NUCLEAR MATERIAL SEIZED

Interpol sources are reporting that Bulgarian police, acting on intelligence collected from unidentified "foreigners," were able to prevent a shipment of lethal nuclear enrichment material from crossing into Romania. It is believed that the final destination of the dangerous material was to be Iran.

The supposition of the Balkan police forces, is that it is linked to Iran’s nuclear quest. However, they did go on to say "then again, there are always al-Qaida armorers keen to buy dirty bomb material."

Apparently this was not the first time and that since the beginning of 2005 more than 10 kilograms of Hafnium, a material which could be "the dirty component" in a terrorist dirty bomb, were confiscated.

This most recent success, in intercepting nuclear enriched material, resulted in nabbing 3,5 kilograms on the Romanian-Bulgarian border. A police source said the shipment, discovered in a car driven by a Bulgarian national, was confiscated in Russe in the northeastern Danube region. Investigators linked this shipment to the so-called Romanian Arab Mafia.

Police say years ago the Romanian capital of Bucharest became a hub of Arab militant activity, at times supported by ousted and later executed President Nicolae Ceausescu. Unlike most former Communist states in eastern Europe, Romania has a long history of ties to the Arab world. "Tens of thousands of Arab “students” military trainees and other assorted dubious figures from the West Bank, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, passed or spent some years in pre 1989 Romania. They learned the language and have maintained ties with some locals. As a testament to this, the Arab Mafia still flourishes in what passes for Romania’s private sector.”

"The present situation in Romania in connection to jihadi and Arab intelligence activity is best described by a Romanian source who requested to remain anonymous to avoid endangering his job. According to him there are in Romania anywhere between 250,000 to 400,000 Muslims of whom many are illegal residents with ties to organized crime and to a variety of terror groups. Some of those groups are affiliated to the Iraqi insurgency and to supporters of Musab al-Zarqawi."

"It is important to differentiate between terrorists, narco-terrorists and Arab organized crime in Romania. Each group has a different goal but in the murky world of terror and counter-terror the dividing lines are blurred, as all criminal groups practically need each other to further their goals."

The CIA claim Romania is one of the major centers for drug trans-shipments from Asia, Central Asia and Latin America. Terrorists (especially al-Qaida) maintain close involvement with drug lords and smugglers.

"One source said the high standard of Romanian higher education, and a vast pool of unemployed or underemployed professionals, enables criminal and terrorist groups to find experts in cyber crime, chemistry, electronics and more."

One officer stated that Bucharest is becoming the capital of methemphetamine production with many high-class laboratories capable of manufacturing explosives as well as drugs, including the design of dirty bombs.

"The findings along the Romanian-Bulgarian border raised the alarm among law enforcement agencies in the west where governments continue to wait anxiously and with great fear for what will sooner or later become a mega terrorist strike with the use of a WMD. The material en route to the wrong hands via the ties of the Romanian Arab mafia, should send signals this danger is not only present but imminent."

This report based on information from the G2Bulletin.

Mexican Mob Expanding Throughout U.S.

Specializing in counterfeiting identification papers and ID's such as the one on the right, the Castorena Family Organization has expanded its operation throughout the U.S.

They are a large-scale criminal organization with more than 100 key members who oversee cells that typically consist of 10 to 20 individuals in cities across the United States.

A few of the senior leaders of the organization are believed to be based in Mexico, although they enter the U.S. every now and then to check on the operations of lower level operatives of the crime family.

It is alleged that they are involved in the manufacture and distribution of high-quality counterfeit identity documents such as:

• Matricula Consular ID cards
• birth certificates
• resident alien cards
• Social Security cards
• marriage certificates
• U.S. and Mexican driver licenses
• work authorization documents
• proof of vehicle insurance cards
• temporary vehicle registration documents
• utility bills (many states require driver license applicants to show utility bills as proof of residence)
  

These cells, scattered throughout the US, are extremely well organized. Normally, the cell leaders keep schedules with each of the counterfeit document suppliers and the times they are to meet, at some pre-determined location, to sell the fake documents. (Maybe this is where Dan Rather obtained his "fake, but accurate" documents about GW's service in TANG.) The local cell leaders then record the number and type of false documents sold by the suppliers, as well the funds collected for each transaction.

The organization moves its funds chiefly three different ways. Most often, funds are wire transferred via money transmitter businesses. In some cases, bulk cash and checks are moved through express parcel services. And thirdly in some cases, the organization employs couriers who physically transport U.S. currency across U.S. borders and between U.S. cities.

HAMAS RULES THE GAZA STRIP

Egypt betrays the U.S., and Israel on border security.

In what appears to be a breakdown of the of the U.S. brokered peace process, Egypt has failed to control an 11-kilometer-long border with the Gaza Strip, displaying a lack of commitment from President Hosni Mubarak’s to assume security responsibilities from Israel and to curb terrorist activity.

The Philadelphi patrol road, which had been an anti-terror barrier, has become a crowded weapon smuggling route and terrorist thoroughfare since the last Israeli soldier exited the strip. This happened under the watchful eye of the Palestinians and Egyptians despite their repeated assurances last month they would acccept the tough responsibility of preventing terrorism.

According to the G2Bulletin, "Intelligence and political analysts in the Middle East were surprised by the magnitude of the Philadelphi collapse, and even more so by the unquestionable superiority of the Islamic Movement –Hamas, towering over all other armed Palestinian groups in that area, including the Palestinian Authority. Above all stands out the poor performance of the Palestinian police, a force which seems to be more like a new version of the Keystone Kops than a professional law and order organization. Not many expect their performance to improve dramatically in lieu of how poorly they are handling the present situation, especially with such a low motivated command echelon."

ANOTHER NANNY STATE PROBLEM EXPOSED

Plunging pensions mean a poorer future for millions in UK.
By JENNIFER HILL, The Scotsman


MILLIONS of workers' dreams of a more comfortable retirement are set to be shattered, with a new report unveiling the true scale of government plans to cut state pension payments.

State pension benefits have been drastically hacked back over the past seven years - and are set to plummet further. Full details.

