MSM Oversight:Gitmo Guards Often Attacked by Detainees

If you're not listening to Big Talk Radio or getting your news from Big Internet, then you missed this story about the Gitmo Guards who often are attacked by detainees. You owe it to yourself to read it ASAP.

Thanks to AP, John Solomon and the Landmark Legal Foundation for finally shining the light of truth on the abusive prisoners for a change instead of our restrained guards...overly restrained guards.

Where are the politicians and MSM who decried the "torture" at Abu Graibe for weeks on end? Have they spoken up tonight about the abuse our guards have had to quietly endure?

And speaking of quiet endurance, what's with that anyway. Why haven't we publicized the outrageous conduct of the practitioners of the religion of peace? Why must everyone bend over backwards to protect the image of our Islamofascist enemies? Well, not everyone, just the MSM, the democrats, the ACLU and CAIR, and everyone else who yearns for the demise of this country.

Have Sens. Durban, Graham and McClain commented on these attacks on our guards yet? Don't these guys owe us some sort of explanation and/or apology for their screeds against Gitmo and how we've "abused" detained terrorists?

It's very unfortunate that these guards have had to put up with this abuse and it's even more unfortunate that this information has been buried for so long. Thanks to those who exposed the truth.

Hear what Mark Levin had to say about the newly released information about the Gitmo guards.

"Why Doesn't the FBI Want Nasrallah?"

My new friend Shmuel, who lives and blogs in Jerusalem asks a very good question regarding the head Hezbo: Why Doesn't the FBI Want Him?

Does anyone out there know?

Why haven't we gone after Hezbollah for lo, these many years of terrorism? Have we given Nasrallah and his ilk a pass or do we just expect the Israeli's to finally go to bat for us for all of the deaths for which they are responsible? If that's the case we better stand behind the IDF every step of the way and stop with this "cease-fire" nonsense.

Hezbollah needs to be completely destroyed before any cease-fire and we ought to say that publicly to let the Islamofascist terrorists know exactly where we stand and where they stand.

Today's Essential Read

It's in The American Spectator and it's written by Ben Stein.

He explains why we're in a world of trouble:

We are in real serious trouble, and I'll tell you how and why I know it:

* Because the Hezbollah -- as has been well reported -- launches missiles at purely civilian targets in Israel as a matter of course, and no one in Europe or in the American left says "boo" about it. It's considered the Hezbollah's "right" to kill Israelis and when they do, they boast about it and promise to do more;

* Because it's been also well documented that the Hezbollah hides behind civilian targets and adjacent to civilian dwellings in Lebanon to fire its rockets at Israel, and when Israel fires back and mistakenly hits a home with civilians, the world of "intellectuals" and "thinkers" blames Israel and calls Israel bloodthirsty;

* Because when the Israelis kill civilians, they apologize, but when the terrorists kill civilians, they brag -- and the beautiful people scream at Eretz Israel and excuse the terrorists;

* Because if you substitute "America" for "Israel" and the "terrorists in Iraq" for the Hezbollah, you get what's happening in Iraq;

* Because it is impossible to beat a terrorist movement without using terror tactics, and we as a people of compassion and restraint, both in Israel and the U.S., will not use terror tactics even when survival is at stake, and this means we will not survive.

It is very much as if, after Pearl Harbor, after the bombing of London, we said, "We will fight the Japanese and the Nazis, but we will only use humane means, and we will show total restraint and will never kill civilians. And we will search our souls and agonize about every move."

It is this attitude that kept the United States from winning in Korea, in Vietnam, and now in Iraq. If we had followed that code of suicide, we would have lost World War II and the world would have been plunged into eternal darkness. You cannot fight inhumane people with humane means. You cannot fight savages with one hand -- no, two hands -- tied behind your back. No wars were ever won using restraint and only civilized means. That's a formula for complete defeat and for the end of civilized life. If we allow our media and French intellectuals to prevent us and the Israelis from using the means necessary to win, we'll lose...in Lebanon, in Iraq, and everywhere and this civilization is very well worth preserving. Yes, as sad as it would be to use terror tactics to win a war, it would be incomparably worse to lose. At the end of the war we win, there is light. At the end of the war we lose, there is the end.

The Usual Suspects

This Cox & Forkum editorial 'toon goes perfectly with my post "Lone" shooters or Islamofascist terror hits? Sooner or later we all "get it," but unfortunately we're never gonna "get it" from the MSM or the politically correct Washington DC crowd.

O'Reilly:Viagra for the United Nations

Bill O'Reilly has a piece at Townhall criticizing the U.N's impotence. Wait a minute...they're not all impotent over there! What about all those child rapers and abusers among the U.N. "peacekeeping forces" around the world. I don't think their impotence ever came into question.

You might want to read O'Reilly's column which rightly describes the U.N.'s shortcomings (pun intended), but as far as I'm concerned, an impotent U.N. is the only kind of U.N. I want to exist.

Imagine this global Nutty Professor if it were actually Buddy Love...Ok that's not the greatest analogy, but suffice it to say, the world is a much better place by having a totally incompetent U.N. than a powerful, effective U.N.

A potent U.N. would be the worst dictatorial super-thug the world has ever seen. It's not that difficult to imagine. The U.N. is anti-U.S and anti-Israel. A potent U.N. would have much more clout around the world to garner support among our enemies.

A potent U.N. would allow Israel to be eradicated by Islamofascists.

A potent U.N. would have continued to allow the massively corrupt "food for oil" program and Saddam Hussein would still be in power.

A potent U.N. would be in control of the internet and enforcing a global tax to better fund their power.

A potent U.N. would diminish our sovereignty.

A potent U.N. would have a world court which would take precedence over our constitution.

A potent U.N. would impose socialist environmental treaties such as Kyoto which would utterly ruin western economies.

A potent U.N. would encourage international socialism and thwart capitalistic economies.

A potent U.N. would be the worst thing that could ever happen to the global community.

In "global-speak" a potent U.N. would be "unsustainable!"

Crime: Mexico's No. 1 export

Read this WorldNetDaily piece and then write your Congressmen to ask what the hell they are doing to stop this outrageous criminal element coming across our southern border:

The efforts of law enforcement officials to bring criminal illegal immigrants to justice have been hamstrung by lax and lenient sanctuary laws. Governments pandering to the huge numbers involved in the "Trojan Horse invasion" have taken the deceptively easy path of political correctness. Today, across the United States, police officers risk heavy penalties if they dare directly ask an illegal immigrant how they got here in the United States.

Commenting specifically about the impact of Los Angeles Police Department Special Order 40, Heather MacDonald, a John M. Olin fellow at the Manhattan Institute, wrote succinctly:

'Law-abiding residents of gang-infested neighborhoods may live in terror of the tattered gangbangers dealing drugs, spraying graffiti, and shooting up rivals outside their homes, but such distress cannot compare to a politician's fear of offending Hispanics.'

Our inability to enforce our own immigration laws is an open opportunity for criminal elements to exploit our weakness. Today, law enforcement at all levels of government is faced with a crisis in containing the nearly out-of-control growth of criminal Hispanic gangs throughout the United States and the movement of massive quantities of illegal drugs across our wide-open southern border.

Why is it that Americans are having to take this situation into their own hands while politicians are afraid to death of offending Hispanic voters? Of course, that's a self-explanatory rhetorical question to which we know the answer.

Still our representatives need to be called out on these life threatening border issues right now before the problem devolves into regional self-defensive vigilante conflicts.

Locate your Congressmen here and remind them of their responsibility to protect our borders! I know it will be difficult, but be civil when you write or call them.

