U.N. probes possible fraud

Shocking, simply shocking! A scandal at the UN? Who woulda thunk it!

U.N. procurement chief Andrew Toh has been placed on leave pending the completion of an internal probe into suspected fraud in U.N. purchasing, officials said yesterday.

Oh, wait…the oil for food, the UN peacekeeping forces sex rings, etc. Maybe it is just more (funny) business as usual – YET more reason why the best thing that could happen was to bid a not-so-fond farewell to the whole deal, and get on with our own affairs, conduncted in our own interest.

Germans urged to be more fruitful

The Chief earlier noted the demographic slide that is occurring in most Euro countries, that will result in the Euro nationalities becoming minorities in their own lands unless they act to turn the trend around by raising their birth rates.

The new German government, as well as the chief opposition party, seem to have noticed this little problem, and are acting to try\ to encourage larger families.

Ursula von der Leyen, a medical doctor and the mother of seven, wants Germans to have more babies. Since taking the family affairs portfolio in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet, she has been making proposals that have put the family high on Germany’s political agenda.

The Chief isn’t sure about all of the carrots they are holding out to encourage procreation, but at least they are doing something. If they don;t pull it off, the burgeoning Islamic population will be waiting in the wings to take over the show there…hello dhimmicracy if that happens.

Homestake transfer may be done by end of month

The Chief has been following this for some time, with a lot of interest. As a Physics teacher, the science possibilities are deep (heh-heh-heh) and profound. This can opnly be of benefit all the way around.

The transfer of the former Homestake mine to the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority should be completed by the end of the January…

Homestake is one of two National Science Foundation sites for a proposed Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, or DUSEL….In October, the Legislature approved $19.9 million to help re-open Homestake, make it ready for scientists and to pay for additional employees that Snyder said will be hired this year.

The attitude of the movie “Field of Dreams” (Build it, and they will come!) is apparently at work in this case also:

After the special appropriation was made in October, solicitation letters were sent to the scientific community. To date, there have been 67 proposals for experiments at Homestake from 40 universities, nine national laboratories and 15 other institutions in nine countries, Snyder said. “Obviously, we are pleased with the response from around the country and the world,” Snyder said. “But that doesn’t mean they will be here tomorrow to do experiments. It means they have a collaboration, an interest. We have to evaluate them, and they have to get funded.” A workshop will be held in February during which the proposals will be evaluated by a national consortium of scientists.

Bill would end right to refuse blood test

South Dakota would be the first state in the nation to repeal its implied-consent law for all drunken-driving arrests if a proposal before the Legislature is approved, lawmakers were told Wednesday.

Not a bad way to be a pioneer. The Chief doesn’t have much sympathy for DUI’s. Anything that is so overtly a danger to other people needs to be a crime that is taken seriously indeed.

Under current state law, a person who is arrested for drunken driving can refuse to give a blood sample if it is the first or second offense and if a felony is not involved. If it is the third or more offense or if a homicide is involved, a blood sample is required. But if this proposal passes, “you don’t have a choice,” Hendrickson said. “For every DUI arrest, you will have to give blood.”

“This is the only offense where the offender has the choice to give evidence or to withhold it,” Sgt. Brad Booth of the Rapid City Police Department said.

Go for it Pierre!

Mag: Ted K’s secret love child a secret no more

No one should be surprised at anything concerning Sen. Ted Kennedy, not after he walked away from a fatal car accident without any serious consequences. (Except for an arguably possible chance at the White House.)

A grain of salt may be in order, since the originating source is the dread National Inquirer, but since it’s being carried by the Boston Globe, one would expect that they had some idea that it was true.

What’s to be said here? What’s different today than it was yesterday? Nothing much – Kennedy was a slimeball before, and he still is one – this just re-re-confirms the fact.

F.E.T.E.

Pakistan names 3 al Qaeda believed killed in strike

It seems that the CIA Predator strike in Pakistan that seemed to touch off some protests hit the mark after all, even if the big dog wasn’t on scene.

Pakistani intelligence sources on Thursday identified three of four al Qaeda members believed to have been killed by a U.S. airstrike last week, though they have yet to recover the bodies.

Nice shootin’ guys!

Open borders, closed minds:
What goes on at the border, stays at the border

More on the repeated “incursions” of Mexican Army units on our southern border from Tony Blankley:

It’s not that I expect an orderly, predictable world. I have read enough of history to understand that the dynamics of the human personality in a world of constant change will yield radical, often chaotic upheavals. But still and all, a chap doesn’t expect to find a full-grown rhinoceros in his desk drawer, or a man-eating sparrow on his window ledge.

So you can imagine my astonishment when I picked up Tuesday’s Washington Times and read on the front page the headline: “Mexican military incursions reported: U.S. Border Patrol alerts Arizona agents.” Even in a world gone mad we should not expect to see a headline that Mexico is invading (or even incursioning into) the United States — unless it is in the entertainment section regarding a re-make of “The Mouse That Roared.”

