The children in Gaza don't need any modernized Bible stories to keep them entertained when Hamas can just as easily produce wonderful entertainment that glorifies today's jihad.
The cute little kid on the left is going to kill the evil man on the right who is none other than George Bush. Wait until you see the plans they have for the White House!
To be a peacebuilder one must, apparently, disregard the political bent of evil countries, the intent of homicidal terrorists who seek spectacular death, and the history of prosperous countries that espouse individual liberty and freedom.
Enter Lisa Schirch, Professor of Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, who has attained the uncanny skill of embracing all three disciplines of ignorance while simultaneously forgetting anything she ever knew about economics.
The oft told Bible stories of my youth are no longer exciting or interesting enough to be important to today's generation of hedonistic narcissists. Ok, that isn't specifically what the author says, but how inaccurate is my premise?
From the Daily Mail
Goliath is a celebrity binge drinker, Eve is a sex-obsessed man-eater and Noah's wife wants to kill him . . . welcome to the updated Bible.By all means, lets see what we can do to secularize the Holy Bible. That whole yucky religion thing is like totally getting in the way of a good story.
An Anglican vicar has rewritten the most famous biblical tales because he wants to make them more "accessible" to modern readers.
The Rev Robert Harrison's book, Must Know Stories, contains retellings of ten Bible stories and is out tomorrow.
In the nativity story, Jesus is born in an overcrowded house instead of a stable, amid family conflict as Joseph's aunt deals with the fact that he and Mary are not even married.
Last night Mr Harrison defended his decision to rewrite key Christian tales that have remained unchanged for centuries.
He said he was doing it to encourage people to read stories "that are so utterly part of our culture.
"They should know them - not as a matter of religion but as a matter of cultural education," he said.
"I wanted to write a book that tells the most important Bible stories in a way that relishes them rather than tries to make any particular religious point.You are a Reverend, right? You do have some credentials, don't you?
"After all, who knows what the point is?
"What is more important to me is that people are getting to know the stories.Yes, your stories, not Biblical ones.
"There are lots of people who won't pick up the Bible and look for a story, most won't even own one.My premise is totally wrong.
"Even if they did they would find it hard to translate as it is written in Shakespearean English. I want to get the stories to them in an accessible form, written for modern society."
Moqtada al-Sadr is ordering his militia off the street after five days of suffering a good old fashioned butt kicking at the hands of Iraqi security forces.
The BBC has the straight news story, NPR provides the typical MSM "every situation in Iraq sucks" angle, while AJ Strata provides the numbers of deaths and casualties the Mehdi Army has suffered.
Al-Sadr's official statement via the BBC story:
Moqtada Sadr's statement said: "Because of the religious responsibility, and to stop Iraqi blood being shed, and to maintain the unity of Iraq and to put an end to this sedition that the occupiers and their followers want to spread among the Iraqi people, we call for an end to armed appearances in Basra and all other provinces.Mookie's usefulness to Iraq is long gone (if he ever had one.) It is time for him to shut up of his own accord or for Maliki to shut him up for good.
"Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us."
This statement from LiveLeak, the company that agreed to host "Fitna", Geert Wilder's 17 minute video on the jihad:
Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.The biggest surprise here is really that Wilder's film got any play at all.
This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realised LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one.
Perhaps there is still hope that this situation may produce a discussion that could benefit and educate all of us as to how we can accept one anothers culture.
We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high.
I will not be posting today for reasons relating to an afternoon meeting gone awry, a children's play at the school tonight, and a "resealable" Azteca 8 pack of flour tortillas that refused to reseal as advertised and consequently set me back an additional $7.40 in the design and manufacture of a combination duct tape/epoxy backup seal apparatus--this, of course, before any long term medical bills or counseling services can be added up.
Moral?
Never buy tortillas made in Illinois.
The 17 minute film by Geert Wilders, "Fitna" has been released on the internet.
Fitna, which means "ordeal" in Arabic, is a film that shows disturbing images of the worldwide Islamic jihad intermixed with Koranic texts.
The film has been the cause of great concern particularly in the Netherlands where Wilders is a known political figure.
Muslim leaders have protested the impending release of the film for weeks believing it was designed to offend Muslims. Of course, the target of the film is not Muslims at all, but rather non-Muslims that are ignorant of the teachings of Islam.
So far we have calm. But, as Michelle Malkin points out, Friday prayers have not ended yet.
assist to The Brussels Journal
I've been stewing on a John McCain post for over a month now, never really knowing how to start it or end it, though I was quite certain nearly all of the middle portion would be swearing. Yesterday's address by McCain has finally loosened me up. I've been biting my tongue (or fingers) now for close to 24 hours and I think I've got most of my profanity in check.
Here goes.
John McCain is so confident he has wrapped up the conservative vote that he isn't even going to throw me a bone. He is so sure that the conservatives will fall in lock step behind him that he's willing to bet that his talk of ceding US sovereignty to other world leaders will be ignored. Not likely. At least not by me.
And to think, foreign policy is supposed to be his strong suit.
