World War III ???

Meir Amit, a former director of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, says that World War III will be between Islam and the West. Mr. Amit is highly esteemed by the international defense establishment. Serving as Mossad chief from 1963 to 1968, he directed some of the most notorious Mossad operations in memory. He also pioneered many of the tactics currently used by intelligence agencies worldwide.

Mr. Amit warned that Islamic nations and global Islamist groups will continue launching "all kinds of attacks" against Western states, and urged the international community to immediately unite and coordinate a strategy to fight against the "Islamic war."

We are on the eve of war with the Islamic world, which will wage a war and all kinds of actions and attacks against the Western world. We already noticed the terrorists in the world hit Spain, England, France. I call it World War III. You must look at it from this angle and treat it wider, not as a problem of terrorism here and there."
- Meir Amit

terrorism

Misguided Youth

He threatened to turn a Michigan high school into another Columbine, but he really is a sweetie.

Sure, he made specific threats in writing, and now the school has spent a fortune hiring additional security.

"He just wasn't thinking."
17 year old female student

Maybe he was, toots, ever think of that.

I think they want to make an example of him."
17 year old male student

Right on, Sparky. You don't threaten mass murder, along with specifics, and expect to go home and watch the WB that night.

Honestly, what is up with the state of education that kids won't even realize a threat like this. "He is such a nice guy." Nice until he comes at you with murderous intent.

Schools are, of course, no weapon zones. No teacher or administrator can save these kids, so punks like this alleged wannabe terrorist can do their dirty work without malice until the police respond several minutes after the shooting stops.

teen violence , school violence

Patriot Guard to the Rescue in Michigan

I have a policy of not swearing on this blog, so I can't truly and accurately describe how I feel when some idiot group protests at a military funeral and shouts things like "God hates your son... He's glad your son died...your son is in hell." I know a certain church in Topeka, Kansas are satan-worshippers disguised as Christians, and I won't say any more than that.

But I can sing the praises of the Patriot Guard.

Michigan resident, Army Cpl. Nyle Yates III, died in Iraq. He gave his life for the cause of freedom - both for those of us here at home, and for a people in a land far away.

While a certain group of satan-worshippers from Kansas tried to make a stink at the funeral, the Patriot Guard honored our fallen hero.

...their words were drowned out by 300 people standing shoulder to shoulder with their backs to the protesters, forming a human shield, holding hundreds of flags so the Yates family would not have to see or hear the protesters.

"God bless Cpl. Yates!" the group chanted. "God bless Cpl. Yates!"

The funeral turned into a scene that has played out more than 100 times across the country, including three times in Michigan in the last month. Most of the supporters were members of the Patriot Guard, a motorcycle group with nearly 22,000 members formed in October to shield families from protesters and to honor fallen soldiers.

The Patriots are a motorcycle group, a patriotic group of men and women who shouldn't be crossed.

"We are Patriots," said Larry (Grumpy) Helser, a Vietnam veteran from Holt who organized the event for the Patriot Guard with the edge of a man who used to be in charge of 120 combat Marines.

"This is a fallen hero. We are here to respect the family of the fallen."

Unfortunately,

A heavy police presence kept the two sides from anything more than an intense verbal battle, although they stood less than 30 feet apart.

One uniformed soldier took a few steps toward the protesters with the intention of attacking one of them, but he was stopped by a police officer. The solider cooled off and walked away.

These protesters do NOT have any First Amendment rights to disturb a private affair such as a funeral. Nowhere in the Constitution is this allowed, period.

I thank God for the men and women like Cpl. Yates, who gave the ultimate sacrifice. I thank God for the men and women who served, who gave of themselves, at any time during our country's history. And I thank God that there are people like the Patriot Guard who protect the dignity of our nations heroes when satan-worshipping hate-mongers come to protest.

Patriot Guard

Joy to the World

Don't worry, this isn't another sports post, but it does have a sporting tangent.

Last week I was lamenting the downfall of the Big Ten and pondering how cruel life can be. Today I enjoy the demise of Duke and Gonzaga and think how wonderful life is.

I grew up in a family that couldn't care less about sports. My parents still don't. But I remember the moment when I fell in love with sports - and a side benefit of sports.

I was playing football in with the neighborhood kids in someone's backyard. It was "touch football," but we were playing as though the definition of "touch" was not causing the other guy multiple fractures. The teams were split between the young guys - about 8 and 9 years old - and the old guys who might be 10 years old. The age difference accounted for quite a talent split, and my team was definitely on the short side of talent.

Still, we were determined to not let the big kids beat us and gave it our very best effort, despite being so outmanned. It came down to the end of the game and the football was floating toward the makeshift endzone between the two lawn chair markers. One big kid defender against two little kid receivers. I was one of those receivers and I couldn't catch anything but a cold.

So I did what any talentless, fat little punk would do - I ran into the big kid with everything I had, and as we both crashed to the ground, my fellow receiver caught the ball, safely between the lawn chairs, inside the endzone. Victory over the big kids! I felt like I'd won the Super Bowl.

Sure, the big kids complained that I committed pass interference, and the kid I knocked to the ground did end up pounding me, but we'd won and it felt great.

I forgot to mention - I suffered from stuttering and dyslexia. I was a non-athletic, chubby little kid who sounded funny, had a hard time reading and was a generally social outcast. I was always the last kid chosen for a team in gym class - even after the girls, and not to sound sexist, but as a little boy, that was real hard. I was only invited to play in the game that day because they needed me to round out the numbers for the "little kid" team. This was the first time I'd felt great about anything in months, and years later it still makes me smile and brings a feeling of satisfaction.

That is the beauty of sports, especially at tournament or playoff time. We can tune in to a game and spend time immersed in a sporting duel that will, ultimately, mean nothing when we wake up the next day. Life will go on regardless of the winning or losing status of our beloved teams. But the stress and junk we all deal with simply because we are living can be put on the backburner for a few hours. We can whoop and holler at the TV, radio, or even in the stadium or arena and burn off the anger, stress, embarrassment, or whatever is eating away at us.

You may ask, "Jay, what if I really hate sports? Is there any hope for me to whoop it up and holler?" Good news - yes. No matter how much you hate sports, spend a few minutes yelling at a referee next time you pass a basketball game on the TV or radio. You'll never go wrong with yelling at a referee, and you'll get to enjoy the stress-relief benefits of fandom.

NCAA Tournament , sports

Purple Thumbs and Middle Fingers

We saw lots of photos during the Afghan and Iraqi elections of men and women voting - and the purple thumb associated with going to the ballot box.

What we are seeing now, in Afghanistan, is the large middle finger, brazenly and unapologetically offered in the direction of President Bush and his administration.

We all know about Abdul Rahman and his conversion to Christianity, a capital crime in Afghanistan. While the prosecutor put on a show for the Western world ("The man may be mad, and we can't prosecute him if he is out of his mind...), there is no doubt to how things really are over there.

Afghanistan is an Islamic country and its judiciary will act independently and neutrally. No other policy will be accepted apart from Islamic orders and what our constitution says.

The constitution says follow sharia law. Sharia law says to kill Mr. Rahman.

