Remember that.
Senator Patrick Leahy says he won't vote to confirm John Roberts for a seat on the U-S Supreme Court if the appeals court judge does not proclaim his support for the landmark Roe versus Wade abortion ruling.H/T: Chairman Alday
...a blog was born.
Okay, well, yesterday was my 1st blogiversary, but leave it to me to have forgotten almost completely.
Um, go me?
*Hitler has joined the game.* *Eisenhower has joined the game.* *paTTon has joined the game.* *Churchill has joined the game.* *benny-tow has joined the game.* *T0J0 has joined the game.* *Roosevelt has joined the game.* *Stalin has joined the game.* *deGaulle has joined the game.*Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler: sure whatever
Stalin: cool
deGaulle: **** Hitler rushed some1 help
Hitler: lol byebye frenchy
Roosevelt: i dont got **** to help, sry
Churchill: wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me
Roosevelt: get antiair guns
Churchill: i cant afford them
benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is?
paTTon: stfu
Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys
deGaulle: eisenhower ur worthless come help me quick
Eisenhower: i cant do **** til rosevelt gives me an army
paTTon: yah hurry the fock up
Churchill: d00d im gettin pounded
deGaulle: this is fockin weak u guys suck
*deGaulle has left the game.*
Roosevelt: im gonna attack the axis k
benny-tow: with what? ur wheelchair?
benny-tow: lol did u mess up ur legs AND ur head?
Hitler: ROFLMAO
T0J0: lol o no america im comin 4 u
Roosevelt: wtf! thats bullsh1t u fags im gunna kick ur asses
T0JO: not without ur harbors u wont! lol
Roosevelt: u little biotch ill get u
Hitler: wtf
Hitler: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army
Hitler: thats bullsh1t u hacker
Churchill: lol no more france for u hitler
Hitler: tojo help me!
T0J0: wtf u want me to do, im on the other side of the world retard
Hitler: fine ill clear you a path
Stalin: WTF u arsshoel! WE HAD A FoCKIN TRUCE
Hitler: i changed my mind lol
benny-tow: hahaH/T: Pixy
benny-tow: hey ur losing ur guys in africa im gonna need help in italy soon sum1
T0J0: o **** i cant help u i got my hands full
Hitler: im 2 busy 2 help
Roosevelt: yah thats right ***** im comin for ya
Stalin: church help me
Churchill: like u helped me before? sure ill just sit here
Stalin: dont be an arss
Churchill: dont be a commie. oops too late
Eisenhower: LOL
benny-tow: hahahh oh sh1t help
Hitler: o man ur focked
paTTon: oh what now biotch
Roosevelt: whos the cripple now lol
*benny-tow has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: lame
Roosevelt: gj patton
paTTon: thnx
Hitler: WTF eisenhower hax hes killing all my sh1t
Hitler: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record
Eisenhower: Nuts!
benny~tow: wtf that mean?
Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped
paTTon: coming to get u hitler u paper hanging hun ****socker
Stalin: rofl
T0J0: HAHAHHAA
Hitler: u guys are fockin gay
Hitler: ur never getting in my city
*Hitler has been eliminated.*
benny~tow: OMG u noob you killed yourself
Eisenhower: ROFLOLOLOL
Stalin: OMG LMAO!
Hitler: WTF i didnt click there omg this game blows
*Hitler has left the game*
paTTon: hahahhah
T0J0: WTF my teammates are n00bs
benny~tow: shut up noob
Roosevelt: haha wut a moron
paTTon: wtf am i gunna do now?
Eisenhower: yah me too
T0J0: why dont u attack me o thats right u dont got no ships lololol
Eisenhower: fock u
paTTon: lemme go thru ur base commie
Stalin: go to hell lol
paTTon: fock this sh1t im goin afk
Eisenhower: yah this is gay
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler: wtf?
Eisenhower: sh1t now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoyl****!
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
Eisenhower: awesome!
Churchill: gg noobs no re
T0J0: thats bull**** u fockin suck
*T0J0 has left the game.*
*Eisenhower has left the game.*
Stalin: next game im not going to be on ur team, u guys didnt help me for ****
Churchill: wutever, we didnt need ur help neway dumbarss
tru_m4n: l8r all
benny~tow: bye
Churchill: l8r
Stalin: fock u all
tru_m4n: shut up commie lol
*tru_m4n has left the game.*
benny~tow: lololol u commie
Churchill: ROFL
Churchill: bye commie
*Churchill has left the game.*
*benny~tow has left the game.*
Stalin: i hate u all fags
*Stalin has left the game.*
paTTon: lol no1 is left
paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep
*paTTon has been eliminated.*
paTTon: o sh1t!
*paTTon has left the game.*
I've yet to hear much, if anything, about this in the B-sphere so far today. The front page of the NYPost has the spread: COKE FIEND BIN LADEN.
(By DAN MANGAN) -- Osama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, spike it with poison and sell it in the United States, hoping to kill thousands of Americans one year after the 9/11 attacks, The Post has learned.You know the drill with online newspaper articles... www.bugmenot.com.The evil plot failed when the Colombian drug lords bin Laden approached decided it would be bad for their business - and, possibly, for their own health, according to law-enforcement sources familiar with the Drug Enforcement Administration's probe of the aborted transaction. The feds were told of the scheme earlier this year, but its existence had never been made public. The Post has reviewed a document detailing the DEA's findings in the matter, in addition to interviewing sources familiar with the case.
Personally, I doubt the "Colombian drug lords" bin Laden supposedly (emphasis on SUPPOSEDLY) met with even blinked when he allegedly shared his dopey plot.
Forget a DEA CRACKdown, it's all about business.
Why the heck would ANY Colombian (or any global) narcotrafficker want to hurt their own clientel?? What would be the point? You'd have cokeheads from the ghettos to the trailerparks and the nice suits in between scared to death to do a line of nose candy.
So, in reality, I'm not so sure ol' Osama was really onto "America's financial Achilles heel" with this one...
Van Helsing exposes CBS (and the rest of the MSM) as the peacenik anti-military-hero institution that they are: Memory Lapses on General Westmoreland.
NBC and ABC mentioned the (1980's) lawsuit in their own obits. But evidently it slipped everybody's mind at CBS. Memory can be funny. Perhaps an improved memory would allow CBS to learn from its mistakes, and stop passing off political hatchet jobs as newsRead the rest, including the NYT link.
C-BS could not have made the ommission of an infamous legal battle more obvious.
