The 101st Fighting Keyboardists

The "chickenhawk" epithet that has become very popular with far-left anti-war nuts (like those at DailyKos and Democrat Underground) is a dated, lame, illogical, irrational and just plain stupid insult. As a "Fred" in the comments in the link below puts it:

The chickenhawk charge was never intended to be an argument. It was a way for the left to avoid argument by assigning some phiny [phony] qualifying criteria to those who hold a different opinion. It has no other meaning. They stick their fingers in their ears and yell chickenhawk so they can't hear you.

Too true. Too true. And the anti-war crowd doesn't get that, either. You can rub their faces in this logic repeatedly and it just continues to fail to sink in.

So in response, Captain Ed has started up the 101st Fighting Keyboardists:

Our friends on the port side of the blogosphere have had quite a time tossing around funny little nicknames for those of us who support the war on terror and use our blogs to express our convictions about it. We've seen the names here at CQ in the comments section -- the term "chickenhawk" has appeared more than once, and others in the blogosphere have assigned us to a unit called the 101st Fighting Keyboardists.

I've thought about that for a while, wondering what exactly about both epithets appear so fascinating to left-wing bloggers. As a middle-aged grandfather supporting a chronically ill wife, I have few options for doing my part in the war on terror. After 9/11, I spent weeks looking into different options for service while trying to balance my family obligations. Our family found out just three weeks after the attack that the Little Admiral would soon join us, and the implications of terrorism and war weighed heavily on my mind. I resolved to use the skills I had -- writing -- to make the case for fighting a forward strategy against terrorists. Eventually that led me to this blog, but in the interim I argued for a continued muscular offensive against the Islamofascists that had murdered thousands of our fellow Americans.

Is that the same as military service? Of course not. The men and women of the military do the real fighting, and we salute them and support them by supporting their mission. Milbloggers give us the best of both worlds by not only defending our nation and fighting (and beating) terrorists around the globe, but also by reporting on the fight first hand. There is honor in engaging in public debate for policies which we believe are in our nation's best interest as well. For many of us, we know that without presenting our arguments in the national forum, many in the media and the public will quickly overpower the debate and threaten the policies we feel give us the best long-term opportunity to defeat terrorism and the states that fund and shelter them.

Many on the left disagree, however, and often they provide challenging arguments and valuable perspectives on policy and the manner in which it gets implemented. However, many more do little but make ad hominem attacks on those with whom they disagree. They spend a great deal of effort labeling people rather than providing rational arguments on policy, and even the labels they select don't provide much more than amusement.

That's why Frank J of IMAO, Derek Brigham of Freedom Dogs, and I have decided to create -- for real -- the 101st Fighting Keyboardists and adopt the chicken hawk as our mascot. First of all, the term "fighting keyboardist" describes our efforts pretty well, and we think the pseudo-military terminology is pretty danged amusing. Derek himself designed the logo.

And why the chicken hawk? When we looked into it, it turns out that the chicken hawk is a pretty impressive predator. It's the largest of its family. This species vigorously defends its territory, getting even more aggressive when the conditions get harshest. It adapts to all climates. Most impressively, it feeds on chickens, mice, and rats.

Make of that what you will.

Frank, Derek, and I invite you to join the 101st Fighting Keyboardists (motto: We Eat Chickens For Lunch). I'm starting a blogroll and will post the code for other members to display on their blogs. We welcome all of those who feel they qualify for the unit, but especially those who have a sense of humor as well as a sense of purpose. This way, the next time someone refers to you as a chicken hawk for your blogging, you can remind them that as a member of the 101, your talons are your best weapon and that feeding time is near!

Here's the logo:

Captain Ed will be coming out with the code for the Blogroll soon. In the meantime, you can request that your blog be added to the list over on Captain's Quarters.

UPDATE: The KeeBee's Blogroll is up! (And "KeeBee" is, as of yet, unofficial, but some people seem to like it - myself included.)

UPDATE 2: Some people just don't get it.

UPDATE 3: Here's my favorite deconstruction of the left's use of the "chickenhawk" epithet: Can't do it? Don't back it. What's truly amusing about that article is that it's written by an atheist philosopher, Julian Baggini, so it's pretty darn unimpeachable by the left's standards.

Gasping for Air America Radio: one foot in the grave

And the other is soon to follow:

Air America loses NYC flagship

The struggling liberal network Air America Radio will lose its flagship station in New York City this summer, according to the industry publication Mediaweek.

Air America's lease for WLIB-AM ran out March 31, and the network acquired an extension that lasts only until Aug. 31.

Prof. Sally Jacobsen: apology good, accountability better

Michelle's got the update:

A professor and six students at Northern Kentucky University were charged Wednesday with misdemeanors related to the April 12 destruction of an anti-abortion display on campus.

Sally Jacobsen of the literature and language department, has been charged with criminal mischief, theft by unlawful taking and criminal solicitation. The third charge relates to evidence that she encouraged students to participate in the destruction, County Attorney Justin Verst said.

The six students, who range in age from 21 to 27, were charged with criminal mischief and theft by unlawful taking.

The theft charge is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $500 fine.

The criminal mischief and solicitation charges are class B misdemeanors punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $250 fine.

PZ Myers - hard to believe he's a professor

Over here, Christian-bashing biology professor (with the University of Minnesota) PZ Myers claims that the fact that Tony Snow is moving from Fox News to the White House means that "Fox 'News' is the propaganda arm of the Republican Party." (Love the little quotations marks around the word "News." Typical liberal well-poisoning.) However, I have no doubt that PZ and his merry band of "me too's" would ever make the argument that ABC News (notice - no quotation marks) is the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party because they hired George Stephanopoulos after he left the Clinton White House.

That's what they call hypocrisy.

The left continues to hijack the English language

Hispanic Attorney Says Using Term Illegal Alien Racial Slur

Appearing on KLIF Radio’s Gregg Knapp show, attorney Domingo Garcia said that using the terms illegal alien or illegal immigrant is a “racial slur”. Garcia said that those who use it, in reference to Hispanics, are racist.

Knapp advised Garcia that using the term “illegal aliens” or “illegal immigrants” is an accurate term applied to [their] legal vs. illegal status in the country and a true depiction of the fact that they are illegal. Garcia said: “Using words like illegal alien is like calling people derogatory names…like calling people nigger!”

Clue to the clueless: those terms aren't limited to one particular ethnic group. People from Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia or South America who enter this country illegally are illegal aliens/immigrants, too. The thing is that illegal immigration from Mexico is a serious problem right now, so the use of those terms tends to be directed at Hispanics right now, but that does not make them racial slurs.

A Day of Truth to counter the Day of Silence

Once again, tomorrow is GLSEN's nationwide "Day of Silence" event, where gay middle school (no, really) and high school students are encouraged to clam up for the entire day in order to educate us slack-jawed homophobes about what the world would be like without them. Considering the typical Christian-bashing, half- to totally-naked, sex-in-public-filled "gay pride" events and parades that are their standard fare, this "Day of Silence" is a refreshing change, however brief it is.