The BIG lie..........

"Republicans have a lucrative money-for-influence machine that will do anything—including breaking the law—to funnel corporate and special-interest money into their party in huge amounts. People ask what the difference is between the two parties, and this indictment gives one clear answer. Republicans are committed to pushing the legal limits to collect checks from special interests who want to use government for their own narrow purposes. Democrats are committed to funding our party with contributions from ordinary Americans so that when we take power, the government will represent the people." —DNC Director Tom McMahon

Memo to Tom: Ah yes, McMahon must be referring to "ordinary Americans" like America-hating billionaire George Soros, who spent $25 million supporting Democrats in the last election cycle. Of course, Soros is no more "American" than all those ChiComs who funneled money into the Clinton-Gore campaign by way of Buddhist nuns. "No controlling legal authority" —right, Tom?

From The Fed.Pat.

A NEW GOVERNMENT SEAL

Received this 'official' notice in my e-mail:

The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed.

Damn, it just doesn't get more accurate than that regardless of political affiliation.

4000 Civilians to Monitor Borders

More than 4,000 civilian volunteers are expected to man observation posts beginning today on the Mexican border from Texas to California and in states along the Canadian border in a new Minuteman protest of immigration-enforcement policies they consider...

SUN SPOTS

As a follow up to this post:

"Eco-fascists like Gore hype the threat of “Global Warming” because they believe it is currently the best way to gain fascist control over people’s lives.

What the eco-fascists are most desperate to deny is that however much “global warming” is taking place, it’s caused by the sun and not us. Yet the single most established correlation between earth temperatures and anything else is with sunspots. The correlation goes back over 400 years when we first got telescopes to see the sun.

For 500 years, from 1400 to 1900, the northern hemisphere was cooler than average 20th century temperatures. We’re finally getting back to normal with more solar activity.

What the enviros don’t, or don’t want to, understand is that it’s not the sun’s heat radiation causing a warmer earth, it’s the sun’s magnetic activity.

Sunspots are an indication of magnetic activity, magnetic storms on the sun. The stronger these storms, the more they deflect the shower of cosmic rays upon the earth from outer space.

The more cosmic rays, the more high clouds in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere which reflect sunlight back into space, thus cooling the earth. The fewer cosmic rays, the fewer high altitude clouds, thus warming the earth.

If global warming is real now, it is due to the increase in the sun’s magnetic activity deflecting the cosmic rays that would form clouds to cool the earth."

Rumor has it, NASA’s revelation of global warming on Mars is going to trigger hearings in Congress by the House Science Committee, investigating how the sun may be responsible for global warming.

PC

James Taranto has a good piece on the Bill Bennett kerfuffle, Is Political Correctness Finished?--I Go read it.

LOOTING ? NO WAY, RAY

I heard this news account yesterday while at work and just about split a gut. Thankfully we have the likes of Michelle Malkin out there to do some serious posting. Thanks, Michelle.

("I am not worthy.")

She says it best:

"You know those New Orleans cops caught looting in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?

Well, according to a New Orleans police spokesman, they weren't looting. They were, well, let's let him explain:

Police spokesman Marlon Defillo said police are looking into the possibility that up to 12 officers were involved in misconduct.

The Police Department has 1,750 officers.

He rejected the use of the term "looting" but said authorities were investigating "the possibility of appropriation of non-essential items during the height of Katrina, from businesses."

Snort."

Isn't that rich? Just as in illegal immigrants being spun into undocumented immigrants being spun into "border crossers", we now have a more politically correct definition for "looting" --
"appropriation of non-essential items."

AS I SAID, THE CLAWS ARE OUT

Times Gets Blunt About Blunt, Without Delay

With Congressman Tom DeLay temporarily out of his leadership post, Majority Whip Roy Blunt has stepped in as acting Majority Leader and Democrats and liberal interest groups have turned their fire on him. The Times’s David D. Kirkpatrick reports their lines of attack in his page A18 article, "Post Comes with Renewed Scrutiny of Record," and does label Blunt’s critics as liberals.

Kirkpatrick began: “Almost as soon as Representative Roy Blunt stepped into the House leadership post vacated by Tom DeLay, Democrats and liberal groups pounced Thursday on what they called ethical lapses in Mr. Blunt's own record and lobbying by three members of his family -- his wife, son and daughter.” The Times wouldn’t have to be that swift in publicizing liberal charges, but they were.

By contrast, Blunt’s spokeswoman Burson Taylor’s defense of her boss are briefly addressed, but by Kirkpatrick summarizing her talking points, not allowing any direct quotations to do the talking.

In addition to quoting Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti, Kirkpatrick quotes Fred Wertheimer of the "advocacy group Democracy 21" raising questions on Blunt’s ethical fitness for the leadership post.

As I said here the claws are out. Need I say more? It should be pretty obvious.

Democrats now have a false mantra to run with heading into the 2006 elections.

Earlier today, this morning at 11:o1 A.M. CST, I e-mailed Mrs H.H, responding to her e-mail concerning Bill Bennett. I wrote:

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 16:01:05 +0000
........[the Dems] but their claws are out now
(all the way out) as they position themselves for 2006
midterm elections (and 2008). They are going to go after
anybody they can, whether they are Reublican politicians,
or high profile conservatives like Bennett and try to
destroy them.

One and a half hours later, this entered my in-box:

Subject: 05-39 Digest
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:32:06 +0000

(Excerpt from article)

All things considered, this is a temporary "win" for the Demos. They have disrupted the House leadership team at a critical time leading up to the 2006 midterm elections. They have also gained a false mantra to run with, alleging the Republicans have minted a "culture of corruption" in the Swamp. (The Demos are now going to link "corruption" with charges of cronyism in their spin messages.) More to the point, however, they have damaged the chances for standing firm on legislation highly sought after by social-conservative Republicans across the land. That could be most corrosive to Republicans' political futures. Needless to say, it's time for courageous leadership and a bold move from the White House.

---From The Fed.Pat.

