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June 30, 2005
Let's not forget
That this is the face of the American "anti-war" Left:
Keep that in mind when reading Jeff Goldstein's and John Cole's posts on the continuing mendacious "chickenhawk" meme.
If the supporters of Iraqi/American victory in Iraq are supposed to "shut up" unless they actually enlist and lift a rifle, then the opponents need to "shut up" unless they lift a rifle or a bomb belt against American troops.
No?
Then recognize that supporters of victory have the right to support American troops and an American win against jihadists by whatever means are available to them, including speech just as the Left is using speech (and giant puppets) to defeat America.
We either fight jihadists over there, or we fight them here.
And in case you find that case "over blown", don't forget this either.
Posted by Darleen at 07:30 AM | Comments (2)
June 29, 2005
Getting an 'A' for arson ...
Well, at least this story involving a public school teacher and her males students doesn't involve sex:
HOUSTON - A chemistry teacher who was at least three months behind on her car payments gave passing grades to two failing students who stole and burned her car so she could collect insurance money, a fire investigator said.Somehow, I don't think the standards under No Child Left Behind includes auto insurance fraud. Guess Tramesha didn't get the memo.Aldine Senior High School teacher Tramesha Lashon Fox, 32, was charged with insurance fraud and arson, and the two students were charged with arson.
Roger Luna, 18, and Darwin Arias, 17, had been failing Fox's class up to their final exam. But Arias received a 90 and Luna an 80, grades high enough for them to pass the semester, said senior fire investigator Dustin Deutsch of the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.
Posted by Darleen at 01:02 PM | Comments (2)
More PC creepiness in History
Recall the stories of American History textbooks airbrushing out FDR's famous cigarette holder clenched in his toothy grin. Looks like the Brits have decided to hold a celebration of a famous historical naval battle, but to hide the identity of the participants least the losers be offended.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain celebrated an epic naval victory Tuesday but a descendant of its hero Admiral Horatio Nelson said the Battle of Trafalgar bicentenary was trying too hard not to offend historical enemies France and Spain.A highlight of the world's biggest naval review was featuring two fleets enacting a 19th century sea battle.
But they have been called simply the red and the blue fleet rather than by country names, which has sparked a shot across the bows from Nelson's great great great granddaughter.
"I am anti-political correctness. Very much against it. It makes fools of us," said 75-year-old Anna Tribe.
Posted by Darleen at 12:47 PM | Comments (2)
To those anti-Iraq liberation advocates
... and you know who you are ... the ones waxing nostalgic for Papa Saddam's secure rule (and really would like American's to forget 9/11) ... THIS is what you don't want the rest of us to understand:
A large majority of Palestinians credit Palestinian violence for forcing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to come up with the plan to evacuate Israeli communities from the Gaza Strip, a leading Palestinian pollster and analyst said.There is nothing that will stop the jihadists then taking the fight to them and utterly defeating them.... according to Dr. Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in Ramallah, Palestinians now welcome the disengagement and believe that it is a victory for their armed struggle.
This isn't just an armed struggle, this is definitely a character struggle.
Are you a person ready to compromise on your freedom for love of [temporary] security?
Osama, al Qaeda, Taliban, Islamic Jihad, Hezzbollah, Hamas are counting you are.
Posted by Darleen at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
Sometimes an empty collar means something else
Ever since I lost Feathers I've been living vicariously through the tales of other peoples furry family members. And one of the places I enjoy lurking for stories and great pictures is Laurence Simon's kitty-filled abode.
That abode is today, one less of a fabulous queen, Edloe.
I'm so sorry for your loss, Laurence.
Posted by Darleen at 06:47 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2005
Souter to learn the ways of chickens
Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.
On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.
Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land. ...
"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."
hattip The Jawa Report
Posted by Darleen at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
The Cotillion Ball V
The days have lengthened, the warm summer air is perfumed by roses, jasmine, honeysuckle and all manner of green and growing things, the evenings are sultry ...
... And the Ladies of the Cotillion bid you welcome to their weekly social. Iced tea in the parlor, white sangria on the porch, Wild Turkey in the garden. Today's hostesses:
Rightwingsparkle
Not A Desperate Housewife
Knowledge Is Power~SondraK.com
Maxed Out Mama
Enjoy!
Posted by Darleen at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2005
Late, but still here
Monday is almost over.
Hell, yeah
My co-worker is on vacation (double the already overwhelming work), an agency records officer is calling me to try and dig dirt on her cadets (another agency officer warns me just before hand) and then I get a frantic call from my dad (and my dad is NEVER frantic).
He took my mom to the hospital as she was experiencing severe abdominal pain.
It's evening and the tests seem all negative -- no blood in her abdomen, no blockage, no appendicitis (Good lord, deja vu as I had Siobhan in the ER early this year with abdominal pain). Doc's believe mom is suffering from adhesions (scar tissue) from her 25+ year old hysterectomy impinging on her small intestine. So they're just going to keep her in the hospital for a couple of days.
Had to admit, when I was saying my goodnights and I love yous, mom was quite mellow. About that time I could have used a shot of her drugs, too.
So let me cheat a little tonight and just offer up some linky goodness:
I haven't had time to read the latest SCOTUS decisions they handed down today on the Ten Commandments, but EM of The American Princess has been following the cases for sometime. She offers excellent commentary.
I had to smile at Christina of Feisty Repartee's tale of intrigue and power struggles with her 4 y/o daughter. I love my girls to pieces but I'm so glad the youngest is 17 and will be away at college come late August!
In the midst of a discussion about retirement that turned into discussing Social Security Rightwingsparkle was startled to find out I don't pay any. None. Nada. I'm a government employee and am covered under a qualifying pension plan that belongs to me. Completely. In MY name. Did you know that there is about SEVEN MILLION similarly situated people across the nation? And how come the rest of you are kept out of the club, with Soc Sec never really belonging to you at all?
Do you like film noir? Tales where the men are hard-boiled and the dames are dangerous? Well, check out 100 words or Les Nessman today (I had so much fun I submitted 2 entries in the comments).
Jeff Harrell has been on an incredible writing jag as of late. I look on in awe and envy. And today he does a masterful job of dissecting the lastest chic feel-good campaign. This man puts moves on bloviation like an Iron Chef does on sashimi.
Mieke (a liberal, but I like her anyway... heh) at kidsquared (she has two adorable boys) has been startled by some of the stuff she's seeing at her boy's preschool and asks those of us who are moms of daughters about raising girls.
Last, but certainly not least, remember tomorrow is Cotillion Tuesday.
Ok, I lied. THIS tidbit is last ... the ladies of the Cotillion have something very special planned for the 4th of July. Stay tuned.
Night all. Don't forget to say "I love you" to the ones you love.
