a moustache, and dons a slick suit instead of the traditional robes.

"He is a very simple, moderate, humble man, easygoing. He makes you feel like you are his sister," said Zeinab el-Sherif, 32, a wealthy, veiled Egyptian businesswoman who has been a fan since hearing Khaled at her club a decade ago.

"He is so tolerant and friendly, he makes you feel good about your religion and yourself," she said.

Yet, all is not well on the Middle-Eastern front. Many 'traditional' Muslims view him as a traitor to Islam. Khaled is scheduled to attend a conference of Islamic clerics in Bahrain that has been organized by one of his greatest critics, Sheik Youssef el-Qaradwi. It begins tomorrow. Khaled is expected to stress co-operation with the west, and an end to the violence over the Danish cartoons.

Khaled sees the controversy surrounding him as confirmation of a new approach by Muslims, one of reform and dialogue with the rest of the world.

"For the past three years, with youth across the Islamic world, we've been working for a faith-based renaissance in this region, which will not take place by clashes but by coexistence," he said in an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo.

He said he had expected the criticism over his new campaign. "An initiative by definition is something new, and I represent a school that has opposing schools of thought," he said.

Khaled's following is growing. He has a huge base of young Muslims, women and the middle and upper class, who are disenchanted with the bearded, hellfire-spewing imams. Khaled steers his sermons to mercy and compassion, teaching that one can be a good Muslim and still be able to intigrate into the modern world.

Khaled was never trained as a cleric, instead having a background in accounting. He began preaching as a hobby, but soon found that talent far outshone the former. He has since pursued a doctorate in Islamic studies, with his thesis being: Islam and coexisting with the other.

The Egyptian government has banned Khaled, nervous of his popularity. He is not permitted to preach in any mosques in that country, and forced him to move his family out of Egypt.

If only more Muslim clerics could be like him...
I hope they don't assassinate this man. He's making himself a lot of enemies!

I'm not sure if I want to see "V for Vendetta" yet. Maybe I'll go see this, instead.

Is OBL Dead?

Rep. Curt Weldon, who broke the Able Danger story, is now claiming that OBL has died.

Weldon made the statement on Wendsday to the Philadelphia inquirer: "Weldon is making explosive new allegations. He says a high-level source has told him that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has died in Iran, where he has been in hiding."

In June last year, Weldon said in a TV interview: "I'm confident that I know for sure that [bin Laden] has been in and out of Iran ... Two years ago, he was in the southern town of Ladis, 10 kilometers inside the Pakistan border. I also know that earlier this year, he had a meeting with al-Zarqawi in Tehran ...

"If you look at the recent comments coming out of both the CIA and some of our military generals in theater, they're now acknowledging the same thing that I've been saying - that in fact, he's been in and out of Iran.

"[But] no one can prove it exactly until we capture him."

Or perhaps, until we find his body...

Cindy Sheehan is one very busy anti-war activist. She averages just two days a month in her Berkley Hills home (Yeah, I know. Berkley.), and seems to jet from speaking engagement to public appearance, dishonoring the sacrifice of her son on a daily basis.

Now, she's about to be the subject of a biopic Hollywood movie.

Are your eyes bleeding yet?

Does anyone remember when Sheehan posed for Vanity Fair, eyes closed, lying on her son's grave?

Well, guess what? The tragedy pimp is going to get some more fame: she will be the subject of an upcoming movie.

And here's the coup de grace: Susan Sarandon is meeting with Sheehan to discuss portraying her!

It just doesn't get any better than this!

An Iranian female paramilitary volunteer prepares for a shooting competition in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday, March 14th.

So let me get this straight...As a woman, I wouldn't be allowed to read, write, wear a pair of blue jeans or even leave the house by myself, but I can join a paramilitary group?

I guess those women are useful for all kinds of things, huh?

Welcome to the ICU...

Gay vs. Muslim soccer?

Yes, in the Netherlands, a soccer tournament between gays and Muslims is being arranged to combat growing fear among gays of Islamic intolerance.


