Soccer Mom: Unplugged

Ever wonder what the freak is going on?  Like maybe you fell asleep in the movies and accidentally woke up in the middle of the midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture show and it's still 1975?  You can only wish for such luck.  

An employee of the Washington Times got stung by police posing online as a 13 year old.  This, uh, man (not sure that's the right term) is the 53 year old Human resources director for the paper.  The sicko did all the same stupid things you've heard about on the televised exposes of such stings.  He spoke explicitly, sent graphic pictures and arranged a meeting.  The paper suspended Mr. Randall Casseday without pay pending results of the investigation which places the paper higher on the morality scale than the DNC who still stand by Bill Clinton.   

Then you've got WaPo reporting on the suggestively sloganned t-shirts that teens are sporting.  Read the article and scratch you head, like I did, at the genius {sarcasm} parents who've decided that it's AOK to wear a shirt with the likes of "Don't call me a cowgirl until you see me ride" emblazened across it.  Yeah, you read that right.  Let's just completely de-evolve and remove any semblance of love or emotional involvement from sex.  Let's allow our children to advertise like fertile bobcats sending out pheremones.  One step closer to apehood... one step further away from God.

Karen Fletcher was indicted by a grand jury for the content of her internet site.  AP is reporting that Fletcher's website sells stories about children being tortured and sexually brutalized.  She generally writes them herself and sells them for profit to pedophiles.  Isn't that a nice hobby for a 54 year old woman?  5 years times 6 counts... Cross your fingers the ACLU doesn't take her up pro bono like they did NAMBLA.

Here's one about an apple that didn't fall far from the tree.  A 14 year old boy in MN is accused of feeding hard liquor to his 3 year old little sister, now hospitalized.  His parents should've stopped him but apparently they and the baby's grandmother were all drunk.  The child's blood alcohol level was 1.2.   That's beyond the legal driving limit for adults.  In all 9 children were removed from the home. 

The good news is that in almost all of these instances people are being held to account.  People are being arrested and charged.  Except, of course,  for the Washington Post article about sexed up t-shirts, in which case I suppose the best we can do is send Bill Engvall over to the parents of these teens to say "Here's your sign". 

This is our American culture in 2006.

If I'm snoring and Tim Curry is singing loudly and obnoxiously about being a Transylvania Transvestite,  just turn down the volume and let me sleep, okay?

Ya’ll hear that thumping sound?  That’s my soapbox hitting the sidewalk - I’m about to preach.  So either walk away from the service by typing some other address into your browser or put on your church hats and get out your fans.  It’s gonna be a long sermon…

The internet practically came to life yesterday in response to the factual errors in Bill Clinton attempt at defending his record on terrorism.  By far the best reply to Clinton's spinning was offered in the real, not virtual world by Secretary of State Condi Rice.

Things I noticed while watching the interview - Clinton thinks that 8 months is the same as 8 years in terms of fighting terror.  Even assuming we're that dumb,  it was widely publicized at the time of presidential transition (2000) that the Clinton administration refused to give outbriefs to the incoming Bush administration.  Also making headlines was the fact that the Bushies were late in setting up office because Gore refused to concede and the Clintonites refused to hand over power.  As I recall, they were even charged with raiding all kinds of goodies (some quite expensive) from the White House, Air Force One, etc...  Yep those Dems know how to treat the taxpayer ;-)

I also couldn't believe the audacity it took for Bill to accuse Karl Rove of concocting an atmosphere of fear.  Remember the DNC cartoon political ad that showed GOP leaders pushing wheelchair bound seniors down stairs?  I do. 

As for the outright lies regarding terrorism, well, others already have a handle on those facts.

Apparently,  the anti-war lefties are stickermaniacs.  The adhesive backed political protest shown below is all the rage.