The US and Israel: Fighting Together

Shmuel, from Exit The Cave just emailed me this post from his blog. Thought you might be interested in his perspective. His post is titled The U.S. and Israel: Fighting Together and he writes:

In November, 2001, I was in New York. I remember walking down the street and seeing a fire truck, American flag proudly waving. I stopped and said to one of the fireman, "I just got here from Jerusalem. We're all with you." He smiled and thanked me.

The other day I saw video of fire trucks up north racing to the site of a missile attack with large Israeli flags proudly waving. But this isn't 9/11. This is worse. This is Al Qaeda shooting at Manhattan from Queens.

Today we lost 9 boys. Dozens of others have been injured. We were told tonight by our Prime Minister that this will not last months. My response to that statement: I don't care how long it lasts, just get it done. But I'm not in a shelter. I did spend my share of years in Jerusalem while bombs were going off all the time. Buses, pizza shops, open malls and any other type of public arena were all targeted. I lost count of the number I heard. I can still see the horrible sights if I think about the bombings to which I was witness. So maybe I do have a say.

I know that if we stop before we're done, if we do not eradicate Hezbollah, defeat it to the point that it no longer poses a threat to Israel's Northern communities, we will not only face them again later, we will lose deterrent power. Israel is facing the same problem the U.S. is facing in Iraq. But there really is no problem. Defeating the enemy is the only solution.

People have been told again and again that this war, this Global War on Terror, will take years, tens of years. The world, reluctant to accept that there are things worth fighting and dying for, is fighting us. Calls today by Kofi Annan, the Italian Foreign Minister and Lebanese Prime Minister for an immediate cease fire (on the part of Israel, since they did not once name Hezbollah) nearly overshadowed the brave stance of the United States' Secretary Rice.

Israel and the U.S. are two lights unto the nations. Together they must continue to fight. Together they must not give in to the calls for surrender. If either goes, the other will too.

This fight is ours together.

Indeed!

Two Pertinent New Links

Here are a couple of excellent blogs you'll want to visit for continuing up close and personal accounts of what's going on in Israel and the War against Islamofascism: Yoni the Blogger and Exit The Cave.

Yoni is a regular caller/contributor to the Hugh Hewitt radio show who has been checking in with Hugh on an hourly basis during the last couple of weeks. He's got good contacts who know things over in Israel.

Shmuel, over at Exit The Cave lives in Jerusalem and I just learned of his blog from his comment here at one of my posts.

Both of these guys provide information not available from the mainstream. Visit them early and often.

Kim's Cool Site of the Day

If you don't subscribe to Kim Komando's newsletter, you might want to consider doing so. She sends out her "cool site of the day" and she usually doesn't disappoint.

Today's Cool Site is a demonstration of the U.S. Navy's Ceremonial Guard Drill Team. It's very impressive!

Check it out!

Quote of the Day

From the Head Hezbo, Hasrallah, (thanks to Rush for the newly coined word for Hezbollah):

Israel (is a) "temporary country"

Which is just one more reason Israel cannot and must not back down from destroying these despicable Islamofascists. You cannot negotiate with an enemy who only wants to annihilate you.

Israel pulls out of Hezbollah stronghold

Israel pulls out of Hezbollah stronghold and already Hezbollah is hailing the pullout as a victory:

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israeli troops pulled back from a Lebanese border town Saturday after a week of heavy fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas who hailed the retreat as a victory. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the Middle East to push a refined U.S. peace plan.

The Israeli pullback from the town of Bint Jbail appeared to be in preparation for a new incursion along a different part of the border zone. Hours later, troops and tanks massed farther to the east on the Israeli side of the frontier, Lebanese security officials said early Sunday.

When Hezbollah hails anything as a victory, the IDF needs to hit them with even more force. It's too early for the Israelis to allow the terrorists any semblance or appearance of victory.

"Lone" shooters or Islamofascist terror hits?

Make it a point to go to Michelle Malkin's place and see her post titled, A random gallery of "lone" shooters. Go there now and ask yourself why other news organizations aren't making similar assumptions that some, if not many of the murders in this country may be perpetrated by Islamofascists on a mission.

These "random" acts of terror will only increase. Do we need to be shielded by reporters regarding the ethnicity of the perpetrators even when they vocalize their hate for their victims?

Krauthammer: "Let Israel Win"

What other country can be attacked, fight back and be villified for doing so. How dare they have the unmitigated gall to strike back and mortally would those who want them destroyed. The nerve!

Charles Krauthammer wrote a piece along these lines today. You'll want to read all of it, but here are a couple of paragraphs:

What other country, when attacked in an unprovoked aggression across a recognized international frontier, is then put on a countdown clock by the world and given a limited time window in which to fight back, regardless of whether it has restored its own security?

What other country sustains 1,500 indiscriminate rocket attacks into its cities - every one designed to kill, maim and terrorize civilians - and is then vilified by the world when it tries to destroy the enemy's infrastructure and strongholds with precision-guided munitions that sometimes have the unintended but unavoidable consequence of collateral civilian death and suffering?

Hearing the world pass judgment on the Israel-Hezbollah war as it unfolds is to live in an Orwellian moral universe. With a few significant exceptions (the leadership of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and a very few others), the world - governments, the media, UN bureaucrats - has completely lost its moral bearings.

Please read the entire piece.

ACLU Frees Suspected Terror Fundraiser

Thanks to Jay at the Stop The ACLU Blog for bringing this story to my attention:

Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan was ordered released without bond from the Terminal Island federal detention facility, according to his attorney, Ranjana Natarajan of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

Hamdan, who founded a mosque in Anaheim, was arrested on immigration charges in July 2004 as federal authorities unsealed an indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The government charged that the Texas-based charity funneled millions to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The following month, Hamdan was ordered deported on the immigration charges. His requests to be released on bond while he fights the charges had been denied until this week.

Hamdan, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, was accused of having ties to terrorism but was never charged. Instead, he was convicted of overstaying a student visa he got 27 years ago.

The Holy Land Foundation’s president, chairman and director of endowments have been charged with terrorism-related crimes.

Nice!

Quote of the Day

From Victor Davis Hanson:

"The good life sometimes can be lost quite unexpectedly and abruptly when people demand rights more than they accept responsibilities, or live for present consumption rather than sacrifice for future investment, or feel their own culture is not particularly exceptional and therefore in no need of constant support and defense."

This linked piece (The Fragility of the Good Life) is one of those "must reads" and yes, it should scare the hell out of you! Hopefully, it will inspire you to do something about your own vulnerability.

Annan's Claims On Casualties Unravel

Kofi Annan's claims that Israel may have intentionally targeted U.N. observers is appearing to be bogus, like the very organization Annan oversees:

UNITED NATIONS — An apparent discrepancy in the portrayal of events surrounding the deaths of four unarmed U.N. observers in Lebanon threatens to unravel Secretary-General Annan's initial accusation that Israel "deliberately" targeted the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

A Canadian U.N. observer, one of four killed at a UNIFIL position near the southern Lebanese town of Khiyam on Tuesday, sent an e-mail to his former commander, a Canadian retired major-general, Lewis MacKenzie, in which he wrote that Hezbollah fighters were "all over" the U.N. position, Mr. MacKenzie said. Hezbollah troops, not the United Nations, were Israel's target, the deceased observer wrote.

Why would "peacekeepers" be in a war zone to begin with? Annan should have gotten them out of there when it was obvious that Israel was going to invade and root out the bad guys. In a war zone it's difficult to determine who the bad guys are.

Another loss for same-sex marriage

According to a WND piece, voters have nixed same-sex marriage 20 out of 20 times, which is why the left depends on leftist judges to get their agendas passed.

This current defeat in Washington state bodes ill for those who are saying the the majority of Americans want same-sex marriage to be the law of the land. Go figure.

