Americans Strike Back

Mexican flag burned at Apache Junction HS | www.azstarnet.com ®: "Tensions over immigration reform heightened in the Phoenix area's East Valley Thursday when students raised a Mexican flag over Apache Junction High School — and then other students yanked it down and burned it.

'I know (they) shouldn't have burned the Mexican flag,' said Jacob Stewart, a 16-year-old sophomore. 'I heard it was raised above the American flag and that just irked me.'
He said the turbulence was tied to debates going on in the state Legislature and Congress, where ideas ranging from offering illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship to making them felons are being floated.
...
Six students — three Hispanic and three white — will be disciplined, Principal Chad Wilson said."

Whats the deal with raising the flag of a forign nation above that of the US? ON United States propterty? Where do you think your funding for school is coming from? The United States! Mexico doesn't give a rip what you learn, but we care enough to educate you, feed you, and help you along in life.
Whats the payment? Graditute? No. Instead you raise a Mexican flag above that of the United States.
The guy who burned the flag was justified in his actions, and should be rewared for placing the flag where it belongs.

I'll bet this mexican student has said the Pledge of Allegance. He isn't upholding his vows.
Hang the idiot for treason.

Blair to resign by Christmas

Telegraph | News | Blair will be gone by Christmas, say friends: "Tony Blair is to announce his resignation by Christmas, members of his inner circle believe.

The Prime Minister's closest aides feel that, following a series of damaging rows over education and 'sleaze', he will quit within nine months.

The disclosure comes as John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, agreed to try to broker an agreement between Mr Blair and back-bench MPs over the succession after being warned that uncertainty about the leadership is having a disastrous effect on Labour morale."

Dang. Blair's been a rock solid ally in the war on terror. While I beleive he is rather liberal at home, he's an old school liberal. One that will defend his nation and allies, despite the costs. I'm sorry to see him go.

Coal Miner goin home

CNN.com - Sole Sago Mine survivor heads for Miracle Road - Mar 30, 2006: "Randy McCloy, the only survivor of a January accident that killed 12 coal miners, left a Morgantown, West Virginia, hospital Thursday to recover at his home on newly named Miracle Road.

'I would just like to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers,' he said softly before leaving the hospital with his wife, son and brother-in-law for his home."

Good for him, and his family. Glad that he's well on the road to recovery.

NASDAQ reaches 5 year high

Reuters.com: "Stocks staged a broad rebound on Wednesday, as tech shares rallied on optimism about economic growth and business spending, driving the Nasdaq to a five-year high."

Couple this with an astoundingly high employment rate, and the economy looks great. Couple it with a rate hike by the feds, and the economy looks stupendous.
This is also a great article, just the facts, no spin.

What massacre?

US troops defend raid, say Iraqis faked "massacre" - Yahoo! News:
'After the fact, someone went in and made the scene look different from what it was. There's been huge misinformation,' Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, said.
...
Government-run television has shown footage of bodies lying without weapons in what Shi'ite ministers say is a mosque compound run by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The security minister accused Iraqi and U.S. troops of killing 37 unarmed men.

Giving the first U.S. military briefing on Sunday's events in Baghdad, Chiarelli said the raid by about 50 Iraqi special forces troops backed by some 25 U.S. 'advisers' had been the fruit of long intelligence work. But he said he did not know the religious affiliation of 16 'insurgents' who were killed.

An Iraqi was freed who had been taken hostage that day and threatened with death if he did not pay a $20,000 ransom, he said. Three fighters were wounded and 18 other people detained.

Chiarelli insisted the compound was not a mosque but an office complex. Neighbors and aides to Sadr call it a mosque and say it was once offices for Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

'There was gunfire from every room,' he said.

Major General J.D. Thurman, whose division controls Baghdad, said: 'If it was a mosque, why are they using it as a place to hold hostages?' He added that weapons, including 34 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were also found.""

It's a rescue! People die in rescues! If you don't want to get shot by us, then don't sit around in a weaponized mosque. And espessially don't sit in there with a gun, ready to blow our soldiers to oblivion, because you won't surive the day.

