Bill Comes Due on Britain's Appeasement

OK, true, the Brits are fighting (fairly well, may I add) in Iraq. But let's look at a few other recent events that are helping to define this once-great nation:

-the Iranian abduction of British sailors a few months back exposed that nation's inability to truly project force around the world; this for perhaps for the first time since the fall of the Holy Roman Empire.

-New Prime Minister Gordon Brown's elevation of Mark Malloch Brown to the House of Lords and then to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is, according to Mark Steyn, "one of the most revolting public appointments in modern British history." Brown is the man who -

...argued that the reason the U.N. was so unpopular in America was that the moronic hayseeds in flyover country had fallen for the right-wing blowhards...

and is best friends with conservative-hater and nation looter George Soros as well. You would think these guys would be welcomed by the Islamists based on their bona fides as longtime detractors of the Great Satan, no?

- even the Lockerbie bomber has won the right to a new appeal - Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi has been granted such because he "may have suffered a miscarriage of justice” at his 2001 trial". The dead, meanwhile, have no such recourse...score yet another win for England's Islamists.

So to review - Britain puts America-haters in the cabinet, cowers at the feet of the Iranians, and allows terrorists repeated opportunites to wrangle their way free via the "justice" system. Now certainly, as the American liberals argue, these are the type of steps that need to be taken - non-provocative, concilatory - in order to "defuse" the threat of radical Islam.

Well, let's see the results of this theory as put into practice by Great Britain:

Right.

Appeasement only whets the appetite (see Hitler, Adolf) of the antagonist; theirs is a bill that is never paid in full until the appeaser is wrung dry. So goes Britain; so goes the West....

So what did we say this morning about Senator Menendez's protestations that he might not vote "yes" on the immigration legislation before the Senate today?

Methinks in the end Menendez will vote for it - he's in place to serve the whim of the Hispanic community and pose with Governor Corzine, not to represent the state as a whole ...

Well, even after having declared that there had been an "increasingly right-wing tilt to these proceedings", what did Old Greasy Bob go ahead and do? Let's go straight to the horse's website:

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today voted “Yes” to end debate and proceed to a final vote on the immigration bill, but the bill failed a cloture vote 46-53. Only 24% (12 out of 49) of Republicans voted to proceed on the bill, and two of the Republicans who helped first announce the Grand Bargain even voted against cloture (Sens. Isakson and Chambliss).

Sen. Menendez released the following statement:

“Republican conservatives made demands of the White House and the Grand Bargainers and were able to get a number of those demands in the bill – including $4.4 billion for border security and a more onerous touchback provision...

Seems like Menendez felt he had to vote for the immigration legislation - he does, after all, not serve at the pleasure of the New Jersey middle class, but only the liberal interest groups - but was mighty irked at the Republicans for killing off his attempt yesterday to weaken the bill by allowing even more foriegners to qualify for favored immigration status.

If he were a brave man, and had the courage of even his weak and simpering convictions, he would have voted against the bill, claiming it to be - from his perspective -flawed.

But our cowardly, immature Senator instead throws harsh partisan mud ("Republican conservatives", and their "demands" for "border security", indeed !) that widens the gulf and works against future reconciliation. What a poor, poor representative he is for the state of New Jersey.

Sigh.... and Lautenberg.... No wonder America laughs at us...

Bob Menendez on immigration - the right thing, the wrong reasons...

Ah, only from the leftiest of the left...that's New Jersey's own Senator Bob Menendez, debating out loud whether or not he'll support the immigration bill working its way through Congress, cause, you know, it doesn't leave the border wide open enough:

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was among those disappointed Wednesday. The Senate voted 55-40 to reject his amendment that would have made it easier for some immigrants to obtain visas for family members left behind in their home countries.
"This action does nothing to allay my concerns about the increasingly right-wing tilt to these proceedings, and it makes it more difficult to vote in favor of invoking cloture on the bill," Menendez said, referring to Thursday's crucial vote to limit debate.

This bill is insane ("right wing tilt" ?? So is Menendez...), one of the worst pieces of legislation ever foisted upon a public against their will. (Mark Steyn: They'll teach this one as a textbook definition of "bipartisanship": both parties gang up on the electorate). Methinks in the end Menendez will vote for it - he's in place to serve the whim of the Hispanic community and pose with Governor Corzine, not to represent the state as a whole - and he'll welcome the additional illegals into New Jersey, where they'll get better services and benefits than the middle class citizens who are footing the bill.

