Global Warming Disclaimer

Ah, those darn scientists think of everything, but really, what do you expect from people that spend so much time getting educated?

The Earth, it seems, might actually cool over the next decade (as it has this past decade) according to German climatologists studying newly devised computer models. But about 2015, watch out! The temperature might start to rise again.

"Just to make things clear, we are not stating that anthropogenic [man-made] climate change won't be as bad as previously thought," said Mojib Latif, a professor at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Kiel, northern Germany.

"What we are saying is that on top of the warming trend, there is a long-periodic oscillation that will probably lead to a lower temperature increase than we would expect from the current trend during the next years."

Fellow author Johann Jungclaus of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, likened the trend to "driving from the coast to a mountainous area and crossing some hills and valleys before you reach the top."

So, to follow the logic correctly, if temperatures rise over the next decade it will be the result of man driven activity. However, if temperatures cool over the next decade it will be because of a natural change in Earth temperature cycles, temporarily disguising man's climactic malevolence.

No word yet on whether the new computer models can explain the warming trend on Mars.

More Text Messages Haunt Detroit

If they are not there yet, the citizens of Detroit must be getting pretty close to that symbolic point of no return if they have had any time to digest the latest damaging court document to be made public yesterday by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge, Robert J. Colombo Jr.

The 18 page document (via the Detroit Free Press) exposes the moral and ethical decay of those now leading the city through its assumed power in the mayor's office and its police department.

If Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty had been half as concerned with providing their city an effective administration as they were with covering their asses to the public while baring them to each other, the city wouldn't be facing all the problems they are facing now.

Would the city still be facing blight? Sure, six years is not enough to wipe out decades of neglect. Would there still be administrative problems? Of course. Dennis Archer took great strides in taking a broken political machine and transforming it into a machine less bureaucratic and more responsive--but there was still a long way to go. Dennis Archer deserves a lot of credit, for he was the one that got the trend started, but it was up to his successor to keep the positive momentum going.

Alas, along came Kwame Kilpatrick assisted by the pretty yet malcontented Christine Beatty. Kilpatrick and Beatty, given the opportunity to serve together on the governing board, could turn heaven into a hell hole before lunch. That they had six years to conspire, manipulate the system, obfuscate, posture, and lie unchecked to everyone that surrounded them could not have boded well for the city's continued recovery. Those that they could not corrupt and draw into their schemes they fired or pushed aside. Those that they could influence were promoted or given favors.

City services? Gee, wouldn't an extra $8.4 million laying around help out just a little?

The embarrassment of their exposed sexual dalliance cannot be easy to bear--no one wants that stuff public. But, as far as the city goes, that should not be its personal shame. What Detroit will have the most difficulty overcoming are the layers of suspect bureaucrats that have risen to the top in Kwame's six years of you-scratch-my-back administrative protocols. Six years is a lot of time to frustrate the effective and reward the crony.

Current Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings is but one such example. The court documents show that Bully-Cummings was at least aware of the conspiracy to fire internal affairs chief Gary Brown if not involved in the plot itself. Now she sits atop the police department. That has to be comforting.

Given the conniving that is so well documented now by all the text messages that have become exposed (among the many more that are irrelevant to this case and therefore not released) how can Detroiters and Michiganders be anything but suspicious about greater undiscovered corruptions that might yet exist, and how deeply their roots may have burrowed into the city bureaucracy?

I don't know if Kwame Kilpatrick can last out this term, but one thing is for sure. When Kwame does leave office his successor will have to dismiss a lot of suspect employees that have percolated to the top of the mess.

A great place to start would be Ella Bully-Cummings.

Carter Roundup

It seems like I've been pummeling a deceased equine, but in the case of Jimmy Carter, I'm not the only one taking a swat.

PowerLine quips that a sucker is born every minute, but a sucker like Jimmy Carter is born only once or twice a century, while Front Page Magazine laments that, like a bad penny that is always turning up, Jimmy Carter is at it again.

Carter should have his passport pulled and the Justice Department should take a serious look at whether Carter's misguided international dapplings are chargeable under the Logan Act.

It is bad enough that he makes himself look a fool when fawning over verified terrorists and terrorist sympathizers, it is much worse that his excursions could lead to misinterpretations of official US foreign policy by rouge regimes led by mostly butt-cracks and assholes bent on the destruction of western civilization.

It is perfectly understandable why a hemorrhoid like Jimmy Carter would feel at home amongst such company. What is not understandable is why George Bush did not put an end to all this silliness long ago.

Rev. Wright Trying to Kill Obama Campaign UPDATED

What do you do when the cow is threatening to die? Its wheezes are becoming weaker and weaker, its eyes glazing, its strength fleeting. What do you do if that cow is the proverbial cash cow, the cow on which you have staked your fame and fortune?

If you are Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's spiritual adviser for over 20 years, you prop up that beast with every means at your disposal. Jeremiah Wright is, as we speak, resuscitating his cash cow of victimhood, caring little about whom he takes down with him.

Mr. Wright gave speeches over the past couple of days that have done nothing but further clouded the Presidential candidacy of his church's most famous member.

Rather than apologize for his lunacy conspiracy theories, Wright wrote more chapters. Rather than take a step toward embracing the country that has heaped fantastic financial and social benefits upon him, Wright has thrown down the gauntlet. Rather than quietly retreat from Barack Obama's Presidential campaign, Wright has attached a grappling hook onto the pant leg of Obama, and Obama cannot distance himself, regardless of how diplomatically he might try.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright does not want Barack Obama to win the Presidency, for with that high honor, an honor that is impossible without the support of tens of millions white voters, the cash cow of victimhood will have given up its last drop of financial elixir, and the good Reverend, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, is still thirsty.

UPDATE 9:41 PM.

It looks like Obama is going to try and distance himself, and not in a diplomatic fashion. (Not that it will work.)

