NASA's Lunar Challenge

Check this out: NASA will give you $250,000 if you can make oxygen out of moon dirt. No kidding...

The Constitutional Option vs. Continued Democrat Obstructionism

My latest article for the MVCA is up a bit early. Enjoy my fisking of yet another lame Dayton Daily News editorial...

Holy $#|+ Update: Sith Edition

I'm not real sure I agree totally with all of the symbolism PunditGuy gives us here (specifically the Padme reference), but there is something to be said for his analysis of the Jedi council and Anakin's turn to the dark side: it's a message to the Catholic Church about celibacy.

"From a certain point of view..."

This guy's got a number of problems with his perspective, but this article has a few interesting points of view to consider, not that I agree with any of them...

The author seems to think that the democratization of the Middle East is actually some kind of victory for al Qaeda...I think he might want to check in with his buddy Zarqawi in Iraq before making such a claim. Democracy and freedom are beginning to take hold in the region and it doesn't look good in the long term for the jihad industry...

D-Day in Nuclear Option Week

Bill Frist Layeth the Smacketh Down....as Shang Tsung said in Mortal Kombat....It has begun!!!


Check out the rest of the Nuclear Option Goodness over at NRO's Bench Memos!

Nuclear Option Week: Blatant, Unadulterated Hypocrisy

Let's play a little game, shall we?

Who Said each of these statements? (and no, the answer is not Bill or Hillary, or even Flip flopping John Kerry)

1. --"Acording to the US Constitution, the President nominates, and the Senate shall provide advice and consent. It is not the role of the Senate to obstruct the process and prevent numbers of highly qualified nominees from even being given the opportunity for a vote on the Senate floor."

2. "So we're saying we think you ought to get nine votes over the 51 required. That isn't to much to ask for sch a super important position. There ought to be a super vote. Don't you think so?"

3. If, after 150 days languishing in a committee there is no report on an individual, the name should come to the floor. If, after 150 days languishing on the executive calendar that name has not been called for a vote, it should be. Vote the person up or down. They are qualified or they are not."

4. We have to have the process where the rules are respcted, where we have checks and balances in our government, and where people seeking lifetime appointments must demonstrate not only honesty and competency but the fact that they are in tune with the values and needs of the American people. Unofortunately, in the case of 10 judges, may of us believe the nominees sent by the White House do not meet that test."

5. A nominee is entitled to a vote. Vote them up; vote them down...It is our job to confirm these judges. if we don't like them, we can vote against them. That is the honest thing to do. If there are things in their background, in their abilities that don't pass muster, vote no.

6. Out of 205 judges, we haven't confirmed 10 submitted by the President and have chosen to filibuster those, the Republicans want to break the filibuster rule. And I think that's a big problem.

7. The Constitution is clear that only individuals acceptable to both the President and the Senate should be confirmed. The presdent and the Senate do not always agree. But we should resolve these disagreements by voting on these nominees--yes or no.

8. But what has not ended is the resolution and the determination of the members of the United States Senate to continue to resist any Neanderthal that is nominated by this President of the United States for any...federal court in the United States.

9. I...do not want to see the Senate go down a path where a minoiry of the Senate is determining a judge's fate on votes of 41...During the Republican Administrations I rarely ever voted against a nomination by either President Reagan or President Bush. There were a couple I did. I also took the floor on occaision to oppose filibusters to hold them up and believe we should have a vote up or down.

10. If you remove the checks and balances so that youc an nominate judges who will be basically an arm of one element of the Republican Party, then you have taken a giant leap toward an unfettered executive controlling all three branches of the federal government...It will not only demean the Senate....it will destroy the comity on wich it depends.

11. I also plead with my colleagues to move judges with alacrity--vote them up or down. But this delay makes a mockery of the Constitution, makes a mockery of the fact that we are here working, and makes a mockery of the lvies of very sincere people who have put themselves forward to be judges and then they hang out there in limbo.

12. We will invoke every rule in the Senate that we can, without standing in the way of vitally needed programs, to show the people who put it in power that they cannot just by fiat undo 200 years of American history.

OK, no cheating. Time's up. I bet you are going to say that people like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Frist, and other Republican stalwarts said the odd numbered statements. Well, you would be wrong. Here are the answers.

Statement1 (Congressional Record, May 14, 1997) and Statement2(rally in Washington, March 16, 2005)--Barbara Boxer, D, CA

Statement3(Congressional Record, Sept. 28, 1999) and Statement4 (Congressional Record, April 20, 2005)--Dick Durbin, D, IL

Statement5(Congressional Record, Sept. 16, 1999) and Statement6(CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, April 17, 2005)--Dianne Feinstein, D, CA

Statement7 (Congressional Record, Jan. 28, 1998)and Statement8 (CNN Inside Politics, Nov. 14, 2003)--Ted "Hero of Chappaquiddick" Kennedy, D, MA

Statement9 (Congressional Record, Sept. 16, 1999) and Statement10 (Congressional Record, April 22, 2005)--Patrick "Leaky" Leahy, D, VT

Statement11 (Congressional Record, March 7, 2000) and Statement12(Fox News' Special Report, April 21, 2005)--Charles "Chuck the Shmuck" Schumer, D, NY

Who says there has not been some serious Kool-Aid drinking or drug use on Capitol Hill? How else to explain this amazing divergence from the same people? Or, could it simply be BLATANT, UNADULTERATED, JUVENILE, DETRIMENTAL TO THE NATION HYPOCRISY?

