New Orleans

In addition to incompetence, curruption, and inattention at every level (from individuals, to mayor and city council, to governer, sentators and congressmen, to fed programs), new evidence shows that even correctly designed and implimented levess sunk too much over the years. So not only did local citizens and leaders not press for more and better levees, and not only did they not ensure proper installation, in cases where they may have, the gradual sinkage was so great as to have created susceptability.

Lacrosse Team Starts at NCCU

This article much better represents what I consider to be the true state of race relations in the US: people don't really care about race (except for liberals claiming that it's important). Here we learn that whereas Duke has a 11% black student body (roughly approximating that of the US population), NCCU has a 12% white student body (is NCCU discrminating against honkies?). And one of the white students started a NCCU lacrosse team, on which he's the only white member. White and black people in the US working and playing together without regard for race is so much the norm that most black Americans experiance it; rich white boys raping a black stripper is so rare that even a false allegation of it becomes a national sensation.

Anti-Drug Laws Kill People - Part 2

Linked above is an editorial that states the exact opinion that Paul voiced in his earlier post.

"The fentanyl situation is clearly a consequence of drug prohibition, something that would virtually never happen under a system of regulation. Not surprisingly, this angle has been essentially absent from the media's discussion of the incidents."

Iranian Prez. Ahmadinejad Talks Non-Nonsense

I oppose this guy on many of his positions, and I consider him to be a mere frontman for religious tyrants. However, he speaks like an intellectual. Is there any rebuttal for his claims against the establishment of Isreal? I can't think of any. And his accusations against the holocaust are reasonable: permit scholars to debate, and don't imprison those who reach an verboten conclusion.

His comments about today's German people would make for very interesting application to today's Americans on the topic of "slavery reparations".

Also: If Bush can negotiate directly and productively with the tyranical leaders of some nations, why not this guy?

Will Blacks Save Republican Party?

The honkies running the republican party are ruining it. They aren't using their presidential and legislative control to transform the tax system into a curruption-proof flat tax, to drastically contract the federal budget (which is also one of the only effectictive mechanisms to combat curruption), to enact K-12 school vouchers, or to transform the money we spend on social security into private investment accounts. But the black candicates for office seem much more committed to these core values, which are the main reasons most of us voted for the repos in the first place.

Anti-Drug Laws Kill People

Back when do-gooding Americans attempted to combat alcohol comsumption by outlawing it, Americans faced several new dangers, including death from alcohol poisening. Today, most Americans who think that recreational drugs are "bad for you" support laws that ban these drugs. One result: people purchasing un-regulated drugs die from poisenous adultarant, and un-knowable concentrations. Now we have an epidemic of these deaths in Detroit. Why not just let these people waste their lives away in peace, on their parents's couches, or on the street? They're doing it at anyway...

Afghans Thank Americans for Bringing Democracy

A deadly traffic accident caused by a United States military convoy quickly escalated into a full-blown anti-American riot that raged across much of the Afghan capital on Monday, leaving at least 14 people dead and scores injured.

One demonstrator, called Ahmadullah, was still shouting, "Death to Karzai," and "Death to America" hours after the initial event. "These Americans came to our country and they are doing this kind of thing in my country, and our government is also their servant and a puppet of the Americans," he shouted to a crowd of people. "We are against America, all Afghans are against them."

Bush worshippers are the real un-Americans or If the Shoe Fits...

"I get more than a little pissed off when some yahoo Bush worshipper calls me un-American because I don’t support the Bush administration or the one-party Republican government now in power. I find it bitterly ironic that such folks hear the march of freedom where I hear the strident goose-stepping of a fascism that has already caused untold destruction and threatens to be a great deal more destructive than Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan. Who in hell do these numbskulls think they’re kidding?"

Investigate/Indict Dick Cheney Before It's Too Late

This revelation that Dick Cheney's office is responsible for screening bills before they reach Dubya's desk lends more credence to the argument that Cheney is the man behind the curtain pulling the strings of the resident puppet and chief.

Previous vice presidents have had neither the authority nor the interest in reviewing legislation. But Cheney has used his power over the administration's legal team to promote an expansive theory of presidential authority. Using signing statements, the administration has challenged more laws than all previous administrations combined.

The Bush/Cheney kabal must be stopped before it is too late. If it isn't already too late...

Nothing Accomplished: U.S., Iraqi forces mired in stalemate

Though not powerful enough to overrun U.S. positions, insurgents here in the heart of the Sunni Muslim triangle have fought undermanned U.S. and Iraqi forces to a virtual stalemate.

“It’s out of control,” says Army Sgt. 1st Class Britt Ruble, behind the sandbags of an observation post in the capital of Anbar province. “We don’t have control of this ... we just don’t have enough boots on the ground.”

Murder in Babylon

"A military investigation into the deaths of two dozen Iraqis last November is expected to find that a small number of marines in western Iraq carried out extensive, unprovoked killings of civilians, Congressional, military and Pentagon officials said."

Meanwhile Bush and Blair admit to "some mistakes" in Iraq. The truth is the entire exercise has been an ill conceived imperialist excursion that has not been worth the cost in money, resources or lives. Bush, Blair, Cheney, and Rumsfeld should be indicted before those marines are sent to trial. They are the real criminals.

Conservative Top 50

Six-String Slinger will appreciate this, though I think some of them are a stretch.

Linked above is National Review's list of its top 50 conservative rock songs, with the magazine's explanations of its choices.

Many of the tunes are by avowed lefties, but the article's author claims they all preach conservative values.

One glaring ommission: James Brown's "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing" (Open Up the Door I'll Get It Myself)

Of American Nurses and Free Market Fairy Tales

From Truthout.org:

The New York Times had an article [Wednesday] that inadvertently revealed a huge amount about how wages are set in the US economy ("US Plan to Lure Nurses May Hurt Poor Nations," 5-24-06; A1).

We all know the official story - wages are supposed to be set by the market, our old friends supply and demand. When certain skills are in short supply, the wages for workers with these skills are bid up. This leads more people to acquire the skills and may also reduce the demand. Eventually, supply increases and demand falls by enough to establish a balance in the market.

In this wonderful market world, the people who end up with high wages (e.g. doctors, lawyers, accountants, economists) have skills that are in high demand and difficult to master. The people with low pay (e.g. custodians, retail clerks, child care workers, dishwashers, etc.) are ones who have skills that are relatively plentiful.

That is a nice fairy tale. It has about as much relationship to the real world as the tooth fairy, as the Times article showed.

The key to the story is that our political leaders think that free trade and competition are good only for manufacturing workers, nurses, and other workers lower down the social ladder. They want the nanny state to protect the highest-paid workers from international competition. The huge gap in wages between those at the top and those at the bottom is not because of the market, itís because those at the top got Congress to rig the game.

Muslim Immigrants Horribly Abused in the West

Ah, those racist crackers in the West. Here are some horrifying stories about abuses suffered by muslim immigrants in western nations. I support harsh criminal penalties against the perpetrators.

It's Not Security vs. Liberty

Just about everyone in the administration, including the president, has said that they are only spying in on Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda affiliates.

If that’s the case, why do they need to bypass the courts?

Any court in the country would give you a warrant to spy on a person talking to Al Qaeda or an Al Qaeda affiliate.

