The battle over mystery bulge

Since the bulge in the Prez's suit during a debate was credibly said to be a bullet-proof vest, revisiting this press release by FAIR.org is entertaining.

Kerik & Regan

On the same day the New York Daily News reports Kerik had an affair with his book publisher, Judith Regan, New York Times columnist Joyce Purnick reminds readers, "...he sent homicide investigators to question and fingerprint Fox News employees because his publisher, Judith Regan, had apparently suspected them of stealing her cellphone and necklace."  The News reports "Kerik visited Regan's Central Park West apartment almost daily, and occasionally stayed the night, with his police detail camped outside." Nice use of taxpayer dollars there, Bernie.

And the News says Regan was "shocked" to find out the married Kerik had another mistress besides her. Come again?

Kerik's affair with the other mistress is at the center of two lawsuits against the city, both brought by correction employees who claimed Kerik retaliated after they crossed her.

Intel problem at the top

With all that's coming out about Kerik now - a veritable bonanza -you have to wonder what this says about White House procedures in vetting, that such simple "intelligence" wasn't acquired beforehand.

More on vote fraud

"We need to steal an election." According to programmer Clint Curtis, those words were spoken to him by his former employer  Yang Enterprises, which was engaged in developing voting software. He alleges Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Florida) was involved in some sort of conspiracy. Curtis has attracted the attention of lawmakers, the FBI, journalists, leftie bloggers and citizen groups. The "BRAD BLOG" published "WHISTLEBLOWER AFFIDAVIT: Programmer Built Vote Rigging Prototype at Republican Congressman's Request!" then reported that Mr. Curtis' dog had been shot in an act of intimidation. Apparently another of his dogs was killed in 2002. Curtis went on Air America for interviews. William Rivers Pitt wrote that it was the most interesting voter fraud story. But Curtis' comments scrutinized by Wired and a techie, ring hollow. Look for more fallout in this story. It's messy when people run with a story but don't have the technological expertise to give it sufficient scrutiny to begin with.

Rutherford files friend of court brief in key property rights case

The Rutherford Institute announced today it has filed a friend of the court brief with the US Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London, a key property rights/eminent domain case. Institute attorneys have asked the justices to protect the rights of homeowners, and declare unconstitutional a ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court that allows a city to seize a person's property and transfer it to private developers. The brief notes the fundamental position of property rights in relation to our nation's history and jurisprudence and ends with a quote from the Kentucky Supreme Court almost a century ago: "under this rule the property of the citizen would never be safe from invasion." [Moreland, 104 S.W. at 762, 765]

Muslim radicals targeted Red Light district

...in Amsterdam. Now where are all those people who agree with Bin Laden when he says they're not out to attack us for our freedoms and way of life? Anyone with half a brain can see how dangerous the situation can be in Amsterdam -they recently opened a new gay bar for Arab men, at the same time the mosque Van Gogh's killer went to sold books advocating throwing gays off the top of buildings and if that doesn't kill them then stone them to death. People protested at the "Homomonument" in Amsterdam. The American press ignored the situation (only gay pubs reported it), simply reporting that the mosques were "conservative" and preached against homosexuality. Moderate Arab-Dutch are just as upset over the situation as the ethnic Dutch. Sometimes it pays to remember in Afghanistan, women were put to death, machine-gunned in the street, for visiting the hairdresser. In Iran, they padlocked the hairdresser places after the revolution. Read Oriana Fallaci's "The Rage & the Pride" -she'll tell you how they hate you because you "wear the miniskirt," have a Martini by the pool, and make love to who you wish. "What logic is there in respecting those who do not respect us? What dignity is there in defending their culture or supposed culture when they show contempt for our?" Fallaci writes.

When "Reconstructionism" raised its ugly head in America, the tiny faction was fodder for the press who were aghast at the thought of a bastardized Christian theocracy which also advocated stoning gays. But Islamo-fascists are just ok, with the illuminated press.

Most of the press sees the tragedy as being that of the Dutch not doing enough...you'd think the press would be more concerned about the preservation of the Netherlands' free-wheeling society. Do they really think any free society can do anything but suffer from the expression of Islamic fascism? Another irony is there are expatriate Arabs who hate the American invasion of Iraq, but oddly never were passionate about Saddam's torture and humiliation of the people or the horrors or his prisons, stuffed with political opponents and even children. They had nothing passionate to say about the Islamic fascism when it rose in Iran, when women and children were killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, when women today are killed as a punishment for rape or having unapproved sex.