Ohio's New Motto: "If you send it, we'll spend it."

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

"We've led the nation in spending for the last 10 years," says Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

He says Ohio also leads the nation in losing the 25-39 age group, while 250 Ohio residents move to Florida every 24 hours.

Blackwell thinks swelling taxes and a shrinking population are not a coincidence. So he has proposed a tax and spending cap that would let budgets grow no more than 3.5 percent, or the percentage of population increase (now zero) plus inflation (about 2 percent), whichever is greater.

Contrary to what the Montgomery campaign would have you believe, Blackwell leads most polls by a staggering double-digit lead.

In related news, Montogmery did pick up the endorsement of Summit County Republicans. Although I'm pretty sure they're "mavericks" if you know what I mean...

Petro, by the way, can't even get his running mate to agree with him on spending...

Doug's Dialogue

About bleeping time. We are sending more of our money to govenment on a yearly basis. As the per capita income increases from year to year, the government takes more and more in taxes. I for one think that I caan do a better job spending my money than they can. Sure I like to have some of the things that those taxes purchase, namely a strong military, but do they need all of it? I don't think so.

While this is a step in the right direction, and I feel other states and the federal government need to take a look at this as well, I think that there is another reason why the 25-39 age group is moving. They are running away from their college loans.

On average inflation goes up approximately 3.5% per year. However, colleges and universities are raising tuition rates at rates that far exceed that inflation amount, most of them in the 9 to 15% range. Colleges and Universities would be wise to limit their spending and allow students to be able to afford to be able to get a college degree so that they might get a better job and be better off for the economy on the whole. I mean after all you can get a Bachelors Degree in Undecided from the University of Cincinnati. Yeah, like they need the money to support that program.

Government along with colleges and universities need to realize that there purpose is not to make money off of the people, but to spend the people's money wisely on programs that are needed. Not on underwater basketweaving courses.

Mark's Remarks

Where are the conservatives within the party? Where is the citing of the Ohio Republican Party Platform? Wait....we don't have one....Where is the outrage at the betrayal of Republican values of lower taxes and less spending and government intrusion? Wait, I forgot--our agenda comes from the officials we elect.....

Stop the insanity, Ohio Republican grassroots! Take back your party! Demand the formation of a state platform (even the Lefty Dims in Massachusetts have a state platform--complete with get this, PLANKS IN THE PLATFORM!). Demand the return to Republican values of lower taxes. These taxes and spending on useless programs are more and more making our state a commerce wasteland. And it is US, the Republicans, who are in power!

Why is this happening? One, because the Dims are too lefty to put up real good candidates. Two, because the Dims have no good ideas beyond spend and tax some more. Three, because the state party apparatus has become more about winning elections for people with an R next to their names; rather than seeing an agenda carried out for the state.

If the Ohio GOP continues on this path, there will be hell to pay. Eventually, the people in Ohio will get so fed up the R voters won't show up. Then we will elect Democrats and the GOP will wonder why. The answer is pushing an agenda beyond letting the elected officials make stuff up as they go. The answer is in getting back to pushing forward ideas over just winning elections. The answer is to push forward an agenda of hope and change that will revitalize this great state, rather than simply look to the sky and throw up your hands.

Call your GOP headquarters in Columbus, or visit their blog titled State of the Union, over in the sidebar here at WMD.

Nuclear Option Week: A Real Judicial Activist..Guess Who Appointed Him?

A: William Jefferson 'Bubba' Clinton.

Yep, ladies and Gents, this guy is someone who is a radical ideologue, worthy of impeachment. Who am I talking about? Judge Robert Chatigny of Connecticut, appointed by Bubba in 1994. The text below is from Human Events, with emphases added by me, following are some other links about the story and this judicial activist.

While many conservatives want Congress to hold activist judges accountable, the House Judiciary Committee hasn't investigated a referral of a potential impeachment case involving a Clinton-appointed federal judge in Connecticut who engaged in what appeared to be a personal crusade to stop the execution of a serial killer.
Connecticut legislators sent a letter February 1 to the House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner asking the committee to investigate U.S. District Judge Robert Chatigny's efforts to save Michael Ross, a man who killed eight women in the 1980s, raping most of them. The state sentenced Ross to death in 1984.

"By failing to respect and comply with the law," the letter stated, "and by failing to act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, Judge Chatigny may have violated the code of conduct of United States' judges."

So, what did this case involve...we continue with the account in the letter to the House Committee as related by Human Events:

Last year Ross decided to drop all appeals and be executed. But the state's public defender office argued he wasn't competent to make that decision, despite numerous competency evaluations that showed otherwise. Ross fired his public defenders and hired a private attorney, T.R. Paulding, who had the unusual role of defending his client's right to be executed. After failing in state courts, public defenders brought their case to U.S. District Court, with Chatigny presiding.

Chatigny sided with the public defender's argument from the that Ross had "death row syndrome," which means the conditions on death row are so unpleasant it caused depression and made him want to die, thus he wasn't capable of making a life or death decision on his own. The case moved quickly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned Chatigny's decision and ruled in favor of executing Ross on January 29, just hours before it was scheduled.
Before the high court even ruled, Chatigny took matters into his own hands.

During a conference call with Paulding, Chatigny said Ross "never should have been convicted. Or if convicted, he never should have been sentenced to death," according to court transcripts.