According to McCain there will be no more of this going it alone stuff that the US is now, apparently, slogging around in. Never mind that we had a coalition that included our greatest allies and that we gave every other limp-wristed pantie waist nation on Earth an opportunity to join us. Not an opportunity to kick some ass, but the opportunity to do what was right. They didn't want to. Russia had too much to hide. France, aside from not wanting any of their soldiers to break a nail, was making too much money in the Iraqi oil fields. Spain? Well, they were on board until a dozen terrorists chased their nation into a quivering hole of surrender. The UN and EU? Sure, they are on board for any peace keeping mission as long as no troops will face hostile fire. A gaggle of women heading for a blue-light bin of corsets would be enough to scare off a UN peacekeeping force, at least after they had a chance to buy a couple.
Scared of the anti-American attitude that Guantanamo has helped to create around the world, McCain says he will shut it down. Tom Lantos was absolutely correct when he told Dutch lawmakers that “Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay,” this as the Dutch were threatening to remove their troops from Afghanistan over Gitmo. Better, Dutch lawmakers feel, that their troops be fired at from released Gitmo prisoners, than to have their country face a restive Muslim population that threatens to explode over any perceived slight--whether it be an insulting cartoon, a film on Islam or a false rumor of a desecrated Koran.
The fact is, most of our European brethren face different social and cultural problems than we do, and these problems have done a great deal to compromise Europe's courage and morals. There are still pockets of free thinkers in Europe, but these enclaves are being pushed to the margins by the same people that demand we leave Iraq, close Gitmo, disarm, and please send them some money!
When we give other countries an opportunity to join us in doing what is right, it is simply that, an invitation to help. We should never seek the world's permission to engage in battles that are integral to our national interests. Just because another nation lacks the vision and fortitude to do what is correct should not be reason enough for America to abdicate its responsibilities.
John McCain should know better.
Don't look to Gov. Granholm to short circuit what is bound to be one of the most negative media stories to hit Detroit in decades--at least not yet.
From the AP and Lansing State Journal:
DETROIT - Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she doesn't have much to say about the criminal case against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, citing the possibility she could have a role to play in the situation down the road.Well, that legal process is going to go forward whether Kwame has his hands on the reins (or his heel on the throat) of the city or not. What is important here is the damage the city and state will certainly suffer if more and more people around the nation and world are given the chance to concentrate on our beloved city of Detroit and the current group of narcissistic crooks that run the joint. Detroit is so messed up it could be used by Mahmoud Abbas as an example to the entire Middle East that things could be much worse. "At lease we're not Detroit."
Granholm has the power to remove local officials for misconduct.
The Democratic governor said today she would prefer not to discuss the issue other than to say she wants to allow the legal process to go forward.
It didn't take very long for the Muslim outrage to begin.
Last Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI baptized a non-practicing Muslim in a traditional Easter eve ceremony.
Aref Ali Nayed, the head of Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, called the baptism of journalist Magdi Allam a deliberate and provocative act.No other faith has the paranoia and control-freakish tendencies associated with it that Islam does.
The Vatican has not yet commented, but its official newspaper said the gesture aimed to promote religious freedom.
The Pope traditionally baptises adult converts to Catholicism on Easter eve.
Mr Allam's invitation to the ceremony, which took place in St Peter's Basilica, was however kept secret by the Vatican, until just before the Easter vigil mass.
If you were unfortunate enough to have missed all the colorful proceedings, you are in luck. Zombie has you covered.
h/t Michelle Malkin
There isn't much point in bailing out yet when there is still plenty of embarrassment to slather around the city of Detroit like so many layers of discarded trash. Kwame Kilpatrick, the heir to Coleman Young's corrupt governing machine, is just getting started at the obfuscation, misdirection, obstruction and fabrication that have become the crown jewels in his administration.
“This has been a very flawed process from the very beginning,” he said. “I look forward to complete exoneration once all the facts surrounding this matter have been brought forth. In the meantime, I will remain focused on moving the city forward.”This is not about a flawed process, as Kilpatrick claims, but of a very flawed person putting his own esteem ahead of the needs of everyone and everything else in his life. Does Kwame Kilpatrick know anyone that will not be hurt by drawing out this process? Will it help his city or his state?
Oh, there is never much doubt about the political party of a Republican if he is caught doing something unseemly.
Mark Foley and Larry Craig come to mind.
Yet, when the indictment of Kwame Kilpatrick, the Mayor of Detroit, hit the national AP wire there was an important piece of news oddly missing from the 19 paragraph story.
Guess what it is.
h/t Power Line
Fresh on the heels of a promised $150 million cash infusion into the Palestinian Authority from the US (cash given directly to the PA, and not humanitarian agencies,) Fatah has decided to give cash grants to members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, its terrorist militant arm, to help with the bills.
From World Net Daily via Dhimmi Watch:
JERUSALEM – Just days after it was announced the U.S. would transfer $150 million directly to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' government, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the declared military wing of Abbas' Fatah party, were told they would receive cash grants, WND has learned.A terrorist's salary doesn't go as far as it used to. Thank goodness that Uncle Sam is there to help make ends meet.
According to Palestinian militant sources familiar with the issue, earlier this month, 20 members of the Brigades leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah complained to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad they did not have enough money to pay their bills, including, for many of them, rent for their apartments.
Last week, according to the informed sources, Fayyad told the complaining Brigades leaders he would provide them with a one-time grant of $3,000 each, or $60,000 to the Ramallah-based Brigades leadership.
The sources said after Brigades leaders in other West Bank cities, including Hebron and Nablus, heard of the grants, they also demanded pay increases.
"Some of the other fighters accused Fayyad of favoring the Brigades leaders in Ramallah since that's where Fayyad lives," said a militant source. "So he gave grants also to other cells."
