Right As Usual

From The Uncooperative Blogger comes a story that raises some questions about border security: Congressmen who visit the U.S.-Mexico border unannounced are being monitored by the Department of Homeland Security, and at least one U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent has been suspended for speaking to a congressman without first getting supervisory clearance, according to documents obtained by the Daily Bulletin. Congressional members interviewed by the newspaper said they were unaware until recently that Border Patrol agents were required to file Significant Incident Reports - normally used for shootings and other serious border incidents - when congressional members made unannounced visits in the summer along the U.S.-Mexico border. A second document obtained by the paper reveals that one agent was suspended for 10 days without pay for speaking with Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who made an unannounced visit to the border in May. "Preventing Congress from speaking freely to federa...

Don't quite know why, but this tickled me. Found on a substitute teacher blog: Mr. Pool’s also broken down the difference between teaching at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. "It’s hugs, drugs and thugs, respectively," he says.

Dang, they really make me proud to be an American : Leaders from four Western Alaska villages have rejected an offer of free heating oil from a Venezuelan- owned company because that nation's president this month called President Bush "a devil" and made other inflammatory comments about the United States. "Despite the critical need for fuel in our region, the Unangan (Aleut) people are Americans first, and we cannot support the political agenda attached to this donation," read a statement from Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association released late Thursday. The above story from Right Wing Sparkle . What can any of us do? Participate in the boycott of Citgo oil. The local Citgo station is geographically convenient - right next to the school - as well as a good price. But, as a principle, I refuse to subsidize the dictator who buddies up to our enemies. Sometimes, there are things more important than the money.

I've been having a quiet weekend. My husband was supposed to come for a visit, but couldn't work it out. We were both disappointed, but made consoling noises "it's all right, I'll survive" - said with a laugh to indicate that it isn't tragic - even though it feels like it now. So, as usual, when feeling the need to connect, without any local resources, I started reading blogs. I re-discover several I used to read, such as Church of the Masses . It's run by Barbara Nicolosi, who is a Catholic screenwriter (Touched by an Angel, for example). She posts her memories of September 2001: Flags are our new vigil lights. Every flag that waves is suddenly a prayer that America will recall the blessings of God. Freedom, not license. Community not diversity. Prosperity to make virtue possible. Speech to utter the truth. Opportunity to advance human potential and achievement. God bless America. God bless America. These American flags are a talisman - a tangibl...

I found a really cute place to make another avatar. Not totally my style (a little too young in the fashion accessories), but nicely animated and fun.

I'm watching The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's only about 10 minutes into the movie, and I can only say that a bad movie reeks early on. Fortunately, I haven't invested too much time in it, so can watch something more worthwhile, like ET! or HSN. Found this gem at the NY Post: ...honor's dead in Washington. And at "leading" universities (where patriotism, too, is beneath contempt). And in the media. Honor isn't hip. It's as pathetic as a powder-blue, polyester leisure suit. To journalists and members of Congress, the concept of honor is so alien it's incomprehensible. If you can grab a headline, no matter the cost to your country, tell our secrets - and win an award for your "courage." If you can bump up your poll numbers before the election, spill the beans. If you can stick it to the other party, by all means tell the terrorists what our senior intelligence officers think. Expose our security programs. Exaggerate our mili...

I've been busy - in a good way - this week. I'm partly caught up on grading. I still need to input it into this computer I'm working on now, but I can finish that this weekend. I once had a professor tell me that not all work has to be graded. He obviously didn't teach high school, since I've learned that if it isn't graded, they won't do the work. Well, that does make some sense. If they didn't pay people, would any of us show up to work? I'll be spending more time at school this weekend. In one of my stupider moments, I offered to tutor this Saturday. Some of the kids are spending a few hours at school, making up absences. So, rather than having them spend time doing nothing (think The Breakfast Club), I said that I'd let any kid from my class who is there come to my room, and I'll work with them - tutoring, make-up labs, etc. I can't even claim I was drunk when I opened up my big mouth, much as it seems to be a reasonable concl...