Just so we're clear, this is not about rabid Bush hatred anymore.  Sentiments like these, expressed even facetiously are dangerous because the endorse the idea that there is no conflict between fundamentalist Islam and the West and perpetuate the myth that the clash of ideologies is an American invention.  The last thing we need to do is bury our heads in the sand.  We need a realistic understanding of the people who are determined to see us dead.  So, along those lines, I thought I'd post a link to a couple of quick reminders of what Islamofascism is about:   Victims of Allah

The on air outbursts of Bill Clinton that will air tonight on Fox News Channel are as revealing a look into the soul of the man as any psychologist could ask for.  It was enough that Clinton entered the world of national politics decrying the vast right wing conspiracy but the latest interview shows the angry delusions of an aging megalomaniac who couldn't actualize his plans for world dominance and sees his impotence exposed during his own lifetime.  Denouncing the "some"  who held him back, Clinton accuses the military, FBI and CIA of failing him.  He was powerless, a victim, our commander-in-chief. Nevermind that he was the boss.  The buck stops at the oval office. 

Further, Clinton attacks "right-wingers", a vague political term for "they" or "them", the common enemies of all paranoids.  He claims the 9/11 commission got it wrong and that no one had any idea about al-quaeda before 1998.  Democratic Senator Bob Kerry unintentionally contradicted Slick Willy when he tried to place blame for a failure to retaliate to the Cole bombing on the uncertainty of intel.  Kerry declared that Bill Clinton held back because we weren't sure if the perpetrators were Hezbollah or al-qaeda.  So which was it guys had we heard of al-qaeda or not?  No matter,  the former president is convinced that he is the victim of a hatchet job by neo-cons.  According to Monica's man Fox News Channel is apparently the belly of the beast - a right wing news mafia. I suppose that would be because none of the other news sources that interviewed Clinton since his concerted effort to censor ABC had the journalistic integrity to address the issue that had him threatening Disney/ABC. 

Somebody needs to get this man back on his medication...

A quick glance at the headlines reveals that the idiots are out in force. 

In Texas,  20 year old Brandon Scott Burke went to a playground and started showing a porn magazine to the little ones.  From the report:  When one of the mothers saw him and asked Burke what he was doing, he tried to run and the woman started screaming, said Elizabeth Williams, the mother of another child. According to a police report, Burke said about 15 men "jumped him and hit him repeatedly on the face with their fists." He suffered minor injuries, police said.  No doubt the ACLU will sign on as Mr. Burke's defense team.

A woman posing as a vice cop conducting an undercover sting as a prostitute was arrested when she tried to arrest a a real policeman who was undercover conducting a sting and posing as a 'john'.  Didja get that?  AP reports: Police charged Lisa Greene, 31, with first-degree criminal impersonation, prostitution and fifth-degree conspiracy. Elena Irwin, 20, was charged with fifth-degree conspiracy and possession of a hypodermic needle. "We believe these people were going to rob people or extort money," Connellan said.  He did not know if they had successfully used the scam in the past.

And finally my favorite set of idiots:  Police are hunting "devil worshippers" after a series of sickening "satanic rite" attacks on sheep at a national park. Around 100 animals have been found slaughtered and mutilated with their tongues, eyes and sexual organs removed on Dartmoor in Devon in the past year.  In this case, it isn't the satanists who are idiots,  they're just plain sick.  it's the morons commenting on the article over at thisislondon.co.uk.

Robert Mossinger, USA and Jack of Ohio blame these atrocities on religion.

Ward, Tampa USA suggests the perpetrators be sent to Gitmo.  (I suppose this could be considered terrorism?)

James of Pheonix,  J Blacksburg of Virgininia and Janet of Miami represent PETA's view by reminding us that this is no different than what happens in scientific labs and slaughterhouses every day.

My favorite comment comes from Michelle, who I suspect is not an idiot but someone, like myself, who sees the stupidity of the other comments.  Michelle writes sarcastically - "This is sick.  And wasteful..."

Thanks Michelle,  it's good to know that somebody out there can take a moderate approach...

Noam Chomsky expressed interest in meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez after Chavez' fiery speech at the United Nations propelled Chomsky's book to the top of the chart at Amazon.com.   Can't you just imagine student Hugo at the feet of professor Chomsky, much like we saw him worshipping at the altar of Fidel a few weeks back?  Chomsky, to his credit, did not embrace the hateful rhetoric of the ex-paratrooper turned coup leader but endorsed his sentiment.

A quote from the article (emphasized commentary is mine):

 The Bush administration backed a coup to overthrow his government," Chomsky said. "Suppose Venezuela supported a military coup that overthrew the government of the United States? Would we think it was a joke?" (First off, that claim is unsubstantiated.  Secondly,  we are talking about a man who led a violent coup against his own democratically elected government not once but twice.)