Looks like they agree with Heavy. But not only that --- about two hours later after my e-mail to Mrs. H.H., Rush Limbaugh (at approximately 1:24 CST) said on his national radio program:

Folks, there is an all-out war going on, and I'm telling you that these clowns in the mainstream media, they are the cornered rats and they don't know what to do. All they can do is reach out and attack. The battle for 2006, it is underway. It started this week.

It looks like El-Rushbo agrees with Heavy as well. And I beat him to the punch by almost 2 1/2 hours. Who knows what's next for Heavy.

BOLDNESS NEEDED

Given the considerable disapproval the President has suffered recently from his own quarters, including his most conservative base, this would be a fine opportunity for Mr. Bush to do something completely out of character when it comes to domestic issues—act boldly. This is a president who has not vetoed a single big spending bill, or any other legislation, since he was elected. A bold choice, as we have noted before, would be the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown.

Democrats, most of who have come to realize that they can't beat the Republicans in the marketplace of ideas or in the voting booth, are, of course, already lining up in opposition to whoever the next nominee will be. This includes many who voted for John Roberts and some who were part of the anti-filibuster "Gang of 14" agreement earlier in the session. Working with a constantly shifting definition of what a "conservative nominee" truly is, the Demos are hoping to boost their party's sagging power and are threatening a filibuster if things don't go their way. Once again, they are prepared to make their case at the expense of what is right for the country.

From The Fed.Pat.

"Generally speaking, the Left and the secularists venerate, if not worship, law. They put their faith in law—both national and international. Law is the supreme good. For most on the Left, 'Is it legal?' is usually the question that determines whether an action is right or wrong... [W]hy is the Left so enamored of law?... Laws are the Left's vehicles to earthly salvation."

---Dennis Prager

THE TORT TAX

"Celebrity rules. Harvard's School of Public Health announced it would bestow its highest honor, the Julius Richmond Award, upon Erin Brockovich. Ms. Brockovich, you'll recall, was the "distinguished heroine" of a film by the same name. As a paralegal in Los Angeles, Brockovich, according to Hollywood, saved the day by suing a corporation, claiming it had polluted local water in Hinkley, California, which was thus responsible for cancer cases in the area.

Colleague Michael Fumento, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, begs to differ. Fumento notes that according to the California Cancer Registry, Hinkley has cancer rates no higher than found in any other counties in that area. Indeed, according to an EPA toxicology report, "No data were located in the available literature that suggested that chromium-6 is carcinogenic by the oral route of exposure." Further, according to the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, "Exposure to chromium-6 in tap water via all plausible routes of exposure [poses no] acute or chronic health hazard to humans."

Mr. Fumento concludes, "That mere film-goers would be confused about Brockovich is understandable, but you might think the Harvard School of Public Health would do a bit more research before giving awards than merely watching a movie."

The real beneficiaries of personal-injury and class-action lawsuits are not those who have been harmed.

Of course, the real beneficiaries of these personal-injury and class-action lawsuits are not those who, ostensibly, have been harmed, but the lawyers bringing suits.

For her part, Brockovich collected a $2-million bonus from the Hinkley case and got a movie deal to boot. Having figured out how to win the legal lotto, she and her firm are now suing several oil companies and the City of Beverly Hills, claiming some public high-school students in attendance there between 1975 and 1997 have cancer from oil-well vapors. "[Their cancer rates] are 20 times higher than the national average," claims Brockovich. "[There is] an oil-production facility underneath the school. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the two fit together."

As in the Hinkley case, however, there is little evidence to support Brockovich's claim in Beverly Hills. Under court order, her firm admits having no evidence of increased cancer rates among former students, and epidemiologists at the University of Southern California confirmed the same. But in such celebrated cases, where the media generates hypochondriac hysterics, who pays attention to the facts?

Most of the big class-action awards have all been driven by hysteria.

Sadly, the cases that depend more on hysteria than facts yield big awards, and this scenario is repeated daily. Most of the big class-action awards, like those on asbestos and breast implants, have all been driven by hysteria. So have personal injury cases against manufacturers and drug companies. This is not to diminish the fact that, in some cases, corporations should be held liable for gross negligence that results in real pain and suffering, or even death. But these cases are the exception.

For their part, personal-injury trial lawyers claim to be doing a great humanitarian service for the nation, insisting their actions prevent the "powerful from abusing the people." (See Edwards, John; Hoodwinking Juries by Channeling the Thoughts of the Unborn.) That is a pernicious lie—one that causes a lot of wealth to change hands.

It is clear who benefits from the "tort tax," but who pays it? You do, of course, even when compensatory and punitive damages comport with the degree of negligence.

Direct costs from such awards amount to more than $200 billion a year now and are growing at a much faster annual pace than the economy. These awards, combined with the enormous costs of insuring against such suits and awards, are paid by consumers through increased product and service costs. Put another way, the 2005 Current Population Survey lists median household income at just under $50,000; direct and indirect tort tax are estimated to cost each household more than $4,000 annually.

Clearly, lawyers are the big winners, and consumers are the big losers.

The tort tax goes well beyond the increased costs of goods and services.

There's more. The tort tax you're paying goes well beyond the increased costs of goods and services. A growing share of your state and federal taxes is also usurped to compensate lawyers. For example, when the ACLU sues local, state and federal entities and prevails, those entities pay all the ACLU's fees. In other words, the ACLU is largely a taxpayer-funded organization.

Worse, consider this case, paid for in its entirety by taxpayers.

Daniel LaPlante was convicted of a triple murder. He broke into a home in Townsend, Massachusetts, raped and executed a pregnant mother, then drowned her seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son in bathrooms adjoining their bedrooms.

According to Superior Court judge Robert Barton, who presided over LaPlante's case: "Of the 150 murder cases I heard, his is one of only five that I would personally have no problem pulling the switch on the electric chair myself. He was incorrigible, he would never be rehabbed, and we'd be wasting our money feeding and clothing him."