I stumbled upon some interesting posts about blogging. If you blog, try checking these out . David Sifry's tips validate something I've noticed. Blogs are a little like your daily newspaper. They should be timely. Late news isn't news. They should be short. They should be updated OFTEN. Now, that last isn't easy for the novice blogger. I remember when I started about 3 years ago, I spent HOURS trying to come up with ANYTHING to say - forget good, I kept coming up dry on lousy stuff. But, 3 years later, it's not uncommon for me to punch out 250-500 words without effort. Yeah, I know sometimes it reads as though I put no time into it. But, in general, reading back over old posts, if I didn't know how much time they took, I couldn't tell. That's the difference between passion and craft. Ideally, you have both. But the novice should have a passionate interest in whatever it is that he/she is posting about. That passion will carry him/her a long way...

Little Green Footballs showed the design of the AZ 9/11 memorial. He points out that it bears a striking resemblance to a crescent. You decide. I do understand that many architects want to incorporate "flow" into a memorial. Certainly, a circle is conducive to that effect. But, why the assymetrical rendering that so resembles a crescent? Given the nature of the attacks, it would seem sensitive to avoid any similiarity.

I found some videos on YouTube. The first one is of the mass gatherings of the spring. It was produced by Immigration Watchdog Dennis Miller on immigration . Pointed and funny. Pay special to his last suggestion for illegal immigration proponents. A typical anti-illegal immigrant activist presents his reasoned argument in favor of his position. The illegal immigrants' marches are receiving less attention than in the spring, but they are still continuing. Notice that many in the crowd seem to be Anglo sympathizers (rather typical for St. Paul area). March on Washington, 9/7/06. The angle from which this was shot may make the crowd appear larger than it was. The marchers seemed to have learned about carrying non-US flags . This is apparently a top-down organized march. Signs are all mass-produced, the flags are all the same size and on the same poles. Since so many have referred to it, here's Led Zeppelin's Immigrant song . Here's the Viking Kittens version . R...

You really have to watch this video. It tells the story of the son of Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by an Islamic fanatic. The young boy is being persecuted by "Moroccan" youths - that's a code word for Muslims in Denmark. The music that accompanies the video is Celtic, and, naturally, heartbreaking. One thing we Celts do well is break your heart. I noticed the sign the young man made - the US flag is prominently displayed. I'm going to be contacting my Senators in Washington, and ask them to invite the van Gogh family to re-locate to the US, for their safety.

In AZ, the governor, Janet Napolitano, signed the order to create a memorial to 9/11 victims. : “to build a lasting memorial on the Arizona State Capitol Mall to the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The family, friends and fellow citizens we lost on September 11 should never be forgotten, and this memorial will help ensure that generations from now, Arizonans will continue to honor their memory.” Additionally the letter said, “We must always remember the lives that we lost on that terrible day, as well as the strength and compassion that all Americans showed soon afterward.” Someone must have lost the order, and substituted their own agenda, because what they ended up with was this: "Fear of Foreigners" Balbir Singh Sodhi, A Sike, murdered in Mesa" "Foreign-Born Americans Afraid" "Must Bomb Back" "You don't win battles of terrorism with more battles" among other catchy leftist phrases. I hadn't thought of th...

This Blogburst is also available as a Podcast . by Toni at Bear Creek Ledger All of these stories were found in the last couple days posted to Lucianne . 'Border Baby' boom strains S. Texas - There's a picture with the story of an illegal alien who's given birth to her fourth child on American soil at American taxpayer expense who thinks it's owed to her! Of course the real story is how 'anchor babies' are breaking the backs of South Texas hospitals. Doctors and health officials say they are overwhelmed by both the new arrivals and those immigrant mothers who already are in the state. Even Houston's feeling the pinch. An estimated 70 percent to 80 percent of the 10,587 births at Ben Taub General Hospital and Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital last year were to undocumented immigrants, administrators say. Also feeling the strain is Starr County, an already poor South Texas county that has the region's only taxpayer-supported hospital district. Immi...