In the call, the judge referenced an affidavit filed by former inmate Ramon Lopez and a former prison official who said Ross wanted to die to escape death row.

"You better be prepared to deal with me if in the wake of this an investigation is conducted and it turns out that what Lopez says and what this former program director says is true, because I'll have your law license," Chatigny told Paulding.

After the call, Paulding asked to postpone the execution. The state had to comply, just as it would have if Ross had asked for an appeal. It seemed that a federal judge used personal threats to push his own agenda and disregard even the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling.

OK, so we have a Clinton Appointee making threats....where is Senator George Voinovich to go out and say how meanspirited this guy was? Where is Chuck TheShmuck Schumer to talk about this person's lack of class? Where is Joe Biden to talk about this jurist's "judggggggeeement"?

This needs to be investigated. This judge should be impeached. Unlike the Left, here we have a clear case of a judge doing extreme and radical things, even subverting the US Supreme Court, to see his own decision takes the case.

Of course, liberals will see nothing wrong with this, since they applaud a Florida judge who thumbed his nose at Congress during the Schiavo case.

This judge needs to be impeached; he needs to be disbarred. Thankfully, however, Justice did prevail. Ross was executed last week.

Here is some more of the "Great" Decisions that this radical left wing extremist has made...be thankful he is not in your state:

He ruled the Connecticut sex-offender registry to be unconstitutional and that Megan's Law violates due-process rights, a decision later overturned. He also sentenced a man trading child pornography online to six months in prison when guidelines called for a sentence of 15 to 21 months.

They don't want Janice Rogers Brown or Priscilla Owen because they think parents should be notified their children are having an invasive medical procedure called abortion, but they want someone like this, who demeans laws meant to protect our children?

Other articles about Judge Chatigny:
Source
Source
Source

Nuclear Option Week: Why is Janice Rogers Brown Being Held Up?

Answer: She is kryptonite to so many items in the Democratic playbook.

When I have conversations with my liberal friends (fewer and fewer, as they prove their intolerance by not talking to me anymore when they find out I am conservative, so much for freedom of speech and diversity of opinion)about Janice Rogers Brown, here is what I get: talking points from moveon.org or People for the AmericanEffite Liberal way:

1. She represents ideological extremism
2. she is (the biggest irony of all) an aggressive judicial activist (had a good chuckle over that one)
3. Even further to the right than the most far right justices.
4. prone to inserting conservative political views into her appellate opinions
5. has many 'disturbing' dissents
6. (more projection from libs)a distrubing tendency to try to remake the law
7. takes extreme states rights and ant-federal government positions
8. working to push the law far to the right

Go look it up at the website. Unless they have taken it down. Here is what they don't provide you with: details. What cases had 'disturbing' dissents? How exactly is she a judicial activist? Is her inserting of conservative thought into opinions any different from Justice Kennedy inserting international opinion and humanist thought into his opinions? WHERE IS THE SPECIFICITY?

Answer--there is none. The closest they can get to her being "far right" is an exchange she had with Patrick "leaky" Leahy:

Leahy: But do you find a right to privacy in the Constituion?
Brown: Do I find it in the text of the Constitution, the US Constitution? No.

And she is right. There is no stated right to privacy in the text of the document. However, to Leftys, this means, egads, she will overturn Roe v. Wade! Clutch the pearls! Thankfully, Orrin Hatch clarified the issue in the same hearing, he was chair of the committee at the time:

Hatch: Just to clarify...You said ou did not find the right to privacy in the express language of the Constituion.
Brown: That is correct.
Hatch: Nobody can find it there.
Brown: Nobody can find it there.
Hatch: But, do you agree there is a right to privacy that has now been established by the Supreme Court in Griswold and---"
Brown: It is clearly established by the Supreme Court. That is the law."
Hatch: Do you accept it?
Brown: Certainly

So, Brown will respect the law. I wish more Lefty judges would. So, we don't have specifics of how she is so wrong for America other than petty charges...So, what else is there: Janice Rogers Brown is black, and would put another huge dent into the liberal myth of blacks can't be successful without government help or by selling out to whitey.

Here are the facts of the matter:
Janice Rogers Brown was born the daughter of sharecroppers in 1949 in Alabama. She rose from a segregated and poor childhood in the South to earn a law degree from UCLA, and she was a single mother to boot (boy, no wonder the feminists have joined the Dims in this crusade, a single mother who worked three jobs to get a degree, who didn't demand to be held up as a victim, darn!)

Judge Brown is brilliant but plainspoken, she is dedicated to preserving the Constitution as ratified and is a champion of limited government. This is again, kryptonite to the Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons and Quesi Mfumes of the Left. Egads, a black woman who can take care of herself and doesn't blame whitey! Perish the thought.

And before they say she was sheltered in a conservative state, let's look at where she is from: CALIFORNIA! Liberal Hollywood land. Here are some notes to show the level of bipartisan respect this woman has:
1998 retention vote--won 76% of the vote
In the same vote, San Francisco voters approved of her with a 79.4% vote
She won more votes statewide than ANY of the other three judges up for reelection--IN LIBERAL BY GOD CALIFORNIA--even thouh she cast a minority vote to try to uphold the state's parental consent law.