Posted by Darleen at 08:29 PM | Comments (1)
June 26, 2005
A table is not a cat - and other rants
Hello? :::tap:::tap::: Is this thing on? Are words appearing? Last I looked I believe I'm writing in American English so would someone clue me in why the hell I find I'm having to restate myself, sometimes in great detail, to even get an agreement on friggin' terms with people who disagree with me?
If you and I use the word "table" in a conversation we will agree that when we say "table" we are talking about a piece of furniture usually used to set things upon, be it food, books or flowers. Then we can go forth and argue the merits of four legs vs pedestal knowing that we both understand what "table" means. But if I'm thinking "table" and you include "cat" as a legitimate example of "table" we are never going to progress beyond a knock-down-drag-out scream fest when I protest when you start screaming that I'm a supporter of animal abuse because I don't see anything wrong with putting one's feet up on the table.
This is what has annoyed the crap out of me each time I get into an argument about "torture" vis a vis Gitmo.
Cats are not tables and playing playing loud rap music is not torture.
I happened to catch a bit of Hugh Hewitt's show last week when he had his Smart Guys segment specifically discussing Durbin's dumbass remarks. Hugh spent more than one segment trying to pin down Erwin Chemerinsky on what torture is and is not.
Erwin refused to give a straight answer (well, no surprise there ... Chemerinsky is a paid mouthpiece for four of the Gitmo detainees)
So if you have included infidel American soldiers touching Korans with ungloved hands, females interrogators (with or without reading Harry Potter to detainees), sitting in a 100 degree or 60 degree room for less than 24 hours and being subjected to the music of Christina Aguilara as torture we are not going to have an agreement on the term in which to have a intelligent debate.
Ok. We can discuss the Aguilara music thing.
This conflating of fringe items into serious terms is not a new strategy. Gender-feminists were really good at gaining media attention with this tactic when dealing with subjects like sexual harassment. Christina Hoff Summers exposed this tactic in Who Stole Feminism? Huge problem with sexual harassment in high schools? Well, like most reasonable people you just might be alarmed at the idea of gangs of horny young males roaming the ivied halls of high schools across the country, pinning nubile young females against lockers, feeling them up and laughing at their protestations.
What you would not think that in the category of "sexual harassement" (and to inflate the statistics) one might find "overhearing an unwelcome off-color joke."
Whaa....?
And do I need to get started on the subject of "same-sex marriage"? Good Lord, merely breathe there is a reasonable argument against it being ordered by judicial fiat and suddenly I find myself -- not arguing the merits -- but defending myself against charges of homophobia and wanting gays to die. Discuss legal precedence? Discuss historical institutions and traditions? Point out the legislators realm in crafting contract law?
Hell, no! Included in the vast realm of anti-gay, suppressed homosexuality, shriveled hate-filled soul out to keep gays from the EQUAL RIGHTS is any statement that can be interpreted as less than pom-pom shaking cheerleading of same-sex marriage.
And I say that with a particular amalgamation of amazement and disgust because I actually think same-sex marriage is a worthy goal even as I oppose all efforts to achieve it through judicial fiat.
HELLO? HAS NOT DECADES WORTH OF CULTURAL INTERCINE WARFARE OVER ABORTION TAUGHT YOU NOTHING?
And if there is one phrase guaranteed to make me push myself away from the 'puter, least I rip it off my desk and heave it through the 2nd story window (and follow it) -- it goes something like this:
"I don't want morality legislated. I don't want someone's morality shoved down my throat. The law shouldn't be decided by someone's morality."HUGE HINT you addle-pated public-schooled, certificate-in-cooperative play but no clue to what the Consitution says or what the Federalist papers are ...
All Law is based on morality. The question only remains WHOSE morality and TO WHAT EXTENT it will become codified in law.
THAT is where I begin my discussion and debate with others. On those very basic terms. I'm on my last nerve telling idiots that cats are not tables.
Posted by Darleen at 09:15 PM | Comments (7)
Holy Mary M o G
I'm in friggin' shock. Yowzer.
Though, I'm hoping that shocks me out of my writer's block. I've got an article I've written, deleted, rewritten, torn my hair out with...
you all know the drill
[going to mix a margarita]
Posted by Darleen at 06:08 PM | Comments (2)
June 24, 2005
I did it again!!
The competition is fierce (but friendly) over at 100 words or Les Nessman. Each day a new challenge and excellent writers to rise to it.
Today is my second time being honored by having my story promoted to the front page. Of course, if you read it, you'll know exactly where I got my inspiration.
Thanks, guys and gals!
Posted by Darleen at 09:30 PM | Comments (2)
post-Kelo, the knives are out in Texas
Jeff Harrell has a thoughtful post on Kelo v New London, though I was surprised that he gives his reluctant support of the majority, based, if I'm reading him correctly, on the reasoning that if a city has an economic downturn, they have the "right" to correct it by any means necessary. In this instance, it's taking private property that was not blighted and handing it over to another private entity on the promise the latter can "do better" than the original owners.
And some cities, it seems, have been just waiting behind the grinding wheel, lovingly getting the butcher knives sharpened just so and wasting no time once SCOTUS delivered the meat
officials in the beachfront town of Freeport, south of Houston, said they would move aggressively to condemn property owned by two seafood companies to clear the way for an $8 million private marina.Blood on the floor, ladies and gentlemen, blood on the floor.
Posted by Darleen at 12:57 PM | Comments (3)
It's official... the libs LOVE the Kelo decision
Jeff Harrell in the comments below points out the NY Times own editorial praising the SCOTUS ruling that your house is only your house until someone else can convince your city council they can do a better job of it.
The Supreme Court's ruling yesterday that the economically troubled city of New London, Conn., can use its power of eminent domain to spur development was a welcome vindication of cities' ability to act in the public interest. It also is a setback to the "property rights" movement, which is trying to block government from imposing reasonable zoning and environmental regulations.As Jeff said, notice the "scare" quotes around "property rights"? Notice the lauding of the public interest without scare quotes? Notice how anyone unfamiliar with the particulars of the Kelo case (individual homeowners in a non-blighted residential neighborhood, Victorian era waterfront homes) might think it wasn't about people keeping homes they lived in but some nefarious plot usurp environmental regulations?
New London's development plan may hurt a few small property owners, who will, in any case, be fully compensated. But many more residents are likely to benefit if the city can shore up its tax base and attract badly needed jobs.Hey, hell, what a grand idea! Sacrifice the few to serve the many!
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
That's the ticket.
And now that the NY Times says it's so, watch the meme that those grasping, nasty Kelo people weren't deserving of protection anyway seep into the Left blogsphere.
