All they talk about is how to protect themselves. This is what government has come to. Think about that...government is supposed to be there to serve the people, not to serve itself.

--- Arnold Schwarzenegger

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has big plans to rule U.S., world

"Peace Palaces" are being built all over the United States.

They have been established in Houston, Fairfield, Iowa, Bethesda, Maryland, and Lexington, Kentucky. A new one is being planned in St. Paul.

They are part of an elaborate plan to rule the U.S. – and eventually the world.

You remember him? He was the cute little Indian guy who met the Beatles and discipled them ever so briefly back in the 1960s.

He's back. Now he is called "His Holiness" by his followers -- and even U.S. government officials. He is the founder of the Global Country of World Peace.

The main goal of the Peace Palaces is to establish global "peace" through Transcendental Meditation and other Eastern Mystic practices.

Critics call it little more than a form of hypnosis.

The "U.S. Peace Government" was established July 4, 2003, to bring "prevention-oriented, problem-free administration to America. Its mission is to prevent social violence, terrorism and war, and to promote peace and harmony throughout the world."

The president of the organization is John Hagelin, a former candidate for president of the United States back in 2000 on the Natural Law Party ticket. The U.S. Peace Government includes over 15,000 volunteer activists across the United States dedicated to this new, peaceful approach."

The group is currently seeking a suitable property for its national headquarters – from where it will rule the country.

"The U.S. Peace Government is more than a gigantic policy think tank," explains the group. "The US Peace Government will actually rule the country at the fundamental level of consciousness. It will not compete with existing governments, which are primarily concerned with the management of crises. Instead, it will silently prevent problems from arising by raising the collective consciousness of the country and dissolving the acute stress that is responsible for so much life-afflicting behavior, health-afflicting behavior, domestic violence, crime, terrorism, even war."

The group says it will "implement scientifically proven programs to effectively prevent problems — in health, education, defense, the economy, crime prevention and rehabilitation, agriculture, architecture, energy, and the environment."

"These programs will be offered and administered through “Peace Palaces” in the nation’s 2400 largest cities," the statement continues. "Each Peace Palace will also be host to several hundred peace-creating experts, whose daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation program and related technologies of consciousness will effectively defuse the acute societal stress that fuels violent, anti-social behavior. The Peace Palaces will radiate a tangible, measurable effect of peace, and act as oases of peace for our stress-ridden cities."

The goal is to establish "peace-creating groups on the state and national levels, including one large group of 8,000 experts to raise the collective consciousness of the entire country, bring national life into accord with Natural Law for freedom from mistakes and problems, and promote peace and positivity on a global scale."

The goal?

"The establishment of the U.S. Peace Government is, in part, to replace our corrupt, money-driven system, where elected leaders’ primary expertise is raising special interest money from corporate sponsors, with the principle of a 'meritocracy' — rule by the competent," explains the group. "But its primary purpose is to bring support of the deepest level of Natural Law and raise man-made government to be on a par with Nature’s Government, which administers the ever-expanding universe with perfect order."

Source: G2Bulletin

3rd Quarter Economic Growth Strong

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita haven't blown the economy off course. Economic growth clocked in at a surprisingly strong 3.8 percent pace in the third quarter, reflecting brisk spending by consumers and businesses despite high energy prices.

Student ghosts unmasked in Newton

Primary school cancels Halloween celebration

NEWTON -- When students at Underwood Elementary School walk to their classrooms on Monday, there will be no witches, SpongeBob SquarePants, or Johnny Damons there to greet them.

No skeleton paintings or Frankenstein tattoos, either.

The school's principal said yesterday he acceded to the complaints of a handful of parents who said that because the school's traditional Halloween celebrations offended their religious beliefs, they would not send their children to school if the revelry continued this year. MORE.

About Research...oops... Junk Science

This story, MIT Fires Professor Over Falsified Data, just helps underscore what I believe; and that is, one-half of research and/or studies only confirm that which we already know, and the other half is wrong.

BERKSHIRE BEATS THE IRS

LINCOLN, Neb. - A federal judge on Friday ordered the Internal Revenue Service to pay billionaire Warren Buffett investment company more than $23 million in taxes and interest for disallowing certain deductions.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Lyle Strom ended some three years of legal wrangling between Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and the IRS.