Israel's pending landgrab

From today's NYT (buried under a mountain of verbiage about a "substantial pullout"):

Olmert ran for election on a promise to try to set the permanent borders of Israel by finishing the separation barrier between Israel and the Palestinians and by pulling out Israeli settlers — as many as 70,000 — who live in the West Bank beyond the barrier.

Another 175,000 Israelis, plus another 200,000 in East Jerusalem, live beyond the 1967 boundaries. But Mr. Olmert says Israel intends to keep those large settlement blocs.

Israel is moving to consolidate substantial land beyond the 1967 borders, with Bush cheering on from the sidelines. Is this the country Paul says isn't a colonizer, because it doesn't seek to expand its territory? If Israel doesn't want to be seen as a colonizer, then it should disband its colonies -- all of them -- beyond the 1967 borders.

Does Ford Descriminate Against Black Employees?

I have lots of black friends that work at Ford. Most claim that they get paid less -- much less -- than similarly qualified whites with a similar amount of experiance. I assume that they are wrong, and I see blacks getting promoted and doing very well at Ford. Can my friends making $80,000/year really be sitting next to crackers making $100,000? I doubt that!

Meanwhile I've had whites tell me that "only minorities" can get ahead at Ford. They also seem incorrect, since I see whites getting promoted, and whites dominate the management. I also see lots and lots of non-white immigrants doing VERY well within the Ford ranks.

I hope that this lawsuit "opens the books" and both claims get assessed against the facts. If my eldest, college-age daughter -- and "African-American" -- would herself work hard and achieve a degree that would qualify her for a job at Ford, I would predict that her "race" and gender would play either no role in her success, or be overwhelmed by the role played by her conduct.

"Plaintiffs allege they were denied job promotions in favor of less-qualified whites; paid less than white co-workers in similar positions; overlooked for entry-level executive programs."

Ethanol Out of Gas?

If Ethanol won't work, how's Brazil doing it? By having such a small fraction of people driving?

Durham Whites Should Remove Confederate Statue

Durham, NC whites should prove that indeed they no longer uphold white supremacy by removing the confederate statue that sits on the lawn where the Duke rape trial is proceeding. I believe that most whites don't know the facts that define the confederacy as a white supremacy movement... and for that matter most blacks don't know these facts either. Blacks believe a correct conclusion accidently, and whites who hold any positive feelings about the confederacy have two choices: they are either ignorant of the facts, or they are informed and racist.

I hope that this rape trial forces this issue, and that the resulting controversy exposes the facts, and that these facts compel blacks and whites in Durham to move those statues to mueseams and treat them like Nazi relics.

The new Scottsboro Boys?

Finally somebody besides me compares the Duke accused to the Scottsboro boys. There are differences: the Duke boys are assholes, and they are also rich, so the can probably save themselves. (Though when the two strippers sue in civil court, their families may be much less rich.) Naturally I do not care when Bad Things happend to Assholes, and I assume that the Duke players are Assholes. They are certainly not the sort of people that I socialize with, or ever socialize with.

In the 1970s, these players would have been white racists, and they would have been the very sorts of crackers who beat me and my brother, vandalized our home and car, and terrorized us for years for the sin my parents committed by welcoming our neighborhood's first, and all subsequent, black families. In the 2000s, at least a few of these boys has at least some small amount of racism, as indicated by the "cotton shirt" remark that one of them used in the money argument with the strippers, which featured a trading of profanities and racial slurs. But it appears also true that most of these boys are not racists, as indicated by the non-white students who have stepped forward identifying themselves as their friends. And Duke itself -- presumably a bastion of racism in the 1970s -- isn't racist, as a third of its students qualify as non-white, as do 12% who qualify as "African-American".

If a black stripper can avoid arrest on a petty charge by successfully issuing a fake rape charge against three rich white boys, what chance do the rest of us have? How many convicted rapists languish in prison today (or on sex offender registries) because they lacked the financial resources to counter a fake rape charge? Who will be the defenders of tomarrow's Scottsboro Boys -- who may be poor and black! -- given who has has gone on record either defending the false Duke accuser, or refusing to form and express their own opinion? If defending these rich assholes today means a better hope for tomarrow's Scottsboro Boys, I'm willing to do that.

Country Stations Trammel Free Speach

Who needs the First Ammendment check on government tyrany if private citizens will perform tyranical acts themselves? Here country music listeners successfully demand that their stations block new songs from the Dixie Chicks, and some programming directors are nixing the chicks on their own. Where is the outcry from those on the right who oppose university faculties imposing anti-right thought requirements on campus? Advocates of free speach only have credability when they defend those who espouse views abhorent to themselves.

How the Bush Administration Deconstructed Iraq

This rather comfortable portrait of the U.S. as a bumbling, even thoroughly incompetent giant overwhelmed by unexpected forces tearing Iraqi society apart is strikingly inaccurate:

Most of the death, destruction, and disorganization in the country has, at least in its origins, been a direct consequence of U.S. efforts to forcibly institute an economic and social revolution, while using overwhelming force to suppress resistance to this project. Certainly, the insurgency, the ethno-religious jihadists, and the criminal gangs have all contributed to the descent of Iraqi cities and towns into chaos, but their roles have been secondary and in many cases reactive. The engine of deconstruction was - and remains - the U.S.-led occupation.

Applauding Nagin's Victory

I am very glad that Ray Nagin won reelection as New Orleans's mayor, and for a few reasons. Was he incompetent in preparing for, and responding to, Katrina? Certainly. But I can find no reason to believe that any other local politician would have been any less so. The primary reason I'm glad that Nagin won is that he is more pro-business than his competator, who is an old-fashioned liberal.

The secondary reason that I'm glad Nagin won is that his victory adds yet more proof that white Americans generally put "race" as a distant consideration, or a non-consideration. Had Nagin lost, the race mongers would have painted his defeat as resulting from a conspiracy to manage the coastal disaster preparation, response, and recovery so as to disproportionately harm and chase away blacks, and then to prevent them from voting. Nagin's victory won't conversely inspire them to admit that they overstated white America's supposed race-obsession, but it will mean a bit less fuel for their own race-obsession.

I hope that republicans now see that black free market candidates provide the best mechanism for defeating the race-based pro-democratic voting block: they lose no free market white voters, and they attract some blacks from the voting block. Which blacks do black conservatives attract? I hypothesize two sorts. One, blacks who simply want to vote for a black person. Two, blacks who are interested in free market policies, but who are mistrustful of republicans.

The O’Really Factor: White Supremacist Arguments Becoming Common On FOX

Keep in mind this comment comes shortly after John Gibson, host of Fox News’ The Big Story with John Gibson, argued that Whites needed to have more babies since Latino immigrants were the largest percentage of children under 5. The Right-Wing’s links to classical White Supremacist thinking cannot be overstated.

During the May 16 edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly claimed that The New York Times and “many far-left thinkers believe the white power structure that controls America is bad, so a drastic change is needed.” O’Reilly continued: “According to the lefty zealots, the white Christians who hold power must be swept out by a new multicultural tide, a rainbow coalition, if you will.”

True Democracies Don't Detain Prisoners Without Trial

Inmates at the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have clashed with guards as they tried to prevent a fellow detainee from hanging himself.

The military says there have been 39 suicide attempts in the camp since 2002, and hunger strikes have been common as detainees protest against their continued detention without trial.