"He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian. The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed."
- Chief Cleric Hamidullah, Haji Yacob Mosque

Whether or not the Afghan judiciary spares Rahman, today senior Muslim clerics insist he must be executed – and that if the government gives in to international pressure and frees Rahman, the clerics will instruct the people to "pull him into pieces."
- Associated Press

"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die."
- Muslim Cleric Abdul Raoulf, Afghan Ulama Council (Afghanistan's main Islamic organization)

"The government are playing games. The people will not be fooled. Cut off his head! We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there's nothing left."
- once again, Muslim Cleric Abdul Raoulf

Islamic Law is incompatible with Western thinking. President Bush and his administration either do not understand this, or do not believe it. It is not compatible in Afghanistan, it will not ultimately be compatible in Iraq... at least, not the Western world's idea of democracy.

Islam , Christianity , Afghanistan c

"Freedom"of Religion in the Afghan "Democracy"

You have probably read or heard about the Afghan man sentenced to death for a terrible crime. Abdul Rahman did the unthinkable. He converted from Islam to Christianity.

His sentence, once the court convicts him? Death.

Prosecutor Abdul Wasi called Rahman a traitor...

"He is known as a microbe in society, and he should be cut off and removed from the rest of Muslim society and should be killed."

Lovely. What is even more interesting? This man converted 16 years ago. So he survived 16 years and Taliban occupation, only to be tried now in a "liberated" Afghanistan? You gotta love US Foreign Policy.

Of course, State Department "diplomats" are pulling out the usual line of BS, dusting it off, and presenting it to the public.

"We believe it is important that the Afghan authorities handle the case in a transparent manner," she said. "Freedom of religion is fundamental to the existence of democracy and is protected under the Afghan constitution. It must be protected and practiced as well."
- Janelle Hironimus, State Department spokeswoman

"Transparent manner," Janelle? Sharia law says the man must die. I don't know how you can get more transparent.

"Freedom of religion is fundamental to the existence of a democracy and is protected under the Afghan constitution." Apparently the Afghan government views their constitution with the same contempt that the American government views our Constitution. Luckily for Mr. Rahman, Afghanistan doesn't have a Patriot Act, it only has Sharia Law.

Islam , Christianity , Afghanistan

President Bush and Armageddon

President Bush was asked yesterday whether or not the rise of terror is a sign that the Biblical Apocolypse is upon us.

I thought this was a strange question to ask.

President Bush replied "The answer is – I haven't really thought of it that way."

Then another question came out.

"My question is that author and former Nixon administration official Kevin Phillips, in his latest book, 'American Theocracy,' discusses what has been called radical Christianity and its growing involvement into government and politics.

"He makes the point that members of your administration have reached out to prophetic Christians who see the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism as signs of the apocalypse. Do you believe this, that the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism are signs of the apocalypse? And if not, why not?"

Ah, now the questioning made sense. The religious nutcase label would make an excellent story.

President Bush gave one of the best answers I've heard in a long time.

"Here's how I think of it. The first I've heard of that, by the way. I guess I'm more of a practical fellow. I vowed after September the 11th, that I would do everything I could to protect the American people. And my attitude, of course, was affected by the attacks. I knew we were at war. I knew that the enemy, obviously, had to be sophisticated and lethal to fly hijacked airplanes into facilities that would be killing thousands of people, innocent people, doing nothing, just sitting there going to work.

"I also knew this about this war on terror, that the farther we got away from September the 11th, the more likely it is people would seek comfort and not think about this global war on terror as a global war on terror," he said. "And that's good, by the way. It's hard to take risk if you're a small business owner, for example, if you're worried that the next attack is going to come tomorrow. I understand that. But I also understand my most important job, the most important job of any president today, and I predict down the road, is to protect America...

"And so, to answer your question, I take a practical view of doing the job you want me to do – which is how do we defeat an enemy that still wants to hurt us; and how do we deal with threats before they fully materialize; what do we do to protect us from harm? That's my job. And that job came home on September the 11th, for me – loud and clear. And I think about my job of protecting you every day – every single day of the presidency, I'm concerned about the safety of the American people."

I can't imagine what kind of response the MSM was expecting, but I bet they were hoping to hear something they could use to shout "it is the Crusades all over again... Bush the Christian wants to destroy Islam."

To the chagrin of many, instead of President Bush the Christian Crusader, they heard President Bush the Cerebral Leader.

War on Terror , President Bush

Tragedy on the Courts

What more could I say? The Big Ten is out of the NCAA Tourney.

For about a month, this was a hot debate in the heartland: Is the Big Ten full of really good teams that knocked each other off repeatedly or rampant mediocrity?

Now we know the answer.

The immensely disappointing Big Ten is out of the NCAA Tournament after one weekend. That hasn't happened in a decade. For this year, at least, the Missouri Valley Conference is the boss of the Midwest.

Ohio State (No. 2 seed), Iowa (No. 3), Illinois (No. 4) and Michigan State (No. 6) all lost to lower seeds. Wisconsin (No. 9) was buried in round one. At least Indiana (No. 6) gave Gonzaga a tussle before succumbing in the second round.

The bright spot in all of this is that Ohio State had their head's handed to them on a platter against Georgetown. I can't complain when the Buckeyes lose. Sadly, though:

Of the six, Michigan State is the biggest disappointment. The Spartans began the year in every top five and were considered a solid national championship alternative to the two popular choices, Connecticut and Duke. Instead, this turned out to be the softest Tom Izzo team in years -- not enough defense, not enough mental toughness.

While a die-hard U of Michigan fan/alum, I love Spartan basketball and I think Coach Tom Izzo is the best thing to happen to sports in the state of Michigan in a long, long time. Plus, even though they are Michigan State, they could never recede to the evil status of Ohio State.

I guess if there is another bright spot in the sad story, it is that the Michigan Wolverines are still playing basketball... even if it is in the NIT. Sure, it is the junior varsity-quality tournament, but at least we out-survived the six teams in our league better than us.

NCAA Tournament

Michigan to Add Abortion Regulations

According to the Detroit Free Press, Governor Jennifer Granholm is going to sign into law a bill requiring Michigan abortion providers to give a pregnant woman the option of viewing ultrasound images of her fetus before performing an abortion.

This is significant because it is the first time Granholm has agreed with the Legislature's anti-abortion majority on a measure to regulate abortion.

Kary Moss, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said the ultrasound bill is another in a line of "small, incremental steps... all designed to put up barriers" to legal abortion.

Yep. That's the point. And it is about time.

Granholm, a Catholic facing re-election this fall, has faced strong criticism from abortion opponents, including some who picketed outside her parish during her 2002 campaign for governor. She was endorsed by and received hefty contributions from the national abortion-rights group Emily's List.

In 2004, Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference collected signatures for a successful legislative initiative to restrict so-called partial birth abortion to override a Granholm veto. That law was challenged and won't be implemented before a final judicial outcome.

Based on my observation of Michigan politics, it looks like Governor Granholm is worried about the election in November. Her likely Republican challenger, Dick DeVos is a pretty hard-core anti-abortion guy. With Michigan's economy flushing down the toilet at an increasingly fast pace, and (wrongly, in my opinion) Governor Granholm catching the blame, she may have to really go "middle-of-the-road" in this upcoming election.

Abortion

... and Statistics

There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.
-Benjamin Disraeli, former British Prime Minister

According to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, March Madness will cost $3.8 billion in lost productivity this year. Up from last year's estimate of $889 million. CBS is broadcasting the games online, so most games will be available for viewing on the web, which will cause a chaotic ripple in our econonmy as workers hide from the boss and watch the games on their computer, or gather around the water-cooler to talk about the buzzer-beating shot. (For those of us who don't give a rip about sports and don't know what "March Madness" is - it is the championship tournament in college basketball.)

