License Received

It being 96 degrees and a similar percentage of humidity, I figured today was as good a day as any to walk from the Chinatown Metro stop over to the Superior Court of DC on Indiana Avenue to pick up our marriage license.

And so... it is now in our apartment, good indefinitely. (I think I sweated off a couple pounds for it, which can't be too bad a thing.)

Last night we met with a wedding coordinator from the church at the Galleria at Tyson's Corner (big, indoor mall with a lot of high-line department stores). She said it sounded like our ideas for the ceremony were pretty straight forward.

Prior to all that we stopped at Tiffany & Co. to pick up the wedding bands.

Nine weeks to go.

Another Great Piece From Trodwell

Trodwell further unpacks his reasons for why he enjoys listening to GWB speak. He contrasts him with Reagan and then goes into a history of US political discourse. Very interesting reading.

He even captures the (Bill) Clinton experience very eloquently here:

And there have been some, e.g. Clinton, who have spoken well to explain pedestrian ideas, or to attempt to excuse their errors and misdeeds.

Read it all here, and not just because he sez I'm right. (And I'm happy to help. Keep up the good work.)

Indians Passed the Twins?

When did that happen? Granted, being a White Sox fan, it doesn't really matter to me which team is more than a dozen games behind, but I was a little surprised to see the Twins fade to third. (Sorry guys. Congratulations, Hugh.)

That'll probably be my last baseball entry for awhile.

New York Times Hits All-Time Low

From Drudge: The New York Times is going to pry into the adoption papers of Judge John Roberts's children. Limbaugh mentioned it as well.

I can't imagine what the drool-cases in the New York Times newsroom are hoping to find in these records. What could they possibly find that would be germane to Judge Roberts's confirmation hearing? I hope they are shut down, and shut down hard for it.

Do you get the New York Times? Are you disgusted yet? You can contact them here.

UPDATE (2005-08-05-0945 EDT): From Power Line:

Sources familiar with the matter told FOX News that at least one lawyer turned the Times down flat, saying that any effort to pry into adoption case records, which are always sealed, would be reprehensible.

The New York Times is now forced to fumble through a dictionary to look up the meaning of "reprehensible".

Michael Barone Enters the Blogosphere

As Hugh Hewitt pointed out, when a talent the likes of Michael Barone comes to the ballfield, how can it be anything but a good thing?

Michael Barone wrote on the 3rd about the GOP turn out in Ohio and how it should be a cause for worry among Republican leadership. I don't know about "worry" but there is something they can do, namely stop nominating so-called "moderates". Conservatives win.

A Canadian's View of GWB

Trodwell has penned an essay on Bush, on the occasion of his recess appointment of John Bolton as UN Ambassador. It's a good article and my only quibble was with "Bush is the first WYSIWYG President – what you see is truly what you get." Actually I believe George W. Bush to be the second in my lifetime, the first being Ronald Reagan. They didn't call him the Great Communicator for nothing.

Read it all here.

UPDATE: (2005-08-05-0913 EDT) Greets to all ye readers of Right Thinking People.

LOML: science geek

And I say that, of course, in a loving way. (Who are you to talk?--Ed.) Today she discovered a site selling microbes. No, not actual microbes... stuffed, plush toy microbes, millions of times actual size.

Yes, you too can be the owner of a giant giardia, or a yeast spore, or something nastier like one of these:


Note the little knife and fork on the flesh-eating streptococcus. I wasn't able to find a gonnorrhea to see if it, in fact, has little clapping hands. Click the pic for a bigger view and if you should want to catch an Ebola without fear.

Meanwhile...

Michael Yon and Jack Kelly report the death of a fellow journalist in Iraq.

...in Ohio a Republican remains in the seat vacated by Rob Portman. The Democrat candidate made a strong showing, however, losing by only 4 points. People will be looking at that for a week or so, and I'm sure the DNC will be claiming a moral victory and momentum for 2006 and 2008. It's nonsense, considering the fundamental dishonesty of the Democrat's campaign ads. That a man who called GWB an SOB would open his advertisement with the words of GWB and then the candidate saying that he agrees is a bit disingenuous. Oh... and the ads didn't even mention that he was a Democrat. So if the Ansar al-Donkey wants to claim that as a bellweather, they will be running ashamed of their party affiliation in 2006 and 2008 and narrowly losing.

...Air America Radio is still going with their statement that they love the Boys and Girls Clubs and that the decision has been made 'months ago' to reimburse the Gloria Wise club for the transaction. (Even if '[t]he current owners of Air America Radio [Piquant LLC] have no obligation to Progress Media's business activities.') Touching. Just send the check. Or do it in installments. Just give those kids the activities they need.
(As I've written elsewhere, I fully admit to schadenfreud as I watch a bunch of Lefties fend off a "You want to put poor kids out on the street!" type of attack... the very sort of attack they've leveled at Republicans for decades.)

Air America Radio and the Agreement "Months Ago"

If Air America Radio had agreed to return the ~$480,000 of tax payers' money intended for a Bronx Boys and Girls Club, as has been stated by them, when do they actually plan to... you know... follow through and return the money?

In a comment by erp over at Brian Maloney's Radio Equalizer it was asked whether the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club had gone under. It being Sunday morning I'm not going to blow a call in, but their website is still up and running here.

If you wish to donate to help make up that $480,000.00 used to help Air America Radio instead, click here and tell 'em the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy sent ya.

UPDATE: Greetings, Radio Equalizer readers. See anything you disagree with? Feel free to comment. I want the record straight, even as the statements from Air America Radio tend to shift.

UPDATE II: August 1 - They do answer the phone as the "Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club". I'm left to wonder about AAR's statement "A link on our web site sent those interested in contributing to the camp to the Gloria Wise web site. Regrettably, the camp did not survive the closure of the Gloria Wise organization." [source] Indeed, as pointed out in the Newsmax article, the Camp Air America Experience is still there on the GloriaWise.org site. And Gloria Wise.org is soliciting donations for it by phone, mail, or most prominently, PayPal. Here's the menu:

* $35 – Sponsor a morning hike in the camp’s 5000 acre park that helps 15 kids learn more about the world around them
* $75 – Sponsor an afternoon of fun-filled activities at camp that help 30 kids discover new skills and interest[sic]
* $150 – Sponsor a lifeguard for a day of waterfront activities for 50 kids, including swimming and canoeing
* $350 – Sponsor a life week at camp that builds self-esteem and self-confidence for one child
* $750 - Sponsor a life changing week at camp for two children of the same family

Why doesn't Air America Radio just cut them a check for the $480,000.00 as they agreed 'months ago'? That would sponsor

* 640 pairs of kids for 2 weeks at a time
* 'life weeks' for more than 1300 kids
* A lifeguard for 50 kids for 3200 days
* 6400 afternoons of fun for 30 kids per session
* More than 13,000 morning hikes for groups of 15 kids at a time
(but see below...)

Then again, maybe they just see the "Air America" name being worth that much. Ask 30 kids if they've heard of it; with their ratings, I can't imagine you'll get much reaction.

UPDATE III - Is it possible that Air America Radio's holding company doesn't have the cash to make the payment? That would be the simplest answer.

UPDATE IV - The New York Sun has found that, in fact, AAR has promised over $800,000.00 to the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club. Multiply all of the above activities by 1 and 2/3. C'mon Air America Radio! Make the kids' day! (via Michelle Malkin)

Over There

No, not the TV show. The real deal. Check out Michael Yon, who I had been remiss in adding to the blogroll until today. (I should probably take my whole Bookmarks folder over to Blogrolling and be done with it, eh?) Michael is embedded with the US Army's 1-24th Infantry Regiment, otherwise known as "Deuce-Four".

While some decry the "Law Enforcement Model" as a throwback to Clintonian weakness, there is an element of law enforcement investigation in the way our troops are operating. Michael's most recent dispatch describes the chain-reaction of events from bust to bust: Foreign jihadist gets caught --> Foreign jihadist blabs to everyone who will listen --> some kernel of information leads to the next series of busts. The fan out is what is keeping the increasingly effective Iraqi police ahead of the terrorists, insurgents and assorted criminal element at work in the new Iraq.

Read Empty Jars and then hit his PayPal tip jar.

Air America Gets Funds - Women and Children Hardest Hit

Funds came into Progress Media from the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club. The funds should have been used for activities for kids. Instead they went to fund a superfluous radio network.