Posted by Darleen at 12:04 AM | Comments (3)
June 23, 2005
So far, leftists silent on SCOTUS ruling
that Government Knows Best how to use your property. Nothing from the Kossacks (who are busy calling Rove a traitor and fake menstrual blood torture), nothing from Joshua Marshall, silence from Asstrios (who also has this Rove fixation) ...
Meanwhile, the conservative and libertarian blogsphere (me included) is exploding in sheer disbelief that now, if Starbucks casts a covetous eye on your abode and can convince the city council they can bring more revenue in taxes than you do because, well, all you do is live there, you might as well start packing cuz your house is toast (served in triangles, sprinkled with Hawaiian cane sugar and Sri Lankan cinnamon accompanying an Espresso Macchiato).
But the Left has never really been about individuals anyway. They'll even suspend their knee-jerk hatred of anything business as long as the power of the government to suppress the individual in favor of a "collective" good is increased.
Small sampling of non-leftist outrage:
Florida Cracker
The American Princess
Michelle Malkin who also has a long list of links
Jeff Goldstein designates it perfectly as The Attack of the Judicial Nannystate
Powerline
Stones Cry Out ... a must read for Californians
Posted by Darleen at 09:04 PM | Comments (11)
Summer conversation 6:45 pm, backyard
Me: mmmm... steaks?
Him: yes, ribeye.
Me: rare, please.
Him: I know, I just turned it. I think it needs a couple more minutes.
Me: take it off now.
Him: Now?
Me: Now.
Him: But the juices haven't started to ...
Me: Now.
Him: It's going to be raw!
Me: Now.
Him: (resigned) Alright. But mine still has about 5 or more minutes.
Me: Yep, you need your recommended daily allowance of carbon.
Posted by Darleen at 06:55 PM | Comments (2)
A bright line between Left and Right
One of the tenets of the American Left is that groups "rights" trump individual rights, especially if some "group good" can be cited. This is where you get the dilution of the word "rights" into a child's letter to Santa of "wants." Medical care is a "right", education is a "right", to not be offended by Christians and Jews is a "right".
Allow people to keep even a portion of their payroll taxes as a retirement account? NEVER! The Left finds individuals much too stupid to be trusted with their own money. Allow people to vote on whether or not same-sex marriage should be allowed in their state? NEVER! Individuals are way too consumed with homophobia and too easily manipulated to be trusted to vote on this issue.
And if you want a clear example of how this breaks down along philosophical lines, then understand how the American Left, and the leftside of the SCOTUS, believes property rights are subservient to the "group good."
WASHINGTON (AP) - A divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses against their will for private development in a decision anxiously awaited in communities where economic growth often is at war with individual property rights.Look at the justices who joined O'Connor in her dissenting opinion that handing carte blanche to localities to seize private property at will is an abomination of the Constitution:The 5-4 ruling - assailed by dissenting Justice Sanday Day O'Connor as handing "disproportionate influence and power" to the well-heeled in America - was a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They had argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.
As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue.
O'Connor was joined in her opinion by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, as well as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.Individual rights are moot if property rights are invalidated. Remember this ruling well the next time you hear Leftists engage in hysteria of how it is conservatives that are a threat.
hattip Kevin at Wizbang
Posted by Darleen at 12:49 PM | Comments (4)
Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder
She knows the score and she's not afraid to speak out about it. A must read interview with the fierce anti-facist, Oriana Fallaci. Fallaci is staying in New York because going back to Italy will subject her to possible prison.
What crime did Oriana commit?
one of the most renowned journalists of the modern era has been indicted by a judge in her native Italy under provisions of the Italian Penal Code which proscribe the "vilipendio," or "vilification," of "any religion admitted by the state."Fallaci, who fought actual fascists during WWII is not shy about what is happening in Europe.In her case, the religion deemed vilified is Islam, and the vilification was perpetrated, apparently, in a book she wrote last year--and which has sold many more than a million copies all over Europe--called "The Force of Reason." Its astringent thesis is that the Old Continent is on the verge of becoming a dominion of Islam, and that the people of the West have surrendered themselves fecklessly to the "sons of Allah." So in a nutshell, Oriana Fallaci faces up to two years' imprisonment for her beliefs--which is one reason why she has chosen to stay put in New York. Let us give thanks for the First Amendment.
"Europe is no longer Europe, it is 'Eurabia,' a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense. Servility to the invaders has poisoned democracy, with obvious consequences for the freedom of thought, and for the concept itself of liberty"The basic value of Western Civ is the sovereignty of the individual, and we can easily observe that huge chunks of that have been stripped in Europe, suppressed in Canada and is nibbled away in the US with every dilution of the meaning of the word "rights" and vilification of the word "morality."...
"You cannot survive if you do not know the past. We know why all the other civilizations have collapsed--from an excess of welfare, of richness, and from lack of morality, of spirituality." (She uses "welfare" here in the sense of well-being, so she is talking, really, of decadence.) "The moment you give up your principles, and your values . . . the moment you laugh at those principles, and those values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period."
Posted by Darleen at 06:08 AM | Comments (1)
June 22, 2005
Burn, baby, burn
Nope, nada, no way. I can't stand watching the American flag desecrated but I will not sign on for this
WASHINGTON - A constitutional amendment to outlaw flag burning cleared the House Wednesday but faced an uphill battle in the Senate. An informal survey by The Associated Press suggested the measure doesn't have enough Senate votes to pass.The real advantage of not outlawing flag-burning is that it really makes it easier to recognize the barking moonbats in one's midst.
Posted by Darleen at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)
Crap
Looks like that great sucking sound you hear around payday is going to continue
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the acquiescence of their leaders, key House Republicans are drafting Social Security legislation stripped of President Bush's proposed personal accounts financed with payroll taxes and lacking provisions aimed at assuring long-term solvency.
Posted by Darleen at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
Even ladies get moody ...
... especially when they cast pearls without getting even a porkchop in return.* This is what I came up with last night:
RightGirl is running with the image, too.
*paraphrase of a Frank O'Connor quote to Ayn Rand
Posted by Darleen at 06:45 AM | Comments (5)
June 21, 2005
Another voice on Terri Schiavo
If you have sampled the Cotillion links you'll run across Jody of Steal the Bandwagon's post. I want to call it to your attention because she was a member of the Blogs for Terri and she offers up a though-filled post upon her participation and what she saw as the extremism that grew out of the effort to see Terri be afforded due process.
IMHO, I still find the smirking and lipsmacking by the pro-euthanasia side of the Terri affair unseemly. She was a severely brain-damaged woman in no danger of dying. Her death was imposed and imposed by a court that could have legally ruled a "life default" in the absense of Terri's written instructions and in the face of family members willing and able to care for her until a natural death.
And please don't labor under the impression that the autopsy proves Terri had PVS. Michelle Malkin read the whole thing and gives a sober assessment of it.