The Islamo-fascists are as Fallaci says, the SS Black Shirts who wave the Koran. They have the consience of a Nazi and are heirs of Hitler's anti-Semitism. "Chemical and biological warfare belongs to their strategy," Fallaci wrote. The roots of their ideology existed before America was even a country.

They have already targeted Jews. They killed thousands of hard-working innocent Americans on 9/11 in one of the most tragic and horrific events imaginable. When hundreds of people just like you and I, had to hold hands and jump to their deaths, because like those facing the Nazi gas chambers, there was no choice in life left to them, except suicide or a horrific death. And suicide was the preferrable choice. Just like the Jewish woman who slit her daughter's wrists and her own rather than have them face the horror of the Nazi gas chambers, with people climbing on top of one another, being crushed, trying to find a way out. Some people went insane just realizing what was in store for them.

The Islamo-fascists killed children in Chechnya - they were their target of choice. Not policemen, Army personnel or government representatives - children. They killed a bawdy and brazen critic Van Gogh, whose website carried a picture of the jovial filmmaker with a brassiere wrapped around his head.

Politicians in Belgium and the Netherlands are in hiding after being threatened with ritual slaughter, including politicians of Arab descent who disagree with the Islamo-crazies.

Yesterday they targeted gays in Amsterdam, today the Red Light district.

Tomorrow, you.

News for the tin-foil hat crowd

All these articles coming out about privacy threats from RFID passports are a bit tiresome...none of them mention that all it takes is a little metal to block "snooping" -think of a typical leather passport case with aluminum sewn into the seams -a new market opportunity. In the meantime, the tin-foil hat crowd should just take their hats off and stick their passports into them.

Congratulations. You're included!

It's National Inclusive Schools Week this week -their purpose is "to provide a quality education to an increasingly diverse student population, particularly those who have disabilities." With the recent attacks by cultural Neanderthals on religious music in schools, though "inclusion" is often invoked.

As I've written in an upcoming Media Monitor, the bulk of the greatest Western choral art music has a religious text. The ignoramuses at the helm of music and arts education think it's "progress" to say good-bye to Bach, Handel, Mozart, Schutz and many other masters. It's more appropriate to call this classical music, not religious music. Do these educrats think all the people lining up around the world to hear classical music are all seeking a religious experience? Along with the classics, many Christmas carols are recognized as some of the best popular music ever written.

As far as inclusion goes - in the sense that the curriculum must be about reflecting all the cultural and ethnic values of each student - I have one phrase: - if you're in the class, kid, you're included.

Sensitive teachers will always try to reach out, and involve students, and may adjust their curricula. But the curricula should not be set by the whim of the student or parent. (The squeaky wheel gets to censor and direct curriculum.)

The invoking of "inclusion" as a means to exclude study of great Western art and thinkers, is a fencing in of students, not a broadening of their horizons. It is an intellectual and cultural contraction, not an expansion. Two things are indispensable to understanding Western civilization, history, art, music and law: a thorough knowledge of the Bible and of Greek mythology. Otherwise, much of Western achievement will be as meaningful as heiroglyphics to your kids. And soon, to be consistent, the schools will have to ban or censor the study of John Donne, Milton, Shakespeare, Keats, Dante, Erasmus, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giotto, and on and on.

The inexplicable thing about these stories is that the government has already fully addressed these issues in publicly available documents. Teachers may teach about music, art, and literature with biblical themes, as long as the purpose is educational not devotional. They may also perform those works. They may also teach the Bible itself as literature.

Wake up people, and crawl out from under those rocks of stupidity, ignorance and irresponsibility. And media, time for you to wake up to and write some hard-hitting and helpful commentary on this, instead of the pale, "he-said, she said" stories that predominate.

Mineta the Mediocre, stays

Lockheed must be happy, but this his terribly flawed actions after 9/11 well warrant his departure. Even w/ the TSA under DHS we're still in the ABC's stage of aviation security. This is a prime example of mediocrity rewarded.