The case stemmed from two lawsuits that alleged the IRS made an "erroneous, wrongful and illegal" interpretation of the U.S. Tax Code when it denied the deductions. Yahoo News.

Economic Growth Strong Despite Storms

WASHINGTON - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita haven't blown the economy off course. Economic growth clocked in at a surprisingly strong 3.8 percent pace in the third quarter, reflecting brisk spending by consumers and businesses despite high energy prices. Yahoo News.

Scooter Out

Cheney Adviser Resigns After Indictment

WASHINGTON - The vice president's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation, a politically charged case that casts a harsh light on President Bush's push to war.
From Yahoo News

Denmark captures 4 terror suspects

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Four young men, suspected of attempting to make suicide bombings in an unnamed European city, were arrested by Danish police, according to reports from Copenhagen on Friday. ...Google News

"[T]he danger is not, that the judges will be too firm in resisting public opinion, and in defence of private rights or public liberties; but, that they will be ready to yield themselves to the passions, and politics, and prejudices of the day."

---Justice Joseph Story

ROSEANNE BARR, THE VILLAGE IDIOT

Putting her intelligence on display, Roseanne Barr articulated , "I could totally win [President Bush] in a mind contest... Like if it was like a psychic thing and he was like, okay Rosanne, bring your best powers against my best powers, even though he's like totally world-wide connected, and I'm not so world-wide, I could so totally still win on account of like being female, being a grandmother and like, you know, being intelligent. I could totally win."

Typical Hollywood pyscho-babble. What color is it in your world?

"I think it would be a mistake to make the military a 'first responder' in natural disasters, but FEMA should be reorganized along military lines. And the head of FEMA should always be either a National Guard general or a Coast Guard admiral. There are some jobs which require adult supervision. Too many of these are held by political hacks."

--- Jack Kelly

"The American people expect their elected officials to make sacrifices in a time of war, rising deficits, and disaster recovery. Unfortunately, many members of Congress are more committed to protecting a system that allows them to fund extravagant projects at the expense of the common good. Our refusal to prioritize spending and exercise restraint has created a rumble among the American people."

--- Sen. Tom Coburn

UN accuses Galloway and the Weir Group

THE controversial MP George Galloway and one of Scotland's leading companies were last night facing the threat of prosecution after they were named in a devastating United Nations report into the Iraq oil-for-food scandal.

Blair delivers blunt 'action' warning to Iran

TONY Blair last night issued a clear threat to Iran and suggested that military action against the Islamic republic could no longer be ruled out by the international community.

Volcker panel cites French, Russian firms
Russian and French firms dominated the list of companies that made nearly $2 billion in illicit payments to Saddam Hussein's regime in order to win contracts under the Iraq oil-for-food program, according to a massive new report released yesterday in a U.

Eco-Imperialism and the Drive to Destroy the Free Market

Commentary by Tom DeWeese

Max Keiser is a new kind of terrorist. He uses the Internet and boycotts to manipulate stock prices. In that way he forces corporations to comply with his brand of radical environmentalism and sustainable development. He puts his hands around corporate throats and squeezes until they comply with his demands. Max Keiser and his ilk hate business and they hate free enterprise and are using these tactics to redistribute wealth and cause chaos in the market place…

Iranian Masses Call for Israel’s Destruction
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his call to “wipe Israel off the map” on Friday as tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in anti-American and anti-Israel rallies...

Military Families ‘Disgusted’ by Sheehan
(CNSNews.com) – A number of Gold Star military families say they are “thoroughly disgusted with Cindy Sheehan and her publicity stunts.”

Protesters Target ‘Shocking, Secret’ Wal-Mart Memo
(CNSNews.com) – A pro-union, anti-Wal-Mart group plans to hold Halloween candy sales outside various Wal-Marts and Sam’s Clubs this weekend, with the proceeds going to offset the cost of Wal-Mart employees’ health care. The publicity stunt is intended to highlight what critics call the "Wal-Mart health care crisis."

Official Announcement Expected Friday Afternoon

(CNSNews.com) – Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has called a 2 p.m. news conference in Washington, but even before he spoke, media outlets thought they had the story nailed down. Here’s what they’re saying in Washington on Friday (Libby, not Rove)...

"People who think that they don't owe anything to anybody should read David McCullough's outstanding new book '1776,' to see what hell other people went through to create the freedom that we enjoy and abuse today."