That thought HAD crossed my mind too, but I didn’t use it in my own posting on this topic.

Instead of calling in the Marines (or any other American military fighting organization), U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Salvador Zamora confirmed the story but said the agents were given guidance on “how to react to any sightings of military and foreign police in this country and how to properly document any incursion.” He then went on to excuse the incursions as taking place in areas of the border “not marked by monuments or signs.”

Weak, a weak response at best, but meets the test of political correctness.

The spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington did Mr. Zamora one better. Mr. Rafael Laveaga denied the incursions and asserted that Mexican military units have strict rules to stay at least a mile from the border. He then condescendingly suggested that some Mexican drug smugglers “wear uniforms and drive military-type vehicles” and might have been “confused” by U.S. authorities as Mexican military units.

I would suggest that Mr. Laveaga might have been confused by the fact that the men were drug smugglers into thinking they were not official Mexican military units.

Touché!

Since 1996, 216 incursions have been documented according to the Department of Homeland Security. But yesterday, a Pentagon spokesman said she had no information on the reported incursion.

Nope! Nothing to see here. Move along folks, go back home and watch American Idol & forget about it!

Blankley closes with these all-too-correct observations:

“What goes on at the border, stays at the border” would seem to be our government’s guiding principle. The facts would suggest that it is the policy of the Bush administration to ignore these military raiding parties so long as they are not driving on toward Sacramento, Chicago or Washington, D.C. (They ignore the fact that an infection may intrude through a crack in the skin, and then proceed inward to the vital organs.)

The powers that be remain close-minded to the ever-growing dangers and national insults that flow from open borders. It is said that pride goeth before the fall. But it is equally true that a nation that has so little pride in its own territorial integrity is also due for a sharp trip downward.

Keep your powder dry! At this rate you’ll need it!

Kennedy quits all-male Harvard club amid criticism

It’s always pleasant to see a sanctimonious and self-righteous libDonk like Sen. Teddy the K do a quick backpedal when their hypocrisy becomes too much for even their own similarly liberal supporting population. Can you say “schadenfreude“?

This article brings to mind a question for the conspiracy buffs: Kennedy was in this “Owl Club”. What’s the connection to the Bohemian Club – that holds the annual Bohemian Grove retreats for the rich and powerful – with their camp site featuring a large central image of…an owl!?

Better call out Art Bell…send in the black helicopter patrol with the M.I.B.’s.

Tom Daschle considers bid for president

Former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle is weighing the possibility of running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. “I have received a lot of encouragement,” Daschle said in an email today to the Argus Leader.

From where? Hildebrand?

Larry Sabato, a political expert at the University of Virginia, said Daschle was not in his latest rankings of likely Democratic candidates because he wasn’t convinced Daschle would run. “I wouldn’t call him the favorite, or even second or third. But it’s early,” Sabato said.

The Chief has a LOT of trouble visualizing an ex-Senator and former Donk senate leader, who managed to not get re-elected in his own state attracting anything like the sort of support it would take to make a strong enough run to have a chance. If he truly IS a serious candidate, it can only be a sign of some degree of desparation with the Donks.

Come to think of it, some people are talking about Al Gore again. Maybe there IS a cult among the Donks of undead politicians who just won’t die (politically) with dignity.

Can no one get near enough to them with a crucifix and garlic to use the wooden stake and lay him to rest once and for all? Buffy, there’s still work for you!

H/T to South Dakota Politics.

Mexican military incursions reported

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

The U.S. Border Patrol has warned agents in Arizona of incursions into the United States by Mexican soldiers “trained to escape, evade and counterambush” if detected — a scenario Mexico denied yesterday. The warning to Border Patrol agents in Tucson, Ariz., comes after increased sightings of what authorities described as heavily armed Mexican military units on the U.S. side of the border.

WARNING: ENTERING B.S. ZONE:

Rafael Laveaga, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, denied that Mexican military personnel are crossing into the United States. “I strongly deny any incursions by the Mexican military as inaccurate allegations,” Mr. Laveaga said. “The Mexican military is a well-respected institution with strict rules on how to control Northern Mexico. It maintains a protocol of not going within a mile of the border, and those who would trespass would be severely punished.” Mr. Laveaga said some drug smugglers headed “both north and south” wear uniforms and drive military-type vehicles, and might have “confused” U.S. authorities.

This claim is viewed as absurd on the US side of the border.

“Give me a break,” said T.J. Bonner, a 27-year Border Patrol veteran who heads the National Border Patrol Council. “Intrusions by the Mexican military to protect drug loads happen all the time and represent a significant threat to the agents. “Why else would they be in the area, firing at federal agents in the United States? There is no other explanation,” said Mr. Bonner, whose organization represents all 10,000 of the nonsupervisory Border Patrol agents.

