The entertaining story of Farris Hassan

"And I'm like, 'Well, I should probably be going.' It was not a safe place. The way they were looking at me kind of freaked me out."

Sorry Guys! It was just a theory.

I don't know these people - but I wish I did. There are a ton of t-shirt sites out there, but these folks are doing it right. Hilarious through-and-through.

"Subversive tees at Bureaucrash.com"

"It looks like an Ernst Wilhelm Nay"

Chimp's painting fools experts
From: From correspondents in Moritzburg, Saxony

A GERMAN art expert was fooled into believing a painting done by a chimpanzee was the work of a master.

The director of the State Art Museum of Moritzburg in Saxony-Anhalt, Katja Schneider, suggested the painting was by the Guggenheim Prize-winning artist Ernst Wilhelm Nay.

"It looks like an Ernst Wilhelm Nay. He was famous for using such blotches of colour," Dr Schneider confidently asserted.

The canvas was actually the work of Banghi, a 31-year-old female chimp at the local zoo.

While Banghi likes to paint, she is not able to build up much of a body of work as her mate Satscho generally destroys her paintings before they can get to the gallery.

But this one survived long enough to give Dr Schneider a red face.

"I did think it looked a bit rushed," she told Bild newspaper.

Examples of Nay's work - is it any wonder there was confusion? I suppose this is artwork that only a chimp could love.

Can someone set off some bombs or something?

Today was an absolute disaster. The Sunni's showed up to the polls - who would have guessed!? They even showed up in droves to vote in Mosul, of all places! and Tikrit! WHAT!? and you'll never believe it - FALLUJAH had a stunningly high turn-out. FALLUJAH!

And the Iraqis singing songs of freedom and democracy in the peaceful streets? A disgrace...

What are we going to do now!? The Iraqis are much too happy for their own good. Something must be done, NOW!

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051215/D8EGR3JO3.html

Tags: iraq, iraqi election, middle east

Defining victory in Iraq

Next week's open Iraqi election - as opposed to a murderous dictator and his sons running an oil-for-food scam while enriching the likes of George Galloway and his ilk - is a victory in and of itself. This will be the most open election in the entire history of the Middle East - a HUGE victory is unfolding before those whose eyes are open.

Syria out of Lebanon is a victory.

A weakened Syrian dictatorship (Assad) is a victory.

Jordanians en masse condemning one of their own - Zarqawi - is a victory.

Libya giving up nuclear weapons is a victory.

The economic boom in the Iraqi Kurdish north and Shia south is a victory.

Egypt holding its first ever election (even if it was mostly a farce) is still a big victory.

Citizens of dictatorships such as Azerbaijan asking President Bush not to forget about them are victories.

The Democratic Party being pulled further to the left and further away from reality is a victory.

Saudi Teacher Sentenced to 750 Lashes

(11-17) 09:10 PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) --

A Saudi high-school chemistry teacher accused of discussing religion with his students has been sentenced to 750 lashes and 40 months in prison for blasphemy, officials said Thursday.

The court ruling was condemned by human rights activists, who said Mohammed Salamah al-Harbi was being imprisoned for having an "open discussion" with students.

Al-Harbi was convicted of questioning and ridiculing Islam, discussing the Bible and defending Jews, judicial officials said Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Our government isn't going to verbally criticize this. How can citizens, using technology, educate open-minded people on the ground in these draconian societes about individual rights? Answer - more of this:

Sabbah’s Blog
The Religious Policeman
Mahmood's Den - nice blogroll here too
Saudi Jeans

...and more voices fighting against this:
Saudi Arabia blocks access to Blogger, Flickr, LiveJournal

Killing medical researchers was "morally justified" to save laboratory animals - says animal rights activist

This is why we need free speech - the louder a microphone we give these people, the easier it is for the public to identify and root our their influence throughout all elements of society.

Jerry Vlasak, spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front, told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works that killing medical researchers was "morally justified" to save laboratory animals.

Vlasak compared the life of lab animals to African American slaves and the Jewish victims of Nazi concentration camps.

He made his comments while defending a similar statement, made to the news media last year: "I don't think you'd have to kill – assassinate – too many vivisectors before you would see a marked decrease in the amount of vivisection going on. And I think for five lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save a million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives."

The left is anti-individual its philiosophical core (or lack thereof) -- such a view of man is meaningless in future self-determined society -- these people are just louder than in the past because they have new media (capitalist) tools to spout their anti-humanity mantras. Thankfully, this is for the better -- because the louder they speak, the easier it is for people to see the lie and reject it.


Tags:animal rights, animal liberation front, peta, animals, socialism, terrorism

National Chorus of Cuba defects to Canada

While the left is down on bended knee praising Fidel and Hugo, more than 20 members of the National Chorus of Cuba risked their lives to breath Canada's free air.

Members of the National Chorus of Cuba dodged security officers and jumped into waiting cars, some on Sunday and others yesterday, said Cuban exiles who planned the defections.

"These people are scared for their lives," said Ismail Sambra, president of the Cuban Canadian Foundation. "They are worried about their families back home.

...

The highly acclaimed 40-member group, which travels the world promoting the Communist regime, arrived in Canada last week and performed in the Toronto and Port Hope areas.

That's a hell of a promotion, Fidel.

Tags: cuba, castro, chavez

Update:
Also see Marathon Pundit's In Cuba: White Sox pitchers Jose Contreras and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez are "non-persons"

78.59 percent

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's landmark constitution was adopted by a majority in a fair vote during the country's Oct. 15 referendum, as Sunni Arab opponents failed to muster enough support to defeat it, election officials said Tuesday. A prominent Sunni politician called the balloting "a farce."

