Milwaukee's Thug Politics

Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee, Jr. is fighting for his political life.

I mean that literally. He and his army of thugs are responding to the recall election with threats of violence against what he calls "principalities of darkness."

McGee has put the message out -- His political enemies should fear for their physical well-being.

The paranoid McGee has fired up his supporters by claiming that he's the victim of a conspiracy.

While providing a laundry list of people and entities conspiring against him - including the local media - McGee alleged a "gay rights activist" was calling the shots for the election staff. He said Neil Albrecht, commission deputy director, was acting in retaliation.

McGee has long been at odds with the gay community, including a run-in with state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee), who is gay.

That run-in occurred after McGee said at a rally that any police officer involved in the beating of Frank Jude Jr. was a "straight up sick faggot."

...Sue Edman, executive director of the Election Commission, issued a statement that said the "actions of the Election Commission staff, throughout this process, were executed without bias or prejudice, and were entirely compliant with election law."

McGee, in his first term, said he was being targeted by "a web of deceit."

McGee blames everyone but himself for the recall effort.

He doesn't address the charges made by his dissatisfied constituents.

It's a vast anti-McGee conspiracy.

When faced with a recall election, does a competent, decent, civil individual, a community leader, employ tactics to intimidate opponents with threats?

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A former Milwaukee School Board member obtained a restraining order Tuesday against Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee, saying McGee has continued to harass him for backing the recall effort against him.

Leon Todd, who has been a frequent target of McGee's in radio broadcasts, was granted the restraining order on a temporary basis.

A hearing was set for March 13 on whether to make the order permanent.

In seeking the order, Todd cited a December statement by McGee - aired on the WNOV-AM (860) program hosted by McGee's father, Mike McGee - in which the alderman said Todd should be "hung" for his "betrayal of the community."

On Friday, according to Todd's attorney, Alan Eisenberg, McGee gave out Todd's phone number on the air, which resulted in a series of harassing telephone calls, including death threats.

Eisenberg said there were at least six threatening phone calls from McGee supporters.

"Now it is an issue of Mr. Todd's personal safety," Eisenberg said, adding that Todd has taken the matter to the police.

On the same program, McGee gave out the phone number of a producer at WISN-AM (1130), which had broadcast a parody song about McGee and the recall. According the radio station's Web site, that producer also received harassing telephone calls and has reported the matter to Greenfield police.

Listen to the PARODY song that enraged Michael McGee and Jr. McGee.

Listen to some of the threatening messages left on the producer's cell phone.

Question: Why is this insane behavior by Alderman McGee and his supporters not loudly and clearly denounced by Milwaukee leaders?

The implicit tolerance for these thug tactics is absolutely unacceptable.

The silence on the part of community leaders and Mayor Tom Barrett is deafening.

The McGee recall isn't just a goofy sideshow.

It's indicative of how incredibly dysfunctional the city of Milwaukee has become.

If McGee survives the recall, that will be the ultimate sign of hopelessness for a better Milwaukee.

S & M Tool

This is not a headline from The Onion.

It's no joke.

This is from a legitimate article that appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

Long-time fishing buddies get down to business with S&M Tool

Fishing buddies Jim Fuss and Joe Leiterman spent long hours in their boat talking about what they would do if they ever owned a business.

Turns out, they planned it pretty well. S&M Tool, their custom-parts manufacturing shop, is one of 39 Wisconsin businesses nominated for the 19th annual Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards to be presented Thursday in Milwaukee.

...They bought the business from Jim Heim in 2004. Fuss, 42, was working at S&M at the time and has 20 years' experience in the business. Leiterman, 39, has 16 years' experience.

"Jim and I have been fishing buddies for years," Leiterman said. "You get to know a lot about somebody when you spend eight hours in a boat with them. We had talked about this a lot."

Leiterman said Heim was eager to sell them the business, believing they would take it to the next level.

"We don't know what the next level is, but we keep going up," Leiterman said.

Fishing buddies.

S & M Tool.

Best headline ever.



(h/t Dan)
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UPDATE: The Green Bay Press-Gazette altered the headline.

Dan captured it before the change.

Getting Carded at Mayfair Mall

I give Mayfair Mall credit for instituting a "get tough" policy to combat its thug problem.

It's unfortunate that it's come to this, but it has.

The plan is to card people to keep unruly teen troublemakers from roaming the mall and terrorizing patrons, driving them away.

WAUWATOSA -- Mayfair Mall plans on taking a dramatic step to cut down on violence by requiring people to show a photo ID at the door.

The program will be implemented in April and will likely be enforced on Friday and Saturday nights.

TODAY'S TMJ4 has learned most people under 30 will be carded. Those over the "required" age will be given a wrist band and allowed inside the mall. Mayfair has not decided what the "required" age will be.

People who do not meet the "required" age will have to be with an adult, who is 21 or older.

...The rules also require anyone underage to stay with the adult the entire time. Mayfair plans on posting security guards at every entrance. Shoppers at Macy's or Boston Store will not have to show an ID to enter, but will need to show an ID once leaving the department store and entering the main mall.

No plan is perfect.

Some potential problems:

Fake IDs -- Just as with going to bars or buying alcohol from stores, I'm sure people will get around the age requirements with the help of fake IDs.

Enforcement -- A LOT of security guards will be needed to patrol the mall checking for wrist bands and making sure that underage patrons are sticking with an adult the "entire time."

What does sticking with an adult really mean? How close? Side by side? A few steps ahead or behind? Does that rule just apply in the mall itself and not in the individual stores with only mall entrances?

Wrist Bands -- It wouldn't be too difficult for a 21-year-old to get a number of wrist bands, each from a different entrance, leave the mall, give the bands to underage friends and return as a group.

Movie Theater -- In order to get to a movie, one has to enter the mall first. That means the new rules will impact the theater's business dramatically.

Forty other malls around the country have a similar policy, so it's not like this is experimental. Its effectiveness has been tested.

Mayfair can look to these places as models for implementing its own strategy.

For example, Mall of America in Minnesota has a parental escort policy.




It states that children 15 and younger must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on Fridays and Saturdays after 4 p.m.

"Anyone 21 years or younger should be prepared to show a driver's license, state identification card or passport during the Parental Escort hours."

That seems reasonable.

This doesn't:

"ONE ADULT CAN ESCORT UP TO TEN CHILDREN 15 YEARS OF AGE AND YOUNGER."

Ten kids per one adult? That's a lot of kids.

Mall of America's problems appear to be different from those facing Mayfair. Restrictions have been placed on younger teens and children. That's most likely an outgrowth of the amusement park within the mall. It seems to be more of a babysitting matter there.

Violence and gang activity doesn't seem to be the issue at Mall of America since people sixteen and older are free to gather. Mayfair's troubles involve older teens as well.

Time will tell if Mayfair's plans provide a solution to eliminate the violence at the mall. Whatever inadequacies the policy may have, it is necessary to take action. Better to do something, anything, sooner than later.

Since no measures will go into effect until April, that does mean that the thugs have another full month to infest Mayfair.

Gluttonous Al Gore

Al Gore's global warming hypocrisy was news yesterday. He was exposed for the fraud that he is.

The lib media, naturally, have come to his defense.

I suppose the supporters of the gluttonous Al Gore buy his blather about leading a "carbon-neutral lifestyle."

Although he's responsible for massive carbon emissions, he claims that he balances that by purchasing "enough energy from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and methane gas to balance 100 percent of his electricity costs."

Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said, "To balance out other carbon emissions, the Gores invest money in projects to reduce energy consumption."

This "carbon-neutral" line is a lame attempt by Gore to excuse his inexcusably exorbitant energy use and the inordinate strain that he's putting on the planet's resources.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Al Gore, a leading voice against global warming, is being criticized by a conservative group that claims his Nashville mansion uses too much electricity. A Gore spokeswoman said the former vice president invests in enough renewable energy to make up for the home's power consumption.