The Chief can recall that countries historically have gone to war over less than this! Maybe we SHOULD have troops of our own on the border. If, as the Mexican Ambassador lies claims, there are no Mexican troops involved, then they will have nothing to lose. On the other hand…heh heh heh!

Mexican military incursions reported

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

The U.S. Border Patrol has warned agents in Arizona of incursions into the United States by Mexican soldiers “trained to escape, evade and counterambush” if detected — a scenario Mexico denied yesterday. The warning to Border Patrol agents in Tucson, Ariz., comes after increased sightings of what authorities described as heavily armed Mexican military units on the U.S. side of the border.

WARNING: ENTERING B.S. ZONE:

Rafael Laveaga, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, denied that Mexican military personnel are crossing into the United States. “I strongly deny any incursions by the Mexican military as inaccurate allegations,” Mr. Laveaga said. “The Mexican military is a well-respected institution with strict rules on how to control Northern Mexico. It maintains a protocol of not going within a mile of the border, and those who would trespass would be severely punished.” Mr. Laveaga said some drug smugglers headed “both north and south” wear uniforms and drive military-type vehicles, and might have “confused” U.S. authorities.

This claim is viewed as absurd on the US side of the border.

“Give me a break,” said T.J. Bonner, a 27-year Border Patrol veteran who heads the National Border Patrol Council. “Intrusions by the Mexican military to protect drug loads happen all the time and represent a significant threat to the agents. “Why else would they be in the area, firing at federal agents in the United States? There is no other explanation,” said Mr. Bonner, whose organization represents all 10,000 of the nonsupervisory Border Patrol agents.

The Chief can recall that countries historically have gone to war over less than this! Maybe we SHOULD have troops of our own on the border. If, as the Mexican Ambassador lies claims, there are no Mexican troops involved, then they will have nothing to lose. On the other hand…heh heh heh!

EU powers plan action on Iran

The Chief has SERIOUS reservations about whether or not this headline really fits the story:

European powers yesterday began drafting a resolution to have Iran referred to the U.N. Security Council next month over its contentious nuclear work, after Russia and the West neared agreement on strategy.

At least they’re showing SOME signs of talking the talk, but it remains to be seen whether or not they will break through their incipient Eurabian dhimmitude and actually DO anything when push comes to shove. As far as the current situation is concerned, talking about “action” in the same context as “taking it to the UN” is about as contradictory as any oxymoron that can be imagined, especially if one considers the following:

Moscow Not Ready to Back Iran Strategy

Russia’s foreign minister indicated Tuesday that Moscow was not ready to support moves by the U.S. and its European allies to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program, while the West stepped up pressure on Tehran.

OK, so that’s Russia, not the Western Euros. Here’s where the overall fecklessness of going to the UNO – United Nations (dis)Organization shows up:

A draft text that was read to AP by a European diplomat accredited to the Vienna, Austria-based U.N. nuclear watchdog agency stopped short of the calls for sanctions sought by Washington and some of its closest backers. Instead, it urges the 15-nation Security Council to press Tehran “to extend full and prompt cooperation to the agency” in its more than three-year investigation of suspect nuclear activities.

Ah, yes – key phrases here “stopped short”, and “urges…to press Tehran…”. THAT will surely impress Iranian President Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad & the mullahs.

The wording of the draft text of the resolution was sure to change before it is submitted to the IAEA’s 35-nation board Feb. 2. Still the fact that it was calling on the council to send Iran’s nuclear file back to the IAEA appeared to be the latest indication that Tehran would escape sanctions. Despite the ongoing work on the draft, it was unclear whether the board would even agree on referral or stop short because of opposition.

Going nowhere fast, but making a lot of noise doing so. The UN way!

Getting the stink out

The Chief commented on this half-a…er half-baked idea at the time it was first proposed by Sen. Kloucek and some of his fellow Donks. This idea hasn’t improved with the pasage of time, and here, even the Argus Leader has come out recognizing the inanity of the idea, but at the same time it reserves enough qualifiers that…well, maybe not this bill at this time, but some bill at some other time….

Let’s be realistic. A bill to regulate hydrogen sulfide emissions – the rotten-egg-smelling gas that comes from livestock operations and causes respiratory problems – is going nowhere. It just isn’t.

No sh-t, Sherlock!

Kloucek’s bill – backed by four other Democrats – would limit emissions to 50 parts per billion, as measured at the property line. The rules wouldn’t kick in when manure is removed from storage facilities or for a week after that. Kloucek says he’s not trying to regulate smell – although that might be part of the impact – but rather protect health.

Typical Donk attitude: you are helpless and incompetent, so it’s essential for us, your wise legislators, to protect you from any real or (even better!) imagined danger.

Hydrogen sulfide is fatal at high concentrations, but at lower concentrations, such as at feedlots, it’s linked to respiratory and other health problems.

This IS true, BUT – does anyone else have a problem with imagining a high concentration, or even serious low concentration given the tendancy of air to move around a lot here on the northern plains?

