Crosblog

Since he's local, I'll just link to Cube's covering of the arrest of what seems like the entire Tennessee State legislature on corruption charges.

It's funny cause I didn't vote for any of them.

Study shows tobacco companies tried to appeal to women. The evil bastards did this by researching products they thought would appeal to women, and running ads that did not include a guy looking like Hitler saying "these things will make you smell bad then kill you," over and over.

Next up is an in-depth study addressing the possibility that the Coors Light Twins are part of a devious plot to sell beer to guys.

The Misanthrope's Guide.

More closely connected to mob lawyer Bruce Cutler than Dawn Summers.

An aid worker with Doctors Without Borders reports on mass rapes being committed in Darfur.

Sudanese government, showing that go-getter attitude we all know and love, arrest the aid worker. For charges including "undermining Sudanese society."

Multinational diplomacy in action.

Next wacko who climbs a crane in Georgia, your butt is getting shoved the heck off.

Dawn was right. We were far too nice to crane-climbers here in Atlanta.

Gulag:

1. political prison in former USSR: a prison or labor camp in the former Soviet Union, to which opponents of the government were sent

2. prison camp network in former USSR: the network of political prisons and labor camps in the former Soviet Union

3. former Soviet department administering prisons: the department of the former Soviet security service that was responsible for running the network of political prisons

4. prison for dissenters: any place that dissenters are sent to, or the isolating or imprisoning of dissenters

Places like this, were government opponents and dissidents are sent, unfortunately still exist in the world today. And, of course, there's one place above all that brings to mind the old Soviet prison labor camps where people are sent for refusing to go along with a totalitarian government.

And if you're Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, that place is Guantanamo Bay:

Amnesty International yesterday called the U.S. military's anti-terror prison at Guantánamo Bay the "gulag of our times"

That's the one. North Korea? Not quite. China's laogai? We disapprove, but we have tickets to the 2008 Olympic Women's Gymnastics All-Around. Cross the fenceline into Cuba? It's not good, but have you heard about the free healthcare? Considering al-Qaeda strategy involves shouting "abuse" every chance you get when drawing your conclusions? The less critical we are of Guantanamo detainees, the harder we can be on Bush.

Bottom line - of all the places in the world - the "gulag of our time" is Guantanamo Bay. And in recognition of Irene Khan's clear understanding of the phrase - Inigo has something to say to you...



"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Ms. Khan was nominated for her Montoya Award by Dave Justus.

Writer Oriana Fallaci has been ordered to stand trial in Italy for writing things that were deemed insulting to Islam. That this is a bad, bad, bad thing is well addressed here. What's also important is to consider what Fallaci actually wrote - a translation of the passages cited in the complaint is provided here. Comment threads are disproportionately dealing with her statement that the Islamic ritual of animal slaughter is just as barbaric as the Jewish ritual - with commenters familiar with shechita taking offense at the comparison. This is a big picture kind of case - her opinion may be well informed, it may not be - but this is an attack on the idea that you can put forth an argument even if it makes someone else upset. The question isn't whether Fallaci is wrong, or right, it's whether she's a criminal, and she's not, or at least, she wouldn't be in a system dedicated to free and open discourse.

Tip - Volokh.

Normally, I would have thought Congressional staffers didn't need a safe-sex lecture. Bright group of people, those who find work in our nation's capital. Apparently there are exceptions:

"You keep mentioning the word 'monogamy'," a staffer named Roland Foster recalls one young woman asking after a lecture. "What is that?"

"That's when you have sex with only one partner," Coburn responded.

"You mean at a time?"

Future of America, right there, baby.

Tip - Corner.

The New Vintage

Ace of Spades

...is so that you don't have to do stuff like this: Thieves steal antique sex toys from brothel museum.

Surely, somewhere out there, there's a place where you can buy and sell vintage sex toys at a reasonable price.

Fortunately, a ghost scared them off before they could do more damage. (No, really)

"Hit Me Baby One More Time" - featuring the return of Loverboy.

Because we all need to remember, that if you want a piece of my heart, you gotta start from the start. (I'm telling you, they don't write lyrics like that anymore.)

That's how Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman felt his officers handled courthouse security concerns during the Brian Nichols rampage.

And, in the category of "So, What, Exactly Would It Take For You To Take This Seriously?" we have a Fulton County Deputy leaving her loaded gun in a juvenile courthouse restroom.

Quite the well-oiled security machine they got there.

He was going to say "It's 'the poor man's Luke Wilson.'"

Not a bad finale, although apparently you could have spent the same hour playing Resident Evil and not missed much.

Although the scene where Jack and Irina discuss how to persuade Elena to tell them which wire to cut was classic, as was Marshall and Weiss channeling Jack and Sloane at the beginning.

Oh, on Lost, I missed what happened to Jin. Did he get shot?

Sensing where the wind may be blowing regarding his old buddies in the West, Uzbekistan Thug-in-Chief Islam Karimov is opening up his oil fields to China.

"No blood for oil" types looking for a place to protest, head east, turn right at Kazakhstan.

Facing both felony and misdemeanor charges for making false statements (felony) and false report of a crime (misdemeanor).

Called it. Prediction - she will plead to the misdemeanor, no jail time, probation and some kind of mental health counseling requirement.

Whether this will be enough to get Duluth, GA to stop hating her, I won't hazard a guess.

I'm OK on the whole filibuster deal. Yes, the judges should all get up or down votes, but no, the Democrats weren't going to break ranks, and yes, John McCain does like media praise more than party unity, so no, it wasn't going to freaking happen unless some sort of deal was made, which means it sucks to be Henry Saad and William Myers. They weren't the main event fights anyway, and the idea that, upon further review, the Democrats were OK with votes on Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor is kind of funny, given the effort the Democratic base put into portraying those three as threats to the American way of life itself. Certainly, the Dems will redefine "extraordinary circumstances" once a Supreme Court vacancy opens up, but that just invites the hilarious question of "OK, and this person is more extreme than Janice Rogers Brown how?"