Notice that AP states a "conservative" group is making claims about Gore's energy consumption.

AP sets up the Right-wing conspiracy scenario, the politics of personal destruction.

That's ridiculous.

LOOK AT GORE'S ELECTRIC BILL.

...Utility records show the Gore family paid an average monthly electric bill of about $1,200 last year for its 10,000-square-foot home.

The Gores used about 191,000 kilowatt hours in 2006, according to bills reviewed by The Associated Press. The typical Nashville household uses about 15,600 kilowatt-hours per year.

The group said that Gore used nearly 221,000 kilowatt hours last year and that his average monthly electric bill was $1,359. Johnson said his group got its figures from Nashville Electric Service.

But company spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never got a request from the policy center and never gave it any information.

OOOOOOOOOhh! The evil group, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research is lying about Gore.

The AP's own examination of records reveals that Gore's energy consumption is astronomical.

Instead of a $1,359 average monthly bill, the AP says its $1,200.

Who cares?

It's still enormous.

Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said: "Sometimes when people don't like the message, in this case that global warming is real, it's convenient to attack the messenger."

See?

It's a personal attack.

BS.

Gore's energy use is mind-boggling. The numbers, the AP's numbers, speak for themselves.

It's not about convenience to attack the messenger.

It's about Gore crying that the sky is falling, lecturing us about changing our lifestyles, when he's one of the worst offenders.

And what's with this "carbon-neutral" crap?

In effect, Gore argues that while he's destroying the planet, he makes up for it by doing something that is more earth-friendly to balance the damage that he's doing.

That's like Bill Clinton rationalizing that although he's having sex with Monica Lewsinsky, it's acceptable because he balances that out by having sex with Hillary. He has an adultery-neutral lifestyle.

OK, that's a creepy example; but you get my point.

If Gore was serious about his cause, then why the hell is he doing so much damage?

He has three homes! One is a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom place.

A tad excessive, don't you think?

Gore made up this ridiculous "carbon-neutral" claim as cover for his self-indulgent, eco-destructive lifestyle.

This "I pollute but then I do something to offset it" stance is just plain stupid.

Wouldn't it be better to cut back on the excess and do better than "carbon-neutral"?

Of course, it would.

Gore has his cake and he eats it, too.

And from the looks of him, he's been eating a lot of cake.
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UPDATE: The truth about Al Gore's "investments" in the environment.

The Unhinged Left Mourns

Dick Cheney is alive and well.

The Left is in mourning.

The Left is mourning because Vice President Cheney wasn't among the dead in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing up to 23 people and wounding 20.

Cheney was unhurt in the attack, which was claimed by the Taliban and was the closest that militants have come to a top U.S. official visiting Afghanistan. At least one U.S. soldier, an American contractor and a South Korean soldier were among the dead, NATO said.

Cheney said the attackers were trying "to find ways to question the authority of the central government." The Taliban said Cheney was the target.

About two hours after the blast, Cheney left on a military flight for Kabul to meet with President Hamid Karzai and other officials, then left Afghanistan.

The Left isn't happy.

Read some of the comments that were hosted by The Huffington Post, until the page was sanitized after coming under criticism for its utter lack of civility.

“Geoman 77” (if that’s his real name) opines, “Cheney's spokeswoman said he was fine. F**k.”


“ResistanceIsFutile” gets right to the point: “S**t!”


“Fantanfanny” shows some carefully calibrated outrage: “So Cheney is personally responsible for the deaths of 14 innocent people...and then he waddles off to lunch!! What a piece of s**t!”


“Irual” shows his/her/its outrage by using a lot of exclamation points: “To (sic) bad they missed!!!!!!!!!!!!”


“TBD” shows the kind of plucky optimism that made America great: “Better luck next time!”


“Pakiman47” waxes wistful: “What a different world we would be living in today if they had succeeded.”


“Ncjohn” hears history’s echo: “In 1944 Claus von Stauffenberg's bomb unfortunately missed Hitler. I see the parallel and the inherent risk. This is to that what 9/11 was to the burning of the Reichstag. I am waiting for this effort to obliterate Cheney to be linked to Iran just like 9/11 was purposefully linked to Iraq by the ghouls who control our country.”


“Jazzman” sees the same parallel: “Isn't this the moral dilemma that Deitrich Bonheoffer found himself in when he chose to join a plot to assasinate (sic) Hitler. If we know that Cheney is plotting to light up the entire Middle East region by instigating an attack on Iran, if we know he is lying to do so, if we know that he is launching these wars to line the pockets of his corporate friends, and establish hegemony around the globe, if we know that he intends to hijack civil liberties and destroy constitutional government in this country, should we cheer if someone could stop him before hand?”

These people are vile.

They are truly sick.

They disgrace themselves and they disgrace the Democrat Party.

Remember, they are the Dem base.

The demonization of Dick Cheney by the Democrats -- elected officials, Dem presidential wannabes, and the rank and file -- has been positively unconscionable.

These sort of despicable comments aren't unusual for the Left-wing. It's business as usual.

Wishing the American Vice President had been killed today is so ugly; but it's typical ugliness, commonly found on Left-wing sites.

These people spewing this vitriol are the supporters of John Murtha, Russ Feingold, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Carl Levin, and all the rest of the "Blame America first" crowd.

Those horrible, hateful words reflect the Democrat Party of today.

The mindset of the people of the Dem base is truly a disgrace.

It's unpatriotic to wish Vice President Cheney dead. They are unpatriotic.

It's anti-American.

Let's take politics and nationl borders out of it.

It's evil from a moral standpoint.

Be proud of yourselves, elected officials of the Democrat Party.

Be proud when you cash those checks from your supporters, those saddened that OUR Vice President wasn't killed in Afghanistan while on a mission to protect the American people from al Qaeda.
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Read Vice President Cheney's remarks.

Jesus' Tomb

This is a secularist's dream come true, the ultimate fantasy.

From The New York Times:

A documentary by the Discovery Channel claims to provide evidence that a crypt unearthed 27 years ago in Jerusalem contained the bones of Jesus of Nazareth.

Moreover, it asserts that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that the couple had a son, named Judah, and that all three were buried together.

The claims were met with skepticism by several archaeologists and New Testament scholars, as well as outrage by some Christian leaders. The contention that Jesus was married, had a child and left behind his bones — suggesting he was not bodily resurrected — contradicts core Christian doctrine.

Two limestone boxes said to contain residue from the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene were unveiled yesterday at a news conference at the New York Public Library by the documentary’s producer, James Cameron, who made “Titanic” and “The Terminator.” His collaborators onstage included a journalist, a self-taught antiquities investigator, New Testament scholars, a statistician and an archaeologist. Several of them said they were excited by the findings but uncertain.

That news conference was more P.T. Barnum than science.

It was pure freak show.

...Mr. Cameron said he had been “trepidatious” about becoming involved in the project but got engaged out of “great passion for a good detective story,” not to offend and not to cash in.

“I think this is the biggest archaeological story of the century,” he said. “It’s absolutely not a publicity stunt. It’s part of a very well-considered plan to reveal this information to the world in a way that makes sense, with proper documentation.”

Cameron seems to suffer from delusions of grandeur.

He made a film that claims to be a documentary, but it's just a thinly-veiled attempt to attack and undermine Christianity, trashing the most fundamental aspects of the faith.

I think Cameron is looking for another Titanic.

"I'm the king of the world!"

...Among the most influential scholars to dispute the documentary was Amos Kloner, former Jerusalem district archaeologist of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who examined the tomb in 1980.

