A Poem of No Rhyme or Reason

This past Saturday, Cincinnati, Ohio opened its new Fountain Square with a grand ceremony. But that turned sour when the former Cincinnatian poet/activist Nikki Giovanni recited her poem that turned the event from a display of civic pride to one better fitted for a political rally for the Democratic candidate Ted Strickland.

Giovanni's poem (if you want to call it that) created a fire-storm when she spoke the following lines:

I have watched policemen
Shoot young black men in the back
And have watched my community respond, a people who once saved this city
. . .
I am the Cincinnati Western and Southern Tennis Championships, though I am played in Mason
. . .
I am not a son of a bitch like Kenny Blackwell
...
I will not use the color of my skin to cover the hatred in my heart
I am not a political whore jumping from bed to bed to see who will stroke my need

Officials from Cincinnati City Center Development Corp. (3CDC) said in a statement Monday that Giovanni's remarks, which drew gasps and some applause from the audience, were "completely inappropriate" for the event.

The organizers of the event insist that the poem that Giovanni provided before the event did not contain the controversial remarks. Though the poet claims that it was made clear that what was being submitted was a "work in progress" (I can only guess that it is completed now) and added that she would never submit a poem for prior approval.

In an interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer Giovanni claims, "All I have is my voice, I don't want it silenced. We were on (Fountain Square) where the Klan gathered to speak. I'm not sure as many people called to complain about what the Klan had to say as what I said."

First off, I was in Cincinnati during the time of the Klan rally. Jerry Springer was Mayor and refused to sign the permit allowing the Klan to use Fountain Square for their sick, hate filled message. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court who ruled that the Klan had a Constitutional right to assemble. This made national headlines, so stop playing the victim Ms. Giovanni.

Second, Giovanni failed to mention the black on black crimes that are tearing her community apart. Despite what she may think, members of the police force put their lives on the line to protect and serve the law abiding public. Isn't ironic only two days after her rant on the Square, Christopher Smith, a 21 year old black man, plead guilty to attempted murder after he admitted that he shot at Cincinnati Policemen. Where is Giovanni's outrage over this?

And lastly, the sole intent of Giovanni's poem was to silence those that disagree with her opinions. Furthermore, I can not help but believe she was targeting members of the African American community who support a conservative agenda. Giovanni was questioning the "blackness" of anyone that doesn't walk in step with her left wing agenda. With this form of public intimidation she is attempting to stifle the free speech and thoughts of others. Shame on her.

Illegal Immigrants Tell Tales of Police Brutality in Mexico

Newsweek reported the following in June:

As tough as the United States can be for workers who slip in from south of the border, Mexico is in a poor position to criticize. The problem goes far beyond the predatory gantlet of thugs and crooked cops facing defenseless transients like Moisés. There's ample precedent in Mexico for just about everything the United States is—or isn't—doing. Calling out the military? Mexicans may hate the new U.S. plan to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops on the border, but five years ago they cheered President Vicente Fox for sending thousands of Mexican soldiers to crack down on their southern frontier. Tougher laws? Hispanic-rights groups are enraged over U.S. efforts to criminalize undocumented aliens—yet since 1974, sneaking into Mexico has been punishable by up to two years in prison. Foot-dragging on amnesty? Fox has spent the past five years urging the United States to upgrade the status of millions of illegals from Mexico. Meanwhile, his own government has given legal status to only 15,000 foreigners without papers.

Some of the worst abuses take place on the coffee plantations of Chiapas state, where some 40,000 Guatemalan field hands endure backbreaking jobs and squalid living conditions to earn roughly $3.50 a day. Some growers even deduct the cost of room and board from that amount. "If you ask them, 'Why are you bringing in Guatemalans to work?' they say, 'You can't depend on Mexicans. They don't work hard; they're irresponsible'," says George Grayson, a political scientist specializing in Mexico at the College of William & Mary. "The truth is, you can pay [the guest workers] a pittance. And if they cause the slightest disturbance, you can send them back to Guatemala."

Help Wanted: How to Avoid Hiring Illegal Immigrants in the UK

Recuriter Magazine pubished a self help guide for UK employers in October's issue:

It is a criminal offence for an employer to employ an individual who does not have the right to live and work in the UK.

Not only could the business itself be liable, but senior management could also be personally liable. Such liability can be avoided if the business checks and copies certain original documents belonging to the employee.

The Home Office and police have wide-ranging powers of enforcement under UK immigration law. They may enter premises and seize documents, and employers will be familiar with the concept of the 'dawn raid' even if they have not experienced one themselves.

The onus is on the employer, so the agency may still be liable in respect of temporary employees on its books.

These temps may well be seen in employment law terms to be employees of the agency rather than of the client, so ultimately you could still be liable and responsible in respect of compliance with immigration law. Even if the agency is providing permanent staff, it is still good practice to ensure that the individual has the right to work in the UK. By doing this you can be sure that, if the individual is later found to be an employee of the agency, the relevant checks have already been carried out.

The Great Fence of China

This from today's AP wire:

In a sign of Beijing's wariness about refugees, construction of a massive concrete and barbed wire fence along parts of its 880-mile border with the North has picked up in recent days. Scores of soldiers have arrived in communities along the banks of the Yalu River, up from Dandong, over the past week to erect the barrier, farmers and visitors to the area said.

"The move is mainly aimed at North Korean defectors," said Professor Kim Woo-jun at the Institute of East and West Studies in Seoul, South Korea. "As the U.N. sanctions are enforced ... the number of defectors are likely to increase as the regime can't take care of its people."

For Sale: The State of Illinois

The latest craze in Illinois politics seems to be leasing municipality’s assets to private corporations. This all started in 2004 when the City of Chicago announced the 99 year lease of the Chicago Skyway to Spanish corporation Cintra-Macquaire for a 1.8 billion dollars upfront payment. Since then Mayor Daley and Gov. Blagojevich has proposed to lease everything from Midway Airport to State Tollway system to the State Lottery. Yesterday, Mayor Daley added the city run parking garages to the list.

The City of Chicago will be paid $550 million dollars for a 26 year lease of the parking garages under Grant and Millennium Parks. Mayor Daley plans to use half of that to payoff the remaining debt occurred in construction of the Park. The other half will be used to fund "nieghborhood projects" and improve the city's infrustructure. Mayor Daley explains, "Government isn't in the business of parking garages."

I couldn't agree with the Mayor more, government should govern and businessmen should run businesses. The problem I have is the way our government is governed! It was Daley's mismanagement of the building of Millennium Park that caused 4 years of delays and a $300 million dollar cost overrun. Now the city is hard pressed to be able to payoff the bondholder debt that remains. Leasing the garage will save Daley from that headache, but it will also give him another $250 million to fund other pet projects.

Can we trust Daley with a $250 million coffer? I think not. Already the revenue reserves that were made from the selling of the Skyway went to pay the City of Chicago's 2005 budget shortfall of $220 million dollars. At this rate, in less than 3 years, Daley would have spent what should have been 99 years of revenue. When Daley is gone what is the city going to do when it faces a revenue crisis? With all the city assets gone and all the money spent, the only recourse the future mayor will have is to raise taxes. Is it any wonder why people don’t want to run for elective office?

