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The Lunch Counter
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Thursday, September 29, 2005
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A quick study on the so-called peaceful relegion of Islam, isn't very peaceful for women. Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, imam of a mosque in the southern resort of Fuengirola, Spain wrote a book Women in Islam, published four years ago. Kamal writes that according to Islamic law, a disobedient wife could be beaten.
"The blows should be concentrated on the hands and feet using a rod that is thin and light so that it does not leave scars or bruises on the body,'' he wrote.
Ref: Original Story
'How to beat your wife' imam must study equality. An imam who wrote a book on how to beat your wife without leaving marks on her body has been ordered by a judge in Spain to study the country's constitution. [Telegraph News | International News]
12:15:06 AM  Google It!
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Wednesday, September 28, 2005
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Rep. Tom DeLay (R,TX) aka The Hammer finally gets what he's been wanting for months. In an attempt to derail legislation earlier this year the heat got turned up on him in the media. To get it over with quickly and get back to business, DeLay said 'bring it on.' Confident that, in a court of law, and not the news media, he will be cleared of the charges.
Why now? Well it sure will turn up the volume with this and now another Supreme Court nomination running in the media. More biased hysteria in the media. I hope it goes quicker than the politically active democrat prosecutor will want to drag this out.
4:24:59 PM Google It!
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Monday, September 26, 2005
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Oh no. What are the chances that Pensacola's own Mike Papantonio, the 'class action' kingpin, is smelling blood in the water? Would that be beneath him to do? I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and think that it is. What, between his stunningly successful talk radio show at Air America Radio called the Ring of Fire (a non-profit I think), and keeping Vioxx out of existence, heading up that mega class-action action upon Merck, he might have a full plate already. 
The events in Mississippi raise the question. It has all the ingredients, deep pocketed companies, lots of victims, even more victims than anyone could possibly imagine when the advertising campaign, dredging for victims, ends, and the dust settles.
Category 5 Lawsuit. No flood insurance? Don't worry tort kingpin Dickie Scruggs and Mississippi's AG say you're covered. [OpinionJournal.com]
11:23:40 PM Google It!
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Too bad the libs are not paying attention because this is another instance where we give diplomacy a chance.
White House Warns Iran About Referral (AP).
 AP - Armed with fresh international backing for bringing Iran before the U.N. Security Council for its nuclear activities, the White House on Monday warned Tehran it has just one chance left to avoid referral for possible economic sanctions.
[Yahoo! News: Politics News]
10:19:57 PM Google It!
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Sunday, September 25, 2005
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As a follow-up to my post on 9/17/05 headlined CNN Reporter Exposes Himself At Airport Gets Arrested, The Lunch Counter has a little more to add to the story. According to sources at the Pensacola Regional Airport, the CNN employee was not a reporter as was described by the ABC affiliate WEAR-TV, but is a producer. The alleged 'arrest' amounted to being hauled off to a side room for chastising and a slap on the wrist.
According to a Transportation Security Administration source, the air traveler was stopped to have his belt buckle examined, a routine item to check under certain circumstances. One can only guess why the CNN producer also felt the need to drop his pants at the security checkpoint. He was wearing underwear. With no public arrest record to refer to, the CNN employee's identity is not known. What this all means is dubious at best. Was it his contempt for the administration or the people of Pensacola (a conservative bastion in Florida), or is he just a pervert?
Though no formal arrest had been made, sources say he got a taste of what being a wise guy in an airport can do for you, and feel that he probably won't be doing stunts like that again.
9:55:21 AM Google It!
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Ed McNamara of Protest Warriors in Chicago has great photos of last night's demonstration and counter-demonstration at Walter Reed Hospital. A bunch of anti-war demonstrators showed up to protest against wounded soldiers being taken to the hospital; pro-military counter-demonstrators outnumbered them, however, and the anti-military protesters dwindled away as the night went on. I'd guess the returning suldiers were glad to see this contingent:
Ed writes:
I traveled to D.C. from Chicago this weekend as a member of the Defend the White House rally organizers. I'll be uploading pics and observations over the weekend. Tonight I posted pics of a counter-demonstration outside Walter Reed. Saturday we have a permit for a space at the Navy Memorial (the location a few years back of black-block anarchists rushing past police and raising their own Anarchist flag on the memorial flag pole). Sunday is a very large pro-war event sponsered by family members of servicemen and women, who want to let the world know that Cindy Sheehan does not speak for them.
Keep checking Ed's site through the weekend. [Power Line]
12:42:08 AM Google It!
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Michelle Malkin's visit to the anti-Bush/War rally, complete with pictures. Nice job!
A DAY AMONG THE MOONBATS. I spent the afternoon at Sheehanapalooza in D.C. under overcast skies, in a haze of hemp-scented paranoia, steeped with fetid Bush hatred. Am uploading a bunch of photos of moonbats in action at my Flickr site. Here's a sample: The... [Michelle Malkin]
12:38:37 AM Google It!