DeLay in the clear

Abramoff tells pals he has no dirt on DeLay: "Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has advised friends that he has no derogatory information about former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and is not implicating him as part of his plea bargain with federal prosecutors.

Abramoff's guilty plea on fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charges requires him to provide evidence about members of Congress. That led to speculation that this would mean trouble for DeLay, who faces money laundering and conspiracy charges in Texas.

However, Abramoff has not given a clean bill of health to any other congressman -- including Rep. Robert Ney, who has stepped down as chairman of the House Administration Committee. Ney was named in court papers connected with Abramoff's guilty plea Jan. 4."

So, the Hammer is cleared. This any peep will be made about this elsewhere?

White House was to be hit on 9/11

WBAP News/Talk 820 - The News & Talk of Texas: "Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, and fly it into the White House.

Moussaoui's testimony on his own behalf stunned the courtroom. His account was in stark contrast to his previous statements in which he said the White House attack was to come later if the United States refused to release a radical Egyptian sheik imprisoned on earlier terrorist convictions.

On Dec. 22, 2001, Reid was subdued by passengers when he attempted to detonate a bomb in his shoe aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. There were 197 people on board. The plane was diverted to Boston, where it landed safely.

Moussaoui told the court he knew the World Trade Center attack was coming and that he lied to investigators when arrested in August 2001 because he wanted it to happen."

So, what was the 4th plane supposed to hit? The congress building?

Anyway, that last paragraph should earn this terrorist a death sentance.

Politicians Hotel Demands

John Kerry
Dick Cheney

Pages:
John Kerry: 4
Dick Cheney: 1

Media requests:
John Kerry: On demand movies ('to make him happy'), New York Times, Washington Post, local papers
Dick Cheney: Fox News Channel

Food requests:
John Kerry: Vitamen water, No Tomator based products OR sandwiches, no celery, Cobb salad, filet mignon - medium.
Dick Cheney: Coffe, diet sprite, hotel restaurant menu.

Which one seems more uppity?

Big protest over immigration

Story: "More than 500,000 protesters - demanding that Congress abandon attempts to make illegal immigration a felony and to build more walls along the border - surprised police who estimated the crowd size using aerial photographs and other techniques, police Cmdr. Louis Gray Jr. said.

Wearing white T-shirts to symbolize peace, the demonstrators chanted 'Mexico!' 'USA!' and 'Si se puede,' an old Mexican-American civil rights shout that means 'Yes, we can.'

In Denver, more than 50,000 people protested downtown Saturday, according to police who had expected only a few thousand. Phoenix was similarly surprised Friday when an estimated 20,000 people gathered for one of the biggest demonstrations in city history, and more than 10,000 marched in Milwaukee on Thursday.
...
'We construct your schools. We cook your food,' rapper Jorge Ruiz said after performing at a Dallas rally that drew 1,500. 'We are the motor of this nation, but people don't see us. Blacks and whites, they had their revolution. They had their Martin Luther King. Now it is time for us.'"

Finally, after hours of searching, the AP has found a large protest. And wonder of wonders, it ain't about Iraq!
I think what has happened here is that we've got a LOT of illegal immigrants, and they truly beleive themselves to be part of america. As such, they protest as part of the process. Pretty big too, theres a lot of them. And the latino celebs are joining in, to garner a modicum of street cred.

This law will pass, and I believe Bush will sign it. Its the right thing to do.

Weekend News Rundown

Hey,
I'm gonna try this out, and see how it works. A bunch of stories linked, with a 1 sentance comentary/summary on them.

Russian Ambasador Shared war plans with Iraq. -Russians sharing plans with Saddams generals, in exchange for 3 million bbls of oil. Not that it helped Iraq any.

Immigration protests - Immigration bill in congress sparks protest, for and against. - Left Wing softies going nuts that illegal activity will be punished.

Christian Afgan likely to be set free -Good, freedom of religion is protected for the time being. The guy has guts, and is staying alive and with his faith because of it. What a man.