Anyone who thinks that Barack Obama has finally seen the man hiding behind the curtain is deeply intoxicated or daft. What Obama has finally recognized is that that Dr. Wright was doing serious damage to his campaign and that he was not going to go down quietly.

Are we to believe that the man that Obama saw speaking yesterday was not the same man that he met 20 years ago? Or should we instead believe that Mr. Obama was too gullible to believe that which America figured out the first time it saw the raving Reverend rooster banter on about whiteness, AIDS, America and slavery?

This is nothing more than damage control on Obama's part. Too bad it didn't take place 19 years ago.

Cialis Blogging

This is just one of those days when blogging, if it occurs, will occur spontaneously and perhaps much later in the day--sort of like one of those Cialis moments, only without the actual pill, the sultry music or, for that matter, without the annoying commercial advertisements that usually come on when I'm watching television with my daughter.

Who knows, this blogging hiatus could last all of 36 hours, but I'll be ready when the conditions are right.

UN Exposed Again

The United Nations is little more than a loosely grouped collection of mostly vagabonds with few collective goals and fewer constraints within its flailing bureaucracy to do much of anything about it--if it even wanted to.

Seeking peace? The UN would really love them some peace too, as long as the warring factions would just lay down their guns on their own without UN forces actually having to, you know, face the sights of a rifle.

UN troops stood by and watched villages wiped out in the Balkans, watched villages get wiped out in Rwanda, and watched tens of thousands of people die in the Sudan before being able to officially document it as "not genocide." Not content to simply watch the victimization of villagers in DR Congo, UN peace keepers got into the act themselves and were widely engaged in an epidemic of sexual assault.

The UN has provided cover to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon as they have rearmed for the oncoming onslaught against Israel as well as lined their own pockets in the oil for food scandal.

Things just don't seem to be getting much better as it appears as if the UN is the gift that keeps on giving.

The BBC is reporting tonight that UN troops in DR Congo have also been involved in the arms trade, ivory trade, illegal gold trade, and the propping up of the militia primarily responsible for mass murder in Rwanda.

Is this a surprise to anyone?

Warning Label, Please

Six specific usage warnings are itemized on the label of Exlax, this in addition to two lines on the specific dosage.

Do you think the producers of Our Family prune juice could possibly mention it to us ignorant first time users not to slug a couple cups before heading to a track meet?

Kwame Kilpatrick Takes No Stuff (While Detroit Needs a Lot of It)

Though Mr. Kilpatrick will tell you differently, the mayor of Detroit has ceased to make decisions concerning the fate of his once great city for any other reason than how it might affect Kwame Kilpatrick. This is a great way to choose socks in the morning, it is not a great way to serve as mayor.

Kwame will posture and he will obfuscate. He will dodge, dismiss and dispel. He will get indignant and he will defend. What he will not do is take ownership for his actions, nor will he pursue any outcomes that he thinks are not in the best personal interests of one Kwame M. Kilpatrick.

The City of Detroit be damned.

Now, I don't begrudge any man a healthy disinterest in trudging off to prison. But, seriously, this is not about guilt or innocence anymore. That issue will be decided in court whether Mr. Kilpatrick is in office or not. Rather, this is about whether or not the Mayor of Detroit is able to execute the responsibilities of his office in an efficient manner, and in a way that benefits the city of Detroit. Kwame has long ago decided it is in his bests interests to cling to his city job by well manicured fingernails, unfortunately, he has not seriously considered the needs of the city to which he clings.

If he leaves, his city will be filled with chaos, he says. Are you kidding me? If Kwame hasn't already recognized the chaos in Detroit these days he wouldn't recognize it if it did a topless spiked-heels table dance on the granite liquor bar at the Manoogian Mansion.

He loves his city, he says, because "it is a community that doesn't take no stuff."

That, I think, could also be a personal motto for Kwame Kilpatrick. (Well, that and maybe, "where are the strippers?") He is a man that doesn't take no stuff. This is not, however, a mentality that should be thrown onto the back of a community in dire need of a lot of stuff, stuff that it requires to be able to meet the basic needs of its existing citizens, let alone stuff that it needs to attract the businesses and jobs necessary for better times.

"Taking no stuff" of course, refers to disrespect and criticism. Unfortunately for most of the mortal men I've encountered in my life, taking stuff, though seldom pleasant and often humbling, is sometimes absolutely necessary. When a person decides to take no stuff, he defensively ignores necessary criticisms and advice. When a mortal man projects his "take no stuff" attitude onto a foundering city that desperately needs all the help it can get, that city suffers for one man's stubborn pride.

I've known a lot of people that wouldn't take no stuff. Fortunately, for their own sake, most of those people changed their attitude before they reached a cruelly candid adult life.

Kwame did not change his. Because of this, and because Detroit is solidly strapped to Kwame's back, the city cannot.

Detroit Red Wings!

Last night the Red Wings played the first game in their Western Conference Semifinals series against the once hated Colorado Avalanche.

I guess it was a good game too.

On Versus.

I'm beginning to wonder why I follow the team so closely during the regular season just so that I can get shut out of some of the most exciting playoff action.

Thanks a lot Gary Bettman.

Malaysian Court To Consider A Woman's Right to Choose....Her Religion

Who ever said that Muslims can be a bit controlling of women?

Well, let me tell you that the Malaysian high court is wasting no time putting that little issue to bed, not only going so far as to consider whether a woman is capable of renouncing her own religion, but also by only taking several weeks to do so.

You've come a long way baby...

Indiana Republican Courts the Nazi Vote

How can a guy get a law degree and yet remain so ignorant about history, naive about human nature, and so totally stupid when it comes to making campaign decisions?

Yep, a Republican, trying to get his message out, gives a speech to the Nazis at an event honoring the birthday of Adolph Hitler.