Living off the UK taxpayers for decades, a multi-generational family enjoys their life on the public's dime.
"People don't understand how hard it is to keep a family like this going - no wonder we can't work. How could I go out to work with all these children at home? Local people call us scroungers and that is so unfair. We need the money to keep the family going.Seriously, there is a lot more to read about this quaint family that believes that other taxpayers should be the main providers for their family.
"We get about £2,700 a month in benefits, from income support to disability allowance, and child benefit for the kids. Kyle is at college and he gets the Education Maintenance Allowance of £30 a week, and we get Housing Benefit, too. Our rent is £40 a week, so our benefits don't go far."
Jean Thompson, 66, hasn't worked for over 40 years. She lives in Neath, Swansea, with husband Glyn, 61, a retired plumber. They have three grown-up children, two of whom live on benefits, including son Steven Martin, 39.
Jean says: "My own dad worked down the pit, but my mum didn't work, so I suppose I wanted the same life that she had when I grew up. I just wanted to be at home and live off other people.
"I left school at 15 with no qualifications and worked in a sewing factory for a short while then gave it up and went on the dole instead. Even when my kids were older, I didn't go back to work because I didn't want to. I never get bored. I just sew, knit and clean.
"I don't worry about the example I set to my kids or the fact that two of them don't work. It's up to them what they do, it's their life, not mine, so it's not my problem. I don't think my desire never to work and to live off the state and my husband rubbed off on Steven. He makes his own decisions.
"I'm certainly not angry that Steven doesn't have a job. He's got children, that's his job. And I don't worry that he's setting a bad example to his children - that's up to him."
From ProtestShooter via LGF, this beautiful depiction of the political attitude shared by some San Francisco activists and at least one Chicago church.
Mike Hendrix at Cold Fury has a few comments.
I will be traveling to Lansing today for one of the following purposes:
It turns out that Barack Obama is no more insightful or magical than the next Average Joe on the street when it comes to some things. Oh sure, he speaks better than most people, and that voice of his is commanding. He has a magnetic personality and charisma that makes many in his audience crave the next spoken word. But, as he has smoothly chosen words of eloquence and delivered them with mastery, he has also accidentally exposed himself as little more than one of the rest of us when it comes to the complexities of race, a man who struggles with his own genetic identity and that of those around him.
I do not question Obama's sincerity as a lot of other people have, but I do question his deep understanding of race relations. Today he referred to his grandmother as a "typical white person." That is from the common man lexicon, not from the mouth of a man destined to unite the races.
Barak Obama's story is remarkable for he is the product of a mixed marriage, a man who has undoubtedly suffered the prejudices of two races, and here he is, on the cusp of receiving the nomination of the Democrat Party for the Presidency. That, in and of itself makes this man very special. He is forging a path in the US that has never been traveled before and he has great courage for doing so.
And, if Barack Obama does capture his party's nomination and goes on to win in November, it might very well be good for race relations in this country, because it just might, once and for all, help to dispense with the "typical white person" canard and others like it, that seems to pop out of the mouths of too many people these days. As it turns out, a lot of typical white folks will vote for a black man--and millions already have.
If he does win this November's election I hope he succeeds in making his hopeful vision on race a reality. But, I think if he does so it will be because of his bravery and charisma and will have little to do with any unique perspective he has on race.
h/t Power Line
Nothing says that "I'm guiltlessly willing to literally rip my parasitic baby limb from limb" any more splendidly than this gently curved coat hanger pendant. 
From the product description:
This 14K gold filled hanger pendent is on a 18" gold cable chain. Each necklace is handmade by jeweler M'Lou Brubacker. Wear your hanger necklace and support reproductive rights and let everyone know how important choice really is.I'm assuming they are not referring to the choice of the baby.
I was irked when the price of eggs jumped over $2.00 per dozen. They now rest comfortably at $2.39.
Despite all of that I'm glad I don't live in Marxist-socialist Zimbabwe where Robert Mugabe's centrally controlled economy has produced an inflation rate of 100,000% and the world's most expensive egg.
That egg? $3.5 Million Zimbabwean Dollars.
When Mugabe took office 26 years ago, 1 US dollar was worth 1.6 Zimbabwean dollars, or, translated into today's egg chronicle, about $3.82 a dozen.
Before socialism, $3.82 per dozen. Twenty six years after socialism, $42,000,000.00 per dozen.
A Denny's grand slam breakfast? Forget about it.
The Detroit City Council overwhelming passed a resolution yesterday asking for the resignation of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The measure passed 7-1 with the lone dissenting vote belonging to one Monica Conyers. Does that name sound familiar?
Monica Conyers is the overloud and bar brawling wife of US Rep. John Conyers.
From the Detroit News:
Conyers said her "no" vote on the resignation resolution wasn't an act of support for the mayor; she said she needed more information before she'd be willing to seek his resignation. "Let's stop playing symbolic games with symbolic resolutions," Conyers said.Ah, an interesting comment from a woman that voted for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney less than a year ago (not that a vote from the city of Detroit trying to nose its way into national politics would ever be considered "symbolic.")
I was not able to see Barack Obama's speech today. By all accounts it was delivered flawlessly and with great passion.
Paul Mirengoff at Powerline called the speech courageous, while Karl at Protein Wisdom dissects the theology behind the speech. It seems Bonnie Bucqueroux at the Detroit News Bloghouse would love to bear his children.