Iraq Constitution May Erode Women's Rights (link)Out of 32 paragraphs, only 8, (EIGHT) paragraphs are remotely relevant to the title of the article.
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, APBAGHDAD, Iraq - A part ofIraq's draft constitution obtained by The Associated Press gives Islam a major role in Iraqi civil law, raising concerns that women could lose rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance.
[...] Most worrying for women's groups has been the section on civil rights, which some believe would significantly roll back women's rights under a 1959 civil law enacted by a secular regime.
In the copy obtained by the AP on Monday, Article 19 of the second chapter says "the followers of any religion or sect are free to choose their civil status according to their religious or sectarian beliefs."
Shiite Muslim leaders have pushed for a stronger role for Islam in civil law but women's groups argue that could base legal interpretations on stricter religious lines that are less favorable toward women.
Committee members said they had taken account of women's concerns but were not planning to make changes, since the National Assembly will have final say on the wording.
Committee member Khudayer al-Khuzai said Muslims would be free to choose which Islamic sect they want to be judged by under the proposed civil law.
"We will not force anyone to adopt any sect at all. People are free to choose the sect they see as better or more legitimate. This is implemented in marriage, inheritance and all civil rights," he said.
Not all Shiite laws are disadvantageous for women. Many Sunni Muslims who have only daughters prefer to follow Shiite religious law when it comes to inheritance, since daughters inherit everything their parents leave. Under Sunni rules, daughters have to share their inheritance with uncles, aunts and grandparents.
The rest is called "filler," I guess.
Sources: Teamsters, SEIU to Bolt AFL-CIO (link)Somewhere in Red Square, Lenin is coming back to life, and clutching his chest once more...
By RON FOURNIER, AP Political WriterOrganized labor is at war with itself as the Teamsters and a major service employees' union decide to bolt from the AFL-CIO, paving the way for two other groups to sever ties in the labor movement's biggest rift since the 1930s.
The Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union, the largest AFL-CIO affiliate with 1.8 million members, intended to announce Monday that they are leaving the federation after failing to reform the 50-year-old labor giant, according to several labor officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The unions are part of the Change to Win Coalition, seven labor groups vowing to accomplish what the AFL-CIO has failed to do: Reverse the decades-long decline in union membership. But many union presidents, labor experts and Democratic Party leaders fear the split will weaken the movement politically and hurt unionized workers who need a united and powerful ally against business interests and global competition.
(Oh, if only I had a screenshot from that Simpsons episode! "MUST CRUSH CAPITALISM!" muhahahaha...)
When I was in high school, I worked part-time at the local Super Funk...er...Super Fresh.
I HAD to belong to the freakin Grocers Union or whatever it was called. That meant I earned like, $120ish bucks a week, and took home maybe $80. Yes, there were state and Fed taxes...but the rest was *@(#& union dues...
I was in high school for cryin' outloud!
Then one Saturday evening, to make a long story short, my assistant grocery manager decided to be a dick and "suspended" me for no reason for a day's work and pay.
Turns out, a few weeks later my rather eclectic union shop rep. tells me he had no authority whatsoever to make such a decision and could be strung out by the union for doing so... HAD I KNOWN BETTER TO TELL SOMEONE SOONER.
At 16, I hardly knew better.
And oh yea, Cowboy Brian the Grocery Manager is still a douchebag.
Feel free to leave your union horror stories here in the comments section!
(Eric...I KNOW you have one...or 20... hehe).
Sen. Clinton Reinforces Ties to Moderates (link)Typical Democrat gala---talking tough and then having nothing to show for it.
By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press WriterNew York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is cementing her ties to moderate voters, reaching out to centrists that some of her backers argue Clinton never really abandoned.
Clinton scheduled a high-profile speech Monday to the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group that helped pave Bill Clinton's path to the White House. The hundreds of activists gathered for the group's annual meeting made her appearance its centerpiece.
"She has `it'," said Ray Buckley, vice chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "Some people don't; some people do."
Activists gathered for the meeting were talking tough on fighting terrorism, calling for a larger Army and new protections for children through a uniform media rating system.
Clinton says she's focused solely on winning another term in the Senate, but her every move is closely watched because polls show she's the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.Riiiiight.
Some have suggested Clinton has carefully tacked a course toward the political center as the speculation about 2008 grows.So...taking a tough stand on violent video games and...taking a field trip to Iraq makes you a viable candidate?In January she used an appearance before abortion-rights advocates to call for "common ground" on the issue. [What is "common ground" when you are killing children? --ed.]
In addition, Clinton joined with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to push for health care legislation like a single system for medical billing that all insurers and providers would use to save time and money. [Did anyone else feel a shift in the planetary alignment when this happened? --ed.]
Clinton has also taken a tough stand against violence in video games and on television, and against illegal immigration. She sought out a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which allowed her to take high-profile trips to Iraq and put a foreign policy arrow in her quiver. [Yea, remember the picture of Hillary and the serviceman who made the hand sign for "hostage"? hehe. --ed.]
"It doesn't surprise me that she's becoming more moderate," said Leroy Comrie, a city councilman in the New York borough of Queens. "I think the country is becoming more and more moderate, more and more conservative."
This is bound to get interesting...
U.S. Gen.: Taliban Recruiting Children (link)
By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan - Fierce fighting in recent months has devastated the ranks of the Taliban, prompting the rebels to recruit children and force some families to provide one son to fight with them, a U.S. commander said Saturday.
The fighting has fractured the Taliban's command structure, preventing the militants from regrouping, even though there has been an upsurge in violence, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, the U.S. military operational commander in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press in an interview.
Despite the setback — more than 500 rebels have been killed since March — the militants are likely to step up attacks in the lead-up to crucial Sept. 18 legislative elections, he said.
"The Taliban and al-Qaida feel that this is their final chance to impede Afghanistan's progress to ... becoming a nation," Kamiya said. "They will challenge us all the way through Sept. 18."
He said the rebels were desperately trying to recruit new fighters to replace those killed recently, and has even forced families in some areas "to give up one son to fight."
"They have been hit so hard they now have to recruit more fighters. They are recruiting younger and younger fighters: 14, 15 and 16 years-old," Kamiya said. "The enemy is having a hard time keeping its recruit rates up."
While the rebels have long been thought to have children in their ranks, there have been few reports of wide-scale child recruiting by the Taliban — especially of those as young as 14.