Mr. Kloner said in a telephone interview that the inscription on the alleged “Jesus” ossuary is not clear enough to ascertain. The box on display at the news conference is a plain rectangle with rough gashes on one side. The one supposedly containing Mary Magdalene has six-petalled rosettes and an elaborate border.

“The new evidence is not serious, and I do not accept that it is connected to the family of Jesus,” said Mr. Kloner, who appears in the documentary as a skeptic.

New Testament scholars also criticized the documentary as theologically dangerous, historically inaccurate and irresponsible.

“A lot of conservative, orthodox and moderate Christians are going to be upset by the recklessness of this,” said Ben Witherington, a Bible scholar at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. “Of course, we want to know more about Jesus, but please don’t insult our intelligence by giving us this sort of stuff. It’s going to get a lot of Christians with their knickers in a knot unnecessarily.”

I'm a Christian and my "knickers" aren't in a knot.

The claims are so ridiculous and so poorly grounded that they're easily dismissed.

What's troubling is that the findings are being given any sort of serious consideration.

Some academics and so many in Hollywood enjoy tweaking Christians. Insulting believers is a favorite pastime of Leftists.

They have fun bullying believers with their conjecture.

I think they get a sick pleasure from knowing that their controversial claims will cause an uproar among some Christians.

It's particularly offensive that these exposés to debunk Christianity always seem to coincide with Lent and the Easter season, the holiest time for Christians.


It's best to just ignore them. They're peddling tabloid trash.

Who's Judah's daddy?

Who's Dannielynn's daddy?

I don't see a difference. It's exploitation for exploitation's sake.
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Today and Matt Lauer jumped on the anti-Christian, exploitation bandwagon this morning.

Typical slime.

Gore's Greenness

Al Gore is a fraud.

At the Academy Awards, the Hollywood Left drooled over him.

Leonardo DiCaprio lavished him with praise when together they announced to a billion viewers that the Oscars had gone green.

When An Inconvenient Truth won Best Documentary, director David Guggenheim fought back tears as he talked about Gore's passion for the planet.

When Melissa Etheridge accepted her Oscar for Best Song, from An Inconvenient Truth naturally, she paid tribute to Gore.

The common thread -- They all called Gore an inspiration, a champion in a moral crusade, one that's not Democrat or Republican. He's their prophet, a holy man, a secular saint.

They acted like members of a cult.

Quite frankly, they come off as fools and phonies for telling a billion people that Gore is a superhero out to save the world when he's really a total sham.

They should have spread the word that Gore is an impostor.

As posted on Drudge, from the Tennessee Center for Policy Research:

Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

Gore has no credibilty.

I'm not surprised that the Hollywood greenies overlook Gore's disgusting hypocrisy because they are guilty of the same sort of dishonesty.

Gore's telling me to cut down on my energy consumption?

When my electric and gas bills hit $30,000 per year, I'll consider it.
____________________________

Gore responds.

HAHAHAHA

Getting Tough at Mayfair

At a news conference today, Milwaukee and Wauwatosa district attorneys are going to say that they're mad as hell and they're not going to take this anymore.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Wauwatosa officials will announce a new get-tough prosecution policy today for dealing with disruptions and criminal conduct at Mayfair Mall.

Chisholm, along with Wauwatosa Mayor Theresa Estness, Police Chief Barry Weber and mall representatives, will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. at the Safety Building in downtown Milwaukee to outline the new strategies they have developed for dealing with disruptive behavior at the mall.

Instead of issuing municipal citations for disturbances at Mayfair, Assistant District Attorney Kent Lovern said Monday, officials will refer all mall-related cases to be evaluated for possible criminal prosecution.

Also, there will be more coordination between Milwaukee and Wauwatosa police and the district attorney's community prosecution unit.

The way I read this it says that Wauwatosa's leaders have admitted that they are in over their heads and they want Milwaukee to solve their problems.

Whatever.

I don't think the thugs causing all the trouble care about municipal citations versus possible criminal charges.

Is that really going to deter a thug?

I hope there will be other strategies announced at the news conference because if this is the best they're got, it's not enough.

Milwaukee's Bloody 2006

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that no progress whatsoever has been made in making the city safer from gun violence.

Although murders were down in 2006, shootings shot up dramatically.

Predictably, Mayor Tom Barrett's response is, (Say it with me!), "I'm outraged."

Gun violence surged in Milwaukee last year, as hospitals treated 26% more gunshot victims and serious shootings hit a 15-year high, according to first-ever data from hospitals, paramedics and police.

Even as local leaders vow changes to slow the bloodshed, the surge is obvious in emergency rooms and among Milwaukee's corps of paramedics.

The Journal Sentinel found that in 2006:

• 808 people were treated for gunshot wounds at eight hospitals in Milwaukee County, compared with 640 in 2005. The data includes assaults, accidents and self-inflicted wounds.

• Milwaukee Fire Department paramedics treated 381 people for serious gunshot wounds - to the head, neck or chest - a 20% increase over 2005 and the highest total since 1991. They saved more seriously injured patients than they have in at least 16 years.

This is a perfect example of how numbers can be manipulated to give a completely false impression.

Barrett brags about the drop in the city's murder rate.

That's the result of some incredible medical care and luck. It isn't an indication that the city is safer at all.

Reaction from local leaders to the rise in gun violence has ranged from calls for more gun-control laws to reorganizing the office responsible for prosecuting the shooters.

The mayor: "I'm outraged," said Tom Barrett, who leads the city where the vast majority of the area's shootings occur. "There are a lot of people using guns to settle disputes."

Barrett said the numbers show that more needs to be done to prevent illegal gun sales, such as requiring background checks for person-to-person gun sales and for sales at gun shows. More effective laws need to be passed to prevent so-called straw buyers from buying guns for convicted felons, he said.

It also should be illegal for anyone under 19 to own a handgun, he said.

"This is not about 2nd Amendment rights or about guns that are used for hunting or sporting purposes," Barrett said.

As long as Barrett continues to blame the surge in gun violence on the lack of effective laws, the city is doomed.

District attorney: John Chisholm, who took office in January, said he has revamped his office in an effort to address shootings.

"It is priority number one," Chisholm said. "We have to get in there and interrupt that cycle."

Chisholm has moved more than half of his 130 prosecutors, creating a violent crime team whose top job will be to handle gun and drug crimes. He also formed five teams of prosecutors assigned to handle cases in certain areas.

Maybe Chisholm's efforts will make a difference.

I hope so.

The way I see it, if Barrett can't get crime under control in Milwaukee, residents would be crazy to reelect him.

If Chisholm is as ineffective as E. Michael McCann, then he should be dumped as well.

Crime Engulfs Milwaukee

The rash of armed robberies in Bay View and on the far south side of Milwaukee continues unabated.

And true to form, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel does a half-assed job of reporting.

Please excuse my language, but it's ridiculous that they don't provide descriptions of the suspects of these crimes.

Today's examples --

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Gas station clerk punched, robbed

A gas station clerk lost teeth when he was punched in the face by a suspect who grabbed cash from a register and fled from a strong-arm robbery on the city's south side yesterday.

Milwaukee police said the suspect had a scarf over his face when he asked for cigarettes at the Citgo Quik Pik, 1213 E. Howard Ave., about 12:50 p.m.

The suspect punched the clerk, 49, in the face when the victim opened the cash register.

Police are still seeking the suspect.


UPDATE: Clerk lost teeth escaping robbery

A clerk at the Citgo gas station at 1213 E. Howard Ave. who was fleeing from an armed robber, slipped, hit her face on the counter and knocked out some teeth, police said Monday.

The woman was treated at an area hospital, according to police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz. Initial reports were that the clerk was a male and had been injured by a punch from the suspect.

She said at 12:49 p.m. Sunday, a man armed with a screw driver or blunt object entered the station and asked for cigarettes. He then jumped over the counter. The employee ran and slipped, hitting her head and knocking out some teeth, Schwartz said.