Funny from ScrappleFace:

Iraq Constitution Approval Another Setback for Bush
by Scott Ott

(2005-10-25) -- In yet another setback for the Bush administration, Iraqi electoral officials announced today that voters have approved the new Iraqi Constitution by a margin of 78-to-21 percent.

This new bit of bad news will likely drive President George Bush's popularity ratings into the single digits, according to an unnamed expert from a non-partisan, progressive political think-tank.

"The Bush foreign policy continues to be fatally-wounded by clarity of purpose, dogged persistence and a pathetic failure to capitulate in the face of opposition," the source said. "At a time when a real leader would be paralyzed with self-doubt over the meaningless deaths of 2,000 American troops, Bush continues to act as if freeing 25 million Iraqis from decades of oppression, torture and death is somehow worth the price paid by those who volunteered to fight."

"It's sad to watch our international credibility crumble like this," the anonymous policy expert said. "In 2008, I'm afraid you're going to see voters leaving the Republican party in droves, desperate to find a leader who provides a stronger sense of nuance and ambiguity."

Technorati Tags: iraq, Middle East, War on Terror

Alberta earns more from privatized liquor sales

The government of Alberta, which privatized its retail outlets a decage ago, profits more from provincial liquor sales than Ontario or Quebec, a new study has found.

Valentin Petkantchin, the research director, found Alberta, which still controls the importing and wholesaling of liquor, collected a dividend of $24.27 for every litre of pure alcohol sold, compared to $23.42 per litre in Ontario and $23.43 in Quebec.

This translated into millions of dollars in profits for the province, he said.

''I think there is no reason not to privatize,'' Mr. Petkantchin said.

Tags: Alberta, Canada

How about a race to the moon?

US to send four astronauts to moon in 2018 via Yahoo

How about a race to the moon - the private sector versus NASA? Think Celera Genomics versus The Human Genome Project. Is Burt Rutan listening?



Technorati Tags: genetics, nasa, moon, space, burt rutan

Tax Funded Prostitution for the Disabled

I can't imagine my tax dollars being spent this way.

Danish activists for the disabled are staunchly defending a government campaign that pays sex workers to provide sex once a month for disabled people.

Opposition parties call the program, officially known as ''Sex, irrespective of disability,'' immoral.

''We spend a large proportion of our taxes rescuing women from prostitution. But at the same time we officially encourage carers to help contact with prostitutes,'' said Social-Democrat spokesperson Kristen Brosboel.

Three cheers for socialized medicine...err prostitution?

Technorati Tags: prostitution, socialism, denmark, healthcare

The Maine Pork Barrel Busters

Instapundit and the NZ Bear are urging bloggers to highlight pork barrel spending from our home states - and suggest to our congressional leaders to cut this waste from federal appropriations in order to fund the Hurricane Katrina reconstruction.

How are we going to mobilize the blogosphere in support of cuts in wasteful spending to support Katrina relief? Here's the plan.

Identify some wasteful spending in your state or (even better) Congressional District. Put up a blog post on it. Go to N.Z. Bear's new PorkBusters page and list the pork, and add a link to your post.

Then call your Senators and Representative and ask them if they're willing to support having that program cut or -- failing that -- what else they're willing to cut in order to fund Katrina relief. (Be polite, identify yourself as a local blogger and let them know you're going to post the response on your blog). Post the results. Then go back to NZ Bear's page and post a link to your followup blog post.

The result should be a pretty good resource of dubious spending, and Congressional comments thereon, for review by blogs, members of the media, etc. And maybe even members of Congress looking for wasteful spending . . . .

Here is a quick list of federal funds being wasted in my home state of Maine.

- $4,000,000 for a multi-use trail and snowmobile accommodations for the Route 116 Bridge in Medway
- $3,000,000 for the replacement of the Route 201-A "covered" bridge in Norridgewock
- $2,800,000 for bicycle trails, "amenities," and "traffic circulation" improvements in Bangor
- $1,000,000 for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Stillwater River in Orono
- $500,000 for bike and pedestrian trails in Katahdin
- $250,800 to purchase new buses to improve the commute to Jackson Labs in Bar Harbor
- $250,000 for construction the Great Falls Parking Garage in Auburn
- $220,000 to the Blueberry Hill Farm in Jonesboro for renovations
- $97,000 Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston

TOTAL = 12,117,800

I am sure there is more waste - if you know of any, please contact me.

Technorati Tags: porkbusters, katrina, pork barrel, instapundit, taxes, new orleans

Wal-mart versus FEMA

Burt Flickinger III, managing director for Strategic Resource Group in New York, noted that Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott was groomed as a trucking manager and said Scott used his expertise to make sure the company was ready for the crisis.

"Unlike local, state and the federal government, which didn't react until days after the hurricane hit, Wal-Mart was at work around the clock before Katrina even hit land to have the stores fully stocked with full pallet positions of water, flashlights, batteries, canned soup, canned meat," Flickinger said.

"Wal-Mart served the city far better than any private or public institution," he said.

Of course it did...

...media coverage wasn't the focus for Wal-Mart, though the company drew a prominent mention when it sent trailerloads of goods to New Orleans that were turned away early on by Federal Emergency Management Agency officials.

Of course it did...

Tags: fema, new orleans,bureaucracy, katrina, wal-mart

Fema Disaster Rap for Kids

Your tax dollars at work…

FEMA for Kids Rap

Disaster . . . it can happen anywhere,
But we’ve got a few tips, so you can be prepared
For floods, tornadoes, or even a ‘quake,
You’ve got to be ready - so your heart don’t break.

Disaster prep is your responsibility
And mitigation is important to our agency.