Kamiya's comments come two days after the United Nations said that the majority of an estimated 8,000 child soldiers in Afghanistan — mostly in the ranks of private militias now allied to the government — would have been demobilized and enrolled in education programs by the end of this year.
The effort has focused largely on areas outside the country's southern and eastern regions, where the Taliban are strongest.
Afghan officials repeatedly have said that many of the Taliban's fighters come from Islamic boarding schools, or madrassas, in Pakistan. But Kamiya said the Taliban was now getting most of its fresh recruits from inside Afghanistan.
Spain blames Galician radicals for bomb (link)
By Adrian CroftSpain blamed radical groups seeking the independence of the Galicia region for a bomb that exploded in the busy pilgrimage center of Santiago de Compostela on Saturday, causing minor damage but no injuries.
Police arrested two people they believe planted the bomb that exploded outside the main office of regional savings bank Caixa Galicia, officials said.
"The police link those responsible with radical independence groups," a government statement said.
City officials said police were prepared for a possible attack by Galician radicals two days before the northwestern region celebrates Galicia day, an annual regional holiday.
"It's not a surprise, because we feared it. We thought this could happen and that it could come from where it's come from. Great precautions had been taken and the police acted immediately," the mayor of Santiago de Compostela, Jose Antonio Sanchez Bugallo, told Cadena Ser radio.
The government statement said police had recently stepped up surveillance of people linked to groups suspected of violence.
"This operation made possible the detection of two suspicious people, so the National Police immediately cordoned off the area," the statement said.
Police quickly swooped on the two people they suspected of planting the bomb, it said.
Santiago is the capital of Galicia, a green and rugged fishing region which has its own regional government and language. Some Galicians want more autonomy from Madrid.
Although not as well known as Basque separatist guerrillas ETA, shadowy Galician radical groups sometimes use violence to promote their cause.
In 2003, a series of home-made bombs blamed on pro-independence radicals exploded outside offices of the then-ruling Popular Party in Galicia and an office of the Galician regional government.
POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE
Galicia is currently undergoing a political shake-up.
Manuel Fraga, 82, a former minister under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, has ruled Galicia for 16 years. But his center-right Popular Party lost its majority in a June regional election.
The bomb exploded hours after the Socialists -- who govern in Madrid -- and moderate Galician nationalists signed an agreement to form a coalition to rule the region.
Socialist Emilio Perez Tourino is due take over as regional leader on August 2.
ETA has also struck in Galicia in the past. It planted a bomb in Santiago de Compostela in August last year as part of a summer bombing campaign aimed at undermining Spain's important tourism sector.
Santiago de Compostela, a scenic medieval town, attracts tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims every year to what is traditionally believed to be the burial place of the Apostle St. James. (Additional reporting by Raquel Castillo, Andres Jimenez)
Editorial: Why not enlist civilians? (link)The U.S. Border Patrol won't be looking for a few good civilians any time soon.
After Robert C. Bonner, Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said Wednesday that the agency, which plays a prominent role in Cochise County life, is looking at ways to involve citizen volunteers, a Border Patrol spokesman said on Thursday the agency wasn't planning any volunteer organization.
We think there is a place for civilians in helping the Border Patrol, but not by going out and detaining people along the border.
Recent civilian activities along the border, including the Minuteman Project that has spread its activities from Cochise County and Arizona to New Mexico and California, are what spurred this comment in the first place.
This has created greater debate on the security of our border and illegal immigration.
We think a Border Patrol civilian auxiliary, similar to the Arizona Rangers or the Coast Guard Auxiliary, would be a good outlet for many civilians looking for a way to participate in the ongoing battle against illegal immigration. The Coast Guard Auxiliary, for example, helps with non-law enforcement programs such as public education, vessel safety checks and safety patrols.
The civilians in a Border Patrol auxiliary would need to be trained to help the everyday agents, and they need to go through background checks. They couldn't carry weapons, but they could help do some jobs, on a volunteer basis, that may free up more agents to tackle the border situation.Duties could be helping with education campaigns or paperwork. Maybe they could help be eyes and ears in neighborhoods that request extra assistance due to problems with illegal immigrants.
We don't think auxiliary members should be actively pursuing illegal immigrants. That needs to be left to the Border Patrol agents who are trained to deal with illegal immigrants.
Beyond the ability to help free up more agents along the border, we think this is an opportunity for the Border Patrol to reach out to people who think they're doing a good job but are overwhelmed by ongoing illegal immigration.
We think it is an opportunity for Americans to feel like they're playing a role in helping protect their nation's border.
Speaking of immigration... this guy Tom "Nuke Mecca" Tancredo is starting to peak my interest.
Watch out for this guy if he is truly serious about seeking the 2008 GOP Presidential nomination. His condition was that if nobody in the GOP seriously addressed the issue of illegal immigration, he was going to run and do something about it...
So again, watch for him during primary season.
"Jihad and the rifle alone: no negotiations, no conferences and no dialogues."
- Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
"Negotiations are the heroin of Westerners addicted to self-delusion."
- Ralph Peters, NYPost Opinion Columnist
Just think about it.
This earns the WK? UN-BE-LIEV-A-BLE Award&trade for the week.
Lord, forgive this woman for her cold heart, and me, for my disgust.
Saw a commerical today for Head and Shoulders.
Some actress chickadee described how dryness or the sun or some unpreventable natural disaster is "TORTURE" to her hair.
She must have repeated the word "torture" 3 or 4 times.
At least now the makers of Head and Shoulders have provided the American people (okay, the ACLU and lefties across the land) with a standard for comparison.
GITMO detainees with dry scalps are being TORTURED!
Via Donnah:
In pursuit of safety (also known as "avoiding lawsuits"), school districts in Broward County have taken away swing sets, sandboxes, bouncy horses and even hand-pulled merry-go-rounds. "No Running" signs are now posted on the playground of every elementary school in the county.You've got to be kidding me...
(link) Retired Gen. William Westmoreland, who commanded U.S. forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968 and advocated a strong military buildup at a time when American casualties were mounting, has died.He could not be more correct.Westmoreland died Monday of natural causes at Bishop Gadsden retirement home, where he had lived with his wife, said his son, James Ripley Westmoreland. He was 91.
"I have no apologies, no regrets. I gave my very best efforts," Westmoreland told The Associated Press in 1985. "I've been hung in effigy. I've been spat upon. You just have to let those things bounce off."
The silver-haired, jut-jawed officer, who rose through the ranks quickly during World War II and later became superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., contended the United States did not lose the conflict in Southeast Asia.
