More Vatican Ignorance

And so in addition to being pretty clueless about American sensibilities and putting undeserved faith in an unaccountable and corrupt organization like the United Nations, the Vatican tries to "bury the hatchet" with Tony Blair and President Bush by analogizing post-war reconstruction efforts in Iraq to an illegitimate child who must be educated and reared.

With all due respect Cardinal Sodano: Shat up!

Update: Great take on Cardinal Sodano's unfortunate choice of words by The Mighty Barrister. Kind of makes you think that perhaps Sodano would have preferred that Saddam had stayed in power.

Morbid Musing

This past weekend, philosopher Jacques Derrida , actor Christopher Reeve, and former Major League Baseball player and MVP Ken Caminiti passed away. Kind of odd how celebrities, or relatively well know people, seem to always die in threes.

Kerry's Consistent Inconsistency

On the issue of requiring parental notification before allowing a minor to obtain an abortion, Kerry during last Friday's debate said he was against it because he didn't want "to require a 16 or 17 year old kid who's been raped by her father and who's pregnant to have to notify her father." The big problem with Kerry's rationale, however, is that he has voted against notification proposals that made an exception for the very type of scenario that he raised.

Bombshell

Drudge obtains an internal memo which confirms what most people with half a brain and not drinking the MSM's Kool Aid already know: there is a liberal bias at ABC News.

Maybe He Meant the Cambodia Marathon

Much like John Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia story, there is no evidence that supports Kerry's claim that he ever ran the Boston Marathon.

President Bush, on the other hand, has run many races, including the Houston Marathon. (link via Michelle Malkin)

Theology of the Demented Fruitcakes

Alleged scholars and theologians at an upcoming convention on American religion will be presenting papers which basically argue that true spirituality may be manifested through sadomasochism, transvestism, transsexualism and polyamory. Dollars to donuts that one of these crackheads throws out an argument that Christ was sexually aroused during the crucifixion.

Why "Catholic" Kerry Will Help Bush Win More Catholic Votes

George Marlin opines in the Washington Times:

This November, the number of Bush Catholics is likely to increase because many Catholics are angered by the specter of one of their own, candidate Kerry. This backlash may doom Mr. Kerry's candidacy, because unlike non-practicing "cafeteria" Catholics who are congregated in the northeastern and far western states that Mr. Kerry will easily carry, practicing Catholics are a major voting bloc in the key swing states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Missouri.

According to liberal political pollster Stanley Greenberg, these practicing Catholics are "those most committed to and identified with the church and most likely to bring their Catholic identity into politics."

Right now, most pollsters agree that these states are moving in Mr. Bush's direction. Mr. Kerry's poor social-issues record has lead to Catholics in certain battleground states polling significantly more in favor of Mr. Bush than the general population.

Al Presseera

If you ever had any doubt that the AP news service is nothing but a mouthpiece for the Left, read this and wonder no more.

Glorifying Evil

So what does a self-described Catholic school like the University of San Francisco do in response to a mayor who is pro-abortion and breaks the law by granting official government recognition of gay "marriages?" Why, the university gives him an award! Like the city it's named after, USF is completely insane. (link via Mark Shea)

Judge William Pryor

Of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will be appearing EWTN's "Life on the Rock" show tonight at 5pm PDT. In case you might have forgotten, William Pryor was at the center of a heated confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate last year because of his express pro-life beliefs, and the fact that he once called Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law."

The Vatican Doesn't Really Get the U.S.

On the stage of world affairs, National Catholic Reporter correspondent John Allen writes in his new book All the Pope’s Men that the Vatican just doesn't think the U.S. has what it takes to run the world. George Weigel, citing Allen's book, thinks that's probably an accurate assessment of the Vatican, but also adds that many Vatican officials are unaware of the fact that most Americans think the same thing.

But Americans have come to understand, however reluctantly, that power, like nature, abhors a vacuum. Perhaps no one can, or should, “run the world.” But someone will take the lead in shaping world politics. That someone can’t be the United Nations as presently configured. And it can’t be those western European countries who are reviving the failed appeasement strategies of the 1930s. Absent American leadership, the world will not be calm and orderly; the world will be chaotic — lethally chaotic.

So does the Vatican understand or see this? Doesn't really seem like it.

Blogger is Temperamental

Sometimes it won't let me in to my account, and sometimes it won't publish. As such, posting might be light for a while.

No WMD Stockpiles Inside Iraq, But...

That doesn't mean they aren't outside of the country, that Saddam didn't have a rudimentary WMD program in place, and that Saddam wasn't going to try and actively develop WMDs had there been no military intervention by US led coalition forces.

Update: From BBC Washington reporter Aaron Brookes:

Crucially, Mr Duelfer was asked in Congress today whether he thought the world was better off without Saddam Hussein.

Mr Duelfer hesitated, and then replied, "Yes, as an analyst, the world is better off."

Update: Some good analysis of the ISG report at Powerline. Check it out.

ID-ing the Baby Killers

Pro-life activists warn Oakland residents about a local gynecologist who flies to Kansas every month to perform abortions. As expected, the pro-aborts wring their hands and allege that "misinformation" and "lies" are being spread. Exactly what the pro-lifers are lying about, they don't say.

Pro-Aborts Hate Democracy (and Children)

The euphemistically named Center for Reproductive Rights sounds the alarm that at least 30 states will either ban or impose broad restrictions on wanton baby killing if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

"The building blocks are already in place to recriminalize abortion," said Nancy Northup, the center's president.

The group's report comes less than a month before the presidential election, which those on both sides of the abortion issue say will be critical in determining the future of the Roe decision.

Currently, it is believed that five of the nine justices support abortion rights, but that balance could be tipped if President Bush, in a second term, nominates a new justice who reflects his anti-abortion views. Democratic contender John Kerry is a strong supporter of abortion rights.

Cert Denied

Among the various First Amendment cases that the SCOTUS has declined to review is Catholic Charities of Sacramento v. California. This is the case where Catholic Charities has challenged the State of California's requirement that relgious backed service organizations include contraception coverage in their employee health benefit plans. Because the SCOTUS has declined to review the matter, the California Supreme Court's ridiculous ruling that Catholic Charities is not an exempt religious institution stands.

Ahnuld OKs Pedophile Protection Act

Even though I didn't vote for him, I'm sorry I ever put up a defense for his election. I would have at least thought Ahnuld would refrain from signing any idiotic bills that helps protect the baby butchers at Planned Parenthood. Ugh! Maybe we need another recall. (link via Mark Shea)

Will the MSM Pick This Up?

CNSNews.com, the first news service to break Rathergate, obtains evidence that appears to cement the claim that Saddam had WMD and ties to terrorists.

San Francisco Schools For Jihad

Yes, this place is truly an insane asylum.

The San Francisco Unified School District will host an event tomorrow (Saturday, October 2) in support of overseas terrorist groups given by the International Solidarity Movement and its affiliate, International ANSWER. Taking place at Horace Mann Middle School in San Francisco’s Mission District, the event is titled “The Struggle for Palestine: 4th Anniversary of the Intifada.” The Intifada means the violent insurrection started by the PLO in September, 2000 that has resulted in over 25,000 terror attacks and more than 1,000 innocent people deliberately murdered in cold blood.

For the radical Left, this event is especially timely, since it follows the beheadings of two American citizens in Iraq last week, a crime and tragedy that undoubtedly will not be condemned during the proceedings at the Horace Mann Middle School this weekend.

Not Everyone Should be Allowed to Vote II

Res Ipsa Loquitur

When You Mess With the Bull, You Get the Horns

A public school district is ordered to pay-up big time for its intolerance of traditional Catholic views about homosexuality. (link via Amy Welborn)

"Hopefully, this will deter Ann Arbor Public Schools from violating students' constitutional rights in the future," said Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center on Friday, after learning that U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen had ordered the school district to reimburse the center for suing on behalf of Elizabeth (Betsy) Hansen.