A nationwide survey by the Police Research Academy of 776 gay persons revealed that 80% believed their safety had been threatened at some point during the year, and 40% claimed they had been either verbally or physically assaulted.

Is anyone surprised by this?

Dutch homosexuals blamed Muslims of Turkish and Moroccan descent.

The Academy director Frits Vlek said that homosexuality is not widely accepted in many Muslim cultures, which is odd, because I thought that NO Muslim culture accepted it!

"Parts of the Muslim community still resist homosexuality and receive little education about it," he said.

Oh, they receive education. It just involves killing gay folks!

An organizer of the group, Suzanne Ijsselmuiden, said she hoped the competition will "help ease these tensions so that people can openly talk about homosexuality."

Gay Muslims can take their choice of teams, she said. "People can have many identities."

I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

Alabama lawmakers are considering a law that would give a mass pardon to hundreds of people who were arrested under Alabama's antiquated segregation laws.

The law will be named for Rosa Parks, and would pardon everyone from the inception of segregation laws in 1901 through the 1964.

"I think it's wonderful. There were 89 people arrested during the bus boycott, and I think every one of them should be pardoned because of the contribution they made to the state and the nation," said Rep. Alvin Holmes, a Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement.

The State Legislature is in the last week of this session, but committee chairman Marcel Black is confident that the law can be passed in time.

This is a nice gesture, but I cannot believe that the records of those arrested for segregation violations haven't already been expunged! There shouldn't be a requirement for legislation to get that done.

The appeals court in Houston handling the Andrea Yates murder retrial ruled that the trail may go forward, and begin as early as tomorrow.

Defense attorney George Parnham argued that the retrial of Yates for the drowning murders of her children would violate the constitutional double jeopardy standard. He also alleged that the prosecutors misconduct in the first trial should invalidate a retrial. If you recall, the the defense claimed the jury was tainted by an episode of "Law and Order," even though the episode has never been produced, and not so much as a script for it has ever been found.

The appeals court ruled that no misconduct could be found.

"We are hopeful that we can now finally place our complete focus upon going to trial," prosecutor Alan Curry said after the court ruled.

Yates will plead insanity in the murders of her five children, who ranged in age from six months to seven years. Psychiatrists claim she suffered from postpartum depression.

I'm sorry, but the whole PPD thing is just an excuse in her case. Yes, after the birth of a baby a woman is exhausted, upset about your body and strained financially. She's definitely prone to some depression, but murder is murder. I don't care how crazy one is; they need to do hard time!

Geez, if you were in good mental shape, it stands to reason you wouldn't commit murder in the first place!

I found this at my local bastion of capitalist evil: Wal-Mart.

I'm getting on for everyone in my family!

It seems that Saddam's trial has been pushed back yet again, for a month.

The Iraqi judge appears to have no control over Saddam, who shouted and generally caused a ruckus.

It's time to take control of the situation:

National intelligence Director John Nergroponte directed the release of a document linking Saddam Hussein to Al-Qaida.

Here is the translated text:

In the Name of God the Merciful

Presidency of the Republic

Intelligence Apparatus

To the respectful Mr. M.A.M

Subject: Information

Our source in Afghanistan No 11002 (for information about him see attachment 1) provided us with information that that Afghani Consul Ahmad Dahestani (for information about him see attachment 2) told him the following:

1. That Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan are in contact with Iraq and it that previously a group from Taliban and Osama Bin Laden group visited Iraq.

2. That America has proof that the government of Iraq and Osama bin Laden group have shown cooperation to hit target within America.

3. That in case it is proven the involvement of Osama bin Laden group and the Taliban in these destructive operations it is possible that American will conduct strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

4. That the Afghani Consul heard about the subject of Iraq relation with Osama Bin Laden group during his stay in Iran.

5. In light of this we suggest to write to the Commission of the above information.

Please view… Yours… With regards

Signature:……, Initials : A.M.M, 15/9/2001

Foot note: Immediately send to the Chairman of Commission

Signature:………….