From The News-Dispatch

CROWN POINT, Ind. - If fans of Hitler held a party, and a candidate for federal office attended, would anybody notice?

Apparently, yes.

U.S. Congressional candidate Tony Zirkle is facing criticism from one of his primary opponents, and a host of people on the Internet, for speaking at an event over the weekend that celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday.

Zirkle confirmed to The News-Dispatch on Monday he spoke Sunday in Chicago at a meeting of the Nationalist Socialist Workers Party, whose symbol is a swastika.

When asked if he was a Nazi or sympathized with Nazis or white supremacists, Zirkle replied he didn't know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it.

"This is just a great opportunity for me to witness," he said, referring to his message and his Christian belief.

h/t LGF

Jimmy Carter

This is pure Michael Ramirez.



A donkey like that should wear pants.

h/t QandO Blog

Jimmy Carter's Fantasy

There is a short post on Power Line this morning that addresses the great stupidity of Jimmy Carter and his pandering to middle east terrorists and providing them exactly the propaganda opportunity they were looking for.

But old Jimmy wasn't content to simply play the fool once, he played it again upon his exit stating that he had achieved a major breakthrough with Hamas and that Hamas is now ready to recognize the state of Israel's right to exist.

Hamas has a different story.

Rougman Has the Flu

Which means he is highly irritable and unlikely to post much of anything for the remainder of the day. Rougman hates the flu. Which means, I suppose, that according to Nora Ephron, I won't be voting for the flu in any upcoming election.

According to Nora:

But now there are two and we’re facing Pennsylvania and whom are we kidding? This is an election about whether the people of Pennsylvania hate blacks more than they hate women. And when I say people, I don’t mean people, I mean white men.

It sounds like white men in Pennsylvania can only meet the strict non-hating standards of leftist liberal Nora Ephron by sitting this one out entirely or by voting for both candidates. Though technically, sitting this one out might mean dual hating equivalence--so charges could still be warranted.

Voting for both candidates might fall a bit outside the voting guidelines but it ain't like a hater needs much of an incentive to do something outrageous and evil. War for oil and all that.

I wonder if it ever entered into this ditz's mind that honest caring people could choose not to vote for the woman candidate or for the black candidate because they dislike socialism? Seriously, shouldn't we pay at least a little bit of attention to the things that the candidates are saying?

I thought that is why they were campaigning. My mistake. Probably the flu.

h/t Protein Wisdom

Michigan and the UAW

The UAW is an organization whose umbrella's shadow spreads across the breadth and depth of this country. It does not notice the geographical boundaries of Michigan as they bleed away into Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin. A UAW represented job in Indiana or Texas is every bit as important as one that is represented in Michigan. It isn't in the charter of the UAW to try and coddle a state where many of its jobs happen to be located.

The UAW is, in effect, a corporate-like organization looking out for all of their shareholders (members) much in the same way that GM and Ford must look after theirs.

If people are critical of the big three for not recognizing that Michigan suffers when they lay off local workers, they should at least be as critical of the UAW that looks at raw union membership numbers ahead of any sort of state loyalty. If people are critical of GM, Ford and Chrysler for leaving the state, they should be at least as bitter at the UAW for giving them so many incentives to shuffle across the border.

Which brings me to a quote from today's Lansing State Journal that concerns two concurrent strikes taking place in the Lansing area:

"I don't think this strike is that big a deal at all for GM," said David Cole, chairman of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research.

"What really matters is that this strike is saying: 'This state is an unfriendly place to bring new manufacturing jobs.' "

The labor unrest could make other companies think twice about locating new factories in the state. For example, no foreign car maker has built an assembly plant in Michigan, instead choosing locations such as Alabama and Texas.

Cole said the UAW doesn't seem to understand that the union's actions harm Michigan.

"I wish (UAW President) Ron Gettelfinger would look in the mirror and say 'I am killing Michigan' and understand what he is doing," Cole said.

With all due respect to Mr. Cole, I think Ron Gettelfinger does understand what these strikes do to the reputation of Michigan as a place to conduct business, I just do not believe that is of any concern to him. He simply could not care less. Gettelfinger, despite his reputation as being a short tempered jerk, can still see charts and read the statistics.

Ron Gettelfinger, president of the UAW, doesn't see this as Michigan vs. Indiana or Alabama or Texas. He sees this as the UAW versus the fat cat auto industry executives. This is rich versus poor as far as he is concerned. This is the haves versus the have-nots. And, incidentally, Gettelfinger is from Kentucky and received his college education in Indiana. If Gettelfinger had to choose between Michigan and Kentucky or Indiana he might very well choose Kentucky or Indiana.

Which is really a shame because Michigan has been very friendly to the unions. Many of those in our state government (up to and including our current governor) are still beholden to organized labor even though organized labor has long ago abandoned any loyalty to Michigan. Our legislature has, through the years, passed a lot of legislation aimed at strengthening the union and granting it legal leverage. Right to work? Not here.

The truly sad thing is that most UAW members from Michigan would prefer to stay in Michigan and appreciate the state despite the animus of Gettelfinger. They do appreciate its four seasons and its incredible outdoor opportunities. Despite labor's relatively high wage scale in Michigan, the state remains much less expensive than many to live in.

While it might be their desire for many Michigan auto workers to stay in Michigan, it isn't necessarily Gettelfinger's concern to keep their jobs here. Gettelfinger is a bottom line man, and the bottom line is measured in different terms. He rolls the dice with someone else's job, not his own.

So, good luck to you workers that have thrown in your lot and faith with Ron Gettelfinger. I do hope it does work out. However, I also hope you are aware of something, that snowmobile in your garage won't work all that well in the hill country of Texas.

Fred Phelps Has Kindred Spirits

Maybe Fred Phelps should look east to find himself a country he can support after all!