UNDERSTATEMENT ALERT:

The science is a little messy, though, because studies that find those links haven’t considered exposures to other chemicals. And certainly other chemicals are involved in odors, said Dick Nicolai of the agricultural engineering department at South Dakota State University.

“The science is a little messy” indeed! Any resemblence to a controlled experiment is totally theoretical – with NO attachment to reality. (A controlled experiment is ESSENTIAL in science, otherwise there is NO proof of anything!)

Kloucek’s proposal received almost immediate opposition. “I’m very hesitant when state government tries to start regulating things more than they already do, especially in agriculture,” said Republican Rep. Justin Davis, a crop consultant from Ipswich. “I guess I don’t see that there is really a need for this right now.”

“We can regulate ourselves out of existence,” said Republican Sen. Jay Duenwald of Hoven.

However, the Argus makes its turn to the left at this point:

Duenwald certainly is right. But his comment is out of step with reality in South Dakota.

The Chief agrees with the first of those sentences, but NOT the second.

That reality is that anywhere there’s a public vote on whether to allow feedlots – especially large feedlots – the feedlot loses. And a statewide ballot measure would allow such votes in every case.

There is a logical disconnect here: just because votes have gone against feedlots has NOTHING to do with whether or not we are regulating ourselves out of existance. Voters can do just as much damage as legislooters – and THAT’s the reality!

The other thing is that the votes against feedlots shows nothing except that it’s very easy to generate a swell of a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude, especially when the opposition has no scruples about distortions, exaggerations, and junk science, of the sort of stuff used in these elections by activist groups like the Dakota Rural Action and others of that ilk.

From firebrand to pussycat: Galloway’s TV transformation

This is one of the wierdest things that the Chief has ever seen. George Galloway has been controversial for some time: he accepted large sums of money from Saddam, and (apparently) in return enthusiastically supported his regime, and has been an outspoken apeasement advocate in the jihadistan wars.

Given all that, this TV appearance shows every sign of some real psychological wierdity inside of that skull.

He purred and mewed, his greying whiskers giving his face the appearance of a Cheshire cat. Next, George Galloway, the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, and scourge of Capitol Hill, got on all fours and pretended to lick milk from the cupped hands of the once-famous television actor Rula Lenska. She rubbed the “cream” from his “whiskers” and stroked his head and behind his ears.

The video (linked above) is even creepier than the descriptions. The Chief’s reaction can only be summed up as “EEEEEEEUUUUUUHHHH!

The poor man obcviously needs some serious meds.

Confirm Samuel Alito

What’s this? A call for some rational consistancy? The Chief is amazed here!

THE SENATE’S decision concerning the confirmation of Samuel A. Alito Jr. is harder than the case last year of now-Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Judge Alito’s record raises concerns across a range of areas. His replacement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor could alter — for the worse, from our point of view — the Supreme Court’s delicate balance in important areas of constitutional law. He would not have been our pick for the high court. Yet Judge Alito should be confirmed, both because of his positive qualities as an appellate judge and because of the dangerous precedent his rejection would set.

Hmmmm. The precedent bit…recognition that continued scorched-earth politics could well come back to burn a hypothetical future Donk president.

…he is undeniably a conservative whose presence on the Supreme Court is likely to produce more conservative results than we would like to see.

Which is, of course, just what President Bush promised concerning his judicial appointments. A Supreme Court nomination isn’t a forum to refight a presidential election. The president’s choice is due deference — the same deference that Democratic senators would expect a Republican Senate to accord the well-qualified nominee of a Democratic president.

And in conclusion:

While we harbor some anxiety about the direction he may push the court, we would be more alarmed at the long-term implications of denying him a seat. No president should be denied the prerogative of putting a person as qualified as Judge Alito on the Supreme Court.

One wonders who hit them upside the head with a cluebat on this one, since, to give credit where due, they actually made very good sense. This makes it all the more mystifying why, as noted in the previous post, our boy Tim has thus far refused to state his views.

Senator won’t rule out use of filibuster on Alito

When even Senatoress Diane not-so-Feinstein (Donk-CA)has come out opposed openly to both the Alito confirmation and a filibuster to fight it, what’s the message from our boy Tim Johnson (Donk-SD) that he is refusing to announce or significantly comment on his position on both of these questions.

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said he doesn’t believe there is enough Senate opposition to mount a filibuster against the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. Still, Johnson said he would not rule out taking part in a filibuster if one develops. “As a matter of principle, I’m not taking any position, parliamentary or otherwise, off the table,” Johnson said Friday. He would not say how he will vote.

This has to read as a definite maybe. The Chief guesses that he hasn;t been able to obtain clear enought focus-group input to know how to vote on these issues.

Randy Frederick, South Dakota Republican Party chairman, said Johnson should let South Dakotans know how he will vote. There is a danger Johnson and others could “get whipped in line by the extreme left of the Democratic Party” at a caucus, Frederick said.