A few years after his conviction, LaPlante was concerned for his safety in the prison yard (even in the pen, they don't tolerate sociopaths like him) and was placed under lockdown (at enormous expense). Soon thereafter, he complained that the pornography he received by mail was being withheld. LaPlante's case was argued pro bono by the elite Boston law firm Palmer & Dodge. (Law firms, it should be noted, are expected to complete a certain amount of pro bono work to remain in good standing with the bar—though this hardly excuses the sickeningly poor judgment of this particular firm.) Palmer & Dodge thus argued before U.S. District Court judge Nancy Gertner that LaPlante's civil rights were being violated.

Attorney General Thomas Reilly, who originally prosecuted LaPlante, said, "To be worried about his civil rights? The victims had no civil rights. He executed them." But Gertner agreed and ordered that LaPlante should receive his pornography.

Palmer & Dodge then decided that they had too much time in the case to do it for free, so they submitted a bill for $125,000. Judge Gertner approved $99,981. In summary, according to the Boston Globe's Brian McGrory, "LaPlante gets top-shelf legal representation [and his pornography]. Palmer & Dodge gets another hundred grand. And as too often happens, taxpayers get nothing more than the bill."

So what about tort reform?

Conservative presidents have campaigned on promises of "tort reform" for generations but have had little success delivering on those promises. Why? Well, because Congress is controlled by lawyers. That fact alone goes a long way toward explaining our national government's bloated bureaucracy and legalistic paralysis. It also explains why President Bush's tort-reform measures have fallen flat.

From: The Fed.Pat.

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

"If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send 150 lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?"

---Thomas Jefferson

Japan May Cut Funds to the UN
(CNSNews.com) – Stung by its failure to secure a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, Japan is signaling – not for the first time – that it may reduce its sizeable financial contribution to the world body. The warning comes at a time when the Bush administration faces calls in Congress to cut American funding to the U.N. if specified reform benchmarks aren’t met...

Wal-Mart Must Meet ‘Higher Expectations,’ Campaign Says
(CNSNews.com) - More than 300 labor unions and other liberal groups are joining forces for “Higher Expectations Week,” a series of events intended to pressure Wal-Mart to make reforms in such areas as “affordable health care, corporate responsibility and economic justice.”

What is "affordable" health care? Probably 90% of the people who pay health care premiums feel their premiums are too high. Why is it your employers responsibility to some how wave a magic wand and control medical costs?

Also notice the word justice as in "economic justice." What the hell does that mean? The left always wants "equality" and "justice". How the hell do you do that? Always striving for "Nirvana". If only we could make everything equal, fair, just, level the playing field.

If we could only spread the misery equally, then we would all be happy. Euphorian thinking at its' best.

Bennett’s Words Used to Tar Republicans
(CNSNews.com) – Recent attempts to change African-Americans' perceptions about the Republican Party have taken a hit in recent weeks. Most recently, comments made by conservative Republican Bill Bennett are being held up as a reflection of Republicans' alleged racial insensitivity...

ALARMISTS AT IT AGAIN

Bird Flu Pandemic Fears Prompt New Warnings
(CNSNews.com) – Asian health ministers were meeting Friday to discuss ways of combating the spread of bird flu, amid concerns about a possible global human flu pandemic.

Anyone else tiring of "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" mentality that permeates our news cycle?

"No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders."

-- Samuel Adams

HUD chief foresees a 'whiter' Big Easy

By Brian DeBose

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A Bush Cabinet officer predicted this week that New Orleans likely will never again be a majority black city, and several black officials are outraged.

Alphonso R. Jackson, secretary of housing and urban development, during a visit with hurricane victims in Houston, said New Orleans would not reach its pre-Katrina population of "500,000 people for a long time," and "it's not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again."

Rep. Danny K. Davis, Illinois Democrat and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, quickly took issue.

To read more of this silly debate, go here.

Democrats Illegally Smear Black Republican--Pious Chuck Schumer and NY Times Remain Silent

Will Our Oil Be Around for Just a Few Years -- or Forever?

Speak up America! Sheehan has spent her sympathy

Ed Koch has a great article that is worth reading. While I disagree on many issues with Mayor Koch, I do apprececiate his honesty, candor, patriotism, and his void of personal attacks against those who politically disagree with him. Read his article here.

Black Voter Suppression Blamed for Weak Katrina Response
Washington (CNSNews.com) – The Bush administration’s slow response to Hurricane Katrina may be the result of minority votes being suppressed and Democratic candidates losing the last two presidential elections, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus has alleged...

Conservatives Defend DeLay
(CNSNews.com) – While conservatives are rallying to the defense of Rep.Tom DeLay, liberals say his indictment shows why Americans must elect more Democrats to Congress...

Developing Nations Want Internet Brought Under UN Control
(CNSNews.com) – The politically charged question of who will control the Internet in the future is dominating preparatory talks ahead of a global Internet summit. Historically, the U.S. has overseen the Internet. But developing nations, led by Brazil and Iran and supported by China, Cuba and others, are pressing for effective U.N. control...

New Russian Ballistic Missiles Are 'Unrivaled,' Putin Says
Moscow (CNSNews.com) – The Kremlin hopes new weapons systems, including a sea-launched intercontinental ballistic missile successfully tested this week, will help restore Russia’s geopolitical prominence...

"Among the pictures from New Orleans were lots of heart-rending shots of displaced mothers and children, but few of fathers and husbands. Liberal critics say Hurricane Katrina ripped aside the veil on America's extreme poverty. What it really ripped aside was the veil over the collapse of family, particularly among inner-city blacks, that lies at the heart of poverty."

---Thomas Bray

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have."

---President Gerald Ford

NANNY STATE

Attacking capitalism again. What a dirty word. HeavyHanded has potty mouth. Capitalism. There I said it again.

From the Federalist Patriot:

"California once again takes the lead in nanny state regulations and warnings, diluting common sense ever further. For years, California residents, sometimes by their own doing at the polls, have been subject to warnings in office buildings, garages, gas stations, department stores and grocery stores, pertaining to everyday items such as gasoline, alcohol, fruits and vegetables, nuts and fish for all manner of "dangers" related to these items.