AAR sez that Progress Media was defunct as of 2004 and that the head of that organization, Evan Cohen hasn't had any contact with Air America (shouldn't it be Air Amerikkka using wacky lefty spelling?) since May 2004. So don't blame the current managers of the network, 'kay?

Brian Maloney's got a great fisking of Air America Radio's latest statement on this over at Radio Equalizer.


(Hat tips: Michelle Malkin and Power Line)

Incidentally Air Amerikkka Radio is back on the air in Chicago. Sort of. They have a 2500 Watt transmitter in Crystal Lake. Not sure too many people in Chicago can actually hear that. But I can when I'm home and the sun is up. They go to bed at sundown. (source) I really thought they'd fold after November 2004.

New location, look at the Cotillion

The Cotillion is over at MuNu now (see the updated link to your right). It also has a hot new look courtesy of a logo by Shano.

This week, I especially dig their tribute to Sweet's Ballroom Blitz here. Oh yeah!

License Applied For

Around Illinois--and probably a lot of other states, too--you often see new cars rolling down the highway without plates, but with a "License Applied For" sticker in the back window.

Well, yesterday LOML and I went down to the DC courthouse and put in for a marriage license. After a 5 Day Waiting Period, we'll have the license in hand.

They didn't give us one of those stickers, though.

Van Gogh Killer Wants Death, 'Martyrdom'

Picked this tidbit up at the Potbelly Stove.

[Theo Van Gogh's killer] has two weeks to lodge an appeal but has said he hoped to receive the maximum punishment, preferably death, in his quest for martyrdom.

To which, hbl asks "Martyrdom. And for what? Who is deceiving these people?"

Well, there are a lot of factors, but I'm convinved it comes out of the madrassa system, particularly the ones funded by Saudi Arabia. Imams urging the faithful to take the jihad concept and apply it to literal war. What's waiting at the other end for the shaheed? 72 virgins.

For a culture that is sexually repressed beyond belief, that has to be a pretty potent enticement.

She "Regretted" the Anti-Aircraft Photo...

...but did Jane Fonda learn anything?

Now she's on about the Iraq theater of the War on Islamofascism. She'll be traveling around on a bus in opposition to the war. And she'll just happen to be hawking her book.

No word if she and her famous votin' vagina will be accompanied by a husband or male relative during the trip. After all if the Islamist's were to get their way, her life would depend on it.

(Hat tip: La Shawn Barber, who's collecting a lot of other bloggers' takes on it)

Never Too Early to Think 2008

Patrick Ruffini's got a straw poll of his own right now. There are 5 candidates listed. The commentary is interesting as well, as various people wonder about various candidates not on the list, such as Tancredo and Newt.

Here's the link (via Hugh Hewitt. Hugh's got a nice new look, too.)

Booga-dog online

There's a pic of Booga-dog (aka Wendy) over at the Potbelly Stove. Thanks to them for watching her while I'm in Maryland.

Australian PM John Howard's Remarks from London

Hugh Hewitt has posted John Howard's remarks.

Here are some choice bits:

Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq? And can I remind you that the 11th of September occured before the operation in Iraq? Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor? Are people by implication suggesting that we shouldn't have done that? When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan? When Sergio DeMillo was murdered in Iraq, a brave man, a distinguished international diplmat, immensely respected for his work in the United Nations, when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that DeMillo had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations adminsitrator in East Timor.

His delivery was measured and calm. I don't know how he does it, but then that's why I'm an engineer and not an elected official, I guess.

Here's the rest of it.

Carol Platt Liebau Invites Ann Coulter to Knock it Off

"Moreover, as a strategic matter, it's a real mistake to attack Roberts from the right. What's the point -- to force the Administration to hand out conservative red meat, which may satisfy Ann Coulter, but at the same time hands Kennedy/Leahy/Durbin more targets to hone in on?"

So writes Carol Platt Liebau. It's a good point among others. Read it here.

John Roberts

By now everyone in America, as well as anyone else who reads American blogs, knows that GWB has tapped John Roberts to be his nominee to the Supreme Court. Judge Roberts, 50, currently sits on the DC Court of Appeals. Prior to that he was one of the most successful litigators in front of the Supreme Court. The majority agreed with him quite often, and Sandra Day O'Connor was part of that majority more often than not. That will make it difficult to argue that he is out of step with the court and with Justice O'Connor's positions. He's also said to be a great guy with a disarming personality, but that won't stop the Democrats from trying to slime him as the very death of Western civilization.

If you are going to be living on the edge of your seat for the next few months, worrying about the fate of Roe v. Wade, ask yourself these questions: Why are you worried? Do you have a sense of the Constitutional basis on which it should be overturned?

Even if Roe were overturned, abortion clinics nationwide wouldn't be bulldozed overnight. It would become a matter for the states to decide. If you would rather live in a state that allows it, get up and move! A good 80% of life's barriers are self-imposed.

See also: Hugh's writeup following his 6-hour show yesterday. Hugh worked with John Roberts back in the Reagan administration.

Also Beldar's blog, and Power Line.

Facts About Maryland: What the heck is King's Contrivance?

So I'm moving to Maryland. Part of that process has been looking for a new job, and one possibility is located in the city of Columbia, which is not too far from BWI.

While going to the airport one night to pick up a friend of ours, LOML spotted a sign for "King's Contrivance". I didn't have time to stop in and find out just what that was, and for awhile I forgot about it.

(It turned out, too, that the job opportunity I was looking at in Columbia fell through due to a casualty of some government agency's budget priorities. Oh well.)

For whatever reason, though, I happened to think of it and this is what I found:

King's Contrivance takes its name from the restaurant of that name opened in 1962 in the converted boyhood home of Judge James Macgill, descendant of Reverend James Macgill, the first reverend of Christ Church.

The 370-acre farm on which King's Contrivance is located was granted by one of the Lords Baltimore in 1730 to the Reverend James Macgill who was among the first Episcopal ministers appointed to the Province of Maryland. It remained in the Macgill family until 1961, a total of 230 years.

So there ya go. It's a village in or near Columbia in Howard County, Maryland. And it's named for a restaurant.

SCOTUS Derby

Here's a name I don't remember reading before. And I thought I was paying attention...

From a ConfirmThem story on Priscilla Owen:

"...Joy Clement remains VERY much in the running, or at least was in the running still late last week. The president personally has asked top Louisiana politicians about Clement, supposedly, and his college roommate is a big booster of hers, supposedly."

Louisiana, eh? Perhaps they'd be looking at way to ensure that Mary Landrieu of 'Gang of 14' fame votes for cloture against a filibuster.

She's from the 5th Circuit, where Priscilla Owen is on the bench now, and to which Charles Pickering had also been nominated. She was confirmed in November 2001 in a 99-0 vote of the Senate whereas the other two had been blocked. (source: Left-wing 'Independant Judiciary')

Her specialty appears to be maritime law, as is cited all over the place. I don't see the Dems getting too worked up over that, at least not without great effort.

She'd be about as moderate a pick as we're likely to see GWB make. I'm hoping, though, that whatever his decision is, he won't have made it based on a race- or sex-based calculus.

The Low Road to the Senate: Pennsylvania Style

Remember when that stiff, John Kerry, gratuitously mentioned that Dick Cheney's daughter is a lesbian during the debates? It was widely believed that it was an attempt--and an exceedingly lame attempt, at that--to drive a wedge between the Bush-Cheney ticket and religious conservatives.

It didn't work then, and it shouldn't work in Pennsylvania, either, where the Philadelphia Inquirer has announced that one of Rick Santorum's top aides has been outed on a gay website. (Hat tip: K-Lo at the Corner)

Considering the heat Santorum has taken in the past over his personal beliefs about gay sex, I suppose the Inquirer felt they could get that fire ignited once more. I'm guessing that sites that are left-wing and gay (as opposed to, say, GayPatriot.org, who is not Left wing) are going to be left scratching their heads over this one. (Andrew Sullivan is mum as of this writing.)

The solution to the conundrum is simple: Santorum may not endorse gay sex--may in fact find it "icky"--but that doesn't mean he has to have a problem with gay people.

I wonder if anyone will get that... at least on the Left.

CBS Announces... a Website!

CBS has announced the launch of a 24-hour focused web presence called CBSNews.com.

It is going to feature all the great digital gewgaws you would expect like news clips on demand and even a blog. From Adrants.com: "a blog to be called "Public Eye" designed to provide greater openness and transparency into the newsgathering process."