My concern will always be with protecting the rights of the most vulnerable members of our society from being eliminated because they become inconvenient for some.
Posted by Darleen at 01:13 PM | Comments (2)
Cotillion Ball IV -- Ready to Rhumba?
Your Tuesday Dance hostesses this week for The Cotillion:
Crystal Clear
Tammy of A Mom and Her Blog
Sadie of Fistful of Fortnights
I not only enjoyed my own hostessing duties last week, but the Cotillion is really giving us a chance to shine our dance shoes and practice our steps. The entries just keep getting better!
Kudos to this week's hostesses and all the participants.
Posted by Darleen at 06:27 AM | Comments (3)
June 19, 2005
Oh! Criminal tidbit
One of those things that make you go "huh?"
Police booking report across my desk listing all the arrestee's vitals... name, date of birth, height, weight, etc
including a description of all his tatoos
I guess this guy was just trying to save us time ferreting out all his identification numbers... one of his tatoos was his CDC -- CA Dept. of Corrections -- (state prison) number!
Posted by Darleen at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2005
And while I'm away, I pose this question
Jeff Harrell has a provocative post on Durbin and how his remarks are right -- in the rhetorical sense of how so many people engage in moral equivalency. You know, "bad is bad", whether it's swiping a chocolate bar from a 7/11 or sawing the head off Wall Street Journal reporter. Some good discussion going on in the comments and I'm going to repost a comment I made there:
Take a moment and think on this -- how is the Geneva Convention enforced?It's not. There is no GC police force or courts.
The GC holds force only by the goodwill of its signatories and the incentives provided by the way it is written.
Islamists in general and al Qaeda in particular are not signatories to the GC AND in both word and deed they reject the GC.
What incentive does al Qaeda or other non-signatories have to actually become signatories if they know they will be treated to the full power of the GC and never have to abide by it themselves?
The GC makes clear distinctions between civilians/POWs and others. And it puts the responsibility of harm to civilians who are used as shields on the people who USE them as shields (ie when Islamists hide among civilians the Islamists are 100% responsible for any harm to civilians, even if the harm is from American or Iraqi National soldiers)
You'll get no argument from me that a lot of "wrong"/"immoral" things can still be legal. However, no one has yet to tell me WHY it is wrong, when we are still at war in keeping irregulars captured on the field of battle sequestered until a resolution of the war/hostilities.
When al Qaeda sues for peace and negotiates a cease-fire/surrender, THEN we can talk a timetable for the release of people from Gitmo.
Posted by Darleen at 07:16 AM | Comments (4)
Geez, I hate getting up early on Saturday
but today I'm going with Siobhan for off-campus freshmen orientation.
Another excuse for the college to ding me $150 for the two of us to attend (mandatory) 7 hrs of workshops and class registration.
See y'all later!
Posted by Darleen at 07:11 AM | Comments (1)
June 17, 2005
Dick Durbin's viewing pleasure
I caught a bit of Hugh Hewitt's show and, as on most Fridays, they do movie lists. Today they were compiling a list of movies that Durbin should watch this weekend. I'll start with my recommendations.
- Schindler's List
- The Killing Fields
- Midnight Express
What would you like to add?
Posted by Darleen at 06:03 PM | Comments (2)
Congratulations!!
To Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester of Nashville, Tenn., the first woman since WWII to be awarded the Silver Star.
According to military accounts of the firefight, insurgents attacked the convoy as it traveled south of Baghdad, launching their assault from trenches alongside the road using rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Hester and her unit moved through enemy fire to the trenches, attacking them with grenades before entering and clearing them.Also receiving the Silver Star in the same action are Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein of Henryville, Ind., and Spc. Jason Mike of Radcliff, Ky.She killed at least three insurgents with her M4 rifle, according to her award citation. In the entire battle, 26 or 27 insurgents were killed and several more were captured, according to various accounts. Several Americans were also wounded in the firefight.
Congratulations also in order for Capt. Nicole Malachowski for earning a spot on the Air Force Thunderbirds. hattip Jeff Harrell
Posted by Darleen at 06:35 AM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2005
Oh for heaven's sake...Would everyone get a grip?
It was just an earthquake..and not a very big one at that.
At the courthouse, we were close enough to the epicenter to catch the P-wave (a small precursor wave). I was sitting at my desk (4th floor) when I felt the small shaking. I had enough time to start saying "hey! Earthqua..." when the main wave hit. It was a good shake -- desks rattled, a few office mates jumped up to run to door frames. It seemed to last longer than the Anza earthquake of last Sunday morning.
Our building has special rollers in the sub-basement. After the major wave went by the building glided, like a boat in a slip, as the energy dissipated.
I found the whole thing quite exciting, though, some of my fellow co-workers weren't as enamored of the experience and cast me dirty looks as I stood up and exclaimed
"Land surfing! Ride it baby!"
Posted by Darleen at 06:45 PM | Comments (2)
Got another one ...
MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - A top aide to Al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been captured in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, the US military revealed.Mohammed Khalaf Shakar, also known as Abu Talha, is "Zarqawi's most trusted operations agent in all of Iraq," a military statement said Thursday.
Posted by Darleen at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)
Hmmm...who do I sue?
California, San Fernando Valley, Granada Hills ... Fall of 1959 I started kindergarten at Rinaldi Street Elementary School.
It was one of those typical schools built in Southern California in the late 40's through 50's. A low-slung, one-story affair of concrete, steel and brick, a playground fully covered in asphalt. Utilitarian and easy to build since the babyboom was in full swing.
Remember paper monitors and pencil monitors? You know, the kids in charge of passing out supplies to the class. In my school there were also window monitors.
Funny thing So. California -- we'd start back to school just after Labor Day and right in the midst of some of the hottest weather of the years. Triple digit temperatures for days on end. Rinaldi School had no air conditioning and when it was hot the window monitor would open the windows, the lights would be turned off and we'd read or color or sometimes just put our heads down for a rest. I've just realized something ...
I was educated in a GULAG!!!
Posted by Darleen at 12:37 PM | Comments (2)
June 15, 2005
Terri Schaivo - what does the autopsy mean?
Seems with the autopsy being released there is some preening going on. I've already had a few pointed emails, since I did post that I thought the court was wrong to allow Terri to be euthanized.
Does Terri's autopsy change my mind? No, not at all. Because Terri's condition was irrelevant. I said so in my very first post on the subject:
I think even debating whether or not she is PVS (permanent vegetative state) is irrelevant. Please understand, her condition is IRRELEVANT. Her parents and her siblings are willing to care for her.I have eschewed the hatefilled rhetoric of both sides...those that would have either Michael or Terri's parents as Satan.Incarnate. The people who sent extremely vicious hatemail to people like Charles Johnson or Michele are just as worthy of strong condemnation of their abject indecency as those that made gruesome jokes about Terri (there was a "Terri blog" with all the entries consisting of "grunts" and there was another one dedicated to thinking up things one could "do" with her "dead" body). I just want to slap each and everyone of these people up alongside the head.This issue is "she can be cared for" VS "she can be killed."