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Friday, September 23, 2005
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AL FRANKEN GOES TO SCHOOL. Via Tax Prof Blog, Al Franken--talk show host on the foundering Air America radio network--will be lecturing today at Yale Law School. The Business School laughed him off. If you happen to be in the area, please stop by and... [Michelle Malkin]
3:26:25 PM
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Not on your local headlines. Gee, I wonder why?
New Orleans Official Steals Katrina Donations.
This is why smaller government is better:
Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday.
Officers searched Cedric Floyd's home because of complaints that city workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods. It also reminds us that New Orleans was one of America's most corrupt cities and that mismanagement and patronage, more than any federal delays in relief, were the biggest contributors to the city's post-storm misery. Just contrast the disaster that was New Orleans with how Florida handled its multiple storms last year or how Mississippi handled Katrina.
[GOP Bloggers]
3:24:16 PM
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Thursday, September 22, 2005
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With absolutely no help from the Pensacola media with their BIG LAW advertisers, what?, former Clinton administration official David Goodfriend and former top executive of Air America, describes how the Air America game plan was to form another company with the aim of skirting debt incurred, possibly illegal debt (the investigation isn't over yet) by the original owners of Air America.
Goodfriend also describes how Air America's host of the Ring of Fire show, J. Michael Papantonio, used his legal muscle to intimidate him into signing off on the deal.
Mr. Goodfriend said he was threatened with lawsuits when he refused to comply with the demands of several current investors, including entrepreneur Doug Kreeger and a Florida attorney who currently hosts a radio program on Air America, J. Michael Papantonio.
"I was told my life would be made very difficult if I didn't sign the document," Mr. Goodfriend testified. "I understood it to mean that they are all a lot richer and than I and could afford lawyers and could sue me whether they had a case or not. And that I would lose a lot of money as a result or that they would try to get the government to prosecute me or something of that nature." On a personal note: He also boots people from his website who mention anything about the investigation. They're probably busy now deleting all of that evidence, the forum is temporarily out of service) 
The New York Sun article.
5:08:33 PM Google It!
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More news you won't find in the biased media. More political dirty tricks. Not Nixon's Watergate. Not Sandy (socks) Berger's confidential archives heist. It's more current than that. It is operatives of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, chaired by Sen. Charles Schumer executing the plan to personally destroy the opponent by whatever it takes. This example of 'whatever it takes' is, however, SOP for the left.
A DESPICABLE DEMOCRAT DIRTY TRICK. Have you heard what Democrats working for Sen. Charles Schumer at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee tried to do here in my home state of Maryland to bring down Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele? Steele, a rising star in the... [Michelle Malkin]
3:46:02 PM
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Wednesday, September 21, 2005
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This piece by Manuel Miranda in today's Opinion Journal offers a complete analysis of what the left in this country will do when it comes to picking judicial nominees from the Supreme Court on down. Funny thing is that the left believes that being a minority party gives them the right to pick and choose.
I harken back to the Fud Factor. Some names have changed but it's the same game.
Winning Through Intimidation. Democratic smear campaigns may influence the White House's next Supreme Court pick. [OpinionJournal.com]
12:35:36 AM Google It!
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Tuesday, September 20, 2005
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Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Party, is encouraging people to write their local newspapers and accuse John Roberts of being a racist. Now isn't that healthful for America?
Roberts has opposed multiple remedies for racial injustices and has stood with the most far-right elements of the Reagan administration in opposing the rights of blacks and Hispanics to vote without first paying poll taxes or being subjected to voter intimidation or gerrymandering.
And
America can’t afford to have a Chief Justice who wants to turn back the years of hard-fought progress that guarantees equal opportunity for all Americans. This country was built on a sense of fairness, and at a time when seniors, African-Americans and Hispanics are suffering, our compassion cannot give way to indifference for the sake of political ideology.
Dean, a la Jesse Jackson, keeps fanning the flames of 'something that the American people rejected long ago.'
Our moral sense of fairness and compassion for the suffering is what has defined America as a great country. This is a time for mercy and understanding – there’s no evidence that Judge Roberts’ has either. For that, he should be rejected.
This is the part where he defends activist judges, who assume that fairness, compassion, mercy, and understanding (as defined by them of course) gives them the right to trump the U.S. Constitution and make new law out of thin air. Hell, they'll go to Europe to render a decision if they have to. It is disheartening to see the democrat party's politics playing the race card. You expect it from Howard Dean and Jesse Sharpton, but does the whole party really beleive that about John Roberts?
11:37:14 PM Google It!
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Monday, September 19, 2005
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So much good news out there today.
After 3 years of prodding and holding the line on North Korea's nuclear arsenal ambitions, North Korea pledged to drop its nuclear weapons development and rejoin international arms treaties in a unanimous agreement Monday at six- party arms talks.