Using data from Internet tracking firm Hitwise, Challenger, Gray calculated that 58 million workers would spend 13.5 minutes online every day for 16 business days. The average American wage is $18 an hour, so every 13.5 minutes costs $4.05.

But not every college basketball fan has Internet access at work. That Gallup poll might be vastly overestimating the number of fans; other surveys have found that far fewer Americans follow men's college basketball. And many workers would have wasted those 13.5 minutes anyway, playing FreeCell or Googling their ex-girlfriends.

Who comes up with this stuff?

I know here in Detroit, we won't watch the game online at work... we are just glad to still have jobs. As the Detroit News reported on March 8, "Michigan lost another 29,000 jobs in January, a rate of one job every 90 seconds." Quite the stat. But all that is not as impressive as stat as as former heavyweight champ, Mike Tyson, brought us in 1988 when he knocked Michael Spinks out in 91 seconds in their heavyweight championship fight. At a purse of $20 million, he earned $219,780.22 for every second in the ring that night.

Remember Mitch Snyder, homeless advocate in the 1980's, and his shocking (albeith made up) statistics that millions of homeless people die each year because of Ronald Reagan? Rush Limbaugh pointed out that we wouldn't have a homeless problem very long at that rate: If 2,000,000 homeless people died every year, that comes out to 5,479 homeless people every day, or 228 every hour, or 3.8 every minute.

Who cares if statistics aren't true?

As Thomas Sowell points out,

False statistics are only part of the problem. Even accurate statistics can be given misleading emphasis. The U.S. Bureau of the Census seems dedicated to producing statistics that emphasize differences between groups -- black and white, men and women, etc. -- and far less interested in statistics which indicate how much all Americans have progressed over time...

Perhaps the greatest distortions of statistics involve comparisons between "the rich" and "the poor" -- who are mostly the same people at different stages of their lives. Most of those who were in the bottom 20 percent in 1975 were also in the top 20 percent at some point over the next 17 years. That too is not a "politically correct" message, so you seldom hear it.

The one thing that all these distortions and falsifications of statistics have in common is their thrust in the direction of creating artificial "problems" and "crises" to be dealt with by imposing government "solutions." That is apparently what makes them so attractive to the media that these shaky numbers are uncritically accepted and proclaimed to the public.

And I bet that 72.3% of you reading agree with Mr. Sowell. I hope the rest of you are not destroying our economy and your employer's bottom line by watching March Madness on your computer.

statistics , Politics

Act Now and Save Some Shred of the First Amendment

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on H.R. 1606 as early as today. This bill, if passed, will amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exclude communications over the Internet from the definition of public communication. This bill was introduced by Texas Congressmen Jeb Hensarling and Ron Paul.

Remember the blatant devastation of the First Amendment known from our "friends," John McCain and Russ Feingold? Thanks to their treasonous acts, organizations cannot engage in major "broadcast communications" which even mention a candidate in a favorable or unfavorable light within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary.

The US Supreme Court continued allowed this abomination in the McConnell v. Federal Election Commission decision, where the Supreme Court, by a five-to-four decision, upheld McCain-Feingold.

The Federal Election Commission had narrowly interpreted the M-F legislation and wouldn't regulate the internet. This has changed since Federal Judges ordered the FEC to begin active enforcement on the internet (Shays v. Federal Election Commission) in compliance with the M-F regulation.

According to GOA, the FEC is doing everything in its power to minimize the impact of the Shays ruling. But, if H.R. 1606 isn't passed, the internet will not be exempt from FEC regulation. Hence, many major blogs and web sites - for that matter, what is to stop them from coming after small blogs? - will be considered as engaged in "electioneering communications" if they praise or criticize any candidate. This means they can be SHUT DOWN FOR 60 days prior to an election or subject to a gag rule, restricting and defining what they are allowed to say.

GOA recommends contacting your congressional representative (via phone, if possible, since the House will be voting any day now) and asking him/her to vote for H.R. 1606, the bill to exempt the Internet from McCain-Feingold. The toll-free number to call your representative is 1-877-762-8762. If you prefer, you can go to www.house.gov and write an email to your congressional representative.

GOA gave this sample text as a guide for phone calls:

The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on H.R. 1606, a bill by introduced by Texas Congressmen Jeb Hensarling and Ron Paul to exempt the Internet from regulation under federal "electioneering" laws.

Unless the Hensarling-Paul bill is successful, many major blogs and web sites could be shut down for 60 days before any general election -- and for 30 days prior to any primary.

Please support H.R. 1606.

As a side note (which I'd better write before McCain and Feingold take away my right to an opinion), both Senator John McCain, R-AZ and Senator Russ Feingold, D-WI are running for their party's Presidential nomination. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, send them a political message loud and clear that we don't want them or their Constitution-destroying, freedom-hating ilk in the White House.

First Amendment , McCain-Feingold

Prayer for a Soldier

Perhaps you know a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine. Maybe s/he is serving overseas. Maybe in a very hostile place, overseas. I certainly know a few.

Whether they are serving here or overseas, it is impossible not to feel concern for those we love. We worry about those who are defending freedom and our country.

What can get us through the stress and uncertainty facing these brave men and women? How can we help them, when we may be thousands of miles away? One way is through prayer. Frequent, fervent prayer.

I have found Psalm 91 to be one of the best scripture passages in the entire Bible to pray on behalf of those in harms way. My favorite translation comes from the Complete Jewish Bible (I've replaced any Hebrew transliteration with the equivalent English words, and "ADONAI" is the Hebrew equivalent of "LORD" in the English Bibles):

You who live in the shelter of The Most High,
Who spend your nights in the shadow in the shadow of The Almighty,
who say to ADONAI, "My refuge! My fortress!
My God, in whom I trust!" -
He will rescue you from the trap of the hunter
and from the plague of calamaties;
He will cover you with His pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
His truth is a shield and protection.

You will not fear the terrors of night
or the arrow that flies by day,
or the plague that roams in the dark,
or the scourge that wreaks havoc at noon.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand;
but it won't come near you.
Only keep your eyes open,
and you will see how the wicked are punished.

For you have made ADONAI, the Most High,
who is my refuge, your dwelling-place.
No disaster will happen to you,
no calamaty will come near your tent;
for He will order His angels to care for you
and guard you wherever you go.
They will carry you up in their hands,
so that you won't trip on a stone.
You will tread down lions and snakes,
young lions and serpents you will trample underfoot.

"Because he loves me, I will rescue him;
because he knows My name, I will protect him.
He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble.
I will extricate him and bring him honor.
I will satisfy him with long life
and show him my salvation."

Scripture quotation taken from the Complete Jewish Bible, copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources Int'l. All rights reserved.

What Season is it?

As anyone who watches football is painfully aware, we have some problems with our Lions here in Detroit. For starters, we've only won 21 games in the last five seasons. 21-59. Ouch. Good news, though - other than not being in last place the year we went 2-14 (that honor went to the 1-15 Carolina Panthers, who went to the Super Bowl 2 years later). Here in Detroit, it is Quarterback season.

There are four seasons in the NFL. The regular season, the post-season, the off-season -- and quarterback season.

Unlike the other three, quarterback season runs 365 days a year. The moment there's a rumor, it's quarterback season. The moment a guy is cut or signed, it's quarterback season.