"They could have avoided all of this by simply letting her express her views," Muise said. The center is an Ann Arbor-based public interest law firm that defends the religious liberties of Christians.

What They Said

Why no serious Catholic should even consider voting for Kerry. (link via Mark Shea)

Kerry has a proven record of hostility to judges who share the beliefs that form the core of the Church’s teachings on life, family, and social issues. With the full support of Senators Kerry and Edwards, Senate Democrats have used unprecedented filibusters to prevent the Senate from holding a vote on many of President Bush’s judicial nominees – not because they were unqualified but because of liberal concerns that their judicial philosophy would yield results that conform too closely to the core teachings of Catholic doctrine. In effect, to paraphrase one commentator, Senate Democrats have adopted a viewpoint test for judicial office that has the effect of screening out all nominees who are faithful to the Church’s teaching.

Putting Terri's Faith on Trial?

A Florida judge considers whether evidence of Terri Schiavo's commitment to her Catholic faith should be allowed in arguments against removing her feeding tubes.

In a hearing Thursday, attorneys for the parents of the 40-year-old brain-damaged woman argued that Schiavo was a practicing Catholic whose views would be affected by statements made by Pope John Paul II in March.

The pope said in a speech that someone in a persistent vegetative state still has the right to basic health care, including nutrition and hydration, and that to withhold it would be a sin.

From the Same Folks Who Said "The Passion" Would Cause Anti-Semitism

The Anti-Defamation League successfully henpecks Riverside County to cover up a Theodore Roosevelt quote (“The true Christian is the true citizen”) that was engraved on a courthouse wall about 70 years ago.

The ADL, which seeks to fight anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, sent a letter to the court in July stating that the quote should be covered because it could be interpreted as a direct “endorsement of Christian faith.”

Alison Mayersohn, associate director of the group’s Pacific Southwest region, said that without the original context, the quote could easily be perceived by socially vulnerable groups, particularly minorities “as equating Christianity and good citizenship.”

In other words, the ADL thinks minorities are too stupid to figure out that the quote in no way implies that one must be a Christian in order to be a true citizen. Typical elitist left-wing goofs.

LA County Sued for Voting to Remove Cross Off Seal

God bless the plaintiffs who filed the complaint, but practically speaking, I don't see them getting too far with this.

The suit alleges that the supervisors' action was hostile toward religion and a waste of taxpayers' money.

Supervisors earlier this month voted 3-2 to approve a new county seal to avoid a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

The ACLU claimed the cross symbol represented a government endorsement of Christianity in violation of the First Amendment.

Individuals Can't Be Required to Obtain Speech Permits

So rules the 6th Circuit Court of Appeal in a case involving a street preacher who had attempted to verbally express his religious beliefs on public property. What's real interesting about this case, though, is that no determination was made as to why it is acceptable for the State to require groups to obtain a speech permit, but not individuals.

In a dissent, Judge Deborah Cook said she thought the state's rules for use of the Statehouse grounds were appropriate because they regulated the time, place and manner of speech but not the content of the message.

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro was considering whether to appeal the decision, spokeswoman Kim Norris said.

"We continue to maintain that there is no principal difference between individual speakers and groups on the grounds of the Statehouse," Norris said. The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board regulates use of the Statehouse grounds and approves permits.

Not Everyone Should be Allowed to Vote

Some words of something other than wisdom from Ms. Cameron Diaz (via Drudge):

"We have a voice now, and we're not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies. We could lo--if you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote. But if you think that you have a right to your body, and you have a right to say what happens to you and fight off that danger of losing that, then you should vote, and those are the..."

More Catholics Supporting Prez. Bush

According to a poll conducted by former Catholic George Barna. A good sign, but probably still should be taken with a grain of salt.

Time to Come Clean Mr. President

Bobby Eberle at FrontPageMag.com raises some serious questions on whether the President lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction. Interestingly, it isn't President Bush that needs to answer the hard questions.

New Blog!

For all you federal judicial nomination junkies. (via The Corner)

Dubya Got No Preferential Treatment

According to the man who swore him in to the Texas Air National Guard. Don't expect a little inconvenient fact like this to deter the draft dodger loving 'Rats and their Kool-Aid drinking enablers in the media to change their contrarian mantra, though. (link via Drudge)

On Thursday, Morrisey said the argument that Bush got off easy by being in the National Guard doesn't take into consideration the context of the 1960s.

"Bush and the others were flying several flights day or night over the Gulf of Mexico to identify the unknown,'' he said. "The Cold War was a nervous time. You never knew. There were other things going on equally important to the country, and the Air National Guard had a primary role in it.''

Morrisey said the commander he worked for at the unit in Texas was sent there to rebuild the image of the unit. There were only two to four pilot training slots given to them per year, he said. Individuals questioned by an evaluation board and then chosen by the commander had to be the best.

"Bush was selected and he turned out just fine,'' he said.

Heterosexist?!

A white-male-Christian college student prevails in his discrimination claim against a University of North Carolina propagandist, errr, professor.

Professor Elyse Crystall violated student Timothy R. Mertes' civil rights, the agency said, by improperly accusing him of "hate speech" in an e-mail sent to students after a class discussion in which Mr. Mertes said he was a Christian and felt "disgusted, not threatened" by homosexual behavior.

(...)

In her e-mail, Ms. Crystall told students: "I will not tolerate any racist, sexist, and/or heterosexist comments in my class. What we heard Thursday at the end of class constitutes 'hate speech' and is completely unacceptable, it has created a hostile environment. I am deeply sorry and apologize to those of us who are now feeling that the classroom we share is an unsafe environment, for those of us who feel vulnerable or threatened. I will do my best to counter those feelings and protect that space from further violence."

Naming Mr. Mertes in the e-mail, Ms. Crystall wrote: "What we experienced, as unfortunate as it is, is, however, a perfect example of privilege, that a white, heterosexual, Christian male, one who vehemently denied his privilege last week insisting that he earned all he has, can feel entitled to make violent, heterosexist comments and not feel marked or threatened or vulnerable is what privilege makes possible."

Killer Kangaroo Courts

Citizens United Resisting Euthanasia (CURE) releases a statement on the recent death sentence imposed on Terri Schiavo by the Florida Supreme Court. (link via Times Against Humanity)

See the Full Monty on Pier 39

San Francisco's "enlightened" city prosecutors drop all charges against the Naked Yoga Guy and say it isn't illegal to be naked in the middle of Fisherman's Wharf. Is this place an insane asylum, or what?

Institutional Religious Liberty vs. Protection of Children

Such appears to be the fundamental conflict in a Bay Area lawsuit, where alleged abuse victims are arguing they ought to be able to sue the Church for negligent hiring, firing and supervision of abusive priests. (link via Amy Welborn)

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw issued a temporary ruling Thursday stating a 2002 state law temporarily lifting the statute of limitation on damage suits against institutions that protected known child molesters gave abuse victims the right to sue.

Arguing for the church, lawyer Paul Gaspari said the Constitution forbade punishing the church for the standards it sets for the ordination of priests.

"If a religious institution chooses to ordain a known child molester that it felt had truly repented, it has that constitutional right," Gaspari said. "The government may not second-guess that choice."

Marci Hamilton, a lawyer assisting the abuse victims' legal team, argued that repentance was not relevant to the issue of culpability.

Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation

I had always been a little unclear on what Ronald Reagan's position on abortion was, so I did a Google search and discovered that he wrote the above titled essay on the 10th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in 1983. Quite an amazing man was our 40th President.

What, then, is the real issue? I have often said that when we talk about abortion, we are talking about two lives—the life of the mother and the life of the unborn child. Why else do we call a pregnant woman a mother? I have also said that anyone who doesn't feel sure whether we are talking about a second human life should clearly give life the benefit of the doubt. If you don't know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this consideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn.