People helping people is what we do
And FEMA is there to help see you through
When disaster strikes, we are at our best
But we’re ready all the time, ’cause disasters don’t rest.

audio (requires real audio)

Tags: fema, new orleans,bureaucracy, katrina

In Katrina's wake, a tidal wave of blind hatred spewing from the mystical Left

I am getting sick tonight reading these responses...These people are clearly seeking to incite violence - an uprising against a "racist" America. True colors are coming out - but those colors can also be very scary.

According to Drudge:

KANYE WEST ON NBC FUNDRAISER: 'GEORGE BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE... They're saying black families are looting and white families are just looking for food...they're giving the (Army) permission to shoot us'... Actor Mike Myers asked people to donate... then Kanye West went on a tirade about Iraq... MORE...

Self-proclaimed human rights advocate Randall Robinson calls America a monsterous fraud.

My hand shakes with anger as I write. I, the formerly un-jaundiced human rights advocate, have finally come to see my country for what it really is. A monstrous fraud.

Was George Bush the one who was looting? Was it Karl Rove raping children? Was Condi Rice the person shooting at rescue vehicles? Asking such questions to the kind of person who believes that this country is a "monstrous fraud" is useless.

These people harbor a disease of mysticism - this disease blinds them with a hatred that is nearly equivalent to that which foments inside the mind of a radical islamist. The need to blame something, anything, for their insecurities and self-loathing in the face of something they can not explain trumps all other desires.

Emboldened by a mainstream media that has subtly hinted that racism is the root cause of this catastrophe, it is hardly surprising in an era where voices of all sorts have the loud microphone of new media to trumpet their ideas, that the crazies being heard. Those who are guided by reason, now more than ever need to step up to match and pound down the voices of the desperate, though still dangerous, mystical anti-american Left.

Update: Here is a link to the Kanye West video (click the image).

"George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People"


Tags: katrina, new orleans, kanye west

Katrina aftermath - a disaster by way of the State

Most Americans have sat by their televisions all week in disbelief, seeing the tragic and sickening depths of humanity on display in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Because no one seemed to be talking about the cause of this sub-human behavior, I was going to write about it here, but Robert Tracinski beat me to it - and he did such a perfect job summing it up, I'll just pass you on to his article instead.

An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State

When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the occasion. They work together to rescue people in danger, and they spontaneously organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true in America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take care of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary citizens to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops, directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).

...

No one has really reported this story, as far as I can tell. In fact, some are already actively distorting it, blaming President Bush, for example, for failing to personally ensure that the Mayor of New Orleans had drafted an adequate evacuation plan. The worst example is an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a supercilious Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system that was the exact opposite of individualism.

What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an emergency is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values respond to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. They don't use the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow men.




Tags: Katrina, New Orleans

"The terrorist Katrina' is a soldier of Allah"

Comforting words from the Religion of Peace.

New Orleans is Sinking! Don't Worry, We'll Pay For It!

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it is proper that we revisit John Stossel's Confessions of a Welfare Queen.

In 1980 I built a wonderful beach house. Four bedrooms -- every room with a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

It was an absurd place to build, right on the edge of the ocean. All that stood between my house and ruin was a hundred feet of sand. My father told me: "Don’t do it; it’s too risky. No one should build so close to an ocean."

But I built anyway.

Why? As my eager-for-the-business architect said, "Why not? If the ocean destroys your house, the government will pay for a new one."

What? Why would the government do that? Why would it encourage people to build in such risky places? That would be insane.

But the architect was right. If the ocean took my house, Uncle Sam would pay to replace it under the National Flood Insurance Program. Since private insurers weren’t dumb enough to sell cheap insurance to people who built on the edges of oceans or rivers, Congress decided the government should step in and do it. So if the ocean ate what I built, I could rebuild and rebuild again and again -- there was no limit to the number of claims on the same property in the same location -- up to a maximum of $250,000 per house per flood. And you taxpayers would pay for it.

Thanks.

I did have to pay insurance premiums, but they were dirt cheap -- mine never exceeded a few hundred dollars a year.

Why does Uncle Sam offer me cheap insurance? "It saves federal dollars," replied James Lee Witt, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), when I did a 20/20 report on this boondoggle. "If this insurance wasn’t here," he said, "then people would be building in those areas anyway. Then it would cost the American taxpayers more [in relief funds] if a disaster hit."

That’s government logic: Since we always mindlessly use taxpayer money to bail out every idiot who takes an expensive risk, let’s get some money up front by selling them insurance first.

The insurance, of course, has encouraged more people to build on the edges of rivers and oceans. The National Flood Insurance Program is currently the biggest property insurance writer in the United States, putting taxpayers on the hook for more than $640 billion in property. Subsidized insurance goes to movie stars in Malibu, to rich people in Kennebunkport (where the Bush family has its vacation compound), to rich people in Hyannis (where the Kennedy family has its), and to all sorts of people like me who ought to be paying our own way.

Read the rest.

A Cindy Sheehan article worth reading (before she withers away)

I really enjoy reading articles where the author has the guts to question someone's core motivations and/or mental state. Even if the author is wrong, it is typically entertaining to read someone who is exploring what makes someone tick.

Michael Reagan rips out the Freud to postulate that Cindy Sheehan's real enemy is her own self.

Sigmund Freud had a concept he called “projection, which has been defined as a defense where the ego deals with unacceptable impulses and/or terrifying anxieties by attributing them to someone in the external world.

In many ways I think that explains the behavior of the media’s current patron saint, Cindy Sheehan, whose hate rhetoric aimed at President Bush is really meant for someone else who she can’t admit even to herself is her real target. To do so would represent one of those “unacceptable impulses” Dr. Freud was talking about.