From Dhimmi Watch: Iran leads the world in executions of homosexuals

Kwame Kilpatrick's Animal House Antics

I remember a classic line from the movie Animal House where young obsequious pledges to the Omegas are paddled. After each whack the pledges howl, "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

This is what came to mind this morning as I belatedly read an article from yesterday's Detroit News that covered the "Pancakes and Politics" forum in Birmingham. I'm not so certain what Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick isn't conducting a simple fraternity style hazing of city residents.

Invited panelist at the forum were Kilpatrick, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and Macomb County Commission Chairman William Crouchman.

What struck me the most was near the end of the article.

Before the breakfast give-and-take started, Kilpatrick arrived via the back door with two security guards and began going table to table, greeting attendees.

While waiting to address the business and political leaders, the mayor was flanked by his press secretary, a body guard and a mayoral appointee who works as his advance person. Ficano, Crouchman and Patterson stood alone.

[...]

When the four leaders were introduced, Kilpatrick received the loudest applause.

Thank you sir, may I have another?

Before it is all over with Detroit will be receiving plenty more.

Joe Knollenberg vs. Jimmy Carter

Rep. Joe Knollenberg is challenging Jimmy Carter. His point is well taken--tax dollars should never be showered onto an organization that willfully supports activities that undercut America's foreign policy and that provide legitimacy and propaganda opportunities for terrorist organizations.

Like Hamas. Like Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

"America must speak with one voice against our terrorist enemies. It sends a fundamentally troubling message when an American dignitary is engaged in dialogue with terrorists. My legislation will make sure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to support discussions or negotiations with terrorist groups."

For the record, it is estimated that American taxpayers have already given Carter's The Carter Center some $19 million dollars since its founding.

Money down a rat hole.

Cliff May (h/t Dhimmi Watch) in a Boston Herald op-ed piece this morning explains why negotiating with terrorist is so dangerous. Particularly negotiating with one that proclaims “the Koran is our constitution, Jihad is our way, and death for the sake of God is our highest aspiration.”

additional h/t to Front Page Magazine

Abortion Art at Yale UPDATED

What happened to the good old days when art projects were oil on canvas and abortion was about the safety and health of the mother?

Those days are long gone at Yale.

From the Yale Daily News:

Art major Aliza Shvarts '08 wants to make a statement.

Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself "as often as possible" while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.

The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body. But her project has already provoked more than just debate, inciting, for instance, outcry at a forum for fellow senior art majors held last week. And when told about Shvarts' project, students on both ends of the abortion debate have expressed shock . saying the project does everything from violate moral code to trivialize abortion.

But Shvarts insists her concept was not designed for "shock value."

"I hope it inspires some sort of discourse," Shvarts said. "Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it's not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone."

The "fabricators," or donors, of the sperm were not paid for their services, but Shvarts required them to periodically take tests for sexually transmitted diseases. She said she was not concerned about any medical effects the forced miscarriages may have had on her body. The abortifacient drugs she took were legal and herbal, she said, and she did not feel the need to consult a doctor about her repeated miscarriages.

Shvarts declined to specify the number of sperm donors she used, as well as the number of times she inseminated herself.

This is one of the most blatant acts of selfishness I've ever heard of. I guess the days of the reluctant mother and the bloody hanger have been eclipsed by the narcissist driven rapid fire body purge. This, of course, brought to you by the founding fathers and their insistence on a right to privacy.

h/t to Cassy Fiano at Wizbang who cannot believe Yale would approve of such a thing.

UPDATE 7:49

This directly from Yale University.

New Haven, Conn. — April 17, 2008

Ms. Shvarts is engaged in performance art. Her art project includes visual representations, a press release and other narrative materials. She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body.

She is an artist and has the right to express herself through performance art.

Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns.

This is absolute insanity. It might be time for the Yale medical school to put this woman and her adviser under observation.

Bruce Springsteen Endorses Obama

The Boss has gone ahead and endorsed Barack Obama. Wow, that ought to reel them in.

From the Lansing State Journal:

WASHINGTON - Rock star Bruce Springsteen endorsed Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for president Wednesday.

[...]

"He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next president," the letter [on his website] said. "He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where '...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.' "

That is pretty deep Bruce. For the people!

Seriously, does a poor-singing musician deserve national political press coverage simply because he has produced 35 years worth of crappy to quite average music? Sure, he's been speaking about the poor working man and about unfortunate youthful procreation for decades, but the tenets of most of his songs, particularly those that deal with unplanned impregnation, are nothing but steep personal laments in horribly butchered prose. Personal responsibility? Nah. I suppose that is a problem for a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems to solve.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to give the Springsteen endorsement about a 3. He got to dance with Courtney Cox, but his vocals on "We are the world" could melt paint. Which is better than the 2 I think Elton John deserves. At least if Bruce gets into the money raising thing for his favorite candidate, it will be legal.

With all things considered I'm going to look outside the box for cutting edge political punditry and endorsements of significance. Heck, I know a mechanic that knocked up his high school girlfriend and served in the military.

Maybe I should ask him who he's voting for.

Michigan Lands First Film Project Under New Legislation

This is simply too funny and accurate not to link to. Besides, I simply hate chuckling to myself.

Nick at Right Michigan has a post up that calls attention to one of the latest pieces of silly (and expensive) legislation to be signed into law by Governor Jennifer Granholm.

I hope that Attack of the Killer Tomatoes 17 begins filming here in northern Michigan soon. We need the money.

America's Worst ex-President Honors Arafat

America's worst ex-President did little to distance himself from that dubious honor as he managed, in one day of shameful pandering, to jab a stick in the eye of America's foreign policy, to honor the innovator of the Palestinian suicide bomber, to provide legitimacy to a terrorist organization, and to embolden an arch enemy of America and Israel.

From the Jerusalem Post:

[...] Carter met with PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad in Ramallah and laid a wreath of red roses at the grave of Yasser Arafat at the Mukata presidential compound.