The same can be said about Gov. Blagojevich. After he has raided the state's employee and teacher's pension fund to make up his budget shortfalls, the only option he has in an election year is to propose the selling of the state's assets or (heaven forbid) cut spending growth. With these two running the show I can't see spending cuts happening. Luckily, Blago has to answer to the 50% of the state who live outside Cook County and the only reason why the Tollway hasn't been sold off already.

The Blame Bush Crowd Gets It Wrong Again!

On Sen. Harry Reids web page I found the following quote:

North Korea Has Dramatically Increased Its Weapons Material Stockpile under the Bush Administration. When President Bush took office in 2000, Pyongyang had enough fissile material to manufacture 1-2 nuclear weapons. Today, experts believe that North Korea possesses material sufficient to build between 4 and 13 nuclear weapons and, unless an agreement is reached to stop the country’s program, it is estimated that Pyongyang will have enough material to manufacture between 8 and 17 nuclear weapons by 2008.

You have got to be kidding me, Harry Reid blames President Bush for this? Who does he think gave North Korea the technology to build nuclear power plants (the source of the enriched uranium used to build the Korean nuclear warhead)? I'll give him a hint. It wasn't our current President.

Who, after visiting North Korea, flew directly to Japan and South Korea and convinced them to give to give humanitarian aid that went directly to the North Korean Army instead of the people it was supposed to help? Once again, it wasn't our current President!

The Special Counsel's Act of Treason

Earlier in the year this blog praised the appointment of Patrick Fitzgerald as US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Fitzgerald targeted government corruption and demonstrated his ability to be independent of political bias. His office prosecuted former Republican Governor George Ryan, sent top advisors in Mayor Daley's administration to jail and is leading the charge to get to the bottom of the "pay for hire" scandal tied to the current Governor. With every headline in Chicago's newspapers Fitzgerald brought back respect the US Attorney's Office has lacked. Which is why I can't help but being disappointed in his handling of the investigation into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a CIA's employee's identity (Valerie Plame, in the event you have been living under a rock for the past 3 years).

In December 2003, Patrick Fitzgerald was named Special Counsel; everything that he did from that point on can only be labeled a political witch-hunt. When Fitzgerald took this position, the Justice Department already knew the leak came from the State Department. Instead of focusing there, Fitzgerald took direct aim at Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove. Fitzgerald could have shut down the investigation within one month, he knew Richard Armitage was the leak, but the Special Counsel kept this secret so he could trap Cheney, Rove and Scooter Libby with a game of perjury and obstruction of justice. Washington insiders knew the truth, Clinton's hatchet man Sydney Blumenthal said in an unapologetic interview, "I had known that Armitage was that source for a long time, many months, and it has been fairly well known among some people in Washington."

Fitzgerald's prosecutorial abuse was merely a vain attempt to discredit the White House. For 18 months this sham of an investigation was allowed to continue (it continues to this day) with the sole beneficiary being the Democratic Party, adding firepower to arm their endless attacks on the Bush Administration. Is it any wonder why people think that the Democratic Party is unpatriotic? Couldn't someone in that party think that the time the White House spent defending themselves against false charges could have been better spent fighting the War against Terror? Maybe unpatriotic is the wrong word....how about treasonous!

Chicago's Most Famous Cop!

Happy 75th Birthday Dick Tracy!
Here's to the man that gave us the two-way wrist radio!

Foley Follies

As the Foley Follies continues I would like to clear up some misinformation reported in the mainstream media.

• The E-mail that Foley sent to the page were not sexually explicit, but a little weird that a 50+ yo man would be interested in a 16 yo boy. Click here to view copies of the emails.
• E-mails have digital signatures that can be traced back to the sender. AIM chat transcripts are text files that can be altered. The only way that you could validate these IM chat transcripts is to check the timestamp when the file has been created. This is not a 100% accurate, if the file has been saved to another directory, renamed or moved another computer this time stamp will change.
• Hassert heard about the Emails in late 2005 but did not see the Chat Transmissions until last Friday. There is a clear distinction between the content of the emails and the Chat Logs that ABC news is publishing.
• ABC News refuses to release how they are verifying the newly obtained chat transcripts. I called Brian Ross' office and spoke to a woman who would only identify herself as his producer; she said that they verified that the chat transmissions were sent to ABC News by people who could be confirmed as a Congressional Page. She refused to comment if any other steps were taken to confirm that these AIM chat transcripts were authentic.
• I called AOL to see if they had logs of chat activities. I was told by an AOL representative that they do not. I am sure that AOL has logs that will show when a user account was logged in. Some of these chat transcripts have signed out timestamps. I am sure AOL would never release this information to a news agency, it would have to be a court ordered thing.

It's hard for me to find fault with Speaker Hassert for his lack of action. Hassert explains his side of the story:

Hastert told FOX News on Monday that he wish he had done more with the limited information he had, but he would not resign. Hastert said Foley had been confronted in the fall of 2005 about his communications with one male page, and was told to "immediately cease any communication" with him and any other pages.

Hastert said his aides and Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., heeded the wishes of the parents of the former House page, who wanted such questionable e-mails to stop but didn't want the matter pursued. The e-mail had not been shown to Hastert's staff or Shimkus, the speaker said.

Speaking to Sean Hannity on his radio show late Tuesday, Hastert said that no one knew how graphic the IM exchanges were with the boy, and would not have put up with it if it were known.

"If I would have known ... Foley would have been out of Congress" and an investigation would have begun immediately, Hastert said. But Hastert said the e-mails which he had read did not suggest anything more than his being overly friendly.

Anybody who held onto the information "even for one day put kids in peril," Hastert added, a veiled reference to members of the media who may have had the IM exchanges, but didn't report them sooner.

In my opinion the only thing that proved that Foley did anything inappropriate is that he resigned and checked himself into a rehab clinic. Most times when you act like you are hiding something you usually are.

Knee Deep in the Middle of the Rio Grande

One issue that I have avoided discussing on this blog is that of illegal immigration. Quite frankly I just don't know what to think about this issue. Everything is turned upside down. I look at every side of this issue and have come to the conclusion that the entire debate disgusts me. Everything is right and everything is wrong. I usually hate those that stand in the "whishy-washy" middle but that's exactly where I find myself today. The radical extremes, which are driving this issue, are so far apart and so wacky, that there is no other place to be for any rational thinking person.

It makes me sick to hear Patrick Buchanan's claim that there is some great Mexican plan to take back the American southwest. That's just plain stupid. Somehow he expects us to believe that the Mexican government, who isn't competent enough to pick up the garbage off the streets in their capital, has come up with a grand scheme to win back Texas.

Every bit as ridiculous is Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who seems to be advocating that illegal immigrants have unfettered access to our legal and social welfare state without regard to our economy and national security. At the height of Gutierrez's idiocy was his fight for clemency for the imprisoned members FALN, the Puerto Rican terrorist group who staged over 130 bombings in the hopes to gain Puerto Rican independence.

With extremists in the mold of Gutierrez and Buchanan leading the debate for and against illegal immigration I have no hope that the problem will be resolved anytime soon. What we need is someone sensible enough and with a large enough following to frame the debate in the following manner:

• Keeping an open boarder that allows people to cross unchecked is a national security issue that must end.
• Since it is a national security issue to allow illegal immigrants to come into this country, it seems obvious that we have to find out who is already here. So we need to find some way to account for those people.
• The illegal immigrants are not creating the jobs they are filling, the employers are. If they weren't being hired no one would be coming over. It is imperative that the laws we have on the books against hiring illegals are enforced.
• There is a demand and a need for unskilled laborers in our workplace. As more baby boomers retire and as the average size of the American family gets smaller we simply do not have the workforce to fill all our jobs.