--- Thomas Sowell

"Finger pointing does not provide answers to grieving relatives,"

Those were the words of Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. But, Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, also said the federal government must be better prepared to quickly step in disasters of Katrina's size.

Does that not sound like finger pointing?

"Bodies of people killed by Hurricane Katrina went uncollected for more than a week in the New Orleans area as the federal government waited for Louisiana's governor to decide what to do with them, according to memos released Thursday by a Republican-led House committee."

Remember when Gov. Blanco blamed FEMA for being to slow to recover the bodies?

"The 38 pages of e-mail between FEMA representatives and Pentagon officials contradict the contention by Louisiana's Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, two weeks after Katrina hit on Aug. 29, that the federal government was moving too slowly to recover the bodies." Full story.

House cracks down on frivolous lawsuits

WASHINGTON --The House on Thursday passed a bill that would take away lawyers' licenses if they repeatedly file frivolous lawsuits, the latest in a Republican drive to crack down on what they consider costly abuses of the legal system. Read more.

GOP Senators Brag about Gorging on Pork, Ignore Conservative Demands to Cut Spending

Since the 1980s, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has done an excellent job of bringing obnoxious pork barrel spending to our attention, but it looks like they have some serious competition these days. Republican Senators are beating CAGW to the punch by issuing press releases promoting their own pork.

[SNIP]

Lewis and Clark were great explorers, but it is doubtful that even they could have discovered the Constitutional authority for Congress to spend our money this way.

Read more.

Is China a Threat?

BEIJING -- The message from officials in this huge, shiny, booming capital is that China's military buildup does not connote desire to kick the Americans out of East Asia. Their assertion is buttressed by the clear impression that people here are interested in making money, not war. Yet, that members of the U.S. Congress see China's Communist regime as a threat is felt here to be endangering the relationship between the two powers. Read more.

"All Americans must tell blacks the truth. It was blacks' moral poverty—not their material poverty—that cost them dearly in New Orleans. Farrakhan, Jackson and other race hustlers are to be repudiated—they will only perpetuate the problem by stirring up hatred and applauding moral corruption."

--- Jesse Lee Peterson

"The minute you read something that you can't understand, you can almost be sure it was drawn up by a lawyer."

--- Will Rogers

"If it weren't for lawyers, we wouldn't need them." --- A. K. Griffin

You're a Bunch of Pampered Candy-Asses

Heh, heh. From Opinion Journal:

Meanwhile, the Salt Lake Tribune has a wonderful quote from First Lt. Bruce Bishop, a 31-year-old fireman, who explains that he plans to re-enlist in the Utah National Guard "because as I look around at the state of this nation and see all of the weak little pampered candy-asses that are whining about this or protesting that, I'd be afraid to leave the fate of this nation entirely up to them."




HeavyHanded says thanks for representing what is good about us.

QUICK LINKS

On the Editorial Page
BY VIET DINH AND NEAL KATYAL
It's time to rein in special prosecutors.

Peggy Noonan
America is in trouble--and our elites are merely resigned.

The Real World
BY CLAUDIA ROSETT
Corruption and conflicts of interest at the U.N.

Head of New Orleans' Levee Board Quits

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -

The head of the Orleans Levee Board has quit amid questions about no-bid contracts to his relatives in the days after Hurricane Katrina.
The final days of board president Jim Huey's tenure also had been marred by his collection of nearly $100,000 in back pay several weeks before the storm. Huey had led the board for nine years.

Huey defended the contracts and said he was legally entitled to the back pay. More.

Internet Information or Internet Infiltration?

COMMENTARY
By Paul M. Weyrich

Yes, there are problems with the Internet but for all its failings it has been a tremendous blessing. But it is profoundly threatened by a United Nations move to seize control of the Internet. The U.N. long has sought a dedicated source of revenue so it would no longer depend upon member nations to pay dues. What better way than to tax Internet use? Unless we’re vigilant, the U.N. could find thousands of ways to do so… Details

Iran Should Be Expelled From UN, Israeli Minister Says
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – Israel is asking countries around the world to condemn Iran for the “outrageous” comments made by the country’s president. The U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Spain, Germany and Russia all have done so...