Such is clear by her body language and mystically-laced rhetoric alone. She repeats her anti-freedom socialist mantras (e.g. in the same manner a religious nut carries on about accepting the glory of Jesus or Allah into our lives) to a willing press corp.

The media can only hide Sheehan's absurd leftism for so long before most Americans realize what she is up to - and why. If this is the best they can do - let us rejoice and be glad!

Political parties dying in the face of decentralization

From the SF Gate:

Sen. John F. Kerry told state legislators Friday the Democratic Party doesn't need to undergo an extreme makeover, saying "the last thing America needs is a second Republican Party."

Kerry is correct - there is no benefit for the democratic party (as a unit) to align their message closer to republicans. Additionally, and thankfully, nothing good will result with a further slide to the left. With Europe as the sandbox for a more advanced socialism, why should we follow suit when the outcome of statism is clear? Americans are not blind. Democrats can't change their message - the party is dead (not that republicanism is alive and kicking either).

The 21st century is about decentralization. The political party model, which relies on restricting the rights of one or more "groups" in order to benefit a select few can not survive in an era where the individual has more power than the group.

Peggy Noonan chimes in on the Clinton-Bush lovefest

I noted on June 18, 2004, that the chuminess of President Bush and Bill Clinton was a bit odd and clearly calculated.

...is it possible that there is a deeper motivation than a common exchange of pleasantries? Let me posit Bill Clinton may purposely be undermining John Kerry’s presidential aspirations. The latest Pew Research polls suggest Bush is turning back up in the polls. Perhaps Clinton’s remarks have convinced some of the swing voters who respected Clinton but have questions about Kerry.

...

Assuming the election is down to the wire, consider the potential effect Clinton’s timely words and summer-long book tour might have on the Kerry team. Further, consider his motivation. Might he be keeping the door open for Hillary in 2008. As he is the consummate politician of our time, I wouldn’t put it past him.

Today, Peggy Noonan raises some interesting points on the super-chum stylings of the Senior Bush and Mr. Clinton relationship.

What does Democrat Bill Clinton get out of cultivating the Republican Bushes? He gets public approval from a man most of the country sees as personally upstanding. When Mr. Bush puts his arm around Mr. Clinton, he confers his rectitude. Democrats won't mind it, and independent voters will like it. In receiving the embrace of the patriarch of such a famously Republican family, Mr. Clinton looks like someone who is, by definition, nonradical, mainstream, not too unacceptably odd and grifter-ish. Big bonus: Mr. Clinton knows that when he receives Mr. Bush's affectionate approval, his wife, who will soon be running for president, also seems by extension to be receiving it. This is good for her. Both Clintons pick up some positive attention from on-the-ground Republicans. This is good too.

What does the elder Mr. Bush get out of it? He burnishes his reputation for personal generosity and a certain above-it-all nonpartisanship. He shows he's not narrow like a conservative, but national like a great leader. This has a spillover effect on his son, the incumbent president. The more his father embraces the foe, the more embracing the current President Bush looks. By publicly declaring his closeness with Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bush senior demonstrates a high minded interest in political comity and a rejection of mere party politics, unlike the low little people who are inspired by animus and always getting het up about their little issues. Would a former president Pat Buchanan hug a former president Clinton? Huh, go dream.

So Mr. Clinton does it because it's good for himself and for his wife's prospects. Mr. Bush does it because it's good for himself and his son.

Do you trust either one of them?

Build it!

An artist's drawing released Wednesday, July 27, 2005, by The Fordham Company shows the proposed Fordham Spire skyscraper planned for the Chicago lakefront. The 115-story tower is proposed by Chicago developer Christopher Carley and designed by noted architect Santiago Calatrava. Over the past 20 years, dozens of high-rise projects such as the Spire have been introduced as reaching record-breaking heights worldwide, but most of the projects are often either scaled down or scrapped before being built. (AP Photo/The Fordham Company)

Fordham Spire Images
Chicago skyscraper would be nation's tallest
Santiago Calatrava - Fordham Spire

Open Source Amendment Project

To:
The President of the United States.
The Vice President of The United States
The Members of the United States Senate
The Members of the United States House of Representatives
The Members of the United States Supreme Court

In the Declaration of Independence the founders of this great nation wrote, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” They also built into the structure of our government a process by which we the people can seek to change the nature and function of our government without abolishing it and beginning again.

We the undersigned agree with our founders that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed and feel that our government has exceeded the bounds of that consent. We believe that the recent decision of the Supreme Court regarding the exercise of eminent domain was reached with complete disregard for the plain language of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

We the people therefore ask that the Constitution of the United States be amended to include the following language:

The right to ownership of property being the cornerstone of liberty, no government, or agency thereof, within these United States shall have the authority to take property from any person, corporation, or organization through exercise of eminent domain for other than a public use without just compensation.

Public use shall be understood to be property the government owns or retains the paramount interest in, and the public has a legal right to use. Public use shall be understood to include property the government owns and maintains as a secure facility. Public use shall not be construed to include economic development or increased tax revenue. Public use of such property shall be maintained for a period of not less than 25 years.

Just compensation shall be the higher of twice the average of the price paid for similar property in the preceding six months, or twice the average of the previous 10 recorded similar property transactions. Compensation paid shall be exempt from taxation in any form by any government within these United States.

Respectfully submitted,

[you]

Sign the Open Source Amendment Project petition here.

Lots of reasons to be worried about Justice John G. Roberts

Yesterday’s NY Times was practically begging the Senate to vote in favor of the nomination of John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court. The Time’s front page bio was a glowing review of Roberts and his “pragmatic view of the law.” David Brooks, the Times favored “conservative” used the word “love” to describe his feelings for Roberts. The headlining reader-submitted editorials were from democrats praising Roberts as “eminently qualified” and warnings to activist groups to “back off.” Three of the five reader editorials were pro-Roberts. The grey lady knows something about Roberts and she is pushing hard for this man.