This has been my favorite quote so far (from USA Today):

"We're talking about having the A-team produce for the Web," says CBS Digital Media president Larry Kramer.

Does this mean that it will be something like The Corner, but with Mr. T, George Peppard, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz instead? "I pity, K-Lo!"

Scorched

Went to the ballgame yesterday with my coworkers. It was a day game and thanks to our position in the right field bleachers, I managed to bring home a nasty sunburn. This is the worst I've had since Brazil in 1997 when the tops of my ears got all blistery.

Thankfully there's nothing like that this time.

Anyone got a good home remedy?

Plame Name Blame Game... part 341,503

The hope is palpable. The hope, that is, that Democrats can pin something actionable on Karl "The Architect" Rove. (Sidebar: did you notice he resembles Rush Limbaugh?)

Will it work? Nope, but the Dems are going to huff, and puff and look generally silly in the process. Jack Kelly has a good round up of the coverage and also coverage of the coverage. Today he follows up with an invaluable timeline of events.

Newsmax is reporting that Karl Rove is NOT the target of Federal Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation. (Hat tip: Rantburg)

Interesting. Now given that Karl Rove is legally free to discuss his actions, including his own GJ testimony, he's not talking. The stated reason being that Fitzgerald specifically asked him not to. Could be part of a massive "Rope-A-Dope" as Rush likes to say.

So who is Fitzgerald looking for? Obviously the prosecutor isn't saying, so we are left to opine. According to John Podhoretz writing yesterday on the Corner, it could be none other than Judith Miller of the New York Times. Yes, the Judith Miller who is in jail right now for not giving up her source.

And to top it off, Powerline has a piece on a NYT editorial on the affair called "Is Hypocrisy Still Considered A Vice?" In it they note a pretty huge "outing" of CIA operatives... committed by the NYT itself.

The BBC and 'scare quotes'

The BBC has a way with words. Not so much using the words themselves, but by setting them apart with single quote marks. Like 'this'. As if the thing called within the quotes is something they would never deign to say. Only a fool would call it that.

I was browsing Rantburg this morning and came upon the headline "'Bomb' found in Dutch boy's room"

Here's what I wrote as a comment:

Love Auntie Beeb's scare quotes: 'Bomb'

The office said in a statement that the device consisted of a tube filled with gun powder, small bullets and a detonation mechanism.

Okay, I give up. What is that? What would be a better, BBC-approved word for that? 'Amusement'? If it had been found outside of the Beeb's bureau, something tells me they would recognize it as a device intended to destroy their property and kill as many people standing nearby as possible.

But I'm still having a hard time coming up with the right word for that. Any help?

The comments are trickling in after. I especially like dot-com's answer to my query.

Divisive Elections Defined

Aaron over at Lifelike Pundits has a nice post up describing Chuck Schumer's column for the NY Daily News. From Schumer's bleating, he has inferred that a divisive election is... any election where the Democrat loses. Even Reagan's 1980 triumph.

Take a look at Aaron's post here. Good stuff.

(Hat tip: Confirm Them)

Dr. Demarche Writes to the G8 Reps

Dr. Demarche over at the Daily Demarche has written a letter to the G-8 reps. In it he calls for the kind of help the nations of Africa really needs:

The first step will be the hardest- the establishment of rule of law and the basic infrastructure of a stable, self-perpetuating economy. Micro loans, trade partnerships and co-ops allow local populations to have some say in their own economic recovery.

It doesn't go as far as Hernando De Soto's suggestions, but I guess it is a start. Read the whole letter here.

See also: this post from April 26, especially including the link to Ronald Bailey's article at Reason.

Ruffini to GOP: Quit Yer Whining and Fight!

Patrick Ruffini outlines a campaign-style communications strategy for the President's nominees. He notes that since fully 86% of people polled believe that Democrats will oppose the President's nominees for reasons previously considered taboo, there is no sense continuing as we have been:

Complaining about ideological opposition to a nominee is about as effective as whining about your opponent running a negative campaign.

He goes on to outline how the GOP should communicate in kind, exposing the Left-wing social agenda that drives the Senate Democrats and contrasting that with an "anti-agenda".

Well worth reading the whole thing.

(via Confirm Them)

London

The best comment I've read so far with respect to this morning's attack on London has been on Rantburg:

What makes al Q think they can achieve with a handful of suicidal primitives what the combined strength of the Luftwaffe failed to do sixty five years ago? Morons.

You said it, Bulldog.

Michelle Malkin's got a number of posts up already.

The "Nuke Mecca Now" crowd is warming up, too. That's an option I think needs to be saved for later. Air strikes on Damascus... that has some appeal.

UPDATE: The Corner passes on an email from another Londoner sitting in his office: "Is this the best they can do?"

UPDATE II: Hugh Hewitt has posted a series of links with chronology, as well as an excerpt from Belmont Club.

UPDATE III: Does this make Chuck Schumer's comment about "going to war" over a Supreme Court nomination sound... small?

UPDATE IV: Irish Pennants weighs in with a brief tribute to England.

UPDATE V: CAIR has come up with a statement.

UPDATE VI:

"We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...

-- Winston Churchill (Hear it at the BBC History Site -- requires Real Player)

That's the spirit of Britain that we all hope comes to fore now that violent jihad has come to the heart of London. God save the Queen.

Update VII: (via Hugh) Mark Steyn's piece on the choice before the UK, as it was before Spain.

Blogosphere Synthesis - July 6

Before logging into work, I decided to tool around the blogosphere.

Michelle wonders about O'Connor's replacement overturning Roe v. Wade here.

Over at Right Thinking People, Trodwell notes that PMPM appears set to

speak "forcefully" to Bush at the G8 to convince him of the scientific evidence that the world is getting warmer and that manmade sources are the cause.

"Obviously, accepting the validity of the science is the first step toward dealing with the issue," he said Tuesday during a visit to Ireland.

"I intend to make the point and I'll make the point very forcefully in terms of the science."

Ah... a man of science, that Paul Martin. He ignores the body of evidence--all equally scientific, if you will--that suggests that even if the world's climate is changing, there is nothing we could do about it.

Which brings us to Roe v. Wade. Robert P. George argues from a scientific basis that a new, genetically distinct life is created at conception. That this aligns with a religious position is well and good, but not necessary to the argument.

However in Roe v. Wade, the majority (7) held that

[The State] has legitimate interests in protecting both the pregnant woman's health and the potentiality of human life, each of which interests grows and reaches a "compelling" point at various stages of the woman's approach to term.

(quotes are indeed in the decision)

No science involved there. They postulated some sort of arbitrary changes in the nature of the developing baby (the "potentiality of human life" in their terms), but didn't specify really what they were.

From this I gather that the liberal view is that science is a wonderful thing when it supports your position--and especially great when it allows for a little bashing of the United States--but it can be safely disregarded when it is inconvenient to your position.

Plame Name Blame Game... part 341,502

A surprising entrant in the "Who outed Valerie Plame?" game: Vanity Fair.

One could argue that the horse was already out of the barn, but here's a post (via Michelle) with a picture of the elusive, exceedingly private, and socially low-key Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame.

Nice looking woman. He certainly married up. (Then again, don't we all?)

I wonder if they got to meet Sean Combs in person at the event? I mean, that would have to be a major thrill for a couple of privacy-loving, socially low-key people like them, yeah?

(See also: Irish Pennants for a recap of the Plame Name Blame Game, particularly the wishful thinking that somehow Karl Rove is responsible.)

(Now continued above and also here.

A Very Good Reason to Not Choose Alberto Gonzales to SCOTUS

Bench Memos picks up on a WashingPost article describing 3 high profile cases that would obligate would-be justice Alberto Gonzales should they come before a court that has him as a member. They involve doctor-assisted suicide, parental notification of an abortion and the military's ability to recruit on public university campuses.

Should GWB go with Gonzales as his pick, I'd really have to wonder where his head is on those three issues.

I'm pretty sure he's not going to go with conventional wisdom... at least that 'wisdom' touted in Big Media.

(WashingPost article)
(Hat tip: Bench Memos)

Turning on Each Other in Iraq

Iraqi factions are battling the al-Qaeda contingent led ostensibly by Musab al-Zarqawi. The locals are apparently not pleased about the killing of local leaders and al-Qaeda's desire for a strict Islamic code.