True leadership at work here, eh? NOT!

Public to be shut out of ed talks

So much for the idea of open government. SD Gov. Mike Rounds apparently feels that the public need not be involved in some focus-group meetings involving his education initiatives.

Over the next two weeks, at meetings behind closed doors, more than 100 unidentified people will comment on two objectives of Gov. Mike Rounds’ 2010 Education Initiative.

When Rounds unveiled his 2010 Education Initiative in Rapid City on Jan. 4, Secretary of Education Rick Melmer announced that Technology and Innovations in Education, or TIE, would conduct focus-group meetings to collect comments on two of the initiative’s objectives: providing laptop computers for all high school students and developing an online virtual school program.

The only problem with this is that all too often school reform initiatives have been top-down from the educational administrative establishment, which may or may not bear much resemblance to the reality of what will actually be effective and efficient.

This has worked well so far – right? Isn’t that why schools are in such great shape? (Oh…right…never mind!)

Alito expected to move court to right

Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. is poised to join a tradition of pragmatic justices who have moved the Supreme Court to the right in measured steps.

In spite of the fulminations of the libDonks of the Senate, they ARE in the minority, and this IS the sort of thing that happens when your opponents win more elections than you do.

This is the point of years of effort for numerous candidates. It’s about time!

‘Divine mission’ driving Iran’s new leader

The Chief has been in the habit of noting the current crackpot President of Iran as Pres. Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad.

Based on this, it seems like the lined-through appellation is all too accurate:

…listen carefully to the utterances of Mr Ahmadinejad – recently described by President George W Bush as an “odd man” – and there is another dimension, a religious messianism that, some suspect, is giving the Iranian leader a dangerous sense of divine mission.

When an aircraft crashed in Teheran last month, killing 108 people, Mr Ahmadinejad promised an investigation. But he also thanked the dead, saying: “What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow.”

In November, the country was startled by a video showing Mr Ahmadinejad telling a cleric that he had felt the hand of God entrancing world leaders as he delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly last September.

All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days. A common rumour – denied by the government but widely believed – is that Mr Ahmadinejad and his cabinet have signed a “contract” pledging themselves to work for the return of the Mahdi and sent it to Jamkaran. Iran’s dominant “Twelver” sect believes this will be Mohammed ibn Hasan, regarded as the 12th Imam, or righteous descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. He is said to have gone into “occlusion” in the ninth century, at the age of five. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed. After a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.

OK. Anyone can believe anything they want to for their religion. What’s the real point here? Try this:

Mr Ahmadinejad appears to believe that these events are close at hand and that ordinary mortals can influence the divine timetable. The prospect of such a man obtaining nuclear weapons is worrying. The unspoken question is this: is Mr Ahmadinejad now tempting a clash with the West because he feels safe in the belief of the imminent return of the Hidden Imam? Worse, might he be trying to provoke chaos in the hope of hastening his reappearance?

The MSM has said things like this occasionally about Christian fundamentalists in this country, but the last time I looked the neither “700 Club” nor Oral Roberts University had active programs to build a nuclear missile strike force.

As far as Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad’s moment of transfiguration at the UN is concerned, a bit of additional context is in order:

In a video distributed by an Iranian web site in November, Mr Ahmadinejad described how one of his Iranian colleagues had claimed to have seen a glow of light around the president as he began his speech to the UN. “I felt it myself too,” Mr Ahmadinejad recounts. “I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there. And for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink…It’s not an exaggeration, because I was looking. “They were astonished, as if a hand held them there and made them sit. It had opened their eyes and ears for the message of the Islamic Republic.”

This IS a possible interpretation of the event, but other testimony would indicate that Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad was afflicted with a case of “poor situational awareness”:

Western officials said the real reason for any open-eyed stares from delegates was that “they couldn’t believe what they were hearing from Ahmadinejad”. Their sneaking suspicion is that Iran’s president actually relishes a clash with the West in the conviction that it would rekindle the spirit of the Islamic revolution and – who knows – speed up the arrival of the Hidden Imam.

What elese is there to say, except keep your powder dry!

Senate windbags fail to land a blow on court nominee

You’ve got to love the way the Brits cut to the chase sometimes with a pithy turn of phrase that perfectly sums up the situation.

The above header from the Sunday Telegraph says it all, concerning the recently concluded Alito hearings…”Senate windbags” indeed! The Chief couldn’t have said it better! The article goes on with some more cogent points:

For the solemn line-up of big-hitting Democrat senators, last week’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Samuel Alito were the chance to expose him as a radical conservative jurist intent on overturning abortion rights and siding with bosses against workers. Instead, they turned the sessions into a festival of long-winded bluster, from which President George W Bush’s nominee emerged unscathed and almost certain to be confirmed to the Supreme Court bench.

Hear, hear!

A breakdown of the hearing transcripts provides indisputable evidence, if the American public ever needed it, that their Senators are much more interested in hearing their own voices than in listening to answers.