Now, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed suit against a number of fast-food chains and junk-food producers because their fries and potato chips contain trace amounts of acrylamide (sounds dangerous, doesn't it?)—and he wants warning labels! Never mind the fact that acrylamide is a chemical found in asparagus and olives and is a natural byproduct of cooking certain starchy foods. Already, consumers see so many warning signs they don't take them seriously. But here we go again..."

MARS

I was going to post on this earlier, but it's been quite hectic lately and it slipped my mind. But I came across it again. How many of you have heard about the NASA scientists announcing that recent observations of Mars suggest that the planet is undergoing a climatic change?

Images over the past three [Martian] years indicate that the southern polar cap is slowly shrinking, indicating Mars is undergoing "global warming."

There are no SUV's on Mars...are there?

Is this Presidents Bush's fault too? Probably because he did not sign onto the Kyoto Treaty.

Did it ever occur to those global warming theorists that maybe, just maybe the sun and sun activity, sunspots, etc. just might be playing a role in all this? Hmmmmm?

Around the world...

Solidarity (the anti-Communist workers movement that helped topple the Iron Curtain) is once again poised to, hopefully, take power from the Polish communists. The Polish communists have led the country into steep economic decline, incompetence, high unemployment and typical communist corruption. They have controlled the country's parliament since 1993; but it looks like that may change in the upcoming (Sunday) parliamentary elections. Their presidential elections will follow in two weeks. Stronger ties with the U.S. are expected to follow - if the elections go the way it appears they will go. Let's hope for the best.

Tax rises loom as economy slows to 12-year low
THE British economy has collapsed to its lowest growth levels in 12 years - underscoring fears that Gordon Brown's run of luck has finally ended and that sharp tax rises are now inevitable.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE NOPD ?

Recounting the "three major reasons" cited in the UNO study for the shrinking NOPD--poor pay, lack of consistent promotions, and the city's strict residency requirement--the Foundation then offered three more contributing factors for the reduction in force:

• "Housing costs are higher in Orleans Parish than other Parishes in the metro area, and the residency requirement forces our police officers to bear these higher costs."

• "NOPD officers do not consider the Orleans Parish School system adequate; 84 percent send all or at least one of their children to school elsewhere, usually at additional expense."

• "NOPD officers make less (money) than their peers in other agencies; they have not been promoted as promised. This is especially crippling when coupled with the negative impact of the residency requirement, higher housing and education expenses."

Thus, the Big Easy became the country's murder capital. "For New Orleans to have a murder rate that is on par with New York City's, our city would have to record only 36 murders per year," the report found. "This is 221 fewer murders than the 257 murders recorded in 2002."

Opinion Journal

FAKE BUT TRUE RESURFACES

Dan Rather wants to re-open the Pres. George Bush / national guard story investigation reports the New York Post.

ON SECOND THOUGHT

Eddie Compass has resigned as police chief of New Orleans, the Associated Press reports. At a press conference yesterday he said, "I'll be going on in another direction that God has for me." We bring this up not to needle Compass, but because another detail in the dispatch caught our attention:

Earlier in the day, the department said that about 250 police officers--roughly 15 percent of the force--could face discipline for leaving their posts without permission during Katrina and its aftermath.

Each case will be investigated to determine whether the officer was truly a deserter or had legitimate reasons to be absent, Deputy Chief Warren Riley said.

Sally Forman, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said it is not clear whether the deserters can be fired. She said the city is still looking into the civil service regulations.

Remember a few weeks back when left-wing commentators were citing Katrina as an indictment of Ronald Reagan's small-government philosophy? What we see here is Democratic big government at work. Employees walk off their job when they are most essential, and weeks later their bosses haven't figured out if that's a firing offense!

James Taranto, Opinion Journal

More Doom That Wasn’t
Broadcasters have been at it again in the 24-hour speculation cycle, predicting gasoline topping $4 and $5 a gallon. But Hurricane Rita didn’t hit as hard as they thought, and another round of sensationalistic reporting falls flat as gas prices gain just 6 cents.

Commentary: High Tide in Mississippi
Trial lawyers and the Mississippi attorney general are going after insurance companies to pay uninsured flood damages. The media have taken their side, choosing to show decimated homes and suffering people while overlooking the fact of the contracts that were in place before Hurricane Katrina. If the contracts are declared meaningless, then insurance will be hard to come by in the future.

Time’s Global Warming Claims Are a Natural Disaster
Both sides declare the global warming debate should be over, but this media favorite isn’t going away any time soon. Time magazine is one of the latest offenders in the gross one-sided promotion of climate change rhetoric, warning that we should fear ‘frightening’ consequences.

ON THE U.N.

"While dictators in the Third World, and liberal politicians and pressure groups in the West, continue to affirm some mysterious “moral authority”, the reality is that the UN has evolved into a gargantuan lobby to resist the spread of democracy and constitutional government, protect established criminal behaviour, and advance utopian projects that no electorate on the surface of the earth has ever supported."
--- David Warren

Sheehan Living on ‘Casey’s Insurance Money’
College Park, MD (CNSNews.com) - Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan told reporters on Tuesday she doesn't think her contract with a speakers’ bureau will distract from her message. She said it will help her "finally make some money ...'cause Casey's insurance money's going to run out pretty soon."

Bush Discusses His 'Strategy for Success' in Iraq
(CNSNews.com) – President Bush emphasized what is going right in Iraq on Wednesday, saying U.S.-led forces are successfully hunting down terrorist leaders – while more and better-trained Iraqis are staying behind to hold Iraqi cities that have been purged of terrorists...

Ad Campaign Warns Tourists About New Florida Gun Law
(CNSNews.com) – A gun control group is trying scare tourists away from Florida, where a new self-defense law allows people to shoot anyone who breaks into a home, occupied vehicle, or place of business. The Brady Campaign on Tuesday announced the launch of an ad campaign that tells potential Florida tourists “they face a greater risk of bodily harm within the state of Florida.”

Unions Form New Labor Federation
(CNSNews.com) - Labor unions in the reform-oriented Change to Win Coalition completed their separation from the AFL-CIO on Tuesday, voting in St. Louis to create a new labor federation that aims to boost the ranks of union workers...