I can almost feel Menendez's dirty hands rummaging through my pockets....

Moral Equivalence

This is ridiculous - but not unsurprising, coming from a European:

Tony Blair today launched a passionate defence of Islam as a religion of "moderation and modernity", as he announced a £1m government fund to aid teaching of the religion and train UK imams.

The prime minister, in his final days in Downing Street, placated an audience of more than 200 Muslim scholars by saying that many Christians as well as Muslims disagreed with his foreign policy over Afghanistan and Iraq

But he said the voices of "calm" Islam had been hijacked by extremists, who were no more representative of the true faith than Christians in the Middle Ages who used torture to convert people to their faith.
Now does he really belive this, or is it the words of a nervous man looking to "placate" a hostile audience (rather than, you know - confront them)?

This too, is ridiculous, but it has a touch of malice rather than fear:

Sen. Barack Obama told a church convention Saturday that some right- wing evangelical leaders have exploited and politicized religious beliefs in an effort to sow division.

"Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked," the Democratic presidential candidate said in remarks prepared for delivery before the national meeting of the United Church of Christ.

"Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us," the Illinois senator said.

Interesting that Obama chooses to compare the leaders of the Christian Right - a group trying to get their views represented via the ballot box - to the leaders of the Islamist movement, a group trying to get their views enforced by the worldwide slaughter of the innocent. Are they morally equivalent in his eyes?

He works quite well as a team with Mr. Blair - one praises Islam as "modern", the other denounces Catholicism as "hijacked".

Obama, for all of the fawning media coverage surrounding him, is behind Hillary 33% to 21% percent in the most recent AP polls. No surprise; folks can always spot someone who is "all too eager to exploit what divides us...."

The Washington Post picks up a similar affront (to enviornmentalists - a slur against Christians is of course considered well within acceptable rhetorical parameters), and allows it to be explained off by a less-than- devasted supporter:

"That's a rookie mistake for a presidential candidate, to think you can get in the middle of a controversial issue and no one will notice."

Why doesn't the Post stand outside a few local churches (and no, not the far far left joints like Obama's United Church of Christ) and ask them what they think about his commentary on Christian leadership? Probably because they don't even see it as controversial, as it dovetails with their views....note how a misstep against the enviornmental lobby is worth a front page article, and a slap against Catholics goes unreported.

Blair, Obama, and the Post - all using different techniques, but all fighting the same type of information war. They are losing, of course (Obama's 21% support likely makes him the most popular of the three), but that doesn't mean they won't keep trying...

Senator Bob Menendez - busted...!

...for performing in some of the most cynical political theatre in some time, as he resorts to lies to try to force his ill-concieved immigration legislation down our throats:

At a pro-immigration rally Thursday, a group of politicians including Sens. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) addressed reporters while picturesquely standing in front of an impressive tower of boxes they said contained letters from a million supporters of comprehensive immigration reform," Emily Heil reports for Roll Call's 'Heard on the Hill.'

According to a press release, the letters were part of the "Por la Reforma Migratoria con Piolín" campaign launched by Univision radio personality Eddie 'Piolín' Sotelo, and was touted as marking "the first time that a letter writing campaign has generated such a large number of letters in support of immigration reform."

"As the Members repeatedly referred to the letters and gestured toward the boxes allegedly containing them as evidence of the support for the immigration bill that is struggling in the Senate, a crack Roll Call photographer on hand at the event began to grow suspicious," Heil continues. "He could see light shining through the handles of the boxes, indicating that they weren’t full."

The paper reveals, "Sure enough, a quick check revealed that the boxes were, indeed, completely empty."

I'm sure there are some letters, but a million? C'mon, that's like trying to turn the "D" on your report card into an "A", as opposed to a more plausible "B".

I guess Bob Menendez is so used to snoorkering the people of New Jersey that he thought he could pull it off on the national stage. Sorry, Crooked Bob, they ain't all as tolerent of lies and corruption as the folk of New Jersey are....

Pigs, Flying?