There's definite hope there that Iraq won't turn into another Islamic state.
(Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)
(See also: This post on al-Qaeda in Iraq at least as early as 2002.)

L-l-l-l-l-l-let's get ready to rumbl-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-e!

Sandra Day O'Connor has announced her retirement, effective upon the confirmation of her successor.

The President is expected to make an announcement soon.

Confirm Them and Bench Memos become daily reads.

Update: Not today with respect to Bench Memos, though. Their last thought before apparently going on vacation was "Go ahead and take the day off", intimating that the Chief Justice was not going to announce a retirement.

They were right, but they forgot about Sandra Day O'Connor...

al-Qaeda and Iraq

Among the multitude of 'whereases' in Senate Joint Resolution 46 of October 2002, was this:

Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;

The sponsors of this resolution were Joe Lieberman (D-CT), with 16 cosponsors, among them John McCain and John "Silky Pony" Edwards of North Carolina. They purported to know that al-Qaeda was there more than 3 years ago.

Why all the pissiness now regarding the events of September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda and Iraq being all part of a world-wide war?

For the record, here were the people who voted against the bill in the Senate:
Akaka (D-HI), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Byrd (D-WV), Chafee (R(?)-RI), Conrad (D-ND), Corzine (D-NJ), Dayton (D-MN), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Graham (D-FL), Inouye (D-HI), Jeffords (I-VT), Kennedy (D-MA), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Reed (D-RI), Sarbanes (D-MD), Stabenow (D-MI), Wellstone (D-MN), Wyden (D-OR).
(source: the Daily Kos Encylcopedia, entry on the Iraq War Resolution)
A pretty Left-leaning group. But you know? I don't see Harry Reid's (D-NV) in there.

That's because he voted for it. (No one abstained in the 77-23 Senate vote.) Will the Minority Leader claim that he didn't really believe the part about al-Qaeda in Iraq and therefore had his fingers crossed behind his back? That he didn't read the resolution carefully?

"Let's start with ... his house!"

SCOTUS ruled that local governments can use eminent domain to take away a person's property, even to give over to ANOTHER private concern to build over. The local government need only look at a potential for greater revenue from the new property than they had for the old.

Needless to say, this is upsetting.

One man has proposed that we start with Justice Souter's house:

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

It does indeed get better. Go have a look.

Tsunami Hope Chest: SOLD!

It looks like the high bid was accepted for the Tsunami Hope Chest after all, even though it was short of the reserve price.

Here's the thread over at the WWA. Apparently someone who posts there bought it after all!

An open question lingers from earlier: "What color do you s'pose they'll paint it?"
yes... that's a joke

More Than One Way for a Vacancy to Appear on the Supreme Court

A sobering possibility was raised in the comment section of this post over at ConfirmThem.

Commenter "Gray Temples" wrote:

it is possible the CJ is terminal and has been told he has ____ days/weeks to live…..and, now that we are in recess, he will not resume his spot on the bench before his death...

That could explain why there was no announcement of a resignation as well as any other theory.

A Question on the Occasion of SCOTUS's Ten Commandments Decisions Today

SCOTUS has now gotten into the art criticism business.

The Kentucky display featuring the Ten Commandments is just a little too... I dunno... fundamentalist for our tastes. This one... this one from Texas. Now that's good stuff!

Apparently context is the key to having an allowable visual representation of the Ten Commandments.

So here's the question that I take from their two decisions today:

How many non-Judeo-Christian elements must be part of a public building's installation to sufficiently dilute the impact of the Ten Commandments?

Something tells me the answer will be highly variable, not unlike the famous porn definition. If that is the case, has SCOTUS now set themselves up to examine every public building in America, allowing one display, but throwing out another?

Negotiating with Terrorists?

The Sunday shows were abuzz with talk that the US had had "secret talks" with the "insurgents" in Iraq. Rumsfeld said that in fact there had been many more than the two that his interviewer had confronted him with.

Why would something like this come to light? Why would the administration admit it?

Perhaps to illustrate the similarity between the enemies of freedom and certain elements of the United States Congress. Specifically: a demand for a firm timetable for US withdrawal from Iraq. (See Also: Chester)

The administration brings it out thinking that the political hay that could be made comparing the defeatists at home with the terrorists in Iraq would be greater than could be made over "negotiating with terrorists"? Possible. Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin and Ted Kennedy as heads of the Ansar al-Donkey fighting against us in the war from right here in Washington, D.C.? An interesting image.

Stem Cell Discovery

The Stones Cry Out has a story on stem cells--adult stem cells. In a nutshell they have the same ability to multiply as embryonic stem cells--and that has been hailed as a significant reason why embryonic stem cells need to be used.

If adult stem cells multiply just as well, differentiate just as well and can be obtained without killing anyone--something that cannot honestly be said about embryonic stem cells--why wouldn't we just use adult stem cells?

Space Invaded by a Female Revisited

Don't shed too many tears for the supposedly 'devout' Muslims in Guantanamo Bay having their space invaded by women.

It didn't bother the 9/11 hijackers when they visited Olympic Garden Topless Cabaret in Las Vegas. Why should it bother these 'paragons' of Islam?

Morning Reading

Interesting thread brewing over at Jack Kelly's Irish Pennants about potential Presidential matchups in 2008. According to Zogby McCain stomps either Hillary Clinton or John Kerry.

As I commented over there, it will be a long time before I believe Zogby with respect to Presidential polling.

Meanwhile, Carol Platt Liebau has posted what the Left said in the aftermath of 9/11/2001 apropos of Karl Rove's remarks at the Conservative Party of New York the other night:

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."

Patrick Ruffini's got a list, too. Check out Shifting the Goal Posts, especially the comments section where liberals get all defensive-like.

Tsunami Hope Chest: Updated Press Release

Here's the latest press release from the keyboard of Tampa Tom Iovino:

For Immediate Release: June 21, 2005
Media Contact: Tom Iovino, Publicity Manager
WWA_Publicity@yahoo.com
Woodworker's Website Association www.woodworking.org

Tsunami Hope Chest Proceeds to Help Survivors Rebuild

December 26, 2004 will long be remembered as one of the most tragic days in the World’s history. A massive undersea earthquake spawned a tsunami of epic proportions which ended nearly 200,000 lives in the nations surrounding the Indian Ocean.

And, while stories such as the death of Pope John Paul II, rising oil prices and the re-election of British Prime Minister Tony Blair have replaced tsunami news on world headlines, millions still struggle every day to rebuild their communities, families and their very lives.

To assist with this effort as we approach the six-month anniversary of this tragedy, the Woodworker’s Website Association’s (WWA) is teaming up with the Mercy Corps’ tsunami relief efforts ( http://www.mercycorps.org/items/2288/ ) to bring relief to those who need it most.

An exquisite handcrafted chest, built by Dave Shaw of Australian Wood Art ( www.australianwoodart.com ) is now available to bid on at eBay.com, and will continue through Sunday, June 26 – the six-month anniversary of the tragedy. WWA members donated nearly $3,000 to purchase exotic woods and supplies. The fine workmanship and creative development of this beautifully crafted piece can be seen in a series of photographs posted on the Internet at http://www.australianwoodart.com/tsunami.htm .

For auction previews and bidding, the chest may be seen at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5401393185 . All proceeds will be donated to assist the Mercy Corps’ relief fund in the tsunami-affected areas.

The WWA, a worldwide association of woodworkers, was established in 1997, and currently has nearly 5,000 registered members. The site features an interactive discussion forum, an expansive tool accident survey, tool reviews, numerous articles written by members and many other useful links to other woodworking sites. The site does not accept advertising from outside corporations, and is funded solely through membership fees. Notable members include the late woodworking author Danny Proulx, John Lucas of woodshopdemos.com and Tom Hintz, Webmaster of newwoodworker.com. For more information on the WWA, visit http://www.woodworking.org .

Editor’s Note: Photos available digitally upon request

Durbin Apologizes. More or less.

Here's the link to Durbin's statement on his site.

I'm still not buying the "sorry if you were offended" rhetoric. That's not an apology.

Oh, and his schedule's pretty tight, so he won't be joinging me for an afternoon at the Holocaust Museum.

Not So Christian After All

World Magazine has a short article online called "A Nation of Deists." According to social science researchers at the University of North Carolina, it isn't just 'deism' it is "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

The summation of the researchers' findings is as follows:

(1) "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth."
(2) "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions."
(3) "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself."
(4) "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem."
(5) "Good people go to heaven when they die."