The case against abortion does not rest here, however, for medical practice confirms at every step the correctness of these moral sensibilities. Modern medicine treats the unborn child as a patient. Medical pioneers have made great breakthroughs in treating the unborn—for genetic problems, vitamin deficiencies, irregular heart rhythms, and other medical conditions. Who can forget George Will's moving account of the little boy who underwent brain surgery six times during the nine weeks before he was born? Who is the patient if not that tiny unborn human being who can feel pain when he or she is approached by doctors who come to kill rather than to cure?

Myth: Only Smart People Attend UC Berkeley

A picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to the intellectual bankruptcy of the Left.

To An Extent, A Good Decision

A California Court of Appeal has thrown out a case filed by a man who claimed that unmarried/cohabitating couples of the opposite sex should have the same right to file a wrongful death lawsuit as cohabitating same-sex couples.

Jack Holguin said the law's exclusion of unmarried heterosexual couples violates his equal protection rights. Holguin's girlfriend, Tamara Booth, was killed in a car accident. They had lived together for three years, but never married.

The Los Angeles County trial judge dismissed the complaint, and the 1st District affirmed, holding that the state Legislature had "rational bases" for not extending partnership benefits to "cohabiting unmarried couples in general."

Although I understand the illogic of the law that the plaintiff in this matter was trying to expose and eliminate, I think the decision by the Court of Appeal was proper for two reasons: 1) an equal protection violation ruling would have resulted in sexual orientation being given the equivalent status of race, sex and ethnicity (all of which are constitutionally protected classifications); and 2) cohabitation by unmarried couples of the opposite sex would have been legally endorsed (i.e., "blessed").

Why "Everybody Loves Raymond" is the Only Reason to Watch CBS

The colonel who allegedly pressed to have Bush's National Guard records "sugarcoated" categorically denies ever having done so.

In his first public statement since "60 Minutes II" aired a program claiming it had unearthed damaging memos, retired Col. Walter Staudt told ABC News that Bush was a highly qualified officer who passed all the necessary tests.

"I never pressured anybody about George Bush because I had no reason to," Staudt said.
Staudt, who served as brigadier general of Bush's unit in Texas, retired in 1972. A purported memo by Bush's squadron commander Col. Jerry Killian dated Aug. 18, 1973 -- 18 months after Staudt left the Guard -- said Staudt was putting on pressure to "sugar coat" the performance evaluation of Lt. Bush.

CBS has tried to explain the discrepancy by suggesting Staudt still was in the sphere of influence.

But Staudt said that after his retirement he had no involvement in Guard affairs.

"I didn't check in with anybody -- I had no reason to," he said. "I was busy with my civilian endeavors, and they were busy with their military options. I had no reason to talk to them, and I didn't."

Kitty Kelley Caught Lying About Bush Drug Use

Hardly surprising, but still funny. Perhaps Ms. Kelley and Dan Rather will one day end up working here.

I Wonder...

Up to now, the White House has been pretty dead silent over Rathergate (sorry, I haven't yet figured out how to superscript the "th" on Blogger). I'm beginning to wonder if the Bush team might have had an inkling that the CBS memos were bogus, but instead of expending their own time and energy in proving it and picking a fight with a big television network, simply left it to the New Media to expose the fraud. Maybe not so out of the question, seeing as how the issue of Bush's military history is largely irrelevant with the American public and the Bush campaign has its own blog.

Willful Deception?

Was CBS really duped? The following ABC News report reveals that at least two professional document examiners had expressed some doubt to CBS about the authenticity of the alleged Killian memos. (link via Kerry Spot). Perhaps a congressional investigation into this would be appropriate.

Emily Will, a veteran document examiner from North Carolina, told ABC News she saw problems right away with the one document CBS hired her to check the weekend before the broadcast.

"I found five significant differences in the questioned handwriting, and I found problems with the printing itself as to whether it could have been produced by a typewriter," she said.

Will says she sent the CBS producer an e-mail message about her concerns and strongly urged the network the night before the broadcast not to use the documents.

"I told them that all the questions I was asking them on Tuesday night, they were going to be asked by hundreds of other document examiners on Thursday if they ran that story," Will said.

But the documents became a key part of the 60 Minutes II broadcast questioning President Bush's National Guard service in 1972. CBS made no mention that any expert disputed the authenticity.

"I did not feel that they wanted to investigate it very deeply," Will told ABC News.

A second document examiner hired by CBS News, Linda James of Plano, Texas, also told ABC News she had concerns about the documents and could not authenticate them. She said she expressed her concerns to CBS before the 60 Minutes II broadcast.

"I did not authenticate anything and I don't want it to be misunderstood that I did," James said. "And that's why I have come forth to talk about it because I don't want anybody to think I did authenticate these documents."

Side Note: Nothing like a little network competition to bring out some truth.

No Stranger to Persecution

A priest-journalist recalled the late Bishop Giovanni Gao Kexian of Yantai as "a reserved and timid man" whose name is added to the "ranks of the martyred who gave their lives for Christ in China."

The bishop died "in an unknown prison in northern China," said Father Bernardo Cervellera, director of the AsiaNews agency.

On Saturday the Vatican announced the bishop's death and at the same time confirmed his episcopal consecration.

The 76-year-old prelate died last month, and his body was sent to his relatives. The Vatican noted that there had been no news of him for some time.

Bishop Gao "lived underground for most of his life," Father Cervellera said. " Only now, after his death, has his ordination by the Vatican [as bishop] been made public."

"When he was arrested in 1999, news reports said that he was either a layman or at best a priest ... to avoid him any further legal persecution by China's security apparatus," the director of AsiaNews said.

Only "three years ago was his status as bishop of Shandong [province] finally made public," explained Father Cervellera, of the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions.

According to the priest, the prelate had been raised in the Catholic faith among the underground Christians living in China's largest Catholic community, Hebei province.

"Today, there are an estimated 1.5 million Catholics in this province, most of them belonging to the underground Church, guilty in the government's eyes of exercising what in theory is a constitutionally guaranteed right, namely, the right to practice their religion," Father Cervellera said.

Politically Correct Wimps

L.A. County designs a new "neutral" seal for the purpose of appeasing the "neutral" anti-Christians from the ACLU.

A cross floating in the sky above the Hollywood Bowl was removed from the revamped seal to prevent a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union with regard to the constitutional separation of church and state.

That and the other changes were made with an eye toward retaining the look and feel of the original seal, said county chief administrative officer David Janssen, who oversaw the redesign.

"There was a strong opinion by the county counsel that, if sued, the county would lose," Janssen said. "The county decided to substitute an unconstitutional symbol with another that is presumably constitutional, and yet reflects the same thing: the role of the missionaries in the founding of Los Angeles."

New Dean is a Starr

Former Whitewater prosecutor, Ken Starr, assumes the dean's position at the Malibu (Malibu!) based and Church of Christ affiliated Pepperdine Law School.

Starr's appointment is generally regarded by Pepperdine and the broader legal community as a boon for the law school. It's widely thought that he has potential to be a star in raising funds and in improving scholarship and teaching, along with attracting high-caliber faculty and students. The law school, founded in 1970, has more than 700 students and 35 professors who are tenured or on track toward earning tenure.

"Profile-wise, he's going to be great, getting our name out there," said Valerie Lopez, a third-year Pepperdine law student from Clifton, N.J. "We don't have the highest reputation in comparison to other schools here, like UCLA or USC."

Pepperdine previously offered Starr the role of dean over both its law and public policy schools in 1997, and he accepted, only to withdraw days later after the disclosure that he would leave the Whitewater probe in midstream created a furor. Starr said his change of plans had nothing to do with the public reaction, but with concerns raised by his Whitewater deputies that it would be "a premature departure" that could hurt the investigation.