And in Detroit, it's quarterback season again -- after the Lions hooked Jon Kitna to a four-year deal Tuesday.

Jon Kitna is not an electric name. In fact, since he was a backup in Cincinnati the last two seasons -- and not even drafted when he came out of college -- many Detroiters may never have heard of him.

Until Tuesday.

Then quarterback season took over. And already you hear people asking, "Can Kitna be the answer?" "Will Kitna replace Joey Harrington?" "Is Kitna better suited to the new offense than Joey is?"

Never mind that we went through this exact exercise last year with Jeff Garcia. Never mind that Garcia also was a veteran in his 30s who still wanted to be No. 1. Never mind that Garcia was a bust.

When I asked Kitna about the job Tuesday, he told me: "Until someone tells me otherwise, I'm going out there to be the starter."

- Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press

The Saddam Saga

Saddam Hussein took the stand for his trial for the first time.

Saddam Hussein formally took the stand in his trial for the first time on Wednesday after earlier acknowledging in court that he gave orders which led to the killing of 148 Shi'ite men in the 1980s....During his last appearance on March 1, Saddam said he had ordered the 148 to be tried but justified the sentences as entirely legal, saying: "Where is the crime?".

But then

He called the court a "comedy against Saddam Hussein and his comrades."

Some comedy.

Saddam Hussein

How To Deal With a Terrorist, Lesson One

It looks like some people know how to take care of business with terrorists.

Israeli forces on Tuesday raided a West Bank prison to demand the handover of a top Palestinian militant accused of killing an Israeli minister, blasting their way in after U.S. and British monitors withdrew.

Palestinian officials said a guard and a prisoner were killed in clashes at Jericho prison, housing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmed Saadat, accused of involvement in the assassination of an Israeli minister.

Israeli troops demanded that Saadat and five other militants held in Jericho give themselves up. Soldiers blew up the outer wall of the prison compound, then brought up bulldozers...

Israeli police minister Gideon Ezra said the decision to demand the handover of Saadat and the others was taken because of reports that they could be released -- a possibility raised by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week...

The Palestinian Authority condemned the raid and the withdrawal of the U.S. and British monitors.

U.S. and British officials said the monitors were pulled out because of the failure of the Palestinians to carry out security improvements that they had requested.

Israel , Palestinians , terrorism

No God, No Inalienable Rights

Since the 1950's and 1960's, there has been a strong push to eliminate God from the United States. This push, conducted under the guise of "tolerance" and "respect" for those who do not believe in God, or have different religious beliefs than the traditional Judeo-Christian belief during the time of this nation's founding, has effectively taken God out of any public arena.

Now the government actively fights any mention of God, save on our money and on the Supreme Court Building.

What are our inherent, inalienable rights? Those granted by God. Government may neither bestow or deny these rights. Brave patriots died so we could enjoy these rights under a government that ruled to protect these rights.

What kind of "rights" do the government push? We heard a lot about the "Health Care Bill of Rights" and whatever imposed right du jour government wants to burden us with. Gun control, "the right to an abortion," on down the line. Government-sponsered "rights" are not rights at all. They take away from one group to add to another group. Unlike inalienable rights, which do not take away from one group to give to another.

Concurrent with the inclusion of all these new faux "rights" is the elimination of God from our public discourse. Against two hundred plus years of history, suddenly the First Amendment was declared to shut God out and completely protect all sorts of anti-U.S. thought and action.

Government realized that there is one way to deny inalienable rights - to convince the citizenry that there is no God. No God, no inherent, inalienable rights. Hence, our current state of affairs where the Constitution is no longer the absolute rule of law.

Freedom , Liberty , Rights , Bill of Rights , Law

Not All Professors are Lefties

Think the word "professor" and one of two images come to mind: either the lucky guy on "Gillian's Island," or some rabble-rousing burned out ex-hippie indoctrinating sheep-like youth to drink from the cesspool of socialist thinking.

That ex-hippie image should not include Dr. Akhil Reed Amar, Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale Law School.

The ulitimate right to keep and bear arms belongs to "the people," not the "states." As the language of the Tenth Amendment shows, these two are of course not identical and when the Constitution means "states," it says so. Thus, the "people" are at the core of the Second Amendment are the same "people" at the heart of the Preamble and the First Amendment, namely Citizens. What's more, the "militia" as used in the Amendment, and in [U.S. Const., Art I, Sect. 8] clause 16, had a very different meaning 200 years ago than in ordinary conversation today. Nowadays, it is quite common to speak loosely of the National Guard as "the state militia," but 200 years ago, any band of paid, semiprofessional, part-time volunteers, like today's Guard, would have been called a "select corps" or "select militia" - and viewed in many quarters as little better than a standing army. In 1789, when used without any qualifying adjective, "the militia" referred to all Citizens capable of bearing arms. The seeming tension between the dependent and the main clauses of the Second Amendment thus evaporates on closer inspection - the "militia" is identical to the "people" in the core sense described above. Indeed, the version of the Amendment that initially passed in the House, only to be stylistically shortened in the Senate, explicitly defined the "militia" as "composed of the body of the People." This is clearly the sense in which "the militia" is used in clause 16 and throughout The Federalist Papers, in keeping with standard usage confirmed by contemporaneous dictionaries, legal and otherwise.

Dr. Akhil Reed Amar, Southmayd Professor of Law, Yale Law School
as written in the Yale Law Journal
The Bill of Rights as a Constitution, 100 Yale L.J. 1166 (1991)

2nd Amendment

Diplomacy and Iran

President Bush announced that we need to achieve a "diplomatic" solution to the situation in Iran.

That's good. I was afraid he might try to fix the problem.

A Few Short Paragraphs Regarding the Patriot Act Renewal

The Patriot Act renewed after President Bush signed legislation yesterday that extended two provisions and made 14 other provisions permenant.

I am amazed at the ferocity of opinion people - on both sides - have regarding the Patriot Act. Very few things can polarize the populace or charge up the emotions the way this Act does.

There are parts of the Act I detest. A lot of people complain that the Act will allow government to violate civil liberties. I don't agree. The government doesnt' need a Patriot Act to do this. Since the Civil War, Federal government has a track record of chipping away at our civil liberties. Since the 1960's, the government has recognized and aggressively promoted so-called liberties never written about in our Constitution or Bill of Rights. Any dangerous provisions in the Act will not change "business as usual" for the government. If there is a bright spot, it comes from our bastion of (anti-)freedom, Senator Russ Feingold, D-WI.

Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who led opposition to renewal, called the bill "deeply flawed."

"Today marks, sadly, a missed opportunity to protect both the national security needs of this country and the rights and freedoms of its citizens," he said in a statement.

Feingold vowed to continue efforts to enact more safeguards on civil liberties.

If our buddy from Wisconsin is against the Act, there must be something about it that is really, really good.

Patriot Act

Kalifornia Strikes Again

Out of California, a report on SB 1437.

It could potentially require gender-neutral bathrooms... all references to 'husband' and 'wife' or 'mom and dad' removed from school textbooks as the norm."

Who cares about the removal of "mom and dad" or "husband and wife" from school textbooks? The dangerous issue is with the gender-neutral bathrooms.

Most guys I know already have issues using the public bathroom - if other men happen to be in the bathroom at the same time. For example, take the unfortunate instance of a bathroom with three urinals. Guy "A" walks in and uses the one on the left. Seconds later, Guy "B" comes in and uses the one on the far right. But then Guy "C" comes in and has to make a decision - should he use the one in the middle or go to a stall to take care of business? If the stalls are occupied, and he really needs to go, he'll move to the middle urinal.