Abortion bill goes to court in SD. -Pro-Choice activists go to court over SD abortion ban. -Pro-murduer, leftwing fanatics go to war against the right to life.

Economy

BREITBART.COM - Existing Home Sales Post Unexpected Gains: "By region of the country, sales rose by 19.2 percent in the Northeast and were up 11.1 percent in the Midwest and 5.1 percent in the West in February. Only the South showed weakness last month with sales there dropping by 2.5 percent from the January pace.
...
He said that sales were down by double-digit levels in such hot sales markets as Phoenix, Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. He said, by contrast, sales were up by double-digit amounts in aeas such as Indianapolis, Albuquerque and Houston.

The drop in jobless claims of 11,000 marked the first decline in four weeks and left claims at a level consistent with strong labor market growth in coming months."

This article is so unbelievably negative, its astounding. I have never seen such good news turned into blithering negativity.

Nevertheless, this is awsome. What housing bubble? We've been hearing that the housing market will be popping for months, but we still having a record home sales.
As for jobs, good now, and a good future.

Hostages rescued in Iraq

BREITBART.COM - Three Christian Activists Rescued in Iraq: "U.S. and British troops Thursday freed three Christian peace activists in rural Iraq without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman, said the hostages were being held by a 'kidnapping cell,' and the operation to free the captives was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier.

No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into a house in western Baghdad. The captives' hands were tied, Lynch said.
...

Other Americans taken hostage in Iraq and killed in addition to Fox were Ronald Schulz, 40, an industrial electrician from Anchorage, Alaska; Jack Hensley, 48, a civil engineer from Marietta, Ga.; Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Mich.; and Nicholas Berg, 26, a businessman from West Chester, Pa.

Still missing is Jill Carroll, a freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor who was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Baghdad. She has appeared in three videotapes delivered by her kidnappers to Arab satellite television stations.

The last hostage to be freed in a military operation was Douglas Wood, an Australian rescued in west Baghdad by U.S. and Iraqi forces on June 15 after 47 days in captivity."

We don't negotiate with terrorists, we just kill them and take back our people. These people were Christians looking into 'human rights violations' for the arabs, and they were nicely captured, and some of them beheaded.

The group, the Loney Family, issued a statment later. Do they thank there rescuers? No. Rather, they pretty much slap them in the face, by accusing them of violating human rights. As such, more christians need to go over there, and be vigilantees, hawkishly looking for the mistreatment of Iraqis.

What a bunch of nuts...

Afganistan legal system going on Jihad?

Boy Scout Blogger: Help Save The Life Of An Afghan Man Who Refuses To Deny Christ

So whats up with this? Is it illegal to be a non-muslim over there again??

Bush is Man. Libs hate that.

Man Overboard:

This is an editorial in the Washington Post reviewing a new book by, ironically enough, Harvard Prof. Harvey C. Mansfield. So the opening sentance in this gives the book a glowing review, at least in my book.

"I have a new theory about what's behind everything that's wrong with the Bush administration: manliness."

Yes, Ruth Marcus suddenly had my attention. Reading on,

"Manliness, he writes, "seeks and welcomes drama and prefers times of war, conflict, and risk." It entails assertiveness, even stubbornness, and craves power and action. It explains why men, naturally inclined to assert that "our policy, our party, our regime is superior," dominate in the political sphere."

Couple of thoughts:
1. Assertivness: That is exactly what this administration has been. While the republicans in the senate have waffled, the administration has maintained it's support of their policies. Although some are not conservative, once Bush chooses to back something, he does. And he sticks with it, just like the port deal. (He was right about that by the way.)
2. Craves Power and action: Well, thats a whole lot better then craving a weak group conseansous and inaction. He is the leader of the free world, after all.
3. Men dominate the political sphere simply because they are better at it. Men tend to think with thought, and not emotion. That is, unless they are 'Girlie men' who have been nuetered by the feminists.

What really has Ruth Marcus riled up is this:
"Mansfield writes that he wants to "convince skeptical readers -- above all, educated women" -- that "irrational manliness deserves to be endorsed by reason.""