US Punishes Democratic Nation Over Politics; Jeapordizes 'War on Terror'

Venezuelan ambassador:

"THIS WEEK, the State Department announced that it was banning all sales of weapons to Venezuela, alleging that the government of President Hugo Chavez was not cooperating in the worldwide war on terror. Though the sanctions are mostly symbolic — Washington sells few weapons to Caracas as it is — the extreme nature of these false allegations indicates that Washington is continuing its long campaign to delegitimize and undermine my country's democratic government."

Racist Cops Arrest Couple Asking For Directions

You can expect all manner of race hucksters to assemble in defense of this couple, who got arrested merely for asking some cops for directions, as they were lost trying to get home from a baseball game in Baltimore. They had to spend 8 hours in jail, and they report that the cops were so rude that they refused to provide directions. If this was a white couple, surely the cops would have provided directions and wishes for a happy day. OOPS! This couple was white. Where the cops black? Don't know yet. But since the couple was white, this story will die and be forgotten.

Since cops are unabashad bastards some fraction of the time, can some of this explain some of what gets classified as "racism"? If people who opposed to police abuse would protest even cases against whites, would this help even black people avoid police abuse?

Italian PM Says War in Iraq Was 'Grave' Mistake

"We consider the war and occupation in Iraq a grave error that hasn't solved
— but has complicated — the problem of security."

"Terrorism has found a new base and new excuses for internal and external terrorist action."

The thing is most "reasonable" people knew that problems would develop even with the deceptive practices of the Bush/Blair "Bombs over Baghdad" kabal. This is why we saw unprecedented worldwide protests BEFORE the war began.

To those who claimed that we should not allow others to dictate US foreign policy:

This was international policy. This reckless, imperialist excursion has made the world a more dangerous place. AND THE WHOLE WORLD TOLD YOU THAT FOUR YEARS AGO!

Why didn't you listen?

"The blood that is shed in my name is blood on my hands." - from "Guantanamo" by Nadir

Paulhue's Education Proposal

Checkout my discussion with a teacher about my hair-brained education proposal...

Should Officials Who Break the Law Be Promoted?

Why not? Most of the Bush Administration's appointees have criminal records. What's one more pirate to add to the felonious crew of Cheney, Rove, Negroponte, Wolfowitz, Perle, Rumsfeld, etc.

The Democrats are Punks - Part 2

This 40-minute video clip is a no holds barred attack on the spineless Democratic Party leadership that voices the reasons many of us feel the Dems are hopeless. It's good stuff. Take the time to check it out.

Robertson: God Says Tsunami Possible For U.S.

I actually prefer Robertson's apocolyptic prophecies to his political rhetoric. It sounds less stupid for a preacher to predict storms than for him to call for political assassinations.

FBI Acknowledges: Journalists' Phone Records Are Fair Game

From ABCNews.com:

The FBI acknowledged late Monday that it is increasingly seeking reporters' phone records in leak investigations.

"It used to be very hard and complicated to do this, but it no longer is in the Bush administration," said a senior federal official.

The acknowledgement followed our blotter item that ABC News reporters had been warned by a federal source that the government knew who we were calling.

The official said our blotter item was wrong to suggest that ABC News phone calls were being "tracked."

"Think of it more as backtracking," said a senior federal official.

Hoping She'll Drop Out?

Tom Sowell thinks that the Duke Rape DA has scheduled the trial a year away hoping that when the case peters away the nation will have forgotten about it, and he will look like less of a fool. I think also that the DA hopes that the kooky accuser will during this time drop out, and then the DA can use drop the case using the excuse, "the 'victim' was too scared and intimidated to contue, the poor dear, and thus I have no choice but to reluctantly drop the case against these viscious rapists."

Some of the accuser's cable news chatshow supporters are even starting to flip to the defense, thanks to Round 2 of the DNA tests. Some good may come of this: increased awareness of the phenomenon of false rape accusations. Also, smashing of phoney statistics, like "80% of all rape cases lack DNA evidence." In fact, this case has DNA evidence... and plenty of it. This is a very rare instance of a rape case getting prosecuted despite EXCULPATORY DNA evidence. Here, we are to believe that zero DNA gets left by any of three guys brutally beating and raping a woman, but consenual sex with her boyfriend did leave DNA. If only she were white and these punks were black punks instead of white, people like Nadir would recognize these facts. Instead, silent lips -- or lip-flapping support for this false accuser -- will mean a much harder row when this happens next to a black guy. If the accuser of the LA Laker center (mostly like just as much of an asshole as these Duke punks, and certainly wealthier) does turn out to be a white girl, with evidence this flimsy, on what moral ground will Nadir stand in defending him?

Will Nadir be content to sit by silently, rendering no opinion, and merely "let the legal system decide"? Is that what Nadir did with the LA trial of the Rodney King beaters?

Cheney and the tyrant

The Bush neocons are said by their apologists to have transformed themselves into proselytizing democracy enthusiasts at some point over the last 20 years. Zeal for democracy -- and not, say, zeal to maintain control of crude oil as the chief source of energy -- drive their foreign policy agenda, this line of thinking goes. The fact that so many administration officials hail from the oil industry, I suppose, is mere coincidence; or can be explained like this: successful people in a meritocritous society will tend to mass in highly profitable fields. But oil still clings to their hands -- as do ties to despotic rulers of oil regimes, as this report shows. One wonders: How do they decide which oil despots to depose--and which to make alliances with?

From the Nation:

Wondering why Vice-President Dick Cheney recently played footsie with Kazakhstan's autocratic leader--an oil-rich president with an awful human rights record whose recent re-election was fraudulent? (Hey, sounds sort of familiar.) No, it wasn't because Cheney wanted to mimic his boss, who recently received another oil-rich autocrat--the president of Azerbaijan--in the White House. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Cheney used to occupy a cushy seat on Kazakh's Oil Advisory Board? (Did anyone see this in coverage of the Vice-President's trip?) As reported by Mark Ames in the June 2003 issue of The Exile, Cheney was a member of that board in 2001 and advised Bush to "deepen [our] commercial dialogue with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other Caspian states." On this trip, he pronounced himself to be "delighted" to be a guest of the Kazakh president, adding that the United States "is proud to be your strategic partner" and looks forward "to continued friendship between us."

The Democrats are Punks

Despite the fact that the entire world wants the Bush regime out of office, the Democratic Party balks at the prospect of impeachment.

When the Government Knows Who Calls Who

On one Sunday morning news program after another, the NSA data collection efforts were dismissed on the grounds that the government only knows who calls who, not what was said. No one on any of the shows I watched tried to explain why anyone should care if the government has detailed historical records of who calls whom, covering millions of Americans.

Can you imagine how interesting it would be to have this type of information on one of your enemies? To know exactly whom they call, and who calls them, and exactly when, going back at least five years? Can you imagine how interesting someone might find these same items, about you?

Fear of a Brown Planet: Gibson to white folks: "Make more babies"

On The Big Story, John Gibson urged viewers to "[d]o your duty. Make more babies," because he had found out, from a recently released report, that nearly half of all children under the age of five in the United States are minorities. Gibson added: "You know what that means? Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is Hispanic." Gibson later repeated: "To put it bluntly, we need more babies."