Conservatives Pleased; Liberals Worried
(CNSNews.com) - American Values President Gary Bauer said President Bush showed "real leadership" in accepting Miers' withdrawal. Concerned Women for America said it wishes Miers "all the best in her future endeavors." And Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat, warned President Bush not to "reward the bad behavior of his right wing base." There's more...

"We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition, and that every person may here worship God according to the dictates of his own heart. In this enlightened Age and in this Land of equal liberty it is our boast, that a man's religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and holding the highest Offices that are known in the United States."

-- George Washington

MIERS WITHDRAWS

The news of the day (although the day is young and the left is still awaiting their daily predictions to come true that indictments will come in the Plame drama) is that Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination.

I, knowing nothing about her at the start, supported the President's choice and was all for letting the process play out. I did not jump on the early bandwagon of speaking against her nomination. I had recently, however, shifted to the neutral column on her appointment.

Now she has withdrawn, and I am comfortable with that. I strongly feel that this is all part of the process. No, she did not get her hearings before the committee, which I initially thought she should get; this largely in part because I knew nothing of her at the start. But the more people learned of her, the larger the groundswell became and wanted her withdrawal. The people spoke, and she and the President listened, although they did not like what they were hearing. It is all part of the process.

Now, I am really curious as to how President Bush reacts to this. And ultimately, will the foolish 14 gang of fourteen come into play.

Girl, 3, gets pioneering gene surgery

Revolutionary operation saves girl, 3, from fatal genetic disease

A GIRL suffering from a rare genetic disorder was sitting up in bed yesterday after undergoing a groundbreaking gene-therapy operation in the United States to try to halt her disease. More.

"Most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who were obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind."

---Henry Grady Weaver

John Kerry gave a speech at Georgetown University today, in which he offered the following brilliant insights on Iraq:

• "When they [the Bush administration] could have listened to General Shinseki and put in enough troops to maintain order, they chose not to. They were wrong."
  
  
• "General George Casey, our top military commander in Iraq, recently told Congress that our large military presence 'feeds the notion of occupation' and 'extends the amount of time that it will take for Iraqi security forces to become self-reliant.' . . . It is essential to acknowledge that the insurgency will not be defeated unless our troop levels are drawn down."

Apparently Kerry was for more troops before he was against it.
Source: Opinion Journal

Egypt Not Doing Its Job on Gaza Border, Israeli Lawmaker Says
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – Egypt is not fulfilling its obligation to prevent Palestinians from smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip, Dr. Yuval Steinitz, head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said on Wednesday...

So let me get this straight. Eqypt is being derelict in preventing weapons into Gaza. And Condi wants open gaza borders. Oh, and that little thing about Iran calling for the destruction of Israel.
I see. That's one hell of a game plan. Israel can't possibly object... can they?

MORONIC LIE OF THE DAY...

Democrats Say GOP Is Blocking Aid to Katrina Victims
(CNSNews.com) – House and Senate Democratic leaders charged Tuesday that Republicans are trying to take aid money away from the victims “to give tax cuts to the wealthy.”

‘Arrogant’ Black GOP Candidate Launches Senate Bid
(CNSNews.com) - Even before Maryland Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele announced on Tuesday that he was running for the U.S. Senate during the 2006 election, Democrats had labeled the first African-American to hold statewide office as “arrogant” and “out of touch.”

The Dems are using "strategery" again. If you are a black American and not part of the Democrat party, why, you might be just as despicable of a human being as a white conservative Christian male.

I Wonder if Condi Still Thinks Opening up the Gaza Borders is a Good Idea

Terrorists Attack With Iran’s Encouragement
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – A terror attack in the heart of the Israeli city of Hadera, north of Tel Aviv, on has killed at least four people and wounded more than a dozen others. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for Wednesday afternoon attack, which came after Iran’s president said a new wave of Palestinian attacks would wipe Israel “off the map.”

"It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen."

---Herodotus

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like … Negativity
As the leaves start to fall, the media are already in their holiday spirit of economic pessimism. They’ve been forecasting a bad Christmas retail season since August. But the National Retail Federation says consumers aren’t the Scrooges the media suggest.

Who’s Afraid of a Little Inflation?
Disco is just a party theme or a radio station playlist nowadays, but the media are clamoring about the 1970s. As several economists have pointed out, worries about widespread neo-Carter-era inflation based on higher gas prices are overblown and economically incorrect.