And on another front, Afghanistan held their first parliamentary elections in decades with an 80-85% voter turnout, representing not only their desire for democracy and freedom but the rejection of the Taliban's terror threats and intimidation.
Good news is still hard to find, but it is happening. Only question remaining in my mind is how the DNC will spin this to be something bad, or to give credit to the wrong person and party? The dems have another chance to perhaps reverse their 'opposition party' stance toward the Bush administration by recognizing these events as a positive step for both North Korea and Afghanistan, not to mention the rest of the world.
Interesting to note the passion that the Afghan people have for freedom and democracy. Over there, roadside bombs and suicide bombers don't keep voters from voting. In the United States, there are democrats complaining that having a valid ID will keep voters from voting. The apparent disconnect here is unfathomable.
9:03:46 AM Google It!
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Sunday, September 18, 2005
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The fact that hurricane Katrina has been the most destructive natural disaster that has ever befallen the United States simply doesn't say enough as to the problems the people and the economy of the affected region are facing. Here in Pensacola, you can hear radio ads placed by companies who are trying to locate their employees. What do you do when your 6, or 100, or 5000 employees are missing?
As an employer, the uncertainty of not knowing where your people are and whether they are dead or alive has got to be a sickening feeling. Likewise for employees who don't know if their job or their employer still exists. The problem is the same for all businesses, small or large. Employers simply don't know what happened to their employees and are buying advertising time and space to advertise toll-free numbers for their employees to call to try to account for them and help them. Even if the power and other utilities are restored, these businesses can't operate without getting their people back, which is not a certainty.
After Ivan and Dennis, people for the most part could take it and make repairs. People still had, for the most part, their homes to live in. After Katrina, there are no homes to go back to, and people have scattered throughout the country.
Not all people who fled the area will be coming back. The seismic shift in humanity from the gulf coast to higher ground is something that has never happened before but has repercussions not only in the areas directly affected by the storm, but also by the cities around the country who took them in. How does a business decide whether to start over from square one, or resume operations, or just fold and try something else, when the prospective labor force is unknown?
10:25:37 AM Google It!
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Saturday, September 17, 2005
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Local ABC affiliate WEAR-TV reported on their Sept. 17th 10pm newscast that at a CNN reporter had been arrested for indecent exposure. The incident arose at a security checkpoint in the Pensacola Regional Airport over the reporter's belt buckle.
7:48:33 AM Google It!
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Thursday, September 15, 2005
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Mayor Nagin says the French Quarter will be accessible and whatever shops can open will be open for business. Less than 2 weeks ago they were saying months and some people were questioning whether New Orleans should be rebuilt at all. I'm waiting to hear if Bush gets blamed for this bit of success.
3:42:22 PM Google It!
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Good News Travels Slow
This is good news but watch how much press the opposition gets on this issue. I'd like them to try my suggestion, which is to make the border a southern boundry for a military firing range.
White House to Fortify U.S.-Mexico Border (AP). AP - The Bush administration said Wednesday it will fortify the westernmost stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border, despite concerns the project will harm a refuge for endangered birds. [Yahoo! News: Politics News]
12:32:02 AM
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What John Roberts' religious world encompasses is not only no business of Sen. RINO Arlen Specter and Sen. Diane Feinstein, but it is flat-out unconstitutional for that to have any relevance in the appointment of a government official at any level.
When his job requires him to decide cases (or to call balls and strikes, not bat or pitch, as he put it) based ONLY on what the constitution says, why on earth would his religion be relevant?
The JFK Question. Sens. Specter and Feinstein impose an unconstitutional religious test. [OpinionJournal.com]
12:26:20 AM Google It!
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Wednesday, September 14, 2005
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Right on que, this is what the rabid left at democrats.com have to say. 'Impeach Bush Now!' I think the latest polls show that the useful idiots amount to about 7% of all democrats, yet that's who is running that party.
Responsibility Has Consequences
"To the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility." - George W. Bush
Impeach Bush Now!
Yeah right. Right after the entire Louisiana chain of command gets impeached, fired, or quits. Mayor Nagin, Louisiana State Department of Homeland Security head MG Bennett, Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu, Governor Kathleen Blanco. then Senator Mary Landrieu.
Landrieu and Landrieu. It's all in the family in Louisiana. Keep a sharp eye on where the reconstruction dollars get shuffled. Not unlike where all the Army Corp of Engineer construction dollars went. Her brother the Lt. Governor is into construction companies, as I understand.
3:45:18 PM Google It!
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Jack Welch examines the 5 stages of crisis management and how it applies to hurricane Katrina.