Australia to Introduce ‘Unpalatable’ Counter-Terror Measures
(CNSNews.com) – Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Wednesday he did not want to introduce “unpalatable” new anti-terror regulations, but the threat faced by the country was real and the government had to act...

India’s Reversal on Iran Could Carry an Economic Cost
(CNSNews.com) – Iran says it will retaliate economically against countries that voted in favor of a resolution critical of its nuclear activities. The threat has particular relevance to energy-hungry India, which unexpectedly swapped sides and took a stand against Iran...

ON POLITICS

"The fact is, Democrats are determined to destroy any legacy George Bush might leave behind. From the beginning of Bush's first term they have been united in that endeavor, believing there is no other way for them to regain control of the reins of government. Unfortunately, the people who should know this, and who should be supporting the president too often leave him twisting in the wind, forgetting that in the long run it will not be just George Bush who is the loser; it may well be—come the next election—the Republican party and the country itself."

--- Lyn Nofziger

ON GOVERNMENT

"The government's responsibility...dwarfs anything done by criminals [after Katrina]. To start, the federal government invited disaster by offering cheap insurance. That encourages people to build on the coasts. I'm embarrassed to admit I once built a house on a beach in Westhampton, N.Y., because government insurance guaranteed I couldn't lose. When a storm washed my house away, government paid me for my loss. It would have covered me again and again had I rebuilt. (I sold the land.) Government insurance is truly an insane policy.

Then came the bureaucratic obstacles. While New Orleans hospitals had no electricity, the U.S.S. Bataan sat just off the coast, equipped with six unused operating rooms and hundreds of hospital beds. Its commander said she could do nothing because she hadn't received a signed authorization. It's reasonable to worry about getting the armed forces involved in law enforcement, but where's the threat to the Constitution if, in the middle of a disaster, a Navy doctor saves your life?

In other cases, private enterprise tried to help, but government got in the way. Wal-Mart offered truckloads of water, but was turned away by federal bureaucrats... The deadliest government mistake was made by Congress. The Army Corps of Engineers had said it wanted $27 million to strengthen the levees protecting New Orleans. Congress said no, though our can't-spend-your-money-fast-enough representatives did appropriate more than that for an indoor rain forest in Iowa.

Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, blamed the president. 'The president could have funded it,' she said. Someday, she should read the Constitution. Only Congress can appropriate federal money... Americans shouldn't filter so much money through Washington. Louisianans don't need Iowa rain forests, and Iowans don't need levees in Louisiana. Maybe the people who want to live in New Orleans should have to pay (through private enterprise or local taxes) the special costs of its exposed location—or live elsewhere. If all local projects, essential and whimsical, were paid for with local taxes, competition among states and cities would force them to become more efficient."

--- John Stossel

All emphasis mine - H.H.

French tighten security after alert over Paris terror attack

SECURITY is to be tightened in France after allegations that a group of nine suspected Islamic militants arrested on Monday had been plotting a terrorist attack on a high-profile target in Paris.

Blow to al-Qaeda as Iraq deputy is killed

UNITED States and Iraqi forces have shot dead the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq, dealing a "serious blow" to the militant group, a US commander said yesterday.

[SNIP]

Laith Kubba, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, called the killing of Azzam a "painful blow" to al-Qaeda, but warned that the group would probably carry out revenge attacks.

Azzam's death was followed by two other successes against the leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq, officials said.

The group's leader in the northern city of Mosul surrendered to the Iraqi military, and its leader in the town of Karabila, in the sensitive region near the Syrian border, was killed.

The Karabila leader, identified as Abu Nasser, died along with several others on Monday in a raid on the group's headquarters in the city, Mr Kubba said.

General Wafiq al-Samaraei, the Iraqi president's national security adviser, said Abu Nasser was killed in a US air strike.

The area near the Syrian border is key to the infiltration of foreign fighters joining Iraq's insurgency. Mr Kubba acknowledged that "foreigners move freely" in the region.
FULL ARTICLE.

Defiant Blair: Why I must stay in power

A DEFIANT Tony Blair yesterday staked his claim to remain Prime Minister, forcefully reminding the Labour Party of his achievements and laying down a long list of challenges he wants to tackle in the years ahead.

Whaaaattttt........ ? Exaggerations ? Rumors ?

How can this be? I had no inkling that our media didn't deal in facts. That they would deal in rumors, and distort facts is shocking to me; I must go lie down now.

Media, blushing, takes a second look at Katrina
The general in charge of Louisiana's hurricane relief has admonished reporters not to confuse questions with answers, and urged them to give the public facts -- not exaggerations and rumors that several media organizations now say corrupted coverage of Hurricane Katrina...

A Forgone Conclusion

I instinctively knew this, didn't you?

Illegal aliens outpace legals
Illegal immigration into the United States regularly outstrips legal permanent immigration and showed a dramatic increase from 2003 to 2004, according to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

"When Jill puts her house on the market for $450,000—triple what she paid 10 years ago, but the going price in her neighborhood today—the politicos understand that the 200 percent markup is the result of supply and demand in the real estate market. Senators don't call press conferences to denounce Jill as a profiteer. Attorneys general don't threaten to prosecute her. Governors don't compare her to looters. But when Joe's service station ups the price of gasoline by $1 a gallon, the political world freaks out. Never mind that a [Hurricane Katrina] devastated oil production throughout the Gulf Coast, depleting the nation's already strained refining capacity by 2 million barrels a day and driving up the price Joe's wholesaler is now charging him. For some reason, politicians forget everything they learned in Economics 101, and rush to savage Joe for 'gouging' his customers."

---Jeff Jacoby

MONEY, LIBERTY, AND FREEDOM

"My disappointment focuses around several distinct points. Primary among these is that I have had about all I can afford of 'compassionate conservatism.' Unnecessary deficit spending is neither conservative nor compassionate, and if someone discovers the budgetary difference between a compassionate conservative and a bleeding heart liberal, please, let me know. So far, my best guess is that the government would not grow nearly so quickly under the liberal as it has under the profligate conservative. My concern here is not just financial or economic, although only a fool would ignore all such concerns. My concern is Freedom. Money is power; and power is the source of all freedom. Without it, you have none. When more money is controlled by government, and not by individuals, we are all made less free. This sort of thinking is what was once known as plain 'conservatism,' and it is pretty darn compassionate, since it seeks to liberate individuals from bureaucracy, dependency and demoralizing levels of taxation."