Vatican issues late statement on "celebrity" nativities

About Mme. Tussaud's celeb-wax Nativity scene: "The Vatican was not amused, calling the tableau tasteless. A spokesman said it was unacceptable to have celebrities representing Jesus, Joseph or Mary." First off, when is the Vatican ever amused about anything? Secondly, it's too bad the Vatican didn't say anything back during the Renaissance when wealthy people had themselves painted into biblical scenes (including nativity scenes) by great artists. A bit of a time lag there I guess.

Also -back then the 'celebrity' nativity participants were major donors to the Catholic Church. Perhaps Mme. Tussaud has lapsed on her payments? Someone send her an envelope please.

Chimera chic

You know how the media seem to all move in unison once an interesting subject comes along? Well it seems like chimeras (the fusion of different species) are the current sci-reporting chic.

I wrote on this for Newsmax last year. The really interesting issue for this, as well as sci-tech as a whole, is in the post-Judeo/Christian world, where there are no moral absolutes, and an exponentially increasing technological power, why should anyone believe there is any stopping point for discoveries in accord with what would be currently termed "normal," or "appropriate" or "ethical?" Especially in relation to the technological or genetic manipulation of man? The utilitarian philosphy will join with a positivist legal outlook, and the individual value of man seems destined for decrease.

Excerpts:

"Three years ago British theologians expressed moral outrage when it was discovered that a patent had been issued allowing for creation of a man-animal hybrid.

In October 2000, the European Patent Office assured Greenpeace activists that it would never grant a patent on mixed-species embryos because they were considered an affront to "public order and morality."

The activists were researching patents related to the human genome.

A month later a researcher in Greenpeace's German office discovered that a patent had been already been granted for creation of a man-animal hybrid.

The patent stated it included a method for producing a non-human chimeric animal by the implantation into the animal of embryonic stem cells, including those from humans.

London’s Guardian newspaper reported that church groups reacted with outrage, denouncing the patent as "morally offensive." Those criticizing the patent included a spokesman for European churches on bioethics and a spokesman for the Catholic Church.

The story was largely ignored in American media.

'Abhorrent'

Dr. Sue Mayer, director of Genewatch, told reporters: "The company is saying that it wants a patent on a process which could produce chimera animals using cells from a whole range of species including humans. Many people will find the thought abhorrent."

“Experts are in no doubt that the potential is there to create a hybrid creature,” reported the Guardian.

An Australian company, Amrad, was granted the patent in 1999, which covers embryos containing cells from humans and from "mice, sheep, pigs, cattle, goats or fish."

It was later sold to U.S. company Chemicon International, a provider of some of the basic material for the Chinese breakthrough.

Thomas Schweiger of Greenpeace called on the European Patent Office to withdraw the patent. He told the newspaper, "The chimeras may be non-human but they may contain human organs, body parts, nerve cells and even human genetic codes. The company does not give concrete medical uses and obviously intended to give the company broad monopoly rights on the process and chimeric creatures."

Schweiger said he believed that one possible use might be to grow human organs in animals for transplantation.

The European Biotechnology Directive, which finally came into force two years before the patent discovery, was expected clarify issues regarding patents for biotechnological inventions and had generally been welcomed by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

An expert analysis of it stated, “Certain inventions will not be patentable on moral grounds, including processes for… certain transgenic animals and human/animal chimeras.”

But the Greenpeace researchers found that such chimeric patents could be likely be granted in the future by referring to the results as “biological material,” avoiding the “against public order and morality” prohibition.

This is because the new EU-directive codified that “biological material means any material containing genetic information and capable of reproducing itself or being reproduced in a biological system.”

Greenpeace argued in part that patenting “life” would equate living nature with industrial products and degrade the dignity of life. In addition they warned that such “living organisms” would be under complete control of the patent-holder, enabling exploitation without ethical concern – fundamentally changing our perception of life in problematic and unalterable ways.