Where are they getting this? What are all these Church-going kids actually learning? Read the article.

Going to Washington

I'll be heading out for Washington, D.C., in a few days. I thought I'd ask my senior Senator if has time for a tour of the Holocaust Museum with me. It does require a timed-entry pass, but I'm willing to work around the Senator's schedule.

His Washington office number is busy and his Chicago office won't open for another 10 minutes or so.

We'll see what the staff says.

Happy Midsummer!

Throughout Scandinavia, Midsummer is the most popular festival this side of Christmas. Last night was Mid Summer Eve or Jonsok ([St.] John's Wake) in Norway, Sankt Hans aften (St. John's Eve) in Denmark.

Here's a nice one-page summary.

The Coalition of the Willing in Pictures

Chrenkoff has photos of the Coalition of the Willing. Along with the photos (nations in alphabetical order) there are some inspiring stories such as this one under the photo of the Salvadoran contingent:

One of his friends was dead, 12 others lay wounded and the four soldiers still left standing were surrounded and out of ammunition. So Salvadoran Cpl. Samuel Toloza said a prayer, whipped out his knife and charged the Iraqi gunmen. In one of the only known instances of hand-to-hand combat in the Iraq conflict, Cpl. Toloza stabbed several attackers swarming around a comrade. The stunned assailants backed away momentarily, just as a relief column came to the unit's rescue.

There's a lot more. Check it out!

(via the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler)

Chester has a few suggestions for Bush's June 28th Address

For the first anniversary of the return of sovereignty to the people of Iraq, GWB has planned a major address. Chester has some good points from the history of warfare and some suggestions for how to follow up and educate the American people.

(See also: This post from last Friday.)

Vietnam War Hero Killed; Killer About to Be Set Free

Colonel James Rowe had been a POW in Viet Nam during the war, and was scheduled to be killed. Why was he about to be killed? Because his identity as an American Special Forces officer was given to the Viet Cong. And who gave it to them?

The anti-war Left:

Acting on a request from the North Vietnamese, students in a so-called anti-war organization in the United States researched public records and formulated biographies on Americans captured in Vietnam. After reading Lt. Rowe's biography, his Viet Cong captors became furious. They marched him into a cramped bamboo hut and forced him to sit on the damp clay floor. Several high ranking Viet Cong officials were staring down at Lt. Rowe. They held out a piece of typed onion skin paper.

"The peace and justice loving friends, of the National Liberation Front, who live in America, have provided us with information which leads us to believe you have lied to us," they informed Lt. Rowe. "According to what we know, you are not an engineer . . . you have much military experience which you deny . . . You were an officer of the American Special Forces."

He managed to escape that time, only to be shot dead in 1989 in a Quezon City traffic circle by members of a radical organization known as NPA.

One of those men was tried and convicted. His sentence is over in less than two weeks. Read the whole thing.

Thanks, Wretchard, for sharing the story of Col. Rowe, as well as for reminding us how the acts of the anti-war Left were used by the enemies of this nation.

Torture Center Discovered in Western Iraq

Powerline has a little article up about a torture center that our Marines found in western Iraq. John Hinderaker asks the question:

"What do you think; do you suppose we need a lot more news stories about how a guard at Gitmo accidentally touched a Koran?"

I think not, but a story like this is only going to stoke the Left's fire a little hotter. "See?!" they will shriek, "They saw the pictures from Abu Ghraib and now they're doing it to Iraqis!"

To which I would answer: "I think the people doing this in Iraq already knew how." Or I could point not to Abu Grabass photos, but to a movie called "Three Kings" wherein a US service man was captured and tortured by Iraqis during the 1991 Gulf War. Looks more similar to that, based on the article's description.

By the way, aren't these "insurgents" the guys that Mike al-Moore called 'The Minutemen'? When I was in school, I never read about Paul Revere torturing his fellow colonists--even the Tories. I must have missed that day.

Abstinence Education Really Does Work

Rush is fond of saying that 'Abstinence education works everywhere it is tried'. The Washington Times had an article dated June 18 showing that in the case of a program called Best Friends, Rush was Right. According to a study in the journal Adolescent & Family Health kids from the Best Friends program were:

• Six-and-a-half times more likely to remain sexually abstinent.
• Nearly twice as likely to abstain from drinking alcohol.
• Eight times more likely to abstain from drug use.
• More than twice as likely to refrain from smoking.

Here's the Washington Times story, which includes the opposition of Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) to such programs.

(Hat tip: Carol Platt Liebau)

Trodwell rocks

I love this line from the end of a piece on Canadians desiring a private choice in healthcare:

"Your job is to shut up, pay your taxes, try not to get sick, and keep pushing the Liberal lever every few years in hopes of getting a food pellet instead of the "2,000-volt gotcha."

That defines, I think, the hopes of Socialist-leaning officials everywhere, including American Democrats. Keep voting for us or the Bad Guys will take away your cake!

Edit: Now that I reflect on it, shouldn't the 'Democrats' in this country take a different name, given their utter contempt for the people?

Another Thought in Passing re: Dick Durbin's Statement on the Floor

When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here—I almost hesitate to put them in the RECORD, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report...

The thing that bugs me is this: is he REALLY quoting from the FBI memo? Or is he ahem elaborating from it? This last has been whispered already.

Turn over the memo, Senator. Let's see it.

Senator Dick's Non-Apology Apology

I caught this portion of Senator Dick Durbin's non-apology apology over at the Potbelly Stove:

"I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood."

"And over-used like a common, hackneyed cliche, cheapening the meaning of true attrocities. And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

Okay, the last part is mine. I didn't really see an apology to the families of Holocaust victims, concentration camp survivors--ESPECIALLY survivors--residents of the actual Soviet Gulag, Cambodians lost to Pol Pot's Killing Fields.

And how about a straight-up apology to John McCain, while we're at it. Senator McCain's stay in the Hanoi Hilton is well-known. How can Senator Durbin look the senior Senator from Arizona in the eye after this?

Kos Stands Up for Durbin Slander; Jawa Shows Him Where He's Wrong

Kos is read by thousands every day. The other day his readers got this:

The torture that was so bad under Saddam, is equally bad under U.S. command. And Dick Durbin had the balls to say it so on the Senate floor.

The Jawa Report has a graphic (I wouldn't count on it being safe for work, nor for those with more delicate sensibilities. In other words, this stuff that Saddam had done is revolting) comparison of Durbin's accusation and what really went on in Saddam's Iraq.

Here it is and don't say I didn't warn you.

(Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt, Froggy Ruminations)

The Bidding Has Begun for the Tsunami Hope Chest

Bidding for Dave Shaw's gorgeous Tsunami Hope Chest has begun on EBay! The proceeds from the auction are going to Mercy Corps.

Here's the updated press release from Tom Iovino:

For Immediate Release: June 17, 2005
Media Contact: Tom Iovino, Publicity Manager
WWA_Publicity@yahoo.com
Woodworker's Website Association www.woodworking.org

Tsunami Hope Chest Goes to Auction

The Woodworker’s Website Association’s (WWA) Tsunami Hope Chest is going to auction, and you don’t want to miss your opportunity to help the victims of last December’s Indian Ocean Tsunami while owning a piece of history.

The exquisite handcrafted chest, built by Dave Shaw of Australian Wood Art (www.australianwoodart.com) is now available to bid on at eBay.com, and will continue through Sunday, June 26 – the six-month anniversary of the tragedy.

All proceeds will be donated to assist the Mercy Corps’ relief fund ( http://www.mercycorps.org/items/2288/ ) efforts in the tsunami-affected areas.

For auction previews and bidding, the chest may be seen at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5401393185 .

WWA members donated nearly $3,000 to purchase exotic woods and supplies. The fine workmanship and creative development of this beautifully crafted piece can be seen in a series of photographs posted on the Internet at http://www.australianwoodart.com/tsunami.htm .

The WWA, a worldwide association of woodworkers, was established in 1997, and currently has nearly 5,000 registered members. The site features an interactive discussion forum, an expansive tool accident survey, tool reviews, numerous articles written by members and many other useful links to other woodworking sites. The site does not accept advertising from outside corporations, and is funded solely through membership fees. Notable members include the late woodworking author Danny Proulx, John Lucas of woodshopdemos.com and Tom Hinz, Webmaster of newwoodworker.com. For more information on the WWA, visit http://www.woodworking.org .