All three guys will stare with great focus at the wall, as if observing the wall so intently would allow them to find the cure for cancer. One thing is guaranteed, they will never move their eyes from the wall. When they are finished, they will make sure to avoid eye contact with anyone else - even at a non-threatening place like the sink. A crazed man could come in with machine guns blazing, and these guys wouldn't even bother to duck, as that would require taking their eyes off the wall - or possibly making eye contact with another man in the bathroom as they dive and look to assess the danger.

Why do I mention any of this? Because I am concerned. Things are hard enough for guys right now, and that is just to use the mens' bathroom. What will happen to all the poor California dudes if bathrooms become gender-neutral? Will most men in California hold on until they get home? Can they hold on until they get home? This legislation could cause unforseen health problems and devestate the economy if men decide to avoid bars, restaurants, and sporting events.

Time to Ride

The long winter is ending. Time to pull the motorcycle out, dust it off, prep it, and RIDE!

Courtin' Politicians?

NBC likes to bill themselves as "must-see TV." I think if David Codrea's blog, The War on Guns, is "must-read blogging." A recent post on his blog really ticked me off. Not at David, but at "conservative" or Republican politicians in general. It is something I've complained about before in the few months 2 Valuable has been around. The faux-2nd Amendment candidate.

David linked an AP article about Wyoming State Representative Dan Zwonitzer (Republican). Basically, Rep. Zwonitzer said he owns guns, he enjoys shooting, blah blah blah. However, "Wyoming is among the top states in the country in terms of gun-related deaths by population and said the state doesn't need legislation to encourage more people to carry guns."

The AP article continued:

Zwonitzer quoted the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states in part that a "well-regulated militia" is necessary to the security of a free state. He said he wouldn't have a problem with the bill if it specified that members of the Wyoming National Guard have a right to carry weapons.

Let's deal with the militia issue another time (click here and
here if you need a militia/National Guard fix). Rep. Zwonitzer responded to David's post, said it was inaccurate, etc. David sent him a questionnaire to make sure we all understood Rep. Zwonitzer's views. To his credit, Rep. Zwonitzer answered the questionnaire. However, the gentleman who is courtin' the gun owners had this to say about the courts.

5. Please give some examples of gun control laws you consider unconstitutional.

As a lawmaker, we work under the assumption that nothing is unconstitutional until a court says it is. I do not believe there are any current unconstitutional laws.

Wow. That is sad. And this is out of the state of Wyoming. I had this to say in the comment section:

"As a lawmaker, we work under the assumption that nothing is unconstitutional until a court says it is."

Excuse me, sir. I am not a state representative, but it seems to me that one really doesn't need the help of a court to define what is constitutional - in fact, judicial activism is one of the major problems in recent American history. (Sure, there are legitimate gray areas with some legislation that needs review from a separate branch of the government, as intended by our Founders', but for some reason, I don't think you were referring to this.)

Doesn't someone with the awesome responsibility of representing "We, the People" have the intellectual ability to discern what is/is not constitutional without the assistance of a court? If not, isn't that representative wasting the valuable time of the judicial branch - and taxpayer money?

I am mad that we pro-2nd amendment people consistently elect these clowns who don't care about us. Faux-2nd amendment politicians behave like the stereotypical guy who loves to date on the weekend. We gun owners are like the girl he doesn't really care for. He doesn't want to go out with us at all, but will consent to ask us out if nothing better is available that Saturday night. It just so happens that "Saturday night" is really election time. Then we just "sit by the phone" until the next election.

It is time we put in REAL pro-2nd amendment candidates.

2nd amendment

A Nation of Cowards?

"Cowardice" and "self-respect" have largely disappeared from public discourse. In their place we have offered "self-esteem" as the bellwether of success and a proxy for dignity. "Self-respect" implies that one recognizes standards, and judges oneself worthy by the degree to which one lives up to them. "Self-esteem" simply means that one feels good about oneself. "Dignity" used to refer to the self-mastery and fortitude with which a person conducted himself in the face of life's vicissitudes and the boorish behavior of others. Now, judging by campus speech codes, dignity requires that we never encounter a discouraging word and that others be coerced into acting respectfully, evidently on the assumption that we are powerless to prevent our degradation if exposed to the demeaning behavior of others. These are signposts proclaiming the insubstantiality of our character, the hollowness of our souls.

It is impossible to address the problem of rampant crime without talking about the moral responsibility of the intended victim. Crime is rampant because the law-abiding, each of us, condone it, excuse it, permit it, submit to it. We permit it and encourage it because we do not fight back, immediately, then and there where it happens. Crime is not rampant because we do not have enough prisons, because judges and prosecutors are too soft, because the police are hamstrung with absurd technicalities. The defect is there, in our character. We are a nation of cowards and shirkers.

- An exerpt from Attorney Jeffrey R. Snyder, in his essay "A Nation of Cowards" as written inThe Public Interest (no. 113, 1993)


Crime , Responsibility

New Hamas Website - Good Stuff For Your Kids!

The Israel National News reports that Hamas has put out a new website.

The Palestinian Authority's ruling Hamas terror group has launched a web site for children, preaching the moral desirability of being a suicide terrorist via cartoons and children's stories.

The Hamas-run Al-Fateh.net glorifies shahada, martyrdom, and presents the deaths of terrorists attacking Israelis as a time of celebration

Hamas won the Palestinian Authority's parliamentary elections in January.

Israel , Palestinians , terrorism

Palestinian Authority "Endorses" Olmert

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas tacitly endorsed Ehud Olmert and his Kadima party while speaking to an Italian reporter. He is "rooting" for Kadima to win the upcoming election.

Nothing like having the PA Chair endorse your Israeli party just before the elections. Reminds me of Osama bin-Laden's tacit endorsement of John Kerry back in November 2004.

Israel , Palestinians

Oops

In Maryland, a police officer imposter was recently arrested after he pulled over the wrong people.

The imposter flashed blue and red emergency lights at an unmarked county police car last month, but took off when the plainclothes officers pulled over. No problem - the officers were able to copy the license plate number. After a brief investigation, they had their man.

So who was this imposter? It turns out he is an armed security guard - and a convicted felon who is not allowed to carry a gun.

Perhaps if we had stronger gun control laws, this man would have realized it was illegal to impersonate cops.

2nd Amendment , Gun Control

Just a Scary Thought

Google is planning a giant online structure that could store copies of users' hard drives, called "The GDrive."

Apparently the cat got out of the bag when slideshow notes were accidentally published on Google's site. The CEO, in these notes, made a comment that one goal of Google was to "store 100 per cent" of consumer information.

Basaically, this would create a mirror image of data stored on consumers' computer hard drives. Users could search data stored on other computers via Google accounts.

Maybe I am over-reacting, but this sounds scary to me.

Civil Rights , Liberty , Privacy

Cheney on Iran

Vice President Cheney, speaking today:

The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences.

Talk is cheap. We surmise that somebody is going to do something, and soon. Will it be the US or Israel is really all that remains to be answered.

Iran

Is the Militia Obsolete?

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Just a few questions this morning.