Greenpeace opposes patenting genes, plants, animals, humans and parts of the human body. "

More Christmas carol nonsense

"Substituting the word Jesus with 'virtue' in Christmas carols is a serious mistake, an offense to the entire Christian community," said the mayor of Como, Italy, Stefano Bruni. His reference was to the elementary school teacher Antonio Fogazzaro who decided to abolish Christmas carols referring to Christianity, and substituting the word "Jesus" with "virtue" in the rehearsals of the Christmas play that will take place on December 18. According to Bruni, "this decision is false social integration. Each one must reciprocally respect the cultures and religions of others, but cannot impose those children to not express their religious faith to respect others. "I strongly ask that teacher to replace the word Jesus. We cannot pretend to integrate different cultures with these methods. Each must defend his culture without arrogance but without fears of one's cultural identity, trying to transmit respect for other identities. Only with a confrontation of ideas, cultures, traditions, and religions can one create real social integration." The mayor concluded saying that "as city administration, we condemn this teacher's behaviour, and we will decide on what measure to take." [Source: The Agenzia Giornalistica Italia]

More nativity nonsense

A nativity scene created by Madame Tussaud's wax museum is angering some church folks - the scene includes U.S. President George W. Bush as one of the three Wise Men, actors Hugh Grant and Samuel L. Jackson as shepherds, singer Kylie Minogue, and other celebrities in the key roles. And Jonathan Jenkins, spokesman for the archbishop of Canterbury is having a hare Kari fit. Let's see - don't Christmas plays all feature people who aren't really the characters they portray? Don't religious movies do the same thing? Seems the archbishop would be more discerning of contradiction.

Lenin statues in vogue?

In Fremont, Washington, the townsfolk are now enjoying their lit-up Lenin, ever since the Chamber of Commerce decided to illuminate the statue (and add garland) in a ceremony last Friday in, yes, "Lenin Square." Lenin would surely have disapproved of these hollow sentiments of the bored bourgeoisie.  The fact that the "Lenin Square" in Kharkov, Ukraine is now called "Freedom Square" obviously has no meaning for them. Meanwhile Harvey Gough of Dallas, Texas is selling his Lenin statue on E-bay. It was brought over from the Ukraine in 1993 and propped up in front of his burger joint, to celebrate the end of the Cold War. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, town leaders in Dunaujvaros, Hungary decided to erect a statue of Lenin. Unlike Fremont, they had to do it in the middle of the night- they weren't sure how people would react. After all, Hungary is home to the "House of Terror" museum which chronicles communist atrocities.

Lenin at home in Fremont, Washington

The burger joint Lenin. For sale on E-bay.

Dimebag Darrell goes down

At least 5 killed, 2 wounded in nightclub shooting. Metal fans will remember Darrell from the band Pantera.

Sam Francis column called "racist"

 Editor & Publisher takes note of Media Matters for America's complaint against Sam Francis, based on his last column in which he mentions some weird "breeding" stuff. Interesting that MMFA is called a "watchdog" group, not a liberal watchdog group which is clearly what it is. By comparison E&P describes AIM as a "conservative watchdog" group. Also- Brock is a not a liberal, he's a "former conservative." Notwithstanding the very weird "breeding" column, you'd think MMFA would've liked Francis' strident criticism of Bush.

Update on FCC complaint numbers

Brent Bozell says those FCC numbers are a lie...you can read about it here.

'Ninja Nipple' warriors deliver on promise

Mediaweek, reports that in 2003 99.8 percent of indecency complaints were filed by Brent Bozell's Parents Television Council, an activist group. They also were responsible for 99.9% of the Janet Jackson 'wardrobe malfunction' complaints. The PTC "set out to make an impact in 2003, including what it called 'a massive, coordinated and determined campaign' for more action by the FCC against broadcast indecency. 'We delivered on that promise,' Bozell said in the group’s annual report. "

Keepin' it real (base, that it)

Quote of the day:

What of this claim that "liberal intel elite" have fostered an idea that the baser things tend to be the more authentic? Agree? Disagree? Write me.

The judge ruled

Judge Napolitano held forth at the Occidental tonight, reminding us how very far we've strayed from the constitutional idea of limited government, then eloquently enumerated some examples of gross federal overreach.  "This isn't East Germany or the Soviet Union," he commented, when decrying federal snooping. Oddly, the first flurry of applause came after those comments  -when he said that God transposed the yearning for freedom to us. The occassion was the launching of Thomas Nelson Current, TN's 'new' political imprint. Present were Rebecca Hagelin of Heritage (author of an upcoming book) IC Smith, editor Joel Miller, John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and more...