The leftist author, a linguistics scholar and longtime critic of US foreign policy, told the Times he is "quite interested" in Chavez's policies and finds many of them "quite constructive." (I think the key word here is leftist.  What does Chomsky have to say about Chavez' wealth and paranoia in the face of the continuing poverty of half his nation?)

Now, here's the real question.  Why does the media, why do we care about Chomsky?  Leftist academics are nothing new.  For that matter neither are socialist/communist dictators.  That they are walking hand in hand in this instance is hardly noteworthy.  Lenin read Marx and found validation of his revolutionary ideas.  Marx read Bauer and rejected religion.  And yet,  every communist system has collapsed leaving impoverished societies in the wake while capitalist nations enjoy lower percentages of poverty.  The old agage a "rising tide lifts all boats"  has been unquestionably proven in America.  If democracy and capitalism are such dismal failures, then why is it that the average poor American has more living space than the average (middle class) European?  Why is it that capitalist America is the greatest charitable contributor on the planet?  We almost solely subsidize the UN.  Think about that. The evidence is all around us that the path to a better world was written into our constitution and rooted in capitalism.  When was the last time you waited in line for a roll of toilet paper?

Just me thinking out loud here.  As always.  But I can't understand the naivete of leftists who would advocate shared misery in lieu of shared upward mobility.  My life is a testament to the American system.  Neither of my parents graduated from high school.  My mother dropped out in 8th grade to pick tobacco - something that her family situation required.  My father, raised by a widow who herself was reared in a Catholic orphanage,  joined the Army at 17 and took advantage of military benefits to better his situation.  Together they worked several jobs, almost always 2 but usually 3 or more between them, to move us to suburbia.  They took every odd job available.  Throwing papers (after a full workday).  Delivering telephone books.  You name it.  Finally, in her sixties, my mom got her GED. (My mom rocks, BTW) My husband and I have been blessed to continue the trend of upward mobility, both of us with college degrees and then some. 

Tell me in which communist nations, people one generation off the farm are living like I am.  Tell me where in the socialist world, people one generation away from poverty are handing over 15% of their income to charity?  Tell me. 

If we want to see any semblance of a poverty free Utopia, then we have to remove power from the hands of unscrupulous men and idiots.  The former are the dishonest thugs ruling much of the third world and the latter are the leftists who consider redistribution of wealth a viable social option, though many of those are paying lip service and fall better into the first category (Chavez in particular). We also need to put capital into the hands of more people without compromising personal responsibility.  At this juncture, I favor microcredit (though not through the UN) but the jury is still out on that idea.  It is much too early to tell whether or not pulling people into the capitalist system in this manner is effective as it requires at least a generation to move out of poverty.  When the children of the women who've successfully borrowed are educated and enter the work force literate and capable of earning more than a hand to mouth existence, then we will have some hard data to analyze.  With a little more oversight and regulation, I think this program could be part of the rising tide.  Certainly, it would show the benefits of capitalism over degrading, paternalistic socialism.

Knowing what we do about the overwhelming and undeniable success of capitalist democracies,  I am left wondering why the MSM think that Chomsky and Chavez make good headlines.

Venezuela, a country that had enjoyed an unbroken period of democratic government beginning in 1958, has been propelled to the forefront of the international consciousness by an egomanial, ex-paratrooper turned head of state, Hugo Chavez.

Chavez made headlines after a failed coup attempt in February 1992.  The February Coup, the first of two that year, left 18 dead and 60 injured before Chavez turned himself in.  After his release from prison, this son of school teachers, rode a wave of popular support founded on his condemnation of the capitalist Venezuelan system that had failed to lift its citizenry from poverty.  The Venezuelan poor weren't just hungry, they were hungry for reform.

Chavez promised to deliver and from the earliest stages of his presidency he punished not only the wealthy, but anyone he perceived as a threat.  He condemned religious leaders in the nation claiming that they did not walk in the path of Christ and whenever the media reported on the increasingly disgruntled state of Venezuelan citizens, Chavez pronounced, conspiratorially, that the papers were controlled by reactionary forces. 