It comes down to this: Brown is a woman who doesn't go giddy over abortion. She is also black. Because she is black and conservative, that makes her evil. The Senate Lefties are showing their own prejudice when they seek to hold her nomination up. They are showing it is about her race and her non-feminist views. That, quite simply, is sexist, racist, and bigoted. But that is all the Dims have left.

Kingdom of Heaven Update

Here is just a few of the fun things good ol' Saladin--you know, the HERO of the film we reviewed on WMD a week or so ago, Kingdom of Heaven, did that were not up to the impression most historians and Sir Ridley Scott choose to depict:

1. The brotherhood of Muslims, Christians, and Jews was a falsehood created by the film. According to Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith, the author of A Short History of the Crusades, "that is utter nonsense." He calls the film "rubbish."
2. Back to Saladin, the great peacemaker: When his forces defeated the crusaders at Hattin in 1187, he ordered the mass execution of his Christian opponents. The following account comes from Saladin's own secretary/attache: Saladin "ordered that t hey should be beheaded, choosing to have them dead rather than in prison. With him was a whole band of scholars and Sufis and a certain number of devout men and ascetics; each begged to be allowed to kill one of them, and drew his sword and rolled back his sleeves. Saladin, his face joyful, was sitting on his dais."

3. When Saladin took Jerusalem, it was pragmatism. He initially planned to put the Christians to death, but as the film in a surprise accurately shows, Balian of Ibelin threatened to destroy the city and kill all the Muslims threre. That is where the movie ends, painting a peaceful picture of Saladin. That is not the truth. Once inside and in control, he enslaved many of the Christians who could not afford to BUY their way out of town.

Yep, more proof that Kingdom of Heaven was merely a political statement perverting history to try to show Christians as being EVIL, and Muslims as all good.

Spain to Cave to Terrorists Again?

This time, it's the ETA folks that Spain wants to surrender to...

Yahoo News Alert:

MADRID, Spain (AP) Spanish lawmakers have endorsed a government plan for talks with the Basque separatist group ETA if it renounces violence.

Be sure to click this link to learn more about ETA...

Mark's Remarks

Well, this does fit in nicely with their new motto: Spain: the 21st Century France....

Progress in the Middle East

From Reuters:

Kuwait's parliament passed a law on Monday granting women the right to vote and run in elections, for the first time in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state.

Kuwaiti women lining the podium burst into cheers when parliament speaker Jassim al-Khorafi said the legislation had been passed by a majority of the all-male parliament to grant full suffrage to women.

"We made it. This is history," said prominent activist Roula al-Dashti. "Our target is the parliamentary polls in 2007. I'm starting my campaign from today," she told reporters.

There were 35 in favor, 23 against, and one abstention on the vote that had met fierce resistance from Islamists and other MPs.

Although, apparently, it is too late for women to register and run for office in the next election.

This is a step in the right direction for the Middle East.

Does anybody think this sort of thing would be happening if Saddam were still in power?

Mark's Remarks

Answer to Matt's closing question: Sean Penn, and the rest of the vile Film Actors Guild (go see Team America, leave the kids at home, but go see it to understand).

Also, to show the further progress of the Middle East, here is an interesting excerpt from groundbreaking blog Iraq the Model:

What is interesting is that Iraq witnessed no demonstration at all, not even a single statement of denoencemnet from anyone although Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya kept running updates on this subject almost every news-hour and have always talked about the descretion incident as if it were confirmed news.

If this is to indicate anything I think it indicvates that Iraqis are more concerned about their own lives than they're about the "issues" of the Islamic world's dignity and more important (and here I see our community approaching a turning point) is that people are giving the media less credit than they used to do.

Now, if we could only convince some in THIS country to do the same.....

Sadly, however, not all is going well...The crisis in Uzbekistan is growing more dire...

However, it looks like having toppled Saddam and putting pressure is working in Syria, if only a little at a time....

Beset by U.S. attempts to isolate his country and facing popular expectations of change, Syrian President Bashar Assad will move to begin legalizing political parties, purge the ruling Baath Party, sponsor free municipal elections in 2007 and formally endorse a market economy, according to officials, diplomats and analysts.

Of course, this isn't being reporting beyond passing articles by the MSM, because it would further highlight the success of the Bush White House in foreign policy. And, it would continue to make Newsweek look bad....

Hey Mikey Isikoff, would you like some rope?

Nation's Biggest Polluter

...is a volcano.

From Yahoo News:

Kilauea volcano, one of Hawaii's most popular tourist attractions, is also by far the state's worst air polluter. Researchers now are trying to determine if that also makes it one of the state's biggest health risks.

Since it began erupting on Jan. 3, 1983, the volcano has been sending an average of 1,000 metric tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere each day, according to the Hawaii chapter of the American Lung Association.

This is 6,000 times the amount emitted by a major industrial polluter on the mainland, making Kilauea the nation's top producer of sulfur dioxide.

The sulfur dioxide from Kilauea reacts with other chemicals in the air to form a hazy, naturally occurring pollution known locally as "vog," or volcanic smog. When the lava enters the ocean, concentrations of hydrochloric acid are also formed.

Expect Enviro-Girly-Men (thanks PK!) to demand a fine be levied against Mother Nature...

Mark's Remarks

Ted Kennedy will demand an immediate indictment against the Almighty and demand reparations, uponwhich time he will be immediately struck dead.

A Million Thanks

This is a great story.