In response, the Alliance Defense Fund is encouraging Christian students to participate in a nationwide "Day of Truth" on the following day. In a nation where students like Tyler Chase Harper regularly find their freedom of speech and religious rights violated, the "Day of Truth" is sorely needed.

Please pray for all the students participating in both days.

Speaking as Star Wars geek, this is just dang cool

Han Solo frozen in carbonite... in LEGOS!

The guy's funny, too: "I built the sculpture so it can break down easily into smaller parts, thus making it mobile. Because, like most people, I like to take large sculptures of people frozen in carbonite with me whenever I travel."

See other LEGO creations here: Top 10 Strangest Lego Creations

Strange, but cool.

The Ten Commandments win again

Decalogue trumps ACLU again

In the case ACLU of Kentucky v. Mercer County, Kentucky, the court voted 9-5 to uphold the Foundations of American Law and Government display at the county courthouse.

The display includes the Ten Commandments, the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Charta, the Star-Spangled Banner, the National Motto, the Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution, the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, and a picture of Lady Justice.

Hospital plans to end Andrea Clark's life

From Democrat Underground via ProLifeBlogs:

My sister, Andrea Clarke, is at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston, TX. St. Luke’s is located at:

6720 Bertner Avenue, Houston, TX. Their phone number is: 832-355-1000.

The hospital ethics committee met the day before yesterday and concluded that Andrea’s treatment (respirator and dialysis) should be discontinued. We have ten days to move her from that hospital or they will “pull the plug” and let Andrea die. Andrea, until a few days ago, when the physicians decided to increase her pain medication and anesthetize her into unconsciousness, was fully able to make her own medical decisions and had decided that she wanted life saving treatment until she dies naturally. We have learned that this is part of the process, when hospitals decided to declare the “medical futility” of continueing treatment for a patient. But, this is not a Terry Schiavo case; not anything like it. Andrea, when she is not medicated into unconsciousness (and even when she is, and the medication has worn off to some degree) is aware and cognizant. She has suffered no brain damage to the parts of her brain responsible for thought and reason, or speech. She has only suffered loss of some motor control. The reason that the physician gave to medicate her so much is that she is suffering from intractable pain in the sacral region (in other words, she has a bedsore that causes her pain). This is not reason enough, in our books, and we are trying, as we speak, to get Andrea’s medication lowered so that she can speak to us.

There is also some disagreement as to whether Andrea is really in that much pain, as well. When she is not medicated to this degree, and she sees her son, Charles, she smiles. She also mouths words (Andrea is very vocal, normally, even with a trach, and asks for food, etc., when she is not medicated to the gills). Once again, this is not like the Shiavo case, where there was brain death. Andrea has voiced her wishes, over and over again, and if she were not on so much pain medication, she would voice them again.

Houston hospitals have a policy in that once the medical treatment of a patient has been deemed “medically futile” no other hospital in the area will accept transfer of that patient to their facility. This means that the patient, who is usually in a very delicate condition anyway, has to be transported over a long distance, in order to receive care.

We received notice of the ethics committee decision the day before yesterday and we are organizing a protest to take place tomorrow, at 2-2:30pm outside St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. Our family members number four and we will all be there, but we need more people. Please help us.

This protest is very likely to be filmed and get news coverage.

For those of you who will reply to this post with more questions, please see my other posts on this topic. I have done my best to answer all of your questions, but as you can imagine, my mind is not working as efficiently as it should, because I am upset. I assure you this is real; this is happening, and in Texas, medical professionals have the right, under the Futile Care Law, to discontinue life saving treatment, under these circumstances, even while the patient and the family is protesting that action. If you need more information, please see my other posts on this topic. For now, we need help, not questions or suggestions as to further courses of action. We are fighting on all fronts, ie., lawyers, news media, churches, internet, etc. We have left no stone unturned in this battle.

Many, many people, even some medical professionals in Texas, and other areas, don’t know about this law. They have no idea that this can be done, and it is is being done every day in Texas hospitals, but is not covered by the news media. This needs to become common knowledge and this law needs to be overturned, of course, but we are fighting for the life of our sister. We are fighting to see that her wishes about how she lives, and how she dies, are honored. Perhaps these kinds of battles are fought in just this way, one by one, out of love, and this is how the war is won, in the end.

Please help us. Please lend your presence to our fight at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas, located at 6720 Bertner Ave. at 2-2:30pm CST tomorrow (Saturday). If you would like to bring a sign, please do so, because we only have a limited amount. If you don’t, then please just bring yourself.

My name is Melanie Childers and my cell phone number is: (see it at the original post)

My sister (not the one in the hospital, but the one handling the protest) is Lanore Dixon and her numbers are: (see them at the original post). Please do not call us unless you are calling to request some information that I have not posted here. We have our phones glued to our heads, trying to find a hospital that will take Andrea, before her ten days are up at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. I am posting these numbers only to show you that this is not some kind of scam, or a joke or something even more idiotic.

Please help us.

See also Right Wing News for more updates.

Pray. Call. Protest.

A tale of two 2nd grade classrooms

More examples of the left-wing bias in our nation's public schools. First, a 2nd grade teacher in Massachussetts (no kidding...) decided that homosexuality is an appropriate subject for 7- and 8-year-olds:

Teacher reads 2nd-graders story about 'gay' wedding

While two parents in Lexington, Mass., are upset about the fact their second-grade son was read a fantasy book in school about two princes getting married, what makes them even more angry is the fact the boy's teacher said because same-sex marriage is legal in their state there is no way a mother or father can opt out a child from such experiences.

"We are outraged," parents Rob and Robin Wirthlin told the local Article 8 Alliance. "This is a highly charged social issue. Why are they introducing it in the second grade? And we cannot present our family's point of view to our children if they don't tell us what they're saying to them."

According to a statement from the traditional-values organization, March 24 the Wirthlins' second-grade son came home from Estabrook Elementary School and repeated to his mother the story read to him earlier that day about men getting married to each other. His teacher had read the book "King and King" to the class, in which a prince doesn't want to marry any princesses, but instead falls in love with a princess' brother and marries him in a big palace wedding.

The Wirthlins say they immediately contacted the teacher, Heather Kramer, who acknowledged she had read the book to the class and admitted that it was not part of the curriculum.

It was explained to the couple that since same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, discussion of the matter is fair game -- parents do not have to be informed before or after the issue is presented. Kramer reportedly told the Wirthlins that the theme of the day was "weddings" and the teacher wanted to present all points of view on the subject.

Well, guess what? Celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is legal, too, but that didn't stop officials in another school from violating another 2nd grader's rights:

School officials ban second-grader from distributing Easter candy containing religious messages

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Alliance Defense Fund is stepping in to defend the constitutional rights of a second-grade student who was prevented from distributing Easter candy with religious messages to his classmates.

“Schools should not be treating religious speech as second-class speech,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Delia van Loenen. “For school officials to tell a second-grade boy that he is not allowed to pass out Easter candy to his classmates because it contains a religious message is a blatant violation of his constitutional rights.”

The boy’s mother contacted ADF for assistance on behalf of her son. Van Loenen sent a letter to the school informing them of the boy’s First Amendment rights, but so far the school has not responded.