Some folks are also OK with it. Others, not so much. Still the disappointment spans party lines, so there's that at least.

Now, onto the confirmation of Stone Cold Steve Austin...

Latest odds on who dies in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" can be found here. By far the leading candidate is Dumbledore, followed by Neville, Hagrid, Cho, and various Weasleys. (Whether Molly Weasley qualifies as a "major character" is a whole other story, but nevertheless...) Not on the list at all was Lucious Malfoy, and commentors are also suggesting Percy and Lupin.

My bet - Dumbledore - this book will end on a downer, with You-Know-Who seemingly on the verge of total victory. I think Lucious may also eat it, to add to Draco's rage for the inevitable face-off with Harry.

Longshot bet - Cornelius Fudge.

Tip - Instapundit.

...probably wasn't quite how it was put, but the families of recent deportees are asking Mexican President Vincente Fox and his likely successor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, for help in securing pardons for recent deportees.

Cause, otherwise, they'd have to all go to Mexico, and if there's one thing Fox and AMLO know, it's that nobody wants to live there.

Al-Qaeda asks for prayers for the supposedly wounded Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.

The site claims Zarqawi's injury "is a reason to "increase the attacks" against the group's enemies." Also cited as reasons to increase attacks: the most recent issue of Newsweek, Laura Bush's visit to Jerusalem, Rex's death on Desperate Housewives, and the complete lack of chemistry between Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman in Star Wars.

Fulton County Courthouse shooter Brian Nichols pled not guilty to a variety of charges, several of them capital. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has been running an interesting series on how the shooting has affected the people involved. This article deals with the people who feel they could have prevented the shooting - the deputy assigned to protect Judge Barnes' courtroom, the prosecutors who failed to convict Nichols, a juror who actually gave credibility to Nichols' far-fetched story about how his victim made it all up. More details about the aftereffects of the shooting are addressed here.

The Fulton County District Attorney's office has had a lot of people leave in the aftermath of the shooting, including the two attorneys prosecuting Nichols. DA Paul Howard will have no trouble filling the positions - there'll be plenty of people willing to take on the job. But like all law enforcement related jobs in Fulton, it's a hard job made harder by recent events. Best of luck to everyone.

In unrelated news - the Supreme Court has ruled against shackling prisoners during the penalty phases of capital trials.

Iran is having a Presidential election, and everybody wants in. A stunning 1,010 people filed to run for President. This group of people covers all walks of life, liberals, conservatives, Islamists, secular candidates, Ralph Nader, Pat Buchanan, everybody. Now, surely, when a thousand people fill out paperwork, a couple of them will get it wrong and be disqualified, so that thousand will drop down to...

...six. Five hardliners, and that's only if you count Rafsanjani as a moderate. (And if the phrase "Montoya Award" means anything to you, you should not.) Realizing that even Juan Cole might consider that insufficiently democratic, the Guardians' Council has since decided to reinstate two candidates, one of whom, Mostafa Moin, actually has some modest street cred among reformers. (Some are under the opinion that this was all staged to make Uberjerk Ayatollah Ali Khameni look like he really cares about democracy.)

It seems to be working. Current news stories talk about how the ban on reformists has been "reversed", and how this has "defused a row", and other such nonsense, not mentioning the number of candidates disqualified. I'm sure plenty of the people who wanted to run were of the California Gubernatorial Recall variety and not career politicians, but I'm going out on a limb and say there were more than 8 people who filled out the paperwork correctly. Some students are calling for Moin to refuse to run, and still demanding a boycott. Maybe if enough people involved refuse to pretend this is a real election, we can get CNN to quit pretending it is too.

This post may or may not reveal plot points of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith Read or skip at your discretion.

Saw Revenge of the Sith last night. It was pretty good. Significantly better than the first two, which is sort of like saying it's a pretty good year for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but overall a decent movie. I'd say a lot of the accolades the film gets are just people relieved that it didn't suck whale chunks, but it has a lot of action, answers most of the main questions, and is well acted by everyone not named "Hayden Christensen." (Although he does all right once he turns fully evil, his attempt at "conflicted" is, shall we say...Shatnerian.) In any event, I'm confident that Star Wars IV: A New Hope will remain the only Star Wars movie ever nominated for Best Picture, but it's a good wrap-up to the series and worth the time and money to check out.

And whatever your political tastes, you'll find what you like here. Sure, Anakin says "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," met with Obi-Wan's response "Only a Sith Lord thinks in absolutes." And earlier, when the bad guys take over the Republic, Padme utters the classic line "So this is how liberty dies - with thunderous applause." And how those lines are meant is pretty crystal clear. But if you actually watch the movie, it's not clear who in our current political arena represents who. As you watch, take note - there is one side who think good and evil are definite concepts that really exist, and there are those who think it's all a matter of perspective, and "subtleties", which is the word used in the movie. (Those from the Massachussetts System may prefer the word "nuance." There are those willing to sacrifice freedom in the name of "peace" and "stability", and there are those who are willing to endure chaos in the cause of preserving democracy. There are the Sith, and there are the Jedi. You tell me who's who.

From a Lebanese blogger - about where credit should rest for the Cedar Revolution:

"Bush had nothing to do with the impetus for our protests in Lebanon.
He was the reason we went to bed afterward."

He also gives props to Jacques Chirac in the post, and Chirac did take a strong line with Syria, which certainly had to play into Syria's decision not to send in the tanks.

Central Asian Superdouche Islam Karimov has assured the world that there is absolutely nothing to see, and since he's assured us that anyone hit by a bullet was an Osama Bin Laden wannabe, there sure ain't no need for any investigation or anything like that.