Hailing Arafat's "historic role in serving his people's cause," Carter said the former PLO chairman was a "dear friend."

Carter also criticized Israel for allegedly failing to implement the understandings that were reached with the Palestinians at the Annapolis summit in November.

He was received at the Mukata by Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a top aide to Abbas, who is on his way to Russia and the US.

Abdel Rahim expressed satisfaction with Carter's visit, especially the laying of the wreath on Arafat's tomb. "This is a very important visit," he said, noting that US President George W. Bush and other top administration officials had refused to honor Arafat during their visits to Ramallah.

Abdel Rahim told Carter he was confident that the day would come when Arafat's tomb would be transferred to Jerusalem, "the capital of the Palestinian state."

Other than Jimmy's obvious disappointment in being unable to stone himself a Jew, it was a pretty satisfying day.

h/t PowerLine Blog

Foreign Office Yanking the Royal Navy's Teeth

This is exactly what can happen when leftist lawyers and judges are allowed to dictate all functions of a working state.

From the TimesOnline:

THE Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights.

Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain.

The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft.

Just last week it was noted here and elsewhere that the UK had a death wish as evidenced by its inability to deport outspoken foreign advocates of terrorism nearing parole and currently held in British prisons. A judge ruled that the deportation might violate the terrorist's human rights as the home country had more, shall we say, demanding criminal codes. The ruling not only disallowed the deportation, but also made the support of the undeported terrorist the responsibility of the British taxpayers. A pretty sweet deal if you happen to be a terrorist with a lot of family mouths to feed.

It didn't take long for this leftist lunacy to infest the Royal Navy. What exactly is the commander supposed to do? Turn a blind eye? Maybe write a ticket? If detaining a pirate could be a violation of his human rights, what is pumping the guy full of lead going to do?

The British might as well mothball the Royal Navy and save themselves some money. Welfare for asylum seekers ain't cheap.

Meanwhile, all three presidential candidates in the United States support the closing of the Guantanamo terrorist detainment camp. Nope, I don't see anything bad happening with that.

h/t Overlawyered

UN To Ask for Fatwa

How utterly desperate and disgusting have things become when the UN has to consider asking Muslim clerics to issue a religious ruling that condemns the use of children as suicide bombers?

Shouldn't this be universally understood, even by members of the religion of peace?

Of course, while prostrate and as part of the UN's perpetual mission to practice cultural relativism, they also seek to investigate reports that the US is running prisons where many children are incarcerated. I wonder, is strapping a bomb to the back of a child who has been indoctrinated into a terrorist cult just as bad as catching and incarcerating that same child before he has a chance to blow people up? Or, is one the necessary and reasonable response to another?

The next thing you know we will have to ask for fatwas against the usage of the mentally handicapped as suicide bombers, the usage of religious dress to cloak suicide bombers, the usage of schools and mosques as havens for terrorists and weapons, the usage of murder to prevent free speech, the forced marriage and rape of children, the intentional targeting of civilians in terroristic acts and the threat of violence to cow other religious observations.

Maybe the UN can beg for all of that too, since they will already have their necks bared and all. Who knows, while they are at it, perhaps they can have some Imam issue a fatwa against UN troops raping villagers while on peace keeping missions.

h/t Little Green Footballs

Monica Conyers, Again

The state of Michigan should send its first Hollywood welfare check to the television studio willing to provide in depth coverage of Detroit's local government scene and turn it into a reality based television series.

The latest installment could star Monica Conyers who is apparently auditioning for the next vacancy on The Bad Girl's Club.



Is it any wonder why John Conyers is such a frustrated and bitter man?

Obama Apology Months Too Late

Barack Obama and his staff are trying to recover from statements he made in San Francisco that painted small town Pennsylvanians and Midwesterners as resentful, gun lugging Bible thumpers. And they hate babies and puppies too. And Mexicans.

What Obama is backtracking from is not, however, a misstatement of his beliefs. He said what he meant, he just didn't mean to say it the way that it came out. What those backpedaling staffers believe is that Obama should have spoken what he thinks in a way that hides what he thinks, at least in venues where Hillary moles are certain to infest. Finally, all these years after Iran Contra, Democrats are figuring out what "plausible deniability" means.

As the Obama story goes, after decades of counting on the government to provide solutions to problems that it has no ability to solve, us hicks got tired of waiting on government and decided we'd rather just grab us a Bible, a pistol, swear at an illegal or two, and tell the government to butt out.

This, of course, is a lot different that Black Liberation Theology, where the proper course of action would be to grab a Bible, a pistol, swear at some white folks, and tell America to be damned. We would call that, in the very rural and unsophisticated Midwest, projection.

Now, unfortunately for Obama, because he was unwise enough to utter what he meant to an audience that wasn't quite as private as he thought that it was, he has been painted an elitist by very conservative Midwesterners like Bill and Hillary Clinton.

"If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that" said the Harvard educated lawyer clearly apologizing for any offense his truthfulness might have created for those too stupid to be unoffended by what he meant in the first place, or unable to understand an intellectual Ivy Leaguer's need to soothe our redneck frustrations by getting us some socialism, and maybe some potato chips.

Yada, yada, yada.

We hicks were smart enough to know exactly what Obama meant to say in the first place, and whatever offense that has been taken by us uneducated country folk has been richly deserved. But, this was no shock. Heck, we've known Obama and his America hating wife to be elitist snobs since their very early days on the campaign trail. Ever since then they have been blathering on about their centrally controlled socialist agenda and how it could benevolently lord over every facet of our human existence.

For what its worth, he should have been apologizing all along.

Irony or Stupidity

An Italian woman on a hitchhiking journey to the middle east to promote world peace, has been found murdered, apparently after confronting someone not as worthy of her trust in the locals as she would have hoped.

Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo and her partner in the "Brides on tour" endeavor, separated in Istanbul but planned on reuniting in Lebanon, where their tour was scheduled to end.