LOS ANGELES, May 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As Americans continue to celebrate National Military Appreciation Month, a California teenager has accomplished what no other person has been able to do; give one thank you note to every person serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Last year, Shauna Fleming, 16, a sophomore at Lutheran High School in Orange, Ca, convinced her Principal, Gregg Pinick, to have her school be the collection point of her letter campaign that she called "A MILLION THANKS." Her goal was to collect and distribute one million thank you letters and emails to U.S. Service Members, here and overseas.

In October, 2004, Fleming reached her goal and had the millionth letter framed for presentation to President George W. Bush. That presentation occurred in the Oval Office in November, but Fleming was not satisfied with a million.

"I wanted to find a way to thank all of our Service Members, so I decided to continue collecting letters and emails until I reached 1.4 million, the number given to me by the Pentagon, said Fleming. "This week we reached that so I can say, at least symbolically, that A MILLION THANKS has a thank you for every Service Member, " Fleming added.

Gregg Pinick, principal of Lutheran High School, said he is proud of Shauna and all of his students and faculty for reaching a number that is historic.

Fleming said the 1.4 millionth letter will be framed and sent to General Frank B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The teen wrote a book about her experiences, along with some of the letters she received titled, A MILLION THANKS (Doubleday Books). She has even had offers to turn her story into a television movie.

So what's next? "I am planning to charter A MILLION THANKS clubs in high schools, and establish a Foundation to assist wounded soldiers and their families, said Fleming. "Plus, I'd like to reach another million thanks," she added.

Now THAT is a patriot.

OUTSTANDING!

Yahoo News Alert clues us in about a great decision by the US Supreme Court:

WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court has ruled that states may not pass laws blocking outside wineries from shipping directly to customers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the wine and beer, but did this REALLY have to go to the SUPREME Court?

Mark's Remarks

Let's just be thankful it was this case and not a pledge case....
And shockingly, some of this was an actual Constitutional issue, as opposed to legislating from the bench. The issue involved the governance of interstate commerce, found in the Constitution. So, for once, the Court was actually interpreting the law via what the Constitution says, not trying to hold it up to UV lighting ala Nick Cage and find things that aren't there...you know, like right to abortion, freedom from religion, etc.

The al Qaeda-Canada Connection

Some startling news about our neighbor to the north was reported in the Hindustan Times among other sources.

Canadian intelligence experts believe that converts to Islam in the country are becoming a major source of Al-Qaeda combatants and pose a risk to security.

An intelligence report from Canada's spy service, released to a daily said "there is a direct threat to Canada and Canadian interests from Al-Qaeda and related groups," and that those groups are attempting to expand their support in Canada.

Shocking. I know…Canada not only has intelligence experts, but a spy agency too! Who knew? But seriously, folks…this is something we need to take notice of because our border with Canada is pretty porous.

"Converts are highly prized by terrorist groups for their familiarity with the West and relative ease at moving through Western society," the recently declassified Canadian Security Intelligence Service report said.

This is the real danger posed in this story.

"The perception that the West is attacking Islam on multiple fronts continues to anger the Muslim world and contributes to support for radical views. Converts in particular are prone to extreme views because of their new-found zeal."

When CSIS Director Jim Judd testified recently before the Senate committee reviewing Canada's anti-terrorism legislation, he noted there were now suspected terrorists in Canada that "have had no discernible previous link of any kind with the terrorist networks."

That's what's on the other side of our border to the north. Anybody care to venture a guess what's going on to the south?

Jihadblogging crossposted at The Jawa Report.

Weak News

The legacy of our biased media from the Gulf Daily News:

A group of Afghan Muslim clerics threatened yesterday to call for a holy war against the US in three days unless it hands over military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Quran.

Uh-huh...military interrogators who don't exist. Thanks, Newsweek...

The warning came after 16 Afghans were killed and more than 100 hurt last week in the worst anti-US protests across the country since US forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

This blood is on Newsweek's hands...

The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted US President George W Bush to handle the matter honestly "and hand the culprits over to an Islamic country for punishment".

And these folks will denounce our President when he tells them that Newsweek lied. Thanks Newsweek...

"If that does not happen within three days, we will launch a jihad against America," said a statement issued by about 300 clerics, after meeting in the main mosque in the provincial capital, Faizabad.

More jihad against America...great! Thanks, Newsweek...

Newsweek magazine said in its May 9 edition investigators probing abuses at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay found that interrogators "had placed Qurans on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the toilet".

Your lies are costing lives and damaging America's reputation. Great work there Newsweek. Thanks a lot...

This constant sedition on the part of the American media must not go unanswered. Someone at Newsweek MUST take responsibility for this. And there must be a punishment beyond losing a job. Actual lives are at risk here...it is time the media realizes this fact.

11:15AM Update

One of my BNN colleagues is a Newsweek apologist and has this to say on the subject:

1. Accounts of alleged abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo have been around for a long time, including allegations of desecrations of the Quran. As the Newsweek Periscope item noted right at the get-go, they appeared even in FBI e-mails. Newsweek's mention of the desecration was enumerated before any other of the alleged findings, but they didn't splash it - and rightly so. It was, at most, a very modest advance of the story.

Accounts aren't proof. And quite frankly, media is supposed to be dealing in what they can prove to be true. That's what the news is supposed to be...