And liberals often wonder why more and more people are choosing to homeschool their kids.

Michelle Malkin forced to move due to left-wing threats

It seems the liberals are proving to be far more violent than they portray themselves to be:

After nationally syndicated columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin posted the e-mail addresses and phone numbers of three members of Students Against War, they received a flood of obscene and harassing messages from around the country, including death threats. When a liberal Web site, in retaliation, published Malkin's cell phone number and home address, a full-blown blog war ensued.

"I am now forced to remove one of my children from school and move my family," Malkin wrote Thursday in an e-mail to the Sentinel.

Furthermore, many liberals are oozing with pride over this outcome:

Democrat Underground: "Malkin forced to move after personal details published" (WARNING: extremly vulgar and hateful remarks)

AN EXCELLENT ENDING (this is a lawyer, believe it or not - I guess he's happy there's some potential business for him)

Brian Maloney shows the distinction between what Michelle did and what the people attacking her are doing:

Mentioned in the piece, but not properly emphasized, is that SAW intended for public disclosure of their personal information, while Malkin gave no such authorization.

Yes, liberals. There is a HUGE difference.

I've sent an email to SC Sentinel staff writer Roger Sideman (who authored the article at the beginning of this post) to see if he knew if any of the students whose information Michelle posted were forced to move. My guess is that they weren't.

So I guess all this goes to show that while both sides have idiots who make death threats against people, the liberals are far more likely to actually do things that cause people to fear for their (and their kids') safety enough that they have to move.

Pink stinks

Just another blow-hard in the long line of celebrity blow-hards who are attacking President Bush. Let's break it down, shall we?

Let’s pretend we’re just two people and
You’re not better than me

So here, Pink is trying to say that President Bush is better than her (or at least he thinks that). Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. Many, many times, President Bush has reached out to the average citizen. If you don't want to read all those links, I think one picture says more than a thousand words:

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep
What do you feel when you look in the mirror
Are you proud

What do YOU feel when you see all the homeless, Pink? Do you see people that you could donate your millions of dollars to? Or do you prefer to live in a million-dollar mansion, drive hundred-thousand dollar cars, wear expensive designer and often one-of-a-kind fashions, make million-dollar videos and attend gala events? As pointed out above, the President and First Lady help hand out Christmas gifts to the children of inmates. What have you done, Pink? Oh, right. You're protesting KFC for alleged cruelty to chickens. I guess we all have our priorities.

No child is left behind
We’re not dumb and we’re not blind
They’re all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell

What does that even mean? What children are in cells? Prison cells?

What kind of father would take his own daughter’s rights away

Killing one's unborn child isn't a right. It's murder.

And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay

Since when does President Bush hate gays?

I can only imagine what the first lady has to say

Last I checked, she agrees with him.

You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine

Yes, he has, and he has not had to lie about it.

Let me tell you bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don’t know nothing bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

So pontificates a celebrity singer who makes millions of dollars a year.

I swear I must be psychic*

So the other day, I was wondering about whatever happened to this guy:



Since being exposed as a tried-and-true Democrat, I thought he might have crawled back under his rock for good.

I was wrong.

Note the line: "Eddy has been a registered Republican for the past 33 years." The SF Chronicle is the same place that removed his photo previously when he was proven to be a Democrat. Go figure. Maybe they forgot. In any case, even if he IS a registered Republican, that means nothing if he is donating to (two links there) and voting for Democrats. As the saying goes, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... I mean, seriously. Wouldn't most honest (and sane) people have just changed their party affiliation instead of claiming to be a Republican while giving money and votes to Democrats? When I switched parties, I didn't go around dishonestly saying I was a Democrat who was ashamed of the DNC.

*sigh* Lies and lying liars...

The denizens of the Democrat Underground have noticed, too, of course. At least some of them are being honest about this guy's true political affiliations (unlike Canadian Cynic).

BTW, have you ever noticed (as I did) how professional his sign is? Printed, laminated... It even has holes with metal rings in the corners so it can be hung like a banner! It's like something you'd expect a major party - like, oh, the DNC - to produce. Vedy intedestink...

*No, I actually don't believe in psychic powers. It's dang eerie, though.

[Much thanks to my fellow conservatives at Conservative Underground - particularly LibraryLady for finding this latest appearance of Mr. Actually-Should-Be-Ashamed-Of-Being-A-Liar and crockspot for originally busting him back in September.]

UPDATE: Welcome Wizbang readers! If you been having trouble accessing S&B; like I have, my apologies. Blogger seems to be punchy today. (Lots of sites seem punchy today, it seems.)

Anyway, Wizbang's Kevin provides some more updates:

We've requested a comment from Chronicle reporter Carla Marinucci, and her editors, as to how this guy managed to get attached to yet another story of hers.

Update: SFGate news director Vlae Kershner responds:

I don't see anything wrong with running a photo of any protester at a public event, including him. We also have a photo of a pro-Bush citizen, a treatment that reflects both sides.

However, I share your concern that Mr. Eddy is misleading the public. To give readers a more complete picture, we changed the caption to reflect the fact that besides being a registered Republican he's also a Democratic donor and frequent Bush protester.

Which makes sense, and sure enough they've changed the picture caption from:

Jeb Eddy of Palo Alto voices his displeasure with the Bush Administration. Eddy has been a registered Republican for the past 33 years. Chronicle photo by Michael Macor

To:

Jeb Eddy of Palo Alto voices his displeasure with the Bush Administration. Eddy, a registered Republican but Democratic donor, is a frequent protester at pro-Bush events. Chronicle photo by Michael Macor

Happy Earth[-Worshipping] Day!!!

May everyone have a blessed environmentalist/"Mother" Earth-worshipper high holy day!!! Please enjoy this highest of Earth-worshipping holy days that is endorsed by the government each and every year with absolutely no complaints from Barry Lynn or the like.

Yes, today is the "holiest" of "holy days" for environmentalists. While they're out hugging trees or whatever, remember the words of the Lord, who foresaw the environmentalist/evolutionist movement thousands of years before its inception - or perhaps the movement actually stems from these ancient religions:

Jeremiah 2:27 "They say to wood, 'You are my father,' and to stone, 'You gave me birth.' They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, 'Come and save us!'"

1 Corinthians 15:39 "All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another."

The enviromental movement has become very much like a religion. Nature is sacred. "Mother Earth" is to be protected, loved, and venerated and "she" in turn loves us in return. In essence, they call the trees and rocks of the planet their parents.

Evolutionists claim that all life on this planet - plant or animal - supposedly came from an extraordinarily unlikely event in some theoretical primal soup of chemicals and elements. To them, the flesh of all living things is essentially the same.

God spoke of these things in the Bible thousands of years before people came up with these absurd ideas. It's there, plain as day. Reject it. Laugh at it. Call it "b.s." It doesn't change the fact that God knew about these things and proved that He did before they came into being.