That's what I thought when I saw this headline from the AP:

Scared Gazans clamoring to enter Israel

Israel's new defense minister ordered the army on Wednesday to allow into Israel any of the hundreds of Gazans holed up at a fetid crossing who might desperately need medical treatment.
A teenager with leukemia was on his way through shortly after, the military said....

Wonder if they can vote for the return of the hated occupiers in their next election cycle - assuming Hamas ever allows another election, of course...

Anyway, you can cancel the flying pigs alert - the AP, rather than discuss the ironies and decisons that created the hordes of Palestinians clamoring for Israeli help, instead devotes much of the article to a complaint from a liberal Israeli group that this whole "humanitarian crisis" is actually not the fault of the rampaging Hamas militia, but the responsibility of Israel itself:

But the humanitarian cases are being processed dangerously slow, the Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights contended in a petition before the Israeli Supreme Court.
Ran Yaron, a doctor with the group, told Israel Radio on Wednesday that the lives of 15 of the patients were in danger and the necessary treatment was not available in the Gaza Strip.

"Israel has a responsibility since it closed the ... crossings," Yaron said. "It has the responsibility to find a solution for these patients."

Let's see...the Israelis succumb to international pressure, leave Gaza to the Palestinians (complete with all infrastructure) and pay them millions monthly in tax revenue. The Palestinians then destroy all said infrastructure and elect a Islamists militant group to lead them, who then wages war against Israel and turns the Strip into a chamber of blood, fear, and death. Ergo, the responsibility lies with the Israelis...

Of course! Logic so subtle only a liberal (or the Boston Globe editorial board) can parse it for us....

Please pardon the paucity of posting over the last few days; life's been crazy (not crazy-bad, just, you know...crazy) and their has not been a moment nor an ounce of energy left to spare for my mistress - meaning this blog, of course.

Be back with a vengence (and that's the only way to come back) shortly!

Sometimes humiliation isn't something other people do to you as much as something you do to yourself.

Yup.

Justice in the new Islamic Paradise of Hamastan can be seen here; please take the warning seriously....

Welcome to Hamastan!

Hamas stormed remaining strongholds of his secular Fatah group in the Gaz Strip on Thursday, finally seizing the presidential compound, the last bastion of Abbas's authority in the coastal territory.
Jubilant Hamas gunmen hunted Fatah loyalists, killing some and parading one top figure's mutilated body through the streets. "Allahu akbar! (God is Greatest!)," one gunman chanted through a megaphone from a captured Fatah security headquarters.
Medics said at least 30 people were killed on Thursday, taking the death toll to more than 110 in six days of conflict which leaves an aggressive Islamist entity on Israel's borders.

Aw, how sweet! Now they worry...

After the rout at the Preventive Security headquarters, some of the Hamas fighters kneeled outside, touching their foreheads to the ground in prayer. Others led Fatah gunmen out of the building, some shirtless or in their underwear, holding their arms in the air...

A witness, who identified himself only as Amjad, said men were killed as their wives and children watched.
"They are executing them one by one," Amjad said in a telephone interview, declining to give his full name for fear of reprisals. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting."

Fatah officials said Hamas shot and killed seven of its fighters outside the Preventive Security building. A doctor at Shifa Hospital, said he examined two bodies that had been shot in the head at close range.

The Roadkill Diaries comments:

When they say "cycle of violence", it means Pallie attacking Jew.
When they say "senseless violence", it means Pallie attacking Pallie.

Victor David Hanson:

....a culture that canonizes suicide bombers forgets that once they banish the rules of civilization there is no reason why such savagery would not be turned on themselves.

Roger Simon, on the Palestinians:

Left to their own devices, they have turned Gaza into the charnel house of charnel houses.

....But if I were a believer, I'd be thanking God right now I wasn't born in Gaza, because I think the Palestinians there are about ready to experience a Hell the likes of which even they have never dreamed about.

James Taranto directs us to the editorial pages of the Boston Globe, and guess whom they blame:

The Hamas campaign to eradicate Fatah from Gaza is certainly not the sole cause of Gazans' misery. They long suffered from Israel's suffocating occupation, and then from Ariel Sharon's foolishly unilateral withdrawal in 2005, a move that allowed Hamas to bid for power with the misleading claim that its rockets and suicide bombings had driven Israeli soldiers and settlers out of Gaza.