The suspect fled the scene, she said.

Obviously, the initial report had some factual errors.

Was the correction due to JS reporting or Anne E. Schwartz calling The JS to clear up the confusion?

It doesn't matter.

The police spokeswoman spoke with a JS reporter about the robbery.

What about the facts regarding the suspect's appearance?

All we know is that he was male. The first inaccurate report says that he had a scarf covering his face.

That wouldn't hide the suspect's race, his weight, or his height.

Surely there must be more details that could be made available to the public.

Their reports are always short on specifics. It's a disservice to the community to keep their news briefs so inexcusably brief.

Within just seven days, The Journal Sentinel reported FOUR ARMED ROBBERIES in the same vicinity, an area of the city that had been relatively free of such crimes.

Bella's Fat Cat

Perkins Family Restaurant

Shell Station

Citgo Station

These armed robberies took place in the span of one week!

Go back a few more weeks and the list gets longer.

There is a serious outbreak of crime.

What's being done about it?

Has Police Chief Nan Hegerty deployed additional officers to patrol the area?

What's Mayor Tom Barrett doing? Whining about better gun legislation?

What's Governor Jim Doyle doing? I know he's preoccupied with his casino woes and Dennis Troha. I guess he's too busy to be bothered with the disintegration of his state's largest city.

Everyday it gets worse. The list grows.

It's a tragedy that formerly safe, peaceful, desirable neighborhoods to raise a family have become crime-ridden.

The good, law-abiding people will flee these areas and leave the city, putting their property tax dollars into the coffers of communities in the suburbs and the ex-burbs.

Milwaukee will continue its downward spiral into chaos.

It's a lost cause.

One can never completely escape the threat of crime while remaining in an area populated with more people than moose; but it's definitely time to abandon the city.

Given the situation at Mayfair Mall, I think it's time to abandon Milwaukee County.

Dog Lab and the Medical College of Wisconsin

More here.

The Problem with Pakistan

The White House is taking a tough stand with Pakistan.

That's overdue.

From The New York Times:

President Bush has decided to send an unusually tough message to one of his most important allies, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with Al Qaeda, senior administration officials say.

The way The Times phrases this bugs me.

Pakistan isn't one of President Bush's most important allies. Pakistan is one of AMERICA'S most important allies in the War on Terror.

I can't stand it when libs use that sort of language -- Bush's war, Bush's allies, etc.

The decision came after the White House concluded that General Musharraf is failing to live up to commitments he made to Mr. Bush during a visit here in September. General Musharraf insisted then, both in private and public, that a peace deal he struck with tribal leaders in one of the country’s most lawless border areas would not diminish the hunt for the leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban or their training camps.

Now, American intelligence officials have concluded that the terrorist infrastructure is being rebuilt, and that while Pakistan has attacked some camps, its overall effort has flagged.

“He’s made a number of assurances over the past few months, but the bottom line is that what they are doing now is not working,” one senior administration official who deals often with South Asian issues said late last week. “The message we’re sending to him now is that the only thing that matters is results.”

I think it's the right move.

Musharraf has to cooperate or lose U.S. aid. It's that simple.

Last week, I found this extremely disturbing story on Al Jazeera:

Suspected pro-Taliban fighters have beheaded an Afghan refugee, accused of spying for the US, and left his body by a road.

The man's corpse, with its severed head and limbs, was found on Monday near Ghulam Khan, a town in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, close to the Afghan border, a Pakistani intelligence official said.

A note found with the corpse identified the man as Nek Amal, from Zozak village in Afghanistan's neighbouring Khost province.

The note said Amal was "a spy of America".

...Scores of people, including tribal elders and religious leaders, have been killed by suspected fighters in recent years in the border region for alleged collusion with the Pakistani authorities or spying for the US.

A suicide bomber dressed in a doctor's coat has blown himself up at a hospital in Khost, wounding at least two Nato soldiers.

The Taliban beheaded a man and severed his limbs. They kill people on whims. They blow people up in hospitals.

The terrorists are barbarians.

Their tactics, gruesome murders, and mutilation of corpses are difficult to grasp. They are so horrific.

Are we really expected to believe the blowhard Dems that if the U.S. left the region this violence would end?

How can the Dems be so naive to think that the solution is to cut and run?

The Islamic extremists came to our country and attacked us on September 11, 2001.

We weren't in Afghanistan then. We weren't in Iraq then.

When Islamic terrorists first tried to bring down the World Trade Center in February 1993, President Bush didn't hold elected office. Bill Clinton was in office and the Dems ruled Congress.

The terrorist attacks continued throughout the 90s, during that supposedly blissful era of peace and prosperity while Clinton was in office.

The point is Bush's policies didn't create the Islamic extremists. Bush didn't recruit those terrorists.

The Dems like to blame Bush and claim that he caused the violence.

He didn't.

He inherited it.

The Dems like to play politics. They conduct their games by lying to the American people.

When I think about the barbarism of our enemies, I can't believe that the Dems are putting all of their energy into attacking President Bush for purely political gain.

It puts our nation at risk. It's unconscionable.

Bush did not create the Taliban. Toppling Saddam Hussein did not create Islamic extremism.

It's a lie to suggest otherwise.

I'm sick of the Dems' lies.
_____________________________

Update:

This is good news.

ISLAMABAD (AFP) -- US Vice President Dick Cheney paid a surprise visit Monday to Pakistan amid growing concern about President Pervez Musharraf's efforts to take on Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists.

Pakistan's military ruler has been seen as a close US ally in the "war on terror," but Washington recently announced there were new Al-Qaeda training camps on Pakistani soil and indicated it wants Musharraf to do more.

There is also concern about a threatened spring offensive from the resurgent Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, where the government has repeatedly said Pakistan is not doing enough to stop the cross-border movement of militants.

Cheney's trip, which was not made public ahead of time for security reasons, came as the New York Times quoted senior US officials saying Musharraf would get an "unusually tough message" that US aid to Pakistan could be cut unless Al-Qaeda is hunted down more aggressively.

Good work, Vice President Cheney!

I have a great deal of respect for the Bush administration.

They keep plowing ahead even as the Dems do everything in their power to hinder their efforts.

Martin Scorsese and the Academy Awards

It was 26 years too late, but Martin Scorsese has finally won an Academy Award for directing.

And the icing on that cake -- The Departed won for Best Picture.

Martin Scorsese's mob epic "The Departed" won best picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday and earned the filmmaker the directing prize that had eluded him throughout his illustrious career.

"Could you double-check the envelope?" said Scorsese, who arguably had been the greatest living American filmmaker without an Oscar.

Obviously, I still watch the Oscars. For me, the ceremony lost its luster a long time ago.

The awards broadcast is entertaining, sometimes.

The significance of the awards, in terms of achievement in film, is almost nonexistent. The awards are virtually meaningless.

The fact that the greatest director of the past quarter century never received an Oscar, until tonight, proves that.

Scorsese didn't need that statuette. In a way, Oscar isn't worthy of him. If I were Scorsese, I would have been tempted, to say, "I want to thank the Academy, but no thanks."

In the past, first-time directors, former actors, beat out the master Scorsese.

Not only did the Academy shun Scorsese, it shunned his films when it came to the Best Picture Oscar.

No Best Director Oscar or Best Picture Oscar for Raging Bull?

Ridiculous.

No Best Director Oscar or Best Picture Oscar for GoodFellas?

Insane.

Scorsese had to sit there as Robert Redford and Kevin Costner walked off with Best Director and Best Picture Oscars.

Ordinary People and Dances with Wolves are good movies. Actually, I think Ordinary People is an excellent movie.

However, Raging Bull and GoodFellas are great movies.

Martin Scorsese is a great filmmaker.