Assuming the Times bio is correct in their portrayal of Roberts, principled advocates of individual rights should not look forward to a new hero on the bench. Pragmatism rejects the fundamental principles of ethics in favor of the politics du jour. As such, the plague of pragmatism encourages us to do "whatever is practical," with no mention of the values by which one deems something practical. This implies that Roberts will be a powerful swing vote on many court decisions, many of which will not favor individual rights, however “practical” the decision may be.

It is clear that Justice Roberts is going to sail through the nomination process. It is equally clear that this “pragmatic” man is not going to be another Clarence Thomas. No, more likely he will be our next Justice Souter.

---

Equally foreboding was a quote from Justice Robert’s mother, Rosemary Roberts stating “We were very concerned about the news (about their son’s nomination and headlines) and everything. We have always been a family that was interested in things other than ourselves.” Great…

---

Robert Byrd, that cantankerous former KKK member and consistent critic of President Bush was ecstatic over the nomination of Roberts. "I thank President Bush for reaching out to senators on both sides of the aisle as he worked to select a nominee for the court," Mr. Byrd said. "I hope that this bipartisan cooperation will continue as the confirmation process begins."

---

Update (1:51PM): More worrisome quotes from the usual suspects.

The Washington Post: "In nominating Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to the Supreme Court, President Bush picked a man of substance and seriousness."

Los Angeles Times: "He has a sterling record in Washington as a litigator, appearing before the Supreme Court 39 times over more than a decade, and few he has encountered have anything bad to say about him; even legal adversaries such as Walter Dellinger, a Solicitor General in the Clinton Administration, praise him."

Harvard Law Professor and outspoken leftist Laurence Tribe: "I know John Roberts. I think he's brilliant ..."

Former Al Gore and anti-Microsoft Attorney David Boies: "Judge Roberts is a brilliant lawyer, a brilliant judge. He is a very careful judge, a thoughtful judge. I would agree with what the President said earlier. He is a decent man. I think everybody who knows him likes him."

Piggish Senator Charles Schumer: "There's no question that Judge Roberts has outstanding legal credentials and an appropriate legal temperament and demeanor."

Bill Clinton - Evangelist Extraordinaire

Clinton Honors Billy Graham at Final Revival

Graham called the Clintons "wonderful friends" and "a great couple," quipping that the former president should become an evangelist and allow "his wife to run the country."


...Bill Clinton already is an evangelist much more powerful than Billy Graham ever was - he has a flock of sheep numbering well into the millions.




We believe in one Ruler, the Lord Bill Clinton,
the only Son of State,
eternally begotten of the State,
State from State, Light from Light,
true State from true State,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the State.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from Little Rock

We demand fraudulent elections!

Hispanic group objects to voter bill

Measure would require proof of citizenship to vote

The Mikhail Khodorkovsky Case - Principled Voices and Hope for a Better Russian Tomorrow

"It is precisely those who wish me ill, the ones who have dreams at night of Khodorkovsky rabidly thirsting for vengeance, who are doomed to spend the rest of their lives trembling over the stolen assets of Yukos. It is they who are profoundly unfree and will never be free. It is their pitiful existence that is the true prison."

-Mikhail Khodorkovsky

The Russia House, After the Oligarchs

Western Naivete in the Case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Political Persecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Mikhail Khodorkovsky Society

Putinocracy

The more strong and principled voices I hear, the more hope I have that justice will prevail in this case, even if if takes some years before it happens.

Would such a movement/outcry have even been possible ten years ago? Putin's actions (and those of his henchmen) might be ignored in his own country and by much of the western mainstream media, but there is a tide building behind the case for Mikhail Khodorkovsky's and Russia's economic freedom. We are prosecuting a different defendant - Russia's entrenched penchant for legalized crime.

A lot of republicans have never made an honest living in their lives

Speaking to the Campaign for America's Future, Mr. Dean called for easier rules for voting, saying it is difficult for working parents to make it to the polls on time and wait to vote.

"Well, Republicans, I guess, can do that, because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives," Mr. Dean said.

"The Force of Reason" versus Islam

Is this straight out of Atlas Shrugged, or what?

Fallaci charged in Italy with defaming Islam

By Crispian Balmer
Reuters
Wednesday, May 25, 2005; 8:13 AM


ROME (Reuters) - A judge has ordered best-selling writer and journalist Oriana Fallaci to stand trial in her native Italy on charges she defamed Islam in a recent book.

The decision angered Italy's justice minister but delighted Muslim activists, who accused Fallaci of inciting religious hatred in her 2004 work "La Forza della Ragione" (The Force of Reason).

Fallaci lives in New York and has regularly provoked the wrath of Muslims with her outspoken criticism of Islam following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities.

In "La Forza della Ragione," Fallaci wrote that terrorists had killed 6,000 people over the past 20 years in the name of the Koran and said the Islamic faith "sows hatred in the place of love and slavery in the place of freedom."

Coldplay's Chris Martin = Capitalist Slave?

"I think shareholders are the great evil of this modern world."

Communism rocks, dude...Your daughter, Apple, is she red too?

Jesse Jackson has become a parody of himself

What a joke!

"President Vicente Fox tried to smooth relations with the U.S. black community Wednesday." Isn't that opening line racist in its own right? What is "the back community?"

So I suppose Jesse Jackson still thinks he can exploit "his people." What an ass born of collectivism.

People's Republic of Canada banning satellite communication?