And I'll note how the Globe constantly urged Israel to withdraw from Gaza, and how they constantly urge the Democrats on in their quest to have America vacate Iraq. What will happen in Iraq if the Boston Globe and Harry Pelosi's Democrats get their way, and we flee from Iraq?

Bloodshed the likes of which will make Gaza seem like a picnic, as al-Qaeda uses misleading claim that its rockets and suicide bombings had driven American soldiers out of Baghdad....

Being a journalist, like being a Palestinian, means never having to say your're sorry....

UPDATE: Reuters paints a picture of Roger Simon's hell:

Hamas Islamist fighters and looters ransacked the blood-spattered Palestinian presidential compound in Gaza on Friday, rejoicing at the rout of their well-armed, secular rivals

...neighbors near the compound were uncertain...."I am really sad. It looks like Somalia to me."

Well buddy, despite what the folks at the Boston Globe might say, you had it coming. You get what you voted for...

3% have a Very Favorable opinion of Reid...

So I'm thinking that Rasmussen must have surveyed some of Harry Reid's direct family, or his staffers, or perhaps they dialed the pressroom of the Washington Post. The news is all bad for Harry; and I guess he was right all along, The War Is Lost, only not the war he was talking about at the time. Gateway Pundit has the stats, and they ain't pretty:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now viewed favorably by 19% of American voters and unfavorably by 45%.

Just 3% have a Very Favorable opinion of Reid while 22% hold a Very Unfavorable views.

His ratings are down from a month ago when 26% had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Senator. Reid’s highest ratings were 30% favorable in February.

...Vice President Dick Cheney’s numbers held steady—38% favorable and 58% unfavorable. Bummer... That means if you doubled Reid's marks they would just equal Cheney's approval rating.

And... The president's very favorable number is more than 5 times that of Harry Reid at 16% versus 4%. The president's approval rating is nearly double Reid's at 35%.

Powerline adds this: "Scott Rasmussen's latest survey has Harry Reid in a dead heat with Scooter Libby, each with a 19% approval rating. And Reid hasn't even been convicted of anything yet!"

And the chirping you hear is from the media, who remain silent about this stunning reversal as they sift through the stats, trying desperately, somehow, someway, to spin this against President Bush...

Friends of Roseanne Barr

I'm talking about the folks like the one to our left who showed up for “The World Says No to Israeli Occupation” rally in front of the Capitol today. Picture courtesy of the Age of Hooper...

See, Rosie had a special message read to the 1500 or so losers (the best a rally sponsored by over 300 leftist organizations could do) who dragged themselves to this lifeless event:

Most rally speakers were long-time peace activists and Palestinian partisans who led "occupation is a crime" chants and held banners proclaiming "all Israel is occupied." One speaker decried the joint occupation of America and Palestine, the latter by Israel, the former by AIPAC; many referred to Israel as an apartheid state. The event also featured a call from high-profile comedian Roseanne Barr for a reassessment of US foreign policy.

"That change starts with our calling for the end of American taxpayer and American government [support] for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands," said the controversial Jewish performer in a statement that was read from the dais. "All of us, regardless of our national or our religious affiliations, seek a new policy in the Middle East based on equal rights for all."

So Americans should be supporting Hamas, the leaders of Jew-Free Gaza, who have shocked even the most jaded Arabists with their lust for blood, blood of any kind? (and jeez, are the Palestinians kvelling for the good old days of the "occupation" in Gaza right around now, or what?)

Amazing thing is what a weak turnout this event was; perhaps Jew-bashing has lost its cache with all but the true believers and faded celebrities? Reminds me of the few Klan rallies that still pop up every now and again; thirty-odd years back they could still muster quite a posse of white-sheeted thugs; now just a few diehard haters show up for a sad grasp at attention. How glorious if anti-Semitism would fade like this - shrugged off to blow away in the breeze, clutched onto only by desperate delusionals, laughed off by the population at large.

Maybe Roseanne Barr is their perfect spokesman.

After all, her repulsive, skanky, vomitous, carbuncular exterior acts as a perfect expression of the innermost souls of her followers....and if the best they can drum up in Hollywood support is this hateful has-been, perhaps the anti-Israel movement really is losing its steam...

"The – so called – climate change ..."