These are the talking points that need to be accepted before we can expect a satisfactory resolution to our national dilemma. Building a fence along the boarder and using the race card as a reason not to enforce our laws serves no one except those that are playing on the extremes of the political spectrum.

Stretching the Truth.....

In yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times there was a story about a Dr. Sheldon Burman. At age 80, the state of Illinois revoked his license to practice because in the past ten years he had been named in 45 malpractice suits. What makes it worse is that Dr. Burman specialty is Penis Enlargement.

Ouch.

The article goes into detail how Dr. Burman's procedure worked, or in 45 cases how it didn't work. I'll spare you all that. What I thought was bizarre was that Dr. Burman was once a respected heart surgeon until a car accident in 1981 left him with limited mobility (read in "he got the shakes"). Now I respect the Doctor's decision to shutdown his cardiology practice, but wouldn't you think that he would have realized that one mistake down there could be just as life-altering?

Affirmative Actionless Oprah?

Oprah Winfrey, along with her gal-pal Gayle (who I love, if only Oprah was more like her. She's just fun), kicked off her $55 million network with a conversation, not so surprisingly, that centered on Oprah, and how successful she is (and she really is). This report from TMZ .com :

Oprah talked about her humble beginnings in Mississippi, and particularly about how her mother's highest aspiration for her was that she might end up cleaning white people's houses, because "they give away nice clothes." And then Oprah pointed out that now that she's Oprah, she has "all these white people" working for her, and that in fact there's only one black person on the staff.

What was that?

Oprah pointed out that now that she's Oprah, she has "all these white people" working for her, and that in fact there's only one black person on the staff.

Oh, OK.

I just want to point out to Oprah that the population of Chicago (home of Harpo Studios) is 30% African American. This community of a million strong has a 13% unemployment rate - nearly 3 times greater than the national average. Yet Oprah has a staff of all white people. Well if it makes Oprah feel better about herself I guess its ok with me.

Clinton's Conspiracy

Bill Clinton has been making a lot of headlines lately, from my perspective they have not been the most flattering. First Clinton threatens ABC in a vain attempt to stop the airing of their 9/11 drama and now he goes ballistic when Chris Wallace ask the former President if he done enough to capture Bin Laden. President Clinton, always a master protector of his image, has completely lost it with his finger-pointing response to Wallace:

“But at least I tried. That’s the difference in me and some, including the right-wingers attacking me now, they had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed.”

When Clinton pulls out the vast right wing conspiracy excuse it rings hollow because we remember the last time it was used and realize that Clinton lied when he said “I did not have sex with that woman.” Clinton uses the same tactics now as he did then. You have to ask what would make us think that he isn't lying now? So already there is a credibility problem with Clinton’s tirade.

The same can be said about Albright's and Clinton's protest of the Path to 9/11. The main beef wasn’t so much that what was portrayed by the controversial scenes didn’t reflect the Clinton’s foreign policy, but that the actual meeting never took place. So what we have is a parsing of words again. Ok, maybe conversations took place over the course of several meetings but not at one meeting like the movie made it out to be. Therefore the entire movie should be discounted. Sounds like “depends what you mean ‘is’ is” all over again.

We know that after the ’93 WTC bombing nothing was done to get Bin Laden. We know that when our troops were killed in Somalia, we did nothing. We know when our embassy in Kenya was bombed we did nothing. We know that when the USS Cole was bombed we did nothing. We know that Bin Laden was responsible for all of these attacks, we did nothing. We know when the Sudan offered to turn Bin Laden over us, we did nothing. We know that when the CIA had Bin Laden targeted we did nothing but inform Pakistan that the Tomahawk missiles were on the way, thus giving Bin Laden the warning needed to defy death. We know that Clinton was President when we did nothing.

Let’s make this clear, there was one man responsible for 9/11 and that man was Osama Bin Laden. Not Bill Clinton or George Bush. As Americans we need to keep that in mind. However, it does not serve anyone to make claims of a right wing conspiracy as a means to ignore the mistakes of history. You would think that someone of Clinton’s stature would know when to keep his mouth shut. By making comments on the ABC movie and screaming at Chris Wallace, Clinton has started a new debate of his role in 9-11, forcing people to do a retrospection of his 8 year presidency and proving what a partisan hack he has always been. It would have been nice to hear Clinton just say that I tried to get Bin Laden but failed, but this would have required a bit of humility, a virtue that Clinton has always lacked.

I Hate the Steelers

I hate the Pittsburg Steelers more than life itself. This is the dirtiest franchise in the history of the NFL. A team that has put the "Cheap Shot" as a legitimate play in their playbook. The latest cheap hit was against Carson Palmer in last year's playoffs. Some would argue that Kimo Van Oelhoffen's hit on Palmer was caused when he was pushed into Palmer. That's BULLSHIT! Look at the pics, no one can tell me that Kimo didn't intentionally wrap his hands around Palmer's keee.

If this was the first time that the Squeelers did such a thing that would be one thing, but taking out opposing players from a game has been their M.O. for decades; from Kenny Anderson to Bernie Kosar to Eddie George and now, Carson Palmer.

My hate is so intense that I asked if I was alone with these feelings? Am I the only person on this planet that the mere thought of black and gold makes me want to vomit? I searched the web for an answer and sure enough my emotions were validated. Hundreds of web matches with the phrase "I hate the Steelers"! Here are some of the best:

The Steelers Suck - This page created by Charlie Frye's Fans with great pictures supporting his feelings.
The Sports Column Blog - Great posting where he gives 5 reasons why he hates the Stoolers and their fans. The best being No. 4 - No cheerleaders. He even gets a swipe at Sharon Stone which is priceless!
The Furnier Files - I debated to put this link in the posting, but thought what the heck, Brown's fans are almost people too.
What Really Grinds my Gears Blog - A fellow blogger who shares in my hatred. One of his posting had a reply from a Steeler fan who called him a douche bag, classy people those Squeeler fans.
http://www.lookatmeshirts.com/ - A web retailer where one it's best selling t-shirt says "Even God hates the Steelers".
Angry Ken.com - Ken gives us one of his typical rants against the Steelers after Carson Palmer's SI interview. Needless to say - he's angry.

God knows I could go on and on, hating the East Coast Raiders is a universal feeling.

Is it tomorrow yet? Who Dey!

The Return of Vichy France

President Jacques Chirac has broken ranks with the US and Britain by calling for the suspension of UN Security Council action against Iran during negotiations over its nuclear programme.

In a radio interview yesterday before flying to New York for the UN General Assembly, the French President provoked a diplomatic storm by backing Iran's demand that the Security Council should halt its involvement in the nuclear dossier.

The demand is spelt out in Iran's confidential 20-page response to a Western offer of technological and economic co-operation in return for a freeze on nuclear activities which could lead to production of a nuclear weapon. The Independent has obtained a copy of the document.

M. Chirac suggested that the group of six nations involved in talks with Iran - Britain, the US, France, Germany, Russia and China - should "set an agenda, then start negotiations".

"We must, on the one hand, together, Iran and the six countries, meet and set an agenda, then start negotiations. Then, during these negotiations, I suggest that the six renounce referring [Iran to] the UN Security Council and that Iran renounce uranium enrichment during negotiations," M. Chirac said.