The first stage of that pattern is denial. The problem isn't that bad, the thinking usually goes, it can't be, because bad things don't happen here, to us. The second is containment. This is the stage where people, including perfectly capable leaders, try to make the problem disappear by giving it to someone else to solve. The third stage is shame-mongering, in which all parties with a stake in the problem enter into a frantic dance of self-defense, assigning blame and claiming credit. Fourth comes blood on the floor. In just about every crisis, a high profile person pays with his job, and sometimes he takes a crowd with him. In the fifth and final stage, the crisis gets fixed and, despite prophesies of permanent doom, life goes on, usually for the better.
12:37:26 AM Google It!
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Has anyone noticed that of all the states hit by Katrina, it is the Louisiana delegation that is jumping in front of TV cameras to bellyache, complain, and most importantly, accuse others for their problems? By any comparison it seems that MS and AL are busy doing what needs to be done.
Now Gov. Kathleen Blanco is complaining about the morgue situation and handling or not handling of the casualties. There hasn't been one single step in this recovery process that these people have not complained in front of a TV camera only to point the finger at anyone and everyone in the Bush administration.
The squeaky wheel is making a flying fool out of herself under the very worst of circumstances. It is evident that the "the government is going to take care of me" attitude goes all the way to the top of Louisiana state government. The people of LA and the rest of the country would much rather discover that Kathleen Blanco will pick up the phone and speak to whoever it is she is expecting something from, deal with the problem, and get something done for her people.
No one is favorably impressed the finger pointing, whining, complaining, and campaigning over this tragedy.
12:18:05 AM Google It!
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Monday, September 12, 2005
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Compassion and Thankfullness From Iraq
You're going to have to look far and wide for this kind of news. Thanks to GOPbloggers for this post.
Iraqi Soldiers Contribute to Katrina Relief.
This is something else.
Iraqi soldiers serving at Taji military base collected 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars for victims of Hurricane Katrina...
"We are all brothers," said [Iraqi Col.] Abbas [Fadhil]. "When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain."
The amount of money is small in American dollars - roughly $680 - but it represents a huge act of compassion from Iraqi soldiers to their American counterparts, said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Goyne The Iraqi commander accompanied the donation with a letter:
"I am Colonel Abbas Fadhil; Tadji Military Base Commander," Abbas wrote. "On behalf of myself and all the People of Tadji Military Base; I would like to console the American People and Government for getting this horrible disaster. So we would like to donate 1.000.000 Iraqi Dinars to help the government and the People also I would like to console all the ASTs who helped us rebuilding our country and our Army. We appreciate the American's help and support. Thank you."
[GOP Bloggers]
10:49:13 AM
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The Sunday edition of the New York Times has broken it all down for us in their usual investigative way. Heading says "Breakdowns Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy." It was such an evasive and puff piece for the mayor and governor and such a hit piece for the federal government that it took four people to write it. To start with, their coverage begins on the third night after the storm.
The governor of Louisiana was "blistering mad." It was the third night after Hurricane Katrina drowned New Orleans, and Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco needed buses to rescue thousands of people from the fetid Superdome and convention center. But only a fraction of the 500 vehicles promised by federal authorities had arrived.
Their initial examination of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath is that it "demonstrates the extent to which the federal government failed to fulfill the pledge it made after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to face domestic threats as a unified, seamless force."
I'm sorry, but I would have thought that the mayor refusing to use his fleet of school buses to evacuate those left in the city would have been a part of their initial examination. It's not even mentioned. It also did not mention the fact that it was the State of Louisiana Department of Homeland Security who had repeatedly refused the Red Cross access to the ones they were supposed to be helping.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials expected the state and city to direct their own efforts and ask for help as needed. Leaders in Louisiana and New Orleans, though, were so overwhelmed by the scale of the storm that they were not only unable to manage the crisis, but they were not always exactly sure what they needed. While local officials assumed that Washington would provide rapid and considerable aid, federal officials, weighing legalities and logistics, proceeded at a deliberate pace.
In this beauteous round of verbiage that must have taken all four to compose, the New York Times comes down like this. The first responders were just so overwhelmed that they didn't know the full extent of what they were dealing with nor what to ask for. So they blame FEMA for not knowing what they needed and where they needed it. Preface it all with the 'government is responsible for taking care of me' attitude from the so-called leaders who actually had that responsibility and the problems become compounded.
The story omits Mayor Nagin's scoffing of the school buses as provided for in his emergency evacuation plan. And his refusing to utilize them because they were "school buses," and "these people" need to be evacuated in Greyhound buses, which sounded to me like a nice racial component to add to the tragedy. A normal reaction would be to get out of town by any means possible.
"Partly because of the shortage of troops, violence raged inside the New Orleans convention center."
Yes, partly. But they don't say what was mainly the cause. The New York Times did not mention any other possible cause for the unrest such as being starved and left there with no food, no water, no sanitation, and no way out. I don't know about you, but that would be enough to make me pretty cranky.
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