What’s this, indisputable evidence? You bet! First they set the stage, remarking on Sen. Biden’s past performance as a speaker:

The worst offender was Joe Biden, a veteran Democrat who harbours presidential aspirations for 2008. Tellingly, he was forced to pull out of the 1988 race after admitting he had borrowed passages from the speeches of Neil Kinnock, the then Labour leader nicknamed “the Welsh windbag”.

Then, they give us priceless statistical evidence, in spite of the heartburn and indigestion no doubt stimulated by having to wade through the rhetorical mud of the Senate Donks:

In his allotted 30 minutes to quiz Judge Alito, Mr Biden asked just five questions and spoke 3,739 words, leaving the nominee time to respond with just 1,021. Next place in the verbosity stakes went to Chuck Schumer, who uttered 3,471 words to the nominee’s 1,166. Among a cluster of senators vying for third place was Ted Kennedy, who allowed the judge to speak 1,557 words to his own 3,282.

There you go folks! Statistical confirmation that the gut feeling of nausea that is obtained by watching the rhetorical follies on the hill is justified!

I’d back Condi for the White House, says Laura Bush

Although the Chief has a huge amount of respect for Condie Rice, he’s not totally sure that she would be the best for the White House. (Not to say that she wouldn’t be good, but at this point there are some real questions on where she really stands on some critical issues).

What the Cheif DOES know for certain, that if the Donks go ahead and run with Hillary, the Condie vs. Hillary campaign would be the most entertaining political spectacle that could be imagined. Just to imagine the libDonks trying to snipe at a black, female, REPUBLICAN (well, at least sort of). Phew. What a hoot to imagine!

Toddler’s mother killed herself when he was three months old. Now he’s being sued by solicitors

Reading this story evokes an air of incredulous unreality. Although it is taking place in the UK it’s all too similar to similar legalistic inanity over here.

In the Chief’s opinionome of these people truly have no humanity left in them.

This surely seems like a case covered by the scriptural statement “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (referring to the letter of the law).

F.E.T.E.

Conservatives call for return to core Republican principles

Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican congressman who co-led the petition drive that helped oust Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, said in an interview yesterday: “We don’t just need a new majority leader, we need a course correction. “A lobbyist can’t be corrupt unless he has somebody to bribe, and we’ve created a culture that just breeds corruption,” he charged.

Hear, hear!

At the top of the conservative reform agenda is an end to the practice of earmarking, in which members can secretly insert into huge spending bills billions of dollars in projects for favoured companies or other constituents – many of whom in turn donate to the lawmakers’ re-election funds. While the practice is not new, it has mushroomed since Republicans captured Congress. Last year 15,000 earmarks were added into various spending bills.

Legislators are facing growing pressure over the practice….Mr Flake predicted the fallout over earmarking “would be ugly, and if we haven’t addressed it prospectively, we’re in deeper trouble than we know”.

The conservatives are also hoping to reform the congressional budgeting process by sharply reducing the use of “emergency” spending bills, such as those that have paid for the war in Iraq and rebuilding following Hurricane Katrina. They would also reform House rules to allow more challenges to spending bills that exceed agreed budget targets, and to ensure that such bills can be carefully reviewed by lawmakers before votes are held.

Looks like there are still a few elephants left along with the growing herd of RINOs in Washington.

Create an e-annoyance, go to jail

What in the world is wrong with the President and Congress? Perhaps the EPA needs to check the D.C. water system for the presence of meth or crack or something. (THAT at least would explain some things!)

Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime. It’s no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

The Chief’s bafflement is that something like this which is so obviously counter to the first amendment, goes on the books without so much as a raised eyebrow.

Since the Chief’s NAME is not anywhere on this web site, If I post something that “annoys” someone for some reason, then I could be prosecuted for a violation of federal law. Oh well. Bring it on!

“The use of the word ‘annoy’ is particularly problematic,” says Marv Johnson, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “What’s annoying to one person may not be annoying to someone else.”

Arrrrrrrgggghhhhhh! This has the American Communist Lawyers Union (ACLU) agreeing with the Chief????!!!! It’s a cold day in hell, for sure!

There are perfectly legitimate reasons to set up a Web site or write something incendiary without telling everyone exactly who you are. Think about it: A woman fired by a manager who demanded sexual favors wants to blog about it without divulging her full name. An aspiring pundit hopes to set up the next Suck.com. A frustrated citizen wants to send e-mail describing corruption in local government without worrying about reprisals.

In each of those three cases, someone’s probably going to be annoyed. That’s enough to make the action a crime. (The Justice Department won’t file charges in every case, of course, but trusting prosecutorial discretion is hardly reassuring.)

Left to “prosecutorial discretion”? What was the bit about having a government of laws, not of men? Another pillar in the power structure of the American legal aristocracy over the rest of us peasants.