Editor’s Note: Photos available digitally upon request

Now with Trackback!

So I went ahead and installed the haloscan comment and trackback system. Unfortunately it has blown away all the comments from before. Sorry about that.
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Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Chris Muir's Day By Day Takes a Poke at Durbin

You want the June 17th strip here. Thanks once more to my fellow Illinoisians for making us ALL look like freakin' moonbats in the eyes of the world.

Ralph Peters on GTMO

"Has the Bush administration made mistakes regarding Guantanamo? You bet. The biggest one was attempting to placate the critics."

Here's the link to Ralph Peters's "Gitmo Cocktail", but registration is required.

The nut of the article is this: Democrats (he doesn't use the name, but I will) and the terrorists have in common a deep-seated urge to see the United States fail, and becasue of that neither can be appeased.

GWB didn't try to appease "the evildoers" in this world. So why in the world does he perpetually try to appease carping Democrats? Perhaps this goes back to the rumored "Big Plan" of Karl Rove to take away chunks of the Democrat's platform in an attempt to undermine their coalition of support for years to come. If so, it may make Congressional Democrats all the more determined to drum up support for Impeachment hearings. (The GOP did it to Clinton, and you can take it to the bank that the Democrats are going to stop at nothing to attempt to do it to Bush.)

Heard earlier on the Bill Bennet's Morning in America, an emailer wrote that George Bush needs to get back to communicating to the American people why it is we fight, what he stakes are. It is far from obvious to the mass of people in the United States what the scope of the war is--that includes Congress, as well.

The Democrats may never shut up, but if they do it would only be because the polls have changed to show that opposition to the global war is still a big loser in the 2006 midterm. That won't happen without a serious education effort.

The nature of this conflict may well be etched as clearly as Waterford crystal in the President's mind. I just urge him to share "that vision thing" with us, clearly and plainly. No one else is going to do it.

(Hat tip: Jack Kelly over at Irish Pennants)

Jed Babbin talks with "Non" Reagan on MSNBC

or... 'You can tell which dog's been hit, cuz its the one that barks loudest'

Writing for the American Spectator, Jed Babbin recounts his time talking with Non Reagan on his new MSNBC show. The topic of the question was the Downing Street memo, something that the left has been flogging for the better than a month now.

Here's a quote:

After Ron Reagan pressed me to admit our casus belli was a tissue of lies, I told him that the fact we haven't found Saddam's WMD proved precisely nothing. That's so, I said, because while we fiddled and diddled in the U.N. for six months before military action began, Saddam almost certainly moved all his WMD and scrubbed away all the evidence of it.

When Reagan pressed me further, contending that none of the commissions investigating the missing WMD said they had been moved, I cited the report of Charles Duelfer's Iraq Survey Group, which spent many months searching for WMD in Iraq. That report, I said, showed the substantial body of evidence that a lot of people, money, and materials, possibly including WMD, were smuggled out of Iraq in the months before March 2003. The destination of these cargoes was Syria. I had touched a nerve: by the time I got home, the "Media Matters for America" blog had accused me of lying, and dozens of nearly identical e-mails (on the intellectual plane of, "liar, liar, pants on fire") were pouring in. I quickly stopped reading them and just hit "delete" when I saw them.

I hadn't merely touched a hyperlib nerve. I had challenged the basis for the hyperlibs' existence: to discredit George Bush and the war at any cost...

(italics are Jed's, the boldface is mine.)

Read the whole thing, which includes a link to the Duelfer Report.

My Senator's Remarks on the Senate Floor

On behalf of the people of Illinois, I offer an apology for our Senator Dick Durbin. I wish I could say that it won't happen again, but the Senator is somewhat of a loose cannon.

Here's a verbatim transcript straight out of the Senate record:

We still would have the ability to hold detainees and to interrogate them aggressively. Members of al-Qaida would not be prisoners of war. We would be able to do everything we need to do to keep our country safe. The difference is, we would not have damaged our reputation in the international community in the process.

Stand by for some real damage...

When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here—I almost hesitate to put them in the RECORD, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:

Hold on! Gotta get my really, really tiny violin. Okay. Here we go. Some sad, sad music for this dramatic reading by Senator Dick:

On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18–24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee
was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees.

The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

Tough interrogation? Sure. Is it torture? I don't think so. If we had plucked the mans hairs out one by one? Maybe, sure. But here's the money quote:

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime—Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

I would have to say... no, I wouldn't assume this was any of the above. The people above might have gassed them or given them over for medical experiments, worked them to death planting turnips in the permafrost (to borrow a line from Lileks), or massacred them while they tried to run away.

By using this kind of over-the-top hyperbole on the floor of the Senate, I believe Senator Durbin has just encouraged the worst kind of anti-American sentiment in the world, and made life ever more difficult for our armed forces abroad. And for what? Well, I can't say for sure, naturally, but if I had to take an educated guess, I would sum it with "fund raising". Red meat for the left-wing, Blame-America-First crowd.

That's right. He's impugned the character of his own country for filthy political gain.

Here's another little bit:

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator’s time has expired.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 3 additional minutes.

Senator A: Should we stop him?
Senator B: Forget it. He's rolling

Mr. DURBIN. It is not too late. I hope we will learn from history. I hope we will change course. The President could declare the United States will apply the Geneva Conventions to the war on terrorism. He could declare, as he should, that the United States will not, under any circumstances, subject any detainee to torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Oh! Like beheading? Making them beg for their lives and showing the videos on al-Jazeera TV?

The administration could give all detainees a meaningful opportunity to challenge their detention before a neutral decisionmaker.

Yes, friends, the Geneva Conventions. If we really applied the Geneva Conventions, these men, not fighting under the flag of any country and without uniform, would have been summarily executed right on the field of battle. Not what he means, I'm sure. He admitted earlier that al-Qaeda members wouldn't count under the GC. I'm not sure who else he had in mind. Bring them before a neutral decisionmaker? If I know my Democrats like I think I do, that could only mean a Federal judge appointed by Clinton or Carter.

Supposing that we let them go, what does he believe would happen? They'd go back to a quiet life in the suburbs of Riyadh or Islamabad or Amman?

Sure. Or maybe they'd go back out and attempt to kill Americans. Like this. (Hat tip: the Jet Set Chick, via Rantburg)

9/11/01 Ground Zero Memorial

The Blame-America-First crowd has taken over the Ground Zero site.

That's right. The site where more than 3000 people lost their lives for no other reason than they were at work the day that crazed Islamists plowed jet airliners into their offices is going to be a place that "will host debates and note points of view with which you–and I–will disagree." So says Richard Tofel, the COO of the so-called International Freedom Center that is scheduled to open on the site in 2010.

Debra Burlingame is the sister of the pilot of the AA flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon. Her website, Take Back the Memorial contains an action list for fighting the construction of the IFC which will be more of a Leftist 'why America deserved it then and really deserves it now' type of attraction than an exposition on those that fell that day.

(See also: this Powerline article for more links)

New Blogroll Entry

I've been remiss in updating the blogroll up until lately. I've added Kory O, the Jet Set Chick to the list. It's a cool blog featuring an eclectic mix of subjects from travel to the Cocktail of the Week. Go forth and check it out.

Lileks in great form

6/13 Screedblog shows Lileks in great form, fisking the recent Time mag story that purports to talk about 'harsh treatment' of detainees in GTMO.

Items such as "Invasion of Space by a Female" don't sound like torture to me... but then I wasn't raised to believe that women are icky.

Charitable Giving to African Nations

The G-8 just approved a $40,000,000,000.00 debt forgiveness package for about 20 African nations. Supposing for a moment that the $40,000,000,000.00 was owed equally to the 8 nations, that would amount to a $5,000,000,000.00 charitable write off for the US alone.

Further supposing that there are 50,000,000 individual Federal Income Tax payers, that would amount to a charitable gift of $100.00 per tax payer, taken on a flat rate. If we did this in proportion to the amount of income tax paid, some folks wouldn't be eligible for as much as others--Heavens forfend.

It is my considered opinion that we, the tax paying public, deserve to add this to our annual charitable donations! It can be called the African Debt Relief Write-Off Act of 2005 by an enterprising Congressman. And that's something everyone can feel good about.

