A Slap in the ACLU's Face

(link inserted into title)

San Diegans vote to save cross
75% resist ACLU effort to remove historic structure
Posted: July 27, 2005
12:44 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com


Mt. Soledad cross and veterans memorial above San Diego (soledadmemorial.com)
After 15 years of adverse court rulings, the citizens of San Diego voted to save the city's historic Mt. Soledad cross.

The conflict arises from an ACLU lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 29-foot concrete structure, which has been the center of a war memorial on city land since 1954.

According to an unofficial count, 75 percent of voters decided they want to transfer the city owned site to the federal government where it would be designated as a war memoria

(snip)

The ballot initiative came about after the city refused to donate the cross and memorial to the federal government. A group called San Diegans for the Mount Soledad National War Memorial took just 23 days to gather 105,000 signatures.

(snip)

But ACLU attorney James McElroy insists the vote is meaningless.

"It still doesn't mean a damn thing," he said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. "Voters should have never voted on it. It's a waste of taxpayers' money."

The TrekMedic sez,...

Alligator tears, ACLU!

Have You Seen This Woman?

Of course you haven't,...

From a personal standpoint, let's look at why she's still missing:

• She's not white
• She's not blue-eyed and blond
• She's not exactly telegenic

However,

• She is Afro-Hispanic
• She's pregnant (out of wedlock)
• She has another child
• She's a single mom

Now, here's the story from the Daily Fishwrapper:

Posted on Thu, Jul. 28, 2005

WHAT HAPPENED TO LATOYIA?

And why did it take so long for her disappearance to become national news?

By SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM

simone@phillynews.com

UNTIL yesterday Latoyia Figueroa was just another missing woman.

But only a handful of people knew the 24-year-old pregnant mother was gone.

That was until her cousin, City Councilman Juan Ramos, gathered fellow politicos for an afternoon press conference imploring the public to help find her.

(snip)

It is rare that a minority missing-person case has attracted so much attention, cops said. According to the FBI, as of July 1, there were about 48,000 missing adults, 7,000 of whom are black women. The disappearance of none of those black women has netted major national news.

Until now.

Jeremy Gaines, spokesman for MSNBC, wrote in an e-mail response to the Daily News, "there's No simple formula."

Wow,..I hope Mr. Gaines didn't get hurt side-stepping that question! I think that's an MSM catchphrase for "she's not a white girl," but read on,...

(snip)

A quick Google search of recent news items featuring Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who vanished two months ago while on vacation in Aruba, turned up 509 articles.

As of 9:30 last night, Figueroa's name appeared in 12 Google news hits.

(snip)


There is a "human hierarchy which puts white women victims at the upper end," said Keith Woods, dean of the faculty at the Poynter Institute for journalists.

"Racism is somewhere in the mix but it isn't the whole thing," he said.
(snip)

There, the Citizens Crime Commission announced a $10,000 reward for any tips leading to Figueroa's discovery and several city leaders asked the public to help police find her.

Meanwhile, blogger Richard Blair, aka Richard Cranium, of The All Spin Zone thought Figueroa's picture should be all over the cable-news networks and morning talk shows.

Blair spent the weekend posting his views up on his blog, criticizing CNN for not picking up on the story.

Other bloggers followed suit, and now Figueroa is more than just a Philadelphia story.

TrekMedic's Musing's:

I'm posting this story not so much because Miss Figueroa is missing (many others, as noted, have taken up her cause), but to point out a glaring oops in the MSM spin machine: Isn't it funny that such paragons of MSM liberalism such as MSNBC and CNN practice the very racism they continually denounce? Kinda like the ACLU's two-faced value system, huh?

(Hat Tip to ALa for a related story)

I've been Tagged!!

Ok,..so Kitty over at My Side of the Puddle has tagged me!


The question is:

"What's on your nightstand?"

Well,..for me,..its my clock/radio and the charger/amplifier for my FD pager. Nothing else.