It's much like the pro-abortion people who insist "pro-choice" is the will of the masses but politicians who wish to be elected never run on this issue unless they happen to live in Massachusetts.

Washington state is one of the most liberal states in the country and this decision probably comes as a huge surprise to those hoping to change the institution of marriage.

Texas Family Loses Both Sons in War

Prayers are requested for the Velez family of Lubbock, TX who has made the ultimate sacrifice...both of their sons have been killed in action, two years apart:

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Less than two years ago, Roy Velez got the worst news a father could get: His oldest son was dead, killed during combat in Iraq.

This week, his pain only deepened with news that his youngest son had died in Afghanistan.

Military officials notified the Velez family Tuesday of the death of Army Spc. Andrew Velez, 22. His brother, Army Cpl. Jose A. Velez, 23, died in November 2004 in Fallujah when his unit came under fire while clearing an enemy stronghold.

"I can't be angry. I feel like my heart's been pulled out," Roy Velez said Tuesday. "We've done what the Lord allowed us to do for our country."

The last thing Mr. Velez heard his son say was, "Daddy, I'll see you in August."

No one can imagine what these parents must be going through. May God bless and comfort them as only He can do. If you're a praying person, these fine folks could surely use them. What incredible parents they are! Please read the rest of the article and please don't forget this family.

Maybe it's time to introduce Hezbollah to MOAB

Maybe it's time for the Israeli's to buy a few of our MOAB's. I'm sure we have some not far from Israel.


Yoni, Israeli insider and frequent caller/contributor to the Hugh Hewitt show, said tonite the Hezbollah has sophisticated bunkers as deep as 10 stories under ground. Apparently, the IDF does not have the firepower sufficient to penetrate these bunkers.

We could help them out by selling them a handful of MOAB's and in so doing the boys in Iran could evaluate their effectiveness.

Sounds like a good plan to me!

(photos by rich glasgow taken at the Armaments Museum at Eglin AFB in Ft. Walton Beach, FL.)

UN legitimizes terrorist organizations

The U.N. consistently defends terroristic organizations but especially when Israel goes to war with them. Alan Dershowitz illustrates this problematic scenario is his piece, How the UN legitimizes terrorists:

If anyone wonders why the UN has rendered itself worse than irrelevant in the Arab-Israeli conflict, all he or she need do is read UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's July 20 statement. Annan goes to great pains to suggest equal fault and moral equivalence between the rockets of Hezbollah and Hamas that specifically target innocent civilians and the self-defense efforts by Israel, which tries desperately, though not always successfully, to avoid causing civilian casualties. In his statement, Annan never condemns, or even mentions, terrorism, which is a root cause and precipitator of the conflict.

Even Annan was forced to acknowledge that "Hezbollah's provocative attack on July 12 was the trigger of this particular crisis"; that Hezbollah is "deliberate[ly] targeting ... Israeli population centers with hundreds of indiscriminate weapons"; and that Israel has the "right to defend itself under Article 51 of the UN charter." But he doesn't stop there. He goes out of his way to insist on equating Hezbollah's terrorists with Israeli military response, which he labels "disproportionate" and "collective punishment." He condemns both Hezbollah and Israel. He also criticizes Israel for its efforts at preventing Qassam rocket attacks against its civilian populations, noting that the Hamas rockets have produced no "casualties in the past month." (This, of course, is not for lack of trying.) He ignores Hamas' long history of terrorism against innocent civilians.

Annan then calls for an "immediate cessation of indiscriminate and disproportionate violence" on both sides, again suggesting a moral equivalence. Among the most immoral positions anyone can take is to suggest a moral equivalence between morally different actions.

It's an important piece...don't miss it.

Why do we continue to be a major contributor to this corrupt and leftist organization? I'm hearing (and liking) the motto "U.S out of the U.N...U.N. out of the U.S" more and more each week.

Homeowner Groups Can't Bar Flag Flying

We've all heard the ridiculous stories about homeowner associations who have barred American flags. Well, that nonsense has been alleviated by a new law just signed by President Bush:

"WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush signed a bill on Monday that would bar condominium and homeowner associations from restricting how the American flag can be displayed.
Sponsored by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., the resolution would prohibit those groups from preventing residents from displaying an American flag on their own property."

Signs of the Times

This editorial 'toon goes hand in hand with Dennis Prager's piece on the difference between decent and indecent leftists. Much more at Cox & Forkum on those who cozy up to terror.

Quote of the Day

...by Sen. Rick Santorum as heard on the Tuesday edition of Laura Ingraham's show:

This is no more a war on terror any more than WWII was a war on blitzkrieg. We are at war against Islamofascism and it's a world war. (paraphrased)

What's Right about the Left?

Dennis Prager has an outstanding piece at Townhall which enumerates the wrong stances the left has taken over the last 30 years. They've been wrong about nearly everything. All one need do is look at history. Still, Prager suggests, one could espouse the left's views and be a decent person.

The Israeli war against the Hezbollah, according to Prager, is further defining the left; those who are decent and those who actually are siding with the terrorists...the indecent.

Be sure to read Israel's war separates the decent left from the indecent left. It's a succinct review of the recent past and a wise evaluation of the present ideological conflicts.

Sleeper Cells are being activated!

According to a piece in the Jerusalem Post, the international Hezbollah "sleeper cells" are being activated:

Hezbollah "sleeper" terror cells set up outside Lebanon with Iranian assistance have been put on standby The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday, and are likely planning attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets throughout the world.

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed to the Post Sunday night that it had instructed embassies, consulates and Jewish institutions it was responsible for abroad to raise their level of awareness in light of the conflict in the North.

The assumption within Military Intelligence is that Hezbollah would only attack targets abroad if it felt pushed into a corner. According to this thinking, the Islamist group hesitates to carry out such attacks because it does not want to be associated with Global Jihad and al-Qaida.

Which is why they must be totally destroyed and not appeased in any way, shape or form. If we know where they are, they must be destroyed, not arrested and brought to trial!

UN peacekeepers abandoned babies

The culture of corruption and cover-up continues over at Turtle Bay. One scandal barely ends before another, more disgusting one raises its ugly head. Most recently, The Australian reports about UN peacekeepers who abandoned babies out of embarrassment. The real news here is that there is still someone at the U.N. who actually exhibits a bit of shame and embarrassment. Here's the brief story:

"UN peacekeepers have abandoned at least 20 babies fathered with poverty-stricken Timorese women, an investigation has shown.

The UN investigation has also uncovered a culture of cover-up, in which babies born to peacekeepers and sex crimes committed by its personnel over seven years have been kept secret because of a 'fear of shame and embarrassment'.
A report on the investigation recommends that a policy of zero tolerance of sexual misconduct be enforced on UN staff. The report reveals for the first time babies born to UN peacekeepers have been abandoned without financial support. Their mothers have been stigmatised and in some cases ostracised by their communities. Efforts by the UN to organise assistance for the women have failed."

So what will become of this? Absolutely nothing! These bastards are above the law, answering to no one. If they can get away with the "oil for food" heist amounting to billions of dollars, and the ongoing sexual abuse of underaged girls wherever "piecekeepers" stake their claim, why should anyone believe that a few bothery babies left behind by opportunistic perverted pedophiles will matter to anyone, least of all the vaunted Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who, did I mention, answers to no one, while he depends on our billions of taxpayer dollars to continue the debauchery?

Aren't you as a taxpayer sick of this abuse of power and American dollars?

No Wonder Levin calls him "D-Student Kerry"

In what must have been an arrogant slip of good judgment, Sen. Kerry verbally attacked the Maha Rushie. What must he have been thinking? Here's Sen. Kerry's official statement on Rush.
Of course, none of us needs to defend the godfather of the New Media, but it's stories such as these that give newsjunkies the incredible highs for which we live.