Chavez has consistently introduced leftist revolutionary practices and consolidated power into his own hands to the detriment of his countrymen.  The gap between rich and poor Venezuelans has remained a constant and contraversial programs such as seizing private lands without compensation, has left many with a truer understanding of Latin American Leftism and socialist policy in general.  Not so for "progressives" in our own country.

The American political Left, though distancing themselves from his latest attempt at theatrics, has embraced Chavez frequently in the past.  Antiwar spokeswoman, Cindy Sheehan made a much celebrated trip to Venezuela to meet with him and a spokesman for the liberal Washingtonian thinktank, Larry Birns, told Clarin, Argentina's largest newspaper that he was disappointed in President Chavez' UN address only because he fears it will have cost Chavez a seat on that body's Security Council.  The same voices who accuse George W. Bush of skirting the law with wiretapping seem to have withheld criticism of Chavez' complete abandonment of his nation's constitution and stood silently by while he confiscated private property and enacted purely punitive measures against perceived political enemies.

For eight years, President Chavez has promised a social justice that neither he nor socialist policies can deliver.  The increasing volume and beligerence of his rhetoric against capitalist societies that continue to enjoy unprecedented economic growth is revealing and the mounting pressure of trying to put a brave face on the miserable failure that has been his tenure is clearly affecting his political judgement ad his mental capacity.  Chavez alternatively sees himself as incarnations of Simon Bolivar and Jesus Christ.  Sadly, for Venezuelans, Chavez is just another Latin American Leftist following a self-destructive path littered with communist policies.  

Latin America has always suffered from class issues.  Most of the nations to our south, democratic and otherwise have been unable to create a strong middle class and financial power has long been concentrated in a few hands.  While America enjoys a steady poverty rate ranging from 8-11%, more than half of the people in most Central and South American countries live a hand to mouth existence.  People in conditions like those are easily swayed by the flattery of men who promise reform and redistribution of wealth.  Time and again when power hungry leaders like Chavez rise to positions of authority, however, corruption becomes the end state with little change actual effected.  Coup follows coup,  and the pendulum swings from capitalism to socialism producing a cumulative condition of undermined economies, unpredictable currencies and general instability.  None of the socialist reforms have created a prosperous Latino nation.  And unfortunately, men like Hugo Chavez will always be marketable until true prosperity is achieved. 

What is amazing is the connection that until today many American liberals have shared with Chavez.  Even as Charlie Rangel accepts oil for the poor of his congressional district from the Venezuelan president,  nearly half of Chavez' own constituents are going to bed hungry.  In the face of such hypocrisy,  why do men like Rangel embrace Chavez upon meeting? Why do women like Sheehan seek him out?  Ask yourself,  why would people who profit as much from democracy as Americans do welcome a man who led two violent coups in an attempt to undermine the voice of the people and establish himself a dictator?

Think before you vote.

THE former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton has issued his own challenge to “violent” Islam in a lecture in which he defends the Pope’s “extraordinarily effective and lucid” speech.

The Times online is carrying the story.  I appreciate the moxy it takes to make a statement like this one considering a nun is dead and the Pope is receiving death threats but I'm not sure this is doing much more than raising the national terror level to STUPID.  England is already fighting off the caliphate from a defensive position.  A poll taken last month revealed, if memory serves, that something like 4 of 10 British Muslims would not turn in a fellow Muslim if he were a terrorist.  A poll on Al-jazeera.net reveals that 49.9% of 41,260 Muslims polled support Osama bin-Laden.  At this point, any attempt at discourse will merely be reduced to rhetoric.  And the only losers in this battle  are the peaceful people in the middle.

We've had some heated discussions on this blog about wire tapping and government 'excess' with respect to the war on terror. I wish I had the solution to satisfy our need for security without compromising our way of living. A muslim friend of mine tells me that she constantly feels scrutinized and often singled out.  She's an American.  Born in this country.  On some levels I can sympathize.  I lived in Argentina after the Falkland Island War and had a few unpleasant exchanges with locals who couldn't see past my skin color and nationality.  For me it wasn't an institutionalized profiling so my understanding is limited but the fear and frustration of being rejected for something you have nothing to do with is very real.  At 21 years old,  I couldn't have found those islands on a map. 