Boring,..I know,..until that *&@^#^#% pager goes off at 0200!!

Now,..who can I tag back???

ALa, Jay, and Medic Mike

An Anti-ACLU Rant for 7/28/05

Are We Losing the War on Terror?

If we are, we can start the finger-pointing with the ACLU.

Once again, it can be said that the ACLU never let a good job of securing our freedom get in the way of their Socialist agenda!

Where do you start? Well,..when you post inflammatory cartoons like this, you're off to a good start!

Then,..you can seek to usurp the tools of the standing administration to maintain our security.


Challenge to the "National Security Letter" Authority

In April 2004, the American Civil Liberties Union and an anonymous Internet Service Provider (ISP) filed a lawsuit challenging the FBI's authority to issue "National Security Letters" (NSLs) ordering certain kinds of businesses to turn over sensitive customer records. Before the Patriot Act, the FBI could use NSLs to obtain records concerning suspected terrorists and spies. The Patriot Act amended the law to allow the use of NSLs to obtain information about anyone at all.

(snip)

In September 2004, Judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New York issued a landmark decision striking down the NSL statute and the associated gag provision. In striking down the gag provision, Judge Marrero wrote: "Democracy abhors undue secrecy. . . . [A]n unlimited government warrant to conceal, effectively a form of secrecy per se, has no place in our open society."

And, even in the face of renewed terror closer to home, the ACLU seeks to thwart ANY efforts to prevent similar attacks here in the US: (link1) (link2)(link3)
Hat Tip to Merri's Musings for this one (link)

And,..(azdailysun by way of freerepublic.com)

New Yorkers show tolerance on first day of bag searches on subways By Jim Fitzgerald Associated Press Writer 07/23/2005

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's generally not a good idea to pick a New Yorker at random, go through his things and slow his rush to the subway. Nobody needs another irritation on a hot, crowded, smelly commute.

But city straphangers submitted calmly Friday as police inspected their bags and briefcases after the latest attacks on London's Underground. Some were skeptical, some were critical, but most said they were glad for the extra security.

(snip)

The New York Civil Liberties Union opposed the searches, saying they violated the Fourth Amendment. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he hoped the NYCLU would recognize that the city had struck the right balance between security and protecting constitutional rights. He said the bag-checking program is part of a policy to "constantly change tactics" and "may, or may not, be there tomorrow."The mayor declined to say how much the program cost.

Finally,.. from over at Fox News, click here for more on this debate.

So,..we, as American citizens, must ask ourselves: Are we winning the war on terror, or are we going to let this bunch lose it for us???

New Rules

Unfortunately, do to the actions of some "anonymous" posters (cough,..cough,..Daniel UA,..)
I have been forced to lock down my comment section only to current blogspot members.

I wholly believe in allowing opposing POVs on my blog, as debate IMHO, is the backbone of our republic.

I don't cry "that's inflammatory" and threaten to delete posts of an opposing nature. How many left-sided blogs can say that?

I also believe in having the balls to stick your neck out when you leave a comment on my site, instead of being yet another Socialist Eunuch who posts a bunch of unsubstantiated bullshit, then runs and hides under the rock from which he/she came. When I post a comment, I make know my handle, my e-mail addy and my blog's URL. Its a shame some people don't have the balls to do the same thing.

That said,..on with this week's anti-ACLU rant!

There's a Place and Time for Politics,..

But this ain't it!

(link inserted into title)

Pa. Gov. to Apologize to Marine's Family

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Written apologies will be sent to the family of a dead Marine who was upset that the lieutenant governor appeared uninvited at his funeral last week, Gov. Ed Rendell said.

Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll went to the July 19 funeral of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, passed out her business card and made a remark about the state government being against the war, family members said.

``Whether you're for the war or against the war, to say something like that to a relative of someone who just died in combat was just repulsive,'' said Goodrich's sister-in-law Rhonda Goodrich.