Cindy Sheehan: caught in her web of lies

You know, I get that Cindy Sheehan is a grieving parent. I can relate to and sympathize with that. But what I do not get is her need to spread disgusting lies. I'm not even talking about the things she's said about President Bush. No. I'm talking about the lies she's concocted about the handling of her son Casey's remains. Earlier this month, Sheehan wrote this account:

We picked him up in the United loading dock in a cardboard box and he was off-loaded into a hearse without one honor guard. We had to wait for about a half hour on a curb near the United freight area for his one escort, who rode from Dover Air Force Base in a seat, while Casey was treated as an over-sized piece of luggage. Has anybody held her other sobbing children who are sitting on a curb in San Francisco, waiting for the remains of their big brother to be carried over to the dock by a forklift?

Our so-called, illegitimate president has never attended a funeral, nor can families see the pictures of their loved ones as they are hauled like freight with flags on them from an immoral war zone. WE don't see them because Mama Bush doesn't want to "bother her pretty mind" with the images. America doesn't want to be bothered, either. We had a Casualty Officer who abandoned us when our mortuary refused to pay the cemetery and told us that the "government sent the money to the mortuary, so now it is your problem. You may have to sue the mortuary." Our government discards and dishonors its own.

Gateway Pundit gleans the following claims from her statement:

* Her son arrived in California in a cardboard box
* Her son was carried over to the dock by a forklift
* Her mortuary refused to pay the cemetery
* Her son was treated as an over-sized piece of luggage

GP then goes on to completely debunk these lies:

Cardboard boxes are never use to transfer soldiers!

"Crates" have not been used since Vietnam. Fallen soldiers today are moved in steel or aluminum caskets to their home of record (hometown). Further, the escort inspects the casket when it is unloaded. Since arrangements are made before each fallen soldier arrives to their home of record, the military would be shocked to hear that a forklift was used.

Here is more on the Official and Unclassified Department of Defense Policy on moving servicemembers killed overseas:

...

Before any remains leave Dover, port mortuary personnel coordinate with the receiving funeral home to arrange that the remains will be met at their final destination. We've arranged transport for over 2300 OEF and OIF casualties. In every case, the transport was arranged in advance and the funeral home was available to receive the remains.

Remains traveling from Dover may be escorted by either a service member, or in some cases, members of the deceased family to the final destination, at a minimum a military escort accompanies the remains to the final destination. Typically, the escort carries the U.S. flag during the flight, and the flag is draped over the casket upon arrival and during transportation to the funeral home. Our normal policy is to have a small honor guard render military honors as the remains of the deceased service member are taken off the plane.

Army Statement:

"The Army ensures that the remains of our fallen are treated with dignity and respect at every step of their journey home. Our dead are transported to Dover Air Force Base at which point families make known their desires for final arrangements. In order to expeditiously meet the needs of our families, the Army typically uses domestic airlines and the local mortuary meets the plane at the airport. These are the same arrangements that mortuaries use when transporting the remains of civilians. Later at the memorial service and funeral, the Army extends its final tribute to the Soldier and continued condolences to their kin."

...

Steve Nadeau, the mortuary's owner, said Monday that not only did he properly pay the cemetery, but that he subsidized the process with his own money.

In an e-mail sent to The Reporter Sunday, Nadeau expressed hurt and disbelief at Sheehan's comments. He said that the amount of money the military gave the mortuary for Casey's funeral service and cemetery arrangements didn't even come close to covering the costs.

"Several kind citizens made donations," said Nadeau. "I absorbed the rest."

...

When questioned about the casket:

"The casket arrived in San Francisco from Dover which is 67 miles from Vacaville. Sacramento would not have been as far. The casket was a beautiful hardwood casket, government regulation. It was covered in an "airtray" to protect it during the flight. It is a certified covering that all caskets must be covered in when they are flown from one location to another.

What about the forklift?

"There was no forklift. The military men present and the airport employees were very reverent in unloading the casket of this young man. They set the casket on a set of rollers and were very respectful in unloading Casey Sheehan."

On the Sheehan Family:

This was very upsetting because we have known the Sheehan's for years through St. Mary's Catholic Church where Cindy Sheehan was the youth director. Casey Sheehan was a wonderful young man. We have known the family for years.

On Cindy's article:

We do not know why she would want to bring down the name of this fine and respected funeral home. Cindy is sticking with her story. We have, of course, kept all of the receipts that show we paid the cemetery. If Cindy Sheehan wanted to pick on someone, she picked the wrong ones.

Ten myths about the Iraq War shot down in flames

Read the whole thing here (with many charts and graphics - dial-up users beware!). Summary below:

Test Number One: The Iraq War is not going well because American military casualties are too high.

False: Each fatality is painful and each life precious; however, given the risk in war, a statistical analysis shows that casualties have been low for a major war.



Test Number Two: The Iraq War is not going well because, as a result of creating more terrorists than we are destroying, American civilian casualties are too high.

False: There have been zero civilian casualties in the United States since the Iraq War began.



Test Number Three: The Iraq War is not going well because Iraqi civilian casualties are too high.

False: The Coalition intervention has dramatically decreased the rate of civilian casualties in Iraq.



Test Number Four: The Iraq War is not going well because the U.S. military in particular has destroyed the infrastructure and killed many Iraqi civilians.

False: Over two years of combat since the fall of Baghdad, much of it urban warfare pursuing un-uniformed combatants concealed within the civilian population, with less than 1,000 civilians killed as a result of U.S. action is a spectacular humanitarian record.



Test Number Five: The Iraq War is not going well because it has cost too much money.

False: The War in Iraq has cost 1.875% of GDP, one of the most inexpensive wars in American history. By contrast, the Revolutionary War cost over 476.2% of GDP.



Test Number Six: The Iraq War is not going well because, even it though it has a low cost relative to other wars, it has hurt the U.S. economy.

False: The United States economy, by all conventional measures, is performing extremely well.



Test Number Seven: The Iraq War is not going well because the economy of Iraq has been destroyed and the future is grim.

False: The International Monetary Fund describes Iraq as an increasingly stable economy with deficits "much lower than expected and a bright future." Such a future was impossible under Saddam Hussein.



Test Number Eight: The Iraq War is not going well because the idea of establishing a democracy in the Middle East is unworkable.

False: Within two years, the Iraqi people have written a constitution and held successful elections.



Test Number Nine: The Iraq War is not going well because it has no relationship to the War on Terror.

False: The War on Terror is bigger than Al Qaeda. Since Black September and the Iran hostage crisis in the 1970s, terrorism has been an extreme Islamic cancer that has reacted to Western weakness with increasingly bold attacks (see Buy the Mean Dog). And Al Qaeda also happens to be in Iraq, having declared it the "greatest battle of Islam."



Test Number Ten: The Iraq War is not going well because the "occupation" has been bungled.

False: The post-war period never goes smoothly. Is there room for improvement? Of course, but history teaches that the period following war is as challenging as the war itself…



Conclusion: Anyone who is intellectually honest can see that the Iraq War is going well by historical standards. The risks are great: trying to establish a stable democracy in the Middle East may or may not succeed. But what a bold and compassionate undertaking that, at this stage, deserves the enthusiastic support of the American people.