I'll be heading to work in a few minutes, but I wanted to put up this link to the story behind the hunt for Bin Laden, as explained by the Washington Post (2004), via Ace. It has the ring of truth. It was common in Clinton's cabinet and among his National Security Council aides to see the CIA as too cautious, paralyzed by fears of legal and political risks. At Langley, this criticism rankled. The CIA's senior managers believed officials at the White House wanted to have it both ways: They liked to blame the agency for its supposed lack of aggression, yet they sent over classified legal memos full of wiggle words. Yeah, that slippery, I-didn't-do-anything, you-didn't-see-me, can't-legally-prove-it, Bart Simpson-type evasion. Sounds like the Clinton presidency.

so did he skip the classes on character defamation? The steps will be these: Air Force tankers will be deployed to fuel B-2 bombers, Navy cruise missile ships will be positioned at strategic points in the northern Indian Ocean and perhaps the Persian Gulf, unmanned drones will collect target data, and commando teams will refine those data. The latter two steps are already being taken. Then the president will speak on national television. He will say this: Iran is determined to develop nuclear weapons; if this happens, the entire region will go nuclear; our diplomatic efforts to prevent this have failed; Iran is offering a haven to known al Qaeda leaders; the fate of our ally Israel is at stake; Iran persists in supporting terrorism, including in Iraq; and sanctions will have no affect (and besides they are for sissies). He will not say: ...and besides, we need the oil. Therefore, he will announce, our own national security and the security of the region requires us to act. "Tonig...

Run, don't walk, to read this: Given the Left’s romance with revolution and guerillas, it’ll only be a matter of time before Hezbollah leader Nasrallah appears on T-shirts like Che, and his merry band are lionized as the new Viet Cong. Hezbollah builds schools, you know. Granted, they’re schools where the biology lesson consists of sawing off the heads of infidel frogs. But they build schools! Imagine rallies in 1939 where brown-shirts taunted Jews, screamed NO BLOOD FOR BEER, blamed Pearl Harbor on the FDR, and called for the destruction of the French Entity while peace activists applauded. That’s what we have today. It’s like watching Nazis and Quakers ballroom dance. Sometime, the leftists are going to have to perform an unpleasant task - they're going to have to pull their heads out of their A$$E$, and finally admit that the Islamofascists are genuinely CRAZY!

From CNN In a contentious taped interview that aired on "Fox News Sunday," former president Bill Clinton vigorously defended his efforts as president to capture and kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. "I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since. And if I were still president, we'd have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him," Clinton said, referring to Afghanistan. "We do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is one-seventh as important as Iraq," he added, referring to the approximately 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Remind you of anyone? As he used to say on the show - Missed it - by that much!

Steve Hampton, of Protect Our Border , wrote an email to the Coalition Against Illegal Immigration's Yahoo group, in which he addresses the issue of anchor babies : If you look at how the text is written concerning Anchor Babies, it seems quite clear that Anchor Babies ( Babies born from ILLEGAL immigrants ) do NOT LEGALLY get Citizenship. The flaw is clearly written that they are NOT to become citizen. If you think its NOT a major major problem in the USA. You should know that 10% of the USA current birth rate is to ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Contact your major groups and suggest a law suit to STOP ANCHOR baby Laws. This is a clear ABUSE of the 14th Amendment. Throw OUT of OFFICE ANY Politician reguardless of Party that defends "Anchor Baby" VIOLATIONS and Abuse of the 14th Amendment. Currently the USA is giving FULL Citizenship rights to babies born from ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, just because they were able to cross into the USA ILLEGALLY to have their baby. I think he has a point...

I found this on 7.62mm Justice : So a small regional Surrender Monkey newspaper is reporting that Osama is dead. I can’t even being to describe the amount of salt that I am taking this report with. We’re talking a grain of salt the size of both of the former world trade towers. It’s just too much to hope for. However, if he is dead. I would like to invite everyone over for a pig roast. We’ll drink beer, eat pork, and celebrate Osama’s death like it was the 4th of July. What a GREAT idea! We can use it as a kick-off to a fall weekend of partying with 'da pig. Don't think he'll be flying - but he sure will be COOKING!

Hey, not me - I think there are those who are nervously bouncing up & down, impatient for the coming of an eagerly awaited event: These elites are not simply milling about waiting for “the next chapter of trouble.” I think in too many cases, they - like troubled eldest siblings, the “First Children” who have never quite gotten over the subsequent additions to the family - have been actively fomenting chapter after chapter of trouble, for some 40 years. They are complacently building little fortresses, but they are doing so for a reason. Having written all of these chapters of trouble, they are feeling quite confident that their story is solidly structured, and they are ready for the dénouement they have planned. The anticipation of their surprise ending is making them almost giddy. The ending, of course, is the coup d’état. Believing that the rest of us, now disillusioned, are no longer clinging to romantic ideals of honor, or truth or nobility, these always-restless First Children...