Dark Knight For Dads

Well, Robin was his ward, so I guess this makes some sense. (link via Drudge)

A protester dressed as Batman scaled up the front wall of Buckingham Palace on Monday afternoon, reaching a ledge near the balcony where the royal family appears on ceremonial occasions, campaigners and witnesses said.

The protester was identified as Jason Hatch, 33, from Gloucester, a member of the Fathers 4 Justice group, which is campaigning for greater custody rights for divorced or separated fathers.

(...)

"We've got a guy dressed as Batman who's on Buckingham Palace on a balcony." said Matt O'Connor, spokesman for the group.

22 Reasons

QuandO provides a nice summary of all the arguments for why the memos produced by CBS are forgeries.

Update: The Empire wimpers back.

Update: NRO's Kerry Spot on The Empire's wimper response [BAD MOVE, CBS]:

Nothing about kerning. Nothing about the paper size. Nothing about the stationary. Nothing about the widow or the son. Nothing about proportional spacing. Nothing about the difference in tone and writing style from other memos by this author. Nothing about the anachronistic language.

They changed the story from coming from his personal files, to admitting that CBS only had a photocopy to work from. The said some typewriters had superscript. Yes, but how common were they? Would they have one of those typewriters in an Air National Guard office?

They said the font Times Roman had been around for many years before the memo. Yes, but could you do it on a typewriter?

Rather said a lot about the criticism of the story is coming from “partisan political operatives.” Like all the forensic experts cited by ABC News and the Washington Post?

Update: Reason No. 23 -- The man named in the memo who supposedly pressured Killian to "sugar coat" Bush's military evaluations had retired from the National Guard a year before the memo was allegedly written. (link via Instapundit)

Not Your Grandfather's Law School

Unlike elitest uber-liberal Ruth "Buzzy"Ginsberg, Justice Antonin Scalia gives a thumbs up to cyberspace law schools like Concord Law School.

From his chambers at the Supreme Court, Ginsburg's colleague Justice Antonin Scalia conducts an hourlong online colloquium with more than 400 Concord Law School students, answering their questions and expounding on the rule of law. From chilly disdain to the warm embrace of the members of the nation's highest court: not a bad arc of change in five years. Its significance was not lost on Barry Currier, Concord's dean. "We've certainly come a long way," Currier said after the Scalia colloquium.

In many ways, the online law school has made huge strides. The year before Ginsburg was pooh-poohing it, Concord opened its virtual doors to 35 students and six faculty members. The Concord Law School Scalia "visited" now boasts roughly 1,700 students. More than 70 faculty members -- including Harvard Law School's Arthur Miller on civil procedure -- teach through a variety of methods. Mass lectures are taped and video-streamed; real-time online classroom discussions are conducted through a combination of Real Player audio and a form of instant messaging that allows teachers to direct oral questions to individual students -- and demand immediate answers, Paper Chase-style, except that the students type the replies in for all to see.

Strike Three

A third federal district court (this time in Lincoln, Nebraska) rules that the federal ban on infanticide is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf's decision followed two similar rulings in New York and San Francisco. Those rulings are expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The decision by the court in Nebraska is disappointing but not surprising," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which specializes in constitutional law and is supporting the Justice Department in defending the ban in court.

"In the opinion, the court refused to consider the expert testimony of well recognized and highly respected medical experts simply because they had not performed abortions. This conclusion is not only legally flawed but shows the hostility the court exhibits to medical experts who have respect for human life," Sekulow said.

"No one expected the constitutionality of the ban on partial-birth abortion to be decided at the federal district court level. We are hopeful that the appeals process will result in overturning the decisions of the lower courts and conclude that the law designed to end the horrific procedure known as partial-birth abortion survives these constitutional challenges," he added.

Sekulow said the cases are expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where both sides are in for a "lengthy and critical legal battle."

Out of Bounds!

Recently, Republican US Senate candidate Alan Keyes stated that Christ would not vote for his Democrat opponent, Barack Obama, because Mr. Obama supports the right of a woman to kill her unborn child. While certainly a controversial and politically incorrect statement, it is entirely logical, unless one is of the strange opinion that Christ did or does not regard unborn children as human beings.

Although it is unsurprising that the secular liberal media would be in an uproar over what Keyes said, the same can't really be said for certain self-identified pro-life Catholic political writers and commentators. One such writer/commentator is Rod Dreher from The Corner, who today wrote:

The news from Illinois just gets more and more depressing, doesn't it Kathryn? I'm beginning to think Alan Keyes (R-Saturn) is a Democratic plant. Depressingly enough, I've been involved in some heated debates with fellow pro-life Catholic conservatives regarding the Keyes candidacy. Some of them consider it treason to criticize Keyes, because he's pro-life. Such tunnel vision! If Nicolae Ceaucescu, the communist dictator who banned abortion in Romania, came back to life and declared for US Senate, you'd have these lemmings cheering him on because HEY, he's pro-life!

A little harsh and uncharitable if you ask me.

Profile: Smut Lawyers, LLC

How do legal beagle defenders of porn live with themselves, you might ask? By consistently deluding themselves into thinking that graphic videos and still pictures of people perversely bonking one another is constitutionally protected speech. Of course, they draw the line at defending child porn. Why? Because they don't want to have a 'bad' reputation.

Southern California's San Fernando Valley is the epicenter of the adult entertainment industry. The majority of XXX videos on the market have their roots in this strip of dingy suburbs northeast of downtown Los Angeles. But when the Valley's porn purveyors need a lawyer -- and they always need a lawyer -- many head over the Sepulveda Pass to the upscale enclave of Westwood, where the law offices of Weston, Garrou & DeWitt rest high in an innocuous white office tower.

There, surrounded by sports memorabilia, generations of family photos, and a panoramic view of the West L.A. hills, attorney Clyde DeWitt has carved out a reputation as one of the pre-eminent specialists in adult entertainment law. The five-partner practice is one of the only firms in the U.S. to focus on this unusual area, which encompasses issues from free speech to contracts to copyrights.

"It's a lot of fun," says DeWitt, a stocky 55-year-old with a rumbling baritone voice. "First Amendment is the centerpiece of what we do, because the overwhelming majority of our clients' problems are the government trying to regulate them in one way or another."

Running Amuck

A Washington State judge effectively rules that homosexuality is the equivalent of race and ethnicity, thus finally enabling some Caucasion males the ability to claim minority status. Twisted.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks was the second trial judge in four weeks to strike down Washington's Defense of Marriage Act, overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature six years ago.

Hicks, in a 38-page ruling, wrote, "The clear intent of the Legislature to limit government approved contracts of marriage to opposite-sex couples is in direct conflict with the constitutional intent to not allow a privilege to one class of a community that is not allowed to the entire community."

But Hicks went further, finding that under Washington's Constitution, homosexuals are a so-called suspect class, groups with such immutable characteristics as race or sex that entitle them to equal protection of the law.

King County Superior Court Judge William Downing, in his Aug. 4 ruling, had declined to find homosexuals a protected class, based on federal law.

Hicks' finding surprised some legal observers and outraged gay-marriage opponents.

"The court is taking a significant step in deciding the issue this way," said Peter Nicolas, a University of Washington law professor who teaches a course in sexual-orientation law. "A lot of decisions, including some from the U.S. Supreme Court, have said just the opposite."

The Intolerance of the "Tolerant" Left

To be a conservative Republican in San Francisco is almost like being a Ronald Reagan admirer in Cuba. I think the only thing that prevents some of these Brownshirt leftists from harrassing me is the fact that I'm of Asian descent (sometimes, playing the race card can be a good thing). (Link via Mark Shea)

The Bay Area prides itself on its openness and acceptance, but many local Republicans said they have been met with intense hostility for their political beliefs. They said they've endured everything from rude remarks to threats and physical violence.