The individual "tests" above can and will be challenged, but the overall landscape of our success in Iraq cannot be rationally refuted. Consider, for example, these same tests applied to World War II (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10 could all be answered TRUE) and you will see that the Iraq War does not deserve its calamitous reputation.

Those who will explode in anger at the tests and evidence above – and there will be many – reveal more often than not a hatred of George W. Bush and/or a distrust of American strength. Those people are a lost cause. But reasonable people who have been influenced by a virulent media campaign may be inclined to view this war of liberation in its true light. The soldiers fighting there today hope that you do.

Judge eliminates West Palm Beach abortion mill "buffer zones"

Abortion Clinic 'Buffer Zone' Bounced by Florida Judge

(AgapePress) - The city of West Palm Beach, Florida, has been ordered to stop enforcing a buffer zone designed to keep pro-life activists away from the entrances of abortion clinics. The 20-foot buffer zone, says the winning Christian attorney, was both unprecedented and unconstitutional.

The buffer zone was adopted by the West Palm Beach city commission with the backing of Mayor Lois Frankel and the owner of a local abortion clinic. A city ordinance created the zone around "healthcare" facilities in the area. But federal judge Donald Middlebrooks found not only that the zone was not necessary, but also that claims by the city were unfounded. The city had argued that the ordinance was designed to protect healthcare facilities generally; in actuality, said Middlebrooks, the ordinance targeted pro-life demonstrators at Presidential Women's Center -- an abortion clinic -- in West Palm Beach.

...

"The largest buffer zone ever upheld by the United States Supreme Court was eight feet," DePrimo explains. "Other buffer zones allowed individuals to go into the zone and stand stationary so that they could actually hand out literature to willing listeners."

But as DePrimo explains, the zone enacted by West Palm Beach was considerably more restrictive. "This particular buffer zone just completely obliterated any opportunity for any demonstrator to be able to hand out literature or to, as I say, speak face-to-face with even willing listeners," he says.

The attorney says it was vital to fight for the rights of the activists -- and ultimately the lives of the unborn children on the verge of being aborted. He shares that pro-life demonstrators have had "great success" in counseling women outside the Presidential Women's Center.

Cross-destroying professor apologizes

Michelle links us to the latest update:

The Northern Kentucky University professor who participated in an act of vandalism of a pro-life display has reversed her prior unrepentant position:

"I deeply regret my impulsive action in dismantling that display."

Yesterday she was put on leave until her retirement - she will not return to school. Jacobsen drew fire from even those sympathetic with her pro-abortion views and recieved a formal reprimand from NKU President James Votruba:

"This was a very serious lapse in judgment. You don't invite students to participate in breaking the law or inhibiting other's free speech. You just don't do that if you're a faculty member. And I think the university has responded appropriately but I also think you have to look at a career over 27 years..not just in terms of a single act."

Free speech certainly won a victory in this case and NKU should be congratulated for acting quickly and with integrity. We can appreciate and respond gracefully to Jacobsen's apology - hopefully it will also be made to the students with more than a simple statement of regret.

Thank you, Professor Jacobsen.

Another Ten Commandments monument stays put

Judge Says Ten Commandments Can Stay

A Ten Commandments monument that has stood on the courthouse lawn for almost 50 years does not promote religion and can remain in place, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge James Carr said Tuesday that the monument can stay because the motives for placing it outside the Lucas County courthouse were secular and not an endorsement of a specific belief.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sued Lucas County in 2002 to have the display removed, saying it was unconstitutional and promoted religion.

Update on that librarian

Previous post: More on liberals' "feelings" trumping the rights of others

WorldNetDaily now reports that all charges have been dropped:

After the entire faculty voted, with no dissenters, to brand their head librarian as a sexual harasser because he recommended the bestselling book "The Marketing of Evil" as required reading for freshmen, Ohio State University has finally dropped its controversial charges in the glare of national media attention.

Hallelujah! And furthermore, the librarian's attorney is seeking to prevent this from happening to others:

But, warns the librarian's attorney, who calls this one of the most "astonishing" and "shameful" instances of campus persecution he's ever seen, the damage to his client's reputation and career has been done. They've already filed a complaint against three professors for false accusations of harassment and are discussing a more "substantial" response – including possible litigation – to "deter any future tyranny or bullying of others."

I hate to call Senator Dayton a nincompoop...

...but that's really the only word that comes to mind after reading this:

In February Dayton, 59, made another notable blunder. The Mayo Clinic, which is in Rochester, Minn., was opposed to a South Dakota — based company's plan to expand its railroads into Rochester because it would mean dozens of trains passing by the clinic each day. Dayton told FORTUNE magazine the Mayo Clinic is 'worth a hell of a lot more than the whole state of South Dakota.' He later apologized for the remark.

Inside the Senate, Dayton has passed few bills partly because some are too liberal for the Republican-controlled body, including one that would have created a Department of Peace and Nonviolence.

My stand of solidarity with Michelle

The far-left loons are going bat-guano crazy over the fact that Michelle Malkin posted the contact information from a press release by a group called Students Against War (SAW). Apparently, some idiots thought they would be clever and send the group death threats and the left is claiming that Michelle instigated these threats because she posted the contact info. Nevermind that the info appeared on SAW's original press release and that left-wing websites also posted the info. The loons know for a fact that all these death threats came as a result of Michelle posting the information. End of story. Don't ask me how they know this. They just do. Don't question them. Just accept it.

So I'm starting a stand of solidarity with Michelle by also reposting the contact information. Note that this is done with the knowledge that the information was made public in the original press release, that the students named have not requested that the information be removed from Michelle's blog, and that if the students do actually contact Michelle and ask for the information to be removed and she removes it, I will remove it as well. Also note that my reposting of this information does not mean I support people of any political leaning making death threats against anyone else.

Here's the contact information:

Sam Aranke - 714-458-2471 - [email protected]
David Zlutnick – 805-698-6228 - [email protected]
Janine Carmona - 707-496-3530 - [email protected]

Professor who trashed a pro-life display put on leave

Via Michelle and Glenn:

Professor put on leave in wake of anti-abortion display's dismantling

A Northern Kentucky University professor has been put on leave and will retire at the end of the semester after admitting she told students to destroy an anti-abortion display on campus.

Sally Jacobsen, a professor in the literature and language department, will not return to the school, said James Votruba, the university president.

"I believe what she did was outside the scope of her employment," Votruba said Monday.

Jacobsen acknowledged leading graduate students on Wednesday to a grassy area near the University Center to rip up about 400 crosses. The crosses, temporarily erected a week earlier by a group called Northern Right to Life, were meant to represent a cemetery for aborted fetuses.

It was unclear whether Jacobsen took part in dismantling the display.

That last sentence bugs me. There are pictures of this woman destroying the display! How much more clear can you get?

Anyway, I doubt she'll get fired and that's fine with me. I hope there are some serious legal ramifications for her. This sort of behavior would not be tolerated from anyone else, so it should not be tolerated from her. There needs to be a strong message sent to everyone - right, left and center - that vandalism is illegal and one cannot hide behind freedom of speech to violate someone else's freedom of speech.