"We held the line. We stopped the falling of the dominoes," he said in 1985 at the 20th anniversary of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade's assignment to Vietnam. "It's not that we lost the war militarily. The fact is, we as a nation did not make good our commitment to the South Vietnamese."
As commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, Westmoreland oversaw the introduction of ground troops in South Vietnam and a dramatic increase in the number of U.S. troops there. He also sought in vain permission to engage enemy forces in their sanctuaries in Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam.You know why he called for a solid number of reinforcements?American support for the war suffered a tremendous blow near the end of Westmoreland's tenure when enemy forces attacked several cities and towns throughout South Vietnam in what is known as the Tet Offensive in 1968. Though Westmoreland fought off the attacks, the American public remained stunned that the enemy had gained access to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, even if only for a few hours.
After the event, President Lyndon Johnson limited further increases in troops; Westmoreland was recalled to Washington to serve as the U.S. Army Chief of Staff after asking for reinforcements in response to the attacks.
To get the job done.
Westmoreland knew what it took to win a war---his strategy, in a way, mirrored our strategy today in the War on Terror--go after the sons of bitches where they were, be it N. Korea, Cambodia or Laos.
The following excerpt from the Anti-American Press is a prime example of what we here at WK? like to call, "protecting their own"... (Notice the culprit in bold...)
A decade after his retirement, Westmoreland fought another battle involving Vietnam.Wikipedia, on the other hand, describes a more detailed account.In 1982, he filed a $120 million lawsuit against CBS over a documentary "The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception," which implied he had deceived President Johnson and the public about enemy troop strength in Vietnam.
At the time, Westmoreland said the question "is not about whether the war in Vietnam was right or wrong, but whether in our land a television network can rob an honorable man of his reputation."
After an 18-week trial in New York, the case was settled shortly before it was to go to the jury.
In 1982, Mike Wallace interviewed Westmoreland for the CBS special The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception. The documentary alleged that Westmoreland and others had deliberately underestimated Vietcong troop strength in order to maintain morale and popular support for the war. The result was the disastrous Tet Offensive.Westmoreland not only faced a more deceptive media opponent, but a jury tainted by a judge's deliberately slanted instruction.In Westmoreland v. CBS, Westmoreland sued Wallace and CBS for libel, and a long and arduous trial process began. Westmoreland surprisingly settled with CBS for an apology, about as much as they had originally offered. Research after the trial uncovered the reason: while CBS' internal investigation revealed that they had used shoddy journalistic practices, Judge
Leval's instructions to the jury over what constituted "actual malice" to prove libel were so weighted in favour of the defense that Westmoreland's lawyers knew he would lose.
I strongly encourage you to find out more about General Westmoreland.
Wikipedia has a decent biographical spread.
It is simply disgraceful (yet completely unsurprising) how little the media will comment about the accomplishments of this great serviceman. All in the name of consise journalism, I guess. Here is a rather simple, humble "resume" of sorts...
Thank you, for your service, General.
“Television is an instrument which can paralyze this country.” - Gen. Westmoreland
"Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media for they will steal your honor." - Bobby McBride, Crew Chief, 128th Assault Helicopter Company, RVN 1969-1970
The NYPD is approximately 39,000+ strong, and responsbile for protecting about 320 sq. miles of the city.
The U.S. Coast Guard is approximately 40,000 strong and responsible for protecting 95,000 sq. miles of shoreline. (Source: History Channel -- "Al Qaeda's Navy")
In two words I can sum up this reality:
It sucks.
After the United Nations withdrew their "peacekeepers" from Rwanda during the genocide...Belgian troops tore their blue berets to shreds with their knives in protest against the U.N.'s failure to act to stop the tragedy.
Bravo.
H/T: The History Channel.
heh.
The most plugged-in nation in the world is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are doing.Well, this editor-in-pajamas is going to cover the story![...] Accounts of American valor are dismissed by the press as propaganda, yet accounts of American difficulties are heralded as objectivity. It makes you wonder if the role of the media is to inform or to depress - to report or to deride. To tell the truth, or to feed us lies.
This is not necessary.
Rape Spurs Anti-Hispanic Backlash in Ohio (link)
By DAN SEWELL, APIt started with the spray-painted, misspelled "Rapest" on the house of a Hispanic man accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old white girl. Then the house went up in flames in a suspected arson.
Confrontations, name-calling and threats against Hispanics followed. Men roamed the streets wearing pillowcases with eye holes, and Ku Klux Klansmen in hoods and robes showed up to pass out pamphlets. There were rumors of assaults and beatings.
Now this small Ohio river city's booming Hispanic population is cowed, the streets in their neighborhoods nearly deserted.
Baghdad neighborhood mourns children killed in suicide blast (link)Is this what you hoped to accomplish? You bastards. You filthy unspeakable monsters. I take comfort only in knowing you will rot in Hell for all eternity.
By Leila Fadel, Knight Ridder NewspapersBAGHDAD, Iraq - A gaggle of boys who played soccer together in the eastern Baghdad neighborhood are gone.
A 10-year-old twin is without his other half.
One whole family disappeared, their home destroyed by a suicide blast.
On Thursday, the sobs of the grief-stricken filled the air, mourning those who were killed when an SUV exploded the day before in a crowd of Iraqi children who had gathered to accept candy, gifts and water from an American military patrol. Most of the 40 people who died in the suicide bombing were children and teenagers. A U.S. soldier perished as well.
In every home for blocks Thursday, distraught parents said that at least one child was dead.
Doors of homes opened, offering glimpses of a sea of women in traditional black gowns crying together inside as little girls passed precious cold drinking water to their guests. Christian, Shiite Muslim and Sunni Muslim women sat cross-legged throughout the neighborhood, calling for their dead sons and daughters.
A coffin was tied to the top of a van. Women screamed inside the vehicle, while a father hysterically called, "My son, my son!"
Some men lined up in funeral tents near the bombing's 10-foot-crater, which had been filled with dirt but couldn't cover a landscape scarred by shrapnel, broken glass and blood.
Thursday was supposed to have been a celebration at one small Sunni home. A little white gown called a dishdasha, threaded with gold, hung on the door. Karima Jameel Sabri's 5-year-old son, Ahmed Jassim, was to have been circumcised according to Islamic practice.
His mother had expected to throw chocolates at him in his new traditional garment. Instead, Sabri scratched her face until it bled, beat her chest and described the image of her son's head dangling from the curb.