Iran Leader Calls for Israel's Destruction

Yahoo News
Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran -
Iran's hard-line president called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and said a new wave of Palestinian attacks will destroy the Jewish state, state-run media reported Wednesday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also denounced attempts to recognize Israel or normalize relations with it.

I saw in the news yesterday that Condi Rice was telling Israel to open up the border crossings in Gaza, making traveling easier so as to increase traffic flow back and forth. Can we say, all together now, "suicide"?

Frist broadens Senate debate on border security

"The Senate will take up border security as its first major bill next year, but the debate will include both guest-worker plans and a path to citizenship for illegal aliens, Majority Leader Bill Frist announced yesterday."

I'm concerned. Any immigration plan, whether authored or co-authored, by Teddy Kennedy has got to be a disaster. His last bill that was passed years ago opened the flood gates to illegal immigration.

George Galloway

Galloway: The senators scent blood

THE fate of George Galloway, the renegade anti-war MP facing allegations of taking money from Saddam Hussein's regime, could be decided by an architect of the Bush administration's "war on terror". More.

SHOCKING HEADLINES

Security Council Split Over Resolution on Syria
Washington Post

Islamophobia?

By Daniel Pipes
CNSNews.com Commentary

"An Islamist group named Hizb ut-Tahrir seeks to bring the world under Islamic law and advocates suicide attacks against Israelis. Facing proscription in Great Britain, it opened a clandestine front operation at British universities called "Stop Islamophobia," the Sunday Times has revealed."

Read the rest of the commentary here. It's worth reading.

PETA Pans Breakthrough in Breast Cancer Treatment
(CNSNews.com) - A significant development in treating breast cancer is being hailed by experts as “stunning” and “very exciting,” but one group is downplaying the breakthrough because animals were used in the testing process...

Democrats Suffering From ‘Ethics Vertigo,’ Republicans Charge
(CNSNews.com) - Almost two weeks after former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance, a North Carolina Democrat, was sentenced for misusing taxpayer money, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee still has not returned the thousands of dollars in “dirty money” that Balance contributed to the DCCC, the National Republican Congressional Committee wants everyone to know...

British MP Denies US Oil-For-Food Allegations
London (CNSNews.com) - A controversial British legislator challenged U.S. senators to charge him with perjury Tuesday after a Senate subcommittee accused him of lying under oath. George Galloway, member of Parliament for a district in east London, said he was prepared to immediately travel to Washington to defend himself against the allegations...

Iranian Dissidents Square Off in DC
(CNSNews.com) - A news conference conducted by self-described Iranian dissidents descended into chaos on Monday as audience members and two journalists accused the speakers of spreading disinformation and being Iranian intelligence agents. An hour and a half into the National Press Club event in Washington, D.C., organizers halted it and Capitol police were called in to keep order...

Yahoo News
A.P. News

NEW YORK - Notes in the hand of a federal prosecutor suggest the chief of staff to Vice President
Dick Cheney first heard of the covert CIA officer central to a leak investigation from Cheney himself, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said notes of a previously undisclosed June 12, 2003, conversation between I. Lewis Libby and Cheney appear to differ from Libby's grand jury testimony that he first heard of Valerie Plame from journalists. Full story.

Draft Constitution Adopted by Iraq Voters

Yahoo News
Associated Press

Iraq's constitution was adopted by a majority in a fair vote during the country's Oct. 15 referendum, as Sunni Arab opponents failed to muster enough support to defeat it, election officials said Tuesday. A prominent Sunni politician called the balloting "a farce."

Galloway faces new Iraq charges

Maverick British lawmaker George Galloway solicited and received nearly $600,000 in profits for himself and a charity he ran from secret deals under the Iraq oil-for-food program, Senate investigators charged yesterday.

CLARITY

Captain Ed, commenting on the failed Coburn Amendment in which Senator Coburn was trying to redirect some pork spending towards New Orleans in place of "looking" for money elsewhere. (You may read this as tax increase.)

What did we get? Fifteen votes out of a hundred. Twleve votes out of 55 Republicans. Of the GOP presidential hopefuls, only George Allen supported Coburn. The rest either couldn't be bothered to show up (McCain) or outright voted against it (Frist, Coleman, Reed, Dole).

We worked our butts off to get a GOP majority in both houses of Comgress for better fiscal management -- and yet in one simple test, only 12 of them vote to support their supposed party platform.