I'm sure Paul Hue and SixStringSlinger will explain to me why this is not a racist/white supremacist remark.

For the record, Slinger is doing his part by popping out Caucasoid/Euro puppies at a steady pace, but Paul's bi-racial brats are impeding progress for the white race.

Darth Cheney Pushed NSA to Widen Eavesdropping

In the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney and his top legal adviser argued that the National Security Agency should intercept purely domestic telephone calls and e-mail messages without warrants in the hunt for terrorists, according to two senior intelligence officials.

But N.S.A. lawyers, trained in the agency's strict rules against domestic spying and reluctant to approve any eavesdropping without warrants, insisted that it should be limited to communications into and out of the country, said the officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss the debate inside the Bush administration late in 2001.

The N.S.A.'s position ultimately prevailed. But just how Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the director of the agency at the time, designed the program, persuaded wary N.S.A. officers to accept it and sold the White House on its limits is not yet clear.

George W. Bush: Spawn of Satan??

Few people understand that one of the most notorious individuals in British history may have contributed to the lineage of our current president.

Aleister Crowley, a.k.a., "The Great Beast 666" -- the infamous practitioner of "sex magick" whose motto was "Do What Thou Wilt" -- came to know a great many remarkable people, including the maternal grandmother of George W. Bush. "Know," in this case, may be taken in the Biblical sense. Evidence points to the disturbing possibility that he was the true father of Barbara Bush, the former First Lady and mother to George W. Bush.

Democratic candidate for Alabama AG denies Holocaust occurred

A Democratic candidate for Alabama attorney general denies the Holocaust occurred and said Friday he will speak this weekend in New Jersey to a "pro-white" organization that is widely viewed as being racist.

Larry Darby concedes his views are radical, but he said they should help him win wide support among Alabama voters as he tries to "reawaken white racial awareness" with his campaign against Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson.

"It's time to stop pushing down the white man. We've been discriminated against too long," Darby said in the interview.

“The Largest Single Intrusion Into American Civil Liberties Ever Committed By Any U.S. Administration”

Meanwhile, Paul rants and raves about a couple of rich kids who may (or may not) actually be guilty of sodomizing single mother/college student.

Where is the outrage that the president YOU voted for is spying on you?????

Duke Lineup Problems

Nadir & Tom: Would you guys be so silent like church mice if some black basketball players got ID'd like this? What will happen when this *does* happen in the future to some black basketball players, if you sit by and let this happen now? With so many people either stone silent (like you two) or fully supporting the accuser, what happens in the future when a real rape occurs, and people remember this case?

Ask A Mexican

I don't reckon that you can get any funnier than this. Comedy = Truth + Pain.

Kennedy Escapes DWI

Left and Right commentators are disgracing themselves on this issue, I believe. The rightists -- including Ann Coulter -- correctly describe this situation as one in which a wealthy and well-connected gets out of what would have been a hellish legal mess for ordinary Americans. But Ann and the other rightists refuse to recognize that Bush II pulled the same trick, at least twice (for a DWI and escaping both combat service and authentic National Guard service during Vietnam) and possibly a third time (for cocaine possession).

Meanwhile, the leftists commentatators take a dispicable two-pronged approach. One, they frame this incident as Kennedy has: as a prescription drug situation, for which he has bravely come forward. Two, they liken it to the Rush Limbaugh prescription drug case. Nieither claim is accurate. Kennedy was not only DWI, he was DWI while driving dangerously. Every year thousands of decent, safe-driving Americans get pulled over for either the same sort of minor traffic violations that sober drivers get pulled over for, or stopped in dragnets, and have officers scrutinize them for the jackpot of a DWI. In Kennedy's case, he was driving so dangerously that his conduct attracted the attention of police; this was no instance of a person coming of a highway going 50 in a 35 access road, after having 5 beers. What adult American hasn't done such a thing? Nearly 100%, I'd say, though mercifully only a fraction fall into a cop's lap. Kennedy was driving recklessly, and he got off -- and driven home! -- whereas every ordinary American on his way home from a relative's wedding passing through a speed trap would get 24 hours in the tank, a suspended license, 20 days of picking up trash, $2,500 in fines, $5,000 in legal fees, and an extra $1,000 per year in car insurance fees for their rest of their lives.

Rush Limbaugh, as far as we know, never got high on his drugs and careened down the street, and never got let off the hook; he got prosecuted. Bush II got the same unfair treatment as Kennedy at least twice in his life. All honest critics must recognize these facts! I propose also that we take this time to rethink our DWI laws, which so harshly punish so many drivers who are behaving normally and non-dangerously.

Bush undoing diplomatic progress

Pretty tight pro-Nadir/Tom argument against Bush's dealings with Russia: "If we don't want them in our backyard, why are we in theirs?"

Socialized Medicine = Shortages

The Brits followed Tom and Nadir's advice by socializing dentristry. Try getting an appointment there!

Petro Price Caps Boost Prices in Hawii

As predicted by Cafe Hyak econoics professors, the "anti-gouging" petro price caps installed in Hawii a few months ago led to higher prices... and elimination of the program, even as world prices increase. John Stossell (a reformed leftist journalist) last night on one of the news programs revealed that the counter-productive (and counter-intuitive) effect of "anti-gouging laws" was one of the hardest myths for him to realize. He discusses this in his new book, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity.

Yalies Protest Ann Coulter, But Not Talib

"Why hasn't the former spokesman for the Taliban matriculating at Yale been beaten even more senseless than he already is? According to Hollywood, this nation is a cauldron of ethnic hatreds positively brimming with violent skinheads. Where are the skinheads when you need them? What does a girl have to do to get an angry, club- and torch-wielding mob on its feet? There is not the remotest possibility that a man who was recently defending shooting women in the head for wearing nail polish will so much as be snubbed on the Yale campus. The only violence on college campuses these days occurs when people like David Horowitz, Michelle Malkin and me show up to give a speech in defense of America. Then we need bomb-sniffing dogs and a lecture hall lined with armed police. But a Talibanist goes about his day at Yale unmolested."

Women Never Lie About Rape?

Tom: Did Juanita Broderick lie when she claimed that Bill Clinton raped her? Here's an earnest letter she wrote, along with a photo of her crying while discussing her claim. When this story emerged, I vividly recall that no leftists of any sort supported her. They didn't denounce her, they just said nothing. I'm very eager to know the source of your belief that lying about rape is negligably rare.

Nadir: Still waiting to learn if you or any female you know stands behind the assertion that a blind-folded woman can't tell if she gets raped by "male member" or beer bottles or broomsticks.

Duke Rape DA Intimidates, Punishes Defense Witnesses

One of the things that really upsets me about this Duke Rape affair is that the accuser won over me and many people with her apparently false allegations. Simply claiming rape automatically captures the leftists who subscribe to the myth that rape allegations are always accurate. Adding claims of racism automatically captures leftists and the vast majority of blacks, who automatically believe any such claim. Outside of those two groups, people tend to assume that a charge of rape is genuine, but not to the extent that the feminists do. The initial reports drew 100% condemnation onto the lacrosse team, including by conservative cable news pundints, every one of which issued angry rails against a Duke lacrosse team that had "gone wild", and was enjoying undeserved coddling. All the cable news shows -- including those hosted by conservatives -- ran segments along these lines. White-majority crowds on Duke's campus daily protested against the team, distributing flyers with their pictures and names, labeling them "rapists" and demanding explusion and arrest for all of them. Not one pro-laccrosse voice arose.