And the frantic response.
"Sorry, professor: You lose. What this country could use is a little less manliness -- and a little more of what you would describe as womanly qualities: restraint, introspection, a desire for consensus, maybe even a touch of self-doubt"

Denial. An aging feminst afraid that she is in fact wrong, and men are different then women. That a president in power during a time of war is reaserting leadership, and she hates it.

Dyspraxic fundamentalist: The Chinese Economy

Dyspraxicfundamentalist- Worldview: The Chinese Economy

A good look at where China is at, and where it can go from here. Essentially, China has peaked with the manufacturing industry, and the workers are starting to demand more payment. As such, they are loosing the edge on costs that made them a big economy.

Protesters bewildered by lack of comrades.

Salt Lake Tribune "By the time the war protesters began their march Saturday morning in Salt Lake City, only about 50 people had gathered. Their numbers had swelled to about 200 by noon - and that was with a little high-tech help from a marcher who text-messaged friends to join him. ... One of the biggest protests was in San Francisco, for decades a hub of anti-war sentiment. Police there estimated the crowd gathered outside City Hall at about 6,000 people. Many chanted slogans opposing Bush, and most appeared to hail from a distinctly grayer demographic than that of other protest events.
''There are not enough young people here,'' said Paul Perchonock, 61, a physician. ''They don't see themselves as having a stake.''
...
In Washington, a relatively small crowd of about 300 gathered at the Naval Observatory, where Vice President Dick Cheney lives, and marched to Dupont Circle. Debbie Boch, 52, a restaurant manager from Denver, said she and two friends bought plane tickets to Washington two months ago, before the demonstration had been planned. It was the fifth protest march she had attended since the war began, she said,and among the smallest.
''It's very disappointing, especially in Washington, D.C.,'' she said. ''You think this is the place where people come to make things happen. I'm just not sure why there aren't more people here today.'' "

Finally, a fair and balanced article from outside of Fox News.

There's no reason to be concerned about the elections this year. Not only do the liberals not have a plan, they are unreceptive to reality. And it's also the old people doing the protesting, who's defining years in life were protesting vietnam. For them, this is natural.

"I'm just not sure why there aren't more people here today."
Because it is only a very very small minority of the nation that agrees with you.

New York Times. 'Nuf said.

My Way News: "The New York Times said on Saturday it had identified the wrong man as the hooded prisoner standing on a box in a photograph that came to symbolize U.S. military abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
...
'The Times did not adequately research Mr. Qaissi's insistence that he was the man in the photograph,' The Times said in an editor's note accompanying a front page story on the misidentification.

'A more thorough examination of previous articles in The Times and other newspapers would have shown that in 2004 military investigators named another man as the one on the box, raising suspicions about Mr. Qaissi's claim,' it said.

The Times, one of the most respected U.S. newspapers, was stung in 2003 when former reporter Jayson Blair was found to have fabricated and plagiarized dozens of articles. Last year, the resignation of star reporter Judith Miller amid questions about her reporting in the run-up to the Iraq war further damaged the paper's standing."

And to add isult to injury, this today:
""An article in The Metro Section on March 8 profiled Donna Fenton, identifying her as a 37-year-old victim of Hurricane Katrina who had fled Biloxi, Miss., and who was frustrated in efforts to get federal aid as she and her children remained as emergency residents of a hotel in Queens.

"Yesterday, the New York police arrested Ms. Fenton, charging her with several counts of welfare fraud and grand larceny. Prosecutors in Brooklyn say she was not a Katrina victim, never lived in Biloxi and had improperly received thousands of dollars in government aid. Ms. Fenton has pleaded not guilty.

"For its profile, The Times did not conduct adequate interviews or public record checks to verify Ms. Fenton's account, including her claim that she had lived in Biloxi. Such checks would have uncovered a fraud conviction and raised serious questions about the truthfulness of her account.""

An excellent display of proper journalism, to be sure.