Some said the McCarthy-era paranoia about Communists aptly describes how they often feel.
"There's a lot of teachers out there that are closet Republicans because they are so afraid if they say anything in their workplace, they will be retaliated against," said Karen King, the chair of the County's Republican Party. "That's the ugliness that I would like to get rid of. At the end of the day, I'd like to think the opposition believes in free speech as well."

Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for Republican Assembly candidate Steve Poizner's campaign, said trying to register voters as Republicans in San Mateo County can be a depressing -- or even dangerous -- activity.

"One person had hot coffee thrown on him. Others have had registration forms torn up or kicked off tables. They've also been called racial slurs," Kerns said of voter-registration workers.

Much Like His Native Fresno

Republican US Senate candidate Bill Jones seems to be an afterthought for most folks in California. Darned shame too, 'cause even though I fault Jones for switching his endorsement from Bush to McCain back in 2000, and for midwiving California's short lived and unconstitutional 'open primary' system, I really really can't stand Baghdad Barbara Boxer.

Support from Bush — which seems tepid at best — won't do Jones much good in a state where only two of five likely voters say they back the president. And though a public embrace from Schwarzenegger, whose job-approval rating stands above 60%, might help, the freshman governor so far has kept Jones at arm's length.

This is Jones' quandary. Despite campaign swings by such high-profile Republicans as Vice President Dick Cheney, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party has not given Jones the kind of support it has given candidates in other states, a disengagement that has left the former Fresno-area rancher mired in a political bog of low name recognition, low fundraising and low voter interest.

(...)

Only half of likely Republican voters were satisfied with Jones as their candidate, though 77% said they would vote for him, according to an August poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. Nearly three-fourths of Democrats were satisfied Boxer was their candidate, and 87% said they'd vote for her.

Alice Cooper Was Right

Rock stars are morons. (via K-Lo at The Corner)

Get Thee To The Confessionals!

Mischievous Catholic boarding school students get caught pulling a big prank that the German media fell hook, line and sinker for.

Reports that a Catholic boarding school had objected to new sweet wrappers for portraying "fruits in sexual positions" turned out to be based on a prank by schoolboys, shame-faced officials said.

Germany's tabloid press had trumpeted the allegations of "sugar candies depicted as having sex with lemons" on the wrappers of new Maoam candies by the Bonn-based Haribo confection company.

The source of the complaints was a letter from St Blasien Jesuit College near Bonn, stating that wrappers in bright yellow, red and green colours show lemons, limes, strawberries, cherries and oranges playfully engaging in sex.

"We are shocked at the shameless presentation of sexual practices on the wrapping," wrote the college in a letter complaining about the new packaging of Moaom fruit chews.

But the letter turned out to have been a hoax perpetrated by pupils at the school who admitted writing it and posting it on the Internet "as a joke".

Liberal, Shrill and Stupid

An anti-Bush protestor hits the trifecta of obnoxiousness.

A massive protest outside Madison Square Garden featured at least one sign asking where John Hinckley was.

The prominently displayed sign read, "Where is John Hinckley when we really need him?" It featured a bullet hole with dripping red blood.

(...)

When asked how he interpreted the sign, the man who refused to be identified, said, "Gosh, I don't know."

California's Pedophile Protection Act

From our bulging "Evil Fruits Produced by Worshippers at the High Altar of Abortion" file:

Openly lesbian California Senator Sheila Keuhl (D) authored and is promoting Senate Bill 1313 in the State of California. The bill has gotten past both houses of the Democratically controlled California State Legislature and is on its way to Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk for signature. SB 1313 drastically reduces the requirements for mandatory reporting of the known or suspected sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children. Critics are calling this bill the "Pedophile Protection Act."

Under existing criminal law, all persons who regularly come into contact with children are required to report any instance where there is reason to believe that a child has been molested or abused. Typical mandatory reporters include pastors, priests, church volunteers, teachers, school volunteers, and medical personnel. Incredibly, SB1313 would completely eliminate mandatory reporting for anyone who can be characterized as a "volunteer."

Critics warn that if SB1313 passes, thousands of victims of past and continuing sexual abuse may go unnoticed. SB1313 also eliminates mandatory reporting in cases where children are having sex with each other, and severe emotional abuse many no longer be a reportable event at all.

(...)

The issue was given national coverage following the presentation of evidence that Planned Parenthood had seen over 30,000 children in California, and that not one instance of reporting to law enforcement could be found. State-required demographic data provided by Planned Parenthood to the State of California demonstrated that the volunteers and paid staff of Planned Parenthood had seen children ages 6 and under for sexually transmitted disease treatment. Ackerman and others could not find a single report coming from Planned Parenthood to any law enforcement agency concerning these children.

Could the Radical Left Be Any More Shrill?

Sometimes it's just really hard to see these folks as fellow human beings. From outside the GOP Convention in New York:

A featured performer at a National Organization for Women rally accused President Bush of having "savagely raped " women "over and over" by allegedly stealing the 2000 presidential election.

Poet Molly Birnbaum read aloud to a crowd of feminists gathered in New York's Central Park on Wednesday night, as part of a NOW event dubbed "Code Red: Stop the Bush Agenda Rally."

"Imagine a way to erase that night four years ago when you (President Bush) savagely raped every pandemic woman over and over with each vote you got, a thrust with each state you stole," Birnbaum said from the podium. (If something is pandemic, it affects many people or a number of countries.)

"A smack with each bill you passed, a tear with each right you took until you left me disenfranchised with hands shackled and voice restrained. Thanks for that night, Mr. President, I can barely remember my tomorrows," Birnbaum said to applause.

(...)

Another poet, Stacey Ann Chin, declared from the podium that men have no right to tell women not to have an abortion.

Men will not decide "if I am allowed to eject something from my womb. Be it rape or error, it has always been my right, always been my body to do with as I choose," Chin screamed to cheers. Chin said she wants her message to be so powerful that Bush will cower in fear."

I want to be that voice that makes George Bush so scared he hires two butch black bodyguards. I want to write the poem that the New York Times will not print because it might start some kind of black or lesbian or even a white revolution," Chin said.

They Can't Handle the Truth!

Establishment GOPers in Illinois are aghast over Alan Keyes sounding like, I don't know, the Pope?

Illinois Republican Chairman Judy Baar Topinka said Wednesday her party's nominee for U.S. Senate, Alan Keyes, should apologize for his "idiotic" comment vice presidential daughter Mary Cheney and all homosexuals are "selfish hedonists."

But Keyes refused to back down Wednesday, even as Vice President Dick Cheney addressed the Republican National Convention.

"In a homosexual relationship, there is nothing implied except the self-fulfillment, contentment and satisfaction of the parties involved in the relationship," said Keyes, who holds a Ph.D from Harvard University. "That means it is a self-centered, self-fulfilling, selfish relationship that seeks to use the organs intended for procreation for purposes of pleasure. The word pleasure in Greek is hedone and we get the word hedonism from that word."

"You have intervened in order to try to personalize the discussion of an issue that I did not personalize," Keyes told reporters at an Illinois delegation caucus. "The people asking me the question did so and if that's inappropriate, blame the media. Don't blame me."

(...)

Building up to his trademark high-decibel fever pitch, Keyes shouted, "We shall deal with the challenge that is being mounted today to the family structure throughout our country: Gay marriage activists who are demanding that we should take marriage off the foundation of procreation, child rearing, responsibility to the future, that is the true heart of marriage and place it on a basis of selfishness, pleasure-seeking and self-fulfillment."

Some delegates clapped enthusiastically. Other rolled their eyes and clapped silently. Topinka stayed in another room during his speech.

After his eight-minute speech, Keyes was asked if heterosexual couples who don't or can't have children are hedonists.