And I took a chance and explained why I wanted the law to err on the side of life. It was still consistent with my first post about the irrelevancy of either Terri's condition or Michael's motivations.
So the autopsy doesn't change my mind at all, because it was never a core concern. As Bill eloquently puts it:
This doesn't critically undermine many of the ethical arguments on either side of the issue, but it certainly kills much of the over-the-top hyperbole and inaccuracy surrounding her condition.Others with some very thoughtful posts:
Kevin at Wizbang
Rightwingsparkle
Trevino at Redstate.org
Posted by Darleen at 07:00 PM | Comments (21)
Live from Iraq
Michael Yon practically draws a flowchart of how the news usually gets from there to here. Then --
But news of a baby girl with a circulatory condition who needed surgery getting medical help from U.S. soldiers and a concerned nurse did not become a SIGACT, nor will it be included in a media release. So, unless a reporter was embedded with that unit at that time--and decides to tell the story--no one will ever know this one small, but powerfully important detail. There are a thousand such details falling like trees in a forest, but no one is listening for those kinds of sounds.What can I add? So much of the American elite are so steeped in Europhile nihilism that they know in their bones that American military is made up of yahoos, knuckledraggers, gangbangers and NASCAR lovers who do nothing more than blow up things and beat "people of color." They believe any news of good coming from an area they have deemed "illegal" and a "failure" has got to a Rovian conspiracy.I write about them when I can, but there's an irony to all of this that is hard to escape. Most of the acts of kindness I witness are done from an instinctive altruism that almost always seeks anonymity. And there is that other problem with catching people doing good--the cynical media is quick to ascribe cheap motivations to soldiers who reveal their humanity through their decency. And does anyone really care about the soldiers who, after having arrested a suspected insurgent, then spent the next twenty minutes trying to find a home for the two little puppies he was keeping?
Posted by Darleen at 06:47 AM | Comments (4)
June 14, 2005
The Cotillion Ball III
Swing Time
Welcome one and all to the third Cotillion Ball. I'm honored to share hosting duties this week with Right Girl and Denita of Who Tends the Fires. I hope you've brought your comfortable dance shoes because I'm here to whirl you through the heady synergy of the Swing Gals on the Right.
And synergy is the keyword. American history and culture is the perfect example no more easily demonstrated than by Swing. This musical artform gives full big band orchestration to the pulse and passion of jazz -- a vibrant, wildly optimistic music written at a time when Americans were clawing their way back from the Depression and then found themselves plunged headfirst into a world at war. The music form was fathered and crafted by artists of all ethnicities and loved by its fans of many backgrounds. Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, the Dorsey Brothers, Duke Ellington -- the list goes on and on.
You'll notice the varied and unique voices the Cotillion showcases, the synergy we bring to the Right of Center realm of political/cultural/pop Americana. Pay no heed to the Miserable Mandys and Sad Brads that stand, arms crossed, just outside the open door blathering that we are nothing but prigs, prudes and hypocrits. We lead not just with our brains, but our hearts and we hold our values close even as we kick up our heels and lose ourselves in the sharp, sly and heady sweetness of the music.
Listen to Begin the Beguine (3.5 Mb) as I begin my part of the Cotillion:
Stacy of NotADesperateHousewife caught some of a broadcast of a radio "sex-therapist's" show that has her wondering when the line between advice and license (if not outright advocacy) was crossed. As Stacy quotes "Just Because You Have The Right To Do Something Does Not Mean That It's The Right Thing To Do".
Rightwingsparkle offers up what she promises is the first installment of a series of posts analyzing this month's Vanity Fair. She starts with Christopher Hitchen's article in which he discusses his meeting with Hossein Khomeini (the grandson of Ayatollah).
Sissy of sisu minces no words in a slam against those attempting to usurp the memorializing of 9/11 at WTC -- she appropriately labels them Grave Robbers. Sissy's post also provides some great links and updates.
Kate of small dead animals has been on the road and reports in briefly from Minneapolis. The guys who have been guestblogging have been actually doing a very good job. Don't be drinking your orange juice while reading Jeff Goldstein's entry -- oj is a *itch to clean off the monitor. Kate is due back today and I hope the guys have taken out the trash, restocked the liquor cabinet and removed the stains (we do not want to know what they were or how they got there.)
Just as the most rewarding music is a many layered one ( melody/harmony/theme lines) Jody of Steal The Bandwagon celebrates the differences between the genders and warns that using one's difference as an "excuse for failure" is really a reflection on the excuse maker, not the society.
Zendo Deb of TFS Magnum experiences what most of us feel when we read of tragic cases of domestic violence -- a loss to understand the obsession. Sometimes we don't always know the answers, but asking the right questions, as Zendo does, is a start.
If you're not making Emily Zanotti of The American Princess a regular morning read, you are indeed missing a rousing good time. That gal can dance! And when she gets started on evil chocolate chip cookies and the mistress behind the recipe ... well, just know that after apologizing to the world about Hillary you know you will never want to be on [wink] Emily's list.
As bloggers, many times we are glued to the news, to the shock and awe of the unexpected tragedy of others. And sometimes we should take a step back and consider before we write. Such words of wisdom are what The Anchoress offers as she explains her first and last post on Natalee Holloway.
Fausta of The Bad Hair Blog has also had guest bloggers keeping the homefires burning. A thoughtful and link-enhanced essay examining how the Geneva Convention is being used against the people it was ostensibly crafted to protect is offered by Mary.
Mary Katherine at Townhall.com C-Log catches a discussion by Ken Mehlman of The Doctor of Scream Dean's remarks and it inspires her to write a campaign spot -- straight forward, true and very effective. knock, knock Hello? RNC? Are you paying attention??
Did you know that a bunch of ferrets is a "business?" Neither did we, but Denita of Who Tends the Fires not only clues us in with that bit of trivia but also takes us on a warm and poignant journey of having ferrets in the house with tiny dancing feet.
So wraps up my portion of this week's Cotillion. My thanks to wearers of the Cotillion tiaras -- Beth, Jody and Janette for allowing me this opportunity to host!
Posted by Darleen at 12:01 AM | Comments (4)
June 13, 2005
Been insanely busy today ...
... geez, I thought things might calm down a bit after Siobhan's graduation.
Ha!
And in the midst of it all I've been working to get my hosting duties of tomorrow's Cotillion Ball squared away ... you know, run-free stockings, garters straight, the right shade of lipstick, new mascara, body glitter ....