Hilarious quote of the moment

Seen in the comments on the Dawn Patrol:

"[W]hen will you realize you'll never be a free-thinking feminist if you continue to insist on having and expressing your own opinions?"

Me smart

The Commonly Confused Words Test

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You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it! For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

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Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

PZ Myers explains what Easter ISN'T about

It's got to be embarrassing for the University of Minnesota to have a professor who is this ignorant and hateful:

Easter is a vile little holiday wrapped up in a façade of pretty dresses and chocolate eggs and happy children playing games on the lawn, but at its putrescent core lies 20 centuries of exploitation and dishonesty. Here is a hard-core atheist's perspective on this awful holy day.

A "vile little holiday" with a "putrescent core" of "exploitation and dishonesty." If I were to use such language about, oh, evolution, PZ and his ilk would condemn me as a hate-filled bigot. But since it's coming from a "hard-core atheist," well, he's just being honest and open-minded. I simply do not understand how these people can live their lives with such seething hatred.

I. The fact.

This is the season when our culture commemorates torture. A particularly callous sort of torture, too: a lazy and evil form of punishment that could be carried out en masse. Nail people up in intolerable postures and they inevitably and slowly die, no active, trained labor required—nail 'em and leave 'em, confident that they'll suffer horribly and eventually expire.

Well, at least he understands how horrible death by crucifixion is, but he fails to understand that Christians don't commemorate torture in and of itself. We commemorate Jesus' sacrifice for the world he loved.

We focus all our attention on one man who suffered this torment, and regard him as somehow special. The Roman Empire did this to tens of thousands at once, in mass spectacles of hideous punishment. Throughout human history, people have died ghastly, lingering deaths, often at the hands of other people, and it was not ennobling, and it is usually forgotten.

Indeed, if Jesus were just a man like any other, his death would have been of little note. But Jesus was not like any other man. Jesus was the Son of God who lived a perfect and sinless life. In dying, he became the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for our sins.

Look at that bloody figure wracked up on a cross, and we should all be reminded not of one man long ago who suffered, but that our nation tortures to the death other brown-skinned Middle Eastern people right now. How can we look at the Passion spectacles now and not feel a deep shame?

Oh, please... Leave it to an atheist to turn Easter into a political statement against fighting terrorism and our presence in Iraq.

II. The lie.

At the heart of Christian belief is a lie: that this man was tortured to death long ago, and that afterwards he came back to life.

And that can be proven to be a lie... how? Simply because you say so, PZ?

Oh, and also that he wasn't a man at all, but a god.

Wrong. Jesus is 100% man and 100% God.

There is no evidence for these claims that defy all reason and experience,

Whose reason? Whose experience? None but yours, PZ.

but we're asked merely to believe. To have faith.

Everyone has faith in something. Everyone is asked merely to believe in something. In this, atheists are no different than Christians.

To trust the words of priests.

No. Christians are taught to trust the Word of God, not the words of priests.

I refuse.

And I refuse comply with the request to put my faith in the claims of atheists, who ask me merely to believe that we are nothing more than animals. I refuse to believe that life is ultimately meaningless and hopeless - a pointless distraction from the inevitableness of death.

If a sacrifice is the centerpiece of our salvation, it makes no sense to call the brief troubling of an omnipotent being with a few nails a "sacrifice."

It is more than that, of course. Jesus became sin for us, and the Father turned from him. Even if but for a short time, that is an unimaginable punishment. That is the sacrifice.

It was a man who died horribly, like many others. He didn't come back.

And you know this because you were there? If he had never come back, he would have been proven a liar and the religion that began with him would've quickly died out just as many others did.

Grieve. For he is not risen.

And if you keep repeating that, it still won't come true.

More later (most likely tomorrow or after).

Wait. What happened to that civil war?

Zarqawi, al Qaeda are heading out, U.S. general says

Al Qaeda in Iraq and its presumed leader, Abu Musab Zarqawi, have conceded strategic defeat and are on their way out of the country, a top U.S. military official contended yesterday.

The group's failure to disrupt national elections and a constitutional referendum last year "was a tactical admission by Zarqawi that their strategy had failed," said Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, who commands the XVIII Airborne Corps.

"They no longer view Iraq as fertile ground to establish a caliphate and as a place to conduct international terrorism," he said in an address at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

More on liberals' "feelings" trumping the rights of others

Via Evan Coyne Maloney:

OSU librarian slapped with “sexual harassment” charge for recommending conservative books for freshmen

Scott Savage, who serves as a reference librarian for the university, suggested four best-selling conservative books for freshman reading in his role as a member of OSU Mansfield’s First Year Reading Experience Committee. The four books he suggested were The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian, The Professors by David Horowitz, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis by Bat Ye’or, and It Takes a Family by Senator Rick Santorum. Savage made the recommendations after other committee members had suggested a series of books with a left-wing perspective, by authors such as Jimmy Carter and Maria Shriver.

Savage was put under “investigation” by OSU’s Office of Human Resources after three professors filed a complaint of discrimination and harassment against him, saying that the book suggestions made them feel “unsafe.” The complaint came after the OSU Mansfield faculty voted without dissent to file charges against Savage. The faculty later voted to allow the individual professors to file charges.

PETA blasphemes the crucifixion. Christians riot and kill in response.

Well, okay. The title is only half true. Guess which half...

PETA stages 'crucifixion' at cathedral

The edgy animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals stirred controversy in Vienna on Good Friday with a protest to symbolically "crucify" three activists wearing animal masks outside the city's famous Catholic cathedral.

The blood-smeared activists each carried a cross as nearby protesters in the square outside St. Stephen's Cathedral held signs with messages such as "We suffer and die for your sins of nourishment."

Bruce Friedrich, spokesman for PETA in the U.S., told WorldNetDaily causing offense was not the goal, but if there are any objections they should be about suffering animals, not "street theater."

"Words and images aren't offensive to God," he said. "What is offensive to God is the satanic treatment of God's creature by factory farms and slaughterhouses."

Open thread

Just because I want to try it out (again). Comment on anything you'd like, but keep it clean and at least with a semblence of rationality. Vulgar comments or those that say things like "You're nothing but a reich-wing, Chimpy McBushhiter-worshipping, anti-science jerk who takes his marching orders from the Rovian Coulter/O'Reilly/Limbaugh Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" will not be approved and will be deleted. So think before you post. It's the law. (It is here, anyway.)

The left-wing hate machine rolls on

Via Michelle Malkin, here's yet another example of liberal "tolerance" and "freedom of speech":

Display on abortion destroyed

A professor at Northern Kentucky University said she invited students in one of her classes to destroy an anti-abortion display on campus Wednesday evening.

NKU police are investigating the incident, in which 400 crosses were removed from the ground near University Center and thrown in trash cans. The crosses, meant to represent a cemetery for aborted fetuses, had been temporarily erected last weekend by a student Right to Life group with permission from NKU officials.

Public universities cannot ban such displays because they are a type of symbolic speech that has been protected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Witnesses reported "a group of females of various ages" committing the vandalism about 5:30 p.m., said Dave Tobertge, administrative sergeant with the campus police.