Thus spoke Czech President Vaclav Klaus - before the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce. Suprised they didn't run him out with torches and pitchforks after he made the following comments:

It becomes evident that while discussing climate we are not witnessing a clash of views about the environment but a clash of views about human freedom...

The environmentalists consider their ideas and arguments to be an undisputable truth and use sophisticated methods of media manipulation and PR campaigns to exert pressure on policymakers to achieve their goals.

The environmentalist paradigm of thinking is absolutely static. They neglect the fact that both nature and human society are in a process of permanent change, that there is and has been no ideal state of the world as regards natural conditions, climate, distribution of species on earth, etc. They neglect the fact that the climate has been changing fundamentally throughout the existence of our planet and that there are proofs of substantial climate fluctuations even in known and documented history. Their reasoning is based on historically short and incomplete observations and data series which cannot justify the catastrophic conclusions they draw.

They do not believe in the future economic expansion of the society, they ignore the technological progress the future generations will enjoy....

Klaus is spot-on here, and as Melanie Phillips notes, more people are beginning to "rumble the scam". Al Gore is still dancing as fast as he can, but I think he won't be playing concert halls for too much longer. Expect a Spinal Tap-esque fall for the Goreacle (and the whole "global warming" fallacy), and watch him wind up his days reading to novelty seekers and true believers at poetry slams, angrily bashing his nation, Carter-like, to the nods of approving heads.

Go get 'em, Vaclav...

Kyoto Imposed, by Liberal Fiat

The fact that local municipalities and many large cities across the United States are forcing Kyoto-type standards upon their residents is of course wildly cheered by the blinkered big-city columnists in the Washington Post:

New York is among a faction of U.S. cities from Boston to Portland, Ore., that are racing ahead of the federal government in setting carbon emission targets and developing concrete strategies to deal with climate change. Their solutions are already beginning to alter the fabric of life for millions of urban dwellers.

It is a direct consequence, municipal officials and analysts say, of the growing perception inside city halls that the Bush administration has largely ignored an issue that has reached a tipping point in American culture.

A nationwide poll released in April showed a third of Americans now call global warming the world's single largest environmental problem -- double the number a year ago, according a Washington Post-ABC News-Stanford University survey.

Wow! A third! Considering there are like 100 news stories a day pushing the theme that global warming is threatening to kill us all by next Tuesday, that number seems a bit timid to me - and I'd love to see the skew of the questions of the Post's unnamed, unlinked-to poll.

Anyway - note some of the language above - "altering the fabric of life", due to the "perception inside city halls". Who populates these halls, and by what right do they alter the fabric of people's lives? Oh, yeah, liberal Democrats....See here, where New Jersey's most influential climate committee is manned by exactly zero scientists....

Does this give you a clue where things are going under the benign leadership of the liberal dictatorship?

"Look, people will make a little sacrifice if they have to."

Oh, and they are being forced to:

522 mayors representing 65 million Americans who have pledged to meet the Kyoto Protocol's standard of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Those who have not twisted history to the point where George W. Bush is to blame every time a sparrow falls will recall that the Kyoto Accords failed 98-0 in the Senate, under Bill Clinton's stewardship, because of the unaminous agreement that they were financially disasterous. And they are, but it won't be the liberal elite that will be paying:

In Austin, city residents are becoming more eco-friendly whether they like it or not. The city has adopted a policy incrementally increasing requirements for energy efficiency in private homes. By 2015, all new single family homes must use 60 percent less energy than today's standards. Homeowners are being encouraged to use solar panels to make their homes completely energy self-sufficient.

The price of this to Austin's middle class? You would need a bunch of these to get even close to that 60% (look at how many it takes to cover Al Gore's "Green-house"); methinks Austin will be less a green city and more of a ghost town by 2016.

More of this liberal insanity borne by the middle class:

In Boulder, Colo., the city council last November passed what environmentalists are calling the nation's first "carbon tax." Homeowners there are facing average increases of $16 and businesses $48 annually on electricity bills to cover a "climate action plan."

The tiny city of Keene, N.H., meanwhile, has imposed a non-idling policy for cars when parents drop off and pick up their children from school.

Gets kinda cold in New Hampshire during the winter; you want kids to open their car doors after school to find "popsicle parents"?