(snip)

``Knoll felt this was an appropriate time to campaign and impose her will on us,'' Rhonda Goodrich said. ``I am amazed and disgusted Knoll finds a Marine funeral a prime place to campaign.''

Knoll's spokesman, Sean Pendrak, told The Associated Press on Monday that the lieutenant governor's office would be releasing a statement on the matter later in the day.

TrekMedic's Musings:

"Later in the day." Which is politi-speak for: "Oh, s**t,..how do I backpedal my way out of this mess!"

Come next gubernatorial election, this issue is going to hang around Rendell's next like an albatross!

Some Muslims DON'T Avert Their Eyes,...

(link inserted into post)

Hat Tip to LGF:

Back off Muslims, imam warns Ottawa

By COLIN FREEZE

Monday, July 25, 2005 Updated at 5:15 AM EDT
From Monday's Globe and Mail

A controversial Toronto imam warned Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan at a closed-door meeting to stop "terrorizing" Canadian Muslims.

"If you try to cross the line I can't guarantee what is going to happen. Our young people, we can't control," Aly Hindy, the head of Scarborough's Salaheddin Islamic Centre, recalls telling the minister at the May meeting she held in Toronto with dozens of Muslim leaders.

(snip)

The imam said six or seven young men have approached him to discuss "fighting overseas" in place such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

God, Country and Freedom

I was listening to Sen Rick Santorum being interviewed on talk radio as he pushes his new book, "It Takes a Family."

With all of the rhetoric that his book will generate vis-a-vis the relationship of God in our society, it got the TrekMedic to musing about such a concept.

The concept of freedom as a divine right doesn't simply go back to the Founding Fathers, many of whom mentioned God in their Federalist writings.

One needs only look to the Old Testament and the tales of Moses: God saw fit to deliver His faithful away from slavery and set down a series of laws (The Ten Commandments) by which these people should live.

This concept of freedom to worship and express belief without threat of persecution has since become intertwined within our societal fabric. Just as in the Commandments, we have legal mechanisms in place to punish those who steal or kill. We have civil avenues to address those who covet their neighbor's spouses and goods.

It has been with our society through the Crusades, through both the American and French Revolutions, through a World War that attempted to destroy a religious belief, and even to this day.

And this concept does not simply cover the Judeo-Christian aspects of our society: In the past decade, as a non-theistic country such as Yugoslavia disintegrated, the world sought allow Catholic Croatians the freedom to believe without fear from the Orthodox Serbs, the Orthodox Serbs the freedom to believe without fear from the Catholic Croatians, and the Muslim Bosnians and Kosovars the freedom to believe without fear from the other two.

Even now, "W" is working with our allied countries to bring this freedom of belief to Muslims oppressed by Islamic fundamentalists.

So,....recapping:

God = Freedom, Freedom = Peace,....

Therefore,....


God = Peace

As Muslims Avert Their Eyes,...

(link inserted into title)

HT to MataHarley at Sea2Sea for this one:

Moderate Muslims rarely speak out against the Islamists and the handful that do nearly always add a ‘‘but’’. Terrible what is happening in London but America is to blame. Terrible that small children should be killed by suicide bombers but what about the children dying in Iraq and Palestine. Indian Muslims do not add Kashmir, foreign Muslims do. As soon as a ‘‘but’’ gets added you get justification for evil deeds and an evil ideology of hatred and violence.

Ms. Tavleen Singh earlier in this piece also writes:

I have said it before and I will say it again, madrasas can only breed fanatics because it is fanaticism that automatically comes to little children who are taught that they belong to the only perfect religion in the world and that all they ever need to learn is the Koran by rote because what knowledge can exist beyond a book written personally by Allah.

How Appropriate,...