My take on all of this, after having read a great deal of commentary, is that it cannot be proven that Barack Obama believes all of the things that Rev. Wright has spewed throughout the 20 years that Obama attended services in Wright's church. Neither can it be proven that Obama was present at any of the particular sermons that have drawn so much attention of late. What can be proven is a close 20 year relationship between the two men, a relationship that both have stated they value.
It is very difficult for me to believe, therefore, that Obama was completely unaware of Rev. Wright's sentiments toward Caucasians in the United States of White America. His meek denouncement of Wright at this point in time, it seems to me, is one of political expediency rather than one of the heart.
Which is, once you think of it, exactly what we expect out of most politicians, though we deserve much better.
Lets just hope one of those flags doesn't jump off of the stage and right onto Obama's lapel. 
Because that would be like, so fakey!
Your tax dollars are working, indeed.
Just ask James Sturtz, the thrice convicted sex offender that is receiving Pell Grants for continuing his education while he is locked up in a predator's treatment center. The pedophile rapist would not be eligible for the grants if his butt was still sitting in prison because guidelines specifically disallow that abuse, but once predators are transferred into treatment facilities the doors to Uncle Sam's coffers swing wide open.
The AP and Lansing State Journal report:
Prison inmates are ineligible for Pell Grants under a 1994 law. Students convicted of certain drug offenses are also ineligible. But sexual predators qualify once they are transferred from prison to treatment centers.Wow, hard to believe that convicted sex offenders, already locked up in treatment centers, wouldn't feel obligated to repay the unused portion of a grant.
"This is the most insane waste of taxpayer money that I have seen in my eight years in Congress," said Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla., who is pushing to stop the practice. "It is a national embarrassment that we are wasting taxpayer dollars for pedophiles and rapists to take college courses while hardworking young people from lower-class families are flipping hamburgers to pay for college."
Moreover, some institutions report that sex offenders are putting the financial aid to questionable uses by buying such things as clothes, a DVD player and music CDs - sometimes, after they have dropped out of school. Pell Grants can legally be put toward expenses that are education-related. But the unused portion of a grant is supposed to be repaid when someone withdraws from school.
Some Democratic members of Congress and others say it would be counterproductive to put up a barrier to education for sex offenders who are trying to rehabilitate themselves.This is the sort of thing that happens when liberals want to fund their own pet charities with the dollars contributed by others.
"These are people who we want to prepare to go into the communities. They need to have access to educational programs," Richards said. "I think the numbers of committed persons aren't so large they would significantly preclude other citizens from taking advantage of educational support. To preclude them seems mean-spirited to me."
I am thankful that I live in the United States where religious tolerance is alive and well.
Not so in parts of the Philippines:
MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - Father Teresito Soganub doesn't look like a Catholic priest and, from the outside, his cathedral doesn't look like a church.Or in Qatar, for that matter, where the nation's first Catholic church has recently opened without a cross, bell, steeple or sign.
In his parish, tucked away in Marawi, the only Islamic city in the Philippines, it's easier that way.
"To avoid arguments and to avoid further misunderstandings we just plant the cross deep in our hearts," said the 47-year-old priest, who doesn't wear a crucifix or a clerical collar and sports a beard out of respect for his Muslim neighbors.
Undaunted by the nation's worst state economy, budget shortfalls, rising unemployment, a failing public school system, and its largest city in political shambles, the Senate leaders of Michigan have taken the lead in a gallant effort to heal the state's numerous woes.
From Michigan Votes with a hat tip to Right Michigan:
Introduced by Sen. Glenn Anderson on March 13, 2008, to estblish [sic] that henceforth and forever more (or at least until a future legislature and governor see fit to declare otherwise), the official Scottish tartan of the great state of Michigan shall be the one described by the Scottish hand weavers and textile designers "thread count" denoted by the phrase "BG18* W2 BG8 W2 T8 DG2 T4 DG24 DR4 DG4*," where the symbol "*" denotes 1/2 the total threads at the turning points. The bill is cosponsored by Senators John Gleason, Michael Prusi, Martha Scott, Deborah Cherry, Dennis Olshove, Michael Switalski, Raymond Basham, and Patricia Birkholz.That is right Michigan, if your state Senate has anything to say about it, at least as you flee this dying state you can paste some official Michigan tartan to the side of your moving van.
- Referred to the Senate Local, Urban, & State Affairs Committee on March 13, 2008.
Michigan Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow proudly take right and center among competing gluttons at the public trough, unwilling to vote for a moratorium on earmarks that would last for only one lousy year.
These tax and spenders won't even consider rehab.
Oddly enough, all three Presidential candidates from the Senate voted in favor of the moratorium. Funny how an election impacts things when the candidates know that the voters are paying attention, though in fairness, McCain has been a vocal critic of earmarks for years.
A political gamble that seems to have paid off huge for the University of Chicago Hospital is a large raise given to its vice president of community affairs.
The vice president was hired at an annual salary of $121,910 in 2004, but was given a promotion and raise to $316,962 in 2005.
So, how did the gamble pay off?
It seems the vice president for community and external affairs is one Michelle Obama who was hired by the hospital while her husband still languished in state politics and before he ever entered the US Senate. However, shortly after Barack Obama was elected to the US Senate, his wife Michelle received that rather startling $195,052 raise.