Our sh-t for brains esteemed politicians can’t seem to grasp this simple point, but the First Amendment protects our right to write something that annoys someone else. It even shields our right to do it anonymously. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defended this principle magnificently in a 1995 case involving an Ohio woman who was punished for distributing anonymous political pamphlets.

If President Bush truly believed in the principle of limited government (it is in his official bio), he’d realize that the law he signed cannot be squared with the Constitution he swore to uphold.

And then he’d repeat what President Clinton did a decade ago when he felt compelled to sign a massive telecommunications law. Clinton realized that the section of the law punishing abortion-related material on the Internet was unconstitutional, and he directed the Justice Department not to enforce it.

Bush has the chance to show his respect for what he calls Americans’ personal freedoms. Now we’ll see if the president rises to the occasion.

Don’t hold your breath waiting on that one – anoxia is a nasty way to die!

Senators want limits on farm gas

Some Donk SD senators are planning to introduce legislation to impose regulations of the emissions of smelly gases that are a by-product of the operation of cattle feedlots.

Some of these guys have been involved in ag, which makes their efforts even more amazing than they already are.Five Democrats are proposing limits on hydrogen sulfide emissions from livestock operations. The gas smells of rotten eggs and could cause respiratory and other health problems.

Admittedly, this stuff IS toxic and unpleasant, but how to regulate it from an open feedlot? Add to that is the usual state of the winds here on the northern plains, and the problem becomes much less severe than one might expect.

One of the Donks cites problems that he experienced himself:

Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic gas, fatal at high concentrations. It is found at much lower levels near feedlots, but still could cause eye irritation and respiratory problems. Kloucek says he has himself experienced those symptoms, and that other South Dakotans might testify about their own health problems during hearings.

Uh, Frank, did you ever hear of a controlled experiment? Let me explain: you have to be able limit the possible factors to one single thing. This is NOT what happens on the farm. Yes, some hydrogen sulfide may be present, along with other irritants such as dust from…er…bovine fecal matter, feed dust, cattle hair and dander, machinery exhaust & emissions, to say nothing of a host of other gases of unpleasant nature that are also produced…if you get the (downwind) drift.

The bill would limit feedlots to emissions of 50 parts per billion of hydrogen sulfide, as measured at the property line.

Wow! A whole new set of state employees here to run around and do these tests, which MUST also only be done taking the wind direction into account.

Also, this legislation would do NOTHING to protect the farmer, who was cited as the original and proximate stimulus for the proposed bill, since it will only come into effect AT THE PROPERTY LINE, not within it!

In short, another case of Donks being Donks, trying for anything to expand the ability of the government to micromanage anything, whether or not there is an established problem or not.

F.E.T.E.

Schumer warns of filibuster of Alito

Like THIS is a surprise! Anyone with half a brain could tell that the Donks have beeen telegraphing their intention to do this ever since the nomination was entered.

Here’s hoping that Frist has the Constitutional (so-called “nuclear”) option dusted off and ready to go – if not, then he’s not worth his salt.

Posting may be a bit sparse for a few days, as the Chief is away from the homeport for a 3-day meeting/workshop for aligning educational assessment with recently revised state science education standards.

I WILL try to do some posting, but it will somewhat depend on the schedule and workload. Time will tell.

South Dakota senators return money connected to Abramoff

The status of the South Dakota Senators, and ex-Senator are instructive, and raise an interesting logical conclusion.

First, the responses to the Abramoff indictments:

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a Republican, said he will donate $2,000 he received from Abramoff and his wife to a domestic abuse shelter in Mission, S.D., that he visited last year. Through a spokesman, Thune called Abramoff’s actions “reprehensible.”

The state’s other senator, Democrat Tim Johnson, said he will return $8,250 in donations from the lobbyist’s clients and associates to an organization that helps Native Americans. The donations to Johnson’s campaign include $6,250 from three of Abramoff’s tribal clients and $2,000 from one of Abramoff’s colleagues at his lobbying firm….”The contributions I received were legal contributions from people and tribes that had nothing to do with Mr. Abramoff’s outrageous behavior,” Johnson said in a prepared statement.

And the third ex-officio member of the SD Senate community:

Former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, the South Dakotan who was defeated by Thune in 2004, received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from Abramoff’s associates and tribal clients. Steve Hildebrand, Daschle’s former campaign manager, said Wednesday that he will not return or give away the money because it would be “a big slap in the face to Native Americans across the country.” Hildebrand said that giving the money away would “be a suggestion that he accepted the contributions for the wrong reasons and that’s not the case.”

OK then, according to Hildebrand’s stated standard, Sen. Johnson’s returned $8,250 could be interpreted as a sign that he “accepted the contributions for the wrong reason”, and that THAT’s why the funds had to be returned! (Of course, as icing on this logical cake, the same point could be made about Thune’s $2,000 also.)

It’s interesting to note the positions of the SD Donks and SD GOP in this regard also:

The South Dakota Democratic party also received thousands of dollars connected to Abramoff, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Party officials would not say Wednesday whether they would return or give away the money.