"The heterosexual relationship is haunted by the possibility of the child, which means you have to commit yourself somewhere to your head to the possibility of a lifelong commitment that involves not only selfish pleasure but sometimes sacrifice."

Borrowing From Kathy Shaidle: A Man, A Mission, and A Fax Machine

Bill Donahue of the Catholic League plans on asking the IRS to investigate a church that appears to have hosted a partisan political rally. This is a no no for tax exempt organizations.

The Catholic League said the bishop of Miami's New Birth Baptist Church, Bishop Victor T. Curry, "welcomed" former Democratic presidential candidate Rev. Al Sharpton and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe.

"Rev. Sharpton, speaking from the pulpit, added to the politicized atmosphere by shouting, 'We're not people who are going to be beat twice,'" Catholic League President William Donohue said."

But no one was more partisan than McAuliffe: 'Bush has misled us for four years and will not mislead us for the next four years. Get out to vote and we'll send Bush back to Texas.' Consequently, the Catholic League will ask the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of this church," he added.

Proving Once Again Why They Are The Lame-Stream Media

Who's more stupid? Liberals in the lame-stream media or liberals who consistently deny that there is a liberal bias in the lame-stream media?

After sending out a routine press release responding to a judge's decision against the partial-birth abortion ban, the National Right to Life Committee received a scathing email from Todd Eastham, a Reuters editor in Washington.

"What's your plan for parenting and educating all the unwanted children you people want to bring into the world," Eastham asks. "Who will pay for policing our streets and maintaining the prisons needed to contain them when you, their parents and the system fail them?"

"Oh, sorry. All that money has been earmarked to pay off the Bush deficit," Eastham continues.

"Give me a frigging break, will you?"

Douglas Johnson, NRLC's legislative director, received the email and said he was shocked to see Eastham's response.

"It is sad, but revealing, to see an editor for a major news service so casually and gratuitously express such blatant hostility to both the Bush Administration and to the right to life of unborn children," Johnson said in response.

"We can only wonder at how such vehement opinions may color Mr. Eastham's reporting or editing on subjects such as abortion and the Bush Administration," Johnson added.

Defrocked Priests Are All Crazy

But we all pretty much knew that already, didn't we. At least it was an interesting end to, what was for me at least, an otherwise boring Olympics.

Vanderlei de Lima was tiring. That much was clear.

The compact, 35-year-old Brazilian had slipped ahead of the Olympic marathon pack 63 minutes into Sunday's race, but his pursuers had sliced his 40-second lead to 25 as they pounded from Marathon toward Athens on roads still radiating heat. After an hour and 52 minutes, in the 22nd mile, Italy's Stefano Baldini and the United States' Meb Keflezighi were poised to pass the laboring Brazilian, with world-record holder Paul Tergat of Kenya not far behind.

De Lima never got the chance to discover if he could have held off the fresh-looking Baldini and the smooth-striding Keflezighi.

The course of his race — and, perhaps, of the Athens Olympic marathon finish — changed when a defrocked Irish priest with a history of trespassing at sports events and a hand-lettered sign alluding to the Bible affixed to his back darted onto the road and pushed the startled De Lima into spectators watching the final event of the Games.

The intruder, identified by police as 57-year-old Cornelius Horan, had run onto the track of a British Formula One Grand Prix race last year wearing a kilt and beret similar to those he wore Sunday. He also had caused a disturbance on the grounds of Wimbledon last year and tried to disrupt cricket and rugby matches.

Horan, whose sign bore the words, "The Grand Prix Priest. Israel Fulfillment of Prophecy Says The Bible. The Second Coming is Near," was subdued by several bystanders and a Hellenic National police officer who was escorting the runners on a bicycle. Horan was arrested and will appear in court in Athens today, police sources said, though it's unclear what the charges against him will be.

What Media Bias?

One out of over 2,000 delegates in the Republican Party decides to drop out of the convention and vote Democrat, and UPI deems it to be newsworthy.

It's Only Inappropriate When Conservatives or Republicans are Involved

"Billary" will be making a publicized appearance at the Riverside Church of New York. Not a peep from the Americans(?) United for the Separation of Church and State Brownshirts.

It May Be the State Capitol

But it seems to me that the scandal involving California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley is barely on the radar screens of anybody outside of Sacramento. Heck, I wonder if most people in California even know what the Secretary of State even does. Anyway, a summary of the situation by Sacto radio guy Eric Hogue:

Kevin Shelley was on course to become a major player for the Democrat Party in the next gubernatorial campaign. After a 'leak' to the San Fran Chronicle on Sunday, August 8th, Shelley is now facing a deep investigation from the FBI and may not finish his term in Sacramento.

Over the past month, Shelley is the target of illegal campaign contributions and practices, a charge of abuse behavior in his office and with co-workers...and today in the Sacramento Bee a charge that he is down right vulgar, if not perverted.

There are also reports of Shelley leaving his office for hours only to return looking tattered, carrying a toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash.

What's Really Sad is That I'm Not Even Surprised

From Jack Fowler at The Corner:

When I saw the name – Richard Casey – of the federal judge who struck down Congress’ ban on partial-birth abortion this week, I had a queasy feeling that he was a product of Catholic education. Is he ever: Casey (a Clinton appointee) graduated from the College of the Holy Cross (my alma mater too) in 1955 and Georgetown University Law School in 1958. The double-Jebbie grad is a mover amongst the hierarchy: According to the Fall 1999 issue of the Holy Cross Magazine, Casey received the “Blessed Hyacinth Cormier O.P. Medal at the Angelicum in Rome. ... The citation recognized his ‘outstanding leadership in the promotion of Gospel Values in the field of justice and ethics.’” His good buddy, Syracuse Bishop James Moynihan, wrote a gooey hosanna to Casey last year in the diocesan newspaper, referring to his being a daily communicant and having a special devotion to rosary. And Catholic New York reports that Casey and Cardinal Edward Egan “have been friends for years and have visited Lourdes together three times.”

Would You Have Expected Anything Else From the Party of Clinton?

Rather than answering the charges on an issue that Scary Kerry himself raised, the 'Rats are scurrying about like cockroaches looking for dirt on the Swifties.

According to a report in the New York Daily News, one of the targets is veteran James Zumwalt, son of illustrious Adm. Elmo Zumwalt.

The paper says it has received part of the dossier on Zumwalt, which claims he "attempted to kill himself with an overdose of prescription drugs," after the murder of his ex-wife's fiance, John Kowalczyk, and was "convicted of reckless driving after chasing Kowalczyk at a high speed on the highway."

Zumwalt was one of the veterans who signed an initial letter opposing Kerry in May.

Throw the Bum Out!

Floridians will be voting for state judges on Aug. 31, and the man who sentenced Terry Schiavo to death is being opposed by a local attorney named Jan Govan, whom I am presuming is against starving people simply because they are unable to move or orally communicate.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Vincent Damon Furnier, aka Alice Cooper, on rock stars and politics:

"If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we're morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal."

Kerry's "Web of Connections"

You have to wonder if Kerry's lawyers, or even Kerry himself, took some time to think that someone might actually make this connection before filing their complaint about the Swift Boat ads with the FEC.

Public Schools Suck

And so do most of their lawyers. I can't believe the idiot quoted below is effectively categorizing Christian-based messages as "hate speech."

On April 22, sophomore Tyler Chase Harper, 16, wore a shirt with hand-written anti-gay phrases, including "Homosexuality is shameful." He wore it the day after a campus observance of tolerance of gay and lesbian people called "A Day of Silence."

A teacher told Chase, who prefers to go by his middle name, that the slogans violated the school's dress-code ban on "hate behavior." The teacher sent him to the administration office, where he remained for the rest of the day.