Her grief was compounded that day when she found her 8-year-old son, Mohammed, on the other side of the road covered by dead bodies. The new tracksuit he was wearing had burned away, his arms and legs were gone and his face was unrecognizable.
But a mother knows. Only he had the small birthmark at the back of his head, perfect little teeth and purple underwear.
"There is fire in my heart, oh mother," she screamed and slapped her face. "They'd been kissing me in the morning, my two boys."
Are you happy now?
All in a day's work for your child-raping, murderous, illegitimate "prophet" of doom, right?
I hope it was worth it.
Declare a fatwa for my head, I'd only be so honored.
UPDATE: I am truly wrestling with my commentary for this post---- I know as a Christian I am called to love my enemies, but Lord only knows how filled with anger and rage I was after reading the article.
Luke 6:27-36Show me where you will find such a commandment to love in the Koran.
27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
I am truly torn by this.
UN seeks to bolster ties between West and Islam (link)They said "acting" in the same sentence as the word "United Nations."The United Nations, acting after deadly suicide bombings apparently driven by Muslim extremism hit London, launched an initiative on Thursday to build new bridges between the West and Islam.
They funny.
The campaign's aim was to "bridge divides and overcome prejudice, misconceptions, misperceptions, and polarization which potentially threaten world peace," U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. [Maybe they need Sandra Bullock as the new U.N. spokesperson. Then they'll kick ass after they speak. And, yes, I saw Miss Congeniality 2...) --ed.]They can't fix anything in the concrete (Sudan, Kosovo, Iraq, Sierra Leone...the list goes on...)---therefore, how can anyone expect them to bridge the divides and "misconceptions" of Islam?Recent events had "heightened the sense of a widening gap and lack of mutual understanding between Islamic and Western societies -- an environment that has been exploited and exacerbated by extremists in all societies," he said.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan was pursuing the "Alliance of Civilizations" initiative, at the suggestion of Spain and Turkey, after 54 people were killed in suicide bombings in London by three British Muslims of Pakistani origin and a Jamaican-born Briton.
The campaign has no firm plans yet but is expected to present recommendations and a plan of action in late 2006.
And **NEWSFLASH**, Kofi, ol' buddy... I can't believe your U.N. "anthropologists" haven't informed you that "mutual respect" and "cultural tolerance" are not inherent in all societies..... that's the reason why THERE IS A WAR GOING ON!
Ugh!
Does anybody else feel another UNESCO program coming on?
Do not let the headline deceive you...there's more to this story than the crime...
Legendary Crime Boss Returned to Mexico (link)
By JOSE LUIS MAGANA
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Top crime boss Alfredo Rios Galeana, who blasted his way out of a Mexican courtroom almost two decades ago and spent nearly 19 years as a fugitive, was returned to Mexico Tuesday to face charges of robbery, homicide and assault.
Considered one of Mexico's most dangerous criminals, Rios Galeana was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the home he shared with his wife and children in the city of South Gate, just south of Los Angeles, on Monday and handed over to Mexican authorities.
Speaking to reporters after he was escorted off a police plane under heavy guard at the Mexico City airport, Rios Galeana said he had fled to the United States to leave his bloody past behind.
He claimed to be a changed man, saved by a religious awakening.
"Let me tell you that Jesus changed my life, and that's why I left all this," he said. "God forgives even the worst criminal."
Asked about the people he allegedly killed, he answered "I regret it with all my heart." Asked where the loot from his bank heists is now, he said: "It was all spent."
[...] Mexican officials said Rios Galeana spent 15 years living under an alias as a quiet, church-going family man in a largely Mexican neighborhood of South Gate.
He had been living with his wife and three children under the alias Arturo Montoya.
In a decade-long crime spree in the 1970s and 1980s, Rios Galeana allegedly masterminded some two dozen bank robberies and six murders, including the killing of police officers.
He escaped from a courtroom in Mexico City's Southern Penitentiary on Nov. 22, 1986, one of a group of inmates freed by armed assailants who tied up 20 people and used a hand grenade to blast an escape route through a wall.
Rios was often referred to as Mexico's "Public Enemy Number One" and is believed to be one of the country's most prolific armed robbers.
Stunned Californian neighbors and his pastor described him as a religious man who ran a small janitorial service. South Gate Pastor Melvin Acevedo said he was shocked to learn of Rios' identity.
"He was an example to all of us. He was a good member of the church. He was a good father. I am saddened for his family," Acevedo said by phone from the church.
The pastor said that the man he knew as Montoya sang during services and would often visit sick members of the church and reach out to those who stopped attending church.
Afghan Base Holds Tribute for Commandos (link)May God rest their souls...
By AMIR SHAH
BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) - Hundreds of U.S. troops gathered Wednesday at the main American military base in Afghanistan for an emotional tribute to 11 Navy SEAL commandos killed in recent fighting, honoring them as "the very best of the best."
Three of the 11 were members of a four-man special forces unit that disappeared on June 28 in mountains in eastern Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan. All are believed to have died in a firefight with militants on the day they disappeared. The fourth was rescued July 3.
The eight others killed were on a special forces helicopter shot down while trying to rescue the four. Also killed on the chopper were eight members of the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, a unit of elite Army helicopter crews that flies commandos behind enemy lines under cover of night.
"Our hearts are heavy with grief and the overwhelming sense of complete loss of our friends who were with us and then taken all at once," said Col. Pat Higgins, special forces commander in Afghanistan. "No words of mine can adequately express the sorrow we feel at the loss of so many." [Neither can our words, brothers. --ed.]
About 700 troops attended the service at Bagram air base, 30 miles north of the capital, Kabul. Standing in a row were photographs of the 11 men and 11 rifles.
Many troops cried as a slide projector flashed photos of the 11 on a screen - some showing the men standing and smiling with Afghan civilians or posing in front of a helicopter. The closing image was of a line of caskets draped in American flags in the back of a transport airplane.
"Each one of these men was a unique and gifted individual with hopes and dream and fears," Higgins said. "They came from different homes and different backgrounds. They came together to be part of an elite brotherhood of warriors to rise to the challenge of being the very best of the best. And they were the best of the best."
"They knew the danger they faced. They faced it anyway. Not one hesitated," he added. "We lost some who made a last stand against impossible odds. We lost others because they went in to rescue their friends."