Janice Rogers Brown Confirmed: 56 - 43; Pryor Confirmed 53-45

Congratulations to Janice Rogers Brown on her confirmation to the DC Court of Appeals!

The vote fell pretty much along party lines. Ben Nelson joined the Republicans in voting to confirm. The rest of the Democrats stood on the proverbial court house steps to try to keep her out. (Yes, even Barack Obama.) Dim Jim Jeffords abstained.

Next up: William Pryor.
--
Update: William Pryor remains in after a 53-45 vote. Not voting this time were Dim Jim and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The Yeas and Nays were a bit more of a mixed bag this time.

Dems voting for Confirmation:
Ben Nelson (NE)
Ken Salazar (CO)

Heffalumps voting Nay:
Lincoln Chaffee (RIno)
Susan Collins (notice ME)
Olympia Snowe (notice ME)

Maybe Pryor is too Southern for these Northeastern Liberals? There's nothing on any of their pages to suggest why the 'No' vote. Given that Pryor has already been serving on the Appeals court via a recess appointment without controversy, I'm at a loss.

A Power Tool Accident of Another Kind

A relative newcomer to the WWA forum describes a collapsed table under his brand new Delta planer here.

That being a tool on my wish list, I'll learn from his story and build its support table stout. (A cool technique for flattening a wide board using a planer can be found here at Ken Kyler's joint.)

Hopefully the story will end well, but I'm not going to stay up tonight to find out.

UPDATE: It did. The subject piece was pine, but importantly nothing went shooting out of the planer.

Former AI Activist Smacks Down Irene Khan's Gulag Remark

(hat tip: Carol Platt Liebau)

It isn't often that you see a Brookings guy writing in the Washington Times, but here is such an occasion. Michael O'Hanlon, a former Amnesty International activist and volunteer puts Irene Khan's Gulag remark in proper perspective.

The reason he comes forward is because he fears that Ms. Khan's remarks are hurtful to AI and its cause. I'm not too concerned about their brand damage, but he's absolutely right. AI looks like nothing more than a bunch of knee-jerk anti-Americans.

Lileks launches new blog

Want to read about the goings on around Jasperwood? Then you want The Bleat. But if you want to read James Lileks with a good head of steam up about the War on Terror, then my friend, you want Screedblog.

The first post is up and it's a particularly good one.

Gap in the tape

Has all of the Deep Throat coverage on the 'news' got you all nostalgic for Watergate? Well, take a look what's going on up in the Great White North. They appear to have their own version of the infamous 18 Minute Gap.

RightThinkingPeople's Trodwell has assembled a pretty convincing case against PM Paul Martin.

LAT: Potential Arms Matieral Missing in Iraq

Here's a link to the story that Jack Kelly posted over at his site.

Unfortunately the story doesn't explicitly state "since when." As in: This material has gone missing since... March 2003? Some later time?

It is interesting to note that the determination that material is missing has been made by UN satellite imagery experts. With respect to vessels that could host all manner of chemical reactions, acting chief weapons inspector Demetrius Perricos said, "Due to its characteristics, this equipment can be used for the production of both commercial chemicals and chemical warfare agents."

Does that mean that it definitely was used for chemical weapons. No, of course not. Does that mean that it could have been? Naturally. Is that good enough for me? I think so.

Would it have been good enough information for a hoard of Democrats to come swarming out of the woodwork with torches and pitchforks, claiming 'George Bush was asleep at the switch!' had some of that material had gone BOOM on American soil?

Tsunami Hope Chest auction moving forward

Here's a copy of a letter from "Tampa Tom" over at woodworking.org describing the THC:
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After the news of the Tsunami Disaster in the Indian Ocean last December, the nearly 5,000 members of the Woodworker's Website Association (WWA) agreed we had to do something in order to help the relief effort.

It was decided that one of our most talented members - Dave Shaw of Australian Wood Art (www.australianwoodart.com) - would be commissioned to build a hope chest to be auctioned off - with all proceeds to be given to assist the International Red Cross' efforts in the affected areas.

Nearly $3,000 U.S. was voluntarily collected from our members to purchase the exquisite woods and necessary supplies to build the piece.

As far as the woodworking process was concerned, the work was fascinating to watch. Mr. Shaw certainly has talent!

The final productis a sight to behold. Crafted of native Australian timbers, the piece features a hand-carved dove - the international symbol of peace - created from individual pieces of natural wood.

Here is the link to the site to show the progress:
http://www.woodworking.org/hopechest.html

And, here are some photographs of the completed piece:
http://www.australianwoodart.com/tsunami.htm

We are currently planning on listing the piece on eBay for an auction to end June 26, the six month anniversary of the tragedy. Again, all proceeds of the project will be donated to the International Red Cross to assist with Tsunami relief efforts.

At the WWA, our membership is international, with members from five continents. When the news of this tragedy broke, it affected us all. This effort, while small in comparison to other financial contributions, is what some humble craftsmen and women have to offer to help put people's lives back in order.

Thank you for your time, I will follow up with more information as the auction begins.
--
It's a gorgeous piece of work and for a worthy cause. Take a look at the pix if you haven't seen them yet. Stunning!

The EU Constitution

The EU Constitution has gone down in flames in both France and the Netherlands (Big time, to paraphrase VP Cheney). Is it because the people of those nations do not want to be talked down to by the elite classes of Europe? The document was so huge and detailed that it effectively told everyone not only to eat cake, but the specific kind of cake, and the particular types of icing that would be allowed on the cake.

Actually they are already eating cake in the form of 34-hour/4-day work weeks, extraordinarily liberal leave policies for the people who actually do work, cradle-to-grave health care paid for by their fellow tax payers, month-long vacations.

Why would they give that up?

Jim Mattson, sufferer of BDS

JimM is one of the administrators of woodworking.org, home of the Wood Workers of America. It is a place I frequent and even support monetarily.

He's been away for awhile. Why? Because he's pissed off about the War. Here's his "Enough already!" post.

Now come on, Jim. I know how you feel. I dropped a lot of dollars to get the entire sordid bunch of Clintonistas out of the White House in 1996. It didn't work out. I got over it. And I most certainly did NOT isolate myself from all others on the off-hand chance they MIGHT have an opinion different from mine.

Are you really going to stay away from your own site until the War is over? How do you reckon when that will be? If we keep troops stationed in Iraq, as we have in Germany and Japan since the end of WWII, will that keep you away indefinitely?

Or do you mean you will be away until the larger war against violent Islamism? If you are going to wait for the last suicide bomber ever blows up, I'm guessing you'll be away at least 20 years.

Life's too short to live constantly pissed off. Ask me about it. I spent a good 4 years of my life lamenting the sorry state of a country that would re-elect a man to the Presidency who would certainly have been hounded out of a corporate boardroom for using a female intern as just another office supply.

Amnesty International and the Gulag

In this day and age there is no cheaper shot to take than one against the United States. In the last week, AI showed its anti-Americanism proudly by declaring the detention center at GTMO to be the Gulag of our times.

This is hyperbole on par with comparisons to Hitler, the Holocaust, etc., and it dilutes the whole concept of those earlier atrocities. AI should be ashamed. I won't hold out hope for a public apology, of course.

It is estimated that some 24 million people went to the gulag from the 1920s to the 1940s. That's more than twice the current population of Cuba. Thus far there have been no reports of detainees dying of exposure or forced labor at Guantanamo, quite unlike the many unfortunate souls who passed away in Siberia. There was Newsweek's irresponsibly published allegation of a Koranflush, since retracted. A former detainee did claim that he 'witnessed two people get beaten so badly that I believe it caused their deaths.' Then again, an al Qaeda training manual discovered by police at a software company tells, in section XII to always claim mistreatment, even torture while in custody.

In this light, can any of these claims be taken at face value? Unless you are part of the Dead Tree Media, of course, still trying hard to turn the present conflict against violent Islamism into Vietnam II, the answer should be "no".

Cue the "Mark of the Beast" Crowd in 5...4...3...

From Drudge comes the headline "World ID Card?..."

New SHS Michael Chertoff says he wants to head off a tech war like that of Beta vs. VHS. (Or DVD-A vs. SACD or BluRay vs. HD-CD or...)

Gitmo Detainee Recants Koranflush Story

The folks at Media Slander have reported the Gitmo detainee at the heart of Newsweek's Koran Flush Story has recanted.

I echo the comments from that thread. Good to see them on the job.