Remember when the leftist, anti-war Senator from Massachusetts "reported for duty" at the Democrat National Convention and the Swift Boat Vets proceeded to tear him to shreds to the point where the good senator insisted he was going to sue them? He recently called off the suit. Hmmm! I wonder why he decided not to sue?

Sen. Kerry probably already rues the day he "attacked" Rush, who generally has one half of his brain tied behind his back just to make it fair. Just for fun, I'm told that Rush tied both halves of his brain behind his back to make it fair for this current exchange with the senator.

Take a look around this special place to see everything Sen. Kerry doesn't want you to see. I doubt very seriously if the good senator will have much more to say about El Rushbo (even though it would be great theater).

Judge Orders Teen to Cancer Treatment

Thanks to Matt Drudge for keeping this story from Brieitbart.com up on his page for a couple of days toward the end of last week. It's an important and disturbing story.

I first heard of the story on the Sean Hannity show 2 weeks ago or so and then saw the young man and his dad on Hannity and Colmes that same evening on FoxNews. He was an especially articulate young man and my wife and I assumed he was probably home schooled.

Sean told his audience he would have Abraham Cherrix on the following week for the latest news in his pending court case. Maybe I missed it, but as far as I know Sean never followed up on this story. That's even more disturbing. (I'll write more about this on another post)

Please read the following AP story:

A judge ruled Friday that a 16-year-old boy fighting to use alternative treatment for his cancer must report to a hospital by Tuesday and accept treatment that doctors deem necessary, the family's attorney said.

The judge also found Starchild Abraham Cherrix's parents were neglectful for allowing him to pursue alternative treatment of a sugar-free, organic diet and herbal supplements supervised by a clinic in Mexico, lawyer John Stepanovich said.

Jay and Rose Cherrix of Chincoteague on Virginia's Eastern Shore must continue to share custody of their son with the Accomack County Department of Social Services, as the judge had previously ordered, Stepanovich said.

The parents were devastated by the new order and planned to appeal, the lawyer said.

Stepanovich said he will ask a higher court on Monday to stay enforcement of the order, which requires the parents to take Abraham to Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk and to give the oncologist their written legal consent to treat their son for Hodgkin's disease.

"I want to caution all parents of Virginia: Look out, because Social Services may be pounding on your door next when they disagree with the decision you've made about the health care of your child," Stepanovich said.

Phone calls to the Cherrix home went unanswered.

The lawyer declined to release the ruling, saying juvenile court Judge Jesse E. Demps has sealed much of the case.

Social Services officials have declined to comment, citing privacy laws.

After three months of chemotherapy last year made him nauseated and weak, Abraham rejected doctors' recommendations to go through a second round when he learned early this year that his Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes, was active again.

A social worker then asked a judge to require the teen to continue conventional treatment. In May, the judge issued a temporary order finding Abraham's parents neglectful and awarding partial custody to the county, with Abraham continuing to live at home with his four siblings.

Whatever happened to freedom of choice? If he was a she and was pregnant and wanted an abortion, all she would have to do is contact her high school counselor for a surreptitious trip to the local abortion clinic. No questions asked and the parents never need know.

My, what a duplicitous world in which we live!

ACLU encouraged by U.N.'s concern about U.S. Human Rights

The gall of the U.N. to question whether or not the U.S. is negligent in the area of human rights. Maybe they should take the giant sequoia tree out of their own eye before daring to accuse us.

Good timing. They are requesting a massive influx of money, of which the highest percentage will come from us. Would that we had the cahones to kick them the hell out of this country.

This is welcomed news to the American Criminal Liberties Union:

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND--A United Nations human rights body expressed grave concerns today about the record of human rights in the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union with a delegation of 10 and working with a broad coalition of other groups is in Geneva to monitor the examination of the United States the U.N. Human Rights Committee (HRC).

In a two-day session that concluded today, the committee members pressured the United States for answers on the following issues:

The sentencing of children to life without parole and the disproportionate incarceration of minorities;
The militarization of the border;
The failure to prevent human rights violations and respond in a non discriminatory manner to Hurricane Katrina;
The failure to end racial profiling practices, specifically the profiling of South Asian convenience store employees in Georgia;
Warrantless spying on ordinary Americans;
The abuse of women in prison; and
The indefinite detention, rendition and torture of non-citizens.

'The U.S. should be ashamed of itself,' said Ann Beeson, Director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program. 'The review by the Human Rights Committee was a stark and all too accurate condemnation of the state of rights in America.'

See the rest of the maddening story over at the Stop The ACLU blog.

House votes to keep "under God" in pledge

The House acted today as if there was no right to not be offended by voting to keep those two most offensive words, "under God," in the Pledge of Allegiance. How dare they?

Don't they realize that the left will construe this to mean that Church and State will have become one and the same.

I guess this also means that the God people still out number the Godless people. Were it not so, the vote would have been juxtaposed, right?

"Disproportionate Response" to say the least!

These guys knocked it out of the park once again with their portrayal of the the world against Israel. As usual there is always more to offer at their site in the way of stories and followup. So, be sure to visit C & F for some detailed accounts of the story behind the toon.

Still, their visual speaks volumes.

"To my Arab brothers: The War with Israel Is Over-and they won."

If you're still not hearing the Mark Levin show, you're missing out on the real deal! He's the self-described clean up man at the end of the day after everyone else has had their say on the radio airwaves. Levin is on top of all things political and he takes no crap from anybody and makes brilliant fun of the vacuous leftists. He's rapidly becoming democrat enemy #2 on the radio dial (after Rush, of course), and his show is the fastest growing syndicated show in the history of talk radio. If he's not in your city and you're near a computer, listen to him live everyday at 6-8pm EDT at WABC online. Today Mark read an incredible piece from the Jewish World Review. It was an open letter to the Palestinians titled, To my Arab brothers and it's a powerful piece.

Here it is in its entirety:

With Israel entering its fourth week of an incursion into the same Gaza Strip it voluntarily evacuated a few months ago, a sense of reality among Arabs is spreading through commentary by Arab pundits, letters to the editor, and political talk shows on Arabic-language TV networks. The new views are stunning both in their maturity and in their realism. The best way I can think of to convey them is in the form of a letter to the Palestinian Arabs from their Arab friends:

Dear Palestinian Arab brethren:

The war with Israel is over.

You have lost. Surrender and negotiate to secure a future for your children.

We, your Arab brothers, may say until we are blue in the face that we stand by you, but the wise among you and most of us know that we are moving on, away from the tired old idea of the Palestinian Arab cause and the "eternal struggle" with Israel.

Dear friends, you and your leaders have wasted three generations trying to fight for Palestine, but the truth is the Palestine you could have had in 1948 is much bigger than the one you could have had in 1967, which in turn is much bigger than what you may have to settle for now or in another 10 years. Struggle means less land and more misery and utter loneliness.

At the moment, brothers, you would be lucky to secure a semblance of a state in that Gaza Strip into which you have all crowded, and a small part of the West Bank of the Jordan. It isn't going to get better. Time is running out even for this much land, so here are some facts, figures, and sound advice, friends.

You hold keys, which you drag out for television interviews, to houses that do not exist or are inhabited by Israelis who have no intention of leaving Jaffa, Haifa, Tel Aviv, or West Jerusalem. You shoot old guns at modern Israeli tanks and American-made fighter jets, doing virtually no harm to Israel while bringing the wrath of its mighty army down upon you. You fire ridiculously inept Kassam rockets that cause little destruction and delude yourselves into thinking this is a war of liberation. Your government, your social institutions, your schools, and your economy are all in ruins.