“He [Karimov] said he had the situation under control and was taking every measure to bring those responsible to account, and didn’t need an international team to establish the facts,” Annan told reporters.

It would be nice to imagine that Kofi is leaving out the part where he ripped Karimov a new one, and told him investigators would be landing in Andizhan shortly, and if they got one ounce of crap from Karimov or any of his crew, the UN reaction would make George Bush wince. Such a UN would need neither John Bolton nor Stone Cold Steve Austin, and would deserve a hefty raise in the amount the U.S. contributed to its upkeep. Call me cynical, but I think we'll see a resolution blaming Israel for the violence in Uzbekistan before any of that happens.

Still, several hundred brave Uzbeks are protesting the crackdown in Korasuv, where government troops recently regained control after another protest threw the town's leaders out.

...but that said, I will miss Reggie Miller. Props to the Detroit Pistons for how they acted at the end of the game.

I never had much use for the NBA, but Reggie was nearly always fun to watch. Anyone who could make Spike Lee pop a rivet had to have something going for him.

Apparently Topher Grace will be playing a bad guy in the next Spider-Man movie. Rumor has it that the villains will include the Sandman (probably Thomas Haden Church) and the Hobgoblin (in the comic book, he's a guy (presumably Grace) who finds a hidden cache of Green Goblin gear and embarks on a life of crime, in the movie, this could be what they do with James Franco.)

Other superhero news says Kelsey Grammer will be playing the Beast in X-Men 3.

Apparently, sometimes when a criminal defendant tells a judge how sorry and remorseful he is, he may occasionally be less than sincere.

An Alabama man sobbed and expressed his sorrow at his sentencing for driving drunk in a crash that killed a woman riding with her husband.

Donald Hawkins, 32, of Chunchula, Ala., ended up with the maximum 15-year prison sentence for drunken driving manslaughter.

As he turned to leave the courtroom, Hawkins told one of the victim's daughters, "I hope this happens to one of your children."

Go wish him a happy Blogi...whatever you call it when a blog is one year old.

No Montoya Award today - just word that Uzbek troops have retaken Korasuv, a town that was briefly occupied by rebels. Supreme Jackass Islam Karimov is sticking to his claim that his troops killed only 169 people, all violent Islamic extremists, while opposition leaders are citing a list of 700 people, including women and children, killed in the crackdown. Suspicions exist that the true death toll could run as high as 1,000 or more.

Dave Justice has an excellent post on the subject, which can, and should, be read here.

Uzbekistan took a bunch of journalists and diplomats to the town where soldiers massacred a bunch of peaceful demonstrators, but kept them from the scene of the massacre itself.

It was outside School No. 15 on Cholpon Avenue that witnesses said the killings took place.

"It's really weird. Why should they want to go to this school?" this reporter heard one Uzbek official say to another.

Yeah, can't think of a reason. Usually everyone goes to Andizhan, Uzbekistan for the nightlife.

"We have already captured around 100 bandits. Some of them are already confessing," said Interior Minister Zakirdzhon Almatov, who led the tour around the Central Asian town.

"Confessing?"



"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Here's your Montoya Award.

Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has released a statement explaining that when his crew kills innocents, its OK, because his quest is far more important. Throw that in with the idea that Islamic extremists can't help but riot when someone half a world away desecrated a Koran, and throw in the idea that if a woman is raped, it's her fault if she didn't cover herself up, and I gotta know: In that world, do men have any responsibility for their own actions at all?

Refugees of Uzbekistan's massacre who survived to escape into Krygyzstan are starting to tell their stories.

“They fired non-stop. We waved in the air with white scarves, but they continued to shoot at us,” sat Mukhtarova, sitting in a tent among other women, torn by thoughts of the five children she left in her home city of Andijan."...

“We raised our hands, shouted that we are unarmed, but they kept firing,” said Khabibullo Rakhimberdiyev.

Reports have the death toll nearing 750. And to get the other side of the story, let's hear from the Uzbek prosecutor-general, Rashid Kadyrov:

"Not a single civilian was killed by government forces there."

Kadyrov refers to those killed as "terrorists." As far as allowing journalists to visit and confirm what happened, hey, they're working on it. (That's a lot of bodies to bury and witnesses to intimidate. You try it sometime.) And while we must wait for a free Uzbekistan to give Kadyrov the trial he obviously deserves, we can, for his use of the word "civilian" bestow him with the prized Inigo Montoya Award. Inigo, tell the man...



"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

China has opposed a plan circulated by Germany, Brazil, India, and Japan to enlarge the UN Security Council, with the four above mentioned nations becoming Permanent Members. China claims the process will "undermine UN reform."

The idea that the People's Republic of the Tiananmen Square Massacre can pretend Japan's "historical blindness" has anything to do with anything, and nobody calls bullshit, tells you a lot about the U.N. The only "U.N. reform" that would have any value would be reform that removes all mechanisms used to legitimize dictators. Call me crazy, but I don't think that fits in with China's ideal U.N.

In response to Mexican President Fox's claim that Mexicans come to the U.S. to take jobs "even blacks won't do," Dawn Summers suggests he rethink his priorities...

Hey, President Fox instead of worrying about what jobs Mexicans have when they get here, how about you focus on why Mexicans are so desperate to get the hell out of your hell hole that they'll cram into vehicles so disgusting that not even the Chinese would ride in them.

In related news, Fox is taking the steps he thinks needs to be taken to smooth all this over, calling Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

...get help.

He found this. I can only presume he was disappointed.

...your opponents first two efforts to name four of the five Marx Brothers...

"Richard" and "Karl"

It's one of the few Sunday School lessons I remember well, and I'm proud to say my dad was the one who taught it. He walked into our classroom, holding a Bible high in one hand. A band of teenage smartasses who were way too cool for organized religion awaited yet another futile attempt to relate the message of Jesus Christ to our daily lives. Nothing we hadn't heard (and ignored) before. It came as quite a shock when my dad opened the lesson by slamming the Bible down on the ground.