2. Newsweek has refused to identify its original source, a commonplace in a profession which relies upon sources; no foul. Presumably, Newsweek had reason to suppose him trustworthy. They made two efforts to confirm with other sources, presumably in a position to know, what they were told by their first source. One of their querants refused to say anything, and the other corrected part of their story but not the Quran allegation. Given that the allegations are practically a commonplace, that it came to them from a source they trusted, that two additional sources "non-denied," and that Newsweek gave it almost offhand treatment, characterizing the item as "reckless" (Malkin) and a "fabrication" (Moore) is way over the top.

The reason Newsweek finds the source reliable is that the source appears to fit Newsweek's profile of their agenda. If this source is so hot, why is Newsweek backing off the story now? Why didn't Newsweek check this story out before publishing it?

"Fabrication" may be out of bounds, but "reckless" is exactly how I would characterize Newsweek's performance on this story.

Lots of news stories get written on the strength of lots less.

And that would be a problem now wouldn't it...

3. Newsweek didn't kill anybody. Islamic fundamentalists did.

And that makes it all better for Newsweek doesn't it...

4. It isn't even, really, all-settled that the desecrations in question haven't occurred. And since Newsweek went with its story before the report was released, meaning the Pentagon had time to edit the report, it isn't all-settled either that the findings weren't in the report. It's hardly unbelievable - and since when is the denial of a single Pentagon spokesman dispositive? Especially one so dumb as to say that Newsweek's source can't be credible because, Hey!, what their source said tipped Muslim street-people without jobs into killing each other?

So, why not wait for the report? The rush to get a story out there that is damaging to the US, this administration, and our military is blinding our media to things they would otherwise catch...no way this story should have been published with the evidence they had on hand. It's Dan Rather all over again: agenda journalism at its worst.

Mark's Remarks

Don't tell that to the Andrew Sullivans and BNN blogger colleagues of the world....Heavens no, the media never kills with words...however, that Rush Limbaugh! He is to blame for Oklahoma City, abortion clinic bombings, James Byrd, you name it....Finally, the projection is coming home to roost on the MSM. How does it feel to be a butcher of Afghanistan, Mr. Isikoff? I hope you can sleep at night, as is my wish for the editorial board at Newsweak, that they can sleep at night knowing that their irresponsibility led to the deaths of 17 people and the injuries of 100s more....Wait, of course they can, because it is not their fault! The eds are already blaming the Bush White House (is anyone surprised?) because they didn't deny the charge soon enough. Well, boys, you see, unlike YOU, they wanted to investigate before saying something incorrect and wrong! Then, they are also blaming the Pentagon!?!

Here is a novel idea: take the blame and responsibility yourselves. Own up to it--you killed 17 people and injured hundreds because you hate this President, you hate the military, and you are so driven by bias and a liberal agenda you will sacrfice ethics, even lives, to get your way.....

Straight Eye for the Heterophobe False but Plausible Guy

OK, here is the real news--Newsweek decided to aid and abet Terrorist Lovers everywhere by printing...wait for it...a false story full of inaccuracies. Yep, that whole US interrogators flushing the Koran down the toilet thing was inaccurate...Newsweek regrets the error, and the loss of life...see, they even issued a little statement, like that means anything(from Yahoo News, HT to Instapundit):(comments in parentheses are mine)

Newsweek magazine said on Sunday it erred in a May 9 report that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, and apologized to the victims of deadly Muslim protests sparked by the article. (yep, that apology will bring them lots of joy, and cause the dead to rise again, not to mention mend fences with the Afghans....dolts!)

Editor Mark Whitaker said the magazine inaccurately reported that U.S. military investigators had confirmed that personnel at the detention facility in Cuba had flushed the Muslim holy book down the toilet.

The report sparked angry and violent protests across the Muslim world from Afghanistan, where 16 were killed and more than 100 injured, to Pakistan to Indonesia to Gaza. In the past week it was condemned in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and by the Arab League.

On Sunday, Afghan Muslim clerics threatened to call for a holy war against the United States. (thanks again, America-hating 'My Country is always Wrong commentators at Newsweek)

"We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst," Whitaker wrote in the magazine's latest issue, due to appear on U.S. newsstands on Monday.(and that makes it all better? I hope the Afghans learned the Western Art of Lawsuit and sue your carcasses for negligence and wrongful death...I hope the families of injured foreigners will as well....@$$hats!)

The weekly news magazine said in its May 23 edition that the information had come from a "knowledgeable government source" who told Newsweek that a military report on abuse at Guantanamo Bay said interrogators flushed at least one copy of the Koran down a toilet in a bid to make detainees talk.

But Newsweek said the source later told the magazine he could not be certain he had seen an account of the Koran incident in the military report and that it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts.
(must have been Dick Clarke shaking some trees, or Dan Rather, or Perhaps a Source of Mary Mapes....Idiots! Verify your sources and facts before you blindly risk the entire mission of the United States in the Middle East!!!!!! Tell me, did Osama pay you for the free ad space, or what?)

But wait, conservative turned leftleaning conspiracy heterophobe Andrew Sullivan weighs in:(emphasis added by me)

Since no one is ever held responsible for anything in the Bush administration, we can be sure this incident will be lied about, covered up or blamed on some poor military grunt who can be easily scapegoated. These are self-inflicted wounds. Even if this incident turns out to be false, our previous policies have made it perfectly plausible.

Let me give you some Straight Eye for the Heterophobe False but Accurate Guy:
1. No one held responsible...hmm, we have tried people for Abu Gharib, tried people for other so-called atrocities, what more would you like?