HT to ALa over at Blonde Sagacity for this one:

Unions Dwindling, Dems in Trouble

I'm not much of a supporter of unions to begin with, but I thought this article is quite telling about the future of the Democratic Party, especially in big cities:

Posted on Sat, Jul. 23, 2005

Just mild about labor

By Jane M. Von Bergen
Inquirer Staff Writer

They say nothing is as American as baseball. Fifty years ago, when the AFL-CIO was founded, one could have said the same thing about labor unions. One in four Americans belonged to a labor union; now, only 12 percent of the nation's workforce is unionized.

Tomorrow in Chicago, the AFL-CIO may split in two, a potentially seminal moment in labor history and one that's been chewed over for months by union leaders, consultants and pundits.

(snip)

The AFL-CIO splitting up?

Nobody knew, and not too many cared.

"What's a labor union?" asked Rodney Black, 17, a Camden high school senior who works at the ballfield making funnel cakes.

The TrekMedic wonders about that statement and the efficacy of union-run public education,...
(snip)

In Chicago, the debate is over how to increase union membership. One side wants to spend more of the labor movement's financial resources on grassroots organizing. The other side puts the focus on politics to elect officials who would enact more labor-friendly policies.

(snip)

The AFL-CIO's Family Feud
What's going on?Last-minute negotiations to repair a rift in the nation's largest conglomeration of labor unions, the AFL-CIO, are looking increasingly unproductive. The AFL-CIO's convention starts Monday in Chicago.

What's next? Leaders of the some of the largest unions, including the Teamsters, the Service Employees and the United Food and Commercial Workers, may decide tomorrow to leave the AFL-CIO.

Over what?The dissidents want more focus on grassroots organizing and less focus on Democratic-oriented politics.

Then what? If the national unions break up, local branches of the unions will see if they can find a way to work together anyway.

Battle Cry!!

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Prowling along the hotel lobby, attacking with a bladed baseball bat, cometh TrekMedic251! And he gives an ominous grunt: "I'm going to spank you until you turn magenta, and plug you into a power plant!!"

Find out! Enter username: Are you a girl, or a guy ?

created by beatings : powered by monkeys

Will the Real Suicide Bomber Stand Up?

So the ACLU can Protect you,....


Taken from Cox and Forkum:

We Stand By England Today! (Again!)

An Anti-ACLU Rant for 7/21/05

The ACLU and Terrorism Today

There are many examples of how the ACLU opposes efforts by our government to fight terrorism, and how they show support towards the enemy today.

A few examples of this are the ACLU's opposition to the no-fly list, border control, and the CFC Watch List which would require charities to check their employees and expenditures against several government watch lists for "terrorist activities".

But one issue in particular catches my attention. In October of 2004, the ACLU turned down $1.15 million in funding from two of it's most generous and loyal contributors, the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, saying new anti-terrorism restrictions demanded by the institutions make it unable to accept their funds.

"The Ford Foundation now bars recipients of its funds from engaging in any activity that "promotes violence, terrorism, bigotry, or the destruction of any state."

The Rockefeller Foundation's provisions state that recipients of its funds may not "directly or indirectly engage in, promote, or support other organizations or individuals who engage in or promote terrorist activity."Source

Does this strike anyone else as odd? The ACLU states that the language of the grants are too vague and could have a "chilling effect" on civil liberties. Vague? I don't know how the organizations could have been more clear. They didn't want thier money going to support or promote terrorist activity. The ACLU obviously had a problem with this.

So what does the ACLU use its money to do?