With the help of an Arizona-based Christian legal group, Chase filed a federal lawsuit in June, saying school officials violated his civil rights.

His lawyers, the Alliance Defense Fund, cited free-speech cases dating from the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement in asking a federal judge to order the school district not to censor student speech.

School officials encourage students to say homosexuality is acceptable but muzzle those who say it's dangerous, lawyer Robert Tyler wrote in court filings.

Poway Unified School District lawyer Daniel Shinoff said administrators have the authority to ban the T-shirt and cited cases allowing schools to outlaw Confederate flags and clothing depicting controversial musician Marilyn Manson.

He said hateful speech is not guaranteed protection by the First Amendment and is asking U.S. District Judge John A. Houston to throw out the case.

"Homosexuals and bisexuals have the right to go to school without being accosted by offensive words no differently than Jewish students have the right to be free from a symbol offensive to them, such as a swastika," he wrote.

The Truth Finally Pops Out

Drudge reports on the malfunctioning brain of Janet Jackson.

University of Atheist Geeks and Dweebs Sued for Religious Discrimination

If the employee's reported accounts of the incidents are true, I hope he takes MIT to the cleaners.

``Employees and/or supervisors at MIT Lincoln Lab have harassed Peterson because of his religious beliefs (Christian), including assaulting him with a chemical, vandalizing and stealing his property, tampering with the machines he was working on and making verbal threats,'' the suit says.

The nine-page lawsuit filed earlier this month also names Peterson's union, the Research Development and Technical Employees' Union, claiming leaders took part in the harassment and did not represent him properly in grievance procedures in 2003.

Peterson claims the trouble began in 1987 when he and another Christian employee began meeting during breaks to read and discuss the Bible. He says he was told not to bring his Bible to work again.

When he complained about workers playing radios in the lab in 1988, one man retaliated by placing a radio in front of him playing the Stones' song (incorrectly listed in the lawsuit as ``Symphony for the Devil'').

His own boss responded by turning up his own radio and later paraded around in a phony ``clergyman's collar,'' according to the lawsuit.

Ahnuld Better Veto This Atrocity

As if it isn't bad enough that people can already be charged and convicted of a "hate crime," the liberal Brownshirts in the California Legislature are trying to further expand its definition.

A section of the proposed law reads as follows:

Speech alone is not sufficient to support an action brought [under this law] except upon a showing that the speech itself threatens violence against a specific person or group of persons; and the person or group of persons against whom the threat is directed reasonably fears that, because of the speech, violence will be committed against them or their property and that the person threatening violence had the apparent ability to carry out the threat.

Penalties for violating SB 1234 include criminal prosecution and fines of $25,000.

Sponsored by lesbian State Senator Sheila Kuehl, SB 1234 has already been passed by the Senate and could be voted on by the Assembly as soon as today (Wednesday). Opponents of the bill are not optimistic about the Assembly vote and expect the measure to move along to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk for his signature before the end of the month.

BK Court Finds Federal DOMA Constitutional

And of all courts, it's a 9th Circuit BK Court. You can bet this puppy is going to be appealed by the anti-family-ites.

Having concluded that DOMA does not require heightened scrutiny because it neither impairs a fundamental right to marry nor discriminates on the basis of sex (in that it applies equally to both sexes), Judge Snyder then addressed whether the law is supported by a rational basis. In finding that it was, Judge Snyder exercised an old-fashioned form of judicial restraint — trusting the legislature's motives. In enacting DOMA, both Congress and President Clinton sought to protect and encourage the role of a traditional family in procreation and child rearing. As President Clinton remarked at the time, "marriage is an institution between a man and a woman, that among other things, is used to bring children into the world." DOMA, Judge Snyder concluded, is reasonably related to that legitimate goal, whether or not it is a perfect fit. Unlike the decisions of Massachusetts's highest court, his opinion is not marked by the second-guessing of legislative reasoning that has become common in the recent trend of judge-made law.

Ethics? What Ethics, Eh?

Canadian lawyers reject two rules that basically would prohibit them from having nookie with clients.

Lawyers attending the Canadian Bar Association's annual meeting were passionate Sunday in their rejection of proposed new rules and guidelines governing sexual relationships with clients.

An overwhelming majority of delegates, including several of the association's provincial chapters, dismissed two resolutions on the delicate issue as paternalistic, stereotypical and vague.

"Who are we to impose a prohibition on falling in love?" Montreal lawyer Chantale Masse asked during the hour-long debate.

Most of the discussion centred on a resolution to completely ban sexual relationships between lawyers and clients.

Another motion, which was also soundly defeated, intended to serve more as a warning to lawyers to steer clear of any romances that could be influenced by an imbalance of power or exploitation.

The Ongoing Battle

Between the adherants of manna and people of faith. No mention if this city council is aware of the Federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

CLOVER — Some leaders in this Bible Belt town are saying they’ve had enough of storefront churches popping up downtown and are pushing an ordinance to stop new churches from opening and keep others from expanding.

The town manager here says the churches don’t do much to help breathe life into the town six days a week.

“Storefront churches only generate foot traffic for a few hours on Sunday,” town manager Scott Moulder said.

The intent isn’t geared to restricting churches as much as it is to attracting a variety of businesses, Moulder said

“People are more likely to shop in a particular area where there’s more variety.”

Clover Town Council postponed making a decision on the issue earlier this week and will take the issue up later this year.

Void

California Supremes void all the "marriages" authorized by San Francisco Dictator Mayor Gavin Newsome. Next up: whether California's Defense of Marriage Act law is consistent with the state constitution.

People Who Obviously Have Plenty of Disposable Income and Time on Their Hands

Bay Area liberal leftists prepare to head to New York to protest the GOP convention.

On the night before the convention, some activists will don Mickey Mouse ears and confront Republican delegates as they head into the "Disneyfied" theater district. Throughout the week, others will be shadowing delegates as they party everywhere from the Tavern on the Green restaurant to Tiffany's to a luncheon honoring House Speaker Dennis Hastert's wife at the Central Park Boathouse.

What a bunch of freakin' losers.

Chief Justice Thomas?

I like it. I like it a lot. Thomas is "young" (56), a constitutional constructionist (more so than Scalia, who will occasionally traipse into libertarianism), and Catholic. A winning combination if ever there was one.

Clarence Thomas has been interviewed by White House lawyers as a possible choice to be the next chief justice of the United States, says the author of a new biography.

Thomas says he isn't interested but could find it hard to turn down an opportunity to be the first black man to lead the Supreme Court, said biographer Ken Foskett.

"Judging Thomas," out this week from William Morrow, traces Thomas' life from rough beginnings in rural Georgia, through Yale Law School to his life today.

Thomas initially refused Foskett's request for interviews, but later spoke to the author both on and off the record.

Thomas likes NASCAR and football, plays a fierce game of basketball and during the court's summer recess tours the nation in a 40-foot mobile home decorated with orange flames, Foskett wrote.

One of 2 Million Reasons Why I Despise the American Bar Association

And will never become a member of this organization as long as they keep doing garbage like this.

Judges are on the front line of battles over legal rights for same-sex couples and should never belong to an organization that discriminates against gays, supporters of a proposed change to American Bar Association ethics rules argued Friday.

Judges are already prohibited from joining clubs that discriminate based on race or sex. An ABA panel is debating whether to make groups that discriminate against gays off limits as well.

The ABA, the nation's largest lawyers' group with more than 400,000 members, writes conduct rules for judges and lawyers. States and federal courts generally adopt them, with some changes.

It is not known how many judges participate in groups such as the Boy Scouts that have policies against hiring gays or having homosexual leaders, or some veterans groups that restrict membership to heterosexuals.

The ABA held an all-day public hearing Friday on proposed judicial ethics changes during the association's summer meeting, which runs through Tuesday. Rules on gifts judges may accept and judges' involvement in fund-raisers may also be changed. The ABA is not expected to vote on any changes until next year. It would be the first overhaul of the rules in more than a decade, and any changes eventually could affect thousands of judges.