When I heard that Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas were set to present the Oscar for directing this year, I thought that the momentous occasion when Scorsese would finally be recognized by the Academy for his work was being staged.

American directors of Scorsese's generation, his peers, his friends, would be the ones to bestow the honor on him.

Scorsese was congratulated by fellow directors Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg.

Was that supposed to make the moment more special?

It was nice, but for me it further reinforced the many times that the Academy failed to give Scorsese his due.

Congratulations to him.

And to the members of the Academy -- It took you long enough.

Oscar Winner Al Gore

WOW!

What a surprise!

An Inconvenient Truth won the Academy Award for best Documentary Feature.

Jerry Seinfeld, friend and colleague of Larry David, the husband of Gore worshipper and AIT producer Laurie David, was the presenter. He did a couple of minutes of material before awarding the Oscar to the former vice president.

The bloated Al Gore began his acceptance speech by thanking Tipper, his family, and the Academy.

He went on, "My fellow Americans.... "

Gore showed some mercy and kept his comments brief, something about saving the world.

I wonder if Bill Clinton is jealous.

Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Oscar

About an hour and fifteen minutes into the Academy Awards broadcast, Al Gore took the stage.

The adoring crowd embraced him.

Leonardo DiCaprio joined Gore to announce that for the first time in the history of the awards, the ceremony had gone green.

Well, whoop dee frickin' do.

What does that mean anyway?

Gore and DiCaprio were introduced immediately following Melissa Etheridge's performance of the nominated song "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth.

As Etheridge sang, tips on how to save the world from the certain horrors of global warming were projected on to a black screen behind her.

What sort of tips?

Walk to work, write Congress, that sort of stuff.

Is that supposed to ease the consciences of these spoiled, self-indulgent egomaniacs?

Not many of the "what you can do" suggestions were visible since most of the time the camera was tight on Etheridge.

When Gore spoke, I don't really know what he said specifically. Whenever he talks, I zone out. I just can't listen to his voice without going into a state of minimal consciousness.

I remember DiCaprio saying how proud he was to be standing next to Gore, a true champion in leading the fight against global warming.

Viewers were instructed to go to www.oscar.com for more information.

This year, the Academy, the Oscar telecast producer Laura Ziskin and the entire production team endeavored to select supplies and services with a sensitivity toward reducing the threats we face from global warming, species extinction, deforestation, toxic waste, and hazardous chemicals in our water and food. With guidance and assistance from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-partisan environmental and advocacy organization, we learned that it was easy (and often cost effective) to make simple changes to reduce Oscar's ecological footprint. Here are a few of the things we learned (with help from the NRDC website www.nrdc.org)

A lengthy list of suggestions on how to save energy on the road and at home, save resources at home and at work, conserve water, and support organic and sustainable farming follows.

What a joke!

In this land of excess and indulgence, I don't think the Hollywood community should be preaching to all of us, the wonderful people out there in the dark, about what we need to do to conserve.

Gore did not fulfill the fantasies of some Lefties. He did NOT announce his intention to run for president in 2008.

DiCaprio set up a gag with Gore, asking the 2000 presidential candidate if there was anything he wanted to announce.

"I guess with a billion people watching, it's as good a time as any. So my fellow Americans, I'm going to take this opportunity here and now to formally announce my intentions ...," Gore said, his voice trailing away as the orchestra cut him off.

I admit that was kind of funny.

You can tell that Gore loves Hollywood as much as Hollywood loves him.

I hope his star status doesn't change him.

I'd hate to hear that he's shaved his head. I wouldn't want to see any photos of him getting out of an eco-limo without pants, exposing himself.

That would be bad.

No Dogs in Medical School

Animal advocacy groups are planning three days of protests at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The problem? The use of live dogs in a lab for first-year medical students.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Sixty dogs are scheduled to be killed as part of a first-year medical school physiology lab that begins Monday at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Additional labs are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Humane Society and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an animal advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., are coordinating a large protest for Monday on the medical school grounds. They will stage smaller protests for Tuesday and Wednesday.

They hope to persuade medical students to opt out of the lab.

...Attendance at the laboratory is optional and not recorded, said Richard Katschke, associate vice president of public affairs at the Medical College. Twelve of the 204 first-year medical students have already officially opted out.

The college will go into "lockdown" Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, only allowing employees, students and registered guests into the building. Some doors will be staffed by security guards, and others will be locked.

...Although many medical schools once used live dogs to teach human physiology, pharmacology or surgery, only two U.S. medical schools still do, according to the Physicians Committee: the Medical College of Wisconsin and the New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y. And only one of the top 20 rated medical schools - Washington University Medical School in St. Louis - still uses any live animals, according to the committee.

Clearly, this article is very slanted.

It fails to present the reason that the school has the lab. It fails to explain what happens to the dogs.

All it does is announce that sixty dogs are scheduled to be killed at the Medical College this week.

To provide balance, here is some information from the other side of the issue:

The cardiovascular laboratory for first-year medical students at the Medical College of Wisconsin provides students with an exceptional learning experience. It brings together all of the information they have learned in their coursework to date, and applies that knowledge in a real-life situation. It is the only opportunity that students will have in their medical education to experience the cardiovascular function of a large animal with similar responses as humans before they begin clinical work with patients. The use of live animals in this course is strongly endorsed by the American Physiological Society.

The JS article makes it sound like the Medical College of Wisconsin is hanging on to a practice not recommended or beneficial for students, a pointless killing of animals.

The reader isn't informed that the "use of live animals in this course is strongly endorsed by the American Physiological Society."

The laboratory experience involves the use of dogs. All animals are treated humanely and are fully anesthetized during this laboratory. The cardiovascular system of a dog is remarkably similar to that of humans. That is why so many medical advances in cardiac care and our understanding of the cardiovascular system of humans are traced to medical research using dogs.

The animals are treated humanely and fully anesthetized.

That's important.

One would think that the protests are being staged because the animals are experiencing pain.

Furthermore, it should be remembered that the Wisconsin Humane Society regularly is forced to put down dogs and other animals.

Animals are euthanized because they are unwanted. There are too many animals and not enough homes.

So, the WHS is protesting the Medical College for doing what it routinely does. Moreover, when the WHS kills animals, future doctors aren't being educated to treat human beings and save lives.

The dogs used in the lab are purchased from a licensed, USDA vendor. None of the dogs have been pets and would have been euthanized, if not made available for this course.

Here is another critical piece of information.

The dogs haven't been pets and they would be euthanized anyway if they weren't used in the lab.

The article doesn't say that.

More facts about what happens to the dogs in the lab:

Dogs are humanely treated and are under heavy anesthesia at all times during the lab. The animals do not suffer nor are they ever conscious. They are anesthetized by veterinarians and professional staff members before the students enter the laboratory. At the completion of the lab, the dogs are euthanized with an overdose of anesthesia.

It's evident that the Medical College isn't just engaging in some sort of animal cruelty exercise.

The dogs are serving an important purpose in the students' coursework.

Most important, these are dogs that would be euthanized if they were used in the lab or not.

In a real sense, the Wisconsin Humane Society is organizing a protest of one of its own procedures.

That doesn't make sense.

When the animal advocacy groups finish their protest at the Medical College, they should head over to the Humane Society and protest there for its practice of killing dogs.

I'm not writing this as an advocate for the use of animals in medical training and experiments as much as I'm pointing out the double standard applied by the protesters.

Another thing that came to mind--

In the case of EMBRYONIC stem cell research, proponents often use the excuse that the embryos would be destroyed anyway. That's supposed to make it morally acceptable.

Since those human lives would be tossed out as garbage, the EMBRYONIC stem cell supporters claim that those worthless embryos should be put to use to find treatments and cures for diseases and disorders.

Well, in the case of the dogs, they are going to be put down anyway. Why not use them to give medical students a valuable learning experience?