The payoff comes in when her newly crowned husband requested an earmark for the University of Chicago toward constructing a new hospital pavilion. The earmark requested was for a cool $1,000,000.
Rather than change in federal government, this sounds more like business as usual.
h/t Conservative Grapevine
From the AP:
WICHITA, Kan. - Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years — so long that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the boyfriend finally called police.The good news is that the boyfriend, after his two year ordeal, was both able to locate his copy of War and Peace, and to go back to peeing inside.
Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman's skin had grown around the seat. She initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.
"We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."
People are judged by the company they keep. Barack Obama is not only keeping company with a racist America hater, he also regards Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of his home church, as a mentor and adviser.
From ABC:
An ABC News review of dozens of Rev. Wright's sermons, offered for sale by the church, found repeated denunciations of the U.S. based on what he described as his reading of the Gospels and the treatment of black Americans.One cannot hold Obama accountable for what Wright has said, but Obama should comment on why he continues to attend a church where such things are spewed on a regular basis.
"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people," he said in a 2003 sermon. "God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."
In addition to damning America, he told his congregation on the Sunday after Sept. 11, 2001 that the United States had brought on al Qaeda's attacks because of its own terrorism.
"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Rev. Wright said in a sermon on Sept. 16, 2001.
Though unquestioningly unique in both texture and flavor, a more traditional recipe for medium heat chili tastes much better than one where diced beets are accidentally substituted for the tomatoes.
File this one under the "stupid cans look too much alike" chapter.
I saved over 20,000 gallons of water yesterday by not pumping E85.
I did it for the environment.
From a speech delivered today in Detroit:
Tonight, no one is talking about insolvency. Tonight, no one is talking about bankruptcy. Tonight, no one is talking about receivership.You are right, Kwame, but what are they talking about?
More than two months after honor killing his two teenage daughters in Irving, Texas, Yasser Abdul Said is still on the loose.
This is a dark story that bears repeating and it is also a story that has not been completely told.
It’s another face of jihad. These men come here from Egypt, they marry American women in order to become American citizens. The American wives convert to Islam. Then, they have Muslim children who are natural-born American citizens — but who are raised to hate America and to want to live under shari’a law. Then, these men expect their teen-age American daughters to marry much older Muslim men from Egypt in arranged marriages. I know that Yasser wanted Amina to marry someone from Egypt.The jihad comes in many forms and not all of them involve the fiery crashes of jetliners into skyscrapers or the murdering of teenage girls. Yet, the tactics of Yasser Abdul Said and countless other Muslim immigrant men in America, long before they ever father their first children, are part of a quiet jihad.
Let me see if I understand this correctly.
Two conservative student groups invite a nationally recognized speaker to the campus of Michigan State University. When Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minutemen, shows up to speak, his presentation is continually interrupted by disruptive protesters. They yell, they scream, they swear, they interrupt, they bang on chairs. It would seem their love of free speech can only be surpassed by their hate of others' free speech.
The police come to the scene and arrest five demonstrators, all of whom are given misdemeanor tickets (though two plead down to that after being initially charged with felonies--you know, a felony used to be pretty serious.)
Now after the event was disrupted and thugs thrown in the clink, the groups that put on the talk, the MSU College Republicans and the Young Americans for Freedom, are under investigation by the university for "alleged violation of the university's anti-discrimination policy."
From the Lansing State Journal:
University officials would not comment publicly on the investigation.Thanks Mr. Denbow. That clears a lot of things right up.
But Terry Denbow, MSU's vice president for university relations, said speculation such as Allen's was "baseless," and that the university would not target a group or individual for their political views.
"We would find it abhorrent if anybody did that," he said.
"That is not going on, and, if it was, it wouldn't be tolerated by (President) Lou Anna Simon, (Provost) Kim Wilcox and others."
Seeking sanity? Don't look toward the Netherlands where they are certainly in the habit of pushing the tolerance envelope.
If a new police proposal is adopted, intoxicated park goers wanting to have sex will have the state's blessing unless their ill-behaved pets get off the leash and poop on the grass while their owners are otherwise engaged. (Heh-heh. I said get off.)
Because, geez, that poop is really disgusting!
Of course Hollanders should be comforted by the strict guidelines that accompany this license to publicly fornicate since the participants must stay away from the playgrounds, they must do it in the evening or at night, and the disposal of all condoms is mandated.
Some are quite pleased.
Homosexuals' organisation COC is pleased that the Amsterdam Oud-Zuid district is to be the first to tolerate sex in the Vondelpark. "Cruising is something belonging to all time and banning it does not work anyway. They do it surreptitiously and mostly without others being annoyed by it. But homos at cruising spots are often attacked. By now agreeing rules of behaviour on this, safety can be increased," according to COC Amsterdam chairman Dennis Boutkan.Me personally? If I happen to wander off of a secluded little park path I'd much rather run headlong into a wayward turd than an unclothed couple of drunks in the heat of entangled passion.
We have been led to believe by many that it is Hamas that is the forger of terror while the Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, is more moderate and a seeker of peace.
And then we read the jaw-dropping propaganda of the PA's own newspaper glorifying the murderer of innocent teenagers in Jerusalem and calling him a Shahid, or a Holy Islamic Martyr.