Satellite radio is not allowed into Canada because it has the potential to put Canadian commercial radio stations out of business. Canadian commercial radio stations derive their revenue from advertising sales and if their audiences decline because of satellite radio then they risk going out of business as advertising revenues fall.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) under the guise of Canadian cultural protection has outlawed satellite radio to protect the interests of commercial radio operators.


Canadian radio business are using Canadians' penchant for collectivism to protect their own interests at the expense of the individual consumer. Sound familar? Free speech be damned - save the existing radio stations! People might not listen if they have more options!

I hope a black market develops to render these laws obsolete (working essentially in the same way the internet does to undermine collectivistic theivery).

Great news! Canadians flocking to US for health services

Patients fed up with long waiting lists in Canada are fuelling a fast-growing demand for brokerages that arrange speedy service in the United States as well as in Quebec's burgeoning for-profit medical industry.

Brokers and other similar companies say business has as much as tripled over the past year as Canadians apparently become more comfortable with paying for diagnostic tests, second opinions and even surgery.

They say their patients include not only the wealthy but also middle-class people willing to take out second mortgages or lines of credit to pay for faster care.

Read the rest of the story in today's National Post.

Fly in water bottle = 340K ??

Is this for real?

Man wins $340,000 in bottled fly lawsuit

On Nov. 21, 2001 Mustapha and his wife Lynn, who was seven months pregnant, were preparing a new bottle of Culligan water to put in their dispenser when she saw something dark in the bottle. Both looked closely and saw legs and wings and realized it was a dead fly.

Lynn Mustapha vomited immediately and Martin vomited later in the evening.

Justice John Brockenshire heard that after discovering the fly Mustapha "could not get the fly in the bottle out of his mind."

Mustapha told court he would have nightmares about falling into a ditch face down in water and he could not sleep more than four hours a night.

Happy Earth Day, Mystics!!

Make Earth Day a Religious Holiday by Robert James Bidinotto

I am not sure who is bigger right now - the Pope or Mother Earth.

Death Tax Woes – A Moral Argument

Listening to the debate over the future of the estate/death tax highlights a striking deficiency in the conservative game plan. The left blames their recent election-losing streak on their inability to communicate with the public on a moral level. In the case of the estate tax, the proponents of the tax are the only side presenting the argument in a context of morality, and they will win this debate unless those arguments are countered on the same level.

Conservative members of congress argue, in some cases eloquently, the utilitarian arguments for eliminating the estate tax. An estate tax is a tax on capital savings and encourages consumption at the expense of savings, and it is well known that Americans consume too much and save too little. Opponents of the tax properly argue that eliminating the estate tax can help alleviate this problem. Perhaps a conservative will briefly touch upon the occasional family farm that is destroyed in the wake of the burdensome estate tax liabilities. Another might describe a family that is forced to purchase an ungodly amount of life insurance just to protect the family assets upon the passing of their loved one.

No matter how many stories of carnage estate tax opponents share, without a moral backing, the argument is bankrupt. Conservatives are either unable to, or are still sadly unaware, that they must argue this issue at its most essential level. They may argue economics until they are blue in the face, but it will not change proponents’ minds. The leftists who have championed the estate tax for decades have all but given up arguing for the tax in terms of economics – of course, their concern is the health of the State coffers, regardless of what it does to the economy.

A common line in favor of maintaining the tax is that it only affects a minute percentage of the population and eliminating it would in effect hurt nearly everyone else. In light of reasoned economic theory, much of which estate tax opponents are touting, this is hardly a sound argument, though it unfortunately trumps even the greatest economics because it is expressed as a moral argument steeped in altruistic language.

Without a moral argument to counter such dislogic, the left will win every time. Even if the estate tax is ultimately eliminated, the left will ensure that it is replaced with new capital gains taxes that usurp as much, if not more, of a dead person’s wealth than under current tax laws. It will be quietly swept under the rug as a victory for Republicans, but the State will win in the end – the statists are holding quite the poker hand.

When I was a child, I schemed up the ultimate tax – a 95% estate tax placed upon only the wealthiest 1% of the population. I calculated that getting a hold of the money held by the wealthiest few would allow us to eliminate most other taxes for the other 99% of the population. How great, I argued, would that be if most of us paid no taxes and still were provided with all those great government services? Never mind the fact that I had no concept of what is required for the formation of capital. Though I couched my argument in utilitarian terms, my argument was ultimately a moral one, believing it proper to sacrifice the few for the benefit of the rest. Never mind that my young socialist head had no concept of opportunity cost or what the proper conditions for capital formation are in the first place. No one ever asked me, “BY WHAT RIGHT” do you have to take their money and redistribute it to yourself and others? The only answer I would have been able to muster is that “the morality" of altruism trumps anything else.

Until opponents of the estate tax unequivocally argue the inalienable right of the individual to utilize or dispose of one’s own property as they, and not the State, see fit, they will lose this most important fight. This is ultimately a battle between the moralities of rational self-interest and altruism. Until opponents of the tax are able to argue on the same plane as the left, they cannot win. If most conservatives share the notion with the left – that altruism is the highest moral achievement for mankind, it not only explains the impotency of their current arguments, but also ensures the left the winner of this fight, and many more.

We have our heros...and then there are the self-loathing morons.

This clip of Ward Churchill signing off to a Bay Area collection of anarchist/socialist/dipshit/freaks with a "power to the people!" is at the same time hilarious, disgusting, and perfectly consistent. I love how he almost runs away from the podium after spilling out that burnt out hippie mantra, likely embarrassed for having said it at all. Is someone who hates himself this much actually dangerous? Perhaps...

Here are two amazing stories that remind us that heros walk among us and that the best is still, and always, yet to come.

Meet the mind readers - Paralysed people can now control artificial limbs by thought alone.

La Vida Robot - How four underdogs from the mean streets of Phoenix took on the best from M.I.T. in the national underwater bot championship.