---Mac Johnson

"Social Justice"

"[T]he Left frequently defines 'social justice' differently than Judeo-Christian values do. For most on the Left, 'social justice' means social equality and social fairness. It is not fair that some people have more than others. This is why the Left believes that courts should be far more than umpires when adjudicating justice: they should be promoting fairness and equality. The other difference...is that leftist ideologies are so preoccupied with 'social justice' that they generally ignore personal character development. Judeo-Christian values believe the road to a just society is paved by individual character development; the Left believes it is paved with action on a macro level. That is one reason the Left is far more interested than the Right, i.e., religious Jews and Christians and secular conservatives, in passing laws, whether through legislation or through the actions of judges. That is how the Left believes you make a better society. There is, incidentally, a second reason the Left passes so many laws: As the Left breaks down the self-discipline of Judeo-Christian religions, more and more laws are needed simply to keep people from devouring each other."

--- Dennis Prager

H.H. says Dennis is 'da man.

The collapse of the black family

"Consider that black households that are headed by married couples have median incomes almost 90 percent that of white households headed by married couples. The problem in the black community is that far too few black households are headed by married couples. Black social reality in New Orleans at the moment when the floodwaters started pouring in was fairly typical of black inner-city social reality around the country. Upwards of 70 percent of the households were headed by single parents, mostly women. When I discuss social statistics with audiences around the country, I invariably hear gasps when I point out that the out-of-wedlock birthrate today among young white women (30 percent) is higher than it was among black women 50 years ago. There, of course, remain residuals of racism in America today, and it's news to a lot of whites that black families were relatively intact, headed by married couples, in the '40s and '50s. Today's out-of-wedlock black births and single-parent households are triple what they were then. The collapse of the black family took off when big government programs, particularly welfare, were launched, compliments of black and white liberals, after the civil-rights movement."

--- Star Parker

NO BIAS HERE

Executing Teachers Makes You a “Fighter”?

It’s a grim story: “5 Teachers Slain…Sought Out by Fighters.” From Baghdad, Sabrina Tavernise reported very un-emotionally: “Armed men dressed as police officers burst into a primary school in a town south of Baghdad on Monday, rounded up five Shiite teachers and their driver, marched them to an empty classroom and killed them, a police official said.” She also referred to them as “gunmen.” So how does this act make them “Fighters” to the headline writers? Shooting down unarmed teachers? Wouldn’t it suggest a better word would be “terrorists”? Or at least “assassins”? (The subhead does not appear in the online version.)

Source: Times Watch

Gunfighters? They make it sound like the gunfight at OK Corral. These were teachers. They were murdered. Killed. Shot by terrorists. Got it?

President offers up oil reserves, says more needed
"President Bush yesterday offered to open U.S. oil reserves to alleviate fuel shortages caused by Hurricane Rita, but said the United States needs more refineries and less dependency on foreign oil to fix the nation's "fragile" energy infrastructure."

I wish we would quit allowing ourselves to be held hostage by the Eco-wackos/Greenies. 99% of us believe in protecting our world, our water supply, and our air. The fringe, rabid environmentalists are interested in destroying our capitalistic economy, and have no genuine interest in our environment; yet, we allow them to run roughshod over us.

To hell with them.

IS THIS A GOOD IDEA ?

Bush seeks to federalize emergencies
President Bush yesterday sought to federalize hurricane-relief efforts, removing governors from the decision-making process.

The Party of Fiscal Discipline

Brendan Miniter has written a piece for the Opinion Journal chastising the Republicans for their spending not just during this administration, but during prior years of Republican control stating, "Republicans have held the House for almost 12 years and have occupied the White House for all but eight of the past 25 years, yet they have failed to shut off the spending valves in Washington."

You can read his piece, "Penny-Wise Pelosi; Democrats try to reinvent themselves as the party of fiscal discipline" here.

The Republicans should take note of this. This is not fiscal conservatism, and they are supplying the Dems with political ammo.

Britain set to run out of fuel warns CBI boss

BUSINESSES could be forced to close down and lay off workers this winter because the country's energy reserves are so low, the director-general of the CBI warned yesterday.

Ex-Security Chief Blows Whistle on UN’s Kosovo Mission
(CNSNews.com) - Following five years of United Nations control and billions of dollars of international aid, Kosovo is a lawless region “owned” by the Albanian mafia, characterized by continuing ethnic cleansing and subject to increasing infiltration by al Qaeda-linked Muslim jihadists, according to a whistleblower interviewed by Cybercast News Service...

Michael Brown Says FEMA ‘Did a Good Job in Gulf States’
(CNSNews.com) - Former FEMA Director Michael Brown told a congressional panel on Tuesday that he made two specific mistakes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including his failure to recognize that state and local officials were not working together in Louisiana. He described himself as someone who knows what he’s doing when it comes to disaster response...

Frist Explains His Stock Trade As Opponents Pounce
(CNSNews.com) – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, under fire for selling millions of dollars of stock in the health care business founded by his family, issued a statement on Monday, telling the public “what I know and what I did.” His explanation, however -– that he was trying to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest -– has not satisfied Democrat and liberal groups, who suggest Frist traded on inside information...

Palestinian Rocket Fire Is ‘Cause For War’, Israel Says
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says that rocket attacks and infiltrations across the Gaza Strip border constitute a reason for war – just as if such attacks were conducted across the border of any sovereign state. “Our level of tolerance will be zero,” said Dr. Ra’anan Gissin warned on Tuesday...

North Korea Views Food Aid as Security Risk
(CNSNews.com) – The North Korean government worries about the security implications of having foreigners wandering around the country to monitor emergency food aid, and that’s one reason it asked the U.N. to stop the food deliveries, a North Korean political analyst said Tuesday...