From PMW Bulletin:
Mahmoud Abbas's official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper has honored the killer of the eight high school students gunned down this week with the status of Shahid - Holy Islamic Martyr. In so doing, the PA is sending its people a straightforward message of support for the terror murders and the murderer. According to the PA interpretation of Islam, there is no higher status that a human being can achieve today than that of Shahid.We shall see if the US has the guts to hold Abbas' feet to the fire when the organization he supposedly leads engages in this sort of pathetic blood worshiping. While Abbas condemned the shooting shortly after it occurred for the digestion of the west, as with many things Islamic, one public story is for our notice while another story is to be publicized elsewhere.
The official PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida prominently placed a picture of the killer on the front page, with the caption, "The Shahid Alaa Abu D'heim." In a Page One article on the terror killings, his act is again defined as a "Shahada achieving" action.
This honoring of terror and terrorists by the PA has significant financial ramifications, particularly at this time. Last week the US Administration sent a request to Congress to allocate $150 million to the Palestinian Authority. In response to earlier PMW reports on the widespread Palestinian honoring of terror, Congress made it illegal for the US to give money to entities that "advocate" terror, as follows:"[The US] shall terminate assistance to any individual, entity... which she has determined to be involved in or advocating terrorist activity." Congress further legislated that "none of the [US] ... assistance under the West Bank and Gaza Program may be made available for the purpose of recognizing or otherwise honoring individuals who commit, or have committed acts of terrorism."Since a society's honoring of terrorists is one of the greatest terror promotions, and as the budget for the PA newspaper comes from the PA's general budget, the incessant honoring of this and all recent terrorists by Abbas's PA as Holy Islamic Shahids should render the Palestinian Authority ineligible to receive any American money under the terms of US law.
-2008 Foreign Operations Bill Sec. 657.B - C.1
Is it possible to worsen an economy that is already suffering from 100,000% inflation a year?
Sure, if you are the rich versus poor, black versus white socialist Robert Mugabe with an election coming up.
Economists are not impressed with his scheme that might very well drive away what few foreign investment possibilities that even exist.
Why should that matter?
It's for the people!
The murk clouding the skies over Detroit is no longer provided solely by a huge industrial complex forging out tomorrow's automobiles, for many of the factories, iconic to a city that prided itself on the oft fiery marriage of innovation and brute-force labor, have simply boarded up and moved south while a symbolic few of those remaining are surrounded by picketers that seem intent upon driving the holdovers either just across the border or all the way into the land of Dixie.
No, a large portion of today's dark clouds over Motown are emanating directly from city hall where the current generation of corrupt puppeteers has dug in its heels, circled the wagons, battened down the hatches and reached for city provided cell phones to do some serious texting.
It is as if the city itself is located on a giant sinkhole that has started to swallow up ever larger bites of its infrastructure, pride and spirit.
History will be bitterly disappointed in Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
He had all that was necessary to continue the change of the city's course that was started under the mayorship of Dennis Archer who preceded him. An older and wiser Archer had already done much of the dirty work by taking on the riffraff remains of Coleman Young's dirty political machine. Kilpatrick was only 31 when elected, handsome, smart and filled with city-born charisma. He was educated and able to communicate. He could have been exactly what the city needed--a vibrant young man capable of slamming the door on previous generations of abuse, neglect and pettiness. He was young and inexperienced, sure, but he appeared to have "it", however hard it sometimes is to define "it."
Kilpatrick's first term was repeatedly attacked with charges of womanizing, partying, inappropriate expenditures and cronyism. He narrowly won a second term. But rather than taking that slim victory as warning that a change in tactics and practice was warranted, Kilpatrick continued along his own questionable path, hopscotching over the head of Archer and firmly into the corrupt corridors that still echo the whispers of Coleman Young.
Kilpatrick, now solidly within that second term, not only has not delivered on any of his potential, but he has stolen much of what he rode to political office on--the hope of the citizens of Detroit that the city could, once again, become a city that mattered because of its immense productivity and not because of its immense need.
The Democrat mantra of the government providing for the people is well known. Kilpatrick has always said that it is his desire to continue on with the business of helping the city of Detroit and its people. If he is sincere at all about this it is time for the man to step down.
Where have you gone Dennis Archer?
Hamas claimed responsibility today for the murder of eight Jewish religious students in Jerusalem. The victims were mostly teenagers with some as young as 15.
From the Telegraph:
Hamas militants have claimed responsibility for the murder of eight young students at a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem yesterday.Israel is still trying to validate the claims.
An official, who wished to remain anonymous, from the Palestinian Islamist movement said: "The Hamas movement announces its full responsibility for the Jerusalem operation. The movement will release the details at a later stage."
A Hamas radio presenter backed up the claim. He said the group's military wing had "promised a jolting response" to this week's violence in the Gaza Strip in which more than 120 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military, many of them in the northern Gaza town Jebaliya.
The radio referred to the Jerusalem attack as "the fruits of what happened in Jebaliya" and called on believers to "celebrate this victory against the brutal enemy."
How critical to our world is the United Nations when it cannot even pass a simple resolution condemning the savage murder of eight innocent students in Jerusalem?
Seriously, what is the value of an organization that cannot even do that?
Heck, over lunch I could get 15 boneheads from Matt Gillard's office to accomplish that much. Yet, the UN would love to get larger and assume more and more world authority for the betterment of mankind. They want to settle disputes. Feed the poor. Clothe the needy. Wipe out disease and famine. No problem is ever too large or small for the UN to dream it is capable of mastering.