Ben Johnson of Front Page Magazine points out:

The ACLU has also shown itself a willing tool of the terrorists, waging a massive anti-anti-terrorism legal campaign. This pillar of the legal Left denounced the government's requirement that men aged 16-25 holding "temporary visas" from nations with known ties to terrorism register with the INS; represented Sami al-Arian, the North American fundraiser and co-founder of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (filing a brief upholding his inalienable right to fresh briefs!); rallied on behalf of convicted al-Qaeda benefactor Maher Mofeid Hawash; urged local communities not to cooperate with federal anti-terror investigations; and opposed the FBI's monitoring Islamist mosques. As David Horowitz notes in his book Unholy Alliance, radical Center for Constitutional Rights lawyer Ron Kuby notes the "passionate...identification" most lawyers feel with their clients, such as that of convicted terror enabler Lynne Stewart for World Trade Center bomber Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. Given her aid for international Islamic terrorism, the government is right to keep a watchful eye on those who perpetually side with the enemy.Front Page Magazine

One of the most revealing occurances towards the ACLU's absolutist position on national security and its recent evolution can be seen in the action the board of directors took at its Oct 1989 meeting: It dropped section (a) from its policy, "Wartime Sedition Act." Before, the ACLU held that it "would not participate (save for fundamental due process violations) in defense of any person believed to be "cooperating" with or acting on behalf of the enemy." This policy was based on the recognition that "our own military enemies are now using techniques of propaganda which may involve an attempt to prevent the Bill of Rights to serve the enemy rather than the people of the United States." In making its determination as to whether someone were cooperating with the enemy, "the Union will consider such matters as past activities and associations, sources of financial support, relations with enemy agents, the particular words and conduct involved, and all other relevant factors for informed judgement."

All of this has now been dropped from the official ACLU Policy. Twilight Of Liberty

The absolute tragedy is that it is not only the nations's security the ACLU's absolutist philosophy puts in danger, but the very cause of liberty itself.

I don't know about you, but positions like this makes me suspicious of the ACLU's intentions, and what their money goes towards. As a matter of fact, I've shown you a history of how they use their funds to defend terrorists, and they still do so today. The sad thing is they are using your tax money to do so.

The United States Congress, roughly thirty years ago, passed a provision in United States Code section 1988 that requires taxpayers to pay attorneys in civil rights cases. I don't want my tax money supporting an organization that defends terrorists organizations and the sworn enemies of the United States.

Please join me in signing this Petition To Stop Taxpayer Funding of The ACLU

This was a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst! If you would like to join us, register at the Protest The ACLU Portal. You will be added to our mailing list and emailed further instructions.

What Were You In a Past Life?

Go figure,....

TrekMedic251 was an Absent-Minded Greek God in a past life. Discover your past lives @ Quiz Me

Roberts Rules,...

(link inserted into title)

"W" has nominated Judge John G. Roberts (bio) to fill the shoes of outgoing Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

The TrekMedic's first impressions:

• NARAL, the Alliance for Justice, and Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Runk) and Chuck Schumer (D-Ick) are lining up against him,...so I already like Roberts a lot.
• Speaking to gin-soaked Teddy,..who the f**k is he to DEMAND the Judge Roberts explain his views on Roe v Wade and whether he will side for the common man or big business?
• Who does Schumer (Hillary's bitch) think HE is by pre-supposing questions for the next nominee??
  
• This defines irony: Roberts' wife is very active in the anti-abortion movement. OK? Are the Democrats, the paragons of womens' rights in the home and workplace, going to make Judge Roberts account for his wife's actions??

OK,..time for Senator Arlen Specter to step up and go to bat for "W" on this one!!

Beam Me Up, Scotty!

James Doohan,..."Scotty" on the original Star Trek series and earlier movies, passed away today at age 85 after a brief battle with Alzheimer's Disease.

Mr. Doohan was also a veteran of D-Day:

At 19, James escaped the turmoil at home by joining the Canadian army, becoming a lieutenant in artillery. He was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. ``The sea was rough,'' he recalled. ``We were more afraid of drowning than the Germans.''

God Speed, Scotty! And say "Hello" to 'Bones' while you're up there!

DoubleStandard?dradnatSelbuoD (Revisited) (Again)

Taken from Pennsylvanian in Exile:

This is to remind people what happens when you let the UNtied Nations and their cronies (Amnesty International, ACLU, etc) try to run our affairs!

Guess which one gets the most MSM press?