"It's just a book," he said.

He then picked it up, and bent the cover, ripped a page or two, tossed it in the air - he may have even stepped on it. Then he said it again.

"It's just a book."

What mattered, he said, were the lessons the book contained. The ideas the book presented, the way of life the book offered. To say the Bible is sacred is correct, but only if you understand the Bible to be the message of the book, and not the ink and paper itself. Treating the physical symbols with respect is all well and good, but to him, Christ didn't want us to have Bibles that were pretty. He wanted us to have Bibles that were read. That were lived. And the surprising tactic he used to start his lesson brought him the rapt attention of a class generally predisposed to allow religious instruction to flow in one ear and out the other. I don't know how good a Christian I am, but I'm pretty sure I'm a better one because my father once threw a Bible on the floor.

I don't know whether Newsweek rushed a story they thought would embarrass the President, if they're guilty of simple shoddy reporting, or what the heck happened there. I hope it gets sorted out, and if there was a mistake, that whoever made it gets called to account. But I really hope that whatever media storm unfurls doesn't obscure the fact that a rumor that something disrespectful was done to a book was taken as cause to start a violent riot that led to the deaths of people who didn't even have anything to do with disrespecting the book. I don't believe that Islam requires this type of conduct. I don't believe Muslims are incapable of behaving rationally when confronted with an accusation of disrespect. (An accusation that is far from proven.) And I don't believe that this type of rage warrants concessions on our part.

I agree with Karol and Dawn that the blame for the deaths rests primarily, if not solely, with the rioters. This article, cited by a commentor on the thread at Karol's cite, offers a valiant attempt to explain how the Koran is more than a Bible or Torah. What remains unexplained is why people who do not accept the supremacy of the Koran are obligated to act as though they do. What happened is aspiring tyrants found an excuse to kill and demand to have things their way. Had this particular excuse not presented itself, they'd have found another one. Hopefully the rush to get scalps out of Newsweek won't hide that fact.

...quick, we all know the answer - "Because illegal immigrants take jobs Americans won't do!"

Or, if you're Mexican President Vincente Fox, you phrase it this way:

"There's no doubt that Mexican men and women — full of dignity, willpower and a capacity for work — are doing the work that not even blacks want to do in the United States."

Read the whole thing. Apparently President Fox is not considered out of line in Mexico. Of course, the whole statement is in the context of Fox trying to change certain developments in U.S. policy towards immigrants. And when you're trying to persuade a country to see things your way, you really need to do so in language acceptable to the people of said country.

Geesh, even George Bush at least tries to comply with that one.

The crackdown in Uzbekistan by forces of their assface President, Islam Karimov, has reached massacre proportions. The death toll reportedly numbers in the hundreds (and I say "reportedly" because Karimov has cracked down on the media as well, preventing them from telling the story.) Said crackdown should be taken as Exhibit "A" when evaluating Karimov's claim that all the violence was the result of "Islamic extremists", who are a shadowy group of people that Karimov also tends to blame when his wife notices that no one put the toilet seat down. (Not that such creatures don't exist in Uzbekistan, but Karimov tends to overstate their involvement with protests against his regime. One doesn't need to be an Islamic extremist to think Karimov is a repressive douchebag. One simply needs to know what a repressive douchebag looks like, then look at Karimov. The resemblance is striking.)

The crackdown is continuing, with the rounding up of the usual suspects, similar to the aftermath of China's Tiananmen Square massacre. People in the line of fire are trying to flee to Krygyzstan. (A good answer to the question "How do you know when your country has gone to hell?" would be "When dropping everything and hightailing it to Krygyzstan sounds like a good idea.") The current U.S. response is currently insufficient, but at least moving in the right direction. A sad end to a protest that seemed to hold promise for real reform in Uzbekistan.

Today's Inigo Montoya Award goes to Yoon Kwang-ung, the defense minister for South Korea. South Korea has always had its head in the sand, officially speaking, regarding the threat posed by its neighbor to the north. (Too much unpleasantness would jeopardize the official policy of reconciliation.) As the Norks go through the process of moving closer to an actual nuclear bomb test - the man in charge of defending South Korea says:

"I believe that North Korea is undergoing a process of understanding the true meaning of reconciliation and cooperation that we seek," the South's defense minister told a group of European business leaders in Seoul.

"And it is inevitable for North Korea to choose change and take the path of dialogue," Yoon Kwang-ung said, according to a text provided by the ministry.

Regarding the use of the words "reconciliation," "cooperation", and dialogue - Inigo, tell the man...



"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Recent reports are coming in about an uprising taking place in Uzbekistan. Several thousand people took to the streets to protest the arrest of several businessmen charged with "extremist activity", meant to imply somthing like Al-Qaeda, but Uzbek President Islam Karimov is a repressive jackass, so who the hell knows. The question of what we do, or should, ultimately want from Uzbekistan has been an open one for some time now.

The most recent developments have Karimov acting like Karimov, and sending in the troops, killing at least 50.

Their Presidential race is beginning to heat up. Previously discussed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has officially thrown his hat in the ring, resigning his post as mayor of Mexico City to allow him to campaign. From what passes for the right in Mexico, Interior Minister Santaigo Creel has announced plans to seek the nomination from current President Vincente Fox' PAN party.

And finally, running from the PRI, the party famous for Mexico's lack of true democracy prior to Fox' election, Roberto Madrazo is seeking the office, and is running second to AMLO in most polls, and may be the best bet for AMLO-phobes hoping to keep him from the presidency. However, this New Republic article suggests Madrazo may be in the Vladimir Putin fake democrat mold, a plausible charge given the PRI's less than democratic history.