There is another, as of yet untranslated document that is described by the U.S. government as follows:

2002 Iraqi Intelligence Correspondence concerning the presence of al-Qaida Members in Iraq. Correspondence between IRS members on a suspicion, later confirmed, of the presence of an Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Moreover, it includes photos and names.

This document proves in black and white that at the very least Saddam Hussein knew that Al-Qaida was functioning within Iraq, and was therefore aiding and abeting those murderers.

So much for the liberal 'no right to attack him first' line of nonsense!

Indian men stand at the site of a bomb blast in the pilgrimage city of Varanasi on March 7th.
Indian doctors treat a child wounded in the Muslim bombing.
Indian men carry the body of a person murdered by Muslim bombers. More than 21 people were killed in the massacre. Civilian Hindus were the target.

Religion of Peace...
Religion of Peace...
Religion of Peace... Keep saying it...

Praise the Lord and cue the polka music!

Haldis Gunderson of Olso, Norway "Had settled down for a cozy Saturday evening, had a nice dinner, and I was just going to clean up a little. I turned on the faucet and beer came out."

Beer from Heaven? No, it seems that Gunderson lives in an apartment upstairs from a pub, and a plumber had accidentally connected the beer line to her apartment's water line.

She said it was flat, however, and the accident was soon corrected.

Some of you may remember that an Iranian newspaper recently launched a Holocaust cartoon contest. It seems the competition has drawn more than 200 entries, with some mocking the WWII genocide. One entry even shows Jews going into a gas pipeline.

Now wait, it gets even better! Although most of the contestants are Iranian, some entries have come from Indonesia, and Brazil...and six are from Americans.

American cartoonist Mike Flugennock's cartoon asks: "What has Ariel Sharon learned from the Holocaust?" It shows bulldozers razing Palestinian homes and an Israeli soldier pointing a gun at a Palestinian protester's head, above Flugennock's answer to his own question: "Humiliation, tyranny, brutality and murder."

He's still in a coma.

Flugennock said he saw the contest as a chance to tell the world "that there is 'another America' that sees through the policies of the Israeli state and isn't afraid of reactionaries' trying to tar them with the epithet 'anti-Semite.'

How about the epithet ASSHOLE? I usually stay away from profanity in my blog, but I feel that in this instance, it is well deserved!

Another American cartoonist depicted the Statue of Liberty with its torch extinguished and its eyes and mouth sealed with metal plates and a sign reading, "Closed until further notice. Bushco Demolitions."

Niiiiice....

Guess who they were really there to see?

It seems that the Clinton White House sleep over guests are showing Hillary a little of the cold shoulder this year.

The New York Post reports that 40% of Pres. Clinton's 1,100 plus White House guests donated to his wife while he was still in the Oval Office, netting Mrs. Clinton's Senate campaign a tidy sum of $620,000.

But now, fewer than 20% of the Clinton's former supporters have donated to the Hillary train.

"FOBs are not necessarily FOHs," University of Virginia political scholar Larry Sabato told the Post, referring to friends of Bill and Hill. "Think of the two of them - who's the one who collects friends? Bill."

Ted Danson, who donated more than $10,000 previously has yet to give Hillary one red cent.

White House sleep over guests Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Dennis Quaid and Will Smith have yet to give to the cause, too.

I guess it just isn't the same when Hillary can't pimp out the Lincoln Bedroom, huh?

Would you like to print out your very own OBL most wanted poster for quick reference? It has lots of other uses too, like dart practice, ect.

Here you go!

http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/laden.htm

In a sterling example of natural selection at work, a Coralvill, IA man died in a mobile home fire Sunday night.

A neighbor said that the mobile home burst into flames at around 19:15 and burned quickly. The neighbor also stated that a man had been setting off fireworks inside the mobile home, opening the door and throwing them outside.

The body was found near the mobile home, and identification is pending.

I'll bet alcohol had nothing to do with that one, as we used to say in the ER!

Al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for killing an Iraqi TV journalist, Amjad Hameed, who worked for the government-run Iraqiya television.

"Your brothers...carried out the assassination of Amjad Hameed, the director of the Iraqiya television channel, the mouthpiece of the government," said a statement issued by al-Qaida and posted on an Islamic Web site.