Suicide Car Bomber Kills 18 Iraqi Kids (link)
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A suicide car bomb exploded next to U.S. troops handing out candy and toys, killing 18 children and teenagers Wednesday. Parents heard the shattering explosion and raced out to the discover the worst - children's mangled, bloodied bodies strewn on the street.
Up to 27 people were killed by the blast in the Shiite Muslim neighborhood, including an American soldier. At least 70 people were injured, a newborn and three U.S. soldiers among them.
Children's slippers lay piled near the blast crater not far from a crumbled child's bicycle as blood pooled in the street.
Twelve of the dead were 13 or younger and six were between 14 and 17, said police Lt. Mohammed Jassim Jabr. Among the wounded was 4-day-old Miriam Jabber, cut slightly by flying glass and debris.
"There were some American troops blocking the highway when a U.S. Humvee came near a gathering of children," said Karim Shukir, 42. The troops began handing out candy and smiley-face key chains.
"Suddenly, a speeding car bomb...struck both the Humvee and the children," Shukir said.
Janice G. Raymond of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women responds to Jennifer Block's article in the Summer/Autumn 2004 issue of Conscience, titled, "Why the Faith Trade Is Interested in the Sex Trade", with, "Sex Trafficking is Not 'Sex Work'".
While I am inclined to agree with Raymond's initial premise...
Prostitution is not “sex work;” it is violence against women. It exists because significant numbers of men are given social, moral and legal permission to buy women on demand. It exists because pimps and traffickers prey on women’s poverty and inequality. It exists because it is a last ditch survival strategy, not a choice, for millions of the world’s women....Block raises some interesting points, herself, including an accusation (albeit from a Mother Jones staff reporter) that International Justice Ministry operates like a "bull in a china shop" and has little regard for the aftermath of their "brothel raid" approach.
One of Block's issues with the current "faith-based" approach to the issue of sexual-trafficking is that they often view the reality of women (and children) living in this reality in rigid black-and-white terms (ie: the familiar "good vs. evil" and "us vs. them" dichotomies). She delves into the Bush (Christian/right, etc.) camp's pro-abstinence, pro-life (etc. etc. etc...) approach and appears to side with those anti-trafficking advocates who consider this view to be ultimatley detrimental to the victims, at best:
...[C]ritics see the Bush administration as shrewdly exploiting the exploitation of women to funnel millions more taxpayer dollars toward the already flush antiabortion, anticondom, anti-sex campaign being promoted, and increasingly exported, by the Christian right.She concludes by jumping onto the analogy train conducted by David Feingold (of UNESCO fame), likening the Bush approach to declaring yet another "war on something" (ie: drugs, poverty...etc.). IMHO, I think this train should slow it down before it goes across this bridge...
Finally, countering the so-called "black-and-white" perspective Block makes out to be the blanket view of "the right", Raymond fires back with a reality of cooperation across "idealogy and tactics," citing civil rights advocate, Bayard Rustin:
The issue is which coalition to join and how to make it responsive to your program…the difference between expediency and morality in politics is the difference between selling out a principle and making smaller concessions to win larger ones.Explore the argument yourselves.
Guess who?
MADRID (Reuters) - Four explosions struck near a power station in Spain's northern Basque country on Tuesday after a warning call in the name of Basque separatist guerrillas ETA, police said.Eh. I wouldn't exactly call ETA "guerrillas"... terrorists and separatists, yes, but "guerrillas"?State radio said there were no injuries.
A caller to a Basque newspaper had warned earlier that four bombs would explode near the power station at Amorebieta, in the Basque country, police said.
The warning, about half an hour before the explosions, gave police time to clear the area.
Eh.
Body of U.S. Commando Found in Afghanistan (link)Praise God his body was located so his family finally knows the truth of his whereabouts---and that his body was not descrecated by those wretched barbarians.
KABUL, Afghanistan - The body of a missing U.S. commando has been located in eastern Afghanistan, the military said Monday, bringing an end to the desperate search for the last member of an ill-fated, four-man special forces unit that disappeared last month. One of the four men was rescued on July 3; the other two were found dead the next day.The body of the fourth U.S. Navy SEAL was found Sunday in Kunar province by a search and rescue team, the military said in a statement. It said all indications are that he died in fighting, despite a claim by Mullah Latif Hakimi, a purported Taliban spokesman, that he was captured alive and beheaded.
"The location and disposition of the service member's remains indicate he died while fighting off enemy terrorists on or about June 28," the statement said.
U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts repeatedly denied Hakimi's claims.
"There have been claims of being dropped on a mountain wearing red clothes, there have been claims of being beheaded," he said. But "there was no indication supporting the claims. ... This individual was never in custody, he was never defamed or disgraced."
He said the injuries on the commando's body were consistent with "a firefight, a combat operation with smalls arms fire, RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) rounds."
Hakimi never offered proof to back up his claim that the rebels were holding the commando, or that they had killed him. Information from Hakimi in the past has sometimes proven exaggerated or untrue, and his exact tie to the Taliban leadership cannot be independently verified. [Seems like the Taliban have their own Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf. heh. --ed.]
The Navy SEAL team went missing after a special forces helicopter carrying reinforcements to a mountainous area in eastern Kunar province was shot down on June 28, killing all 16 Americans on board, the deadliest single attack on the U.S. military since the war here began in 2001.
Yonts said the commando's body was found near the chopper crash site in an area "that we had looked over before, but where his body was located was hard to find."
(link) LONDON - Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday expressed the nation's admiration, gratitude and respect for the generation that fought and won World War II, as thousands turned out on a glorious summer day to mark the 60th anniversary of the conflict's end.Cool. The queen served in the war, too? Whodathunk?The scenes of marching bands, flag-waving crowds and the royal family gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace betrayed no hint of a city still recovering from deadly terrorist bombings three days earlier.
The queen, who served in a military transport unit during the war, spoke at a luncheon for veterans at Horse Guards Parade in central London.
"At this special occasion I express on behalf of the nation our admiration, our respect and our thanks to you for what you gave all those years ago for the cause of freedom and our way of life, which we will continue to defend as you did," she said.
I am so glad it turned out to be a "glorious summer day" for the veterans--our brothers-in-arms. Lord knows, they deserved it, indeed.
Very cool.
The second WK? meme...this one from good ol' Donnah dearest:
1. Total volume of music files on my computer: In college (ahem. napster. ahem) I had .... prolly 2-3000 "music files"...now it's down to about 100 or so, maybe. (I kinda developed a "conscience").