An American Hero

This week on HBO's Inside the NFL the subject of Pat Tillman's death was featured. For those unfamiliar, Pat Tillman decided to walk away from the NFL during the prime of his career to join the Marines and defend his country in the aftermath of 9/11. Literally Pat Tillman gave up millions for the opportunity to bring Osama Bin Laden home. Tragically on April 22, 2004 in Afghanistan, Pat Tillman was killed in action. The Pentagon stated that Tillman was killed in a heroic charge protecting his fellow Marines during an ambush from enemy combatants. These initial reports proved to be untrue as it became clear that Tillman was taken down as a result of friendly fire. Unfortunately friendly fire is something that happens during the course of any war, but even though the military knew that the initial reports to the media were untrue they did nothing to correct the misinformation. A month after Tillman’s funeral the Pentagon changed its story stating that Tillman’s death was due to friendly fire aggravated by the intensity of the firefight. It was later learned that no hostile forces were involved and that two allied groups fired on in confusion over an exploded mine. It becomes obvious that the Pentagon, whether to avoid embarrassment or to exploit Tillman’s death, was less than forthright to the Tillman Family.

As a result the Tillman family is unable to bring closure in dealing with their son's death. It is unfortunate in every aspect. To Pat Tillman’s family and friends it is important that they know the truth, and I hope they can get that when the Pentagon's investigation concludes at the end of the month. To the general public it's more important to focus on how Pat Tillman led his life, not his death. Regardless of the circumstances, Pat Tillman’s story is one of a man who demonstrated self sacrifice and courage. I, for one, will always keep that in perspective. Pat Tillman remains my hero.

Some Things Never Change

You may have notice that for awhile there I stopped making postings, but I can't help but think that some things just never change. Back in March the story of the day was the Muslim protests of editorial cartoons, today the story is that the same people are protesting the remarks of Pope Benedict XIV.

What amazes me that the lazy mainstream media has allowed the Muslim world to characterize the Pope's remarks, rather than informing the public what he actually said. I have read news report after news report to find out exactly what words the Pope used. Not one story quoted the Pope directly nor has any major news agency try to accurately represent the Pope’s intent. I personally think that it is important to try to understand the Pope in the proper context. Therefore, the following is an exerpt from the Pope's speech:

"In the seventh conversation (*4V8,>4H - controversy) edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the holy war. The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion". According to the experts, this is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur'an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels", he addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God", he says, "is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably (F×< 8`(T) is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death...". The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practise idolatry.At this point, as far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we are faced with an unavoidable dilemma. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true?...."

Pope is merely stating that spreading faith through violence is an unreasonable thought and counter to the nature of God. The Pope's message is squarely targeted to the Islamic radicals calling for a jihad. The only thing offensive about these words is that they came out of the mouth of the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and not from a Mullah in Mecca. When will the message that there is nothing holy or reasonable about waging a violent jihad come from the Muslim leadership? Let me make this clear - the Pope is not criticizing Muslims in general, but I am!

The Path to 9/11

Over the weekend there were a firestorm of stories of how high ranking members of the Democratic Party demanded that ABC pull the broadcast of The Path to 9-11. Immediately there were comparisons to the CBS mini-series about Ronald Reagan, only that time conservatives were the ones screaming that the mini-series was factually inaccurate. The producers called both mini-series "docu-dramas", this is just deceptive term that is only meant to confused viewers into believing that that what they are seeing is actually the truth but sprinkled with enough lies to keep the drama moving forward. I hate this "docu-drama" term, lets stop pretending that this is a "fair and balance" news report. There is no way that the people in charge of the creative process of creating any "work" can remove their personal emotions from their representation of the truth. It's naturally going to be slanted. I personally don't believe that there is anything wrong with that. It's not that hard to understand, imagine the difference if the Passion of the Christ was directed by Rob Reiner rather than Mel Gibson.

I think I am one of the few people in this country that saw both the Reagan and the 9-11 mini-series. One difference I noticed during the entire controversy was the way liberals went about lobbying ABC vs. the way conservatives went after CBS. The Pull the Reagan mini-series was a grass root movement of people who were ready to boycott any advertiser sponsoring the program. The Yank 9-11 Campaign consisted of a few high ranking Democrats and Clinton advisors who threatened ABC's license to broadcast. Not that any of this matter because the real difference between the two shows was that the Reagan mini-series was downright horrible (which is the real reason why CBS pulled it) and The Path to 9-11 was exceptional, probably the best mini-series aired on any broadcast network in decades (which is why ABC aired the program).

The Greased Wheel Continues to Roll

With the Illinois State Primary quickly approaching I can't help reflecting on the worst vote I ever made. In 1998 George Ryan, then Secretary of State, was running to be Governor of Illinois. Ryan was what is called a moderate Republican, a deceptive term. Moderate enough to gain trust of centrist democrats and a wink to say to republicans that I am one of you. That vote taught me that you can trust anyone that tries to please everyone. Ryan raised tax after tax, made inappropriate overtures to Fidel Castro, handed government contracts to cronies, gave truck driver licenses in exchange for a campaign donation and subverted state law by placing a moratorium on the executions of death row inmates. Ryan's actions as governor were no where close to my values as a republican and if the 5 month trial against the former governor proved anything at all, it is that Ryan did nothing moderately. This week the jury will begin to decide Ryan's fate on charges of mail fraud, tax invasion, conspiracy and racketeering. One can only hope they throw the book at him.

Judy Barr Topinka, a moderate Republican with political ties to George Ryan, leads the pack of hopefuls to unseat Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Topinka is an interesting character, cut from the same pack of cigs as Marge Schott, and like Marge, has a tendency to run her mouth a bit too much. Yesterday, while speaking to a group of supporters she said, "It's hard to debate when you have to debate a bunch of morons." Topinka was referring to her more conservative challengers in the primary. I all can think is here we go again.

Conventional wisdom says that Illinois isn't ready to elect a conservative. I don't necessarily buy that, Peter Fitzgerald won his election for the U.S Senate in '98 and was very popular for his independent conservative thinking and being a fierce defender for a clean government. In fact, his nomination of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (no relation to the former Senator) began the investigation into Ryan's ethical problems. Perhaps this was the reason why in 2004 Topinka, then Chairperson of the State GOP committee, lead the effort to defeat her own party's incumbent Senator and refused to give him the GOP's endorsement. The net result was Sen. Fitzgerald retiring rather fighting an uphill battle against party officials (Topinka) who remained loyal to a crooked Gov. Ryan. Add the incompetent campaigns of Jack Ryan and Allen Keyes and you had the makings of an easy victory for Barak Obama. Smooth move Judy.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for a big tent Republican Party, it's the main reason why I gave Ryan my vote in '98, but apparently Topinka doesn't have any tolerance for those she calls "right wing wackos". Therefore, she won't be getting my support in this election.

King Mell and Queen Judy share a warm and fuzzy moment

Even without my vote Topinka stands a good chance of winning in November. Topinka is a master of political maneuvering and understands how the Chicago machine works. She has made allies with the men that control the Chicago voting machine, including Dick Mell, who just so happens to be the father-in-law to Blagojevich. Mell's talent to get out the vote is well known; somehow he was able to deliver 92% support from the Chicago's northside for his son-in-law in the last gubernatorial election. That's not likely to happen this election as Blago and Mell have been publicly feuding and Topinka is more than capable to exploit this troubled relationship. Ryan may die in jail but that's not going to stop the insider deals and corruption in this state.