A spokesman for the South Dakota Republican Party said it has nothing to return. “As far as our records show, the party has not received any Abramoff-related donations,”

One has to wonder whether Tim is thinking something like “Thanks Steve, I like you too!”

IRAN: TEHRAN ISSUES NEW THREAT TO EUROPE

Well, here they go again:

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, who is also the man behind Iran’s foreign policy, has warned Europeans “not to force the Islamic Republic to cut short the dialogue process and to opt for another scenario”. Speaking on Tuesday night on state television he said: “We are for a strategy based on dialogue, but if the counterparty Europe plays dirty, then we will pass onto another plan that we have worked out and then there will be problems for the Europeans.”

The Euros ALREADY have problems – but wait, there’s more:

Without specifying the nature of the other plan and the other scenario, Larijani has compared the talks on Iran’s nuclear programme to a chess game. “In this game, we are for a result that will be satisfactory to both Iran and Europe,” said Larijani adding that “if we lose, the same will also happen to the other party (Europe) and they will have to prepare themselves to live in a hell.”

It’s worth noting that ancient Persia possibly invented chess.

Larijani used even stronger words for the United States. “A small error on the part of USA or the Zionists will be enough to induce us to unleash hell,” said Larijani. “They know this very well and for this they haven’t gone further than a verbal or psychological war,” he said.

Uh, guys, have you looked at what happened across your borders to the west, and north, when your neighbors became threats to the US?

definition: Dhimmitude is the status that Islamic law, the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims, primarily Jews and Christians. Dhimmis, “protected people,” are free to practice their religion in a Sharia regime, but are made subject to a number of humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Qur’an’s command that they “feel themselves subdued” (Sura 9:29).

Muslim youths rampage on French train

Jihad watch cites a couple of stories from widely diverse closely similar sources: BBC and the ChiComs’ XinHua that not a New Years incident where Islamofascists ganged up and terrorized a train:

From BBC:

New Year’s day saw between 20 and 40 teenagers, many of Arab or north African origin, go on the rampage on a train between Nice and Lyon, intimidating and robbing passengers, and allegedly sexually assaulting at least one young woman.

Remember, the Froggish (mis)government declared the “State of Emergency” to be over, so there REALLY must be nothing to be alarmed about – right?

Mr Chirac added his voice to the chorus of condemnation, calling the violence “unacceptable” and promising that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

And don’t you forget it! Would you believe we really mean it this time. Really! No kidding! Seriously! So stop it! Please? Pretty please?

and from Xin Hua:

Two dozen young people, among whom only three have been arrested, robbed and sexually assaulted passengers on the train from Nice to Lyon (both in southeast France) early on Jan. 1, as the train was carrying some 600 people home from New Year’s Eve party.

Now THERE’s a record of fine police work! 3 perps snagged, while over 20 more get away!

Train staff called the police, and the train pulled into a station to wait. The three officers who initially turned up had to wait for reinforcements before boarding, during which time the youths continued to wreak havoc.

“Now let’s not be hasty here in restoring law and order – after all we do have a tradition of pusillanimity to uphold!”

The train then resumed its journey with a heavy police presence on board but just before Marseille, the youths pulled the emergency stop and escaped by running along the tracks.

The Chief speculates that escapes were facilitated by a severe shortage of handcuffs that the Fwench police must have – possibly caused by diversion of these “handy” law enforcement tools into (onto?) private hands for kinky purposes.

Police said they believed the gang were part of a bigger group of 100 youths from the Marseille area who had gone to Nice and nearby seaside resorts for New Year’s Eve, taking advantage of a special 1.20 euro New Year’s Day train fare.

The Chief has been there – indeed, Nice IS nice!

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who has championed hardline security policies in France, partly blamed the state rail company SNCF for not communicating better with the police. “The problem is that law enforcement services didn’t know that there was a promotional fare going,” he said, adding that he would ask the SNCF to ensure that it will not happen again.

OK -let’s see if I’ve got this right: The “hardline” minister blames the rail line for the problem, which he says was caused by cheap fares. Dang! We had better watch out then – WalMart may be in BIG trouble with jihadistanis with THEIR discount prices! If only les flics (Froggish for cops) had known, the whole problem would no doubt have been prevented.

ALSO, note that the RAILROAD has been asked to “ensure” that this doesn’t happen again. Are the Fwench railroads now to be deputized into law enforcement? Or, are they supposed to ban Muslims from the trains? Somehow the Chief doubts that either of these will be on their agenda.

The Fwench Wepublic has shifted its location into “Never-never land”, or is if maybe jsut plain “Neverland”. Hey! That’s it! They now have Michael Jackson as a security consultant! Wasn;t he hanging around with those Nation of Islam types a while back? That COULD explain it – but probably doesn’t. Keep looking. If you figure out where the Frogs are coming from, let me know – since their (non)policies make no sense.