Archive for January 8th, 2007
WASHINGTON (CNN) –A U.S. gunship has attacked suspected al Qaeda targets in southern Somalia, a senior Pentagon official said Monday.
Three al Qaeda operatives accused in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania have been hiding in Somalia for years. The US believes they were closely tied to the Somali Islamic group - the ICU.
As part of the U.S., I take exception to the above statement tying al Qaeda to the Somali Islamic group. That is most likely another George Bush lie to justify bombing another country and for giving Ethiopia major support to overthrow the Islamic Government in Somalia. The problem with that is the Islamic Government was the first government in many years that kept the war lords in check.
The US-backed and financed Ethiopian offensive was clearly designed to crush the first stable government strife-torn Somalia has had in 15 years of civil war and anarchy. The new Islamic regime, known as the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), recently managed to bring law and order to much of southern and central Somalia. In the north, a secessionist group has proclaimed something called independent “Puntland.”
The Union of Islamic Courts ended Somalia’s long civil war by crushing local warlords who were being armed and financed by the CIA. The US claims the Islamic Courts is a second Taliban-style movement containing “terrorists” involved in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa who will turn Somalia into a hotbed of anti-American subversion. The UIC denies these allegations.
Bill Online Easily, Fast & Free with PayPal. No Software Needed. Sign Up Now!
Santa’s Butt is now legal in Maine. I first blogged about the ridiculous actions of the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement here.
The Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement had blocked a beer importer from selling the brew, along with two beers with labels depicting bare-breasted women. Those decisions were reversed after the state attorney general’s office determined that the company probably would win the lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union filed on its behalf last month.
It is good to see the First Amendment in action protecting us from ridiculous regulations by government bureaucrats.
Three cheers to Santa’s Butt!
Source: Maine Changes Mind: Santa’s Butt, Women’s Breasts OK on Beer Labels After All / Law.com
Netflix Delivers DVDs to your home. NO LATE FEES. Try for FREE!
George Holt pled guilty today to two misdemeanor counts of filing fraudulent sales tax returns. The returns were for 2003 & 2004. The amount involved was over $19,500 which translates to over $37,000 with interest and penalties. The Judge already stated he will not impose jail time, even though up to 2 years is possible. Holt must pay the $37,000 prior to his sentencing hearing. According to Frank Clark, Holt’s job as a legislator is not affected by the misdemeanor counts.
Lynn Marinelli is reelected as the majority leader of the legislature.
2007 continues on the same path as 2006.
I regularly send emails to my elected officials. I must give Hillary Clinton an award. She consistently replies with the same canned response quicker than any other politician.
Thank you for your e-mail. It is very important to me to know the issues that are of concern to you. A growing number of my constituents are now choosing to communicate with me via e-mail. I hope you will understand that, because of the volume and range of e-mails I receive, it can take some time to send a response that specifically addresses the subject raised in your message. I do, however, want to let you know immediately that your message has been received. Hearing from you and others through e-mail helps me to quickly learn the views and interests of New Yorkers and others, which is very helpful to me in my work in the United States
Senate. I hope you will continue to monitor my work through my website
at http://clinton.senate.gov, and I welcome hearing from you.Sincerely,
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
The increase in homicides in Buffalo is due in a large part to the failure of the war on drugs. Cuomo, like a good big-government politician, wants to pour more resources and tougher laws into the mix.
In his first appearance in Buffalo as the state’s attorney general, Andrew Cuomo pledged that his office will be taking a series of actions against drug-related homicides.
Cuomo, who was flanked by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, made his announcement with knowledge that Buffalo’s homicide rate increased 30 percent in 2006 and with three murders within the first seven days of 2007.
Source: City’s homicide count has Cuomo’s attention - Business First of Buffalo:
Mr. Cuomo, please do some research on the legalization of drugs and take a look at the history of prohibition. While you are doing your homework, make sure you look at some objective sources of information, not just the usual pabulum put out by the moralists and limousine liberals. You are now the State Attorney General. You have great influence and an opportunity to make a very positive change. Don’t blow it.
Below are some suggested readings that will lead to an informed, educated and enlightened decision:
- Thinking About Drug Legalization
- Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
- War On Terror? It’s As Bad As War on Drugs
- Drug War Death Toll
Here’s a couple of interesting facts related to the failed War on Drugs:
- The U.S. has the world’s largest prison population per capita. 49% of federal prisoners are from the failed War on Drugs.
- The $35 billion marijuana crop is now the largest cash crop in the United States, compliments of the failed War on Drugs.
Six-year-old Karlind Dunbar barely touched her dinner, but not for time-honored 6-year-old reasons. The pasta was not the wrong shape. She did not have an urgent date with her dolls.
What, you wonder, could be the problem? It was caused by the fascist food police at the public school.
The problem was the letter Karlind discovered, tucked inside her report card, saying that she had a body mass index in the 80th percentile. The first grader did not know what “index” or “percentile” meant, or that children scoring in the 5th through 85th percentiles are considered normal, while those scoring higher are at risk of being or already overweight.
Yet she became convinced that her teachers were chastising her for overeating.
Now, a dose of regulated hypocrisy to make the fattie report a bit more palatable.
Here, in the rural Southern Tioga School District, the schools distribute the state-mandated reports even as they continue to serve funnel cakes and pizza for breakfast. Some students have physical education for only half the school year, even though 34 percent of kindergartners were overweight or at risk for it, according to 2003-4 reports.
Fortunately, there is a degree of righteous indignation from parents who oppose the intrusion of the Nanny State into private matters.
But here, the letters sent home with report cards have been a shock. Many parents threw them out, outraged to be told how much their children should weigh or unconvinced that children who look just fine by local standards are too large by official ones. Seventh graders traded scores during lunch periods. And more than a few children, like Karlind, no longer wanted to eat, students and parents said.
I guess the government prefers psychologically stigmatized students to plump pupils.
Christina Bové is the mother of three children who attend the Blossburg schools. She clutched a picture of her 9-year-old son, Christian, in a bathing suit, to prove that he was not “at risk of overweight,” as his 92nd percentile score had indicated.
Ms. Bové is more worried about her daughter Alora, age 8, who has lately taken up carrot sticks and constant weigh-ins. “She walks out of the bathroom saying, ‘I weigh 68 pounds, and none of you can say that,’ ” Ms. Bové said.
Un-friggen-believe-able!!!
Source: As Obesity Fight Hits Cafeteria, Many Fear a Note From School - New York Times