Right now I want to offer something different. A girl's gotta feed the engine once in a while and I ran across this awesome recipe, a a twist on strawberry preserves, that will set your mouth to watering. There's some local strawberry fields and stands within a few blocks of my house and after all our rain, the strawberries have never been so sweet. This sounds like another great way to use 'em. Thanks, Mamamontezz!
Posted by Darleen at 08:58 PM | Comments (3)
Coming Tuesday ...
The Cotillion Ball III
Posted by Darleen at 07:15 AM | Comments (2)
June 12, 2005
Earthquake!
Just now, shook through here.
UPDATE: According to this near-realtime information, a 5.6 earthquake occured at about 8:42 am, 20 miles south of Palm Springs (6 miles ESE of Anza, CA).
Posted by Darleen at 08:44 AM | Comments (2)
June 09, 2005
Who to believe? Anonymous or named?
Jeff Harrell highlights this article from Howard Fineman. As Jeff points out, Fineman's first paragraph is model of self-parody.
I’m sitting here with a gloomy letter from Iraq, written by a high-ranking officer I cannot name in a branch of service I cannot name in a part of the country I cannot name. But trust me, because I trust him.Umm, y'think after the spanking Newsweek took over the "anonymous source" on Koran-flushing Fineman might not want to use such a "letter" as his framing device for the article.
Ooo... doom, gloom and Vietnam "parallels" -- Fineman practically wallows in his prose.
Let me counter, just a tad, with a NON-anonymous source. Someone living, breathing and heading to Iraq. I present Basam Ridha Alhussaini.
SAN DIMAS - More than 23 years ago, Basam Ridha Alhussaini escaped Iraq, fleeing the regime that had killed his two brothers for refusing to join the ruling Baath Party.Basam isn't going with rose colored glasses. He knows the dangers.
Today, Alhussaini returns to his homeland to begin working as an adviser to new Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.The San Dimas resident will play a role in the future of the wounded country, its democracy, its rebuilding and its new beginning.
"Iraq is making a big turn historically, and I want to be a part of this," Alhussaini said. "I'm leaving my family and going to a hostile environment, but to me it's worth being part of that."So while Fineman "sows doubt" about how Iraqis "don't really want" democracy based on his anonymous letterwriter, Alhussaini puts his name and his life on the line to see democracy succeed.Looking to the future, Alhussaini sees stumbling blocks that stand in the way of Iraq's success. Neighboring countries such as Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, where leadership is passed down through generations, don't want democracy to succeed in Iraq, he said, because those countries will be next.
"If democracy is successful in Iraq, their people will revolt against them. It will not be good for them," Alhussaini said.
Who ya gonna believe?
Posted by Darleen at 11:35 AM | Comments (7)
Important! Please take the time
to read this from SondraK. They are asking for our help in sending letters to the members of the 82nd Airborne. The fine men and women of our military need to hear from home and they deserve our love and admiration. Please email either Stepperg or SondraK for more info.
Posted by Darleen at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
Incredible... just ...
Comment from the previous post.
The attempt of the "Right" to demonize an imaginary "Left" by constantly invoking 9/11 is a truly disgusting spectacle.imaginary Left? I realize that the political labels are inadequate to cover the subtle mixes of values within each general sphere; however, to dismiss that there is a Left is pretty breathtaking. Especially from a commenter who presents himself as someone dedicated to "clear" writing.
Well, Thersites, you're welcome to do more than just a hit-n-run read through my blog entries and you'll find I differentiate between the Left and liberal. Indeed, I've decried that the anti-left liberalism that was the hallmark of the JFK (as in Kennedy, not Kerry-gawdforbid) Dems has been subsumed by the Dean/Kucinich/Soros faction of Leftism.
And I certainly don't need to demonize the contemporary American Left. Have I misconstrued their plans for the WTC site? Have I mischaracterized the anti-American rhetoric of AI's Irene Khan? Have I been mistaken about the Europhile meanderings of American Leftists who believe in assuaging the feelings of the UN over American interests or law?
I'm an AMERICAN, not just because I was born here, but because of the values I hold -- the foundational value being that sovereignty resides in the individual.
That is not something the Left believes in, that is one of the reasons they so eagerly embrace "moral equivalency" arguments (ie Gitmo = Gulag).
Posted by Darleen at 06:17 AM | Comments (5)
June 08, 2005
Burying 9/11
Within days of the Islamist act of war upon the United States some of the usual members of the American Left tried to dismiss it as America's fault. They decried the impromptu street memorials, the display of American flags and what they deemed as jingoism speeches and articles of patriotic unity.
And it looks like the Left is going to have the last laugh on the rest of us.
The World Trade Center Memorial will break ground this year. When those Marines return in 2010, the year it is scheduled to open, no doubt they will expect to see the artifacts that bring those memories to life. They'll want a vantage point that allows them to take in the sheer scope of the destruction, to see the footage and the photographs and hear the personal stories of unbearable heartbreak and unimaginable courage. They will want the memorial to take them back to who they were on that brutal September morning.More than 3 1/2 years ago we were subjected to one of the worst attacks on American soil in our history. But where are the films from Hollywood? Where are the documentaries running on the anniversary with all the film of the jets slamming into the WTC, the people running through the streets, the dust boiling with such ferocity it became a living, malevolent creature?Instead, they will get a memorial that stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the yearning to return to that day. Rather than a respectful tribute to our individual and collective loss, they will get a slanted history lesson, a didactic lecture on the meaning of liberty in a post-9/11 world. They will be served up a heaping foreign policy discussion over the greater meaning of Abu Ghraib and what it portends for the country and the rest of the world
The public will be confused at first, and then feel hoodwinked and betrayed. Where, they will ask, do we go to see the September 11 Memorial? The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation will have erected a building whose only connection to September 11 is a strained, intellectual one. While the IFC is getting 300,000 square feet of space to teach us how to think about liberty, the actual Memorial Center on the opposite corner of the site will get a meager 50,000 square feet to exhibit its 9/11 artifacts, all out of sight and underground. Most of the cherished objects which were salvaged from Ground Zero in those first traumatic months will never return to the site. There is simply no room. But the International Freedom Center will have ample space to present us with exhibits about Chinese dissidents and Chilean refugees. These are important subjects, but for somewhere -- anywhere -- else, not the site of the worst attack on American soil in the history of the republic.The Left is burying the history of 9/11. It is immoral. It is simply unconcionable, almost beyond words.
hattip Jay Tea at Wizbang -- he has many related links
Posted by Darleen at 07:12 AM | Comments (7)
June 07, 2005
Iraq's 'insurgency' -- anything but
Of all the arguments I run across on the Left-side of the blogsphere, one of the strangest deals with Iraq's insurgency. The killing of Americans and other Iraqs is dismissed when done by insurgents. The Left imbues them with a moral cachet -- after all, they are just native Iraqis fighting the invader and occupier, right? Were not the French resisting the Nazi's insurgents?