2. You are right, Andy. This incident was lied about. BY NEWSWEEK!!!!!!!!!

3. Lastly, Andygirl, you really should stop taking writing advice from Mary Mapes and Dan Rather. Didn't you know that whole fake but true stuff didn't work last year? Or is False but Probable this year's black? Kindly quit looking at your own narrow self-interested agenda hatred of Bush and see the big picture? Is Bill Maher, Mikey Moore, and Al Franken so seducing that you would turn your back on logic? Do they like paisley? Is it because they bow to your superior intellect? What is it Andy? Or are you just so caught up in your own narrow agenda you no longer care about the country or about our troops overseas? Go crawl in a hole in Massachusetts or San Fran.....

The Meaning of Patriotism

...is this week's article for the MVCA. It also appears over at The Jawa Report, where I am one of several guest bloggers sitting in for Dr. Rusty Shackleford as he heads to DeeCee for Jawapalooza...I'll be doing all my JihadBlogging over there...

Immigration Madness

This is an act of war. Plain and simple.

Border Patrol Told to Stand Down

From the Washington Times Insider (registration required):

U.S. Border Patrol agents have been ordered not to arrest illegal aliens along the section of the Arizona border where protesters patrolled last month because an increase in apprehensions there would prove the effectiveness of Minuteman volunteers, The Washington Times has learned.

More than a dozen agents, all of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said orders relayed by Border Patrol supervisors at the Naco, Ariz., station made it clear that arrests were "not to go up" along the 23-mile section of border that the volunteers monitored to protest illegal immigration.

"It was clear to everyone here what was being said and why," said one veteran agent. "The apprehensions were not to increase after the Minuteman volunteers left. It was as simple as that."

Another agent said the Naco supervisors "were clear in their intention" to keep new arrests to an "absolute minimum" to offset the effect of the Minuteman vigil, adding that patrols along the border have been severely limited.

Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar at the agency's Washington headquarters called the accusations "outright wrong," saying that supervisors at the Naco station had not blocked agents from making arrests and that the station's 350 agents were being "supported in carrying out" their duties.

Back to business as usual at the border... Don't these fools get it???

Update

Here is the non-subscription version of the story.

WMD at the Movies: Kicking and Screaming

This film opens on Friday, May 13th.

NOTE: This post will be "promoted to the top" until May 12th. Originally posted on 5/11. Please scroll down for new posts.

Plot Summary

Family man Phil Weston, a lifelong victim of his father's competitive nature, takes on the coaching duties of a kids' soccer team, and soon finds that he's also taking on his father's dysfunctional way of relating...

- IMDB

Doug's Dialogue

This is a classic tale of the underdog mixed with a tale of redemption of the father's sins. Buck Weston (Robert Duvall) is a soccer coach who's only goal is winning. When he trades his grandson Sam (Dylan McLaughlin) to the perennial losing Tigers, it is up to Buck's son Phil (Will Ferrell) to make things right. When the coach of the Tigers doesn't show for the game, Phil volunteers to step in and help out. After a couple of games, Phil realizes that he is in way over his head and enlists the help of his father's sworn enemy and next door neighbor, Mike Ditka (Mike Ditka). With the aid of Mike Ditka, Phil takes the Tigers on a journey to the championships and has to face his dad as coach of the Gladiators. During the final game, Phil realizes that he has taken things too far in his quest to beat his dad and has actually become like his dad. His only hope for the team to have a shot at winning the championship is to change his ways and let the team have fun.

Will Ferrell does his usual bit as the sensitive and funny man-child that he has perfected in other roles. He exhibits this best through the film after Mike Ditka introduces Will's character to coffee. Will's character becomes obsessed with the stuff to the point of have a cappuccino maker on the sidelines. The sight gags are classic Will Ferrell from his Saturday Night Live days.

Robert Duvall is excellent in his role as Will's father. When I think back on the films that I have seen Robert Duvall in, I come to one conclusion. He is your everyday blue collar actor. I don't mean any disrespect in that statement. He is a very talented actor. He just plays the parts of everyday Joe's so well. Never overly flashy, but just right to be perfectly right for the part.

The film itself was pretty good. This is not somehing that I would normally spend money to see, but parents and kids are going to find it enjoyable. Humorous enough to keep the kids laughing, but serious enough to keep the parents interested. And besides, who doesn't like to root for the underdog? This film checks in at around an hour and a half. While it is not an overly great movie, it is not bad either. This film gets three mushroom clouds out of five.

Matt's Chat

There was plenty of Will Ferrell "cowbell" in this one! A serious message about fathers and sons delivered with a ton of laughs.

The casting of Farrell for this role was genius. I could see a young Jim Carrey in this performance. Duvall turned in yet another fine job. The surprise in this film has got to be Ditka...but he really is playing himself, so we shouldn't be surprised. The ladies of the flick were quite lovely and contributed their parts to the success of the movie.

I wasn't all that impressed with the music. Certainly not memorable by any stretch of the imagination.

Sports movies have to look real. And Kicking and Screaming delivers believable soccer. The soccer sequences required physical prowess on the part of the child actors as well as smart camera moves and angles, both were executed very well.

Like Doug said above, this isn't a flick I would ordinarily plunk down bucks to see, but I found it to be a rather enjoyable family movie that everyone will find something in it they like. I award Kicking and Screaming three out of five mushroom clouds.