The State of Fear: Genetically Modified Foods

Ever since Genetically Modified foods were introduced in the early 90's, there has been a LOT of hysteria, panic, and widespread disenfranchise. Much of this was started by fringe activist environmental groups, like this overview, and this about wheat.
Many of the claims revolve around things like

1. They harm the environment
2. Harmful to Humans
3. Doesn't help 3rd world countries like regular crops
   
4. Not natural, thus less nutritious.

1. Harm the environment:
One of the main benefits of both selective breeding and GMing foods is a resistance to disease/pestilence. With the standard crop of today, waves and waves of both airborne and groundbased pesticides required to sustain the growth. While these are not harmful to humans unless used in massive dosages, they have been the cause of concern for many years. The Genetically Modified foods however, have an innate immunity to these problems. In reality, while GM foods are less expensive, they also add less to the environment.

2. Harmful to humans
While the FDA does not inspect the foods for human health problems, the farms are required to ensure that they are safe for human consumption. Regular foods are not inspected either, and the companies ensure the safety of the current crops.

3. 3rd world countries won't accept it.
An example of a GM food helping out poor nations is found in Golden Rice. Finalized and grown in 2000, it is the traditional white rice, enriched with vitamin A. It is given away free to farmers in the poor nations. Greenpeace opposed it initially because it didn't have enough vitamin A, alough they continued their opposition after the amount was increase, due to a blanket opposition to GM foods. Many countries accept it, both because its free, and requires a minimum of chemicals to grow effectively.

4. Not natural, thus less nutritious.
The exact opposite is true, as these foods are engineered to be both more nutritious and better tasting. More fruits and vegetables are available year round, providing more opportunities for good nutrition.


Why the spread of this fear?
There are several reasons, and several groups that are behind it. The majority of it comes honest citizens who out of ignorance of what the GM foods actually are. Much of the rest comes from socialist/fascist environmental groups, who's main purpose in life appears to be the slander of large corporations.
On the honest citizen side of things, its just fear of the unknown, and being driven to an irrational fear by the environmental groups. This is excusable, but rather unfortunate. Much of the food you buy in a normal supermarket is probably GMed, but you eat it regardless of the fear.
With the environmental groups however, it is a different story. Not only is their main purpose one of willfully misleading people, (Forest destruction, global warming, pesticides, ect.). With the GM issue, the fearmongering is to damage the large farms, like ADM. I believe their main contention is that the farmland is taken, and they want it to be reverted to its natural state of chaos.

Operation Swarmer

International Herald Tribune: "U.S.-led forces pressed on Friday with an offensive against suspected guerrilla targets near the north-central town of Samarra, witnesses said.
...
U.S. military officials said Thursday that the operation, involving 50 helicopters, was the biggest 'air assault' since a similar airlift across Iraq just after the war in late April 2003. That operation was also conducted by the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.

A U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, said that U.S.-led forces were searching a 10- mile-by-10-mile, or 16-kilometer- square, area for guerrillas and that no casualties had been reported by American or Iraqi forces.

He said that 50 people had been detained and 30 remained in custody. The U.S. military usually describes insurgents as 'terrorists,' so Iraqis netted in the raids could have just been ordinary farmers from rural areas near Samarra.

This operation is not an invasion, and the media have overreacted. The operation aims to search and control the area and launch raids against some suspected places," he [Iraqi defence ministry spokesman, General Salih Sarhan] said."

US Casualties: 0
Iraqi Casualties: 0
Terrorist Casualties: 80

Sounds good.

The State of Fear

In Honor of this being the 400th post in the War Against Ignorance, we are starting a new series entitled The State of Fear. These will be posted periodically, about once a week.

A lot of topics will be covered, including

• Genetically modified food
• Global Warming/The environment
  
• Arabian nations
• The Red Dragon: China
• Avian Flu
• Radiation
• The Federal Deficit
• The Draft
• 'Super bugs'

So, the first up will be an extremely well written, well illustrated, and well backed up speech by Michael Crichton, mainly about environmental fears. In addition to showing what fears are blown out of proportion, we'll take a look at why they are, and for what purpose.

I welcome debate on these issues, and look forward to a battle in the arena of ideas.

Stay 'tooned!