From Reuters (and we know how unbiased and accurate THEY are) : France and the United States said on Saturday they could not confirm a report that Osama bin Laden had died and France launched a probe into how a secret document containing the claim was leaked. The French regional daily L'Est Republicain, published in Nancy, quoted a document from France's DGSE foreign intelligence service as saying the Saudi secret services were convinced the al Qaeda leader had died of typhoid in Pakistan in late August. This report reeks as badly as a bachelor's refrigerator; motives? By releasing the news now, before it can be confirmed, takes away the possibility of an "October Surprise". If later proved true, media will call it a "ho-hum", old news, not worthy of the front page. Democrats stand to benefit from the early release of the news. They'll start the drumbeat for total withdrawal of troops. Expect to see the - er - can't call it ground swell - how ...

This has to be the fastest (NOT necessarily the best) way to get rid of illegal aliens: - NEVER use the term "illegal alien" - STOP imposing the term "illegal immigrant" on immigrant families, immigrant youth, and immigrant workers - We CAN describe the complexities of the immigration issue without having to criminalize and stigmatize immigrant workers, immigrant families and our immigrant friends and loved ones by using the word "illegal" - "Illegal immigrant" gives credibility to a broken immigration system that does not honor human rights, workers' rights, and people Well, isn't that SPECIAL! The same criminals law-breakers invaders ahem - paper-challenged and eager job-seekers will still be here, but they won't be illegal aliens any more. Reminds me of the Abraham Lincoln joke: If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? Five? No, calling a tail a leg don't make it a leg. **This was a production of The Coalition Agai...

From Save Andromeda , I found this article focusing on whether illegal immigrants take only "jobs Americans won't do" . Between 2000 and 2005, 4.1 million immigrant workers arrived from abroad, accounting for 86 percent of the net increase in the total number of employed persons (16 and older), the highest share ever recorded in the United States. Of the 4.1 million new immigrant workers, between 1.4 and 2.7 million are estimated to be illegal immigrants. This means that illegal immigrants accounted for up to 56 percent of the net increase in civilian employment in the United States over the past five years. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of young (16 to 34) native-born men who were employed declined by 1.7 million; at the same time, the number of new male immigrant workers increased by 1.9 million. Multivariate statistical analyses show that the probability of teens and young adults (20-24) being employed was negatively affected by the number of new immigrant workers ...

I found this fascinating alternate explanation of the Taj Mahal's origins via Dissecting Leftism If you have ever visited the Taj Mahal then your guide probably told you that it was designed by Ustad Isa of Iran, and built by the Moghul Emperor, Shah Jahan, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Indian children are taught that it was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world. This story has been challenged by Professor P.N. Oak, author of Taj Mahal: The True Story, who believes that the whole world has been duped. He claims that the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya), worshipped by the Rajputs of Agra city. In the course of his research, Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. Shah Jahan then remodelled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own court chronicl...

I was reading Ace of Spades HQ today , when I spotted this reference to the killing of Van Gogh . Van Gogh's son talks about being stalked by Muslim extremists, Courtesy of My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy According to Dhimmi Watch Since the murder of Theo van Gogh, last November, his now 14-year-old son Lieuwe has twice been physically attacked by young Moroccans, or (more likely) Dutch citizens of Moroccan descent. Europe needs to deal with these thugs - soon, before they gain strength from official inaction. Have they learned nothing about the costs of failing to act against brownshirts?

It was pointed out to me that Right Truth, one of the members of the Coalition, was featured in an article on illegal immigration. To say that the article was hopelessly biased is to understate it: Immigration opponents like to talk (when not talking about violent immigrant criminals, who of course exist, but whose actions and fate have little bearing on what we should do about immigrants only here to work) Notice that slyly slipped reference to violent criminals - that allows the many criminals who only take your money to be trivialized about abstractions such as the reverence for the law (why victimless crime laws deserve any particular respect is rarely argued, merely asserted), Not by me - I don't suggest that anyone have to have "reverence" for any law, just obey it - and, BTW, who said this is a VICTIMLESS CRIME? Not me - I, and all the rest of the country who end up paying for stolen "entitlements", incarcerating criminals who are illegal aliens (a s...