Your young people are growing up illiterate, ill, and bent on rites of death and suicide, while you, in effect, are living on the kindness of foreigners, including America and the United Nations. Every day your officials must beg for your daily bread, dependent on relief trucks that carry food and medicine into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while your criminal Muslim fundamentalist Hamas government continues to fan the flames of a war it can neither fight nor hope to win.

In other words, brothers, you are down, out, and alone in a burnt-out landscape that is shrinking by the day.

Atlas Shrugs: Israel Rally in NYC "OVERWHELMING!"

If you were listening to Rush today, you heard the effervescent, fast talking, Pamela from the Atlas Shrugs blog. She IS Atlas, don't you know! Go to her site and see the pics of the Israel Rally in NYC today. Where else are you gonna hear about the pro-Israel rally.

Way to go Pamela! You made the Maha Rushie's front page!

Are America and Israel Denying God?

Just for the record, I never created this blog with the intention of turning it in to something "religious," nor do I now. I'm an information/political/current events junkie and I post items that are interesting and thought provoking to me with the hope that someone else out there might find them interesting and thought provoking as well. One or two of you do, at times.

I try to post things that will make the reader think about what's going on in the world around us.
As I self-analyze this blog and my postings, I find that many of my posts have, in fact, become somewhat "religious," over the last couple of years although I'm not comfortable with that term and I've never considered myself to be religious. Yes, I'm a Christian and I try to keep the Big 10 to the best of my ability, with the help of the Holy Spirit, but I still don't think that I fit the mold of "religious." Or maybe it's just the fact that I don't wear my religion on my shirtsleeve.

I'm more of a Doug Giles style, irreligious sort of Christian who doesn't really fit in to the stereotypical mold. Mainly because there are some pretty obnoxious "Christians" out there and I've never wanted to be associated with them.

I say all that to say this, and not apologetically; when I post something "religious," I do it because it's from someone I know to be spot on, timely and thought provoking. No one is proselyting or trying to raise money here. The goal of all of my posts is to get the reader to think. Sometimes outside the proverbial box and possibly beyond conventional wisdom and/or dogma.

Having said that, my friend Bill Lussenheide sent out an excellent email today which is timely for this country as well as for Israel. Please read it:

Greetings all!

Jesus said in
Matthew 10:33, "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."

I am very concerned about a concerted effort throughout the United States to remove any reference to God in public places. Whether they be schools, buildings or courthouses, even books.

Faith in God has been a part of the bedrock of philosophy of this nation. We have been blessed for it as a people. However, the above scripture warns us, that if we dare to forget God, he will indeed forget us!

It is odd and startling that a nation that historically has put "In God We Trust" on all of its currency and coins , and has the words "Under God" in it's Pledge of Allegiance, swears it's President in with the use of a Bible, is now on a deliberate course to hide from it's Eternal Almighty Benefactor. Certainly the Evil One has a hand in this, and dares us to forget about where we once were as a nation, and where it's values once laid.

The tallest structure in Washington D.C., the Washington Monument has inscribed at it's top "Laus Deo," which means "Praise Be To God."

Recognition of "Almighty God," "Supreme Being," or "Sovereign Ruler of the Universe" is written into the constitutions and found in ALL 50 of the United States!

Let all of us who acknowledge Jesus Christ and the Father God of the Bible , resist this Satanic led, Post Modern, Humanistic effort to have us deny our God in Heaven. Abundant Living cannot be found apart from God!

Your Friend,
Bill Lussenheide-Abundant Living

May God bless you as you seek to live by His Word!

Bill's one of the good guys. Think about what he said. Not only does it apply to America, I'm afraid it applies to Israel at this most critical of times. To be sure, Jews and Christians around the world are steadfastly praying for Israel in their current time of need, but have they turned their back on the God who chose them so many millennia ago?

Vatican condemns Israel

In a Reuters report, Vatican condemns Israel for attacks on Lebanon. Heaven forbid, that anyone should ever condemn the whacked out murdering terrorists!

What's becoming of the world and what are people thinking? The problem is, they are not thinking.

Apparently ALL common sense has been tossed out the window when the acts of terrorist states are ignored and minority states, such as Israel, are condemned for fighting back...finally fighting back.

Has anyone mentioned the failed policy of "land for peace?" Maybe Israel just hasn't appeased the terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, nearly enough. But,how do you negotiate with terrorists who don't recognize your right to exist? How do you do that exactly? Where does the "road to peace" lead when your enemies want you dead and demand you give up your entire country? In the case of Hamas and the Hezbollah, the road leads directly to the Mediterranean Sea.

Never forget the famous Jimmy Carter quote about Hamas; "They may be terrorists, but they're not corrupt"

It's that kind of Carteresque "touchy feely, be nice to them or they might get angry" egalitarian, moral equivalent loving leftism that has gotten Israel into the fix they are now in. We are in the same fix.

We are just as much a part of this war as Israel is and we can't allow her to lose. If Israel loses this fight against the Middle East terrorist states, then we lose as well. The United States and Israel have to win this war, with or without our skiddish allies (read Europe). There can be no appeasement. No land for peace. No U.N. settlement.

There can be multilateral peace talks after the war has been won, but only after the will and the means of the terrorists have been utterly broken.

Rush: Unleash Israel and Win Peace

Rush posted his timeless (dated 12-7-2001) op/ed today on how Israel can win the peace. It was true then and it's true today. Here's a peek:

In his April 16, 1945 address before a Joint Session of Congress, President Harry Truman stated: "So there can be no possible misunderstanding, both Germany and Japan can be certain, beyond any shadow of doubt, that America will continue the fight for freedom until no vestige of resistance remains. We are deeply conscious of the fact that much hard fighting is still ahead of us. Having to pay such a heavy price to make complete victory certain, America will never become a party to any plan for partial victory. To settle for merely another temporary respite would surely jeopardize the future security of the world. Our demand has been, and it remains, unconditional surrender."

Don't miss the rest of Truman's speech and Rush's commentary on why Israel must completely defeat their enemies once and for all.

Today is The 17th of Tammuz

A caller on Hugh Hewitt's show just mentioned that today is the 17th of Tammuz on the Hebrew calendar.

According to the caller and the above linked website, this day is significant on many levels to Jews around the world. It is a day of fasting and mourning and one of beseeching God.

Ironically, today was the first time the port city of Haifa was rocketed by Hezbollah and the war has been stepped up substantially by Israel.

I wonder if Hezbollah even has a clue with Whom they are taunting.

Yoni Tidi, an Israeli, Israeli insider and regular caller on Hewitt's show indicated that from what he gathers (and he seemed to speak knowingly) that by this time Monday, Syria will not have known what hit them.

Insight on Israel and the Middle East

News is breaking hourly in Israel and the Middle East in general and it's always good to have an inside source. One of my favorite "go to" guys on the subject of Israel...past, present and future, is JOEL C. ROSENBERG.

He delineates some of the mistakes Israel has made in the recent past which have lead to the terror attacks and subsequent acts of war:

In the spring of 2000, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak withdrew his country's military forces from southern Lebanon. This was not part of a negotiated peace treaty with the government of Lebanon, or Syria, or any other sovereign state. Instead, it was a unilateral Israeli move "to bring about an end to the on-going terrorism and confrontation on the northern border, and to facilitate further progress in the peace process," according to a statement by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time. Sadly, just the opposite has occurred. The radical Islamic group Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, saw Israel's withdrawal as a sign of weakness and surrender in the War on Terror. They subsequently built up their terrorist forces in southern Lebanon and waited for the right moment to strike. And strike they now have.