Mexican President Vincente Fox is going to protest new immigration controls passed by Congress, possibly including, but not limited to, going to the U.N.

Part of the problem with taking Fox's complaints seriously is the sense that he has little use for the premise that the U.S. government has the right to control its borders and remove those found to be here without assent. Of course, why should he take it seriously when immigration laws are apparently ranked ahead of speed limits as laws you don't really have to follow? By which I mean this report, coming on the heels of the successful Minuteman Project, where Border Patrol agents are accusing the agency of standing down on the area patrolled by the Minutemen, to avoid giving them any statistical ammunition. The complaining agents are making these reports anonymously, and while, if true, they'd have good cause to be leery of retribution, anonymous is still anonymous, so feel free to apply grains of salt if you deem it necessary.

Serial killer/rapist Michael Ross was executed early this morning for four of the eight murders he has admitted committing. (He was sentenced to life in prison on two of them, the remaining two were never charged, due to him already facing both death and life in prison.)

His first victim, Dzung Ngoc Tzu, was a 25 year old student.

Tammy Williams was 17.

Paula Perrara was 16.

Debra Smith Taylor was 23.

Robin Stavinsky was 19.

April Brunais and Leslie Shelley were best friends. They were 14.

Wendy Baribeault was 17.

Several relatives of the victims were present for Ross' execution. They expressed relief that the sentence, which they have always felt was just, was finally carried out.

Parrot risks life and feathers to help owner during a fight.

Polly wanna kick your ass...

David E. Kelley is apparently writing for Law & Order now. Apparently there are Christians who think that converting is sufficient reason to get away with murder. And, apparently, "now is the time to press that argument."

Funniest thing I've seen on TV in weeks.

...is up there with "Press Restrains Itself In Coverage Of Jennifer Wilbanks" as a headline you're unlikely to see.

In Northern Ireland, despite all the claims that all good Republicans support bringing the brutal murderers of Robert McCartney to account, the roughly 70 supposedly good Republicans who were in a position to see and hear what happened have not felt enough pressure, social, legal, or otherwise, to actually take the steps needed to make those sentiments real.

With the police investigation stymied, the McCartney family is trying to raise the money to press a civil suit against those who killed Robert McCartney. The European Union voted overwhelmingly to help fund the McCartney clan's quest for justice, should the stonewalling of the police investigation continue. One MEP actually named names of people known to be in the bar when the murder happened, and demanded they come forward.

In news shocking to nobody who thinks Sinn Fein is full of it, Sinn Fein's two MEP's were among the handful of people to oppose the resolution. Their problem is the resolution calls for witnesses to cooperate with the police, and SF has a lot staked on the idea that the police are illegitimate, and not even the arrest of a gang of thugs who beat a man to death warrants an exception to the rule.

SF claims that "justice for the McCartney family" is a high priority. The McCartney family has been crystal clear that justice requires the arrest and trial of Robert McCartney's killers, yet SF holds as a much higher principle the idea that the only organization capable of bringing about an arrest and trial is not to be cooperated with. Therefore, SF does not, and will not, support anything resembling "justice", and hopefully, people will quit believing they do.

I really didn't mean this to be a recurring thing, but...

Today's award goes to AFX and other media, for their use of words like "pragmatic" and "more open to improved ties with the West" in describing Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is running for, and apparently likely to win, the Presidency of Iran.

Rafsanjani, aged 70 yrs, is seen as a pragmatic conservative, more open to improved ties with the West and in favour of liberalising the state-dominated economy.

Quick stroll down memory lane:

If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave any thing in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world

Willing to kill a whole lot of Iranians for the chance to kill all the Israelis. To those of you who consider this guy a voice of modernity and openness, Inigo says:



"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Death pleads guilty in cemetary theft.

One hopes that in addition to paying the criminal penalty for his crime, he also repents and receives forgiveness from a higher power. Unfortunately, at the moment, Christ is apparently incommunicado.

A list of 213 things you're apparently not allowed to do in the U.S. Army. A few of my favorites...

3. Not allowed to threaten anyone with black magic.

4. Not allowed to challenge anyone's disbelief of black magic by asking for hair.

33. Not allowed to chew gum at formation, unless I brought enough for everybody.

34. (Next day) Not allowed to chew gum at formation even if I *did* bring enough for everybody.

42. Not allowed to attempt to appeal to mankind's baser instincts in recruitment posters.

48. I may not use public masturbation as a tool to demonstrate a flaw in a command decision.

61. If one soldier has a 2nd Lt bar on his uniform, and I have an E-4 on mine It means he outranks me. It does not mean “I have been promoted three more times than you”.

87. If the thought of something makes me giggle for longer than 15 seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to do it.

103. My commander is not old enough to have fought in the civil war, and I should stop implying that he did.

130. “I’m drunk” is a bad answer to any question posed by my commander.

167. Not allowed to operate a business out of the barracks.

168. Especially not a pornographic movie studio.

169. Not even if they *are* “especially patriotic films”

202. Despite the confusing similarity in the names, the "Safety Dance" and the "Safety Briefing" are never to be combined.

There is much funny on that list. Read it all.

Just over a year ago, I learned everything I needed to know about the "Palestinian struggle for justice." Palestinian gunmen ambused a car carrying a pregnant woman and her four daughters. They shot the car up, then approached to make sure everyone was dead. They put bullets into each of the children, making sure to record the whole thing on video for posterity. Our moral betters were quick with the feeble, equivocating condemnation, except for those in Palestinian circles, who branded the killers "heroes." It was pointed out that being a Jewish child in land claimed by Arabs could be seen as a provocation sufficient to merit death, and nobody's reputation suffered too much for saying so. As if they hadn't done enough to this family, the heroic band of justice seekers followed up by firing on the funeral.