The GA Governor has pro-illegal immigration supporters up in arms: During a news conference last week, Gov. Perdue said, ``It is simply unacceptable for people to sneak into this country illegally on Thursday, obtain a government-issued ID on Friday, head for the welfare office on Monday and cast a vote on Tuesday,'' according to a transcript provided by Perdue's press office. Well, I can't see any problem with that - it IS unacceptable. The problem isn't just that SOME illegals get welfare benefits that were intended for citizens and LEGAL residents, it's that too many of them are trying to elbow their way to the front of the citizenship line, and grab rights to which they are not entitled - like voting. Did you know that, even as a legal resident in Mexico, I couldn't own a home, work a job, or collect government benefits? So why should we extend those same privileges to illegals? **This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration(CAII)....

From Girl on the Right "We want a personal apology (from the Pope). We feel that he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," Muslim Brotherhood Deputy Leader Mohammed Habib told Reuters. Yeah? And we're still waiting for an apology for the World Trade Center attacks - both of them! And the USS Cole. And the Pentagon. And Pennsylvania. And Madrid. And Bali. And the Embassy. And London. And... I'm sure I'm missing quite a few, but I just woke up from a nap, so please excuse my foggy memory. If you're waiting for an apology from the Pope, you waited too long. Pope John Paul II was the official apology guy, and he's dead. Meet the new boss... NOT the same as the old boss. Always liked that Girl. You know, initially, I didn't think of the Pope's comments as that important - it seemed to be a relatively small part of a longer speech. That probably just shows my naivete - of course an ...

I found a simply riveting post on Take Back Georgia . It begins: I went to jail last night... NO - not as a detainee, as an observer of our local Sheriff's Academy. :) Imagine my (not so) surprise, when I learned the following: Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Questions of the Day: Do you know what the most common form of communication is in our local jail? GANG SIGNS also known as STACKING. Do you know how many illegal aliens we had in our jail last night? 85 Next to probation, immigration violations were the biggest populator of our local jail yesterday. Surprised? Not really... Encouraged? Possibly. Go there, and read the rest **This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration(CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

This post is from Demediacraticnation . The news about the fence is not unalloyed bliss, however: According to Fox News the new exchange program: "will quintuple the number of Saudi students and scholars here by the academic year's end." I'm more than a little concerned about that. 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 came from the Saudi kingdom. I'm not happy about taking in the resident crazies the king doesn't want around, however much it may stabilize the country. This may be one of those "one one hand, on the other hand" kind of things. Few bills make it through Congress without acquiring a lot of baggage. It may be like that old joke about the gift whiskey It was just right - any worse, it would have killed him. Any better, he wouldn't have gotten the gift. **This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coa...

This week's Blogburst is also available as a Podcast . by Darnell at Independent Conservative If this information is true, it is the most detailed revelation of a planned attack that I have ever seen. Next Attack Imminent: Muslims ordered to leave the United States Urgent news from Abu Dawood, the newly appointed commander of the al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan: Final preparations have been made for the American Hiroshima, a major attack on the U. S. Muslims living in the United States should leave the country without further warning. The attack will be commandeered by Adnan el Shukrijumah (”Jaffer Tayyer” or “Jafer the Pilot”), a naturalized American citizen , who was raised in Brooklyn and educated in southern Florida. The al Qaeda operatives who will launch this attack are awaiting final orders. They remain in place in cities throughout the country. Many are masquerading as Christians and have adopted Christian names. Al Qaeda and the Taliban will also la...

Gagdad Bod, AKA One Cosmos, has some illuminating (NOT Illuminati) things to say about the far left kooks. it is very unsettling that a large segment of the population believes things about conservatives that are not only untrue, but cannot possibly be true. They are terrified of a wholly fantasized version of reality, while I am afraid of their seemingly boundless capacity to fantasize and to inhabit their malicious fantasies. The purpose of language is to communicate about reality. But what if it is not communicating reality, but fantasy? Somehow, these people are "successful" in communicating to one another (they all know exactly what the others are talking about, while you or I would say, "wwwhhhhaaaat?), and are even perversely emotionally "nourished" by the communication. It is a relief to them that others share the same fantasy--it satisfies them, fills some kind of need. But it is not a need for truth. It's like an anxious group of primitives who ...