But what are we to do?  The time for ostriching has passed.  Isolation stopped being an option the minute Marconi sent his first message.  We are forced to face the fact that people out there are determined to see the end of our way of life.  For me, that is worth sacrificing some rights.  If you've ever sat inside a home made out of cardboard boxes and garbage bags like I have in the little 'misery villages' of provencial south America, you realize that Americans have more 'basic rights' than most people of the earth.  And as a society we feel entitled to living above the law.  We speed and then knowing we're guilty, fight the ticket in court.  We provide defense attorneys for the admittedly culpable and embed loopholes into our laws to allow for irresponsible citizenship (offshore banking is an example).  I'm not arguing for martial law - I like being free just as much as the next guy.  I'm just saying it's time we realized what we're up against and that in any other country of the world, having your phone tapped or taking off your shoes before boarding an airplane would still places you among the most free of the world's inhabitants.

It was a busy day in the Wonderful World of Mommywifelandia...  6 hours of homeschooling punctuated with brief interruptions of insanity.  In the midst of the normal mayhem, I put the little ones on auto pilot with writing assignments and check the blog to find a mysterious message from someone trying to reach me.  Turns out it's a producer from the Montel Show who has been reading my blog and is interested in adding my voice to a round table discussion with the likes of some very famous people.  Me.  I read her email, looking for the punchline.  Huh.  Not very funny, this girl, I say to myself.  So we make contact and have a chat about why I'd be perfect (her view) and why I wouldn't (my view) for this shot at my 15 minutes.  If she'd seen me in my gym clothes, pushing greasy bangs out of my face while stripping four twin beds and loading the washer, she probably would have been easier to convince.  Of course, during the conversation, my five year old has a, um, potty accident and my darling one year old awakens from her nap, a little less than rested.  Yeah, I think,  I've got something to say to America...ROTFLMBO.  I'm barely getting life back together when the neighbor boys burst through my front door.  They don't even speak to me (or for that matter go to their own homes after school) anymore,  they just run upstairs calling out for my 7 year old.  And then the phone rings.  It's the man who brought me all this happiness... Mr. Cate.  He rode to work with his boss this morning as they were headed out to a job site and didn't come back by the house to pick up his car.  Now the top dog has been called away unexpectedly leaving Mr. Cate stranded.  I pack the kids into the minivan to make the hour long trek to his office.  Doesn't end yet... we get home and we're out of milk.  So no commentary on the shape of the world today.  No condemnation of a culture careening toward the cavernous crevasse of chaos.  Just a quick look at the headlines that caught my eye in passing and my one line assessment - pure free association... enjoy ;-)

Headline:  Ted Turner Says Iraq War Among History's Dumbest Moves

Cate:  Along with the night Ted's mother said "Well, okay..."

Headline: Sean Penn May Play Einstein for TV Film

Cate: That's gonna require enrollment in the Annie Sullivan school of acting

Headline: Texas County considers funding free gastric bypasses for Obese Employees

Cate: At $15,000 a piece???  How about you stop screwing over the taxpayer and force them all to compete for an Extreme Makeover!

Headline: Mexican President Vicente Fox Pledges to Extradite All Wanted Drug Lords to U.S.

Cate: Why not?  He already sent us the drug runners. 

Feel free to add your own headlines & responses.  I could use a laugh after the day I've had.

Listened to Mr. Bush today over lunch.  You've got to love this man's speechwriter.  Wow!  As I'm listening to him rattle off a long list of problems afflicting the world and all of the United Nations' plans for addressing them,  I was visualizing world leaders dancing around to a revised version of John Lennon's song "You say you want a Resolution,  well you know.  We all want to change the world...".  How many useless resolutions are these "leaders" (and I use that term lightly) going to pass while people are dying in the Sudan? 

U.N.  apparently it stands for UN as in unneccessary.

Here's Fox's recount of Bush's speech.  Still looking for the text unedited.  If you missed it, find it.  It's a very good read - and he actually delivered it reasonably well, too.

Updated:  Text of Today's Speech

The past few days have seen quite a bit of traffic and most of it consisted of needless combative exchanges.  I appreciate those who have tried to reason with the newest visitor to my virtual front porch but there comes a time when dialogue is useless and action is imperative.  As a result, I have had to exercise my censorship power and kick someone off the stoop.  While I could have allowed free speech to rule the day and permitted Albert to singlehandedly propel my blog to the top of the bloghi 'Featured blogs' list,  I am opting instead to enforce the comment commandments I issued months ago that have gone fervently unheeded.  This is my space not your bar room - pick another place to brawl.