One of Largest Biodiesel Plants To Be Built in Indiana

This report posted on Green Car Congress

8 March 2006

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced that Louis Dreyfus Agriculture Industries plans to build one of the world’s largest biodiesel plants yet near Claypool, Indiana. Daniels made the announcement during his remarks at the 2nd National Agriculture/Forestry Renewable Energy Summit in Washington, DC.

With this facility—which will ultimately produce up to 250,000 gallons of biodiesel per day, or more than 80 million gallons per year—two other biodiesel and six ethanol plants currently under construction, Indiana will become a leading producer in the biofuels industry.

Several firms in Malaysia are planning palm-biodiesel plants with annual outputs of 300,000 tonnes—about 90 million gallons per year. (Earlier post.)

It’s been a hectic year of dramatic progress in renewable fuels development in our state. If Indiana can do this, think what America can do to work toward energy self-sufficiency. In just one year, we’re growing from one alternative fuels plant to nine, with more to come. We said our ag sector would be a big part of our economic comeback, and here’s the proof.

—Governor Daniels

Indiana is the fifth-largest corn state and the fourth-largest soybean state. With the facilities under construction, the state will produce an additional 400 million gallons of ethanol annually and 95 million gallons of biodiesel (including Louis Dreyfus). Indiana’s goal is to produce a combined 1 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel annually.

Louis Dreyfus will build the project in two phases. The first will be a 50-million bushel per year soybean processing plant, and the second phase will be the biodiesel production facility. The plant will utilize Indiana soybeans.

Upon completion, the Louis Dreyfus facility will be one of the first biodiesel production plants to be fully integrated with a soybean processing plant. About 260,000 metric tons of soybean oil from the plant will be used each year for biodiesel production. In addition, 1 million tons of protein-rich soybean meal produced each year will be used by the livestock and poultry industry.

Kirby Puckett
1960-2006

"I was told I would never make it because I'm too short. Well, I'm still too short, but I've got 10 All-Star games, two World Series championships, and I'm a very happy and contented guy. It doesn't matter what your height is, it's what's in your heart."

– Puckett, at his 1996 retirement press conference.

    Year     Tm  Lg  G   AB    R    H  2B 3B  HR  RBI     BA    OBP   SLG  TB

    1984    MIN AL 128  557   63  165  12  5   0   31    .296  .320  .336  187
    1985    MIN AL 161  691   80  199  29 13   4   74    .288  .330  .385  266
    1986    MIN AL 161  680  119  223  37  6  31   96    .328  .366  .537  365
    1987    MIN AL 157  624   96  207  32  5  28   99    .332  .367  .534  333  
    1988    MIN AL 158  657  109  234  42  5  24  121    .356  .375  .545  358  
    1989    MIN AL 159  635   75  215  45  4   9   85    .339  .379  .465  295  
    1990    MIN AL 146  551   82  164  40  3  12   80    .298  .365  .446  246
    1991    MIN AL 152  611   92  195  29  6  15   89    .319  .352  .460  281
    1992    MIN AL 160  639  104  210  38  4  19  110    .329  .374  .490  313
    1993    MIN AL 156  622   89  184  39  3  22   89    .296  .349  .474  295
    1994    MIN AL 108  439   79  139  32  3  20  112    .317  .362  .540  237
    1995    MIN AL 137  538   83  169  39  0  23   99    .314  .379  .515  277   

My Thoughts On The Oscars

The Oscars over and hopefully so is the endless chatter about Brokeback Mountain. Don't get me wrong, Brokeback Mountain is a good film. The film looked good and the acting was fine. However, Crash is a great film and certainly was the most important movie of the year. I'm very glad it won. This is the second year in a row that Paul Hagis wrote the best film of the year, he was responsible for last year's winner Million Dollar Baby.

Congratulations to Eric Simonson for his Best Documentary (Short Subject) Oscar. Eric was my acting ensemble teacher at Columbia College. I know an Oscar winner, how about that!

I thought it was interesting that Sid Ganis (President of the Academy) and Jake Gyllenhaal made comments that movies were meant to be seen on the big screen. Do they believe that home theaters are the reason why the box office receipts are down this year? Heaven forbid Hollywood should make better movies.

When Hard Out Here for a Pimp won for Best Song I couldn't help but think of Kristi Hoening, who was died last week after her pimp collected $120 from the man who would later kill her. The pimp is sitting in jail after he failed to make his $5 million dollar bond. After honoring a song like that is it any surprise to hear people say Hollywood is out of touch?

Well apparently being out of touch fits George Clooney just fine. Clooney claims that an out of touch Hollywood brings attention to important social problems, such as AIDS awareness. Clooney didn't realize that it was nearly 10 years after AIDS came to the forefront of public conscientiousness that a major film released from Hollywood finally addressed the AIDS issue (Philadelphia-1993). If Clooney considers this a good response time then we can all thank goodness he isn't running FEMA.

Clooney spoke with pride when he mentioned Hattie McDaniel's Oscar award winning performance as an example of Hollywood's help in advancing the civil rights movement. You have to wonder if Clooney has ever seen Gone With the Wind. I would hardly call McDaniel's "Mammy" the role that broke racial barriers, just the opposite, it probably did more to reinforced stereotypes. Maybe someone should tell George that it was 33 years before the next black woman was nominated for a best actress award (Diana Ross - Lady Sings the Blues) and 62 years before a black woman won the Oscar again (Halle Berry - Monster's Ball). George Clooney, you’re not out of touch. You're out of your mind!

Hate Begets Hate

Thanks to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich we now know what happens when the members of the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes hate each other. In 2005 Governor Blagojecvich apointed to serve on the panel Sister Claudette Marie Johnson, an official in Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam. Considering Farrakhan's and the Nation of Islam message of intolerance towards Jews, homosexuals and "the man" (the white man), it is hardly suprising that such an appointment would raise a few eyebrows.

For those of you that are unfamilar with the message the Rev. Louis Farrakhan preaches to his followers I thought I would share a few remarks that Sister Johnson refuses to disavow herself from:

Expert from Farrahkan's Saviour Day's Speech, 02/26/06 - Chicago, IL
“These false Jews promote the filth of Hollywood that is seeding the American people and the people of the world and bringing you down in moral strength…It’s the wicked Jews the false Jews that are promoting Lesbianism, homosexuality. It’s wicked Jews, false Jews that make it a crime for you to preach the word of God, then they call you homophobic!”

Remarks at a Huricanne Katrina Shelter, 09/15/05 - Charolette, NC
“I heard from a very reliable source that under that levee there was a 25 foot hole, which suggested that it may have been blown up, so that the water would destroy the black part of town, and where the whites lived, it would be dry.”

National Black Agenda Conference, 03/18/04 - Boston, MA.
“I call them the so-called Jews because to be a Jew you have to adhere to the statutes and laws that create the special relationship. How can you be a Jew and promote homosexual marriage?”