Sally Jacobsen, a longtime professor in NKU's literature and language department, said the display was dismantled by about nine students in one of her graduate-level classes.

"I did, outside of class during the break, invite students to express their freedom-of-speech rights to destroy the display if they wished to," Jacobsen said.

Asked whether she participated in pulling up the crosses, the professor said, "I have no comment."

She said she was infuriated by the display, which she saw as intimidating and a "slap in the face" to women who might be making "the agonizing and very private decision to have an abortion.'"

Jacobsen said it originally wasn't clear who had placed the crosses on campus.

She said that could make it appear that NKU endorsed the message.

Pulling up the crosses was similar to citizens taking down Nazi displays on Fountain Square, she said.

"Any violence perpetrated against that silly display was minor compared to how I felt when I saw it. Some of my students felt the same way, just outraged," Jacobsen said.

Did you catch that? She's cowardly hiding behind supposed "freedom of speech." Thankfully, her boss doesn't accept that argument:

NKU President James Votruba said any evidence of criminal conduct in the incident will be turned over to prosecutors. He said he appreciated the emotional nature of the abortion debate and was glad that diverse viewpoints are represented at the school, but he condemned the destruction of the crosses.

"Freedom-of-speech rights end where you infringe on someone else's freedom of speech," Votruba said.

"I don't buy the claim that this is an act of freedom of speech, to destroy property."

Good! This disgusting professor should be behind bars. Or at the very least, lose her job. And the students who helped her should be expelled.

The group that erected the crosses is now holding a vigil to protect them from further acts of hate and are planning to press charges:

Right to Life group to press charges against protestors

Members of the Northern Right to Life are camping out Thursday to protect their display of anti-abortion crosses, following the damage and removal of the display on Wednesday by protestors.

The group has decided to press charges against those responsible.

"We called the police and told them that we decided to press charges," said Julie Broering, treasurer for the group. The members reached their decision after a day-long deliberation.

According to University Police reports, several young females removed about 400 white crosses from the grass in front of the University Center plaza at about 5:30 p.m. on April 12.

...

Approximately 10 students accompanied Jacobsen to the crosses and helped her to remove them. The group knocked the crosses down and piled them in trashcans around the plaza, and removed the "Cemetery of Innocents" sign.

And yep, someone snapped some pictures of the professor and students showing how they tolerate no freedom of speech except their own. I think these people's days at this university are numbered.

UPDATE: Greg at Rhymes With Right linked to more information here:

In an e-mail sent to campus officials earlier this week and obtained by The Kentucky Post, Jacobsen demanded the display be removed immediately. She wrote that the crosses violated the separation of church and state because NKU is a state institution.

Greg responds:

Jacobsen knew who had put up the display, and that the university had determined that the pro-life group had every right to do so under the laws and the Constitution of the United States. She further knew that the university could not legally censor the speech that offended her. So she took it upon herself to gather a group of vigilantes and engage in conduct which differed from that of a KKK lynch mob in degree but not in nature -- the violation of the civil rights of American citizens designed to intimidate others who might exercise those same rights.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

It's not shoplifting! It's "undocumented purchasing!"

The left hates calling illegal immigrants "illegal", so they use the term "undocumented immigrants." Why not do this with everything else? Driving without a license is "undocumented driving." See? Doesn't that sound so much nicer? Cheating on your taxes by not reporting all your earnings is "undocumented income." Buying illegal drugs is buying "undocumented prescriptions."

The list could be endless! Add your own in the comments or on your blog (and trackback, please, so people can find it).

[Hat tip to Conservative Underground poster "Susanna" for giving me a better term for the tax cheating one.]

Liberals: time to put up or shut up about Saddam

Saddam Targeted American Assets For Terrorism: Case Closed

You will note that all three translations of this document -- performed by three different people working independently of each other -- all translate this section almost identically. All three explicitly show that the Iraqi military had ordered a call for volunteers to carry out suicide attacks on American interests, six months before 9/11 and two years almost to the day prior to our invasion.

This confirms that Saddam Hussein and his regime had every intention of attacking the US, either here or abroad or both, using members of their own military for terrorist attacks. That puts an end to all of the arguments about whether we should have attacked Iraq, we now know that Saddam and his military planned to attack us. This one document demonstrates that had we not acted to topple Saddam Hussein, he would have acted to kill Americans around the world.

Game. Set. Match.

In other words...

Another free speech win for Christian students

Christian Plaintiffs in Upstate NY Censorship Case Win Free-Speech Victory

(AgapePress) - A federal judge has ordered an upstate New York school district to return bricks inscribed with Christian messages to a high school walkway, and a pro-family civil liberties attorney is praising the outcome as a victory against viewpoint discrimination.

The dispute arose after the Mexico Academy High School class of 1999 in Mexico, New York (Oswego County), sold bricks that could be inscribed with personal messages and included in a walkway as a fundraiser. However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) complained that certain bricks, particularly those inscribed with the messages "Jesus Saves/John 3:16" and "Jesus Christ, the only way," constituted public school endorsement of Christianity.

The ACLU maintained that the bricks violated the so-called "separation of church and state," and the group's complaints prompted school officials to remove the contested bricks in 2000. Other bricks purchased by private individuals bore messages that referred to God or to local churches but were allowed to remain in place; only the bricks mentioning Jesus were taken out of the walkway.

Two community residents who had purchased the extracted bricks filed a lawsuit challenging the school district's censorship of their messages. In that case, Judge Norman Mordue of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York has now ruled that removal of the bricks bearing the Christian messages was a violation of the free-speech rights of those individuals who paid for them.

Although the District Court initially refused to grant a preliminary injunction to have the bricks reinstalled, it was forced to reconsider the issue when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case for reconsideration. The court's ultimate ruling orders school officials to restore the bricks inscribed with religious messages to the school walkway.

SoDak Sioux tribe's plan for abortion business may violate tribal law

You may or may not remember this news that came out after South Dakota banned abortions:

Pine Ridge, SD (LifeNews.com) -- A South Dakota Indian tribe is moving ahead with plans to build an abortion facility on its reservation following passage of a state law that prohibits abortions in the state. The plan is going forward even though abortion advocates are hoping to defeat the ban on the November ballot.

Cecilia Fire Thunder, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, made national headlines when she made the statement after Gov. Mike Rounds signed the bill into law that her tribe would build an abortion facility.

Thunder says her words are more than just talk.

That she would build an abortion center is no surprise. Thunder is a longtime abortion advocate and formerly worked at an abortion business in California. She's on the steering committee of the pro-abrotion group hoping to defeat the ban at the polls.

At first Thunder said the tribe would build the abortion center if the bid to topple the abortion ban fails. Now, she tells Indian Country Today that it will move ahead regardless.

She already has a name, too -- the Sacred Choices Clinic.

I'm thinking a better name would be "Sacred Cow Clinic."