It makes me wonder how many of the protesters that will descend on the Medical College are supporters of EMBRYONIC stem cell research.

How many support silencing a beating heart through abortion?
_____________________

I love animals. I've adopted pets from the Humane Society. I support the Wisconsin Humane Society with significant financial contributions every year.

As much as I adore and want to protect God's creatures, there's a dramatic qualitative difference between an animal and a human being.

Geek-Chic Al Gore

Have you noticed that the Democrat Party has a lot of "rock stars"?

For weeks, the liberal media have talked about rock star Barack Obama.

Al Gore has also been crowned a rock star.

The Washington Post slobbers over Gore, "Oscar Hopeful May Be America's Coolest Ex-Vice President Ever."

HAHAHAHA

Now that's funny!

In the annals of vice presidential history, tonight will be something different. In his black tux, the man known to his most fervent fans as "The Goracle" will arrive by hybrid eco-limo and, surrounded by fellow Hollywood greenies Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio, will stroll down the red carpet at the Academy Awards to answer the immortal question: "Al, who are you wearing?"

An "eco-limo"?

How phony! How Hollywood!

Gore isn't nearly as green as he professes to be. Rock star Gore doesn't practice what he preaches.

Graciously, Gore tells consumers how to change their lives to curb their carbon-gobbling ways: Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, use a clothesline, drive a hybrid, use renewable energy, dramatically cut back on consumption. Better still, responsible global citizens can follow Gore's example, because, as he readily points out in his speeches, he lives a "carbon-neutral lifestyle." But if Al Gore is the world's role model for ecology, the planet is doomed.

For someone who says the sky is falling, he does very little. He says he recycles and drives a hybrid. And he claims he uses renewable energy credits to offset the pollution he produces when using a private jet to promote his film. (In reality, Paramount Classics, the film's distributor, pays this.)

Public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va. (He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.) For someone rallying the planet to pursue a path of extreme personal sacrifice, Gore requires little from himself.

Then there is the troubling matter of his energy use. In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy. In Nashville, similar programs exist. Utility customers must simply pay a few extra pennies per kilowatt hour, and they can continue living their carbon-neutral lifestyles knowing that they are supporting wind energy. Plenty of businesses and institutions have signed up. Even the Bush administration is using green energy for some federal office buildings, as are thousands of area residents.

But according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use green energy in either of his large residences. When contacted Wednesday, Gore's office confirmed as much but said the Gores were looking into making the switch at both homes. Talk about inconvenient truths.

The truth is inconvenient for Gore.

He's a fake. He's a hypocrite.

He's the embodiment of Hollywood and its holier-than-thou greenies globbling up energy living in enormous homes, flying in private jets.

What a year it has been for Al Gore and his little indie film.

...In the year since his film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, to a standing ovation, Gore has gone from failed presidential contender -- and a politician who at times gave new meaning to the word cardboard -- to the most unlikely of global celebrities.

Incredible as it may seem, Al Gore is not only totally carbon neutral, but geek-chic cool. No velvet rope can stop him. He rolls with Diddy. He is on first-name basis, for real, with Ludacris. But what does this mean? And how did it happen? Did Gore change? Or did the climate -- political, cultural, natural -- change around him?

In an e-mail exchange with The Goracle himself, "AG" typed to The Washington Post that the Oscar craziness and pageantry of the film premieres has been fun (his word) "but I'm old enough to know that a red carpet is just a rug, so I've been able to enjoy that part of it without losing perspective."

Just a rug, people. Because, Gore continued (this was on Friday during a break from his tux fitting): "Actually, for me, the most moving moments have been in conversations with people who have told me that the movie had a big impact on the way they think and feel about our moral responsibility to protect the Earth."

The Post doesn't fact check.

Gore is NOT totally carbon neutral.

I wonder how much global warming can be traced to the making and care of red carpets.

That "just a rug" might be responsible for melting the ice caps!

The red carpet is a polar bear killer! It's the symbol of excess and polar bear death!

Gore should refuse to make his greatly anticipated walk down the Oscar red carpet.

"He is more popular now than he ever was in office, and he knows it," says Laurie David, one of the producers of "Inconvenient Truth" and a Hollywood environmental activist (and wife of "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David) who has traveled around the world promoting the film with Gore. "He's a superhero now."

...Before the film? He was more Willy Loman than Green Avenger. After his loss in 2000, a battered Gore began to schlep around the country, often solo, flying coach, giving his ever-evolving slide show about climate change, a threat that Gore, now 58, says he has felt strongly about since his Harvard days.

After the film? Says director [Davis] Guggenheim, "Everywhere I go with him, they treat him like a rock star."

Al Gore Superhero.

Al Gore Rock Star.

Al Gore Geek-Chic Cool.

I don't see it. There's nothing about Gore that excites me in the slightest. I mean ZERO.

Gore has loosened up a little bit, but it's all relative. In his case, being less stiff still places him way up there on the stiff meter.

Gore is only a celebrity in that parallel universe that the libs inhabit. Yes, he is worshipped as one of the loony Left's gods; but he's a false idol. His popularity stops at the Left's edge, where reality intrudes.

The Gore phenomenon is definitely a lib thing.

...At the "Live Earth" press conference, Gore once again affirmed that he is not planning to enter the 2008 presidential fray, though this has not stopped the lefty blogosphere from imagining the jaw-dropping holy cow if The Goracle announces his run on Oscar night. That, say Gore's most intimate insiders, is most definitely not going to happen.

Only complete nutjobs would believe that Gore would toss his hat in the ring at the Academy Awards.

Of course, it takes a nutjob to swallow much of what Gore has to say about the planet's future. I guess the goofy speculation fits.

As for whom Gore will be wearing, his people reveal: It'll be Ralph Lauren.

Was that Naomi Wolf's idea? Is she still giving Gore that priceless fashion advice? What about the earth tones?

Anyway, I can understand why Gore fits in so well with the BOTOX Hollywood crowd. His face is already immobilized. He's a natural.


Al Gore has never looked more comfortable in his own skin.

(From Pero's "This Week in Pictures.")

Iraq War Resolution: Never Mind

Senators Harry Reid, Joe Biden, and Carl Levin have crafted a resolution to declare null and void the Senate's 2002 vote giving President Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq.

Drip, drip, drip....

The Dems press on with their "Slow-Bleed" strategy to secure defeat in Iraq.

Their lame repeal, flip-flop, or whatever you want to call it won't pass, but that's not the point.

From The Washington Post:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned yesterday that a new Democratic effort to repeal the 2002 Iraq war resolution would meet the same fate as two previous efforts to limit President Bush's authority: blocked by procedural obstacles, unless Democrats relent to GOP terms.

Speaking to reporters by conference call from his Louisville home, McConnell compared the latest Democratic move to "trying to unring a bell." He warned that Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, would "have to surround himself with lawyers" to comply with the new resolution that senior Democrats are drafting.

It's weird, though not surprising, that The Post depicts the Republicans as obstructionists.

THE DEMS ARE THE OBSTRUCTIONISTS.

They are seeking to obstruct President Bush's authority.

They want to create obstacles to prevent victory.

The Republicans are seen as holding the Dems hostage, the ransom being relenting to GOP terms.

Lib Bias? What lib bias?

The Post considered the Dems' obstruction of Bush's judicial nominees to be a noble exercise.

I guess OBSTRUCTION is in the eye of the beholder.

...Biden responded in a CNN interview that while the Constitution allows Bush to conduct war, it does so "only if the Congress gave him the authority in the first place."

"We are repealing the initial authority," Biden said. "And by the way, the United States Constitution cannot be trumped by the United Nations. It cannot be trumped by it. The implementation act of the United Nations treaty, when we passed it, said, it depends upon the Congress's authority."