To date four Jewish members of Commission have chose to resigned rather than serve alongside a high ranking official of the Nation of Islam, but supporters of Sister Johnson claim to remove her from the Commission would be nothing more than guilt by association. Well, thats right. Sister Johnson was given ample opprotunity to refute Farrakhan's statements and she has refused. To me that is tacit approval to Farrakhan's message of hate. Because of this Sister Johnson is not someone who should serve on a commission whose mission is to foster education efforts and help implement policies and state laws that battle violence and acts of discrimination which are based on ethnicity, religion, skin color, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

Pete's Worse Bet

In 1970 I saw my first major league baseball game at Crosley Field. To be honest I don't remember much of the game, but I do remember the walking up to the gate, the poles used to support the upper grandstand and the excitement of the crowd. I was 5 years old at the time and my love affair with the Cincinnati Reds began with that one game.

When you are 5 years old the entire world is bigger than you, but nothing was bigger than the Big Red Machine. Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Pete Rose, these guys were my heroes and they could do no wrong! Years pass and you begin to realize that the heroes you held so high are merely human, imperfect in every sense as we all are. No one typifies this point more so than Peter Edward Rose. Pete Rose is about as human as it gets.

The days leading up to August 24th, 1989, when Pete was banished from baseball, were the craziest days that Cincinnati had ever seen. This was when 24 hour news reporting was beginning to hit stride and filling air time was at a premium. I remember going to a Reds game in late July of '89 and seeing a city of satellite dishes fill the plaza at Riverfront Stadium and parade down towards Mehring Way. Rumors and allegations were flying everywhere, there was no escaping the Pete Rose gambling story. It wasn't a surprise to see your neighbor, grade school teacher or knothole coach being interrogated by a TV reporter on how Pete Rose affected their lives. Until I witnessed the O.J. Trial I never saw news agencies hunger for more angles to a story than the Pete Rose gambling scandal.

Anyone who knows me can attest that the 14 years following Bart Giamatti's banishment decree I stood by my fallen hero and defended him at every opportunity. Then in January of 2004 Pete Rose finally admitted that he bet on baseball including games involving the Cincinnati Reds. The admission also came with an apology. Pete was sorry for lying to his fans and to the game of baseball. I was crushed but was able to admit to myself that Pete Rose broke the cardinal rule of baseball, albiet 14 years too late. Before this, so long as there was a mere doubt of Pete's guilt, I was hoping that he would be reinstated to the game that made him my hero. Now that Pete Rose has admitted he put the integrity of the game in jeopardy and any doubts of innocence that may have existed are gone, I feel that he should be banned for life.

But there is something to this story that nags at me, why after 14 years of fierce denials would Pete finally come clean to the baseball world and his fans? This month, Phillies slugger and Pete's friend, Mike Schmidt releases a book that details meetings Pete Rose had with MLB officials, including Bud Selig. Pete was assured that his reinstatement would be considered so long as he admitted his guilt and apologized for allowing this cloud to hang over the baseball world. I would have never made this deal, you see I believe in the rule of law and the rules state that if you bet on baseball you are out of the game. But the rule of law should include that a person has the right to the assumption of innocence and the protection from self-incrimination. Bud Selig and his cronies enticed Rose to incriminate himself with the bargain that it will get him reinstated to baseball. Pete Rose lived up to his side of the deal but Selig still refuses to consider reinstatement. According to Schmidt, "He (Selig) told me he got the confession he had expected, but not the expression of genuine remorse he had hoped for."

One has to wonder what Selig considers an expression of genuine remorse, for that matter, what makes him qualified to recognize true remorse. At this point I have to believe that Pete was duped. Nothing Pete could have done would have satisfied Bud Selig and MLB. They never really intended to reinstate Pete Rose in the first place, regardless of how much remorse Rose showed or didn't show. All they were concerned with was that they got Pete to admit to the public that he lied as a means to stop all the urging from his fans to bring Rose back into the game. Shame on you Bud Selig, for as righteous as you think you are in that lofty perch called the Commissioner's Office you are no better than Pete Rose. The gamble that Pete took that Selig's word was worth more than his own was a bet that Pete lost.

Help Wanted

This posting for an internship at the Bill Clinton Foundation (sometimes commentary isn't needed).

We Can Make a World of Difference

Upon leaving office, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the dual missions of constructing and endowing the Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas and continuing the work of his presidency to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. The Clinton Foundation advances its mission by using President Clinton’s public and private networks to initiate research, dialogue, and action, and is currently focusing its work in four critical areas:

• Health Security
• Economic Empowerment
• Leadership Development and Citizen Service
• Racial, Ethnic and Religious Reconciliation

If you are an undergraduate, graduate or professional student or a recent graduate with your own strong interest in crucial issues of our day, the Clinton Foundation Intern Program offers a unique opportunity for growth, learning and meaningful service. We are looking for people who are dependable, enthusiastic, professional, and intelligent.

Hands-on experience: Interns have the responsibility of interacting directly with staff, volunteers and Foundation stakeholders, in such activities as communications, development, and scheduling. Through firsthand experience you learn how the Clinton Foundation functions on a daily basis, and assist with this process directly.

Joke Time

Uncle Ed sent this to me. I just love jokes like this :).....

The Moles

A mama mole, a papa mole, and a baby mole all live in a little mole hole.

One day the papa mole sticks his head out of the hole, sniffs the air and says,"Yum! I smell maple syrup!"

The mama mole sticks her head out of the hole, sniffs the air and says "Yum! I smell honey!"

The baby mole tries to stick his head out of the hole to sniff the air, but can't because the bigger moles are in the way so he says, "Geez, all I can smell is....MOLASSES"

------
Coffee Dilemma

A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.

The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee".

The husband said, " You are in charge of the cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."

Wife replies, "No you should do it, and besides it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."

Husband replies, " I can't believe that, show me."

So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and shows him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says:

"HEBREWS"

----

What did the fish say when he swam into a wall?

Dam!

----

Two Peanuts went to the Police Station to file a complaint that they were a salted.


----

One day there was these three tomatoes walking down the street, a mama tomato, a daddy tomato and a baby tomato. the baby tomato was walking too slow, so the daddy tomato went back, stepped on him and said ketchup!

Shani Davis, A Smile Can Go A Long Way.

It seems that the biggest story coming from the Winter Games in Torin, Italy is the lack of viewers. Well, there are some very good reasons why Americans are choosing to watch alternative programming. The first being that we really do have a choice these days, 200 plus channels of choice. So whatever NBC execs decide to broadcast better be compelling enough to sit through. Sorry to say, but men wearing crush velvet and rhinestones, who float on and off the ice just doesn't cut it.

You also have to fault NBC for not having enough of a build up leading into the games. When ABC had the games they used their Wide World of Sports to introduce us to the leading characters in the events. When Franz Klammer came up on the hill we already knew who he was and were ready to root for him. These insipid human interest stories designed to get me to have some type of emotional response to the athletes should be delegated to a segment on Oprah not cluttering up your prime time coverage. Not to mention that it helps to get the story right, many Chicagoans were surprised to find out that Hyde Park and Evanston are in the ghetto. Believe me, if Hyde Park was part of the ghetto the Rev. Jessie Jackson wouldn't be living there.

Does anyone at NBC realize there is a 5 hour delay? How about editing some of the events so we can get straight to the action! Do I really need to see a hockey match between Latvia and Kazakhstan? I barely need to know the score, yet alone seeing every power play. But I have to admit I am falling in love with Curling, what a fun sport. Almost makes me want to go to Minnesota just to have a beer with those guys.