New Blog added to the Blogroll

Jack Kelly has a blog called Irish Pennants. I've got it on my daily read list. Check it out.

Priscilla Owen has been confirmed as a Circuit Court Judge

Congratulations to Priscilla Owen on become our nation's latest Circuit Court of Appeals Judge. It has been a long time coming. Thank you for hanging in there.

The vote was 56-43. Two Democrats (Landrieu of Louisiana and *gasp* Byrd of West Virginia) voted for her. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) voted against her. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii didn't vote.

That leaves two more judges on the "Memorandum of Understanding": Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor. Brown was initially supposed to go next, but a vote on UN Ambassador nominee John Bolton has been pushed to the foreground.

Cap'n Ed says that's a big mistake. We'll see.

Frist doesn't seem particularly adroit when it comes to political momentum.

A question

If there was a button you could push that would make your previously incurable affliction go away, while at the same time killing one person--not a family member or anything... in fact, no one you know personally-- would you press it?

The GOP Attention Whore Caucus

Here are the "GOP" Senators who signed off on a deal to block a vote to kill filibusters against judicial nominees, and for that matter, to keep any future filibuster going on future, "uncommitted" nominees:

John McCain (AZ)
John Warner (VA)
Mike DeWine (OH)
Susan Collins (ME)
Olympia Snowe (ME)
Lindsey Graham (SC)
Lincoln Chafee (RI)

Enjoy your cocktail parties, ladies and gentlemen. Perhaps the New York Times will fund your future campaigns. I won't.

If you didn't read the text of the deal, here are the two nominees these Attention Whores threw under the bus: William Myers (9th Circuit) and Henry Saad (6th Circuit). No reasons are given, but Minority Leader Reid has alluded to Judge Saad's FBI file... something he should not have seen himself, since he is not a member of the judiciary committee. No member of that committee is supposed to make a peep about those files, either. (This is per point #5 of Rule 29... one of the hallowed Rules of the Senate these bozos hold dear.)

Don't get me wrong. I'm not holding my breath waiting for a motion to throw Uriah Reid out of the Senate. It's just ironic is all.

Mae Magouirk passed away

Mae Magouirk, a person who was recently saved from being dehydrated to death, a la Terri Schiavo passed away of natural causes. She died surrounded by family and thankfully not by lawyers and police.

Senate committees blocked by Democrats

Democrats are now obstructing all work of the Senate. That's going to play well next year. :)

The Weekly Standard on... Whole Foods?

I'm not an avid reader of the Weekly Standard. I usually just go there to read Hugh Hewitt's columns, or as with today, one by John Hinderaker. I stayed to browse around and found this piece on Whole Foods. It seems that Peter Singer--utilitarian bioethicist and Princeton professor--has given his grade A stamp of approval to Whole Foods.

(If you haven't previously seen Singer's views on sex-with-animals and the killing of infants, here's a Wikipedia article which outlines them. Mind your gag reflex.)

I'm sure Whole Foods has put this letter up for the same feel-good reasons as every other piece of socially conscious, touchy-feely claptrap they put up in their stores, that being "Look at us! We're socially conscious progressives who love animals!" And I'm holding out hope that Whole Foods may love animals, but they don't love animals.

Here's the link to the Standard piece, Brainwashing, Aisle 3, which includes the whole text of the letter in question.

Mid East Protest over Newsweek

Newsweek screwed the pooch. They lied and this time at least 15 people have died, to paraphrase the LLL bumper sticker.

Here's a photo via AP from a protest in Pakistan:


Newsweek should be banned! Why? Presumably for publishing a story without checking it out. Bush should apologize! Why? Because Newsweek had this incredible story about how....

Well anyway, hopefully the two gents won't come to blows.

CBS does it again

As reported on the Corner (hat tips to Rush Limbaugh and Steve over at Rantburg), CBS has carved up some interview tape of Judge Ken Starr and misrepresented the judge's opinion.

I posted a request to cbsnews.com's feedback form (head to cbsnews.com, go to the bottom and click on "Contact Us" for the popup form.)

"Please release the complete transcript of the interview with Ken Starr that was the basis for Gloria Borger's report. I take Judge Starr at his word when he says his opinion was misrepresented by your report. Let the viewers see his words and the context in which they were spoken. In short, let us decide for ourselves."

Illini ... football

Yes, they do still play football at the University of Illinois. I was glancing at Mel Kiper, Jr.'s look at NEXT YEAR'S draft. (reg. required) As I expected there wasn't a single Illini mentioned.

No wait! There one is, down toward the bottom of the screen: Steve Weatherford, best punter in the nation.

If that doesn't sum up recent Illini Football history, I don't know what does.

Right Thinking People take on... Vampires

A review of the finest portrayals of vampires on screen is underway at Right Thinking People.

I find it hard to disagree with Trodwell's favorite.

The miracle of ... poverty?

I was reminded by a recent post over at the Potbelly Stove of an article I encountered via the Chicago Sun-Times. I found it so intuitive that I clipped it out and slapped it on my refrigerator.

As it happens, it was originally published in Reason magazine, and last night I found it online, for those times when I'm not at home and need a refresher on dictatorial skills. Here it is, then: Poor Planning: How to achieve the miracle of poverty by Ronald Bailey.

My letter to Senator Bill Frist, M.D.

I sent this letter to Senate Majority Leader Frist today.
--
Senator Frist,

I have received a few fund raising letters from VOLPAC. Thank you for those; I will keep them under advisement as I continue to watch the continuing saga of highly qualified judicial candidates be held up by the minority party. In your letter you talked about holding the Senate open for 48 straight hours. That was a start, but it was hardly "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" territory. If the Democrats want to filibuster, by God, make them filibuster! Make them answer questions as to why they are reading from the Verizon directory instead of voting on, say, Janice Rodgers Brown!

Bill, I'm one of the grass-roots donors that helped dump Minority Leader Daschle in 2004. We made thousands of small contributions to bring in new Republican senators like John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Jim Talent, John Cornyn, John Sununu, Norm Coleman, Lindsey Graham, Jim DeMint, Mel Martinez, Richard Burr, David Vitter, and Tom Coburn. I'm trying to decide where to send my campaign contributions in this election cycle, and I know I'm not alone.

Make the choice easy for me. Get the ball rolling today on President Bush's nominees. Call the vote to change the Senate rule to eliminate the filibuster of judicial nominees.

If you are more concerned about what the Washington Post or the New York Times says about you, see how many dollars they will contribute to your campaign.

If you are worried about what will happen to the Republicans when you are back in the minority, you will end up there quicker than a hiccup.

Don't be fearful! The Republicans have won election after election! But it won't last forever if you can't get anything done while you are in the majority. Be not afraid, Senator.

Go win!

Mae Magouirk has left the building

The Birmingham News has a brief story that states Ora Mae Magouirk is currently at the UAB medical center. On the order of the judge, 3 doctors--including one from the renowned UAB medical center--examined her and determined that her condition was treatable.

Heard it on the Glenn Beck show yesterday, but couldn't blog it since I was in the car. All day.

NoiSING - DIY get-together in Singapore

Enjoy the Music has a nice pictorial of an audio DIY gathering in Singapore. Check out the Zen Lite on page 2. Why is it in the vacuum tube room? Maybe the light bulbs as MOSFET drain loads were sufficient for entry?

Comfy about the Schiavo case?

A woman who was perfectly lucid is now being starved to death in a Georgia hospice in direct contravention of her living will.

Read the whole thing.

No one is safe anymore. Best not to become... inconvenient.

(World Net Daily via Rantburg)

Harr... what be yer pirate name?

http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate/ has a quiz whereby you can be dubbed with a suitable pirate name.

My pirate name is:

Black Jack Cash

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

InDC Journal on the WashingPost

Bill from InDC touts his new advertiser thusly:

often one of the least biased MSM outlets (comparatively)

Is being the least biased MSM outlet like being the tallest midget?

If it is only OFTEN the least biased, does this taller-than-average midget occasionally stand on its toes to become tallest?

Tsunami Hope Chest revealed

And it is indeed a stunner! If you've been following the progress, hold onto yer hat when you see what was under the black circle:

http://www.woodworking.org/Exchange/Forum2/HTML/020646.html

My only regret is that I won't be able to summon enough cash to win the auction. That being said, some lucky family is going to have one gorgeous piece of art for generations to come.

A standing ovation for Mr. Dave Shaw!