A New School Prayer

Hat Tip to Michael_the_Archangel:

The New School Prayer

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rules
For this Great Nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd

If scripture now the class recites
It violates the Bill of Rights
And any time my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now

Our hair can be purple, orange or green
There's no offense, it's a freedom scene
The law's specific, the law's precise
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all
In silence alone we must meditate
God's name is prohibited by the state

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks
They would like to outlaw guns, but first the Bible
To quote the Good Book makes me liable

We can elect a pregnant senior queen
And the unwed 'daddy' our senior king
It's inappropriate to teach right from wrong
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong

We can get our condoms and birth controls
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed
No word of God must reach this crowd

It's scary here, I must confess
When chaos reigns the schools a mess
So Lord, this silent plea I make
Should I be shot; my soul please take
Amen

And You See Something Wrong With This Statement??

I guess ol' Teddy put the gin bottle down long enough to read this post from 3 YEARS AGO!!

“Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture,” Santorum wrote. “When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.”

Senator Santorum isn't one to pull punches and my guess is that Kennedy's croc tears are covering up neo-Soc/Dem's fear of what he might do after winning in '06.

London: Why It Happened (An Anti-ACLU Rant)

As news continues to trickle in from Scotland Yard, a pattern of these homicide bombers emerges:

They're almost all Arab Muslims!

Yet, in the United States, we can't pursue such leads, because the ACLU cries "Profiling!" in perpetuity! (link)


We can't prosecute those we've captured during military actions because of these lies: (link)(ACLU Petition to UNtied Nations).
While many Americans would like to believe that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib involved only the horrific acts of a few poorly trained soldiers, the fact is that the torture and abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guant�namo was widespread and systematic. The roots of the conduct can clearly be traced to a series of administration policies designed to insulate the treatment of military detainees from public scrutiny, judicial review and ultimately from the rule of law.


We can't get our judiciary to uphold our existing laws:

(link)ACLU Concerned O’Connor Replacement Will Roll Back Vital Civil Liberties Protections

July 1, 2005

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed great concern that the Bush administration will replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced her retirement today after more than two decades on the court, with a nominee whose judicial philosophy is fundamentally opposed to the progress made in protecting individual rights over the past century.

(snip)

The ACLU is preparing to hold a board meeting in the coming weeks to decide whether to oppose the Bush administration's nominee. As a matter of policy, the ACLU will only oppose nominees to the Supreme Court that are fundamentally hostile to civil liberties and will do so upon a vote of the board of directors. The national board of the ACLU has voted to oppose only two nominees in its history: Justice William Rehnquist and former solicitor general and law professor Robert Bork.

And they try to tie up the hands of our legistlature:
(link) (link)WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed its disappointment with the two key House committees that considered legislation to reauthorize the Patriot Act, citing the unwillingness by lawmakers to reject a power grab by the administration and restore proper checks and balances to the anti-terrorism law. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to consider similar legislation soon.

(snip)

The House Judiciary Committee met today to consider reauthorization of the Patriot Act. The flawed base bill would make the Patriot Act permanent and includes minimal, superficial changes


Recommended Reading:

Flying Blind by Michael Smerconish

I'm More Right Than "W!"

Took this test here:


And this is the result (I'm the RED STAR)

A Useless List of Things You Didn't Need to Know

12 Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know

Did you know...

1. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
2. A crocodile can't stick its tongue out.
3. A shrimp's heart is in its head.
4. In a study of 200,000 ostriches, over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand.
5. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
6. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
7. More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
8. Horses can't vomit.
9. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
10. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. And, if you keep your eyes open by force, they can pop out.
11. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.
12. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

Another Dumb-Ass Meme,....

T	Tender
R	Relaxing
E	Enjoyable
K	Kind
M	Modern
E	Extreme
D	Dashing
I	Intelligent
C	Complicated
2
5
1

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

A Thought For the Day

Stolen from Rags:




When an Officer asks, "Hey there, your eyes look really red, Have you been drinking?. You shouldnt respond with "Hey officer your eyes look glazed, have you been eating donuts?"