A refresher:

Free Speech 101

Sky News is reporting on the Pope Jihad.  Apparently, Italy has had to step up national security in response to threats from Islamic groups against the pontiff.  Demonstrations around the world saw the Pope burned in effigy and in Somalia an Italian nun was attacked and killed, an act that sources say was most likely linked to Pope Benedict's speech. 

It is always savage to return violence for verbal insult.  It is evil and inhumane.  Furthermore, with an estimated 10-15 percent of Muslims determined to enforce Islam at the point of a sword ,  it is also irresponsible of the Muslim Brotherhood to demand, then accept, then reject an apology from the Vatican.  The MB is a puppetmaster, pulling emotional strings and using violent adherents as a weapon to silence critics. 

The stated objective of the Muslim Brotherhood:

The Muslim Brotherhood or The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title "The Society of the Muslim Brothers", often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, "the Brotherhood") is the name of a world-wide Islamist movement, which has spawned several religious and political organizations in the Middle East dedicated to the credo: "God is our objective, the Quran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, struggle is our way, and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations." As stated on its charter and its website, the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to install a just Islamic empire and a worldwide Caliphate, through stages designed to Islamize targeted nations by whatever means available.

(AP) Vatican City

Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely regrets" offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," the Vatican said Saturday.

Apparently, the papal statement released in response to Muslim fury over the comments he made this week  stops short of an apology. 

Mohammed Bishr, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member in Egypt, said the statement "was not an apology" but a "pretext that the pope was quoting somebody else as saying so and so."

"We need the pope to admit the big mistake he has committed and then agree on apologizing, because we will not accept others to apologize on his behalf," Bishr said.

Meanwhile back at the bank...

Palestinians attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza over the pope's remarks Tuesday in a speech to university professors in his native Germany.

Does anybody in the "Muslim world" see the irony here?  If it weren't so inhumane and evil I might laugh.  Since no one out there is accusing Muslims of having a sense of humor, let me spell it out. 

Beheading = evil

Firebombing churches and embassies over cartoons = evil

Killing women for dishonoring their families = inhumane and evil

Refusing to educate women = inhumane

Threatening others with death if they don't give in to your every demand = extortion, inhumanity and, you guessed it, evil

Any questions?

With all of the intense scrutiny of Hezbollah's media machine brought about by the discovery of Reuterized photos and faked death marches, some international human rights group was going to have to speak against the (cough) freedom fighters (spit) in order to maintain a semblance of impartiality.  This week it is Amnesty International.

The London-based human rights group issued a call for a United Nations inquiry into war crimes possibly committed on both sides, but Thursday's report focused on the actions of the Lebanese militants during the conflict.

The official Hezbollah response is a combination of childish rationales including, "Aww Mom, they [Israel] hit me first" and "You're just saying that because they[the Americans and israelis] made you".  Read for yourself:

"We do not deny that we have bombarded Israeli cities, settlements and infrastructure. But this was always a reaction,"   and Fadlallah said Amnesty International probably came under American and Israeli pressure to issue a report critical of Hezbollah's actions during the 34-day war, after issuing a similar report against Israel last month.

I'm still waiting for the return of those Israeli soldiers and perhaps a photo spread of Israeli atrocities that doesn't include green helmet guy, rusted out rescue vehicles or the unluckiest home owner on the planet.  How about a photo of the bodies left after Israeli soldiers tortured and beheaded innocent Lebanese.  Oh wait, those were Islamic terrorists that did that...

And, by the way, for any of you who are agreeing with the UN condemnation of "disproportionate force", let me remind you, war is not a game of checkers.  You don't play to be fair, you play to win.  You play to survive at worst and to avoid harm while disabling your opponent's capacity to inflictat best.  Is that clear enough for you?

If your kindergartner is being bullied by a fifth grader, do you run to get another fifth grader to intervene on your child's behalf or do you, an adult, step into the fray?  Disproportionate force, my hiney.  So a woman being attacked by a knife wielding rapist shouldn't fight back with a gun?  Should she fight back with everything she has or only force equal to her attacker?  Some people are soooo stupid.  Disproportionate force creates short wars.  It's a godsend.

"Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, The Middle East Media Research Institute has monitored, translated, and recorded what was said in the Arab and Iranian press about that day. Prominent journalists, members of academia, leading religious figures, and even Arab government officials helped shape conspiracies about what "really" happened.

The carefully documented collection is now available as a PDF and includes a compilation of articles and editorials from the mainstream Arabic and Persian language press, as well as transcripts from television programs.

A documentary film about the Arab and Iranian reaction to 9-11 incorporates footage from various TV and satellite stations in the Middle East. It was made with Interface Media Group and narrated by acclaimed actor Ron Silver."

View the documentary or read the file here.

Click the blue words to watch it for yourself.  (Better Dugg? ;-)

That's a paraphrase of sentiments overheard in Abu Ghraib just days after control of the prison has been turned over to the Iraqi government.  According to a witness allowed to enter the detention center, the sounds of screams filled the corridors and the smell of human excrement was overwhelming.  

 "The Americans were better than the Iraqis. They treated us better," said Khalid Alaani, who was held on suspicion of involvement in Sunni terrorism. ... "We preferred the Americans. We asked to move with them to Baghdad airport because we knew the treatment would be changed because we know what the Iraqis are. When the Americans left everything changed."

Rations have been cut with meat and milk removed from the diets of the prisoners and for some unexplainable reason, the air conditioning that works just fine in the guards quarters does not operate in the prison cells.  TV privileges have also been revoked with the lounge area once open to prisoners now designated for guards only.

Access to the part of the prison containing terrorism suspects was denied, but from that block came the sound of screaming. The screaming continued for a long time.

"I am sure someone was being beaten, they were screaming like they were being hit," the witness reported. "I felt scared, I was asking what was happening in the terrorist section.

"I heard shouting, like someone had a hot iron on their body, screams. The officer said they were just screaming by themselves. I was hearing the screams throughout the visit."

The witness said that even in the thieves' section prisoners were being treated badly. "Someone was shouting 'Please help us, we want the human rights officers, we want the Americans to come back'," he said.

Prisoners interviewed in the presence of their jailers said they were frightened for their safety. They complained that chicken and milk had been cut from their rations, leaving them on rice and water. They also complained about the oppressive heat.

You know, among the liberal media and wild-eyed leftists of the world, America can never win.  The same paper that now publishes the pleadings of tortured Iraqi prisoners begging for the return of their American captors also published an article referring to Abu Ghraib as "America's torture prison".  However, prison abuses under the American military were limited to a few sick perverts.  Systematic abuse like what is now being reported out of Iraq has not occurred under America's watch, witch hunts notwithstanding.

Sleep deprivation, a hostile interrogation atmosphere, and using fear to subdue prisoners may not be nice but it isn't torture, either. 

Just a heads up.  Over at redstate you can see the scenes that are being called into question by Clinton apologists.

Click here to watch.

BTW, Amy Proctor has an excellent writeup about the desperate preemptive strike that Dems/Clinton worshippers have launched against ABC.  It's so ironic that the Left is railing ABC, considering many on the socially conservative Right hate Disney/ABC as well.  Almost makes you feel sorry for Iger... almost.

There are tears in my eyes and sadness in my heart as I write today.  I chose to join the online project of memorializing victims of 9/11 and was assigned a name.  Courtney Wainsworth Walcott.  Just a name.  At first, I admit I was a little disappointed.  As an Army wife, I was hoping I'd get to write about someone who died at the Pentagon.  One of those heroic men in uniform that I so admire. But as I began to read tributes, obituaries and recollections written by those who knew Courtney, I was reminded that heros aren't confined to camoflauge and that some of the bravest lives are led in relative anonymity.

As a young man, Courtney was a four year letterman at Hofstra university.  He is described by his coach Mickey Kwiatkowski as "one of the greatest cornerbacks that I have ever had the pleasure to coach."  The tributes to Courtney describe him as busy, kind and nice.  All simple, overused words that fail to describe Courtney's life and character.