For the next games lets hope that the network and corporate sponsors put their money on the right horse and not one that just looks like a horse. The Bode Miller hype has been a complete disaster! No matter how hard you try, you can't get away from the Nike commercials. Though you have to smile when you hear him say "...You can either learn from me or not learn from me." Really? I think we all learned that it's not the best training practice to close the bars the night before your competition. And 'Be a Bodeist', that's on the fringe of being offensive. Let's just hope the Muslim radicals don't see that commercial, they will be rioting for the next month and I might just join them.

And finally, someone at NBC needs to learn that a bitter rivalry is not necessarily good TV. The Chad Hedrick - Shani Davis drama is more disturbing than interesting and the media just wants to fuel the fires. What's not being understood is that both men came to the games wanting to make history. Hedrick wanted to be the first speed skater to win five medals in one games since Eric Hieden did it in 1980, and Davis wanted to become the first black man to win a gold medal ever at the Winter Games. Lofty ambitions are good for anyone to aspire and inspire. But Hedrick doesn't comprehend that his ambitions are his ambitions and it's not right for someone to have to sacrifice reaching their goals just for his interests. The fact of the matter is that Davis trained for years for this opportunity, the relay race was the day before 1000 meter event, the best chance for Davis to medal in these games. Why should anyone risk fatigue or potential injury when they are so close to reaching the pinnacle of their career? Don't go saying "There is no I in Team", heard it all before. Speed skating has never been a team event. In fact, this relay race is a relatively new event. What Shani Davis needs is a good PR man to change the angry way he is handling the controversy. He is making Leon look like the most sensitive man in America since Alan Alda.

It's Morning in America Mr. Gumbel!

You don't hear very much from Bryant Gumbel since his exile (banishment) from morning television. But apparently at least one person viewed his Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO, where Gumbel's remarks on the Winter Olympics is quoted as saying:

"...try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention."

Even more surprising than Gumbel’s correct usage of the word "paucity", is his comparison of the "white" winter games to a GOP Convention. It seems that Bryant has been out of "real news" reporting a bit too long. While you can make the case that "paucity of blacks" exists among the athletes at the Winter Games, you would be hard press to make that argument in the big tent called the Republican Party. Three of the highest profile election races this year features African Americans who are all Republicans. Early polls shows Lynn Swan and Ken Blackwell leading in their race to be become Governors of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and Michael Steele is making a strong case for victory in his U.S. Senate race in Maryland. What is even more amazing is that these men are running as conservatives in the tradition of Ronald Reagan!

Let’s look at what has happened since Bryant Gumbel stopped giving Americans their first look at the daily news. The 2004 Presidential Elections showed a 4% evaporation of the nationwide black support of Democratic candidate John Kerry. In the state of Ohio, George Bush won 17% of the African American vote thanks in large part to Ken Blackwell. A recent AP-AOL Black Voices poll showed Condoleezza Rice and Collin Powell finishing right behind Jessie Jackson as the "most important" black leader in America today. These are not just "token" voices; In addition to Powell and Rice, President Bush has brought to his administration J.C. Watts, Rod Paige, Claude Allen and Michael Powell. At the same time we have seen the emergence of outspoken social commentators like Armstrong Williams, Joseph C. Phillips, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell and TV's Good Times star Jimmy "JJ" Walker.

Yes Mr. Gumbel, whether you want to admit it or not, as the average African-American combats the daily threats to their community caused by a poor educational system, crime and moral decadence, they turn more and more to conservatism to provide much needed solutions.

This is not lost on the Democratic Party leadership, which explains why Michael Steele is pelted with Oreo cookies at every rally and Hillary Clinton's "plantation" remark to a black audience in Harlem. But if claims of "Uncle Tom-ism" and race-baiting are the only answers the Democratic Party has to solve the problems facing African-Americans then they will continue to lose elections in November.

News from the H'Wood

Just when you thought Hollywood couldn't get loonier, along comes this story reported on http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2006-02-16/.


Hilton To Play Mother Teresa?

Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."

The Media and the Story They Want To Tell

The press, out of tradition, has always taken great joy in tearing down larger than life characters and great institutions of society. However, over the past decade the mainstream media has gotten incredibly lazy. Rather than researching and reporting the facts of the story, they seem to take their cue directly from the talking points of the mouth piece of the left wing political machine. Two stories of the day illustrate this perfectly; Dick Cheney's hunting accident and the British Soldiers apparent beating of Iraqi protestors.

Despite the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department report, finding no alcohol at the scene and no obvious intent, meaning they ruled it an accident. And despite witness accounts that describe the accident as an error in hunters' judgment, the liberal left immediately(Paul Begala and Joshua Michan Marshall) began to cast suspicion on Cheney and the White House because of an 18 hour delay in the announcement of the accident. Naturally, the media picked up on this, prompting the White House Press Corps to ask no less than 25 questions and follow-ups on the subject. Apparently Iraq, Iran, Energy Policy, unemployment numbers, the upcoming Katrina Report and the most severe winter storm in years, all take a back seat to the hunting accident and possible conspiracy. Hells bells, even Helen Thomas didn't get a chance to do her daily diatribe on how President Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. One has to ask what was the press hunting for after the same question was asked over and over? Even after White House Spokesperson, Scott Mclellan reasonably explained that the immediate focus and concern was getting Mr. Whittington the medical attention he obviously needed, the pursuit of the cover up continued. If the press thinks there was some type of conspiracy here they should go out and get the story. The truth is that there is no conspiracy. Cheney and Whittington, both, had valid hunting licenses and was up to date on hunting fees. The Vice President was given a warning because he failed to have a $7 stamp affixed to the license, a new requirement (within the last five months) in the state of Texas. Instead, it's so much easier to speculate on unfounded suspicions and premature allegations. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

The second instance of the slothful media is the overly repeated broadcast of the video apparently showing British soldiers beating Iraqi protestors. While the video appears to be brutal, the press glosses over the fact that the video begins at the start of the beating, and offered no account of what occurred before British soldiers took it out on the protestors. From viewing the video on the news networks, it's obvious to me that there was at least 4 edits on the tape. No one mentions how much time has passed in between the cuts. Why not? And no one knows when the incident actually occurred (it was sometime in 2004). You would think that any respected journalist would want to know this. Could it be that the mainstream media doesn't want the facts to get in the way of the story they want to tell?

Grammy Watchers...

At 2:54 am on Sunday morning the Grammy Awards presented the last prize of the year when the Best American Folk Music with String Orchestration by a Female Solo Clogger Artist Named Martha was presented to Barbra Lotton for her work on Clog-In: 10 Cents a Dance. This was the second award of the ceremony presented to Ms. Lotton, she also won for Best Album Cover Featuring the Seduction of a Minor, beating out Grammy favorites R. Kelly and Michael Jackson.


Ms. Lotton accepted her awards in a stunning wet tee shirt designed by Armani, inspiring co-presenters Courtney Love and Dennis Rodman to urinate on each other.

Alternative Fuels Links

You may notice on the navigation bar there are now links so you can gather information on alternative fuels. My goal here that people get information they need to apply pressure to those policy makers to make a change in our energy policy strategy. Strategy is the correct word because we need to tie the energy policy to winning the War on Terror. Day after day this region's leadership continues to demonstrate their unreasonableness. And day after day it becomes all the more clear that now is the time to eliminate the world-wide dependence on their oil.