Typical anti-2nd amendment arguments:

We believe that the constitutional right to bear arms is primarily a collective one, intended mainly to protect the right of the states to maintain militias to assure their own freedom and security against the central government. In today's world, that idea is somewhat anachronistic and in any case would require weapons much more powerful than handguns or hunting rifles. - ACLU position

OR

"Standing armies," ran the decree disbanding the Continental Army after the Revolution, "in time of peace are inconsistent with the principles of a free people, and generally converted into destructive engines for establishing despotism."

Knowing the strong feelings of the Founding Fathers on this matter makes it seem less odd to find no provision in the original Constitution for an army. What the Founding Fathers had high hopes for in case of a national emergency was that everyone would drop what they were doing, grab a rifle from over the fireplace, and rush to the aid of their country.

They were much too idealistic, however. A civilian militia simply doesn't work--and never has. The problem is divided between self-interest and lack of discipline. The average militiaman, the Founding Fathers discovered, would head back for his farm as soon as the immediate emergency was over--or sooner, if he thought his farm or family needed him. And the citizen-soldier felt no qualms about deciding he'd had enough in the midst of a battle. - Opinion piece in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 1 March 2006

OR (from our Friends at the Brady Campaign)

In the 20th century, the Second Amendment has become an anachronism, largely because of drastic changes in the militia it was designed to protect. We no longer have the citizen militia like that of the 18th century.

Today's equivalent of a "well-regulated" militia - the National Guard - has more limited membership than its early counterpart and depends on government-supplied, not privately owned, firearms. Gun control laws have no effect on the arming of today's militia, since those laws invariably do not apply to arms used in the context of military service and law enforcement. Therefore, they raise no serious Second Amendment issues.

The anti-gunners suggest that the National Guard is the militia referred to in the Second Amendment. Who is the Militia?

10 USC Sec. 311 01/19/04
TITLE 10 - ARMED FORCES
Subtitle A - General Military Law
PART I - ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL MILITARY POWERS
CHAPTER 13 - THE MILITIA
-HEAD-
Sec. 311. Militia: composition and classes
-STATUTE-
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied
males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section
313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a
declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States
and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the
National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are -
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard
and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of
the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval
Militia.

-SOURCE-
(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 14; Pub. L. 85-861, Sec. 1(7), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1439; Pub. L. 103-160, div. A, title V, Sec. 524(a), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1656.)

Is the organized militia serving in the United States right now, or is it largely overseas?

DoD officials today consider the reserves an "operational reserve," as opposed to the Cold War's "strategic reserve," when the reserves would be called up only in the direst circumstances, Punaro said.

Today, the reserves are an integral part of the operational force. Already more than 500,000 reserve-component personnel have served in the global war on terror.

Are the United States Military and Naval Forces (the full-timers) in a position in this country geographically to handle an attack - or all there too many soldiers, sailors and Marines overseas?

The Associated Press reported that an unreleased study conducted for the Pentagon said the Army was being overextended because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and may not be able to retain and recruit enough troops to defeat the insurgency in Iraq.

As In the report obtained by The Associated Press, Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who wrote it under Pentagon contract, concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency.

As evidence, he pointed to the Army's 2005 recruiting slump - missing its recruiting goal for the first time since 1999 - and its decision to offer much bigger enlistment bonuses and other incentives.

Is there an attack on American soil expected soon?

The fatwa serves as a reminder of a specific warning given to the U.S. Congress last year that an oil tanker could be used to transport a nuclear weapon to a port in the U.S.

“The Middle East is the dominant source of anti-American terrorism,” explained the report by Jonathan Medalia, specialist in national defense, foreign affairs, defense and trade. “The United States imports an average of more than 2 million barrels of crude oil a day from Persian Gulf nations. “This crude oil is transported by ship, and it would be very difficult to detect a bomb inside a supertanker.”

The report very specifically is referring to a nuclear bomb.

Such a device could not be readily detected by gamma rays because of size of supertankers and the thickness of their steel. Neither could neutron activation detect such a weapon with any certainty because neutrons would be absorbed by the oil, explained the report, titled “Nuclear Terrorism: A Brief Review of Threats and Responses.”

Not only would this be an ingenius means of getting a nuclear warhead to the U.S., says the report, but the effects of detonation of the weapon would be magnified by the location.

“A bomb in a tanker could devastate an oil port by the blast and by secondary fires in nearby refineries and oil storage tanks,” it explains. “A tanker bomb might be used against other maritime targets, such as the Panama Canal. And, if a bomb in a shipping container could lead to the shutdown of container traffic, seriously damaging the world economy, a tanker bomb might by the same token lead to the suspension of crude oil shipments, with similar results.”

AND

As G2B reported exclusively earlier this year, government officials are increasingly concerned about the threat of this kind of electro-magnetic pulse attack that could cripple cities and entire regions of the U.S. by knocking out electrical grids and computer technology.

EMP attacks are generated when a nuclear weapon is detonated at altitudes above a few dozen kilometers above the Earth's surface. The explosion, of even a small nuclear warhead, would produce a set of electromagnetic pulses that interact with the Earth's atmosphere and the Earth's magnetic field.

G2B first reported the shocking findings of the U.S. EMP commission that rogue nations, such as Iran and North Korea, have the capability of launching an undetected, catastrophic EMP attack on the U.S. – and are actively developing plans.
"These electromagnetic pulses propagate from the burst point of the nuclear weapon to the line of sight on the Earth's horizon, potentially covering a vast geographic region in doing so simultaneously, moreover, at the speed of light," said Dr. Lowell Wood, acting chairman of the commission appointed by Congress to study the threat. "For example, a nuclear weapon detonated at an altitude of 400 kilometers over the central United States would cover, with its primary electromagnetic pulse, the entire continent of the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico."

The commission, in its work over a period of several years, found that EMP is one of a small number of threats that has the potential to hold American society seriously at risk and that might also result in the defeat of U.S. military forces.

AND

Al-Qaida's prime targets for launching nuclear terrorist attacks are the nine U.S. cities with the highest Jewish populations, according to captured leaders and documents.

Won't the Federal Government keep us safe in the event of an attack, rapidly providing aid and protection to devestated communities? Doesn't this include the National Guard?

Five days after Hurricane Katrina devastated three Gulf states of the United States leaving thousands dead and one million homeless and in deep distress, President George W. Bush flew in. The horrifying spectacles of suffering and the immensity of the calamity were far worse than he imagined. The US president witnessed needs of Third World proportions and a state of anarchy, with armed gangs looting, robbing and raping refugees, that recalled the streets of Somalia. Patients were dying unattended in the hospitals where even medicines had been stolen in violent attacks...The effect of this lapse of authority, which came for all the world to see, was predictably demoralizing. National Guard officers, some of whom had served in Iraq, refused to patrol the disaster zones “because there are gunmen on the streets.” The Louisiana police chief admitted many of his men were resigning. They had lost everything to the hurricane and now they were being shot at.

Won't the police keep us safe in such an emergency?

“With looters, rapists and other thugs running rampant in New Orleans, Ray Nagin issued an order to disarm all law-abiding citizens. With no law enforcement and 911 available, he left the victims vulnerable by stripping away their only means of defending themselves and their loved ones. " - NRA

NY Times, 3 September 2005: Reeling from the chaos of this overwhelmed city, at least 200 New Orleans police officers have walked away from their jobs and two have committed suicide, police officials said on Saturday.

Some officers told their superiors they were leaving, police officials said. Others worked for a while and then stopped showing up. Still others, for reasons not always clear, never made it in after the storm.