Update: Yet more ABA shenanigans. Now they want to support government sponsored discrimination against religious (i.e., Catholic) hospitals. Jerks.

What's in a (Last) Name?

So observes Rich Lowry on the declining number of women who retain their maiden name after getting married. I for one would be interested in seeing what the divorce rate is among couples where the wife chose not to take her husband's last name. To some extent, I would understand if my (hopfully) future wife didn't want to take my last name, especially if her first name was Heidi.

The number of women in the New York Times's wedding announcements keeping their surnames was 2 percent in 1975 and had reached 20 percent by the mid-1980s, according to the Journal study. Then the trend stalled. Among women in the Harvard class of 1980, 44 percent retained their surname, but in the class of 1990, only 32 percent did. According to Massachusetts records, the percentage of surname keepers among college graduates in that state was 23 percent in 1990, 20 percent in 1995 and 17 percent in 2000.

Why? The study's authors write: "Perhaps some women who 'kept' their surnames in the 1980s, during the rapid increase in 'keeping,' did so because of peer pressure, and their counterparts today are freer to make their own choices. Perhaps surname-keeping seems less salient as a way of publicly supporting equality for women than it did in the late 1970s and 1980s. Perhaps a general drift to more conservative social values has made surname-keeping less attractive."

White House Promises Support to Maine Catholic Charities

Seems kind of ironic how a non-Catholic President seems to be much more open to defending the religious liberties of a Catholic institution from Secularist Fundamentalism than a certain alleged Catholic presidential candidate would probably be. (BTW, I don't believe the Catholic Charities CEO is the same John Kerry who is running for President. At least I hope not.)

President Bush's top adviser on faith-based programs assured Catholic Charities Maine Thursday that the White House is ready to battle local government when it comes to funding religious groups. Catholic Charities, the social-service arm of the Roman Catholic Church and one of Maine's largest such organizations, is barred from receiving certain federal funds from the city of Portland unless it provides some benefits to same-sex or unmarried partners of employees.

(...)

"We don't have to be concerned about the fairness with which we treat religious and religiously sponsored organizations. That's because we have one rule that applies to everybody: You can't practice discrimination," said Cloutier, who was mayor when Catholic Charities sued the city in March 2003, charging religious discrimination.

Sigh...we are inching ever closer to having government run churches, a-la-Communist China.

Don't All Property Sellers Carry Them?

Remember: We will not racially profile Middle Eastern Muslim males carrying handguns, knives and syringes, even though they're the only ones who have committed acts of terrorism on airplanes. It just wouldn't be right to do so...

A man pleaded not guilty Monday to knowingly attempting to board a plane with a loaded handgun, folding knife, and 10 syringes in his carry-on bag.

Ali Reza Khatami, 65, was arrested June 24 when the .38-caliber pistol and 3.5-inch knife were found during a security screening, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples said. He had been preparing to board a United Airlines flight to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Defense attorney Ben Wasserman said at Khatami's bail hearing last month that his client had forgotten he was carrying the weapons. He said his client was on his way to Virginia to sell some property.

Khatami told authorities he had planned to put the gun and knife in his bag to take them to a safe in his garage, but didn't remember. Then he planned to leave them at his son's house, he said, but he was in such a rush that he forgot again.

(...)

Magistrate Judge Marc Goldman agreed to release Khatami on $100,000 bail, saying he was not convinced that Khatami intended to take the weapons on the plane.

Thou Shall Not Eat The Other White Meat

Even though she should win, I've got the strangest feeling that she isn't.

A Central Florida woman was fired from her job after eating "unclean" meat and violating a reported company policy that pork and pork products are not permissible on company premises, according to Local 6 News.

Lina Morales was hired as an administrative assistant at Rising Star -- a Central Florida telecommunications company with strong Muslim ties, Local 6 News reported.
However, 10 months after being hired by Rising Star, religious differences led to her termination.

Morales, who is Catholic, was warned about eating pizza with meat the Muslim faith considered "unclean," Local 6 News reported. She was then fired for eating a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, according to the report.

"Are you telling me they fired you because you had something with ham on it?" Local 6 News reporter Mike Holfeld asked.

"Yes," Morales said.

Holfeld asked, "A pizza and a BLT sandwich?"

"Yes," Morales said.

Local 6 News obtained the termination letter that states she was fired for refusing to comply with company policy that pork and pork products are not permissible on company premises.
However, by the company's own admission to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, that policy is not written, Local 6 News reported.

"Did you ever sign to or agree to anything that said I will not eat pork?" Holfeld asked Morales.

"Never," Morales said. "When I got hired there, they said we don't care what religion you are."

Boob Gets Bounced Off Plane

Leave it to the ACLU, of course, to argue that people have a "right" to wear obnoxious clothing on commercial flights.

A couple returning home from a Costa Rican vacation was ejected from an American Airlines flight because the man was wearing a T-shirt depicting a bare breast.

Oscar Arela and his girlfriend, Tala Tow, were removed from Flight 952 on Saturday after he refused to change the shirt or turn it inside out at Miami International Airport. The flight left 90 minutes late without them.

The couple, making a connecting flight from Costa Rica, said nobody on the earlier flight objected to the shirt and claimed the airline violated their constitutional right to free speech.
"It's a picture of a man and woman, and the woman's breast is showing," Tow said. "The flight attendant basically walked up to us and yelled, 'You have to take off that shirt right now.'"

American spokesman Tim Wagner said Sunday that crew members acted properly.

"The description I heard was a picture of a graphic of a naked man and woman performing a sexual act," he said. "We as an airline are in the service business, and we have the same latitude as a restaurant that says proper attire is required."

Tuh-rayza Wants to Be Andrew Sullivan's Mommie

Borrowing from Mark Shea, 'Rats affirm their belief that there is nothing more glorious and holy in this world than homosexuality. Plus, the actor formerly known as Bennifer confirms he has the intellectual capacity of a door knob.

"If nothing else, you will have a mom in the White House," Teresa Heinz Kerry said before the packed hotel room of homosexual delegates and advocates.

"You're pushing the envelope, and we, as a country, have to respond with policies and cultural acceptance," said Mrs. Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.

Dignity and respect are paramount qualities, she said. If any of the Kerry children were to say they were homosexual and wanted to marry their partner, she said, "I would ... share my joy and my pride with all my friends," just as if they were marrying someone of the opposite sex.

One of her better-known qualities, Mrs. Kerry added, is "that I like to nurture" people, and family members and friends sometimes call her "Dr. T" or "Momma T." As she departed, the crowd chanted, "Momma T, Momma T!"

Boston-born Mr. Affleck joked about his famous marriage woes, but quickly attacked political efforts to block same-sex "marriage." "As somebody, to be perfectly frank, who has enough trouble figuring out who to get married [to], I don't need the state or federal government telling me who I can or can't marry," said the star of "Good Will Hunting" and "Armageddon."

No Pets, Food or Christians Allowed in the Library

I'd like to believe that this incident in the Bay Area is an aberration, but quite frankly, it's about par for the course here.

A Christian ministry filed a federal civil rights lawsuit after being barred from meeting at a library due to the facility's policy of forbidding use for "religious purposes."

"The library flagrantly violated the ministry's constitutional rights," said Joshua Carden, counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which brought the suit against the Contra Costa County, Calif., Board of Supervisors and several library officials on behalf of Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries.

"It's unbelievable that, after years of equal access litigation in this country, a library would exclude Christians from a public forum," Carden said.

Hattie Hopkins, leader of Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries, a Christian outreach ministry based in Sacramento, asked her coordinator to reserve a free public meeting room at the library branch in Antioch for May 29 and July 31.