What a shock!

Biden was on TV!!!

This man gets more face time than all of Bush's cabinet members combined.

Biden is all over the map in his comments.

He suggests that Bush never was given authority by Congress to go to war in Iraq.

If that's true, then why have a resolution to repeal that "initial authority"?

Biden really can be a blithering idiot.

Then, he champions the Constitution as supreme to any UN resolution.

Don't the Dems usually want to surrender U.S. sovereignty to the UN?

Don't they want us to run every move we make by the UN?

In 2004, the Dems were on board with presidential candidate John Kerry's suggestion that our country needs to pass a "global test" before acting. We need the UN's permission. Of course, Kerry tried to explain that he was understood before he was misunderstood on that one. Or was he misunderstood before he was understood?

I think presidential wannabe Biden was campaigning, albeit pathetically, when he threw in that line about the Constituion not being trumped by the UN.

McConnell noted that 29 Democrats voted for the 2002 resolution, including three Democratic presidential candidates: Biden, along with Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.).

"If the Senate doesn't support the mission in Iraq, it has only one option, and that's to decide whether or not to fund that mission," McConnell said. "That's our constitutional role, and we shouldn't drag this into the morass of Democratic presidential primary politics."

McConnell is right.

The cowardly Dems are screwing around, posturing, and playing primary politics -- trying to shirk their responsibility for the 2002 vote, wiping their hands clean.

And trying to remain blameless as they ensure defeat for the U.S. in Iraq.

If the Dems want to end the war, they should step up and promote resolutions to end it NOW. They should defund it instead of engaging in games. Case closed.

In any case, whether the Dems employ their shameful "Slow-Bleed" plan or switch to a quick surrender Russ Feingold-style agenda, they will be responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Iraq and the wider Middle East that's sure to follow if U.S. forces leave prematurely.

Antonella Barba

Antonella Barba fully-clothed

The Internet strikes again.

The immediacy and the speed with which information spreads really is astounding.

The latest victim of the new media is Antonella Barba, a contestant on American Idol.
From her page on the Idol website:

Q: What other talents do you have?

Barba: Violin, piano

Q: Most embarrassing moments?

Barba: Saying the wrong things before I think

I think Barba might need to revise those answers.

LOS ANGELES -- The Internet was abuzz Friday over a series of racy photos linked to an "American Idol" contestant. The pictures, posted on several Web sites, included one with four women posing topless at the beach, their hands covering their breasts, and others with a woman engaged in a sex act.

The anonymous postings alleged that Antonella Barba, 20, of Point Pleasant, N.J., was depicted in the photos and didn't indicate how they were obtained.

Alex Gillespie, a Fox publicist in New York for the top-rated show, said the network would have no comment on the incident or whether it might affect Barba's participation in the contest.

Gillespie said the network is not making any of the contestants available to speak to the media.

...Nigel Lythgoe, an "American Idol" producer, was quoted on Entertainment Weekly's Web site on Friday as saying he was unaware of the photographs.

"We have really good background checks on everybody, and we deal with that every season," he told EW.com. "It's sad, isn't it, that your best friends are the ones that come forward with information that will go to Smoking Gun or put your photographs on the Web?"

Interested in seeing the photos?

Here's more photos alleged to be Barba.


It is sad that her "best friends" were willing to post these compromising photos of Barba on the Internet.

I wouldn't call them friends.

However, much sadder than the betrayal by these so-called friends is the fact that Barba engaged in the behavior depicted in the photos.

Quite literally, she blew it.

American Idol has a precedent to follow. Other contestants have been forced off the show for behavior that its producers deemed inappropriate.

I don't see how Barba can be allowed to remain if it's determined that the most sexually graphic photos are actually of her. It would be inconsistent with the treatment that other contestants received.

I suppose Barba could spend a day or two in "poor judgment" rehab. She could blame an addiction. Maybe Donald Trump could intervene and make things all better.

But in the final analysis, the show must uphold the standards it has set.

Actually, I don't see Antonella Barba as a victim of the Internet or disloyal "friends."

She made poor choices and those choices have consequences.
____________________________
Update:

What are the consequences for Barba? Other than being publicly humiliated and getting an incredible amount of attention, NONE.

If the ones responsible for releasing the photos hoped to destroy her chances to remain on the show, they made a gross miscalculation.

American Idol producers are going to support her. Why? Ratings. Money.

Barba's popularity has skyrocketed. She has a new audience of admirers.

As long as she stays on the show, American Idol will be attracting a new demographic -- the cramped hand demo. Yes, the producers have decided to reap the benefits of the sleazy photos.

In my opinion, it's creepy and reflects poorly on the show.

I wonder how the show's producers would have reacted if sexually explicit photos of a male contestant surfaced. Would they be as forgiving in that case?

I'm not sure what the lesson here really is.

I guess if you want to be famous, Barba is a role model.
____________________________

I'm surprised it took this long for someone to bring up the issue of race when comparing how American Idol treated Frenchie Davis versus how Antonella Barba has been given a pass.

LOS ANGELES -- Frenchie Davis, dumped by "American Idol" in 2003 for lingerie shots posted on a Web site, moved on to Broadway success and thought she had buried a humiliating chapter of her young life.

That changed in the last few days after contestant Antonella Barba was allowed to stay on the top-rated Fox series despite the emergence of racy online photos that purport to be of Barba, but with no verification.

The first big controversy of the show's sixth season swelled Tuesday when fans and a civil-rights activist rallied to Davis' side, saying she was the victim of unfair and potentially biased treatment. Davis is black; Barba is white.

"We object to having one rule for black contestants and a different rule for white contestants who exhibit the same behavior," said Najee Ali, community activist and founder of Project Islamic H.O.P.E.

Davis said she is bewildered over what's happened with Barba, 20, of Point Pleasant, N.J.

"I don't necessarily think that (it's racism), but I can certainly look at this and understand why people would draw that conclusion," Davis said Tuesday from New York, hours before going on stage in the musical "Rent."

"I'm not bashing `Idol' or Antonella. She's a beautiful girl and she's young. I think it's great that she didn't have to go through what I went through," said Davis, 27, who suggested that the show's producers might have learned from how they treated her.

Davis would welcome a public apology from them as "a great start." But she said she is owed more for "the manner in which I was humiliated and the manner in which Antonella was defended and protected by the same people who humiliated me."

"Now they need to come to the table and see what we can do to make up" for her treatment, Davis said. She declined to say if she would seek a financial settlement or a record contract or other deal.

Belinda Foster, Davis' manager, took part in a small protest Tuesday with Ali outside the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles where "American Idol" tapes. She said there are stark differences in the treatment of the two contestants.

..."`American Idol' has first and foremost proclaimed it is a family show. ... No matter who made the photos public, it still speaks to her moral character and integrity, and certainly her silence speaks for itself," he said.

A fan group lead by Chris Tian, a singer-songwriter in Portsmouth, N.H., is calling on Fox to give Davis another shot at competing on "Idol."

Where's Jesse Jackson?

2nd Anniversary

Freedom Eden

February 23, 2005 - February 23, 2007

Celebrating two years of spending way too much time on the Internet!

Judge Larry Seidlin: Disorder in the Court

Was Judge Larry Seidlin just doing his job in the Anna Nicole Smith case or was he auditioning for a TV show?

Whatever he was doing, whatever his motivation, it was utterly self-serving.

The guy is a nut.

An advocate for Anna Nicole Smith's daughter decided the former model would be buried alongside her son in the Bahamas after a tearful, sometimes blubbering judge gave the attorney the power to make the decision.

Richard Milstein, the court-appointed lawyer for 5-month-old Dannielynn, announced the plans Thursday but gave no time frame for the burial.

Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin, who choked up frequently as he explained his decision, made it abundantly clear what he felt should be done in giving custody of the body to Milstein.