The two were dressed as brides for the journey.

Ms. Marineo's sister, Maria, told Ansa:

"Her travels were for an artistic performance and to give a message of peace and of trust, but not everyone deserves trust."

A lesson we hope that naivety prone western governments around the world will soon learn.

An Absolut Counter-Punch

It didn't take long for Absolut Vodka to pull the plug on its advertising campaign that envisioned a North American continent with redrawn political borders--new borders that would result in Mexico absorbing vast areas of the US southwest and west.

That, of course, is old news.

However, if Absolut thought that pulling the plug on those incendiary advertisements would get them completely off the hook they might be mistaken. An American vodka maker is taking aim at the Swedish-owned Absolut's desire for a larger Mexico.

Michelle Malkin reports on the response by San Francisco's Skyy Vodka.

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican-America War (1846-1848). With the signing of this treaty, the United States gained control of what was to become the Golden West, including California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado and New Mexico. Today, SKYY® Vodka, the number-one vodka produced in the United States, spoke out against suggestions by Absolut® Vodka to disregard that treaty, as well as the joining of Texas to the Union in 1845, as depicted in Absolut’s recent advertising.

“Like SKYY Vodka, the residents of states like California, Texas and Arizona are exceptionally proud of the fact that they are from the United States of America,” said Dave Karraker, SKYY Vodka. “To imply that they might be interested in changing their mailing addresses, as our competitor seems to be suggesting in their advertising, is a bit presumptuous.”

In the ad, an “Absolut World” is depicted where the map of North America is re-drawn with Mexico claiming much of the Western United States, negating the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, as well as the Gadsden Purchase (1853), and the independence of Texas (1836).

“Don’t get me started on the Gadsden Purchase,” continues Karraker. “I think the folks in Tucson and Yuma would be rubbed the wrong way if they hear this landmark deal was somehow nullified as suggested by Absolut, a Swedish-owned brand.”

SKYY Vodka was founded in San Francisco in 1992 and continues to be produced in the United States. Premium SKYY Vodka is made from American grain carefully selected from the Midwest and 100% pure filtered water. SKYY’s proprietary four-column distillation and three-step filtration process consistently ensures exceptional quality. SKYY Vodka products include luxury SKYY90® and new SKYY Infusions™, a unique, all-natural infused experience made with premium SKYY Vodka and succulent real fruit.

It might be wise for Absolut to learn an elementary lesson so well taught in areas of the great American southwest. Watch what you step in.

Conservative Newsflash: All Cultures Are Not Created Equal

At Dhimmi Watch, Robert Spenser points to a case in Yemen where an eight year old girl is forced to seek a divorce from an abusive man 22 years her senior.

Michigan Parents Protest Home-School Registration Bill

I'm sure its ALL FOR THE CHILDREN!

Ah yes, that famous liberal battle cry that has unceasingly emanated from the steaming yaps of government busybodies ever since socialist do-gooders decided they could use their elected power (along with a good dose of taxpayer money) to take matters into their own hands.

Today's "all for the children" moment is contained in a bill sponsored by State Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Big Brother, that would require the parents or guardians of home schooled children to register that child with the superintendent of the local school district at the beginning of every school year.

From the Lansing State Journal:

State Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, said the bill will help address questions of truancy, as school officials will know if students are being home-schooled or simply not showing up to school.

"I think it's reasonable that we know where and if our children are being educated, whether it's in a public school, private school, or at home," said Bauer, who co-sponsored the bill. Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, and Rep. Mike Simpson, D-Liberty Township, are also co-sponsors.

Give me a freaking break, Joan.

What business is it of the local superintendent if my kids are being home schooled? Aside from him being able to multiply his lost headcount by the $7,000 per student that the state would likely throw his way if he were able to rein in the district a little tighter, I don't see any interest. Do you seriously think he will have time to check up on all the kids any such list will produce? Or, do you think it more likely this information would be used by local school districts to recruit the neighborhood for some lost state funding?

What do I think? I'm more in line with the thinking of Rep. Rick Jones, R-Common Sense.

Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, who said his grandson is home-schooled, called the registration the first step down a slippery slope that would see parents denied the right to home-school their children.

"The goal is to regulate home schooling out of existence," he said.

What really rots my socks here is that I'm a believer in what public schools could be. That is, a public school system that is run by local people with the state and federal government butting out. In my dream of "could be schools" the state and federal governments would not control the purse strings and therefore could not force local school districts into compliance through the threat of withholding funding.

Believe it or not Ms. Bauer, because you do live and work 200 miles away, you are less likely to know what is important to our local children than local parents do--even as unsophisticated as we are. (And, might I add, I find indoor plumbing really cool!) How about this, you make sure your kids aren't a truancy problem and I'll make sure mine aren't. Deal?

Distant state and federal bureaucrats have enacted law after law that have handcuffed local school boards and administrators to the point that too many classrooms are filled with disruptive students, being taught by ineffective teachers, teaching too many classes filled with irrelevant liberal doctrine, that are being supervised by administrators that are so choked in red tape regulations and compliance reports that they can not devote more of their efforts to dealing with real-time classroom problems. At least the little urchins cannot pray--so we have that to be thankful for.

Ms. Bauer, I consider your proposal a shining example of exactly why so many parents home school their children in the first place--they simply don't want distant buffoons such as yourself setting the standards for how their children should be educated.

Raising quality children is tough enough, even before I find your huge benevolent nose caught in my way.

UK Death Wish

The UK is clearly in a death spiral with its government too lethargic and uncaring to do much about it.

What can we expect in the US if multi-culturalists are allowed to turn America into a country that spurns the melting pot while at the same time the Utopian socialists are allowed to redistribute the wealth of a welfare state?