The settlement they lived in is one of the ones Ariel Sharon is planning to abandon as part of his quest to try and bring peace. I've supported the plan of abandoning settlements, and I guess I still do, but only for the purpose to establishing the most defensible borders for Israel. About the Palestinian claim to the land, I care as much about it as the Palestinians care about the children that were shot in the head to get it, which is to say not at all.

No Palestinian leader ever has, and presumably never will, refer to what happened to the Hatuel family as a "murder." Condemnations of this sort of thing focus on the bad PR that results, rather than there being any moral issue with pointing an assault rifle at a child's head and squeezing the trigger. Whatever steps Israel takes, always remember the reactions to the deliberate targeting and murder of children.

There was a memorial in Israel, of course. It happened a few weeks ago. This post is a couple weeks after the murder because, like everyone else, I forgot.


Tali Hatuel was 34.


From left to right, Hila Hatuel was 11. Hadar Hatuel was 9. Roni Hatuel was 7. Meirav Hatuel was only 2. Not pictured is the son Tali Hatuel was pregnant with, that she and her family never got to see.

Remembering gets in the way of diplomacy and dialogue.

Remember anyway.

...but regarding John Kerry and the whole SF-180 controversy, I just want to know how many SF-180 forms his office has receieved since this party got started.

...goes collectively to The Netherlands. Andrew Sullivan posts an article by a friend of his on some of the recent side effects of the fabled Dutch "tolerance:"

In January, two schoolboys in IJsselstein were ordered to remove Dutch flag patches from their backpacks because Moroccan students might consider them provocative. It turned out this flag ban is officially in force at many schools. Meanwhile Muslim kids have pictures of van Gogh's murderer on their lunchboxes because they consider him a hero, and nobody dares tell them to remove those pictures.

But hey, it's not like nobody's doing anything about it:

Crain quotes Queen Beatrix on intolerance. I'm sure she meant that ethnic Dutch people are growing more intolerant of Muslims. Some are. My fear has long been that the Dutch liberal establishment’s unwillingness to confront Muslim bigotry would feed the rise of anti-Muslim neo-fascism, resulting in a society split between two extreme rights – one Muslim and one non-Muslim. In any case Beatrix’s handling of these matters has been (shall we say) dismaying. After van Gogh’s murder she refused to attend his funeral or meet with Hirsi Ali; instead, she went to a Moroccan youth center and made friendly chitchat.

Regarding the Dutch and "tolerance" -



"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Tapped cites approvingly a quote by Bob Ley, calling Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen "the John Bolton of baseball." Seems the Ozzmeister has a bit of a temper.

What else does the Ozzmeister have? A 24-8 record (best in baseball), a team that has led in all of its first 32 games (a major league record), and so far, the best pitching staff in baseball.

Thank God someone stopped Bolton before he brought those kind of results to the U.N.

Here's an interesting story on a prominent Iraqi Sunni who, according to the story, once believed in the prospect of an elected Iraqi government, but, regretfully, no longer does. What caught my attention were some of the "facts" about the world as this guy (and according to the article, many Sunnis) sees it:

He and many other Sunnis believe that much of the terrorism ostensibly carried out by Sunni fighters is in fact directed and financed by Iran. He even says that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist whose network often attacks Shiite mosques and civilians, is largely a front for Iran's Shiite government.

Mr. Qaisi refuses to believe that Shiites make up 60 percent of the population, the figure that has been widely accepted inside and outside Iraq for a number of years. Instead, he believes they are closer to 30 percent - less, he adds, than Iraq's Sunnis.

I imagine that in Iraq, if you're looking for a shadowy enemy to blame for all your problems, Iran's right up there with the popular choices such as Israel and the U.S. And while I agree with the goal of seeking out responsible, moderate Sunnis to include in the government, if this guy actually believes this nonsense, he is neither responsible nor moderate, even if he is representative.

Saw Kingdom of Heaven over the weekend...it's a Hollywood movie, of course, which means it may not meet your political tastes. The Muslims in the movie are shown without flaw, as magnanimous in victory as they are skilled in combat. Meanwhile, the number of Christians in this movie with any redeeming qualities, by my count, is four, and are clearly the exceptions to the rule of bloodthirsty hypocrite. (There's a moment at the end, when the loss of Jerusalem appears imminent, when the bishop declares "Convert to Islam! Repent later!" It's just funny.)

As a movie, you know adventure, story, that sort of thing, it's fine. It's reasonably well acted, and the story makes sense internally, however it squares with your take on history. The battle scenes could have been better shot - no small fault in a movie about a war - but all in all, give it a B.

Netflix also brought us the Notebook, which we watched over the weekend. For guys looking to duck having to see this - sorry, I can't help you. I thought this movie was great - the parts with James Garner and Gena Rowlands being the best parts. Watching the movie reminded me of one of the last times I saw my grandfather before he died - he, my grandmother, and I were watching a Cubs game. My grandfather's sight and hearing weren't what they used to be, and my grandmother would patiently describe the action to him, adding her own editorial comments over Chip Carey's play by play. What caught me was it didn't look like she was doing a chore, helping him follow the game. Helping him was something she liked to do, and watching her do it, you'd never even suspect that there was any obligation involved.

Lots of "romantic" movies end with one moment - the big kiss, or the dumping of the rival, whatever. It was a rare thing to see a movie made about people who make it all the way, the way my grandparents did. I don't usually like these kind of movies, but this one was about love, not as an act, or a moment, but as a life lived together. And it's well worth seeing.

...cause, you know, when you're a comic book nerd, you have a full social calendar...

Anyway, Avi Arad, the guy at Marvel responsible for turning comic books into movies, has a bunch of comments about what's coming down the pike in the future. He sounds high on Punisher 2, and minor characters Deathlok and Black Widow seem to be moving along in development. (And, truth to tell, both have the potential for good movies.) Commenting on Hulk 2 would require me to have seen Hulk 1, which ain't happening, although I will note that it doesn't sound like they have Eric Bana.