An Anti-ACLU Rant for 7/7/05

Hello, world? London's calling,...

What do the London bombings have to do with the ACLU? Plenty, my friends,....

In the wake of the latest al-Qaeda attacks, many Americans are wondering "Can it happen here?"

The answer is, unfortunately, "yes!"

When you mix our porous southern border with the likes of one Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, who moved Lebanese nationals (many Hezbollah and Hamas supporters) through his Tijuana coffee shop until he was arrested by the US Border ICE, you get instant terrorism on our soil.

What can they do? From The Lonewacko Blog:

Of all the leads about the smuggling of potential terrorists from Mexico into the United States, the most intriguing may be the case of a young Lebanese man who was dropped off at a Chula Vista hospital in June 2002.

The man, near death, showed signs of radiation poisoning, suggesting work with a radiological "dirty bomb."In the end, the radiation symptoms were discounted and the man died of undetermined causes. But the case led to the arrest of the owner of a Lebanese restaurant in Tijuana who last year was convicted of operating a smuggling ring, in league with a Mexican diplomat based in Lebanon.

(Bearing in mind, this was before Lebanon booted the Syrians out of the country)

Additional link here.

And where does the ACLU fit into this?

The ACLU repeatedly defends the rights of these illegals to enter our country, greeting them with open arms and the promise of a great life in their oft-dreamed of Socialist Utopia.


Links:

Dan Stein Report

KVOA TV 4 Tuscon

Tech Support Guy (read angelize56's post)

Sic Semper Tyrannis!

We Stand By England Today!

Dance with the Devil,...

(link inserted into title)

I'm all for the preservation of the First Amendment and a free press but, it seems the leftist MSM is about to get a taste of its own medicine:

2 reporters face jail today on leak
If they refuse to answer a grand jury's questions, a judge vows to act.

By Chris Mondics

Inquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - It may be one of the most important First Amendment cases in a generation.

And it is one the media are on the verge of losing.

Two reporters, from the New York Times and Time magazine, are to appear in federal court today for a hearing on whether they should go to jail for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury investigating the potentially illegal disclosure of the identify of a CIA operative.

(snip)

A generation ago, the New York Times and the Washington Post successfully defied the government in publishing a classified history of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers, with considerable public support.

But this case comes amid growing public skepticism about the motives of the press and a string of high-profile media setbacks, notably CBS News' retraction of a story during the presidential campaign purporting to show that President Bush shirked his National Guard duty.

(snip)

But some say that if there is little outcry, then the press has only its own reporting to blame.

"There is less reporting and more coverage, and people know the difference," said Joan Konner, a professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism.

(snip)

Eight days after Wilson's July 6, 2003, column appeared in the New York Times, syndicated columnist Robert Novak published his own column identifying Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, "as an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction."


Medic's Musings:

Why Robert Novak isn't rotting away in jail on charges of treason is beyond me. We are in a state of war and he revealed classified information to the public, as well as exposed a security asset.

Democracy at Work Here

Afghan President Hamid Karzai sharply rebuked the US today after our military accidently fired on a civilians, killing 17 of them.


Isn't it refreshing that a popularly-elected head of state can express his justified outrage at this action via the press and through diplomatic channels,...instead of some Islamic-tinged psychopath declaring a Jihad against the great US Satan?


For those who can't access the link:

Posted on Wed, Jul. 06, 2005

Afghanistan criticizes U.S. for civilian deaths

It was a rare reprimand. As many as 17 were killed in the air strike. Both nations are investigating.

By Daniel Cooney

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan - In a rare rebuff, Afghanistan's government sharply criticized the U.S. military yesterday for killing up to 17 civilians in an air strike and ordered an immediate inquiry. The United States said it also would investigate what it called a "very unfortunate situation."