It might look something like this.

h/t Little Green Footballs

Muslim Sex Offenders May Drop Out of Treatment Because Of Religion

Encroaching Islam is making western nations rethink many of their strategies that combat poverty, illiteracy, housing, finance, family relationships and even crime. Islam prohibits many things that are casually accepted in the west, and often it isn't until these practices directly confront Islam that the west finds itself stuck in a difficult situation, balancing uniform public policy with many of Islam's archaic beliefs.

The UK may soon find itself in one of these proverbial pickles as it testily navigates its way through the process of judging whether a sex offender is likely to be a repeat offender and therefore unworthy of parole. The UK's ability to assess such prisoners depends on systematic counseling, not only in individual settings, but also in groups. These counseling sessions provide authorities with information it feels it needs to make a safe and accurate assessment as to whether a prisoner would be capable of handling freedom without endangering others. This seems reasonable.

But, as you may have guessed, many Muslims believe that discussing their crimes with others is against the teachings of Islam. These Muslims also believe that being denied parole on the basis of their strict adherence to Islam is religious discrimination.

Rather than drawing a line in the sand, the religiously oversensitive sweating bullets.

As Robert Spencer says:

Because sensitivity and not getting sued by a prisoner is so much more important than evaluating and attempting to rehabilitate criminals, and preventing future crimes.

Obama Finds Someone He Can Disown

Finally we have discovered the depths of ghastliness that an unrepentant hater must achieve before Barack Obama will willingly cut the cord.

And Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, an Obama supporter, blew through that barrier on Saturday, faster than Dr. Jeremiah Wright could call Judaism a gutter religion.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

On Saturday, two neighbor children were playing in the tree next-door to her house.

Ramirez-Sliwinski "came outside and told the children to quit playing in the tree like monkeys. The tree was not on Ramirez-Sliwinski's property," Carpentersville Police Commander Michael Kilbourne said.

Ramirez-Sliwinski admitted she used the word "monkeys," but said she did not intend racism. She said she was only trying to protect them from falling out of the tree.

"Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski said she saw the kids playing in the tree and didn't want them falling out of the tree and getting hurt. She said she calls her own grandchildren 'monkeys,' " Kilbourne said. The mother of one of the children did not see it that way, noting she and Ramirez-Sliwinski have clashed before.

"She felt it was racist because of the fact the children were African-American," Kilbourne said.

Once again we can see ourselves creeping ever closer to the day when it will not be the intent of what is spoken that is most important, but rather the interpretation of those words, however fouled up that interpretation might be. Literally, every uttered word could be the sword on which you have to fall.

Ramirez-Sliwinski is out $75 because of her neighbor's paranoia and will also be missing her party's convention. Hardened racist that she is.

Change!

h/t Protein Wisdom

Hollywood Comes to Michigan Holding a Tin Cup

Michigan bureaucrats have decided that their financially strapped state is so needful of an "economic impact" that they are willing to lose money to get it. Not my words, mind you, but those of our esteemed lawyer-Governor, Jennifer Granholm, as she commented on Michigan's newly signed legislation that offers corporate welfare to the movie making and television industries--industries that will likely remain anchored to their current Hollywood community for their more important permanent jobs, while offering scrap-craving dog states such as Michigan their no-commitment transient work.

I suppose I should be thankful that the good governor hasn't decided to go out and break a leg or two because of our need for more health care.

Am I kidding? Not a chance.

State officials said the amount of state spending on movie and TV production credits will depend on the number and size of qualifying projects. The initial estimate on the cost to the state in the 2009 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, is about $19 million, said Deputy State Treasurer Scott Schrager.

Although an analysis by the state Senate Fiscal Agency suggested the incentives are so generous the net effect could be a decline in state tax revenues, Granholm insisted the immediate economic impact from filmmakers is worth it.

"Without the tax credit ... (the) work just wouldn't be done here," she said.

Conversely, if that work was not done here the state might save $19 million. By all means, lets get as much of that work as we can!

Casablanca Terrorists

I am only a modest proponent of the death penalty, which is to say, I can understand some of the arguments that are posed by opponents to the practice of putting to death the most hardened of criminals.

One of the arguments that I do not understand, however, is the adamant proclamation that prisoners held for life are suffering a fate worse than death.

These Casablanca terrorists do more for my argument than I ever could.

Asperger Syndrome versus the ACT

My 17 year old son has Asperger syndrome.

I had a discussion with him this weekend over his performance on the ACT test that he took just a few weeks ago. We still do not have the results back yet but I was interested to see what his impression was. He was quite adamant about the test being "opinionated." This was a word I would never have associated with a test that strives to be gender, race and socioeconomically neutral.

Despite all the best efforts of these high-level test designing educators, their test had achieved a resounding "thud" with my son. He was not impressed.

In the discussion I discovered what it was that had my son so decidedly put-off by the ACT. In vast swaths of the test, there are multiple choice questions where the person taking the test must provide the best possible answer of the choices provided.

This sort of question and answer does not fly with my son because he does not process information in that way--he is extremely literal. My son could simply not understand why the testers did not include the right answer in so many of these multiple choice questions. As far as he was concerned, if he could think of a better answer for the question, even one that was not provided, he was being forced to choose from four or five answers that were equally wrong. How he did on those questions is anyone's guess.

These are the types of unanticipated encounters that a parent must face when gently lifting a child with Asperger syndrome into adulthood. Had I been able to anticipate this little speed bump in the road, perhaps we could have navigated around it together.

Weekend

This weekend I will be traveling to Grand Rapids to visit with what were, many years ago, enthusiastic college roommates. Now they are balding, overweight and slightly less enthused.

Posting will be light or non-existent until Monday. Posting about anything interesting will probably be many months away. I'm pacing myself.

ACLU Jumping Into Action!

This article from Dhimmi Watch highlights the sort of thing that torques me off.