The absences come during a period of extraordinary stress for the New Orleans Police Department. For nearly a week, many of its 1,500 members have had to work around the clock, trying to cope with flooding, an overwhelming crush of refugees, looters and occasional snipers.

P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police, said most of his officers were staying at their posts. But in an unusual note of sympathy for a top police official, he said it was understandable that many were frustrated. He said morale was "not very good."

Who will defend our neighborhoods and help to protect the citizenry if and when this attack hits the United States?

Isn't that the purpose of a militia? The anti-gunners love ripping a militia, but someday they may realize how bad we need one.

2nd Amendment , Militia

South Dakota Prohibits Abortion

South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed legislation today banning abortion in all cases unless the mother's life is in danger.

It is about time.

We've seen the slaughter of more than 40 million Americans since 1973. No, not the discard of 40 million+ clumps of cells. Adolph Hitler, in his evil campaign against the Jewish people, only managed 6 million murders. America has put him to shame. We've slaughtered 40 million... and the numbers are growing.

Rounds said in a written statement he expects the law will be tied up in court for years and will not be enacted unless upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society," Rounds said. "The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them. - Gov. Rounds

We Americans started with the weakest group of all, the baby. We bought into the lie that "it isn't really a baby until it is born."

Now we are moving into the new realm of euthanasia. Let's knock off the next level of weak people - the sick.

At least the people of South Dakota are willing to put their foot down and say, "enough." I hope more states will follow their example.

Last week, Rounds was in Washington for a National Governors Association meeting where he found more pledges of donations and the support of some of his colleagues across the nation.

"There is a lot of interest in it here," Rounds said, according to the Associated Press. "And there are a number of states that have similar legislation. A lot of governors expressing support and wishing us good luck and suggesting that they will have similar types of proposals that may very well be favorably looked upon across the United States."

State lawmakers in Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Indiana also are considering legislation that would heavily restrict abortions.

abortion , South Dakota

Justice Ginsburg Snoozes in Court

Both theAssociated Press and the WND reported on the U.S. Supreme Court newstory du jour. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg took a snooze during a session.


AP reports: The subject matter was extremely technical, and near the end of the argument Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dozed in her chair. Justices David Souter and Samuel Alito, who flank the 72-year-old, looked at her but did not give her a nudge.

Picture from Fox News Channel via World Net Daily. Caption reads "Actual artist rendition of Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg asleep during hearing."

While I generally don't like Justice Ginsburg's voting record, I can't blame her for a slight snooze. Come on, which one of us hasn't dozed during a college lecture, a long-winded wedding ceremony, a boring concert, etc.? I imagine many of us have snooze during business meetings... not often, or we wouldn't have jobs, but nonetheless, we've visited the Land of Nod on at least one occasion. I'll cut her some slack on this one. Just imagine the boring legal technicalities these Justices must listen to during a hearing - they are much more boring than a long-winded sermon... and it doesn't take a whole lot of boredom to set me into snooze-mode.

Moral Relativism and the Second Amendment

Church is probably not the place most people think of the Second Amendment. Yet for good or bad, I confess that the sermon brought the Second Amendment to mind. Pastor was talking about moral relativism in our society and how many Christians allow it to weaken their lifestyle and their witness.

You know, the "that's ok for you, but this is ok for me... all paths are equally valid... who are you to tell me your way is right?... Christianity is antiquated and we need to believe in something more progressive...etc.

Then he made the statement.

"As a nation, moral relativism has shattered our belief in our law."

My mind began to drift to the Second Amendment.

What kind of arguments do we hear against the Second Amendment? How about the anachronistic 2nd amendment argument that the ACLU preaches? Or for that matter, the lie that the 2nd amendment is a "collective" right, while the rest of the Bill of Rights talks about individual rights.

How about the 2nd Amendment is about the National Guard garbage?

The standard issue "we only want to ban 'dangerous' guns - we won't get your hunting rifle."

Or an old favorite, "our right to safety trumps your right to own a gun."

Regardless of the argument, I think we can trace a lot of anti-Second Amendment attitudes to moral relativism. Think about it. The Bill of Rights didn't confer ANY rights to the American. It simply codified our God-given rights to make sure the government didn't encroach on God-bestowed freedom. Now we have people running around talking about the 2nd as "anachronistic" and "a less important right." Assuming that these people sincerely believe this drivel and don't have an agenda to disarm America for other reasons, what else can explain these arguments? A lack of education? No, ACLU attorneys are well-educated.

It does come down to moral relativism. A belief that there are NO God-given rights. A manipulative twist of a sacred belief that teaches the rights of one are more important that the rights of the many.

While many, if not most, of the pro-Second Amendment people I know are not religious or spiritual people, I think it would behoove our cause to treat this issue much like the Pastor at my church treats it. We need to focus on the source of the problem - not just gripe about it or try to "educate" in the same old ways.

I wish I had deeper answers for the problem. I don't, but realizing the root of the problem goes a long way to treating it.

As a closing comment, I realize there are people and groups out there with devious plans for America that require disarmament of the citizenry. I think those confused by and mired in moral relativism play right into their hands. Let's remember who the real enemies of the 2nd Amendment are.

Second Amendment , Moral Relativism

No First Amendment Rights Exist for Funeral Protesting

Fred Phelps is one terrific guy. Years ago he gained notoriety by protesting at the funeral of a gay man, killed in a horrific way simply because he was, indeed, a gay man. Good ol' Freddie carted around intellectually stimulating signs like "God hates fags" and couldn't contain his glee at the results of this hate crime.

Now Freddie raids funerals of our soldiers, gleeful at their death because, as he asserts, they died because God is punishing this country for tolerating "fags."

I am reading a lot commentary and thoughts from a lot of people angry at Freddie's antics. But almost everyone can't spew out this type of phrase fast enough: "we need to respect his first amendment rights and let him protest, even if he is a jerk."

Bull.

Funerals are usually private affairs. They are usually conducted with the assistance of a private funeral home and lead by the representative of a local house of worship. They end at a cemetery, usually owned by a private group or society.

This man has no first amendment rights to crash a funeral, nor do the people of his "church." If Freddie wants to assert that "God hates fags" and "I thank God for the roadside bombs killing soldiers," and people are so concerned that he be able to express these opinions because of the first amendment, then let him say what he wants in front of any TV camera crew. But this man has absolutely no first amendment freedom to interfere with a private funeral on private property and insult a grieving family. Shame on the all the people in America who worry more about Phelps' inexistent rights to protest at a funeral than about the families of our brave soldiers... or the families who lost their sons to violence against gays.

Fred Phelps , First Amendment , 1st Amendment

The New Palestinian Leadership

Here's a big shock: Hamas will not recognize Israel.

And in other big news:

Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Friday that the international community must maintain a united front against Hamas as the militant group prepares to form the next Palestinian Cabinet.

So the international community must maintain a united front against Hamas. Brilliant words, Mr. Olmert. What will happen if the international community doesn't? Will you surrender more geography to the terrorists? Keep at it buddy. They will succeed in destroying the State of Israel... you'll turn it over piece by piece. I didn't didn't believe Neville Chamberlain could be reincarnated - until now.

Palastinians , Israel , Middle East

The Politically Correct Feed On One Of Their Own

I was re-reading a Rich Galen column this morning which made me smile. I know it is ancient history by now, but last week, Harvard President Larry Summers resigned. Mr. Summers was Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration.