He also apologizes to Jennifer Garner for Elektra.

Audioslave may have made history this weekend by playing the first outdoor rock concert in Cuba by an American band.

Chris Cornell's scream "I won't do what you tell me!" boomed off the high-rise apartment buildings on south side of the stage Friday night as feedback shrieks from Tom Morello's guitar drifted into the night breeze over the Caribbean to the north.

To make sure everyone understood, government officials handed out flyers to concertgoers explaining that, Cornell's lyrics notwithstanding, you will do what we tell you.

A local high-school teacher is fired for reducing the grade of a student who slept during class. Perhaps coincidentally, the student is a football player. He went to his parents, his parents went to the administration, and the administration ordered the teacher to raise the students' grade. The teacher declined, and the result is the kind of press that prompts Superintendent Chalmers to exclaim "SKINNER!"

I'm trying to imagine how that conversation would have gone with my dad had I been the napping student...

Me: Dad, call the school and tell them to change my grade.

Dad: What'd you do?

Me: What makes you think this is something I did?

Dad: Call it a hunch. (Perhaps knowing even then he was raising a lawyer) Fine, what did they say you did?

Me: They say I slept during class.

Dad: Why would they say that?

Me: Questions like that are harmful to my self-esteem and reflect negatively on my positive emotional development.

Dad: I'll "emotionally develop" you into traction. Now, were you sleeping in class?

Me: Maybe a little.

Dad: And you got punished for it?

Me: Unjustly and excessively.

Dad: And you want me to tell them to undo it?

Me: Now you're catching on!

(We pause for the execution of a parenting tactic not normally seen on Everwood.)

Dad: Now, is there anything else I can help you with.

Me: (semiconscious moaning.)

Dad: I'm glad we had this opportunity to exchange ideas.

See, I must have had defective parents.

Brian Nichols indicted on 54 counts of murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and various other crimes stemming from his March 11 rampage, that resulted in four deaths. His charges don't even account for everything he's accused of doing in the aftermath, since, for instance, his kidnapping of Ashley Smith took place in a different county.

In an early nominee for Least Suprising Announcement of the Year Award, Fulton County DA Paul Howard announced he will seek the death penalty. The trial is probably a couple years away, due to the sheer volume of charges, and additional legal matters like the attempt to get the DA's office disqualified from prosecuting the case, on the grounds that many members of the DA's staff knew the victims, and the fact that the two prosecutors trying Nichols' rape case may have been targets. Fulton County is not a place known for returning death sentences (there have been only two in Howard's nine years as DA), but obviously, we're dealing with a case unlike any in recent memory.

Allegations of sexual misconduct by UN personnel double in past year.

Is it because America is a hotbed of criminal activity?

No, it's because criminals are morons.

Case in point, this guy. He stole a car at gunpoint and drives it around awhile. While the car is parked, the original owner sees it and has it towed. So, what does our intrepid thief do?

He calls the police to report the car stolen.

The best line ever included in a police report is the final line written by the arresting officer: "Again, this really happened."

...should John Bolton be blocked as U.N. ambassador, perhaps the President should nominate a Democrat to the post.

Rich Lowry suggests unleashing none other than Hurricane Zell Miller.

I think that's as close to my suggestion of Stone Cold Steve Austin as we can reasonably get. Plus I think Zell's knees are in better shape.

...is up there with "Rest of nation feels bad about slow start for Yankees," as a headline you're unlikely to see.

The runaway bride's lawyer seems like a sharp sort, which means Jennifer Wilbanks will say nothing of consequence, nor answer any really interesting questions, until the specter of jail is removed, but for what entertainment value it may provide, the full text of her statement is here. The lawyer will keep the fun conversation to a minimum for the time being, for two reasons:

1. It's her job to keep her client out of jail, and

2. It's not like the angry Hispanic activists are picketing her home.

According to her statement she "can't wait to be Mrs. John Mason." And I'll bet UPN can't wait to televise it.

A man wanted in connection with a major crime gets arrested on a minor crime. He gives a false name to the police. They send his fingerprints through the national system, and it comes back clean. The system failed to connect his prints to his real name, and he is released on his minor charges. This happens not once, but three times, each time the database fails to connect him to the charges that would keep him in jail.

He turns out to be a suspected serial rapist and murderer. Four women are believed to have died at his hands since his first arrest. Katherine Collins was 47, Amanda Greenwell, just 16. Patrice Endres was 38, and Lisa Nicols was 45. It was Nichols' killing that finally led to him being caught.

The victims' families are outraged, as one might expect. The IAFIS system receives thousands of requests daily, and I know from personal experience that they catch plenty of people who have given false names to hide the fact that other jurisdictions are looking for them. It's almost certain that somewhere in the country, one or more of those fingerprint hits saved lives, keeping a violent, wanted criminal off the streets.

Of course, knowing whose lives have been saved by the system is impossible. Just like forgetting whose lives it failed to save.

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: The Gwinnett County DA has two possible charges that he could try and pursue against Jennifer Wilbanks, based on the facts as reported, and based on the understanding that she did in fact relay a false claim that she had been kidnapped to a Duluth, GA police officer, based in Duluth, GA.

Georgia law is fairly general regarding the category of BS'ing to law enforcement. The most serious potential charge is what's known here as false statements:

A person who knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; makes a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or makes or uses any false writing or document, knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of state government or of the government of any county, city, or other political subdivision of this state shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years, or both.

The lesser offense is false report of a crime:

A person who willfully and knowingly gives or causes a false report of a crime to be given to any law enforcement officer or agency of this state is guilty of a misdemeanor.