When the DA announced that the team was "uncooperative," nobody doubted or questioned his assertion. Even conservitive pundits demanded that "somebody on the team come forward and put courage and what's right over protecting scumbags". All the conservative commentators made a big show of proclaiming that "just because she's a stripper" doesn't give anybody the right to violate her. When the DA announced that he had obtained DNA, that it would "identify the culprits and exonerate the innocent," every conservative commentator accepted this claim, and not a single voice of support arose for the players...

...until a black attorney for the players appeared on a cable show and made two proclamations: (1) That no sex occured, even consensual, and that the DNA testing would come back 100% free and clear; and (2) the first 911 call was a phoney made by the "Second Stripper." Only at this time did any commentators express any doubt, and it to the following form: If these claims by the defense bear out, this looks like a fake charge; otherwise, the guys are toast, and deserve whatever they get.

Now we have the DA arresting the Indian cab driver who provides an alabi for one of the accused. Arrested for what? Two years ago he dropped off a fare at a mall. The fare went inside, stole some shoes, got back in his cab, and he drove her to her house. A security guard traced his license plate, contacted him, and he provided the information that led to the fare getting convicted. As Jeff Fieger pointed out when the DA instituted petty charges against the non-arrested players: is this the conduct of a DA who "has a case"?

This is abuse of the extraordinary legal powers held by police and prosecuters. Many of the unquestioning, automatic supporters of the accuser declare that Durham justice in 2006 is "racist against blacks." Yet both the stripper and her strip partner got arrested for serious crimes, and received pretty light sentances. Where is the evidence that in 2006 Durham -- with its black mayor, black police chief, black cops, black-majority council, and DA behaving in this way -- has an anti-black judicial system?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali to Jews: "I Used to Hate You"

Ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali of Netherlands wins "Moral Courage Award" from the American Jewish Committe. She lives under an international vigilante death penalty for daring to criticize such Islamic practices as forced female "circumcision" (which she suffered in her native Samalia), forced female marriage in family business deals (a horror dealt to her which she escaped), and female "honor killings". This death penalty successfully materialized as a dagger in the chest of her friend and countryman, Theo Van Gogh (for directing a film she wrote on this subject), pinning a note warning Ali of an impending similar fate for her. Ali in her acceptance speach reveals herself to be a humorous, tolerant, liberal intellectual of the genuine sort, the kind who used to head the world's leftist movement.

Listen to Ayaan Hirsi Ali's introduction and acceptance speech >

Also receiving the award, Shoaib Choudhury, a Bangladeshi Muslim journalist on trial facing execution row for advocating peace with Isreal, a capital offense in Bangladesh.

Listen to Shoaib Choudhury's introduction and speech >

Record Tax Revs in Age of Bush Tax Rate Cuts

Facts:
1. Tax Rates have lowered.
2. Tax spending has increased.
3. Tax Rev has increased.

Do y'all unregnerated leftists believe that increasing tax rates will result in increased tax revenues? Nadir, do you think you will increase your CD revenues by increasing the rate that you charge for your CDs?

80% Rape Cases Lack DNA?

Nadir: Our friend Calvin on Sunday interjected the ludicrous claim that "80% of all rape cases procede without DNA evidence". As I tried to explain, that statistic doesn't apply to cases in which a "rape kit" is performed within hours of the alleged attack. Instead, that statistic -- to the extent that it's accurate -- applies to all rape cases filed in modern times, including the original case that this accuser tried to file ten years ago, wherein she claimed that three men had gang raped her three years previously. Obviously that case, had it proceded, would not have been untracked by lack of DNA evidence. But if three men beat and raped my mom an hour ago, what chance do you think that a microbiological rape test would fail to uncover evidence of human DNA, latex, or latex lubricant? Remember, the DA was so convinced that the testing would recover such that he essentially guaranteed it in his warrent to the judge. Did he really think there was only a 20% chance of recovering inculpatory evidence?

The Euston Manifesto (Retro-Neuvo Lefitsts?)

Now, these are leftists I can align with on a great many issues. They even favor not permitting islamic murderers and mauraders to prevent me from criticizing islamic murderers and mauraders! Plus, they hold as"democracy" as the universal pinacle of human organization!

War "on" or "against" Iraq? Or "for" Iraq?

And "Freedom for Palistine"? What about Freedom for Syria? Or Eithiopia? Christopher Hitchens explains his view that the left has become apologists for the worst regimes in the world, and fierce opponents of those who oppose these regimes:

Once you decide that American-led “globalisation” is the main enemy, then any revolt against it is better than none at all. In some way yet to be determined, Al-Qaeda might be able to help to stave off global warming. (I have not yet checked to see how this is squared with Bin Laden’s diatribe of last weekend, summoning all holy warrior aid to the genocidal rulers of Sudan as they complete the murder of African Muslims, and as they sell all their oil to China to create a whole new system of carbon emissions in Asia. At first sight, it looks like blood for oil to me.)

(Ex) Muslim Hero Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Here's one of the people who' s "offending" deranged Islamic retards. She objects to women being forced into marriage, "honor killings," clitoris amputations. She must die -- by killers who are "no worse than" (accoring to leftists) Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and the abortion clinic assassins who manage to kill one abortionist every 10 years.

About her new book, "Caged Virgin": The three themes of the story are: first, her own gradual emancipation from tribalism and superstition; second, her work as a parliamentarian to call attention to the crimes being committed every day by Islamist thugs in mainland Europe; and third, the dismal silence, or worse, from many feminists and multiculturalists about this state of affairs.

Of her leftist non-champions: others must be allowed "their culture" and—what is more—must be allowed the freedom not to be offended by the smallest criticism of it. If they do feel offended, their very first resort is to violence and intimidation, sometimes with the support of the embassies of foreign states.

Rampant US Govt Currupt Government

Those of us who voted Republican thinking this would lead to leaner, less currupt government were wrong. Those of you who think voting Democrat will lead to less currupt government will surely be wrong as well. Our only consolation: it appears to be even worse in the countries from which all our immigrants originate (and to which nobody immigrates).

Bush Evil Scheme On Track

Step 1: Knowing for a fact that Iraq lacks banned weopons, lie that it does, make this a central justification for invading, then invade prior to election and find none of the banned weapons, exposing your lie to the voters.

Step 2: Despite leading a massive international conspiracy comprising the most powerful and evil confederates ever assembled (a cabal that perhaps orchestrated 911!), don't butress pre-invasion lies by planting banned weapons.

Step 3: Employ mysterious powers to boost petro prices, angering voters and all non-petro business leaders. (I can't quite figure out this step. Was it, "Steel Iraqi oil", which would bring down petro prices, or "Fail to stop tyranical terrorists from destroying Iraqi petro infrastructure", which would contribute to boosting petro prices?)

This Week's Rare Hate Crime

Here some threatening racist letters go out to two black students and a "latino" student. Turns out a third black student created the letters to manufacture a hate crime in order to convince her parents that the school is dangerous for blacks so that she could switch to another school.