But what has this glorified body ever accomplished outside of providing Kojo Annan with a brand spankin' new Mercedes-Benz?
Their peacemaking capabilities are certainly lacking. In Rwanda they bugged out rather than protect the innocent. In Srebrenica they didn't bug out, they witnessed the massacre. In Lebanon their crack troops do little more that document the smuggling of new weapons into the powder keg, and in the Sudan they stumbled over the bodies of some 70,000 dead villagers before declaring that what was occurring was not genocide. I think you'd get more attention from the Michigan DNR over 70,000 floating fish than the UN has ever given dead Africans.
Their relief missions are teemed with corruption and naivety as evidenced in the Oil for Food scandal, and their Somali food distribution endeavors which have essentially done little more than hand food over to warring militias while cutting local farm prices.
Oh sure, the UN is good for at least one thing—the wagging of arrogant fingers at liberty loving countries. The US has been on the receiving end of a lot of aggressive wagging lately for daring to house terrorists in detention camps (that by my way of thinking have to be absolutely plush when compared to your average Afghani cave.) Israel has been wagged at a lot too for using disproportionate force when striking back at terrorists—terrorists that intentionally set up shop in civilian areas to reap the huge bounty of even more invigorated UN finger wagging when civilians predictably die. If proportionate force was practiced like the UN envisions it, you couldn’t kill more than two hornets from a nest that just stung you twice in the ass. When I retaliate against hornets I spray the whole nest.
UN finger wagging could heat Detroit if someone ever made a turbine large enough to harness all of that carbon free action.
Which brings us back to yesterday's failed attempt to condemn a terrorist act in Jerusalem where innocent victims were intentionally killed. If the UN cannot get that smidgen of a project done, what giant world task should we place on their shoulders next?
Recent events in Israel and Gaza should go a long way toward indicating to even the most bias of observers which side in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict has embraced evil.
Daily unprovoked rocket attacks on Israeli soil from Hamas controlled Gaza finally drew a response last week from the Jewish state. Israel launched a military incursion into Gaza that led to the deaths of dozens of Palestinians, some of whom were innocent.
Israel justified its action of attacking sites in Gaza by noting they specifically targeted rocket launching sites as well as suspected terrorist hideouts--lairs and launching sites intentionally located in populated civilian areas. At no time did Israel target innocent victims, and there have been no public announcements by citizens or government officials that painted the civilian loss of life as anything other than accidental and unfortunate.
Today there was a shooting within a Jerusalem religious school where eight innocent students were gunned down in cold blood. The response was slightly different from the Palestinian side where spontaneous parties broke out as the news spread.
Apparently the death of any Jew, whether civilian, innocent, or child, is never unfortunate.
I simply cannot wait for Morning Edition tomorrow on NPR.
I only heard a tantalizing snippet of an article that is to broadcast about all-faith Sunday schools. In the trailer an instructor tells her subjects that "Religions are like lampshades" because, even though they all look different, they all worship the same God.
What do you suppose the socialist/multi-culturalist/secular parrots of NPR will imply about this particular type of Sunday School? Too early to say, of course, and I hope the article is even handed.
I will go out on a limb here (despite all my best hopes) and project that NPR will present all-faith Sunday schools as vastly superior to those conducted by close minded egocentric Christians who refuse to see beauty in the ways of others.
Because we suck.
If I were Dennis Lennox I'd take my letter of reprimand from Central Michigan University and treat it in the same masterful way that archivists do the US Constitution. I'd gently tuck it in a glass covered display case and locate it in a dark room with perfectly balanced humidity. (Incidentally, I'd also be begging the university right now for any additional signed copies they might have of that bad boy, what with ebay and all.)
Why?
Because I'd go to any length to preserve the document I could forever use as "exhibit A" in an executive job search.
When I got that dream job (which the letter would virtually guarantee) I'd proudly display it in my plush corner office while disallowing any flash photography or strong perfumes. I would then conduct my day to day business as normally as possible, given all the tour groups kicking around my bureaucratically mandated smoke free environs. Just think of all the money I could make in the gift shop.
Alas, its all but a fleeting fantasy and my attitude suffers.
You see, I've had my CMU diploma for over 25 years and have never shown it to anyone. Mice have gnawed on one corner because, unfortunately, I don't have one of those specially built glass cases either. In fact, I think my diploma is in the original envelope I received back when Harold Abel was still the university's President and when tuition was, if I remember correctly, about $35 a credit hour. (Heck, for that I couldn't hire Gary Peters for more than a few seconds at today's rates.)
Sadly, my diploma is no match to the sheet of paper just awarded to Dennis Lennox, who by some university accounts, is a near deranged liar that happens to closely resemble Dick Cheney--at least closely enough to have Dennis' sarcasm thunk off of then unidentified English professor Peter Koper like an opossum does an overinflated radial tire. Either that or some of today's university professors have no sense of humor. (Which reminds me, does Mao-loving Blaine Stephenson still teach there?)
So, as things have transpired so far, Dennis gets himself something really valuable and I'm stuck with a stupid mouse chewed diploma. A mouse that was, apparently, so distracted that he didn't even bother to chew off the edges in a way that make it look even passingly cool.
Nuts! I think I've just been self diagnosed with paper envy.
The Lennox saga can be followed closely at The Peters Report, the Provocateur and Right Michigan.