"Who is entitled to custody of the remains of Anna Nicole Smith?" Seidlin wrote in his ruling. "There can be only one proper and equitable answer to that question: Dannielynn, Anna Nicole Smith's only child, heir and next of kin."

Seidlin steered a middle course in a dispute that became more urgent by the day when the medical examiner warned that Smith's body was rapidly decomposing.

..."I want her buried with her son in the Bahamas," he said through tears. "I want them to be together."

...Seidlin teared up earlier Thursday when he abruptly cut short the proceedings to say he had made up his mind. In a sometimes rambling statement, he said "I've been trying to figure out, in a spiritual sense, how to bring it all together."

Judges are human beings.

It's literally impossible for them to completely lose themselves and become unfeeling machines.

That said, Seidlin's behavior was inappropriate.

His manner was not befitting a judge.

He acted like he was playing a part in a low-budget movie.

I think the way he conducted himself was disgraceful.

I understand that people get choked up; but as a judge, Seidlin needed to project at least the illusion that he was of sound mind and being rational.

He was moved. OK.

That's no excuse for him to act as if he were being guided by emotions. The law is the law. No crying judges, please.

He should have shed his tears elsewhere, not on the bench.

Seidlin has his supporters talking to the media, deflecting some of the criticism.

Seidlin's wife acted as her husband's spokeswoman/publicist/agent. Friends came to his defense.

Not since Judge Ito has a black robe so thoroughly failed to mask the colorful personality of the man beneath it.

For more than a week, Florida circuit court Judge Larry Seidlin has run the Anna Nicole Smith court hearing with a jarring combination of comic wisecracks, stunningly personal commentary and naked emotion.

And while the judge has declined to speak to reporters, his wife talked to the ABC News Law & Justice Unit.

"People who know him, and people who meet him on the street all say the same thing, 'You should have your own television show,'" Seidlin's wife, Belinda, said Thursday night.

Seidlin's colorful personality isn't suited to a court of law in the real world.

He became a spectacle in his own courtroom.

Earlier in the week-long hearing, Seidlin told one high-strung blonde lawyer that she was beautiful, and took cell phone calls from his wife. He shared his morning exercise routine with the courtroom and the cameras.

And then there were the inadvertently humorous moments during the hearing.

At one point, referring to a dress being made for Smith's burial, Seidlin's face soured as he expressed his general discomfort over funeral details.

"This is the one area I always ran away from -- the death," Seidlin said.

It prompted amused attorney Stephen Tunstall to note wryly, "But you're a probate judge," referring to the type of judge whose job is to deal with wills.

"I don't think him to be crazy at all,'' said Belinda Seidlin. "I find him to be brilliant, and that's tough to say when you're married to someone for a long time."

It seems that wife Belinda enjoys the limelight, too.

This hearing should not have been about Seidlin.

This wasn't an opportunity for him to joke or play to the cameras.

I didn't find his antics amusing.

He turned his responsibility to settle a matter into a forum to highlight himself, to perform.

I don't find him funny. I find him terribly irresponsible and remarkably selfish.

..."Some people viewing [Seidlin] on television would see him as unorthodox," [lifelong friend Dr. Sheldon] Warman said, "but this is how he's always been and why's he's been elected back into this office every six years since he was in his twenties."

"He has the softest heart you'll ever see," Warman said.

Referring to his friend crying on national television as he read his ruling, Warman said, "He meant that. … That was really him.

"He felt that heat in that courtroom," he added. "He saw everything going on, saw all the fighting between the attorneys, and he wanted to deflate that with his humor."

I suppose the tension in the courtroom was easier to deflate than it would be to deflate Seidlin's ego.


If Seidlin feels compelled to shed any more tears, it should be over the fact that he added to the Anna Nicole Smith post-death circus.

He planted himself in the center ring and he seemed to love it.

Seidlin chose not to bring some much needed dignity to the proceedings. Instead, he became just another performer in this two-week-old circus -- a clown among clowns.
_____________________________

Read more.

Update: James Van Iveren and Bret Stieghorst

When I first commented on The Sword and the Porn case, I wrote:

I'm sure more details will emerge. At this point, I hope the charges against Van Iveren are dropped.

What's very clear right now is that Stieghorst likes his porn loud and he's proud.

Well, more details have emerged although the facts of the incident are still a bit muddy.

The latest:

The pornographic DVD that was being played in an Oconomowoc apartment doesn't square with a man's claim that he thought he heard a rape in progress before storming into the residence with a sword, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

"Does hearing the sounds of consensual sex under these kinds of circumstances indicate that a crime may have been occurring? Obviously, the Oconomowoc police thought not," Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Osborne said.

As for kicking in the door while armed with a sword, Osborne said, "Was that a reasonable response? It's reported that he pounded on the door and kicked it in before the man had a chance to open it. That doesn't appear to have been a reasonable reaction to me."

Osborne said the decision to file the charges against James W. Van Iveren over the Feb. 11 incident primarily boiled down to his reported beliefs and actions being unreasonable.

So--

STRIKE ONE

After careful analysis, the Oconomowoc police determined that the sounds from the porn DVD were those of consensual sex.

Because of the consensual nature of the sounds, Van Iveren acted unreasonably.

STRIKE TWO

Van Iveren broke down the door before Stieghorst had a chance to get to it. Because he didn't follow proper door knocking and answering protocal, Van Iveren acted unreasonably.

STRIKE THREE

Being armed with that sword compounds Van Iveren's unreasonable reaction.

In addition, Van Iveren has had brushes with the law. That most likely is being factored in here.

...Van Iveren's neighbor, Bret Stieghorst, said Wednesday that he believed Van Iveren was doing what he thought was the right thing in kicking in the door to his apartment and didn't care about the charges that were filed, except damage to property.

"He did kick in my door, so he should get charged with that," said Stieghorst, 33, who works full time and is a student at Waukesha County Technical College. "But he really didn't do anything except what he thought was right. I don't know what I would have done in that situation."

I think this is important.

Stieghorst, 33-year-old student at Waukesha County Technical College and employed full time (model citizen), thought Van Iveren's response was appropriate.

During a TV interview on Tuesday night, Stieghorst said that Van Iveren would be a hero and would deserve a medal if a woman actually was being raped and he intervened.

Other than the matter of paying for the damaged door, Stieghorst believed that Van Iveren did the right thing.

But if Van Iveren was attempting to rescue what he thought was a woman in danger he was "obnoxiously late," said Stieghorst, who said he watched the movie between 1 and 2:30 a.m., but Van Iveren did not burst into his apartment until about 11:30 a.m.

This timeline was not part of the initial reports of the story.

Why didn't Stieghorst mention that right away?

Would an "obnoxiously late" rescue attempt of a woman in danger be worthy of a medal?

Stieghorst is not being consistent.

...Stieghorst, who said he has lived in his small downtown apartment for five years, said he was watching an adult DVD in Spanish called "Casa de Culo." He said the movie has no screaming that would suggest to someone a woman was in danger.

"It's all in Spanish, and I don't understand a word of it," he said. "I only bought it for the hot chicks."

This guy is a real piece of work.

He flaunts his love of porn and openly discusses his private behavior for the media.

Stieghorst said on camera, "I came back from the bar and decided to take care of business."

Good grief.

I stated in my other post that I don't care what Stieghorst does, but I do find it creepy that he doesn't hesitate to tell the world about his viewing and "other" habits.

Tuesday night (technically early Wednesday morning), I said that I hoped charges against Van Iveren would be dropped.

Now, I think that they are in order, but I hope he gets off relatively easy.

Although he's clearly a bit unstable, I have a little sympathy for Van Iveren because he at least feels "stupid" for what he did.

Stieghorst, on the other cramped hand, is loving his fifteen minutes.