Moving on up.....

Not many people can take being called a "honkey" or a "cracker" but Tom Willis, George Jefferson's neighbor, took it all with a smile.

Franklin Cover
1928-2006

You're mad? Tell Me Something I Don't Know

A few months ago Muslims ran rampant in the streets of Paris, now it's world wide protests over editorial cartoons that appeared in a Danish newspaper. Story after story the press reports on how angry the Muslims are. All I can say is that I don't care anymore. It seems that the Muslims have been mad about someone or something my entire life. After 40 plus years of seeing these people ticked off I think it's about time someone tell these people that if you are constantly angry it looses it impact. I am no longer surprised to see flag burnings. In fact, I'm kind of tickled to see the Danish flag in flames along with the American and Israeli flags.

Now I know there those that are going to tell me that it's not fair to stereotype all Muslims, not all Muslims riot and burn cars. Fair enough and probably true, but that's real the problem. Where are the moderate Muslims that will show me a balance view of what it means to be a Muslim? Don't they see their religion being hijacked, or are they just scared to have a target put on their head by thugs posing as spiritual leaders? The day that I will be shocked is the day I hear the voices of Muslims angered at Muslims for allowing what the radicals did to their religion. Until then I'm not listening any more.

Sit Down President Carter!

When former President Jimmy Carter left the White House he was a disgraced man, a failure, the nightly butt of Carson's monologues. After today's remarks at Mrs. King's funeral, 25 years later, I have come to the conclusion that the only thing that has changed is that Johnny Carson is now dead.

Who can forget the "Misery Index" of the Carter economy, the idiotic Olympic Boycott and the disastrous foreign policy decision that allowed Ayatollah Khomieni to hold America hostage? No one can, except those at the New York Times, CNN and today's Democratic Party. For decades the far left has made it their mission to rehabilitate Carter's image. This is the elder statesman that brought peace to Haiti and stopped North Korea from being a nuclear power. Let's give him the Nobel Peace Prize and maybe the world will buy into his advice on national security matters given at a funeral. It's got to be a joke! After all, here is a man whose solution to airplane hijackings was to send a secret letter to Kaddahfi telling him to stop or else! Then brags about its success in a 1991 speech to the Chicago Economic Club. That's three years after Pan-Am Flight 103 exploded over Scotland! Who was responsible for that? You guessed it Kaddahfi.

It was just last week President Carter advocated to continue giving the Hamas run Palestinian Government financial aid. This opinion based on Hamas leadership telling Carter they want a peaceful administration. Carter noted, Hamas has adhered to a cease fire, which "indicates what they may do in the future..... Hamas is highly disciplined and capable of keeping any promise of nonviolent it might make." Really? Did it ever occurred to Carter to demand that they promise to renounce their party platform calling for the destruction of Israel?

Lets not forget last year's Venezuelan re-call election of Hugo Chavez. The European Union determined that the election was so rigged and the observers rules were so absurd, that they declined to send representatives in the "interest of honesty". Reports of voter intimidation was so wide spread that opposition parties refused to participate in the elections. Yet this did nothing to stop Carter from monitoring and certifying Chavez's victory. Carter didn't even feel the need to investigate the fact that independent organizations reported a 40 point swing between the vote tabulation and exit poll data. Don't blame Jimmy, he probably had to run off to give another speech in Europe where he calls President Bush and Tony Blair liars.

This brings us to Coretta Scott King's funeral. Carter thought it appropriate to politicized the event and like so many other times in the past he was proven to be foolish and wrong.

Congratulations to the Squeelers

The Payoff?

No Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words......

I've been reading CNN's coverage of the Mohammed cartoon scandal in Europe. At the end of the article there is the following note:

"CNN has chosen not to show the cartoons out of respect to Islam."

I don't remember CNN having the same editorial concerns when they were reporting on the New York gallery exhibition of the Crucifix in a jar of urine.

Super Bowl Overload PSA

If you just can't bear one more minute of the Super Bowl hype and the commercials aren't enough to get you through watching the game, keep in mind of the following TV counter programming:

In what could be the biggest reunion since New Edition, Joey Buttafuco and Amy Fisher will participate in the ceremonial coin toss at Lingerie Bowl III, pitting the Los Angeles Temptation against the New York Euphoria. Lets hope Amy doesn't go for heads again!

And the reason why TIVO was invented....On Bravo, James Lipton will interview Liza Minnelli in a special 2 hour live broadcast on Inside the Actors Studio. The network will be using a 5 second delay to ease fears of any possible wardrobe malfunctions. There really is a God!

Frailty: Thy Name is Addict

Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology. - Pres. Bush, State of the Union -2006

Yes, America is addicted to oil, and now is the time to take seriously President Bush's call to "move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past." Unless the American people demand that their government officials, power companies and auto industry join the President in this agenda, then we, as a society, are nothing more than 300 hundred million enablers! If we fail to act we can consider ourselves to be no better than the corner thug pushing drugs at the neighborhood crack house.

Are Americans ready for a serious energy policy? You bet. Today we import 10 million barrels of oil per day. Of this, 2.2 million barrels day of this comes directly from the Middle East. At today's prices that's more than 140 million dollars every day leaving our economy. Over the course of the year that's nearly $5 billion. Imagine the effects of taking $140 million a day and putting it back into American's pockets. Mind you, this is just Middle East oil and not including monies going into the Venezuelan, Mexican and Canadian economies.

How to get started. The Democrats were quick to criticize President Bush because he failed to include conservationism as a means to lower our dependence on foreign fuels. Well, this country has been obsessed with conservation for over 30 years now. In fact, the use of reusable fuels have increase more than 10% each year since 1999 and has had no effect on reducing the amount of foreign fuel we consume on a daily basis. Conservation efforts, though they mean well, has not work, nor will they ever work. The only way to get the public to reduce foriegn fuel consumption is to get it to accept alternative fuels. To help in this effort Gov. George Pataki of New York has proposed the elimination of state taxes on homegrown alternative fuels such as ethanol and biomast. In addition, he wants to initiate a grant program to make it easier for owners of gas stations to install ethanol pumps. Great steps! Make alternative energies cheaper and make it available. Trust me this will play well in Iowa, how does President Pataki sound to you?

If there is a positive in the failing of the American automobile industry is the fact that Ford, General Motors and Dalhmer-Chrysler all admit radical changes are needed to be more competitive. Now is the time that to convince the car makers to change their focus from being competitive to changing the entire industry. Trying to be competitive results in $5 billion in loses per year! Look what happens in the Information Technology industry, sure Asians can make the silicon chip cheaper, but who cares? "We'll make a better chip that will make that one obsolete." The lesson - Don't compete with them, make them have to change to meet your new standards. Detroit needs to adopt this philosophy. What better standard would there be than creating alternative powered vehicles.

Perhaps the most important factor is for President Bush to get the heart and soul of the American people to follow his lead. The economic value of new policies are obvious and the "Buy American" slogan always has high mpg, but think what could happen if the President links the new policies as another tool to win the War on Terror. You may call it a shameless use of propaganda, but what would be a better way to put pressure on the Arab run OPEC cartel. The longer these countries protect terrorists, like Bin-Laden and Al-Zawahari, the more we will be resolved to develop alternative fuels. The Mullahs in Iran wants the western world to leave them alone, lets create an environment where we can help them out.