Obligatory Star Trek References

There are plenty...

Musetta Vander, who plays Janice Weston, was on the VOYAGER episode "The Disease" playing Dervan Tahl.

Rachel Harris, who plays Ann Hogan, was also on VOYAGER playing Martis in the episode "Before and After."

David Bowe, who plays Forest Avery, appeared in the DEEP SPACE NINE episode "Wrongs Darker than Death or Night" playing Basso

Tom Virtue, who plays the track and field coach, had two roles on VOYAGER. The first was as the supervisor in the two parter titled "Workforce" and the second was as Lt. Webster Baxter in both "Twisted","The 37s" and "Eye of the Needle".

And from the greatest STAR TREK film of all time...GALAXY QUEST...

Matt Winston, who plays Tom Hanna, was Technician #1...he also played Temporal Agent Daniels on ENTERPRISE.

AND

David Newman, who is one of the composers for this film, also wrote some music for GALAXY QUEST.

BNN Update

Material from this post was used for this review now available on the Blogger News Network.

The Reason Why Contacting Your Senators is Important

Yahoo News Alert:

WASHINGTON (AP) Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, the pivotal vote on a Senate committee, says he will vote to send the nomination of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador to the full Senate to decide.

Job well done to all those who wrote in...

We Didn't Start the Fire

An interesting post about the judicial nomination fight over at The Corner:

15 YEAR DELAY [Jonathan H. Adler]
This morning the Washington Post reminds us all that Judge Terrence Boyle has been waiting fifteen years for his confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was first nominated by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, and has been blocked by Democrats since.

It is also worth noting that it was Democrats' refusal to move the Boyle nomiation in 1991 and 1992 that prompted Senator Jesse Helms to block Clinton's nominations for the same seat on the Fourth Circuit.

At the time, my response to the Helms manuever was that it was going to come back and bite us...and it has...because these things have the tendency to escalate. And now, on our watch, we're having to restore the Constitutional intent on these nominations. So, let's get it done already...we know we are going to have to do it, so let's press the Easy Button already...

Dems: Conservative Voices on PBS May Be Illegal

From the Drudge Report:

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED MAY 11, 2005 22:00:01 ET XXXXX

DEM CONGRESSMEN: CONSERVATIVE VOICES ON PBS MAY BE ILLEGAL

Two congressional Democrats called Wednesday for an investigation into recent activities by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, suggesting that efforts by the Republican chairman of the private nonprofit to add more conservative programs onto PBS may violate federal law.

In a letter released Wednesday evening, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich., asked CPB Inspector General Kenneth A. Konz to investigate the contracting, hiring and policies of the corporation, which distributes federal funds to public television stations. Both congressmen are ranking Democrats on committees that have oversight of public television.

They called recent actions taken by CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson "disturbing" and "extremely troubling."

A CPB spokesman could not be reached for comment. But in a recent interview with the LOS ANGELES TIMES, Tomlinson defended his efforts to expand conservative perspectives on PBS, saying he merely wants to increase the network's audience.

Developing...

Who didn't see THAT coming? The next step is a renewed call for the so-called Fairness Doctrine...the First Amendment means what exactly???

DIngy Harry Update

Updating a story that Mark brought us on Harry Reid (D-NV) calling the President a "loser."

From the Review Journal:

If Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada still feels remorse for calling President Bush a loser, he didn't show it on Tuesday.

In a news conference, Reid was asked if his comment about Bush would make it more difficult to negotiate with Republicans.

"I tell people how I feel about things. I don't try to hide how I feel," Reid said.

"Maybe my choice of words was improper, and I have indicated that maybe they were, but I want everyone here, I repeat, to know I'm going to continue to call things the way that I see them, and I think this administration has done a very, very bad job for this nation and the world."

Asked for a comment, the White House referred a call to the Republican National Committee.

That's just pathetic. Remember, folks, Democrats and their accomplices in the media would have you believe that it is the Republicans causing all this partisan bickering in DC...but if you take a good look at what's going on, the truth comes out.

Afghanistan Update

From the ADN Kronos International:

Brussels, 11 May (AKI) - The government of Afghanistan has said it will offer the Taliban amnesty and a chance for full integration back into Afghan society, but only if they are not involved in terrorism or linked to al-Qaeda. This was confirmed by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, as he met with the media at the end of a meeting with the Atlantic Council of NATO in Brussels on Wednesday.

The head of Afghanistan's independent peace and reconciliation commission, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, called for a widening of the amnesty two days ago, saying "I urge our brothers and sisters who continue to hide themselves, to take the hand of brotherhood and of unity."

In Brussels on Wednesday, Karzai also corrected news reports saying that Mullah Omar - believed to be the head of the Taliban and suspected to be linked to Osama bin Laden - would be eligible for the offer. "We have not spoken to Mullah Omar. We have offered integration only to the Taliban that is not part of al-Qaeda and not involved in terrorism. We are categorical about this," said Karzai.

However, a Taliban spokesman said Mullah Omar had rejected the amnesty offer anyway, and ordered his men to keep on fighting against US and Afghan government forces.

This is another outrreach effort of the part of the good guys to stop the insanity...some will look upon this as a sign of weakness, in a region of the world where weakness is something you dare not show. I don't expect this will bear much fruit, but you have to expect a move like this in order to placate those who don't quite get what the War on Terror is about...