In the summer of 2005, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew his country's military forces from Gaza. Again, this was not part of a negotiated peace treaty with the Palestinian leadership. It was instead a unilateral move intended to bring about peace. But more terrorism -- not less -- has resulted.

Now, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank and divide Jerusalem, effectively handing sovereignty over to Hamas. This would be a far more disastrous mistake. It will make a bad situation that much worse because it, too, will be perceived by terrorist groups and terrorist states as acts of weakness and surrender, not wisdom and peace. It will embolden Hamas and her allies. It will put deadly rockets within range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the Ben Gurion International Airport. It will allow Hamas to create a state with formal military alliances with Iran and Syria. And it could destabilize Jordan and Egypt in the process.

Now is not the time to unilaterally withdraw from anything. Now is the time for Israel to crush Hamas and Hezbollah. And now is the time for the U.S. to do everything in our power to help -- including vigorously defending Israel's acts of self-defense at the U.N. and the G8 Summit. Israel is a vital ally in the War on Terror. Her victory will be ours as well.

In other words, so much for the concept of "Peace for land." Far too often the failed policies of appeasement aren't realized until war results and people have died. In this current conflict, no, war, a victory must take place. It's too late for appeasement. Let's hope Israel is the victor as she has been in the 7 previous wars.

The American Criminal Liberties Union

Jay Stephenson, at his Stop The ACLU Blog is doing yeoman's work over there doing battle with the leftist extremists in the ACLU, who are more concerned about the "rights" of convicted criminals than anything else, with the possible exception of simultaneously destroying everything good in America.

Earmark his blog and consider joining his Stop the ACLU Blogburst.

U.S. Taxpayers to fund Mexican development?

The world is an evermore dangerous place today with the Middle East igniting in several places with more ignitions on the way, but be careful not to be distracted and let something like this slip under the radar screen.

According to the WorldNetDaily story, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, wants to create a "North American Investment Fund" to aid in the development of Mexico public works projects. Huh?

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Mexico isn't exactly poor. It's one of the world's top oil producers. How about we get them to produce even more oil and sell it to us at a discount in return for all we've already done for them.

American taxpayers don't need to send anymore of our hardearned money down there than we already have in Social Security payments and untaxed dollars sent to families of illegal Mexican "immigrants" living here.

Enough is enough, Sen. Cornyn.

Wasn't NAFTA supposed to be the instrument whereby Mexico would become prosperous? Has NAFTA worked to keep the flood of illegals out?

Let's just quit talking about the border problem and illegal immigration and build a border fence that would seriously keep the illegals out.

Rove and La Raza

Karl Rove spoke to the members of the National Council of La Raza yesterday in Los Angeles and said this:

Everything that this country is, everything that we have achieved, everything that we hold, everything that we promise, is because we are a nation of diversity, brought together by immigration, and sharing a common dream.

What a crock! My BS detector just broke the sound barrier. Not only that but La Raza is an out and out racist organization. It's appalling that the administration would kiss up to this organization.

Joseph Farah wrote a good piece about this little get together. Farah's more than a little tired of the diversity rhetoric as well, as are most thinking people who are aware of our history and the motto of our country. Here's what Farah has to say:

I think if I hear this old saw about America owing everything to diversity one more time, I may gag. I may hurl. I may scream. It's not true. In fact, immigrants – and don't forget this – owe everything to America. We're not great because we're diverse. We're great because we once subscribed to a national creed. But thanks to the likes of La Raza haters, that's no longer true.

Furthermore, diversity is the last thing on the minds of the La Raza crowd. La Raza no more promotes diversity and tolerance than does the Ku Klux Klan.

I guess Rove forgot what La Raza's reaction was when his boss nominated Linda Chavez to the position of secretary of labor.

The lead spokeswoman of the group protested the naming of a Hispanic woman.

"The point of having a diverse Cabinet is to have someone who represents the views of that community," she said. "But Chavez has made a career of saying, 'I'm opposed to what most Latinos think and want.'"

La Raza may use the word "diversity." But the meaning of the word has been turned upside down. It doesn't mean what the dictionary says. It means the opposite. It means conformity. It means if you're Hispanic, you must think a certain way – or else you're not really Hispanic. You must believe what the founders of La Raza believe – that is to say what their puppet-masters in the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation who created the organization want them to believe.

Be sure to read the entire piece.

GOP.com...en Espanol!

In an effort to attract the Mexican vote, the GOP now has two websites. One for us Gringos and one for the "newly arrived" en Espanol!

I didn't see anything about the illegal immigration problem on the Espanol site; neither was there any mention of the border problem. Nor was there any admonition that it would be a good idea if they learned our language and began to assimilate as soon as possible.

Visit the site and if you're so inspired let them know what you think about either or both sites and if it makes you want to send them money, which, afterall, is the underlying reason for the sites.

Too many choices?

Be very wary of those who lament about having too many choices. Think about it. Why would anyone make such a claim? Those who have lost influence, status, ratings or money to new and more competitors certainly would like to see fewer choices, right?

I bet CBS News would like there to be fewer choices. Go ahead and include all of the MSM in the list of lamentors. The list goes on and on in virtually every field of endeavor.

Monopolies give us no choice whatsoever and where there is no competition the consumer suffers. Stood in line at the Post Office lately? Or for that matter, remember the "good old days" of the Big Three Networks?

Fortune magazine has a piece by Marc Gunther about this issue of "too many choices." It's titled, There is such a thing as too much choice. Check it out.

8 Easy Steps to Destroy America

A couple of years ago, Richard Lamm, the former governor of Colorado gave a speech to the Federation for American Immigration Reform titled, "I have a plan to destroy America." It's still making the rounds because of it's astounding relevance.

In an effort to wake people up, WorldNetDaily, has reprinted it. Don't miss it!

Press this, Pilgrim!

Thanks to Mike Gallagher for this refreshing glimpse of political incorrectness from the Duke. Now that's Cowboy Diplomacy!

If you'd like to download and hear some of the Duke's finest recitations, go here. You'll want to earmark this website!

Is this story Bunk or not?

Few people or news agencies are taking this topic seriously for fear of being marginalized, minimalized, demonized and labeled as a whacked out right wing conspiracy freak. Did I mention heterosexual Christian? No matter...Joseph Farah at WorldNetDaily fears no one and carries on with the investigation of the possibility of a U.S.-Mexico merger.

But Farah isn't the only one talking about this; in past weeks Mike Gallagher has, and will continue to talk about the Trans Texas Corridor and it's ties with the North American Community.

Most recently, Lou Dobbs, no right wing conspriracy whacko, has weighed in on the "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America."

Read Joseph Farah's article to see what may be going on.

Dealing with Nuclear Warheads and the bad guys (thanks Bill and Madeleine!)

Ok, the little Mad Man of North Korea has launched his little dong missiles and promises to launch more. While he's shooting blanks India launched a test missile of her own this weekend. Who knows when Iran will test their strength or impotence, whichever the case may be.

Hmmm...any difference here? Well sure, India is our friend and isn't a threat. I'll buy that! But there will always be leftists who see absolutely no difference between the good guys and the bad guys and will be equally indignant over the right to self-defense (or in the case of the bad guys, offense!).

So, what if Taiwan feels the need to flex their might and decides to fire off a few missiles? Hopefully they'll show the world a larger, more powerful dong than the mostly impotent Kim Jong Il whose staying power is about 45 seconds. If China counters, then what?

Since the United States is one of the few countries remaining who eschews the bogus philosophy of moral equivalence, we won't say much about our allies when they test their armaments and as well we shouldn't!

Still, the world in which we live seems to be breeding nuclear powers faster than you can say, "Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright " and something other than limp wristed U.N.-type diplomacy needs to happen before things get out of hand.