In fact, Courtney had no time to waste.  He wasn't busy, he was active.  And the words kind and nice are an abysmal understatement of his selfless dedication to others.  "Even as he climbed the finance world corporate ladder, Walcott stayed active in sports. He helped coach a peewee football camp every summer at Hofstra and he coached a basketball camp in Hackensack, N.J., the town where he was recently living."  37 year old Courtney was divorced and longed to have children of his own.  But he didn't wander through life idly aching for what he didn't have, instead he gave of himself to the children of others.

"Delano Walcott knew about the regular visits his brother made to their parents in Queens and their grandmother in Hempstead. He also knew about the peewee football camp he helped coach at his alma mater, Hofstra, every summer, where he supervised one godson; and the basketball team he coached in Hackensack, where he watched over another.

But as he sat at the memorial service at the Allen A.M.E. Church in Jamaica, Queens, Mr. Walcott learned that every Monday and Friday after work, his brother would drive to the church to be a mentor to teenage boys, counseling them, getting them jobs at Shea Stadium. Then he would drive home to New Jersey. At least 30 boys told the Walcotts how Courtney Walcott ... had graced their lives. The family had had no idea."

Good deeds done in silence.  No medals.  No parades.  Just a life of selfless service.  A kind word offered.  A promise kept.  An example set.  And the people around Courtney had little or no idea.  It is disheartening that Courtney's death, like his life, is virtually anonymous.  When we describe 9/11, we talk about "the World Trade Centers" or "The Twin Towers".  Perhaps we refer to "that Pennsylvania field" or the "Pentagon attack".  No.  This day was so much more.  It was the day that Courtney Wainsworth Walcott died.

He was no victim of of the Trade Center attack.  In fact, there is nothing about Courtney that makes him a victim.  A victim's course is determined by others but Courtney chose his life.  He made deliberate choices that brought career success and landed him in the IQ Financial offices that September morning.  And he made the deliberate choice to reach out to many young men in his community and to make life better for those around him. And that is the life of a hero.

Sources:
Uncovering a Busy Life

One of Hofstra Football's Best

CNN Snapshot

The Drudge Report links to a headline, a Radar Exclusive reviewing Cindy Sheehan's autobiography Peace Mom.  According to the book Sheehan has fantasized about going back in time to kill the infant George W. Bush.  Once again, the sweetheart of the new left proves herself incapable of original thought.  This plot line is stolen from a certain Stephen King thriller.  At the center of King's novel is the question posed by a central character: If you could go back in time and kill Hitler before he committed the horrific atrocities for which he is so well known, would you do it? 

Ironically, the title of King's thriller could be synonymous for the vacuous space between Sheehan's ears:  The Dead Zone.

Today Breitbart is carrying a story about Americans hopping on scooters to avoid rising gas prices.  Did someone forget to run this story back when the prices were, um, actually rising?  In the last 30 days gas prices in my new hometown have dropped nearly 30 cents.  In fact, oil is selling under $70 a barrel now and there is some expectation that gas will be close to $2.00 a gallon by Thanksgiving.  Whether or not that speculation has merit, prices are clearly coming down at the moment. 

BTW,  I just wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Bush administration for not blowing up any levees or causing any real hurricanes this year.  Also my undying gratitude for not blowing up any more skyscrapers filled with innocent civilians.  Sound ludicrous?  Well, for five years, people have been accusing them of bombing the WTC and orchestrating 9/11 so I figured hey, that's five years they've not killed any more of us, right.  How about a hearty "Thank You" to Dick and Karl?  And soon we'll see Spike Lee's new mockumentary about Katrina in which he perpetrates the idea that Bush and the government blew up the NOLA levees.  Well, we've taken another whole trip around the sun without any real hurricane damage so again Muchas Gracias to the White House!  Oh yes - and thank you! thank you! thank you!  for lowering gas prices since we know you and yours control all that anyway...

Now don't all those conspiracy theories seem like utter nonsense?  If not, and you still believe, how about putting your gratitude on paper and sending it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

New Al-Qaeda video has been released today featuring Al-Zawahiri and Azzam the American.  It reads like DNC talking points on so many levels.  It's unbelievable.  The preface refers to the Bush-Blair World Order and Azzam launches into a tirade about how Western Civilization is guilty of ruining the world.  No mention of the positive impact of beheadings, firebombings or that incredible conversion tool, a gun barrel pressed against your temple.

Watch it here.