Regenerate Our culture

Regenerate Our Culture opens up in about 5 minutes, at least where I live. Or, if they aren't crazy and aren't staying up like I am, it will open in the morning.

Iran at war with US

BREITBART.COM - "'Tehran has been responsible for at least some of the increasing lethality of anti-coalition attacks by providing Shia militia with the capability to build improvised explosive devices in Iraq,' Bush said in a speech.

He cited recent congressional testimony from John Negroponte, the US director of national intelligence.

Bush also charged that 'some of the most powerful IEDs we are seeing in Iraq today include components that came from Iran.'

'Coalition forces have seized IEDs and components that were clearly produced in Iran. Such actions, along with Iran's support for terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, are increasingly isolating Iran,' he said.
....
The US military has said in the past that advanced roadside bombs with shaped armor-penetrating explosives and sophisticated triggering devices have been turning up in Iraq.

US military intelligence sources said the weapons have been traced to Iran's Revolutionary Guard or Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon.

Last week, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directly accused the Islamic government in Tehran for the first time of sending Iranian Revolutionary Guard into Iraq to make trouble."

Suprise suprise... They ain't insurgents. There terrorists, with the backing of a forign power.

Jerks heckle funeral

BREITBART.COM - : "Five women sang and danced as they held up signs saying 'thank God for dead soldiers' at the funeral of an army sergeant who was killed by an Iraqi bomb.

For them, it was the perfect way to spread God's word: America was being punished for tolerating homosexuality.

For the hundreds of flag waving bikers who came to this small town in Michigan Saturday to shield the soldier's family, it was disgusting.

'That could be me in that church,' said Jackie Sandler whose son Keith is currently serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

The fringe group of fire and brimstone Baptists from Kansas has been courting controversy for more than 15 years, traveling the country with their hateful signs and slogans.

The Westboro Baptist Church first gained national notoriety when they picked the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming student who was murdered in 1998 for being gay."

That is most definatly not right...
Sick, making a funeral a politcal stunting ground. Lets see who else does this... Democrat party? Welstone memorial? Correta King funeral? Which of these three has more significance? Which will be recieving more coverage?

Free speech protected? That can't be right...

Anti-Castro Sign at Ballgame Causes Stir: "While Cuba played the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, a spectator in the stands raised a sign saying: 'Down with Fidel,' sparking an international incident that escalated Friday with the velocity of a major league fastball.

The image of the man holding the sign behind home plate was beamed live Thursday night to millions of TV viewers; including those in Cuba. The top Cuban official at the game at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan rushed to confront the man.

Puerto Rican police quickly intervened and took the Cuban official _ Angel Iglesias, vice president of Cuba's National Institute of Sports to a nearby police station where they lectured him about free speech.

'We explained to him that here the constitutional right to free expression exists and that it is not a crime,' police Col. Adalberto Mercado was quoted as saying in El Nuevo Dia, a San Juan daily."

This cracked me up! Castro's commie officialls are so upset because 1 man, just 1 man in a sea of tens of thousands, exersised his free speach at a baseball game! Amazing what one candle can accomplish!
In other news, the cuba baseball team THRASHED the dutch badly, 11-2

Where did they dig up that old fossil...

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: "When wandering through a hunter's market in Laos, Robert Timmins of the Wildlife Conservation Society happened upon a previously unknown rodent. Called kha-nyou by locals--or rock rat--the long-whiskered and furry-tailed rodent was reputed to favor certain limestone terrain. Western scientists named it Laonastes aenigmamus or stone-dwelling enigmatic mouse--partially because a live specimen has never been collected--and thought the rock rat represented a new family of mammals. But new research reported in today's Science proves that Laonastes actually represents a fossil come to life.

Paleontologist Mary Dawson of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and her team immediately recognized the strange rodent as a living member of a family thought to have been extinct for at least 11 million years"

How much do we really know about our planet? Do we know enough to make proclomations of extinction on numerous species on a yearly basis? Or to go stark raving mad about global warming? Or to 'scientifically' determine the origins of the universe?
No, because we're human, have been around for abour 6000 years, and been recording everything for the past 300 years.