Hitchens Vs. Cole

Tom: I'm still waiting for you to support your assessment of Christopher Hitchens as a "hack", an accusation made also recently by Juan Cole, to which Hitchy respondes above and below.

http://www.radioblogger.com/#001591

Duke Rape Case: We Should Monitor and Assess It

Why should we care about this case? Why should we monitor it and form opinions about it? Because our legal system -- and any effective and fair legal system -- requires observance by citizens who are not directly participating in it. Such behavior by the citizenry constitutes a neccessary check and balance on the judiciary, a phenomenon required of a democracy. Imagine the consequences if we followed the advice of those who have called for us to ignore this case and let it proceed without our active interest and assessment.

Furthermore, this case in particular includes two important opposing claims, either of which if true we citizens must recognize and remedy: (1) That rich white guys are targetting black strippers for sexual assault; vs. (2) That women who get themselves into trouble or get angry (or both, in this case) can obtain salvation or revenge by successfully launching fake rape allegations. For those who believe that the US legal system weighs heavily against the poor and non-white, the possibility of (2) must be especially troublesome, if a poor black woman indeed has successfully launched a false rape allegation. If so, what hope can there be for black men who anger a white woman, or who who find themselves a convienent target of a white woman who gets into a legal jam?

Now we learn that the police initially doubted the Duke accuser. The case against the lacrosse players is so weak that famed defense attorney -- and celebrated non-racist honkey -- Jeff Feiger declared weeks ago that the Duke prosecuter had "no case." Last night on one of the cable news shows he re-asserted his assessment, based on the continuing stream of info, including this report that the police initially doubted her, based on a "changing story" that began with a claim that "twenty" (!) attendess at the party raped her. Feiger pointed out that the DA's actions all point to him having no case, including the withdrawl of old, "set-aside" petty crime violations against various party attendees. Said Feiger, if the DA had a case, he wouldn't take time (especially post-arrest) penalizing witnesses who provide no inculpatory evidence.

Those of you who refuse to cover or care about this case, are you sure you don't care if a DA is using his extraordinary powers -- against people with enough wealth to hire top-notch attornies! -- to extort false testimonies from witnesses in support of a false allegation prematurely publically embraced by the DA? Imagine -- as supporters of the accuser insist we do - if the racial and economic composition of the principals were reversed. Forty low-income black basketball players accused by rich white sorority girls, with the girls first filing a false 911 call; then one alleging rape only after herself getting arrested for public intoxification (a serious charge for a person who already has a DWI and a auto theft convictions); and the other first refuting the accuser, then changing her assessment after herself getting arrested and receiving favorable treatment from the DA; the DA proclaiming on a warrent that DNA test results would ID the rapists and exonerate the innocent, but then retracting his proclaimation in response to negative test results; the accuser then claiming, "oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, they used broomsticks and beer bottles" and not only can I "100% identify the rapists", but I might also have been drugged with a "date rape" substance, which is noted for erasing memory; the players hiding all evidence of their drinking (which implicated each of them in either underage drinking or supplying booze to minors) but hiding no evidence of the accuser's presense in their home; the DA ressurrecting previously set-aside petty charges against players who claimed "nothing happened", etc., etc., etc.

Do I think that in such a case in a city with a half-black population, a black mayor and police chief, black attending officers, and a black-majority city council, that all 40 basketball players would have gotten arrested immediately? Absolutely not.

Ethanol?

Tom: Can ethanol from sugar cane or other plants effectively and realistically displace petro as a source of stable, combustable liquid fuel?

Nadir: Do you remember if George Washington Carver invented the idea of ethanol as the automotive fuel (as he did using plastic parts for autos, and deriving them from soy beans)?

Scramble to grab central Asia's gas

During talks with Mr Nazarbayev, Mr Cheney will try to give a "big nudge" to oil and gas corridors linking Kazakhstan with Europe while "planting a big American flag in central Asia," said Glen Howard, the head of the Jamestown Foundation think-tank. "We are flexing our muscles a little bit," Mr Howard added.

The plan is one of a flurry of new pipeline schemes spanning central Asia and the Caucasus that are the counters in a geopolitical chess game playing out between the US, Russia and China for control over one of the world's last undeveloped oil and gas basins.

To fully appreciate what this means, you have to look at a map of Central Asia. Notice the proximity to US satellites in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the future targets of US military aggression Iran and Syria. Interesting how these military, economic and political moves create a large barrier between the oil fields of the Middle East and our good "friends" in Russia and China.

Bush Buys Billion Dollar Chopper Fleet

Here's one of the reason's we Bush voters have turned our backs on him. Why can't a president fly in a cramped helocopter? Why does something like this get done before fixing the Katrina mess, fully arming the troops in Iraq, etc. This is what we Bush voters used to excoriate democrats for. One thing I like about the predents of Venezuela and Iran: they act like guys with regular jobs, and the speak like regular guys. Does the Japanese PM still ride the subway to work? This is rediculous, absurd, and shameful.

Negroponte, Rumsfeld in a Turf War

After a little more than a year in his newly created job, John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, has won an initial battle to establish authority over the vast U.S. intelligence community — Porter J. Goss, who resisted Negroponte's moves to limit the autonomy of the CIA, is gone.

But Negroponte faces a larger and much more difficult challenge: a struggle with Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's Department of Defense, which runs more than 80% of the nation's intelligence budget and is busy expanding its role even further.

Both Negroponte and Rumsfeld should be indicted and convicted as war criminals, not battling over control of the US Intelligence apparatus.

Bush Clears the Way for Corporate Domination

When George W. Bush says that he wants to spread freedom to every corner of the earth, he means it.

But of course the president that turned Soviet-era gulags into secret CIA prisons in order to do God-knows-what to God-knows-whom isn't talking about individual freedom. He means corporate freedom -- freedom for the great multinationals to extract everything they can from the world's resources and labor without the hindrance of public interest laws, environmental regulations or worker protections.

Bush's vision of a free world actually looks just like the corporate globalization agenda pushed by a succession of American presidents in institutions like the World Trade Organization.

Why So Defensive?

I continue to mull why the mainstream press -- and more specifically, the elites within it -- reacted so negatively to satirist Stephen Colbert's performance at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

CIA Director Porter Goss Resigns

The resignation was the latest in an administration shake-up during Bush's second term.

Goss, a former Republican congressman from Florida, headed the House Intelligence Committee from 1997 to 2005.

Although he formerly served as a CIA agent in Latin America during the Cold War, he reportedly had poor relations with elements of the CIA's clandestine service after he became director.

After firing those CIA officials who were most vocal in their opposition to the Bush regime's reasons for invading Iraq among other things, Goss's job is finished?

"Rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg" indeed...

Racist Capital Cops Accuse Rep of DWI

Oops, it wasn't Cynthia McKinney that capital police supervisors let go, only to be undermined by union supporters, it was a Kennedy. Too bad he doesn't have a race card to play.

Rumsfeld Heckled by Former CIA Analyst

"Why did you lie to get us into a war that caused these kind of casualties and was not necessary?" asked Ray McGovern, the former analyst, during a question-and-answer session.

Rumsfeld also faced tough questions from a woman identifying herself as Patricia Roberts of Lithonia, Ga., who said her son, 22-year-old Spc. Jamaal Addison, was killed in Iraq. Roberts said she is now raising her young grandson and asked whether the government could provide any help.