2. Last CD I bought: A huge 2 CD-set compilation of Bing Crosby's work
3. Song Playing Right Now: Well the last song that I heard was AC/DC's Dirty Deeds
4. Five Songs (or Albums) I listen to a lot or that move me:
* August and Everything After -- Counting Crows
* 50 Number Ones -- George Strait
* At Newport -- Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday & Carmen McRae
* War All Time or Full Collapse -- Thursday
* Anything by Johnny Cash
5. Tag three others:
September 11 bell tolls for victims of London attacks (link)NEW YORK (AFP) - A bell presented to New York by the people of London after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack tolled here in memory of the victims of the bombings in the British capital.
\The five-foot high bell, housed in the grounds of the tiny St. Paul's Chapel next to Ground Zero, was rung four times, one for each of the bombs that reaped carnage in the London transport system on Thursday, killing at least 50 people.
The bell was presented to the people of New York as a gesture of solidarity on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
It carries the inscription: "To the greater glory of God and in recognition of the enduring links between the city of London and the city of New York. Forged in adversity."
Nice try. Really it was. Is that all that you have left? Since 9/11, I seem to have noticed the sigificance of your efforts falling off drastically, from Bali to Madrid to today. What's the matter, are we a little busy elsewhere?Yes, you are celebrating while watching the misery broadcast worldwide on the cable news networks, and you pronounce your victory over the infidel on the web.
But the book of History was being written long before your pedophile prophet slunk his way out of his hole in the sand to wreak havoc amongst the civilized world.
I'm no expert in the history of Great Britain, but I do know enough to say that your pathetic attempt today represents no more than a pinprick to the proud history of that nation. The legend of King Arthur was centuries old when Mohammed was but an infant.
It's time to face reality.
The explosives you used, you didn't invent. The internet you use to crow, you didn't invent. The bus and trains you blew up, you didn't invent. The printing presses you shut down in your home countries, you didn't invent.
You didn't build the AK-47s you fire into the air. You didn't build the planes you fly in. You didn't build the cars you ride in. Those jeans you're wearing? You didn't make those either.
Show me the three Islamic countries with the highest number of oil reserves, and I'll show you the three Western oil companies you had to hire to even get it out of the ground. You didn't even invent the tools that brought you your wealth.
You're so pathetic you even kill your own. A sure sign of desperation, such as when Hitler sent dissenting generals to near certain death on the Eastern Front.
You exploit the laws of the free societies, which you also did not invent, in order to kill. Yet, while you slaughter the unsuspecting on their way to work, the armies you shy away from butcher you on your home turf. That's right, while you kill the innocent in the name of Allah, your ummah, and the dream of the global Caliphate, shrink further on the map of the world.
So next time, show us what you really got. Build the planes, tanks, ships, and armies to show us just how badass you really are. Instead of hiding in the dark corners of the world, raise a military and invade the West, on equal terms. You've done it before, now try it again. Take back Andalusia, not by immigrating, do it the old fashioned way. Sail your mighty navy into the Strait of Gibraltar and take back what was rightfully yours. Oh, I'm sorry, you can't. You're incapable. Hell, you didn't even invent the suicide attack.
Keep showing who you are. Keep killing the innocent. You'll still lose.
Secretary Rumsfeld on the London bombings:
But if these terrorists thought they could intimidate the people of a great nation, they picked the wrong people and the wrong nation. For generations, tyrants, fascists, and terrorists have sought to carry out their violent designs upon the British people only to founder upon its unrelenting shores.Before long, I suspect that those responsible for these acts will encounter British steel. Their kind of steel has an uncommon strength. It does not bend or break.
Meanwhile, the British Conservative Party's reacts to the cowardly attacks:
Declaring the nation united and standing firm in its resolve to face down terrorism, Party Leader Michael Howard issued a statement which declared: "We express our deepest sympathy to the families and friends of those who have lost lives and those who have been injured. We express our thanks and admiration for the heroic work of the emergency services and we fully support the Prime Minister in what he has said about our determination to defend and to protect our way of life."Forgive me for seeming cynical, but let us hope that Mr. Davis' words hold true, and those sentiments of support do not fade with time....Speaking after Home Secretary Charles Clarke made a brief statement to MPs following the bombings on the Tube network and at least one bus in the capital, Mr Davis said: "A prime aim of terrorists is to demoralise and divide our communities. It is right that we should be angry at today's atrocities. It is no less essential that we remain clear-headed and united. We say to the terrorists: you will not succeed in setting us against one another."
...Mr Davis said: "This morning's explosions were acts of almost unspeakable depravity and wickedness - planned with the deliberate intention of taking innocent life. The whole House condemns them utterly. This is not just an attack on our capital city, but on our country as a whole. It goes without saying that the Government will have our full support in dealing with this assault upon our society. We stand ready with them to play our part."
I am in no way an authority on the dynamics of British partisan relations, so I am not in any way attempting to speak out of place by assuming the Conservative Party would do such a thing. Sadly, I am merely speaking from experience when the Liberals here in the States did just that... here's hoping the resolve of the UK's CP is stronger.
H/T: RightWingNews
"Tom Paine" of Silent Running stole my thoughts. I took 'em back and posted them here:
I find my reaction to this to be oddly calm. I don't know about you, but I think many of us have been living with the knowledge that there is one big war going on ever since September 11th. More attacks were inevitable. My rage was triggered years ago, and I feel no different watching London writhe under Islamist assault than I did seeing planes being steered into the World Trade Center.No images of the aftermath, no detailed diagrams of the bomb locations, no personal accounts from Londoners themselves.I was already mad as hell. This makes no difference. My only hope is that this may wake up a few more people to the reality of this war.
There's nothing to say that hasn't been said already before today.
The same leftist dhimmi naysayers will remain in their BusHitlerChimpJewsdidit mindset and will say our beloved allies the Brits got what they deserved.
Should we expect any less?
There is nothing left to say...
...it's now
time
to
wake
up
and
DO SOMETHING.
James Stockdale, Perot Running Mate, Dies (link)While most may remember him as just that, Perot's running mate 13 years ago, this is why you should know the name, James Stockdale:SAN DIEGO - Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, Ross Perot's 1992 presidential running mate who received the Medal of Honor after enduring 7 1/2 years in a North Vietnamese prison, died Tuesday. He was 81.
The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he had suffered from
Alzheimer's disease. He died at his home in Coronado.