My friend, Ronald L. Dart has some opinions of his own about the nuclear arms race. Scroll down to "The Korean Problem."

Italy wins World Cup...big whoop!

Pardon me for not partaking in the globalistic joy of the World Cup.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Italy. That there's an Explosion of joy in Rome is just fine with me. Better Italy than Iran, or Cuba, Venezuela or some other third world dictatorship. At least Italy likes us and for that reason, I share in their joy.

What I don't share is their love of soccer.

Nor do I feel guilt for hating soccer. Puhleasssse don't foist that on me, or the metric system for that matter. We're America, afterall. Remember?...baseball, hotdogs and apple pie?

Let the world rejoice in all things soccer, international socialism, political correctness, diversity, egalitarianism, zero tolerance, confiscatory taxation and itty bitty cars. We're working to rid ourselves of those destructive behaviors.

As for me and mine, America, real football, baseball, M & M's, hotdogs, Shiner Bock and apple pie ala mode is what it's all about. May God continue to bless America and those who earnestly seek Him!

(Photo courtesy of Cream City Calligraphers and by the way, isn't that a fantastic still life of Americana...visit their website to show them your appreciation!)

It's about time they get slapped!

In a piece by Kevin McCullough over at Townhall.com we see that a couple of activist judges got slapped around by a higher court and warned that they are going to be watched in the future. Well, well...it's about time some of these miscreant judges be taken care of by their superiors:

Judge Doris Ling-Cohen of New York and Constance Russell of Georgia were sent stinging rebukes by their state's highest courts, and in cases that will be watched by other high courts in New Jersey, California and perhaps most importantly Washington. These women were given very clear lessons in judicial clarity and "We the People" rejoiced!

The Museum of Science and Industry

When President Bush visited Chicago last week, he toured The Museum of Science and Industry.

I hadn't thought of this in years, but when my dad was 13 or 14 (in 1933 or 1934), he won a trip to Chicago sponsored by the 4-H organization and one of the highlights of his trip was visiting that museum.

Growing up in the small, picturesque, northern Idaho town of Sandpoint, the metropolis of Chicago and seeing that museum made a lifelong impression on my dad.

Dad lived to be 78 and traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe, visiting untold numbers of museums and sites of interest around the world, but he always spoke fondly of his boyhood travels to Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry; which is why I have linked it on my blogroll with some of the other world class museums I have listed.

Be sure to hit the link and take a tour!

(photo courtesy of aviewoncities.com)

Public hearing on the Trans-Texas Corridor

Thanks to Marius3188 at FreeRepublic for bringing this to my attention.

According to the local McKinney, Texas newspaper the Texas Department of Transportation is going to hold a public hearing about the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor:

"On July 13, the Texas Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing at which Collin County residents may express their concerns, ask questions and make comments about plans for the stretch of the Trans-Texas Corridor that will parallel I-35.

TTC-35 is one of the four main toll roads planned for the Trans-Texas Corridor system, which is a series of thoroughfares criss-crossing the state, just outside metropolitan areas.

In 2002, Governor Rick Perry released plans for the project, saying the measure would relieve traffic congestion in Texas' major cities and would provide an alternative route for commercial trucks, often hauling hazardous freight.

The TTC-35 corridor includes three passenger lanes in each direction; two truck lanes in each direction; a high-speed rail line, a commuter rail line and a freight rail line in each direction.

The hearing next week is one of a series of 54 meetings beginning in mid-July and continuing for five consecutive weeks from July 10 through August 10. The meetings are the fourth set of public hearings on TTC-35 that give residents an opportunity to comment on the proposed development of the road. These public hearings are the culmination of a two-year public involvement process that has already included 117 public meetings netting more than 4,000 comments."

Wow! That is so weird! I thought the TTC was some contrived concoction of the whacked out conspiratorial right wing fringe. Who da thunk it?!

More on the TTC here, here, here and here.

Victor Davis Hanson: The Israel (and American) Enigma

Surely most rational people, at least on the right side of the isle, have wondered why Israel is always portrayed as the bad guy in a war against terrorists. For that matter, why is the United States generally portrayed (by the MSM) as a world-class meanie?

The answer for both countries is fairly similar and Victor Davis Hanson explains it brilliantly and succinctly. I'll not steal his thunder by reprinting the money quotes, so hit his link and see why we're so hated, (we, being the United States and Israel) even by many of our own.

Is Liberty possible for all of mankind?

Today we celebrate liberty, freedom and independence. Liberty, freedom and independence from what? From tyranny, that's what. For 230 years America has enjoyed independence and during that 230 years freedom has spread to more nations than ever before in history. Isn't that the way it should be?

For 230 years we've been the "beacon of freedom" and the world has looked to us as the symbol of freedom and opportunity. For that reason people are literally dying to get here by any means possible.

Today's Born To Win radio broadcast is a special 4th of July edition titled Beacon of Freedom. Just click on the link or scroll down to the "Born To Win Daily Broadcast" icon to hear this Independence Day message. It's good!

The New Townhall

The newly acquired Townhall by the Salem Radio Network launched today. It's a whole new entity with a whole new look. Grab a cup of coffee and spend some time there.

Thomas Sowell's piece, Is patriotism obsolete? is the first thing that caught my eye. It's not your basic feel good rah rah 4th of July hot dogs and firecrackers kind of message, but you need to read it:

On the eve of a holiday that used to stir patriotic emotions -- the Fourth of July -- it has been painful to see examples of how little remains of that glue that holds a society together.

Perhaps the worst of these signs of national disintegration was the New York Times' recent revealing to the whole world the covert methods by which the American government has been tracking the money that finances international terrorism.

The usual excuses about "the public's right to know" ring even more hollow than usual in this case. The public was not dying to know the methods by which their lives were being safeguarded. Only the terrorists were helped by these revelations.

Americans may in fact be dying literally now because of what the terrorists have been told -- and ultimately because a jerk inherited the New York Times. As usual, the mainstream media circled the wagons around one of their own. The media spin is that the terrorists were already bound to know that we were monitoring their international transfers of money. The Times says terrorists had to "suspect" this.

You get the drift! Sowell is spot on as usual. Read the whole thing.

Independence Day 2006!

This famous painting of the Signing of the Declaration by Trumbull can be found at the Declaration of Independence website. It's an excellent site! One you'll want to visit on this holiday.

Be sure to read What July 4 Means to Me by Ben Franklin, yes, that Ben Franklin. In the piece he says:

America will, with God’s blessing, become a great and happy country. This country affords a good climate, fine wholesome air, plenty of provisions, good laws, just and cheap government, with all the civil and religious liberties that reasonable men can wish for. A virtuous and laborious people may be cheaply governed.

I have sometimes almost wished it had been my destiny to have been born two or three centuries hence, for inventions of improvement are prolific, and beget more of their kind. The present progress is rapid. Many of great importance, now unthought of, will before that period be procured.

What was very much understood by our founding dads and what we seem to have forgotten is this:

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

I wonder what he would think of our nation on this July 4th.

I thought I'd link Vox Day's piece, from last year titled, "What independence?" It gives one pause. Do you think we're better off a year later or not? Vox Day makes some strong points.

Check out the Squiggler. She has some good 4th of July links and here's a comprehensive link to government sites. Might as well see where some of those tax dollars are being spent!

Today's Gaggle: A Tribute to the NYTimes

Now this is rich! I bumped into this Gaggle at NewsBusters. For more "Tributes" to the Old Gray Lady be sure to go to Michelle Malkin's to see some creative posters seen at the NYTimes protest today.