I found this post about the terrorist attorney , Lynne Stewart, on PC Free Zone . She is to be sentenced on October 16, 2006. You have an opportunity to let your voice be heard by writing a short letter of support for a VERY long and tough sentence. What did she do? On February 10, 2005, Lynne Stewart was convicted of helping terrorists by smuggling messages of violence from one of her imprisoned clients -- a radical Egyptian sheik -- to his terrorist disciples on the outside. Lynne Stewart was convicted of providing material support, through a press conference and allowing access by her translator, to a terrorist conspiracy to kill persons outside of the United States and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government when acting as counsel to Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who was convicted in 1996 of plotting terrorist attacks against various sites in the New York City area. That's just one of the many despicable actions she has taken in a long and traitorous c...

I found this poem thanks to my dear Mischa, of the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler . Now, I'm not much of a poetry person (my tastes are more for raunchy limericks), but this is beautiful. At the end is a picture I've grown very fond of. It represents the Person in Uniform, Tired, but Ever Watchful Over Us. Another poem, from a long-dead author, that I've always liked. TOMMY I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer, The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here." The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die, I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I: O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away"; But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play, The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play, O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play. I went into a theatre as sober as coul...

Immediately after posting the previous entry, I was checking out The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler , and found a link to this in the comments: An Italian nun was shot dead at a hospital by Somali gunmen Sunday, hours after a leading Muslim cleric condemned Pope Benedict XVI for his remarks on Islam and violence. The nun, who was not immediately identified, was shot in the back at S.O.S. Hospital in northern Mogadishu by two gunmen, said Mohamed Yusuf, a doctor at the facility, which serves mothers and children. The nun's bodyguard and a hospital worker were also killed, doctors said. Naturally, the media aren't convinced that it was related to the Pope's comments. They apparently didn't talk to these guys: Witnesses also said the shooting and the pope's comments appeared to be linked. "These gunmen always look for white people to kill, and now the pope gave them the reason to do their worst," said Mohamud Durguf Derow, who was at the scene when the nun was ...

I hadn't commented yet on Pope B16's comments about Islam. Since I've sort of gotten out of the habit of watching the "news", I often miss the latest liberal outrage over B16's radical insistence on speaking the truth to his flock. I found a post on The Cafeteria is Closed that covers the subject rather well. The blogger, Gerald Augustinus (what a great name!), states the obvious about the coverage the comments have received, with a simple title: Moronic column on the Pope That says it all, folks. But, for those who need more proof, ( Bold emphasis mine) By unwittingly angering Muslims with his comments on Islam, Pope Benedict XVI has shown that he has yet to shake off his academic theological roots and master the global media machine with the same deftness as his predecessor. In clinging to theology and orthodoxy, the bookish Benedict has shown little regard for media management in getting his message across, unlike the communications-savvy John Paul ...

Steinem & friends start an all-women radio network. Who are these founders? Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, and a high powered group of women decided to offer an alternative by founding GreenStone Media. It's the only national radio network owned by women, and it's designed to offer what is missing in talk today -- radio that is thought-provoking, emotionally involving, believable and trustworthy. Radio that talks with you, not at you. GreenStone's talk radio network debuted in July, 2006. We began streaming a series of entertaining, informative shows nationally, and we are adding AM and FM affiliates across the country. We're broadcasting from studios in New York and Los Angeles. Our mission is simple: meet the unserved need for innovative, topical, relevant and entertaining programming of particular interest to women. Because Air America radio has been SUCH a great place to sink your life savings. Good thing Ted (ex-husband) Turner isn't dead - he's be spinn...

Are we losing the drug war? Or do we just have a lot of people who are only paying lip service to fighting it? I found this article, about a relatively typical situation , which happened to occur in LA. But the course described by the reporter is all-too-common in too many cities. Too many of the players in the judical arm of the law have taken it as their personal crusade to do the minimum - shuffle cases around, make a feeble stab at prosecution, and whine that "they have no choice" but to make deals with criminals. I'm not advocating for life sentences for small-time users. But we need to take dealing seriously, without hiding behind the excuse "it's his first offense". Generally, that just means, it's the first time he's been caught and couldn't bury the evidence. How can we expect rehab to work when addicts are surrounded by the temptation every day of their life? I've been dieting, and I find it hard to resist when people bring in ...