So now we have GOP majorities and capture the White House but can't cut pork, can't confirm conservative attorneys on the Supreme Court, and open up new entitlement programs worth billions of dollars for prescription medication?

Talk about a moment of clarity.

Conquering America by Da'wa

"...Some countries will fall to the armed Islamic jihad, but in others, such as the United States, victory will come through Da'wa - the teaching of Islam to non-Muslims - which will trigger Westerners to convert to Islam 'in droves.' We will conquer America not by the sword but by Da'wa."

---Cleric Yusuf Qaradawi making predictions a decade ago, at a Muslim Youth conference in Ohio.

AND NOW..............

Islamist School Wins Dept of Education Award

Philadelphia, PA - PipeLineNews.org - Jihad through Da'wa [conversion of non-Muslims] in the form of domestic Islamic education has gotten a boost from an unlikely source, the U.S. government.

The administration has just presented the New Horizons Islamic School in Pasadena, California the United States Department of Education's "Blue Ribbon for Excellence" award; the first ever award to a Mulsim school. Full story.

RUMORS OF BIN LADEN'S DEATH SURFACE AGAIN

Pakistani News Reports Osama bin Laden Died Four Months Ago.
Story here.

Democracy's Slow Death

"[T]he American state is still inhibited by the moral habits and legal traditions of Christian civilization. There are some things we can usually be sure our rulers won't even try to do to us, though the old restraints are weakening alarmingly and the law is increasingly the plaything of the strong. It's another bad sign that the decay of law is called 'progress' and 'democracy.' In a sense, of course, government—the power of the strong—should be limited; the individual should be able to defend himself against it. But government will never control its own power, and we only confuse ourselves by talking as if it would or could. We can only try to divide its power, keep it as local as possible, and prevent its consolidation in a single center... The victory of the North over the South was actually the victory of the Union over the 'free and independent states' affirmed in the Declaration of Independence and reaffirmed in the Articles [of Confederation]; it denied the right of the states to secede under any circumstances whatever. After the Union victory, the Constitution was changed to weaken the states further, especially by the Fourteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments. More recently we've seen the evisceration of the Second, Ninth and Tenth Amendments, and lately, in the Kelo case, the Fifth. What some call the advance of 'progress' and 'democracy' is really the long, sad story of the increase of the government's power over us."

---Joseph Sobran

"[T]he simple truth—born of experience—is that tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people. The prospect of tyranny may not grab the headlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do. But few saw the Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed—where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once."

---Federal Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski

"For the past 20 years conservatives have been articulating the philosophy of originalism, the only approach that can make judicial review democratically legitimate. Originalism simply means that the judge must discern from the relevant materials—debates at the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers, newspaper accounts of the time, debates in the state ratifying conventions, and the like—the principles the ratifiers understood themselves to be enacting. The remainder of the task is to apply those principles to unforeseen circumstances, a task that law performs all the time. Any philosophy that does not confine judges to the original understanding inevitably makes the Constitution the plaything of willful judges."

---Robert Bork

"Hate-crimes laws are attempts to penalize ideas—bad ideas, but ideas nonetheless. Under these statutes, those who commit, say, assault or harassment motivated by animus toward a particular group (characterized by race, religion, nationality or gender) receive harsher punishment than criminals who hate their victims merely as individuals. The extra punishment is for holding anti-whatever views. In essence, hate-crimes laws are a species of mind-control. That their proponents purport to be champions of free speech is instructive."

---Don Feder

"Norms, values, and ethics are a precondition of ordered liberty, a free society, and a market economy. Their sources are family, community, and religious faith. Without them, disorder runs rampant within the human heart and within society. The family is the paramount human society which is threatened by the licentiousness (there is no other word for it) promoted by businesses such as Victoria's Secret, Hollywood film studios, breweries, and Super Bowl promoters. Rather than celebrating fidelity and self-sacrifice in the context of stable family life, they promote self-indulgence that pollutes the public square from which it is impossible to insulate one's family or oneself."

---G. Tracy Mehan III

"The bottom line is that while some might think [Supreme Court nominee Harriet] Miers' religion provides an early indicator of her view of the interplay between morality and the law, her faith does not do much to bolster the case that she would be faithful to the Constitution. By itself, it provides no reason to support or oppose her nomination. Faith is too precious to be used as a trumpet or as a sword by those who either support or oppose a nominee."