Rumsfeld referred her to a Web site listing aid organizations.

Isn't that nice. "Your son is dead? I won't visit your home. But if you do the research on this website, someone there will tell you that the US military doesn't offer any aid for grandmothers."

Mexico Legalizes Drugs

And Cafe Hayek applauds. Too bad Mexico only legalized small amounts, instead of the entire drug trade enterprise. Let's hope that street crime drops, providing evidence for US voters and lawmakers to see the light.

Cell Phone Tyranny Arrives in Detroit

Detroit lawmakers have now made it illegal for me to talk on a cell phone, unless I use an earpiece. What about:

- Dialing (while using an earpiece)?
- Looking up numbers (while using an earpiece)?
- Searching for a ringing cell phone?
- Taking notes (while using an earpiece)?
- Daydreaming?
- Reading billboards?
- Reaching back to chastise and/or swat a child?
- Looking at cleavage/crotch of passenger?
- Gawking at accidents?
- Masterbating?

What a collosal waste of time and invasion of our natural right to self-ownership.

Invisible in Plain Sight: CIA Torture Techniques Go Mainstream

Critical loopholes in the McCain amendment show that the once-clandestine practice of torture is now an official weapon in the War on Terror.

Mississipi Governor Won't Pardon Wronged, Dead Man

What in the hell is wrong with the Mississippi governor? Everybody agrees that this dead guy got framed BY MISSISSIPPI OFFICIALS (!) in the 1960s, as retailiation for his attempt to integrate a state university. This hero is dead now. How could anybody deny a pardon for him, plus a statue celebrating a true southern gentleman and hero, who paid an awesome price for advancing freedom?

Clarence Thomas, Keeper of the Constitution's Flame

Nadir is outraged that Bush has over-stepped his constitutional authority as President on numerous occassions. I share that view. But what about the Supreme Court also doing so? A new book about Clarence Thomas praises Thomas as an adherant to the US Constitution.

Before I knew anything about Thomas, I was a liberal/leftist, and despised him and considered hime to be a self-hating, anti-black idiot. As my leftist status was disintegrating, I remember noticing that CSPAN was about to broadcast a speach by Thomas, at some public funciton. Surely my leftist position on Thomas could not be wrong! Surely Thomas would expose himself to be an intellectual lightweight. Boy, was I wrong. They guy was intelligent, humorous, knowlegable, captivating... everything the opposite of what I certainly "knew". A fully functioning intellectual, and a heavy weight at that. This became one of many events along my path to transformation from Leftist to Reformed Leftist: subjecting what I "knew" to open-minded scrutiny.

Among the many charges leveled against Thomas' intelligence is that in hearing cases, he rarely asks the attending attorneys any questions, and his legal writings are very brief. I found that his supporter's charactorization of this is accurate: the other SC jurors use the question periods and their writings to impress the world, whereas Thomas correctly regards his job as simple -- compare the appealed law and ruling to the current US constitution, and ask a simple question: does the US Constitution permit it?

I think that Bush made a mistake by not moving this guy to Chief Justice.

"Lost" Manufacturing Jobs Good for Americans?

Righteous Brother Walter Williams lays down some economic facts that should help explain why the loss of US manufacturing jobs has coincided with a US economy that continues to attract an annual net of about a million souls into our borders.

Price Gouging by Universities

What explains the drastic price increase for university tuition?

In the chaos of Iraq, one project is on target: a giant US embassy

The question puzzles and enrages a city: how is it that the Americans cannot keep the electricity running in Baghdad for more than a couple of hours a day, yet still manage to build themselves the biggest embassy on Earth?

Irritation grows as residents deprived of air-conditioning and running water three years after the US-led invasion watch the massive US Embassy they call “George W’s palace” rising from the banks of the Tigris.

I suppose we should blame this on the insurgents as well?

Hitchens Accused of "Attack Journalism."

U of M's Juan Cole trashes your boy, Hitchy.

"Not just anyone can be published in Slate. Most academics could not get a gig there. Hitchens is paid to publish there because he is a prominent journalist. But then he should behave like a journalist, not like a hired gun for the far Right, smearing hapless targets of his ire. That isn't journalism."

Investigate Big Dick

Did Cheney and oil company execs lick their chops over Iraqi oil less than two years before we invaded Iraq? Shouldn't someone find out?

Medger Evers Brother is a Republican Candidate

The blacks in the Republican party seem more likely to uphold its core values. This civil rights lion also opposes the Iraq war, as do many republicans.

$3-a-gallon gas: Blame Washington, not Big Oil

With gas prices roaring past $3 a gallon and consumer fury rising even faster, Congress and the White House are engaged in a Kabuki-like ritual: pointing fingers at each other over who's to blame, while furiously attacking Big Oil for reaping gargantuan profits - as drivers get hosed at the pump.

If the politicians really want to figure out who's responsible for the latest round of price increases, though, they'd be better off looking in the mirror. That's because the rise isn't only due to higher crude costs. It's also fallout from some little-noticed provisions in the energy bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last summer.

Adds Larry Goldstein of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation: "The gasoline crisis is made in the U.S.A., not in Iran or Venezuela or Nigeria. At least half the increase in gasoline prices is due to unintended consequences of the energy bill, but no one in Washington wants to admit that."

Fine. We'll blame Big Oil for half and Washington for half. Either way, American consumers are being hosed.

But Is He a Socialist?

Indian, Coca Farmer, Bolivian President
Bolivian President Evo Morales has become a symbol for the left and for anti-American sentiment the world over. But is he really a socialist? A closer look at the peasant in the striped sweater.

Lakers Center Accused of Rape

What a great break for our Duke lacrosse discussion! Where to begin? How about prescribing what the Duke stripper accuser supporters must do to remain consistent to their standards:

I. Her feminist supporters:
1. Declare that the accusation is 100% accurate.
2. Demand the arrest of the accused.
3. Establish your support prior to learning any facts of the case, and maintian your support regardless of emerging facts.
4. Accept as fact that "only 2% of rape allegations are false" without applying any scrutiny.

II. Her racist supporters:
1. Wait to learn the race of the accuser and accused.
2. If the accused is black, either support him or express no opinion; see (4) below.
3. If the accuser is black, see (I) above.
4. If the accuser is white, scrutinize her story and keep an open mind to the possibilities of guilt and innocence... and even false accusation.

Cinco de Mayo, The Theft of Mexico and Immigration

Okay. Here is the history lesson.

According to the Wikipedia link above, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican independence day. It commemorates the Battla de Puebla when Mexican forces defeated Napoleon III's invading French army. So yes, it is a celebration of a Mexican victory over Western imperialists, but not independence day.

Incidentally, they don't really celebrate the holiday in Mexico. It is more a Mexican-American or even more accurately, a gringo holiday.

Mexico was the name of the Aztec state whose capital was Tenochtitlan (currently Mexico City) so Mexicans have been around for thousands of years, even before the white man came.

Yes, the Spanish invaded what later became known as North and Central America. Many of them mixed with the Aztecs and Mayas who lived in what is now Mexico. Most of the people who live there, however have primarily indigenous geneology.

Yes, the US jacked the Mexicans for the land the Spanish had stolen from the people who lived north of the Rio Grande. Hence California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas have been Northern Mexico for quite some time now. Similarly, Miami is Northern Cuba.