Criminals are behind bars for a reason. They were found guilty of committing a crime and a crime that was serious enough that they were not given probation or a suspended sentence. When someone goes to prison he loses some basic rights. He cannot walk around freely. Privacy? Prison ain't Vegas, baby. And anyone going to the slammer can pretty much forget about the second amendment thing for a while too. Don't look to me, as a non-convicted felon, to feel too sorry for prisoners over the consequences of their poor judgments and current living situation.

Logistically speaking, prison is a place where accommodating every desire of every inmate is not only uncalled for, but simply impossible. When prisons start swimming in cash perhaps then they can assign a personal staff member for every inmate--someone to clean their cell, wash their clothes and rub their feet. Until that time prisoners can just suck it up.

So, you don't like meals being served at prayer time? Stay out of prison and you can eat whenever you want.

Detroit Stimulus Package

I know it is day-old news, but I was wondering if Kwame's $300 million stimulus package for Detroit might include one-way windows and sound proofing for the Manoogian Mansion. Holding parties in that drafty old barn is getting pretty darn expensive.

A little home improvement could perhaps save the city a cool $6.5 million over the remainder of Kilpatrick administration.

A Wish Come True

Please take a moment to read about a brave young man whose wish of becoming a soldier has come true.


h/t to McQ at QandO Blog

Absolut Vodka

Absolut Vodka is owned by the V & S Group. Up until three days ago the V & S Group was wholly owned by the Swedish state. So, does it say anything about Sweden's attitude toward the United States when it launches an advertising campaign that includes this updated map of Mexico?


I'm not much of a drinking man myself so my one-man boycott of Absolut will do zero to impact their bottom line.

I do, however, have email.

Michelle Malkin gets the credit and provides the following contact details:

Jeffrey Moran
Director of Public Relations and Events
The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc.
1370 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
USA
Phone, direct: +1 212 641 87 20
E-mail: jeffrey.moran@absolut.com

For Once I'm on Debbie Stabenow's Side

I am no fan of the Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, and have criticized her repeatedly over the past couple of years for being wrong on nearly every issue concerning economics, employment and defense.

But on the most recent issue to grace the front page of the Detroit News, I am solidly on the side of the Senator, or will be, depending on what she decides to do with that cheating bum of a loser husband of hers. You know, Thomas Athans, the liberal co-founder of Democracy Radio and the man who once served as its CEO.

Perhaps no press conference will be forthcoming with Stabenow's husband because he holds no public office. In many ways this will make it worse on Stabenow because some will be looking to her, as the established politico, to respond, unlike the musical chair governors of New York who at least deserved the negative scrutiny their own wanton peccadilloes created.

I do hope though, for Senator Stabenow's sake, that Athans does get his moment in front of the camera.

And if he does, I hope Stabenow does not stand on any stage beside that philandering political creep if he makes an appearance. I do not want to see her nod in quiet agreement and fight back tears when he acknowledges that he did something wrong and is deeply sorry. I do not want to see Stabenow's sullen presence acknowledge that she understands his personal problem and supports his recovery from whatever evils haunt him. What I do hope that Debbie Stabenow does is let that worthless bastard stand on stage all by himself and explain how his carnal needs were allowed to transcend the needs of his family.

Call me judgmental.

I want to see him stammer all alone and bear the burden of his selfishness as an individual. In truth, I'd much rather see Debbie Stabenow knock that son of a bitch bloody with her purse than to see her ease his embarrassment one small portion. Let her accept his apology after the stitches have been pulled out of his swollen head.

I know, I know, this is a personal matter and the family will have to deal with it in the manner that they see fit, but the very least that that irresponsible and self-centered jerk deserves is a bloody lip and a black eye. And Debbie Stabenow, the wife, deserves the honor of giving it to him.

Michigan Loses Dura Automotive in Mancelona

There are conflicting stories coming out of Mancelona today over why some 300 jobs at the Dura Automotive plant in that Antrim County city will be lost when the factory closes sometime before the end of the year. The conflict is between management and the union who continue to snipe at each other over the reasons for the closure.

This is a huge loss of jobs for Antrim County that can only boast a population of a little more than 23,000 people.

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:“

Today, following the conclusion of discussions with the union, Dura has regretfully announced to employees the decision to cease all operations and close the Mancelona site,” said a statement issued by Theresa Skotak, vice president and chief administrative officer for Dura.

“While several factors were considered, a critical part of the decision was the inability of the company and the union to reach an agreement that would result in an economically viable business capable of remaining competitive in an extremely aggressive global supplier landscape.”

UAW officials objected to the company’s attempt to blame the union. They said the average pay rate at the plant is less than $14 per hour and more than a hundred Dura executives received bonuses during its financial problems.

“They just keep getting richer, but the workers have to pay to give them bonuses,” said Rob Naugle, international representative for union.

Moot echoes of this argument might very well haunt the closed Mancelona factory for many years, long after displaced employees try their luck at finding work in states less choked by regulations, in companies lead by progressive management, and where they might be surrounded by other staff members who see themselves as an integral part of a financially healthy company rather than its adversary.

Today, the simple fact is that Michigan has just lost another employer, regardless of who might prove to be history's bigger knucklehead.

I wonder if those fighting at American Axle are paying any attention.

Detroit is Number One

All you folks feeling sorry for Michigan and Detroit for being last in everything can relax a bit for Detroit has reached the pinnacle in at least one major educational measurement, 5.6% higher than its closest rival, Indianapolis.

And, whoever said that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is having a major negative impact on Detroit, and that the city would soon become recognized as a city of chumps and losers (if it wasn't already,) should be ashamed. Ooops, I guess I am a bit ashamed of myself at that.

Well, not to be too far distracted from the story at hand, Detroit has muscled its way to the top of the heap for the distinction of being the city whose public schools have the highest dropout rate among the 50 largest school districts in America. More than three quarters (75.1%) of all students entering Detroit public schools as freshmen drop out before graduating.

And that, my friends, is something you can build on.