India’s Vote Against Iran Seen as Important Shift
(CNSNews.com) – Iran has accused the U.N. nuclear watchdog of acting under American and European pressure, following the recent passage of a resolution critical of its nuclear activities...

The Expectation of Paternal Care

"I find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and the duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit... The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood."

---President Grover Cleveland

James Taranto notes, "Newsweek's Eleanor Clift, in a rare flash of insight, argues that "if the vote to confirm John Roberts were a secret ballot, . . . Roberts would rack up numbers like Ruth Bader Ginsburg (96-3) and Stephen Breyer (87-9)--both appointed by President Clinton--if Democrats didn't have to placate party activists so angry at President Bush they believe he should be opposed at every turn."

He also points out, "Incidentally, this is a good week for liberal Newsweek ladies. Clift's colleague Anna Quindlen makes an excellent point at the expense of Judiciary Committee Democrats: 'How could senators complain that they had not learned enough about the nominee when so many of them had wasted their allotted time giving pocket stump speeches?' "

John Fund has an excellent piece "A Swamp of Corruption; In Katrina's wake, Louisiana's political culture needs a cleanup too." You can click here to read it.

If They Would Only Give up Gaza........

.............there would be peace. Oh, that's right. They just did.


Stop Palestinian Attacks ‘By Any Means,’ Sharon Says
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – Israeli police went on heightened alert against terror attacks throughout the country Monday following a weekend of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli targets and Israeli counter-strikes on Palestinian militants...

THEY DANCED WITH WHO BRUNG THEM

Neal Boortz, commenting on Katrina and New Orleans, says:

"The poor stayed behind because they're mired in the sludge of generation after generation of dependency on government. The accomplished class knows that they bear the responsibility for meeting their own needs and providing for their safety. The poor by-and-large bear no such responsibility. To them, it's the government's job. Instead of taking responsibility for their own safety --- they just sat there, waiting for government to come and save them. The achievement-oriented residents of New Orleans were spared the horrors of the violence and filth that followed the flooding because they kept doing what they had been doing all along -- accepting responsibility. The poor were subjected to the violence and filth because they also kept doing what they had been doing all along -- depending on government.

Hurricane Katrina illustrated the truth behind the contention that poverty is a behavioral disorder. "

It's a good read and can be read here in its entirety.

And so the conversion process begins........

Congress Urged to Recognize the Beginning of Ramadan
(CNSNews.com) – An Islamic advocacy group is urging American Muslims “and other people of conscience” to contact their elected representatives and urge them to sign a House resolution recognizing the upcoming fast of Ramadan – and commending Muslims for their faith...

Could Have Been Worse.....

(Post Rolled Up)

UPDATE II: Monday, Sept 26th

Hip- hip, hooray. They're here!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: Monday, Sept 26th
Well, the tree service is supposed to be here in 1- 1 1/2 hrs (at 9:00 or 9:30 Central Time) to remove the big "friggin" tree from atop my house. We'll see. I'm hopin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, Sept 24th
Sorry for the lack of posts these last few days. A very large and damaging storm system went through the Minneapolis area, specifically the northern suburbs, on Wednesday evening, Sept 21st, around 7:00 P.M.

Heavy-Handed has been without power since then. Power to my home was just restored about one hour ago, this being Saturday, September 24th at 12:30 P.M.

Heavy has two trees down: one pine tree in my front yard, and "one big-ass" (these are not my descriptive words...these are the words of the potential tree remover) 50 year old silver maple tree in my back yard which decided to take up residence on my roof. It is ripped out of the ground and the root system snapped.

Postings may be indeed light for awhile as Heavy has a lot of work ahead including a house to be repaired. I am very thankful no one was hurt. I was not home at the time, but Mrs. Heavy and 14 year old Heavy Jr. had taken refuge in the basement and were quite scared when they heard the boom and the creaking and groaning of the house. Quite obviously, we were fortunate in that regard.

The man who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone else he can blame it on.

---Robert Bloch

People seem to get nostalgic about a lot of things they weren't so crazy about the first time around.

An expert is a man that has made all mistakes possible in a narrow field of expertise.

---Albert Einstein

COMPASSION

Definition of compassion: The neurotic compulsion of liberals to treat adult human beings as children.

Levee Funding

In the years prior to Hurricane Katrina, there were numerous factors that precluded the strengthening of New Orleans' levees. The primary burden for inaction lies with generations of corrupt Louisiana politicians, from the Huey Long dynasty forward. Despite the city's continued below-sea-level expansion, these crooked and negligent pols paid little regard to levee strength, even in the face of repeated warnings about their inadequacy. There were also successful legal challenges brought by environmental groups who blocked the expansion and hardening of levees in an effort to protect the neighboring wetlands. Indeed, New Orleans' hurricane-defense system—such as it was—would have been greatly improved by the Army Corps of Engineers had it not been for environmental lobby lawsuits in both 1977 and 1996.

In recent years, Louisiana has received more federal taxpayer-funded Corps of Engineer grants than any other state and has received more levee funding under the Bush administration than it did under the Clinton administration. However, that funding has been limited by massive boondoggle infrastructure projects like the 700-percent cost overrun for Ted Kennedy's Big Dig—$16 billion American tax payers spent on 7.5 miles of Boston highway that could have been spent on NOLA levees, but we digress.

The Levee Board diverted $15 million for overpasses to riverboat casinos.

The funding New Orleans did receive was often diverted by the city's Levee Board to other projects. For example, the Board spent $2.4 million of levee funding on a Mardi Gras fountain near Lake Pontchartrain, and $15 million more on overpasses to riverboat casinos. All the while, a big storm was on the horizon.

Source: Federalist Patriot

Israelis hit back at Hamas in Gaza

Israel launched a "crushing" retaliation yesterday against Hamas in Gaza with deadly air strikes and troops massed for a ground incursion after the militant group fired 35 rockets at Israeli towns -- its first major attack since the Gaza pullout.

Basra judge says freed UK troops must be arrested

AN IRAQI judge yesterday ordered the arrest of two British soldiers freed by their colleagues in a dramatic prison raid.