My answer is, no, they are less the French Resistance and more representative of the German Resistance -- the Werewolves who launched attacks, post WWII, against Americans and other Germans.
In addition, much of the Iraq insurgency doesn't even involve Iraqis, but a myriad of Islamists from well outside Iraq's borders.
Wednesday's edition of the Washington Post runs an important article on the Syrian connection.
For more than two years, by his [Abu Ibrahim] own detailed account, the slightly built, shabbily dressed 32-year-old father of four has worked diligently to shuttle other young Arab men into Iraq, stocking the insurgency that has killed hundreds of U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqis.Regardless of the rhetoric that if America were just more understanding or more accepting of Islam, all would be pink bunnies and fluffy clouds, the reality is starkly different. Islamists don't even consider the wishes of Iraq citizens legitimate if they deviate from the Islamist goals.The stream of fighters -- most of them Syrians, but lately many of them Saudis, favored for the cash they bring -- has sustained and replenished the hardest core of the Iraq insurgency, and supplied many of its suicide bombers. Drawn from a number of Arab countries and nurtured by a militant interpretation of Islam, they insist they are fighting for their vision of their faith.
Few other details of Abu Ibrahim's account could be verified independently. But the structure of the human smuggling organization he described was consistent with the assessments of U.S. and Iraqi officials who closely study Syria's role in the insurgency.Understand? It's not about OIL.Those interviews also echoed earlier accounts of Iraqi insurgents, including descriptions of the role of a Syrian cleric known as Abu Qaqaa in promoting a holy war, or jihad, against the West.
Their goal ... is restoration of the Islamic caliphate, the system that governed Muslims before the rise of nation states. Abu Ibrahim said he regarded Afghanistan during the Taliban rule as one of the few true Islamic governments since the time of Muhammad.I am at a loss why I keep encountering people who willfully dismiss such pronouncements, who refuse to allow any of their thoughts to dwell on the ideology of a people that would happily, and with relish, wipe them out."The Koran is a constitution, a law to govern the world," he said.
If you really rub their noses in it a usual response is "yeah, right, as IF anyone is going to invade the US and set up a Islamic theocracy."
No, I don't expect that. But that doesn't preclude such people from perpetuating attacks on Americans and American interests worldwide and even bringing the attacks on American soil yet again.
Abu Ibrahim said. "But September 11 gave us the media coverage. It was a great day. America was defeated. ..."NOTICE it's not "defeat Israel and Sharon" or "Help our brothers in Palestine." It is about wiping out the JEWS. I don't know how to make it any clearer, to say it with anymore force. We truly are in the midst of a Clash of Civilizations -- between a modern world, America at the forefront, with a value system that celebrates the sovereignty of the individual and eagerly embraces modernism -- and then confronts an anti-human ideology wrapped in religious trappings, that yearns for a return to a 4th century existence, with a collectivist-sovereignty core. They are NOT...repeat...NOT interested in compromise, negotiation or co-existence.Two weeks after the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon, the group felt bold enough to celebrate in public in Aleppo with a "festival," as it was called, featuring video of hand-to-hand combat and training montages of guerrillas leaping from high walls.
Jihad was being allowed into the open. Abu Ibrahim said Syrian security officials and presidential advisers attended festivals, one of which was called "The People of Sham Will Now Defeat the Jews and Kill Them All."
Anyone -- Christian, Jew, Sunni, Shiites -- whoever cooperates with the Americans can be killed. It's a holy war.Yes, it is. The issue at hand -- identifying who is on what side.
Posted by Darleen at 09:09 PM | Comments (3)
Wanna bet?
One can't help looking at yet another performance art piece from PETA without wondering these people need a life! I need to pay more attention when they stage these things ... I'd love to show up with a portable BBQ and grill some thick porterhouse steaks -- rare, of course! -- and proceed to eat in front of them.
And the irony! I'll bet you these "meat is murder" acolytes are probably in the pro-abortion wing of the pro-choice movement.
hattip Eric at Classical Values
Posted by Darleen at 01:01 PM | Comments (3)
The Dance continues ...
The Cotillion
The Hot Gals of the Right have gathered again this week to present a plethora of views on a myriad of subjects. You will find, as you wander from salon to salon, that we are distinct individuals and our views are as varied as our gowns. Grab your dance card and take a whirl across the floor. Do mark down, too, that I will be one of your hostesses next Tuesday, June 14th.
This week the party hostesses are:
Dance I: E.M. Zanotti at The American Princess
Dance II: An American Housewife
Dance III: Merri Musings
Posted by Darleen at 06:10 AM | Comments (3)
June 06, 2005
Oh! Kewl!
James Lileks has started another column within his Bleats:
Screedblog -- excerpt:
The latest example of the US Army’s Koran Humiliation Initiative has that headline-grabbing word: URINE. You’d think Private Anderson swaggered over, unholstered Private Johnson and let loose a pounding stream of tangy intentional desecration on the book as it was clutched to the sobbing breast of the terrorist. (Sorry, detainee.) Of course, what really happened was slightly less horrible; someone took a leak outside the cells, and the gentle Caribbean breeze carried a jot of pee through a ventilation grill, where it lit upon the Koran.
[monty burns voice]
Excellent!
[/monty burns voice]
Posted by Darleen at 02:58 PM | Comments (1)
June 05, 2005
Another question ...
Jeff at Beautiful Atrocities points out all the "Islamic" products on the market, from Mecca Cola to Muslim UP.
Considering the people murdered over the faux stories of American "desecration" of the Koran --
Will a fatwa be issued against me if I use Mecca Cola as a post-coitus douche?
Posted by Darleen at 10:23 PM | Comments (1)
Ok, that was just weird ...
TV commercial...romantic, guy and gal in canoe on the water ... suddenly between their feet the boat springs a leak.
He starts to get flustered, she confidently reaches over and pulls a Tampax out of her purse and, insert/plunge, plugs up the leak.
WTF?
Posted by Darleen at 08:02 PM | Comments (5)
I cried ...
I've always enjoyed other people's birthdays. Mine? Uh...very mixed feelings.
Growing up in So. Cal, inevitably the hot sunny weather of Memorial day makes a sharp u-turn into the marine-layer gloom of the first couple weeks of June. Some of my earliest memories is of having my mom moving the birthday party inside because it would start to rain. I remember when I was about six ... and the black/white picture of it reminds me ... the weather was dark and damp and I'm trying hard to smile amongst my neighborhood friends all laughing over cake and goodies. I'm in my robe because I've been ill...within the next few days I'd be back in the hospital again.