Hmm...Seems to me like he wasn't Muslim enough.

Hameed was shot to death Saturday while on his way to work. His driver also died.

Hameed was the 11th journalist to be murdered since the inception of the Iraqi television station.

Osama Bin Laden's niece has signed up to star in a reality TV show about her life and unfulfilled quest for stardom.

Wafah Dufour Bin Ladin, whose mother was married to OBL's half-brother, (whew) was born in California, but was raised in Saudi Arabia from ages 3-10.

"I understand that when people hear my last name, they have preconceived notions, but I was born an American and I love my country," Dufour said in a statement from ReganMedia announcing the deal to develop a reality TV series.

"Her story will bridge the gap that people feel exists between the cultures she has lived in," ReganMedia President Judith Regan said.

"She is also a young woman who falls in love, has her heart broken, worries about her looks, doesn't always listen to her mother, and hasn't spoken to her father in years," Regan said.

Dafour has a master's degree in law, and has said she has never met her infamous uncle. Her mother wrote the 2004 bestseller,"Inside the Kingdom: My Life In Saudi Arabia."

Dufour has dropped the "Bin Ladin" and now goes by Wafah Dufour. Last year she posed for GQ magazine, in which she reclined on satin sheets while wrapped in feathers, and another in which she posed in a bubble bath wearing naught but a necklace.

Huh. I wonder if dear ole' Uncle would stone her over that...

Hoody Hoo!

I've finally figured out the links section!

I hope I've included everybody; if not, please drop me a comment!

Thank goodness the Oscars are over!

Let's see what Hollywood comes out with next, shall we?

Former President Jimmy Carter is opening his mouth yet again, urging a troop withdraw from Iraq.

"It was a completely unnecessary war. It was an unjust war," said Carter, the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner. "It was initiated on the basis of false pretenses. All of those are true, but we can't just pre-emptively withdraw."

He urged the Bush administration to bring home as many troops as possible within the next 12 months.

"The violence is increasing monthly," Carter said. "My prayer is we'll see some kind of democracy eventually evolve."

And how will that happen without anyone to defend them from outside forces during this delicate time? Geez, how did a man like this EVER lead our country?

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the press Thursday that the West will suffer more than his country will if it tries to stop Tehran from developing it's nuclear program.

He threatened "harm and pain" if the UN Security Council becomes involved.

"They know that they are not capable of causing the least harm to Iranian people," Ahmadinejad said during a visit to Iran's western province of Lorestan, according to the ISNA news agency. "They will suffer more."

You know what? He's right. He's got the oil, and he'll use it to strike a crippling blow to our economy. He's also got ties to terrorist groups who would be happy to lash out at the US and our allies.

"The people of Iran will not accept coercion and unjust decisions by international organizations," Ahmadinejad said, according to state television. "Enemies cannot force the Iranian people to relinquish their rights."

"The era of bullying and brutality is over," he added.

We may be in a tight spot...

"The burqa is hostile to women, and medieval. For a woman to walk around on the streets completely covered is an insult to everyone who believes in equal rights"

This quote is from Geert Wilders, the populist member of the Netherlands' parliament. The Dutch are considering banning the burqa completely.

Truly, this is the equivalent of a black person being forced to walk the streets in leg-irons. The women do not want it that way, and it is unnecessary for the men to need it to avoid looking at the female form. Just as we do not give gravity to a battered woman who says she deserved it because she angered her man, or give credence to a man who said she needed to be put in her place, we must not accept this travesty of human rights.

If the Netherlands lead the way on this, it will put the UN to shame. This isn't 'cultural' ,or 'ethnic', or 'religious' or any other such nonsense. It is a brutal and flagrant human rights violation!

Does anyone else think its kind of funny how so much attention has been given to Condi's workout routine lately?

Not only does she not pull political punches, but she can kick your fat butt, too.

Senators in Washington are debating immigration reform are trying to decide whether an actual fence or a 'virtual' fence should be built along parts of the US/Mexican boarder.