Another funny thing is how the article is written. Is this really a rodent that spontaneously generated to form a rodent, supposedly 11 million years after it was extinct? No, the species. been around all this time, and it is not a fosssil come to life.
Nice find, now we have another rodent to add to the list of the living. :D

Abortion changes in Tennessee?

KATU 2 - Portland, Oregon: "'The resolution is an all-out attack on the women of Tennessee and seeks to rob women of their right to make choices about their own health, safety and personal welfare,' said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee."

With that regarding the legislation, and considering the source, this is AWSOME.

"The state Senate on Thursday passed a proposal to amend the Tennessee Constitution so that it doesn't guarantee a woman's right to an abortion."

Yes! Starting with the states, we're on t he right path.

Iran Rattles Sabers, Rd. IV.

News From The Associated Press: "Iran threatened the United States with 'harm and pain' Wednesday for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council over its disputed nuclear program.

'The United States has the power to cause harm and pain,' Iran said a statement meant for delivery at the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board meeting in Vienna on Iran's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment."
"But the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll.""

So Iran pretty much says 'Bring it!' to the world, in the middle of diplomatic relation no less. A similar circumstance: A chiwawa going through the trash, and a St. Bernard finding him. Chiwawa goes bonkers barking. But who could cause the most damage?

Regenerate our Culture

The most effective changes start from the ground up, the grass roots efforts.
One organization starting from the ground up, with the young up and coming generation of bloggers, and it's called 'Regenerate our Culture'. It launches in 8 days, and is a blog ring, combined with a podcast, and a new magazine, written by the best of the bloggers.

South Dakota: Abortion banned

My Way News: "PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation Monday that would ban most abortions in South Dakota, a law he acknowledged would be tied up in court for years while the state challenges the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
...
The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the procedure was necessary to save the woman's life. It would make no exception for cases of rape or incest.
...
'In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society. The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them,' Rounds said in the statement.
...
Abortion opponents already are offering money to help the state pay legal bills for the anticipated court challenge, Rounds has said. Lawmakers said an anonymous donor has pledged $1 million to defend the ban, and the Legislature set up a special account to accept donations for legal fees."

Yes!! 1 small step for a nation, huge step for South Dakota. This will be in the courts for several years, but should be passed by the US Supream court. And perhaps in the midst of that, we'll have another Bush justice on the court.

We covered the start of this story here.

Iran Rattles sabers, Round III

FOXNews.com - : "VIENNA, Austria — Iran threatened to start full-scale uranium enrichment if members of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency press for U.N. Security Council action over Tehran's nuclear program at a meeting that opened Monday.

A top U.S. diplomat, meanwhile, said there was an urgent need to confront Iran's 'clear and unrelenting drive' for nuclear weapons.

Iran 'must be made aware that if it continues down the path of international isolation, there will be tangible and painful consequences,' John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board was not likely to discuss the Iran issue until Tuesday or Wednesday, but delegates said that whatever step the council might take would stop far short of sanctions."

Nice. So Iran doesn't give a bag of sand what the IAEA does, and will continue with the nuke program either way.
Danged terrorists. The council is with them, as they just sit on the sidelines and watch as the nation that has all but declared war on Isreal arms itself with the most destructive weapons on the planet.

Terrorist whines about having to eat

BBC NEWS | Americas | Guantanamo man tells of 'torture': "Fawzi al-Odah said hunger strikers were strapped to a chair and force-fed through a tube three times a day. Mr Odah, who has been held at the base since 2002, was one of 84 inmates at Guantanamo who went on hunger strike in December. Just four are still refusing food. Through his lawyer, Mr Odah described his treatment during his hunger strike. 'First they took my comfort items away from me. You know, my blanket, my towel, my long pants, then my shoes. I was put in isolation for 10 days. 'They came in and read out an order. It said if you refuse to eat, we will put you on the chair [for force feeding].' He told how detainees were given 'formulas' to force them to empty their bowels and were strapped to a metal chair three times

The US has said it is holding Mr Odah because he is a dangerous "enemy combatant", who traveled through Afghanistan with the Taliban, fired AK-47 rifles while at an al-Qaeda training camp and fought against US and coalition forces."