Anyway, Cecilia Killzalottababies... er... Fire Thunder may be in some hot water because of her plans:

Pine Ridge, SD (LifeNews.com) -- A planned abortion business on an Indian reservation in South Dakota may be able to get around a state ban on abortions, but a former tribal judge says it would violate tribal law that respects the life of unborn children. Meanwhile, the tribal president behind the effort may be the subject of an impeachment attempt.

Oglala Sioux Tribal President Cecelia Fire Thunder has proposed the abortion facility in response to the abortion ban, but a retired tribal chief judge says tribal law would prevent it from being built.

Patrick Lee, a retired chief judge for the Oglala Sioux Tribe who now teaches tribal law at Oglala Lakota College, wrote an op-ed over the weekend to the Rapid City Journal.

"Life is sacred - the winged, two-legged, four-legged. You hear constant references to respect for life," Lee said. "Its the tribal law."

...

Meanwhile, Fire Thunder, who has been the subject to two unrelated attempts at impeaching her, may be the subject of a third try to remove her from office.

Kathy Janis, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, told the Journal that she spoke with another tribal member who is organizing an impeachment effort against Fire Thunder.

“He did file an impeachment complaint. I did verify it,” Janis said by telephone Friday night. “He was at the tribal building. He is bringing it to the council.”

Note to Fire Thunder: next time, check your tribe's laws and your tribe members' wishes before you go off half-cocked. That is, if there is a next time for you.

Ann Coulter's new book, "Godless," releases on 6/6/06

This just went to the top of my "must buy" list.

In other Ann Coulter news, Alec Baldwin had this to say about what would happen if he ever slept with her:

"With Coulter, we'd have sex and I'd have to jump out the window. I wouldn't even get dressed."

To which Ann deftly and hilariously quipped:

"That's the only reason I can think of for wanting to have sex with Alec Baldwin."

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's why I love Ann. Her biting wit is simply unmatched.

Atheists: wonder why people distrust you the most?

Ever consider that this might be the result of garbage like this?

SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge Thursday granted a Utah highway patrolmen’s organization represented by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund the right to intervene in a lawsuit filed by an atheist group against Utah officials. The atheist group is seeking to have roadside memorials fully funded and maintained by the Utah Highway Patrol Association removed from public land and bar the use of the Utah Highway Patrol logo on memorials placed on private land.

News about accused DHS pedophile Brian Doyle that you probably won't hear from liberals

After days of liberals bashing Republicans over this man's arrest, it turns out that he's a Democrat.

Cue the liberals to hide their heads in the sand.

Now don't get me wrong. I actually use my brain and know that like every other psychological disorder, pedophilia knows no boundries of race, religion, age, sexual orientation or political affiliation. I won't ever say, "Oh, he's a pedophile? What a typical Democrat!" I know better.

Faux incredulous "NOOOOO!"-inducing headline of the day

San Francisco may be world's gayest city

Everyone! "NOOOOO!"

What liberals mean by "right-wing"

From the Patriot Post:

"[L]iberals...never explain what [they] mean by right-wing, though you gather it's something pretty icky. Everything liberals disapprove of is 'right-wing,' even things that are mutually exclusive. Fascist totalitarianism is 'right-wing,' but so is its exact opposite, libertarianism. And so are monarchism, theocracy, strict constitutionalism, military dictatorship, neoconservatism, and so on---even, at times, Soviet Communism, though anti-Communism was 'right-wing' too. By right-wing, liberals seem to mean everything but us. No wonder people don't listen to them anymore."
--Joseph Sobran

If you've ever listened to Howard Dean and the rest of the Democratic "leadership" or read websites like DailyKos or Democrat Underground, then you know this guy speaks the truth.

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Older, wiser, funnier.

What that "prayer study" actually proved

Many on the left - particularly those of the agnostic/atheistic Christian-hating bent - are lauding the results of this study which supposedly shows prayers to God do nothing. Some have gone as far to say that this once again proves that God doesn't exist. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God is not a guinea pig and attempts to put him to the test will fail. God wants our prayers to be sincere and original, not meaningless and formulaic. God wants our prayers to be a petition that His will be done and not to be a means of proving that He exists and answers prayers.

In short, the only thing this "scientific" study proved is that a lot of people simply don't have a clue about God and Christians.

Another hit (and a comment) from someone searching for "gianna jessen fraud"

As I've noted a couple times before, there are people out there who just do not like Gianna Jessen and what she represents. Another hit to S&B; showed up for a search for "gianna jessen fraud," but this time, the person left a comment! I deleted it and banned the person since they offered nothing but insults, but the main thrust of what they said was that you can't tell the motives behind a person's search based on that search. Oh, I don't know. Searching for "gianna jessen fraud" is a pretty clear indication of a person's motives.

Sorry (not really), pro-abortionists, but Gianna Jessen really did survive an abortion attempt. She's living proof that abortions kill people, not blobs of cells that are a part of a woman's body. Deal with it.

Funny "Star Wars" parody

Dial-up internet users beware! This is a large file.

You just knew the left would be all over this

Homeland Security official arrested in child sex sting

For those who actually use their brains, we know that pedophilia knows no boundries of race, nationality, age, employment or political affiliation. However, many liberals (like Democrat Underground, Daily Howard Dean and even CanadianCynic) seem to think that Doyle represents conservatives as a whole because conservatives are nothing but a group of perverts and pedophiles. Liberals do no wrong, of course. It's pathetic, but it's typical behavior from the willfully blind and deaf far-left clowns.

Chimpy McBushhitler at Borders Bookstore

Check out this pic:


I'm sure some moonbat thought he was being cute.

[FYI for some who do not know, "Chimpy McBushhitler" is one of many liberal nicknames for President Bush.]

This ain't gonna happen again for a while

For a thousand years to be exact. Via my chronologically superior fraternal unit (i.e. my older brother):

On this coming Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

Yeah, I know next year we'll have 02:03:04 05/06/07 and last year we had 00:01:02 03/04/05, but the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 thing is cooler, imo. And it won't happen again until 1:02 a.m. on April 5th, 3006.

UPDATE: Dang. Just checked the ClockLink website (the people that provide the code for the clock under my blog logo) and they don't have an analog clock with the time first. Bummer. That would have been cool.

CORRECTION: My brother Solaman dutifully informs me that it is actually 2106 when this will happen again, not 3006. Not quite as long, but still a long time.

Just call me "Ev" for short

This is kind of cool. Via Sam:



Which Extremity of the World Are You?
From the towering colossi at Rum and Monkey.

More good news for non-embryonic stem cell research

U.S. Researchers Also Find Embryonic-Like Stem Cells in Testicles

Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) -- Researchers in California say they have found stem cells in men's testicles that have embryonic stem cell-like qualities. They have been able to prompt the cells to turn into nerve, heart and bone cells and the discovery could be another alternative to embryonic stem cell research.

And as always, those that promote embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) turn a blind eye to this news while continuing to put their faith in the empty promises of ESCR. How much more could be accomplished if the time, money and work put into ESCR were put into non-ESCR?

UPDATE: From the comments:

"Researchers in California say they have found stem cells in men's testicles that have embryonic stem cell-like qualities"

Too bad that limits resources to just conservatives...

Now click here. Then visit the commentor's blog here.