Republicans are split on a proposal for a "virtual" fence, using cameras and other technology to monitor illegal traffic. Some want more real fences or walls for long stretches of the line.

OK, I'm a uniter, not a divider, so here's my suggestion: HOW ABOUT BOTH?!?!?!

Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., who co-wrote the House bill calling for the border fence, said he was taken aback by seeing the size and scale the project would require."I just can't get over how massive this is, compared to (the border) in California," he told the Arizona Republic. "The prospect of a wall is kind of a tough, tough thing."

Is it tougher than supporting MILLIONS of illegal aliens? Geez...

There's nothing like sitting back with a tall glass of Jack Bauer...

So, are any of you out there 24 fans?

If you are, I have just one question...

Would you sacrifice the entire remaining staff of CTU to see Kim die?

It always cracks me up when someone calls the President stupid while their foot is firmly crammed into their mouth.

Case in point: Barbara Streisand. (Try not to cringe at the mention of her name.)

Streisand published yet another diatribe wherein she calls President Bush a "C student."

Never mind she misspelled 11 words. I guess Babs is too good for a spell checker.

Are you sick and tired of waiting on hold forever on a so-called customer service line?

Have you ever pressed zero, and instead of being connected to an operator been disconnected?

Here's your answer: GetHuman.

Punch in the requested info, and this website will tell you exactly what prompts are necessary to get to a live, human operator!

Try not to laugh as you stick it to em' and avoid their endless maze of button-pushing designed to keep you busy while on hold.

Arapahoe County, CO. is threatening to fire a veteran Public Works employee for promoting the fact that he is an English speaking American.

Mike Gray, a heavy equipment operator, has been with the county for 16 years, and runs his own lawn service business on the side.


The problems began last spring. Gray, 50, owns a lawn service business on the side. He was routinely driving to work in his pickup truck towing a trailer that he uses to carry lawn mowing equipment for his business. On the side of his trailer, the married father of two affixed a sign that reads "Lawn Services Done With Pride!! By An English Speaking American."

The sign also gives Gray's phone number and the lettering is over a background of an American flag.

"There are a lot of people in the lawn service that are non-English speaking," Gray said. "Customers and different people were telling me that they have a hard time trying to communicate with them about the work they want done on their yards. I just want to let people know they at least can communicate with me when I do work on their property."

Gray also wears a hat that says,"US Boarder Patrol", which was a gift from his son.

County officials told Gray that the hat must go and the sign must be altered, or else he would be canned. They sent him a letter in Nov. of 2005, and it WILL blow your mind.

"Some of your conduct ... is reprehensible and discriminatory to our non-English speaking and/or Hispanic workforce. You are in violation of ... guidelines which ensure a workplace free from harassment and sensitive to the diversity of employees."

"You are required to permanently remove your cap from the workplace. It is offensive and harassing. Your business sign, if on work premises, must be completely covered at all times. This behavior is inappropriate and any further incidents of this nature may result in further disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment."

Gray has hired a lawyer, and said he is willing to fight for his First Amendment rights.

"I got a new supervisor," said Gray. "He's a politically correct, bleeding heart liberal. I believe in what I'm doing. I got to stand up for what I believe in and I don't think I'm doing a thing wrong. Of course I don't want to lose my job, but I can't back down from something I believe in. Like I say, they're just chipping away at our rights and freedoms."

Gray's lawyer is in the process of filing an injunction so that Gray can continue to wear his hat and use his sign. Lane, the lawyer, issued this statement,"When the government tries to put a gag in people's mouths because they don't like the message that's being delivered, I'd do everything in my power to stop that from happening."

I would ask why the ACLU isn't offering to pro-bono Gray's case, but I'm afraid I'd be laughed right off of this blog!

We live in the only country on Earth that does not expect immigrants to learn the language. Can you imagine if you moved to France or Germany and DEMANDED that they learn English, so that you didn't have to give up your culture? I believe the response would involve a rail...

For all of you Mac users out there: A little funny. Enjoy!

Just a little comparison.

Three German police officers face disciplinary action after lifting their kilts at a fancy dress party while wearing nothing underneath, police said today.