Something happened tonight that I must admit I never thought was possible.
As election results filtered in from the Ohio and Texas Democratic Primaries, I found myself pulling for Hillary Clinton. It was kind of fun really, watching her popular vote lead grow in Ohio while she slowly caught up and slightly passed Obama in Texas.
I don't even know why I was pulling for her really, other than I think a contentious fight between socialist candidate #1 and socialist candidate #2 might provide me with some good entertaining fodder for the next few months.
But then, shortly after the Ohio contest was called for Hillary, she swaggered out on stage and began her nails-on-a-chalkboard-too-annoying-to-listen-to victory screed in which she crowed about her readiness to be Commander in Chief and her ability to tackle this country's economic problems. As I sprinted to turn down the television I accidentally kicked the coffee table.
The swollen foot was probably worth it all now that I think about it, but I have learned my lesson. I vow to you here and now that I will never, ever, ever, never, ever pull for Hillary in any election of any kind again. Who cares about my foot. My ears will not take it.
Let's call him Don.
Don is a great guy who works full time as an auto mechanic but also spends time on the ambulance crew as an EMT. He served his country proudly in the armed forces. He makes good money and pays all of his taxes. He has raised a family that supports the local economy at the grocery store, restaurants and gas station. He is a delightful chap to talk to.
Who wouldda thunk it?
Because Don's last three years of high school (those years ended prematurely when he dropped out) were spent being disruptive in the classroom and disrespectful of every teacher and administrator. He fought. He swore. He threatened. And, he did all of these things at high volume and with commendable passion. Hours and hours of classroom time were devoted to getting Don to close his yap and mind his manners--with that devotion, on the very best of days, meeting with mixed results. Most of the rest of us just stared at the circus.
Unfortunately, if Don were in school today he might become the poster child for a Michigan proposal that would raise the dropout age to 18 years (from 16) at the same time that new curriculum requirements are adding more courses in math and science.
Why?
Because every student in Jennifer Granholm's one size fits all educational system is exactly the same poster child.
LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm is defending the state's tougher requirements for high school students.The expanded student body will, of course, be paid for by the taxpayers of Michigan and will be suffered by serious Michigan students who will be caged in the same classroom with disruptive Dons that want nothing more than to be released from their prison.
She told a group of educators on Tuesday that now is not the time to back down from higher standards that include more required math, science and other courses to get a high school diploma.
The new requirements start with this year's ninth-graders.
Granholm wants to add to the state's educational standards by making kindergarten full-time and mandatory and raising the legal dropout age from 16 to 18.
If March truly does come in like a lion, why is it already the 3rd and we still haven't lost any games yet?
And what hand selected individual to take over the world's largest corruptocracy wouldn't want to get him some of that good old status quo, what with the previous leader chalking up a personal fortune valued at what is estimated to be a minimum of $40,000,000,000.00.
Mother Russia has a new President. The old one still holds the reins.
I doubt this is the type of help Hillary needed with only two days to go in a highly contested primary with Barack Obama. Now Hillary has to spend time denouncing some of Gloria's speech instead of landing punches on Obama, who, by the way, is Hillary's competition in the primary, not John McCain.
From Betsy's Page with a hat tip to Right Wing News.
Gloria Steinem, a Hillary Clinton supporter, was speaking on her behalf in Texas in a Women for Hillary event. Unfortunately for Hillary, any help that she might have had by having the feminist icon speak for her was lost when Steinem decided to do a riff on McCain's experience as a POW.Apparently to Steinem, being matrimonially enslaved to a former Fornicator in Chief is a much better qualification for President than having served the country as a military pilot and spending many more years in the US Senate than even Hillary herself can claim.Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”The Clinton campaign immediately disavowed Steinem's words and said they have the utmost respect for John McCain's military status. Just what they wanted to have to spend the two days before the primary vote in Texas of all places talking about.
A television star is actively recruiting the Latino vote for Barack Obama.
“It is the time of the Latino, your time to step up, your time to take this country over."But, George Lopez, are you looking for the young people in your audience to become fully Americanized, to adopt the free-market economic system and to contribute to it, or are you simply encouraging a popular socialist takeover where citizens can rely on government to provide for them?
Best actress Oscar winner Marion Cotillard has allowed her deeply insightful and classically trained economic philosophies to be captured by the media and emblazoned world wide.
The result? Gosh, they must not train you to keep your mouth shut in actress school.
In the interview, given to French TV show Paris Premiere, Cotillard appears to suggest the attacks on the World Trade Center were staged to avoid the expense of refurbishing them.A couple episodes of Bill Nye would clear up most of the science. As for the economics, about half the skyscrapers in New York would need to be pulverized in order to meet Cotillard's criteria. I suppose it is lucky that NY developers were able to find 19 willing jihadists sympathetic enough to join them in their real estate scheme.
"We see other towers of the same kind being hit by planes, are they burned?" she asks. "There was a tower, I believe it was in Spain, which burned for 24 hours.
"It never collapsed. None of these towers collapsed. And there [in New York], in a few minutes, the whole thing collapsed."
The Twin Towers, she claims, were a "money sucker" that would have cost much more to modernise than to destroy.
The actress goes on to cast doubt on the Moon landing of 1969. "Did a man really walk on the moon?" she asks.
"I saw plenty of documentaries on it and I really wondered. In any case I don't believe all they tell me."