That being said, the law that is being protested criminalizes all illegal immigrants - Mexicans, Guatamalans, Jamaicans, Croatians, Haitians, Laotians, Ghanaians, Vietnamese, French, Israelis, Canadians, British - everybody. And it makes anyone who aids an illegal immigrant a criminal. I mean, come on... It's a terrible law. Even Bush says so.

You guys will happily eat your illegal immigrant-picked Michigan apples and cherrys. Or your illegal immigrant- picked organic spinach and oranges. I'm surprised Paul hasn't hired some illegals to do his landscaping. (Perhaps they could paint your shrubery pink to match your living room...)

But I do agree on this point. Blanket amnesty is certainly not the answer. Many people say the US does immigration better than anyone in the world, but the US immigration system is still horrible.

So how come no one is advocating building a wall to keep those damn Canadians out?

Ex-CIA Chief: Oil Key to U.S. Security

At the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, here’s some straight talk about our dependence on foreign oil from ex-CIA chief James Woolsey: Oil key to U.S. security.

Think gas prices are bad now?

Imagine another terrorist attack — especially one on Saudi Arabian oil refineries, former CIA Director R. James Woolsey said Monday during a visit to Pittsburgh.

If terrorists took out the sulfur-cleaning towers in northeastern Saudi Arabia, as described in the beginning of Robert Baer’s book, “Sleeping With the Devil,” crude oil prices could easily top $150 a barrel and stay there for more than a year, Woolsey said.

A barrel of oil sold for about $73 yesterday, with gas prices in the United States hovering around $3 a gallon.

Most Americans don’t want to think about paying double that.

They also don’t want to think about where some of the money goes when they buy gasoline — to groups that threaten the U.S., Woolsey said. And it’s not just terrorists, but established Middle Eastern regimes that restrict women’s rights, have poor education systems and fail to invest in their societies.

“If you want to see who’s paying for all that, next time you pull in to fill up, turn the rearview mirror a little bit so you can look at yourself for a minute as you get out with your credit card,” Woolsey said during a meeting with reporters and editors of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Did US Honkeys "Steal" Mexico?

As Cinco De Mayo approaches, it would be nice if we knew what we were celebrating. When I was a liberal, Cinco de Mayo meant celebrating Mexico's Independance from Spain, which seemed to mean non-white people ("Mexicans") winning independance (which doesn't mean freedom, Nadir!) from Spain, which liberals sort-of know is a white country, but manage to forget when assigning racial catagories to people with Spanish sir names.

The bizarre current immigration demonstrations brings to the fore these wierd contradictions and inaccuracies, resulting in perplexingly incorrect claims, such as, "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us!" These demonstrations surely are turning some sympathetic folks away, who are insulted by those who would sneak into their country, then demand citizenship as their right. These demonstrators have the share with US liberals a misconception of Cinco de Mayo.

Spain and England and France are white countries. Whites from these countries sailed to the Americas, conquered the lands, and fought with each other for control of these lands. Many of the whites in the Americas fought with their home countries, and won their independance. Cinco de Maya is racially no different than the US's Fourth of July. Intellectually, it is different, because the honkies of the 4th of July produced a blueprint for a democracyh, wheras the white folks of the 5th of May produced no such guide for future generations to achieve an ever better country, one that attracts a million or so new residents.

The honkies of the US and Mexico fought each other for control of North America. As a result, a large part of Mexico transfered from the Mexican whites to the US whites. Why do today's amalgemated descendants of American Indians and Spaniards (technically, "mestizos", but bizarly and incorrectly simply called "Mexicans", though many Mexicans with Spanish sur names are white) consider California and Texas to have been "stolen" from them by the US?

In terms of American Indians of those days, the white Mexicans were no less theives than the US whites (or, for that matter, the earlier American Indians who had themselves in turn "stole" these lands as well!). As for the whites of those days, neither those of Mexico nor the US had higher moral claims to those lands. Since about half a million Mexican mestizos annually transfer to the US, apparently they prefer the US govt to the Mexican govt. Why would any of them lament, then, the US govt long ago winning those lands from the Mexican govt? Also, thos immigrating Mexicans don't even hail from the areas that transfered from Mexico to the US!

How did the word "Mexican" come to qualify as a "race"? How can Cinco de Mayo plausably represent mestizos standing up against honkey aggression?

Will Democracy Soften Hamas?

Anti Bushies instantly interpreted Hamas' election as a refudiation of Bush's crusade for democracies to replace tyranies in Arabia. I wondered if democratically obtaining this control might influence Hamas to accept Isreal, as its leaders had to contend with collecting trash and fixing potholes for the next election's voters. Looks like this might be happening...

Program to rebuild Iraq troubled

The $21 billion U.S. rebuilding campaign in Iraq has made "substantial progress" but will leave a legacy of unbuilt projects and unfulfilled promises, says a report issued today by the U.S. reconstruction watchdog.

In his review, Special Inspector General Stuart Bowen says the Iraq rebuilding effort is in its "close-out phase." He describes a substantial gap between projects promised by U.S. officials and those likely to be completed before U.S. funds are exhausted.

Bolivia Nationalizes Natural Gas Sector

"The looting by the foreign companies has ended," Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president, said in a speech at the San Alberto field, in the southern state of Tajira, which Brazillian company Petrobras operates in association with Repsol and Total SA.

Speaking later to thousands of supporters at the presidential palace in La Paz, Morales thanked the military for its support and said "foreign petroleum companies that announced they will freeze their investments can leave."

Morales added that the nationalization of the hydrocarbons sector "was just the beginning, because tomorrow it will be the mines, the forest resources and the land."

How Big Is Bush’s Big Government?

We, in the United States, live under the rule of the largest civil government, measured in budgetary terms, in history. Federal spending alone in fiscal year 2006 is expected to be over $2.7 trillion, which means the federal government spends $7.4 billion a day or $5.1 million in every minute of the year. This is 815 times the level of federal spending in 1930.

Things have been getting worse recently. In the first five years of the Bush regime, federal spending increased 45 percent. For comparison's sake, during the eight Clinton years nominal federal spending increased 32 percent, and under Bush I federal spending increased 23 percent in four years. In the 2000 election, Bush II promised to shovel money into all sorts of programs — and he’s kept that promise.

Bombshell: Europe Rejects Sports-School Marriage

We all agree that Europe has better K-12 schools than does the US. More precisely, the US education system runs aground at about grade 6 or 7; US kids K - 5 or so place nicely against international academic competition. I proudly stand on record as one of the first to prescribe that the US education system divorce itself from competative interschool sports competitions. It looks like the Europeans have followed that path; those great basketball players over there move from high school to semi-pro leagues rather than to universities, and the gifted players in high school go to special athletic schools. WHY NOT?

Bush Winning in Iraq? Beating Al-Qaida?

Fareed Zakaria sees reason to think so.

The Decider or the Dictator: Bush Defies Hundreds of Laws

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.

Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional.

Colbert Lampoons Bush at White House Correspondents Dinner-- President Not Amused?

A blistering comedy “tribute” to President Bush by Comedy Central’s faux talk show host Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent Dinner Saturday night left George and Laura Bush unsmiling at its close.

Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. “This administration is soaring, not sinking,” he said. “If anything, they are re-arranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.”