"The three were drunk, wore kilts and then started a squabble with some colleagues," said Berlin police spokesman Klaus Schubert.

"One thing led to another and they started lifting their kilts over and over again to show their all - back and front. Some people thought this wasn't decent and complained to the police."

The three have been transferred to other police stations and face disciplinary action for wrongdoing out of duty hours.

Germany's carnival season ended yesterday after several days of raucous partying and drinking across the nation.

My only question is: What do kilts have to do with German cops?

An anti-war group that belongs to the umbrella organization United for Peace and Justice (UPJ) has announced that it intends to topple the Bush administration during a March 15 Washington, D.C. protest.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

In a message headlined "Storm the White House" that appears on the UPJ Web site, the group Political Cooperative is urging its members:

"TAKE THE WHITE HOUSE BY STORM, Stop Genocide, Torture and Occupation."

The message goes on to explain:

"We will not allow the Slave Holders that Still Prevail in this Country to Rule us any longer . . . The Administration is Criminal and if they will not step down, we must storm in, show them how many of us do not accept a criminal government."

I was unaware that we were still holding slaves in this country. And storming the White House? Puh-lease! I don't think the country is ran from the White House...

The Political Cooperative goes so far as to announce its plans to install an interim government after the Bush administration is toppled:

"The Political Cooperative will put a new, temporary government in place that is comprised of people from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and all the organizations that have finally made us aware of the truth of the savage practices and illegal policies of our government in assassinating our own officials as well as people throughout the world who oppose their criminal activity."

So we've got Amnesty International running things. Hey, isn't planning a coup and threatening to assasinate political leaders a cartload of felonies?

So, if our government is SO bad, how come these nutties aren't in shakles with a Secret Service guard beating them?

Bush-bashing filmmaker Michael Moore apparently endorses the coup plan, linking to the "Storm the White House" message on his Web site.

Oh, THERE'S a surprise.

Hollywood will be changing the traditional Oscar statue this year in favor of a new, more politically correct version. Collectors predict that the traditional Oscar will become a hot item.

It seems that while Hillary was drafting legislation to smack down the Dubai Ports deal, Bill was advising Dubai. (And he did it for free, too.)

"These guys called him, and he took a phone call from them, and he told them he did not know the details of this specific proposal," said Bill Clinton's spokesman, Jay Carson.

The former President was traveling in Pakistan when he got the call two weeks ago, sources said, and Hillary didn't talk to him about it.

You can bet the Queen of Shrill is furious over this! It seems like Bill is doing some passive-aggressive sabotage...

A high school teacher caught by a student on audiotape in an anti-U.S. and anti-capitalism diatribe was placed on administrative leave after the recording was made public.

In the tape, Jay Bennish – teaching a 10th grade world geography class at Overland High School in Aurora, Colo. – called the U.S. "probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth" and described capitalism as a system "at odds with human rights."

Bennish told students Jan. 29 he found "eerie similarities" to Bush's statements in his State of the Union speech and things Adolf Hitler said, i.e., "We're the only ones who are right. Everyone else is backwards. And it's our job to conquer the world and make sure they live just like we want them to."

"Now, I'm not saying that Bush and Hitler are exactly the same," Bennish said. "Obviously, they are not. OK. But there are some eerie similarities to the tones that they use. Very, very ethnocentric. We're right. You're all wrong.

Twenty minutes of the class was recorded on an MP3 player by student Sean Allen, who can be heard at several points questioning Bennish's declarations.

Bennish has been with the school's social studies faculty since 2000, according to the Denver Post.

An Overland student told KUSA-TV in Denver Bennish's rant was "the usual thing in our school," the only difference being that a tape recorder was there.

"Three quarters of the teachers are anti-Bush – very much so," she said.

Cherry Creek School District spokeswoman Tustin Amole said officials are probing the incident but have taken no disciplinary action. The teacher was placed on leave "to take some of the pressure off of him" during the investigation, Amole said, according to the Post.

After listening to the tape, Superintendent Monte Moses told the Denver paper "a breach of district policy" occurred.