I really don't quite know why, but my traffic is up lately. It may be a seasonal thing - schools are back in session, so readership may just be responding to the increase in the numbers of people who have access. Whatever the reason, I'm kinda enjoying the increased attention. Not that I'm a Diva or anything.

I was browsing through old stuff, and found this reference to what may be pyramids in Bosnia . Ace skewers the "experts": I love the circular logic here: someone finds a big pyramid-shaped thing in Bosnia, but "experts" know there's no such thing as a pyramid in Bosnia, and therefore whatever is under those mounds (which we shouldn't bother excavating, because the experts have already told us what cannot possibly be there) is most certainly not a pyramid. Because Europeans never built pyramids. QED. I have no trouble believing that pyramids are possible - Bosnia isn't so far away from Egypt that they couldn't have been influenced by them. Or, maybe the Bosnian ancestors were the ones that invented the structure? Or, maybe, the Eqyptians at one time ruled the area. All of those are possible explanations for the presence of pyramids in Bosnia. But, I want to bring up another point about history. Why are old buildings hanging around? I mean, why di...

The picture on the left is of Lena Haddix, a GREAT-GRANDMOTHER who is just returning from her 2nd deployment to the Mideast, working for Department of Defense's Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) which operates shops selling goods to US military personnel on army bases. I read of her remarkable story in The Smallest Minority . On her first trip, she worked in Kuwait. She is the oldest employee to have served in Iraq. The troops called her Mom. This military wife is a real trooper!

I've only recently become aware that there are sizable numbers of people who believe that the WTC was brought down, not by Islamic fanatics, but by carefully planned and detonated explosive devices. Popular Mechanics devoted considerable space in their magazine to debunking the loonies sad examples of Prozac-deprived paranoids the seriously technology-challenged. To no avail. The true believers keep growing. It's hard to understand why, when the scientific evidence is so clear. Aha. That's it. I understand. The average person's ability to understand complicated scientific concepts is sorely lacking. And I oughta know. I'm a physics teacher.

I'm having trouble understanding this: A Christian man is recovering from a beating that left him with a broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder after he drank water from a glass reserved for the poor at a construction site in Pakistan. So, when are the world's Christians going to wake up and smell the jihad? We have got to act on this type of injustice. Do Christians act like that? We do NOT! Where are the churches? Too busy coddling Muslims yelling that they are being profiled, harassed (without proof), and discriminated against (because swimming pools won't let the girls wear street clothes - the same standard all other girls are held to). I know I'm only one lonely voice, but, does anyone know what we can do? Who is looking out for the world's Christians? Thanks to Ogre , where I found the story.

This week's post is later than usual. We didn't want to compete with the 9/11 memorials. Warning: it's got a bite at the end. Which, BTW, I thoroughly agree with. by Heidi at Euphoric Reality This week’s Blogburst is available as a Podcast . In the days and weeks leading up to the fifth anniversary of 9/11, I have been musing how the overall impact of that single days' terrorism has affected our nation. Some people have felt their initial shock and horror fade away to something sadly benign - a quiet relief that it hasn't happened again, and a determination to "do their part" going on with their lives. After all, if they didn't, then the terrorists would've "won" that day, they aver. Others like me, felt that same shock and horror harden into a stone cold fury and an implacable resolve to fight this burgeoning evil that hides behind the facade of religion. The question on everyone's minds is, "Are we safer today than we we...

I wanted to post something in memory of the 9/11 terrorist attack. I haven't been able to come up with an original post. I have friends who lost family and friends in the attacks, I have a friend who was at the Pentagon at the time. But my memories are second-hand. So, I've decided to link to others who were there. On the first official battlefield of WWIII. American Digest's eye-witness account of NYC. He posts his diary of 9/11 and the days that followed. PBS has a round-up of stories from viewers. Keep in mind the typical viewer of PBS. The September 11 Digital Archive has both pictures and text. They have a digital map - you can click on it, and get the story of the person represented by the marker. In Firefox, there was some problem with the display - it didn't unfold like it should have. They dalso have a Guide to September 11 Websites . Little Green Footballs has a thread containing stories. For a very New Yorkish, mainstream media take on 9/11, try th...