There is no requirement in either statute that anyone be wrongly arrested, and no requirement that a person actually write out a false statement, or that anyone relied on the false statement. Based on the facts as they've been reported, I think the DA can, if he wishes, persuade a grand jury or magistrate to issue charges, and try the case. The issue is whether he'd choose to do so, and why or why not?

Why Charge Her: Her family got to spend a few delightful days thinking she was dead, or kidnapped by God knows who for God knows what purpose. Her fiance got to spend that time being suspected of one of the above, even taking a polygraph. Boatloads of people spent time and effort looking for someone who apparently just flaked out. That she didn't have the decency to tell anyone about her cold feet is selfish enough to blunt any sympathy one might have for her. The whole thing may have been planned in advance. The police spent a ton of money looking for her. And the community is, shall we say, not inclined to forgive and forget, particularly as relates to her claim that one of her abductors was Hispanic.

Why Not: While her running away caused all of the above, the actual false report actually caused none of the hyperbole, since her B.S. lasted for about three hours before the FBI got to the truth. What actually caused all the harm (her skipping out on her wedding) ain't illegal. The transcript of her 911 call suggests she may have been panicking, and not deliberately misleading anyone. She very well may be a couple outfielders short of a baseball team, mentally speaking. And various other reasons relating to not wanting to have to deal with this insanity anymore.

I think she will end up being charged with both counts, leaving the option of a plea as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on how talks between her attorney and the DA go.

...uh, Scott was actually pretty good last night.

Also, regarding Randy Jackson's continued use of the word "perfect", especially as relates to Vonzell, I quote Inigo Montoya:

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means."

Dawg.

Yes, the runaway bride...

Regarding the possibility that said runaway bride could face charges...

Spouse: I think it was stupid, but it wasn't criminal. The only reason she panicked and called police was because of the media circus. It's the media's fault.

(Pause)

Me: Uh-uh. You realize, if I disappear, there damn well better be a media circus, right?

That all said, the guy says he still wants to marry her...

I think there was a hint there you were supposed to take, dude...

Michael at Of the Mind links to what will be the top local story, once we get over the whole runaway bride thing - the attempt by Sandy Springs to form their own city, over the vehement objections of Fulton County government.

Sandy Springs has long resented being Fulton County's cash machine, and the drive to incorporate has overwhelming support within Sandy Springs. What Sandy Springs wants is greater control over how and where their tax dollars are spent. What's unique (and refreshingly honest) about the debate, is that's what opponents want too - they also want to control where and how Sandy Springs' tax dollars are spent. And they're willing to spend money to try and find a way to stop it - asking the Justice Department to find a reason to shut down the vote. (Note - the Justice Department would have to review the matter anyway, but what the hey, it's only money.) Some people think the very survival of Fulton County itself is on the line. (These people occupy both sides of the issue, the only question being whether Fulton County is something you'd miss.)

The issue that gets everyone interested is the claim of racism - that Sandy Springs is an enclave of rich white people aghast at the prospect of multiculturalism, though Sandy Springs would actually be a fairly diverse city, with a higher Hispanic population than Atlanta proper. The numbers make the matter simple, however - Sandy Springs contributes about twice in fees and taxes what they receive in services, and this whole debate is about whose money that is. (Read the quote Michael cited, about the South Fulton resident who considers it "our money") What I'd like to see, and haven't, is the case made to a Sandy Springs voter as to why they should vote no. Why is Fulton County government a reliable, efficient representative of the people of Sandy Springs?

It's really a practical consideration. If the only argument they got is "Yeah, but we really want your money!" - you can say farewell right now.

Lileks posted on the latest update to the How-Do-You-Not-Know-This-Is-Wrong Bratz line:

The Bratz are now Baby Mommaz. Yes, the hooker-in-training dolls have children. Bratz are the main reason I do not keep a supply of bricks around the house, because everytime the commercials come on I wish to pitch something kiln-fired through the screen so hard it beans the toy exec who greenlighted these hootchie toys. The Baby Bratz are as bad as you can imagine: “Bottles with Bling.” Judas on a stick, why not just refit the Bratz so they have Real Oozing Gonorreal Flow Action?

If people are going to start paying attention to the trend towards streetwalker fashion, then I want to get the idea the spouse and I had for our own line of fashion dolls on the record, before anyone steals it.

Our line would be called Skankz. The Skankz would come with outfits that Tara Reid would be ashamed to be seen in, and they would have accessories like Blackberries containing nude photos of themselves, and cocaine. Once you'd bought all the Skankz, you could then buy the Skankz Guyz, which would be men in their 40's dressed in Roca Wear clothes, and would come with accessories like bad hairpieces, Porsches, and prenups.

I'm convinced there's a gold mine here.

...this column, obtained from Doug Giles' column at Townhall, in response to letters and emails he got calling for the swift execution of child molesters...

Yes, I was electronically told by this, merciful-to-the-molester-minority, who thinks they’re siding with God when they support sustaining killers who forcefully copulate with kids, that I am to “love the sinner and hate the sin.”

Well, Kum-Ba-Frickin’- Yah!

Sounds like a line from a Bruce Willis movie.

...that sometimes, you can open a ketchup bottle and just have ketchup come flying out the top?

And why did nobody tell me this?

I have a friend, who for some reason, got the song "Here Comes the Hotstepper" in his head, which he promptly proceeded to put in mine. (Now, as songs you can't get out of your head once they're in there go, it's better then "Milkshake", but not by much.) However, my friend's grasp of rap music is shall we say, not the best, so his take on it went as follows.

Here comes the Hotstepper (he completely misses the "murderer" part)
I'm a leprechaun dancer...

Now, even if you think that's what he's saying, has any rapper ever backed down an opponent, or charmed a woman, by claiming to be a "leprechaun dancer?"

OK, maybe Too Short.