"Our policy calls for both sides to be present ... in the interest of intellectual discourse," Moses said.

The 16-year-old student told talk host Mike Rosen of KOA in Denver yesterday he had been disturbed by the "political rants" he heard in Bennish's class.

"If he wants to give an opinion in class, I'm perfectly OK with that," he said. "But he has to give both sides of the story."

Allen said he often has used a recorder to help take notes.

During the Jan. 29 class, the student argued that the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were responses to unprovoked attacks on American soil.

Bennish replied that to al-Qaida, 9-11 was a response to U.S. involvement in the Holy Land and to missile attacks during the Clinton administration in Afghanistan and Sudan.

In the mind of al-Qaida, the teacher said, the World Trade Center, the White House, the Pentagon and other buildings are "military targets."

At one point, according to the tape, Bennish asked:

Who is probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth?

(Unidentified student responds: We are.)

The United States of America! And we're a democracy.

Who has the most weapons of mass destruction in the world? The United States.

Who's continuing to develop new weapons of mass destruction as we speak? The United States.

So, why does Mr. Bush think that other countries that are democracies won't wanna be like us? Why does he think they'll just wanna be at peace with each other? What makes him think that when the Palestinians get their own state that they won't wanna preemptively invade Israel to eliminate a potential threat to their security just like we supposedly did in Iraq?

Do you see the dangerous precedent that we have set by illegally invading another country and violating their sovereignty in the name of protecting us against a potential future – sorry – attack?

On capitalism, Bennish said:

If you don't understand the economic system of capitalism, you don't understand the world in which we live. OK. Economic system in which all or most of the means of production, etc., are owned privately and operated in a somewhat competitive environment for the purpose of producing profit.

Of course, you can shorten these definitions down. Make sure you get the gist of it. Do you see how when, you know, when you're looking at this definition, where does it say anything about capitalism is an economic system that will provide everyone in the world with the basic needs that they need? Is that a part of this system? Do you see how this economic system is at odds with humanity? At odds with caring and compassion? It's at odds with human rights.

Anytime you have a system that is designed to procure profit, when profit is the bottom motive – money – that means money is going to become more important potentially than what? Safety, human lives, etc.

The school district has placed the teacher on leave and will complete its investigation this week.

Can you believe this guy is a 10th grade geography teacher? What the hell does any of this have to do with geography?

AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!

I have included a link to the audio tape that the student taped. It is breathtaking!

Identity soup, as it is becoming known by, is under political fire in France. The soup is a historical main staple of soup kitchens for French citizens, and its primary ingredient is inexpensive pork.

However, the political inference was soon realized by the French government, and police are forbidding the soup from being served for fear it may offend Muslims. Police cite the "discriminatory nature of the soup."

Made with smoked bacon, and with pigs' ears, feet and tails, together with vegetables and sausages, the soup is being served secretly, sometimes in different places each day. This, despite the fact that Muslim-ran soup kitchens are free to serve halal food, and Jewish kitchens are permitted to serve kosher foods.

Odile Bonnivard runs a roving soup kitchen.
"Our freedom in France is being threatened. If we prefer European civilization and Christian culture, that's our choice."

An elderly woman named Helene, who has a home but very little money left over after rent, often comes to the kitchen for the pork soup. She says,"At least here there are people who are of the same mind as me. The French, and the Europeans in general, roll over for foreigners, and particularly Islam.

The kitchen has also started to make a political statement with its soup. In France, most soup kitchens provide the needy with a complete dinner, including cheese and dessert. Bonnivard's group even offers a glass of red wine with every meal.

"The only condition required for dining with us: eat pork. Cheese, dessert, coffee, clothing and candy go with the pork soup. No soup, no dessert."

"They're more afraid of us than any march by Islamists or Jews," said Bonnivard's husband, Roger. "We're not yet living in a land of Islam."

It is atrocious that the French government is so worried about the feelings of Muslims that they would deny their own citizens from feeding the hungry through a charity. Atrocious, but not surprising.

You just know that the Imams in France are laughing their butts off.