Many of my birthdays have been so colored.
Yesterday was grey, too, but my husband Eric handed me a beautifully wrapped box -- my favorite shade of lavender, the color of sterling silver roses - tied in a white satin ribbon. Under the wrapping, a plain white box, within the box a red satin heart box from my favorite chocolate shop. See's candy on my birthday! Saturday to be spent with a good book and a box of chocolates ... sheer decadence. I opened the box and, yes, chocolates - marzipan and bordeaux - but in the middle of the box was another box.
I lifted it out, opened it, and there on cream colored velvet --
pearls
earrings, solitare pendant and a ring, set delicately in white gold with diamond accents.
it was so.... unexpected! It may be gray outside, but it is pure sunshine within.
... sudden, happy tears.
Posted by Darleen at 05:38 PM | Comments (1)
June 03, 2005
My apologies...
We've been doing some belated spring cleaning, the garage and years of accumulated ... er... stuff. Piling it into keep, toss or sell mounds.
Lord, we've already filled a dumpster and if the weather holds nice tomorrow I hope most of the rest gets sold.
Sorry if the posting is light.
I really want to write extensively on Gitmo and the Geneva Conventions. I just do not agree with those of you who believe that Gitmo is somesort of horrible violation of international law or even of US law. Is the subject controversial? Yes. Are there reasoned differences of opinion? Again, yes. But that doesn't translate into the Bu$Hitler is turned the US into a Xtian/Zionist fascist theocracy stylings I keep encountering on leftist sites, let alone the facile sophistry of Amnesty International's "Gulag" Khan who has stated her boredom with the run-of-the-mill torture/murder in non-Western climes and is utterly besotted with the idea of "hidden" or "secret" torture in the West. Yum Yum.
A link to all the actual articles of all four Conventions can be found here.
If you've missed it before, I have a copy of the American Bar Association Task Force on Terrorism and the Law, Report and Recommendations, dated January 4, 2002, link here. Fine primer on American law, including discussion of Ex Parte Quirin.
You might also be interested in what Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the President, said before the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security on 2/24/2004, link here
To suggest that an al Qaeda member must be tried in a civilian court because he happens to be an American citizen or to suggest that hundreds of individuals captured in battle in Afghanistan should be extradited, given lawyers, and tried in civilian courts is to apply the wrong legal paradigm. The law applicable in this context is the law of war those conventions and customs that govern armed conflicts.And, last but not least, my thoughts had run to posting about the German "werewolves", a post WWII "insurgency" little discussed in contemporary history. Lo and behold but that the History Channel TODAY is running a program on this subject, Nazi Guerillas.Under these rules, captured enemy combatants, whether soldiers or saboteurs, may be detained for the duration of hostilities. They need not be guilty of anything; they are detained simply by virtue of their status as enemy combatants in war. This detention is not an act of punishment but one of security and military necessity. It serves the important purpose of preventing enemy combatants from continuing their attacks. Thus, the terminology that many in the press use to describe the situation of these combatants is routinely filled with misplaced concepts. To state repeatedly that detainees are being held without charge mistakenly assumes that charges are somehow necessary or appropriate. But nothing in the law of war has ever required a country to charge enemy combatants with crimes, provide them access to counsel, or allow them to challenge their detention in court and states in prior wars have generally not done so.
More later.
Posted by Darleen at 04:15 PM | Comments (1)
June 02, 2005
Virtual vacation
Jeff's home!!!. More than that, he has graced us with writing about his travels.
Go. Read. Now. Jeff writes so clearly, so lyrically, you find yourself with him along the beach and on the ocean.
Start with Arrivals
Then Stopover, Provisioning, Departure, Anchorage, and Shelter. And the adventure isn't done yet!
Wow.
Just.
Wow.
Posted by Darleen at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)
Yep, it's Reuters on the US is the 'new gulag' bandwagon
this from Reuters runs in the WaPo.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Human rights group Amnesty defended its description of Guantanamo prison as a "gulag" Thursday and urged the United States to allow independent investigations of allegations of torture at its detention centers for terrorism suspects.AI is trying to brazen out its clearly unsupportable analogy.
"The administration's response has been that our report is absurd, that our allegations have no basis, and our answer is very simple: if that is so, open up these detention centers, allow us and others to visit them," Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Zubaida Khan told a news conference.Ah! Looks like "Gulag" Khan admits that her charge is unfounded, pulled out of her ass for one reason only ... She's pissed because she hasn't been given unfettered access to any place she determines where she wants to go. Hell, why not accuse that the White House itself has secret torture rooms and then demand,
"Well if you don't have anything to hide, let me poke through the Oval Office, test the mattress in the Lincoln bedroom and fondle the White House china."
Then we get to a line in the Reuters report, no scare quotes around it, just a line presented as fact
The United States holds about 520 men at Guantanamo, where they are denied rights accorded under international law to prisoners of war.Let's make this perfectly clear ... THESE DETAINEES ARE NOT PRISONERS OF WAR.
And the fossils in the MSM still have no clue why they have lost so much credibility with citizens????
Posted by Darleen at 07:11 AM | Comments (6)
June 01, 2005
A challenge
In the comment section of my entry below, Brad takes issue with the quotes I've pulled from the progessive [snort] new website TPMCafe. His scintillating repartee consists of calling my site (as well as Wizbang) as offering no more than fascist, racist pablum.
Well, Brad (or any other individualphobic "progressive" out there), there's a search engine and a whole list of archives at the right-side bar. Go ahead and link to my "fascist, racist pablum" offerings.
Knock yourself out.
Posted by Darleen at 12:20 PM | Comments (8)
Sweet Jesus! Just what we need ...
...more whiney "progressives". Oh, it's a nicely designed website, cutesy coffeeshop theme, easy-on-the-eyes colors, but just what are they serving? I sampled a few of the so-called blends and found the same bitter base:
* The great challenge of progressive reform today is finding ways to counterbalance and reverse the pervasive privatization of risk we see across our society.
* ... the majority of Americans cannot persuade government to do what they want; significant populations probably less than a majority do not have basic rights (such as freedom from want) guaranteed.
* ... Social Security privatization ... an idea that has never been more than half baked.
And, of course, what progressive site would be complete without sobbing about that meany, John Bolton and how if he gets to the UN, they won't like us anymore ... whaaaa!
Add to that a smiling pic on the left sidebar of John Edwards and my heartburn is complete.
They pretend they are different, that they are for "individuals", but they offer up the same half-roasted, anti-individual-sovereignty beans socialists, communists and anarchists have been trying to get a government-enforced monopoly to serve to us great unwashed masses for decades.
For our own good, natch.
Posted by Darleen at 06:30 AM | Comments (4)