Carl Hayden Community High School Falcon Robotics Club

It hardly seems mentioned today that the idea of "privitizing" social security was originally proposed by Bill Clinton back when the stock market bubble was still expanding.

Paul Cwik warns of the pitfalls of this false privitization in a May 1999 article titled Socialist Stock Market.

Murray Rothbard once asked Ludwig von Mises at what point on the spectrum of statism can a country be designated as "socialist." To his surprise, Mises said that there was, indeed, a clear-cut delineation: the stock market.

Mises said, "A stock market is crucial to the existence of capitalism and private property. For it means that there is a functioning market in the exchange of private titles to the means of production. There can be no genuine private ownership of capital without a stock market: there can be no true socialism if such a market is allowed to exist."

A corollary to this idea is that if the government is allowed to "invest" in the stock market, then the economy can no longer be called market-based. President Clinton has proposed a plan to use up to one-fourth of new Social Security funds to buy shares in our stock markets. The danger of this plan may not be as obvious as his previous health-care plan, but they are just as serious...

The fundamental problem that the Clinton administration ignores is that the Social Security program is based on what is called a Ponzi Game or a pyramid scheme. You have probably seen this if you've ever received a chain letter that states, "Send money to the first five people on the list, remove the first person's name, and place yours at the bottom." In other words, the first people in the program (those at the top of the pyramid) are currently getting money from the new people enrolling (those who are at the lower stages of the pyramid).

If the UN was Enron, Kofi Annan would be in jail.

Annan Refuses to Quit U.N. Over Report

Terri Schiavo
by Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D.

Terri Schiavo has a right to life; we all do. But does the right to life include the right to live as an inhuman vegetable? Does it include the right to submit one's husband to the status of permanent caretaker, endless emotional pain and mile-high medical bills? Speaking of medical bills, do conservative Republicans who want people like Terri Schiavo kept alive also want the government -- meaning you and I -- to foot those bills? Republicans favor expanding the welfare state (e.g. Medicare) just as Democrats do; aren't they submitting this welfare state to even more economy-busting medical expenses than we already have in the name of -- what? Keeping the hopelessly ill and barely alive breathing another few days or weeks?

The dangerous, ugly side of this whole issue is that it's not being treated as a borderline case, or as the unfortunate exception that it is. Instead, religious conservatives are trying to use it as an example of how ANY kind of life is life, no matter how partial, or tenuous or barely hanging on that life might be. They know that if they can impose force on the living to keep alive the barely living, they can likewise impose force on the living to bring into existence unwanted potential lives. Their view of life is not rational; it's religious. When they say that this country is founded not on reason but on faith, they mean it.

According to some reports, Gov. Jeb Bush considered seizing Mrs. Schiavo, à la Elian, and taking her to a hospital so she could be fed. But he did not do so. "I've consistently said that I can't go beyond what my powers are, and I'm not going to do it," the governor says. Janet Reno and the Clinton administration showed no such restraint when it came to Elian Gonzalez.

Selective Restraint - By John Fund
Liberals cheered when Janet Reno defied the courts to seize Elian Gonzalez.

There is a very interesting article in today's New York Times on the increasing pressure against middle-eastern authoritarian regimes coming from disatisfied young people. Open societies breed liberty.

In Beirut on Saturday, a crowd of mostly young demonstrators hooted through a speech by the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, as he repeated too-familiar arguments for pan-Arab solidarity, without committing to a timetable for withdrawing Syrian soldiers from Lebanon.

Young protesters have been spurred by the rise of new technology, especially uncensored satellite television, which prevents Arab governments from hiding what is happening on their own streets. The Internet and cellphones have also been deployed to erode censorship and help activists mobilize in ways previous generations never could.

We must bear in mind that imperialism is a world system, the last stage of capitalism-and it must be defeated in a world confrontation. The strategic end of this struggle should be the destruction of imperialism. Our share, the responsibility of the exploited and underdeveloped of the world, is to eliminate the foundations of imperialism: our oppressed nations, from where they extract capital, raw materials, technicians, and cheap labor, and to which they export new capital-instruments of domination-arms and all kinds of articles, thus submerging us in an absolute dependence. - Ernesto "Che" Guevara

I love this stuff! Hey Che, you lost and I have the t-shirt to prove it! Sorry, bub.

Is MoveOn.org being run by undercover Republican party operatives?

This Rolling Stone article highlights the consistent losing record of the socialist group; the same group responsible for getting Howard Dean elected to the DNC chairmanship.

They signed up 500,000 supporters with an Internet petition -- but Bill Clinton still got impeached. They organized 6,000 candlelight vigils worldwide -- but the U.S. still invaded Iraq. They raised $60 million from 500,000 donors to air countless ads and get out the vote in the battle-ground states -- but George Bush still whupped John Kerry. A gambler with a string of bets this bad might call it a night. But MoveOn.org just keeps doubling down.


It is time the sane libertarian wings of the democratic and republican parties come together and stop this foolishness. Might someone like Jesse Ventura be the right person to get such a job done?

Craigslist Set To Leap Beyond Solar System

This is just awesome!

craigslist announced the ambitious plan after CEO Jim Buckmaster won an auction on eBay for the first private communication to be transmitted into deep space by Deep Space Communications Network, of Cape Canaveral, Florida. Noting that such transmissions have long been the exclusive domain of military and research institutions, Buckmaster said "We're thrilled to offer our users this historic opportunity", and added that negotiations were ongoing with DSCN for transmission capacity orders of magnitude beyond those offered in the original auction, to accommodate the interstellar messaging needs of the mammoth online community.