---Joseph Cella

"Heaven has crowned all its other blessings, by giving a fairer opportunity for political happiness, than any other Nation has ever been favored with."

---George Washington

Well, we wasted that opportunity didn't we? I fail to see any political happiness now. Only political misery.

From Dhimini Watch

Over 10,000 Saudi Students bound for the United States

How else should we reward our certified ally in the war on terror? From Asharq Al-Awsat:

More than 10,000 Saudi students will travel to the US to attend university as part of a government-sponsored program following the adoption of new measures by the Ministry of Higher Education aimed at facilitating travel procedures for Saudis. In total, 21,000 Saudis are expected to take part in the program in the next four years.

All About Iraq
Opinion Journal

Patrick Fitzgerald is really investigating a policy dispute. Read op-ed here.

Minuteman volunteers vow to keep border secure
Washington Times

Known as "J-Man," the 25-year-old college student moves silently along a rock-strewn ridge overlooking the Playas Valley here, looking for aliens and drug smugglers crossing the rugged high desert into the United States from Mexico. More details.

Iraqi women take up arms
Washington Times

While most Iraqi women live in fear of terrorists and criminals, one small band of women has taken up arms and is prepared to fight back. More details.

"... [The Judicial Branch] may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments."

--- Alexander Hamilton

Lebanon arrest after UN probe on PM's death

LEBANON has moved swiftly after an explosive UN report that implicated Syria in the assassination of its former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri, by making one arrest and imposing a travel ban on 11 senior political and security figures. More..

Brazilians Reject Proposed Gun Ban

Yahoo News
and AP

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Brazilians soundly rejected a proposal to ban the sale of guns in a national referendum Sunday, striking down the bid to stem one of the world's highest firearm murder rates following a campaign that drew parallels to the U.S. gun control debate.

Brazil has 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, but a staggering 25 percent more gun deaths at nearly 40,000 a year. While supporters argued that gun control was the best way to staunch the violence, opponents played on Brazilians' fears that the police can't protect them.
Full story.

All 117 Feared Dead in Nigeria Plane Crash

Yahoo News
and Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria - Twisted chunks of metal, ripped luggage and mangled bodies turned a swath of woods into a grisly scene after a Nigerian passenger plane carrying 117 people crashed shortly after takeoff and officials said Sunday that all aboard were feared dead.

Red Cross and government officials said search teams found no sign that anyone on the Boeing 737 survived when it plunged to earth Saturday night after leaving Lagos, the biggest city in Nigeria.

"It was a very pitiable sight. The aircraft was partly submerged (in the ground) and broken into several pieces," said Fidelis Onyenyiri, chief of the National Civil Aviation Authority. "There were similarly no survivors from what we saw."

The State Department said one American was on the flight.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, grieving for his wife who died in Spain within hours of the crash, asked "all Nigerians to pray for all those aboard the plane and their families."

Confusion reigned for hours after the disaster, reflecting sometimes inefficient government in this West African nation of 130 million people and its freewheeling air transport system in which a dozen local airlines fly from chaotic airports where crowds fight over seats in planes.

Abilola Oloko, spokesman for Oyo state, where the Bellview Airlines jet went down, initially reported that more than half those on the doomed plane had survived. But he reversed himself a few hours later, blaming chaos at the crash scene for conflicting reports.

Initial reaction is that terrorism is not the expected cause. Full story.

Four U.S. Contractors Killed in Iraq

Yahoo News

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An angry mob of insurgents attacked a convoy of American contractors last month when they got lost in a town north of Baghdad, killing four and wounding two, the U.S. military said on Sunday.

One of the contractors was made to kneel and then was shot in the back of his head. Another contractor was doused with gasoline and set afire and burned alive while, "Barefoot children, yelping in delight, piled straw on to the screaming man's body to stoke the flames."

The crowd then "dragged their corpses through the street, chanting anti-U.S. slogans," the report said.

The contractors were employed by Kellog, Root and Brown and the brutality took place on September 20th but is just being reported now.

Let's see if this gets the same media coverage and expressed outrage as the story of rotting Taliban corpses getting burned in Afghanistan by American soldiers has been getting.

Don't hold your breath. Hat tip to LGF and The Political Teen.