Under "global warming" martial law, people will freeze to death. Logic, Democratic-style.

This rant originates across the pond; but all I had to was make a miniscule tweak - swapping "British" with "New Jersey" - and it all seemed to fall into place perfectly:

Because let’s face it, this Government is doing its best to make our lives about as miserable as any pox-raddled Hogarthian whore’s. Utter the word “middle class” in Trenton and watch their greedy little pimps’ eyes light up with pound signs. Behold the New Jersey middle-classes – a docile, law-abiding army of tax slaves. Hurrah, let’s blow it all on some more social workers in Newark....

Yeah, that about hits it perfectly...

It's a Hot One...

...so I raised my fist at the tiny sliver of blue sky visible from the depths of the canyons in New York, and shook it while I cursed the sun for bringing the dreaded warming upon us.

Now this guy has the right idea - must've majored in liberal guilt at college:

WITH the western world conspiring to contain India's development by using global warming as a discriminatory tool, people need to become aware of their responsibility toward environment. These were the thoughts expressed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi here, while speaking at a World Environment Day programme.

So now I'm a racist every time I fire up the 'ol power washer? Jeez, I might as well switch to a cheaper grade of gasoline and really stink the joint up - in for a penny, in for a pound!

Now this is interesting; especially as New Jersey Democrats are hoping to impose draconian anti-warming policies upon the "Garden" State:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will oppose a proposal by fellow Democrats that would block her state of California and others from imposing landmark greenhouse gas reductions on automakers.

"Any legislation that comes to the House floor must increase our energy independence, reduce global warming, invest in new technologies to achieve these goals and create good jobs in America," Pelosi said.

Oh, them are fighting words! I promise - promise - to have fun while reminding you of that inane statement...

As mentioned, passage of this bill would thwart this state's preverted desire to impose some type of "global warming-martial law" upon us, and that is a good thing for so many reasons, least of all the makeup of the liberal think-tanks promoting the damn thing:

Environment New Jersey Research and Policy Center released a report predicting all sorts of doom and gloom for New Jersey unless the state establishes a mandatory cap on carbon emissions, institutes a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants and creates a long-term emissions reduction plan that would ensure an 80 percent reduction in green house gases by 2050.

Interestingly, there’s not a scientist on Environment New Jersey Research and Policy Center’s staff, although report writer Suzanne Leta Liou did take a college course in statistics. She also leads the group’s campaign to close Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, undeterred by the fact New Jersey relies on nuclear energy for about 50 percent of the state's electricity.

I wonder, though - do the Democrats really care about the enviornment, or do they see it as just another interest group to be bought off? Not Mother Nature herself, of course (perish the thought of her selling her soul to the Left - at any price!), but the group of voters that is putting the enviornment first (or at least claiming to be) must be increasing. Perhaps they Dems will do no more harm than expanding anti-littering legislation while doing some photo-ops with a ficus tree. Oh, they'll pander, and have to throw the enviorn-"mental"-ists a real bone every now and again, but a small price to pay for a group that has within it so many members of the mainstream media...

Meanwhile, I'd better get used to the idea of driving this...

Corzine: Breakin' the Law, And Making the Middle Class Pay...

Bob Ingle, in today's Asbury Park Press:

A nonprofit Washington-based group, The Partnership for Safe Driving, is holding Corzine responsible for that poorly worded, self-absorbed TV spot in which he blames his injuries on not wearing a seat belt.
It urges people to contact Corzine and "tell him . . . he is grossly distorting the truth . . . when no anti-speeding message is included." There is no mention that his SUV was going 91 mph in a 65 mph zone en route to a national media photo op with fired radio host Don Imus.

You'll rarely hear the ad here. Attorney General Stu "Just Passing Through" Rabner chose to put all the federal money into enforcement, unlike other states that divided it between enforcement and education. He's looking to rake in the dough from those $46 tickets. If it really were about safety, there would be an education component. This is a money grab.

It's always about taking money from the middle class in New Jersey - the cops know we can't take the time off from work to fight in court, and the politicians know we can afford the $46- fine. The poor won't pay, the rich will get lawyers. All part of the Great New Jersey Shakedown. I wasn't kidding when I said, a few weeks ago:

...after living in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Missouri, and Los Angeles, I have found New Jersey's police to be by far the most rude, corrupt, and inept of the lot - not to mention the most overtly hostile to the citizens they allegedly "protect and serve". And they are backed by a court system that realizes their number one priority is to collect revenues and to protect their pathetic revenue collectors - masquerading as law enforcement agents - and "justice" is thus dispensed accordingly.