Effective immediately, all earthlings posting to craigslist will have an opportunity to earmark their message for inclusion in the historic transmission from Cape Canaveral, immediately following the launch of the Discovery Space Shuttle - currently scheduled for May 15, 2005. Deep Space Communications Network will transmit the postings, along with a personal video message from Craig, and a clip from the documentary "24 Hours on craigslist" light years into space, for the benefit and edification of potential future craigslist community members in the great beyond.

Howard Dean praying on his visit through southern states?

"Praying for American troops and evoking biblical images of helping the needy, Howard Dean told Mississippi Democrats on Tuesday night that the national party won't give up on socially conservative states."

"The way we're going to win elections in this country is to stand up for what we believe in"

Come on, Howard, you are not religious and you should not try to be. I'd like very much to respect what you trying to accomplish, but you are proving to be a phony.

"The way we're going to win elections in this country is not to become Republican lite."

So stop acting like those that you despise.

This is a near perfect essay on distinguishing free-market capitalism from the current mix of Corporatism and Socialism in America.

THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT BLOGGERS ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST CAMPAIGN: Free Arash and Mojtaba



Spread the word. Can bloggers help expose Iranian tyranny for what it is?

It is almost too ridiculous to believe. The feds can't keep their grubby hands off of anything. They enact a bad law (thanks a lot, McCain) and instead of repealing the bad law, they look to expand their power, creating untold collateral damage along the way. Enough is enough!

Political Web ads may be curtailed

The freewheeling days of Internet political advertising may be coming to an end.

The Federal Election Commission plans to begin reviewing next month whether the Internet should continue to enjoy its privileged status as exempt from some of the stricter dictates of a 2002 campaign finance law.

I have the flu today, thank you. By all accounts, this is turning out to be one of the worst flu seasons on record. Even the King of Pop has the flu! Michael Jackson claims he is being persecuted by the state, but little does he know about the silent persecution against the health of all Americans being perpetrated by the government medicine bureaucracies.

This fall, every American heard the collective siren call from government officials and the unquestioning mainstream media apparatus announcing a major shortfall in flu vaccines, asking young folks like myself to forgo the shots so that old people would not die. Fast forward to the heart of the flu season and we are dropping like flies, while millions of unused surplus vaccines sit in cardboard boxes across the country. Why did this happen? The answer is simple – socialized medicine has reared its ugly head once again.

Instead of letting supply and demand run its course, government bureaucrats (our nice word for American Soviets) are given total control over the supply of these vital medicines.

Had the government stayed out of this, an anticipated supply shock would signal to vaccine suppliers that they may raise their prices. Suppliers of alternative vaccine and flu-protection options would immediately see the increased profit margins in this sector and step in to fill the gaps. As the market matured, supply and demand shocks would be predicted well in advance of the disaster, allowing time for these alternative companies to meet demand.

However, the government bureaucrats determine who can and can not supply vaccines, allowing no room for competing companies to even think about manufacturing and selling their own vaccine. ID Medical in Canada had a reported 1.5 million vaccines ready for sale that the US Government would not allow Americans to purchase. Thanks.

Price ceilings are also maintained, either directly or with the threat of “price-gouging” lawsuits. So, no one does anything on the supply side. The government announces the supply shock, and begs young folks to stay away from the flu shot. As a result, too many people don’t get their shots, influenza runs rampant, and we end up with a massive vaccine surplus instead.

How many people will die this year because of this socialist nightmare? Americans must rise up now and demand a free market in medicine, for the sake of our health! Think Soviet-style bread lines, but for Tylenol. Dr. Big Brother is not our friend.

I am convinced that there are operatives working within the Democratic Party to make the party irrelevant, Sun Tzu-style. How does Howard Dean make any sense?

I know a number of good democrats. Might there be a revolutionary split in that party between the socialist wing (which is now assuming control) and those who respect markets, private property, and Wal-mart? I know a number of good republicans who dislike the religious "moralists" within their party who would join them.

I am doing my taxes today - happy times! I decided to seek out a petition to end this foolishness and found the following:

Support a national retail sales tax (H.R. 2525). End the oppressive income tax!

Sign it and forward it on!

Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it's a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.

There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.

-Michael Crichton




In the recent municipal elections, several "green" candidates were elected (note that green might also denote a lack of experience in politics), and they are continuing their efforts in the elections to the Knesset. Experts in Western European poltiics will tell you that there are heads of government who used the green path to obtain their objectives. I have a problem with this issue, since for some reason a passion for ecology is identified with the polticial left, as if to say: "green on the outside, red on the inside." Perhaps the basis for this is the feeling of global cosmopolitics at the root of the ecological movement, which would seem to be the opposite of nationalism, and also the fact that it is based on the concept of the global village. These themes are well represented in the leftist press both in the world and in Israel. And there is another problem, which I feel is even more serious: the ecological approach is turning into a new religion. It has prophets and priests, preachers and followers, and even is own rituals. I cannot shake the feeling that there will be a temple built in Germany, which will become the basis for their manifesto...
-Rabbi Yisrael Rozen of Israel in Parashat Beshalach, No. 737 (January 30, 1999)

Happy 100th Birthday Ayn...


Ayn Rand: A Legacy of Reason and Freedom

The Appeal of Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand's Contribution to the Cause of Freedom

A Centennial Toast to Ayn Rand

And this is the problem with public property...

American Nazi Party adopts Salem road

What will it take for people to realize that free speech and private property are inextricably bound.

Free Speech, Free Association, and Private Property

Congress Puts Spyware on Hit List


Gee thanks Congress. That CAN-SPAM act really did my inbox a ton of good. The only thing is has done if create needless headaches for legitimate web companies.

Tell Mary Bono (R-CA) to keep State power out of it..they can only make it worse.