An ACLU Oops!

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Hat Tip to Mata Harley on this one:


While the ACLU hasn't figured out a way to drag the civilian border watch groups - The Minutemen - into court yet, there can be no doubt they hold no love for the project.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico suspended its Las Cruces chapter Monday after learning that a member of the group's board was heading the formation of a Minuteman-style organization in New Mexico.

Gary Mitchell, a Ruidoso attorney and president of the ACLU board of directors made no effort to hide his unmitigated distain by saying:

"We will not tolerate racism and vigilantism in the leadership structure of our organization,'' Mitchell said. "They are repugnant to the principles of civil liberties and the mission of the ACLU.''

But wait,..it gets better:

Clifford Alford is the leader of the New Mexico Minutemen. The phone went unanswered Monday evening at his home in Organ. Alford has said he's not a hateful vigilante and that he would like to see immigration policy reformed. He has said that if the federal government allowed more immigrant workers to enter the country legally, many problems on the border would be solved.

Alford scouted the New Mexico-Mexico border two weeks ago, looking for sites to station his 42 volunteers to detect illegal immigrants sneaking into the country. His group plans to offer food, water and medical aid but still report the illegal immigrants to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Random Thoughts on Live Riot 2005

OK,..as I write this,..people are still behaving themselves here in Philly,...

As I continue to hear why this concert was necessary,...I'm struck by a few pieces of the whole scheme:

• The G8 are supposed to forgive $40 billion in foreign debt to mostly African countries,
• Are we, as US citizens, supposed to forget that we lost US troops trying to feed them?
• Live 8 isn't out to raise money because most of the money from Live Aid NEVER made it to its intended targets. 20 years later and nothing's changed. Do you think Live 8 2025 will be necessary, too?
  
• I am the only one who can't figure out how these countries managed to run up a $40 billion debt, but the people managed to find plenty of money to buy AK-47s, tanks, machetes, and bogus military outfits to bludgeon one another over your tribe, your eye color, etc. And the governments can't pay back the $40 billion because it'll wreck their economies? (stifled chuckle)
  
• Speaking of dead soldiers and taking a well-deserved swipe at the UNtied Nations, whatever happened to all of the French troops that went into the Congo to stop that round of medieval bloodshed? Oh, yeah,..the MSM conveniently forgot to mention that the French ran out of there with their collective tails between their legs. Troops were begging to get away from the carnage (well,..they were French)
• $40 billion in debt relief will NEVER fix that kind of mindset.
• The presenters in Philly will feature Will Smith, Natalie Portman, Richard Gere, Al Sharpton, Ja-a-ack Nicholson and a host of other Hollyweird types. TrekMedic wonders if they brought enough shims to put the stage back on a level ground (oblique political reference - you figure it out)
  

Well,..I'm not one to bite the hand that feeds, so I'll end this with a well-deserved hat tip to SIR Bob Geldof. (I use that appropriate address because I got tired of Bruce Crawley, head of the Philadelphia Greedy Minority Chamber of Commerce, kept calling him "that guy Geldof in London" in a recent radio interview)

Anyway, I digress. Today, Sir Bob was interviewed on a local radio station. He heaped praise on the charitable works of "W" vis-a-vis this cause and went on to compare Live 8 as a "great American thing. Like going to the moon: Americans went there because we could."

A Supreme Decison

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Justice Sandra Day OConnor is ending her 19-year tenure in the Supreme Court.

Pundits believe Chief Justice William Rehnquist will follow suit.

With just over two years left in his term, "W" has the opportunity to shape the Court for a generation.

But,..the battle won't be easy (link).

However,..I feel that somewhere deep in the bowels of DNC Headquarters, Howard Dean is curled up in a ball and crying like a baby!

And in my not-so-humble opinion,..here's my pick for Chief Justice - Antonin Scalia. Why? It'll piss off the Blues even more! Hehehehe!