We deserve it, we keep votin' them in...

Governor Corzine: What Near-Fatal Accident?

I guess five minutes of being a law-abiding citizen was about all Jersey Governor Jon Corzine could take...from an editorial in the New York Post:

CORZINE: ABOVE THE LAW?

Don't expect to see New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine doing a public-service announcement warning against speeding anytime soon.
That's because State Police Superintendent Joseph Fuentes told an investigative panel that he will not issue orders forbidding - or even discouraging - the governor's driver from speeding in non-emergency situations.

This even though the SUV carrying Corzine was going a brisk 91 mph along the Garden State Parkway - where the legal limit is 65 - when it crashed into a guardrail, critically injuring the governor...
But Corzine and his aides have been conspicuously silent on the whole speeding question - refusing even to say whether the trooper who was behind the wheel will be ticketed, even though his excessive speed was surely a greater risk factor than not wearing a seat belt...

Corzine's driver should be allowed to exceed the speed limit if he perceives a genuine threat from terrorists or lunatics (or one of Carla Katz's ex-boyfriends).
But the only threat Jon Corzine faced that day was being shut out of a high-powered photo op involving Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team, which is where he was headed.
There was no risk to the governor, except possibly being upstaged by another pol while the cameras were rolling.
Meanwhile, Fuentes says he's encouraging the governor to use state helicopters more frequently. That sounds good - as long as Corzine's pilots don't start cutting off commuter planes.

State helicopters, huh? This from a guy who wants to clamp global warming restrictions on the rest of us...but there'll always be enough petrol to fuel a politician's chopper, right?

More tomfoolery from New Jersey Democrats over at Enlighten New Jersey; I'll tease you with his closing line:

Power and spending other people’s money are the New Jersey Democratic Party’s main concerns; nominating the best and brightest would only be an impediment.

Sigh...we get the government we deserve....

Virtual Thought Police

Can Brussels, world capitol of PC thought, prosecute online violence?

Earlier this year, one animated character in Second Life, a popular online fantasy world, allegedly raped another character.
Some Internet bloggers dismissed the simulated attack as nothing more than digital fiction. But police in Belgium, according to newspapers there, opened an investigation into whether a crime had been committed. No one has yet been charged.

"No one has yet been charged" ? What are they going to do, haul in a two-dimensional avatar? How do you cuff 'em, and what jail cell could hold them?

Two years ago, Japanese authorities arrested a man for carrying out a series of virtual muggings in another popular game, Lineage II, by using software to beat up and rob characters in the game and then sell the virtual loot for real money.

Ah, arrest the three-dimensional fellow behind it! But if only "virtual loot" was "stolen" within a game, who is the complaintant in a three-dimensional courtroom? Because, in reality, nothing was stolen.

Finally, this:

Julian Dibbell, a prominent commentator on digital culture, chronicled the first known case of sexual assault in cyberspace in 1993, when virtual reality was still in its infancy. A participant in LambdaMOO, a community of users who congregated in a virtual California house, had used a computer program called a "voodoo doll" to force another player's character to act out being raped. Though this virtual world was rudimentary and the assault simulated, Dibbell recounted that the trauma was jarringly real. The woman whose character was attacked later wept -- "post-traumatic tears were streaming down her face" -- as she vented her outrage and demand for revenge in an online posting, he wrote

Hey lady - you were not attacked. You were just playing a game with nasty people; you should have logged out and found new friends. To compare what was likely a 16-bit image of an assault to an actual physical rape is repugnant in and of itself, and something only those furthest removed from reality could equate.

Here's where we are headed:

Philip Rosedale, the founder and chief executive of Linden Labs, said in an interview that Second Life activities should be governed by real-life laws for the time being. He recounted, for example, that his company has called in the FBI several times, most recently this spring to ensure that Second Life's virtual casinos complied with U.S. law. Federal investigators created their own avatars and toured the site, he said.

Up next: Federal and local state taxes for virtual gaming winnings!