The Source of our Liberty and Independence

Someone sent us an email this week containing some powerful quotations from our Founding Dads. These quotes serve as a reminder that God was an integral part of the foundation of this country. Here are a few of them:

"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." -Declaration of Independence

"Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the
country was the first thing that struck my attention...The Americans
combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their
minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the
other." -Alexis de Tocqueville, French Historian

"The religion which has introduced civil liberty, is the religion of
Christ and his apostles, which enjoins humility, piety and benevolence;
which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen
with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our
free constitutions of government." -Noah Webster

"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed
their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these
liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but
with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God
is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever." -Thomas Jefferson

"Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indispensable supports. Whatever may be
conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar
structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national
morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." -George
Washington

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by
tyrants." -William Penn

"The right to freedom being the gift of the Almighty...The rights of the
colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully
studying the institution of The Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian
Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New
Testament." -Samuel Adams

Getting Ready for Independence Day 2006

Time to dust off the really important papers and documents our Foredads wrote which made our independence possible. Cox & Forkum have some excellent links to help prepare for Independence Day.

Do we even need science to disprove him?

The OpinionJournal ran a piece countering Algore's "consensus" that our lifestyle is causing global warming and that we (America) MUST change NOW the way we live. The filthy, dirty third and fourth world countries get a pass, but WE must change, ergo, give money to the rest of the world as penitence for our evil consumption.

"Even among those arguing, there is general agreement that we can't attribute any particular hurricane to global warming. To be sure, there is one exception, Greg Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., who argues that it must be global warming because he can't think of anything else. While arguments like these, based on lassitude, are becoming rather common in climate assessments, such claims, given the primitive state of weather and climate science, are hardly compelling.

A general characteristic of Mr. Gore's approach is to assiduously ignore the fact that the earth and its climate are dynamic; they are always changing even without any external forcing. To treat all change as something to fear is bad enough; to do so in order to exploit that fear is much worse. Regardless, these items are clearly not issues over which debate is ended--at least not in terms of the actual science.

A clearer claim as to what debate has ended is provided by the environmental journalist Gregg Easterbrook. He concludes that the scientific community now agrees that significant warming is occurring, and that there is clear evidence of human influences on the climate system. This is still a most peculiar claim. At some level, it has never been widely contested. Most of the climate community has agreed since 1988 that global mean temperatures have increased on the order of one degree Fahrenheit over the past century, having risen significantly from about 1919 to 1940, decreased between 1940 and the early '70s, increased again until the '90s, and remaining essentially flat since 1998.

There is also little disagreement that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have risen from about 280 parts per million by volume in the 19th century to about 387 ppmv today. Finally, there has been no question whatever that carbon dioxide is an infrared absorber (i.e., a greenhouse gas--albeit a minor one), and its increase should theoretically contribute to warming. Indeed, if all else were kept equal, the increase in carbon dioxide should have led to somewhat more warming than has been observed, assuming that the small observed increase was in fact due to increasing carbon dioxide rather than a natural fluctuation in the climate system. Although no cause for alarm rests on this issue, there has been an intense effort to claim that the theoretically expected contribution from additional carbon dioxide has actually been detected.

Given that we do not understand the natural internal variability of climate change, this task is currently impossible. Nevertheless there has been a persistent effort to suggest otherwise, and with surprising impact. Thus, although the conflicted state of the affair was accurately presented in the 1996 text of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the infamous "summary for policy makers" reported ambiguously that "The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate." This sufficed as the smoking gun for Kyoto."

Be sure to read the rest of the Opinion Journal piece, but really, do we even need science to debunk Algore? Why doesn't the left recognize that he's an incorrigible joke? He's becoming a characature of himself. What's so difficult to see about that? Surely he's becoming an embarrassment to at least some on the left!

The Constitutional Right to Jihad

Mark Steyn's column today is your basic "must read," as so many of his are. This one artfully critiques the atrocious Supreme Court ruling this past week which, in effect, rewrote the Geneva Conventions, not to mention the constitution, and now gives terrorists legitimacy. How nice!

Here's a Steyny tidbit:

The thinking behind them (the Geneva Conventions) was that, if one had to have wars, it's best if they're fought by soldiers and armies. In return for having a rank and serial number and dressing the part, you'll be treated as a lawful combatant should you fall into the hands of the other side. There'll always be a bit of skulking around in street garb among civilian populations, but the idea was to ensure that it would not be rewarded --that there would, in fact, be a downside for going that route.

The U.S. Supreme Court has now blown a hole in the animating principle behind the Geneva Conventions by choosing to elevate an enemy that disdains the laws of war in order to facilitate the bombing of civilian targets and the beheading of individuals. The argument made by Justice John Paul Stevens is an Alice-In-Jihadland ruling that stands the Conventions on their head in order to give words the precise opposite of their plain meaning and intent. The same kind of inspired jurisprudence conjuring trick that detected in the emanations of the penumbra how the Framers of the U..S Constitution cannily anticipated a need for partial-birth abortion and gay marriage has now effectively found a right to jihad -- or, if you're a female suicide bomber about to board an Israeli bus, a woman's right to Jews.

Be sure to read all of it.

A Double Standard at the ACLU?

What? A double standard at the ACLU? Say it ain't so!

See for yourself How the ACLU Lost its bearings over at the Stop the ACLU blog.

A recently replaced board member, Wendy Kaminer, writes a very critical op-ed in today’s LA Times. It includes many political divergences that I disagree with, but the overall point in exposing hypocrisy is on target. After a brief tribute to one of the ACLU’s founding communists, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and how she was ousted by the ACLU for her communist beliefs… Wendy shows the intolerance and hypocrisy of the organization so many on the left hail as heroes. The article is mixed with Bush administration criticism too which is her complete freedom to do, just as it is her freedom to criticize the organization she had put so much hope into and failed her. The main point her article makes is that if an organization is going to criticize certain practices they say jeapardizes our freedom, it greatly undermines their credibility when they engage in those same practices.

Check it out.

New Revelations about the Superman movie

There's a lot of hype about the Superman movie on which I want to comment.

I hear people on many different talk shows and even some hosts saying that they refuse to see Superman Returns because Superman was "gay" and that he was no longer "American" because he didn't promote "truth, justice and the American way." He supposedly left out the "American way" bit and added "all that other stuff" or words to that effect.

First of all, I saw the movie last Thursday before all the hype came out and to tell you the truth, I totally missed the "truth, justice and all that other stuff" line.

But having heard all the clamor, I googled the pertinent information and came to a site called SuperheroHype.com which should clarify a thing or two.

Some may be of the mistaken opinion that Superman, himself, uttered the imponderable unAmerican quote, but he didn't. True to form, it was the editor (Frank Langella) of the MSM Daily Planet who sluffed off the aforementioned comment. Think of him as the editor of the NYTimes or any other big time MSM newspaper and why would anyone be surprised that he would say such a thing. He's the editor of an MSM newspaper afterall!

Here's the other thing. I keep hearing that Superman is "gay." Huh? Who's suggesting this? The "gay lobby?" Are they suggesting that everyone who wears tights is gay? Isn't that a bit prejudicial? Have they forgotten that Superman has the hots for Lois Lane regardless of his attire?

Well if the Gay lobby can wishfully suggest that Superman is gay and others can suggest that he is unAmerican, I'm going to suggest that he is a conservative Christian convert from another planet who saw firsthand that liberalism and the leftist U.N. have been an abysmal failure and he has had to intervene domestically and internationally in order to save mankind. In fact, he altruistically sacrificed his very life for all mankind, not knowing whether or not he would be resuscitated.

Yes, there's no doubt about it, Superman is a devout heterosexual conservative Christian. You go, Supe!

Pic of the Day--He Ain't Heavy...

A mouse rides on the back of a frog in floodwaters in the northern Indian city Lucknow June 30, 2006. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar (INDIA)