During the Vietnam War, Stockdale was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the war, the Navy said.Thank you, Vice Admiral Stockdale, for your service to your country.Stockdale was taken to Hoa Lo Prison, known as the "Hanoi Hilton." His shoulders were wrenched from their sockets, his leg had been shattered by angry villagers and a torturer, and his back was broken. But he refused to capitulate.
Rather than allow himself to be used in a propaganda film, Stockdale smashed his face into a pulp with a mahogany stool.
"My only hope was to disfigure myself," Stockdale wrote in his 1984 autobiography "In Love and War." The ploy worked, but he spent the next two years in leg irons.
After Ho Chi Minh's death, he broke a glass pane in an interrogation room and slashed his wrists until he passed out in his own blood. After that, captors relented in their harsh treatment of him and his fellow prisoners.
Stockdale spent four years in solitary confinement before his release in 1973.
He received 26 combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for valor, in 1976. The citation reads, "By his heroic action at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country."
He retired from the military in 1979, one of the most highly decorated officers in U.S. Navy history, and became president of the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina.
Some interesting statistics from this MSNBC article on the ridiculous "epidemic" of Meth. use spreading across the country: Meth is top drug problem for most counties
- * 87 percent of agencies report increases in meth-related arrests starting three years ago. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming reported 100 percent increases.
- * 70 percent say robberies or burglaries have increased because of meth use.
- * 62 percent report increases in domestic violence because of meth use.
Crosses Removed From Berlin Memorial (link)Why??? Is there no where else in former East Berlin? Granted, I realize the significance of the memorial being adjacent to Checkpoint Charlie, but the memory of those who died can still be effectively remembered somewhere...could it not?
By PALMA BENCZENLEITNER, Associated Press WriterWorkers on Tuesday began removing a field of crosses at Berlin's former Checkpoint Charlie after a privately run museum lost a court battle to keep the memorial to people killed at the East German border during the Cold War.
Workers in blue overalls began unscrewing the 1,067 crosses after covering the plaques with the victims' names and carrying them away. [...and their memory along with them. --.ed]
"No, no, you have to listen to me," said museum director Alexandra Hildebrandt, imploring the court bailiff without effect as workers arrived at the site and began work.
Several hundred protesters jeered and whistled derisively in the rain at the former crossing point between East and West Berlin. "Remember, Don't Forget" read one sign. Several people shouted "Betrayers of the fatherland!"
Four men briefly chained themselves to crosses but unchained themselves after police spoke to them. "We unchained ourselves voluntarily because this is not supposed to escalate, but we feel a lot of anger," said Juergen Breitbarth.
The privately run museum had been given until Tuesday to raise $43 million to purchase the land where it erected the memorial in October. It didn't reach that goal.
The museum had been leasing the land from the Hamm-based BAG bank, but its agreement expired at the end of 2004, and a court ordered the memorial removed.
The memorial consisted of a rebuilt section of the Berlin Wall and heavy wooden crosses representing the museum's tally of the people killed at the East German border between 1961 and 1989. It sits on land that was formerly on the East German side of the checkpoint.
The adjacent Checkpoint Charlie museum — Berlin's second busiest with 700,000 visitors last year — is not in any jeopardy.
Named "Charlie" from the phonetic alphabet — checkpoints "Alpha" and "Bravo" were elsewhere in Berlin — the checkpoint was established by the U.S. Army in 1961 after East Germany closed its border. It was the main crossing where foreign tourists, diplomats and military personnel entered and left the Soviet sector of the divided city, with signs warning in large black letters: "You are leaving the American sector."
The land today is a high-rent downtown district, but because of the historical significance of the site the museum has ruled out erecting the memorial on cheaper land elsewhere.
It's still a shame.
God bless the men and women of our Armed Forces who are fighting so that we may continue to enjoy the sacred liberties that wered endowed to us by our Forefathers, and remain ours by the grace of the Lord, Himself.
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The signers of the Declaration represented the new states as follows:
New HampshireJosiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
MassachusettsJohn Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode IslandStephen Hopkins, William Ellery
ConnecticutRoger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New YorkWilliam Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New JerseyRichard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
PennsylvaniaRobert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
DelawareCaesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
MarylandSamuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
VirginiaGeorge Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North CarolinaWilliam Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South CarolinaEdward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
GeorgiaButton Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Missing US soldier found alive in Afghanistan: report (link)One member of a US special operations team missing in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan has been rescued, US television reported.
US military officials told thd CNN television that the rescued soldier managed to "evade the enemy" and has been successfully rescured by US forces.
CNN reported that there was no word on the fate of three other soldiers who were part of the same special forces reconnaissance team missing since suspected Taliban rebels shot down a US helicopter during an attempt to extract the team five days ago.
'Mother's Day' too offensive?
Campus administrator says newsletter reference must be 'Parent's Day'A pre-school in Maryland has lost at least one customer after a student's father working on the school's newsletter was told he must change a "Happy Mother's Day" greeting in the publication to "Happy Parent's Day."
David Becker of Kensington, Md., had a 3-year-old son at the Kensington Forest Glen Children's Center, which is overseen by the umbrella organization Montgomery Child Care Association.
"My wife and I have always been very involved with the school and with the teachers," Becker told WND.
The trouble began when Becker, while typing the newsletter, changed a hand-written greeting from "Happy Parent's Day!" to "Happy Mother's Day!" After submitting the final draft, a teacher contacted Becker and said the greeting would have to be changed back to "Happy Parent's Day!"
Becker says originally it was one of the teachers who talked to him about the issue. When he asked why, he says he was referred to an administrator.Becker said he was told: "We cannot say 'Mother's Day' because we might exclude someone."
"I was confused," Becker told WorldNetDaily. "Everybody has a mother. Not everyone has a mother who is alive, but everyone has a mother."
Becker then asked the administrator: "Who would we be offending on Mother's Day?"
The response: "What about families with two fathers?"
Becker then asked about Father's Day. He says he was told: "You can't say 'Father's Day' either."
Retorted Becker: "You are insulting all the parents – the mothers, the fathers, the two-mother families, the two-father families – you're insulting all of them."
The administrator responded, according to Becker: "That's our policy."
Becker says the Mother's Day incident was the "straw that broke the camel's back" and says he won't be sending his son back in the fall.
"I tell the school they can white-out my disrespectful words and my child's registration for the fall semester," Becker wrote in a Washington Post feature called "Life is Short, Autobiography as Haiku."
Wait for it...
Waaaaaiiiit for it.....
"Un-be-lieve-a-ble."
H/T: Mad Mikey