He resigned for making an unpopular statement. You ask "what was Mr. Summers sin?" As Mr. Galen wrote last year (and keep in mind that Summers was the President of Harvard at the time):

The other day Larry Summers was giving a speech at a luncheon on the Harvard campus sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research. He said that one of the reasons there are few women at the top tiers of science and engineering is, according to a report in the Boston Globe, "women do not have the same 'innate ability' or 'natural ability' as men in some fields."

And further down in the article:

Summers also used as an example one of his daughters, who as a child was given two trucks in an effort at gender-neutral parenting. Yet she treated them almost like dolls, naming one of them ''daddy truck," and one ''baby truck."

Probably not the best thing to say on a liberal campus. I mean, Harvard (pronounced "Hah-vaad" in Massachusetts) is no Berkley, but it does have a slightly-to-the-left reputation. Anyways, it is a generalization and doesn't seem worthy of throwing a guy out of his position as President of Harvard. So he believes men and women are different. Big deal. Not very PC, but no big deal either.

Anyways, one year later, Mr. Galen writes:

Larry Summers is stepping down as President of Harvard University.

Normally we wouldn't be the least concerned about anything going on at Harvard - with the possible exception of a cheating scandal involving a Spanish test and the senior Senator from Massachusetts - nor with a former member of Bill Clinton's cabinet.

But, the matter of Larry Summers is interesting because it occurs at the intersection of academic freedom and political correctness.

To review the bidding, a little over a year ago Dr. Summers (PhD in economics, Harvard '82) gave a speech in which he indicated (well, he actually said), "women do not have the same 'innate ability' or 'natural ability' as men in some fields."

This was not handled at all well by some of the gals in the all-female audience and caused quite the little stir at the time (see MULLINGS - 01-19-05) leading to the Harvard faculty voting "no confidence" in Dr. Summers. Just in case word of their displeasure hadn't gotten to his office, another no confidence vote was scheduled for next week if he didn't resign.

In the interests of academic curiosity, let us reverse the facts and pretend that a tenured professor had said "women do not have the same innate ability as men" and soon-to-be-former President Summers had demanded that professor resign.

The faculty might well have refused to sup with the troglodyte in the faculty dining hall, but we assume they would have defended his right to free academic speech with utmost vigor (that's the way we write when we are speaking of university faculty people and the like).

It always amazes me how someone like Ward Churchill over at U of Colorado can make crazy statements and hide behind "academic freedom." Yet, the president of Harvard University cannot make a simple generalization without getting thrown off campus. This thing turned into a feeding frenzy and it cost the President of Harvard his job. It is interesting when the liberals turn on one of their own.

Harvard , Politically Correct , PC

100th Birthdays May Soon Be The Norm

CNN sucked me in with a great headline: 100th Birthdays May Soon Be The Norm.

Being that I have several close family members in their 80's, this interested me, so I clicked on the link. I am always interested in new technologies that improve the quality of life.

But, it is CNN, and I shouldn't be surprised. The article had little to do with technologies to improve and lengthen lifespan, and a lot to do with "the increasing gap between the rich and the poor." It seems like only people from "rich" states will live this long and that people from "poor" states are going to die young.

I get so sick of this blatherskite. If the article is just a socialist "screw the U.S." piece, just state it.



News , News and Politics

The Problem with All-News Stations

Most people have observed this for years - there is an inherent problem with all-news stations, be they TV or radio... there really is very little newsworthy over the course of 24 hours, so everything becomes a "crisis" to give it an air of legitimacy.

This morning, while driving to work in Detroit, I listened to the all-news station for the traffic update. It was early in the morning and there was a little bit of freezing rain. No biggie for Michigan in early March. In fact, this winter hasn't been a biggie... this winter has been very mild. It barely snowed in time to give us a white Christmas. The temperatures have been warm (for winter) through January and February and I spent more time looking at grass instead of snow.

Anyways, this morning we had a little freezing rain, and it is supposed to snow from 1" - 3" by the end of the day. Again, Michigan in March. Not a big deal.

But to listen to the all-news station, you'd think we were back in the Cold War and the Soviets were invading. Crisis Crisis Crisis. "Please, stay inside if you can... this is a winter survival Thursday morning with dangerous weather... we may have dangerous amounts of snow in the afternoon..." Dangerous amounts? Three inches? In Michigan? In March?

They had their roving reporters driving around Metro Detroit, reporting on the driving conditions. "Can you hear the hail?" - holds the cell phone to the window - "that is pea-sized hail falling. Very dangerous driving conditions."

"I am driving by the construction on I-75 near 14 Mile... if there is any good thing about this weather, it will force drivers to slow their dangerous speeds down while going through this construction." No, Chuckles, something else is slowing their speed down - the freeway is down to one lane. Half of Southeastern Michigan going through that one lane in a three hour period. How can you experience "dangerous speeds" when the major north-south artery is down to one lane?

Crisis, whether real or generated, is the staple of this kind of "news" organizations. I'm glad there are so many ads, or we'd really get a dose of "crisis" with every story.

News , News and Politics

David Codrea for (Write-In Candidate) NRA Board of Directors

Gun-supporting friends of this blog,

Most of us go to David Codrea's blogspot, The War on Guns. I'd dare say we go there regularly.

David posted a questionnaire for the current NRA Board of Director candidates. Bill, offering the first comment, said we should write in David as a BOD candidate.

We all know David's beliefs and his pro-2nd amendment work. We know he is level-headed and fiercly guards freedom. I think Bill is right. Let's write-in David Codrea when we send in our NRA ballots.

The War on Guns: 2006 NRA Board Candidate Questionnaire

David at The War On Guns had this excellent questionnaire for the folks running for NRA Board of Directors. Let's see what they think about real issues.

The War on Guns: 2006 NRA Board Candidate Questionnaire

NRA , Gun Rights , 2nd Amendment

Mother Upset Her Daughter Failed - At Suicide Bombing!

I know sometimes disappointing things happen to our kids, but this is just insane.

A Palestinian mother, on PA television, told the story of her disappointment in her daughter's failure in a suicide bombing.

Twenty-one year old Wafa Al-Bas was arrested at a crossing in June 2005, wearing a 20 pound explosives belt.

Al-Bas intended to bomb Be'er Sheva's Soroka Hospital outpatient clinic, where she had been receiving regular treatments for serious burns on 45 percent of her body resulting from a gas stove explosion in her home.

The failed bomber later told Israeli television that her greatest wish was to kill 30 to 50 Israelis, including children. The hospital attack would likely have killed or maimed the very Israeli doctor who had saved her life.

Al-Bas' mother said in the PA TV interview that she knew that her daughter had wanted to be a martyr since she was a little girl, but had not encouraged her - not because she opposed the idea of suicide bombing, but because Wafa was female. "If it was a boy, I would have supported, but since she is a girl I discouraged," she said.

Nice girl. Kill the doctor who saved you, plus kids in a clinic. That is a great goal in life - if you are twisted.

Interviewer: "How did you receive the news of Wafa's arrest?"
Wafa's mother: "When I received the news, it was hard for me. Hard."
Interviewer: "Excuse me, was the hardship in that she failed in the martyrdom-seeking operation and was arrested, or in the arrest itself?"
Wafa's mother: "The arrest itself. Her wish was martyrdom, Wafa, since she was a little girl."

And people in the Bush Administration think that we can have peace in the Middle East.

Israel , Palestinians , PA , suicide bombing , terrorism