Couple of thoughts after reading the article:
1. Why the heck are they not eating? They bored with life, and deciding they just are going to starve themselves to death? The MRE's that we serve our soldiers not good enough?

2. Most prisons in the world, you'd be begging for food, or food that tastes somewhat different from concrete. The US prisons, we won't let you not eat. I suppose we're trying to Americanize them, so they'll be like the average slightly-heavy American. Hehe. I suppose looking like the infidel would be torture.

3. How did the BBC get this interview? Apparently, John Manel for the BBC has access to the camp. Sound like a place where torture takes place? And who is taking this case to court? Apparently, Tom Wilner. Sound like a denial of civil liberty?
Decidedly treasonous, defending a sworn enemy of the US.

4. Comfort items... Yeah. Having your blankie taken away from you for a few days is real rough. Shouldn't have been training to kill US civilians, and you shouldn't have been firing AK-47 rounds at the US soldiers Without a uniform on.

5. When you complain about having your knees ache, maybe you should think about how Nick felt when he was beheaded by your buddies. When you think that you have a life without hope, maybe you should think of the women in the culture you were supporting, the ones who can have their fingers cut off for having their nails painted.
One line cracks me up though: "I have trouble urinating and having bowel movements." Earlier in the article, he was complaining about having to take pills to help with that.

Geesh. If we don't feed them, we're in trouble. If we do feed them, we're in trouble. They don't know what they want.

Antartica is melting. The end is near.

Independent Online Edition > Environment: "The first satellite study of the continent's ice inventory has revealed that Antarctica is releasing around 35 cubic miles of water into the sea each year.

This is equivalent to an increase in global sea level of about 0.4mm a year. This would account for between 20 and 50 per cent of the average rise seen each year for the past century."

Yippie! The ice sheets are melting! Now we have to rethink our assesment of global warming! The oceans rose 0.04cm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Head for the hills, californa will soon be off the map.

The method that they measured the total ice mass with is pretty darn spectacular. Using 2 satilites, they measuered the "changes in the gravitational pull of the continent". Pardon me, but don't other masses in the area affect gravity? Like perhaps erosion of the seabed to other areas, or a mass migration of penguins trying to escape the drastically escelating tempuratures?

This story, and pretty much the entire joke of global warming is rubbish.

Taliban Officer attends Ivy League school

Why A Taliban At Yale? | NewsBusters.org: "Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi has been granted special student status and the state department has awarded him entry into the United States on a student visa. This is an interesting turn of events for a person who could just as easily have ended up as a guest of the United States in a cell at Guantanamo Bay.

Prior to his arrival as a student, Rahmatullah had been imprisoned at Bagram Air Base. He had been a member of the Taliban government, serving both in Afghanistan and in the United States as Second Foreign Secretary and Ambassador-at-Large.
...
Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi is said to have a fourth grade education and has passed a high school equivalency examination. He does speak acceptable English. This, however, does not meet any of the requirements Yale has listed for its International Students accepted for Special Programs.
...
These requirements may have been met by Rahmatullah, but they are never even brought to question in the Times article. Another unanswered question is how a former member of a now non-existent government can cover the $31,460 Yale tuition and fees and $9,540 room and board costs."

Dude, how the heck does something like this happen? This spot could, and should have been filled by an american student who acctually earned the right to attend, and is not some blasted political correctness attendie, who can desiminate hate and religions and gender bigotry on campus.

Petrol Terrorists free hostage

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World News - Texan Hostage Released by Nigerian Militants: "WARRI, Nigeria — Militants released six foreign oil workers, including a diabetic Texan celebrating his 69th birthday Wednesday, taken captive last month to press fighters' demands for a greater share of oil revenues generated in this restive southern state.

But three other hostages — two Americans and a Briton — were kept by militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. A militant spokesman said all 'low-value' hostages taken Feb. 18 had been freed."

They're still holding on to a couple of other people, but these guys don't behead people when they're finished with them.