Dalt: Make common sense recognizable to judges

Judge: Make Money Recognizable to Blind November 29, 2006 The AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Give blind people a way to tell a $20 bill from a single, says a judge who told the government to change the nation's paper money so it doesn't all feel the same.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson on Tuesday ordered the Treasury Department to start working on the problem, leaving it up to government officials to determine the best solution. Possible changes include making bills of differing sizes or adding embossed dots or raised ink.
The government has 10 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling. The Treasury Department had no immediate comment.

Well, ole Dalt has a comment... DOES EVERY JUDGE IN AMERICA THINK THEY CAN DICTATE FEDERAL LAW??? There are approximately five hundred thousand blind in the US, who have managed quite nicely for all these years without help, thank you and suddenly, this piss-ant judge makes the determination that we have to completely revamp the entire US money supply to benefit less than two percent of the total population. Will this legislation/mandatory compliance lunacy never end? Laws are meant to protect the general populace. Yes we have to assist the less fortunate but not to the detriment or unrealistic expense of the rest of us. Common sense has died at the hands of legislated fairness. Write your representatives, write the judges, tell them to return to common sense and stop trying to legislate morality. We can take care of ourselves just fine!

Freedom of speech works both ways

Imams Stage Airport 'Pray-In' As Protest Tuesday, November 28, 2006 1 By LESLIE MILLER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Imams, ministers and a rabbi staged a "pray-in" demonstration Monday at Reagan Washington National Airport and asked an apology from US Airways for barring six Muslims from a Minneapolis to Phoenix flight last week.
The religious leaders called for an end to racial profiling, saying it was unacceptable in America.
Imam Omar Shahin, one of the six imams detained last Monday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said they hadn't done anything suspicious.
After they boarded the flight, a passenger passed a note to a flight attendant. The men were taken off the airplane, handcuffed and questioned.
"It was the worst moment in my life," Shahin said.
US Airways Group Inc. spokeswoman Andrea Rader said prayer was never the issue. She said the passenger overheard anti-U.S. statements and the men got up and moved around the airplane. "We're sorry the imams had a difficult time, but we do think the crews have to make these calls and we think they made the right one," she said.
Earlier reports also noted other suspicious behavior like requesting un-needed seat belt extenders. Good call, US Air! Don't budge an inch!

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, four airlines accused of breaking federal anti-discrimination laws settled with the government. (Settled? Try capitulated) Transportation Department investigations found the airlines had unlawfully removed passengers because of perceived ethnic or religious backgrounds.

The Transportation Department received a complaint about the US Airways incident on Monday from the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said spokesman Brian Turmail.
"We're going to now look into the matter," Turmail said.
The Homeland Security Department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said last week that it was investigating the incident.

If this isn't the stupidest thing I've heard of, it's at least in the top five. Racial profiling? GREAT! When white guys, black guys, asian guys, hispanic guys or little old ladies hijack planes and fly them into things or blow them up in flight, I'll add them to the list. Till then, deal with it. Fit the profile? Then don't draw attention to yourself. Pray to yourself. Don't be anti-American. Sit in your assigned seats And the rest of you, write your officials. You fly, you vote and you need to be heard too. Don't let the minority shout you down. If you do, they win and crashed planes will be as commonplace as hijackings were in the seventies? Remember? When our government told us not to resist because it was safer? Well, golly gee sweetums, look where that got us....

Nobody moves or I'll shoot the other one

AP WICHITA, Kan. - A botched kidnapping ended with one of the assailants shooting himself in the groin, Wichita police said.
The man had just stuck the gun back into his waistband when it fired, shooting him in the left testicle. He cringed, causing the gun to fire again and strike him in the left calf.
When the shooting ended, the 23-year-old man managed to walk himself into the hospital for treatment, police said. He and his two accomplices, ages 18 and 20, were arrested for aggravated attempted kidnapping and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The gene pool gets shallower every year, the jokes seem to be writing themselves and, God help me, this damn story gets funnier every time I read it.

Speaking of Hurricanes: Next time I won't help

Read the whole story here

2 unrepentant about selling Katrina gift By WOODY BAIRD AP Writer

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A church that wanted to do something special for Hurricane Katrina victims gave a $75,000 house, free and clear, to a couple who said they were left homeless by the storm. But the couple turned around and sold the place without ever moving in, and went back to New Orleans.
"Take it up with God," an unrepentant Joshua Thompson told a TV reporter after it was learned that he and the woman he identified as his wife had flipped the home for $88,000.
The church was also shocked by an ungrateful interview the couple gave with WHBQ-TV in Memphis.
"I really don't like this area," said Delores Thompson. "I really didn't, and I didn't know anybody, so that's why I didn't move in and I sold it."
Thompson, reached at a New Orleans phone number by The Associated Press on Tuesday, thanked the church for its generosity but said she saw nothing wrong in selling the three-bedroom, two-bath house.
"Do I have any legal problems? What do you mean? The house was given to me," she said. "I have the paperwork and everything."
She refused further comment and hung up.

Let's see. NOLA sat on its collective ass, didn't plan, didn't evacuate, didn't insure, waited for the rest of us to bail them out, bitched and shot at those who did, lied about conditions there, blatantly stole federal funding to buy bling, stayed in high end hotels and apartments until forced to leave...the list of abuses is endless. Yes, I know the Feds could and should have done a better job, (Florida and Texas have lots of hurricane experience and seem to do a good job, hire them) but this story settled it for me. Never again. I want someone's ass in jail. I am never contributing another damn dime, simple as that. Have a nice day, assholes. As for the church, I believe there's are laws covering theft by deception and misrepresentation of status to achieve financial gain from a charitable source. Go for the criminal charges first, then get whatever's left in a civil suit.

I didn't think I'd be right this quick

Hurricane Season Defies Predictions:Atlantic Forecasts Were Way Off
ReutersSaturday, November 18, 2006

MIAMI, Nov. 17 -- The noted hurricane-forecasting team led by William Gray at Colorado State University has not missed by this much in a long time.
On May 31, they predicted that there would be 17 storms this year, and that nine would be hurricanes.
In the end, the 2006 season managed to produce nine tropical storms; five became hurricanes. None of the hurricanes hit the United States.
There are still two weeks to go, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center said there is little sign of action in the Atlantic.
The Colorado State team was not alone in predicting that 2006 would be more active than an average year, in which the Atlantic can be expected to spawn 10 tropical storms, of which six will strengthen into hurricanes.
No one foresaw what happened in 2005, when 28 storms swarmed out of the Atlantic, and 15 became hurricanes with winds of at least 74 mph. Among them, Katrina killed 1,500 people along the Gulf Coast and swamped New Orleans, while Wilma became the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever observed.
Long-range hurricane forecasting, as with all long-range weather predictions, remains a complex and error-prone task, experts say.
The experts also say that an unusual amount of sub-Saharan dust in the atmosphere over the Atlantic may have deprived potential storms of the moisture they would use as fuel.
But there are probably other factors at work that have yet to be identified.

In other words, the laws of probability will not be denied. We get better but we can never be certain. Remember, you read it here first!

You can have my Big Mac when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers

OK, this is for all you people who supported anti-smoking taxes and legislation_ you're NEXT!

The movie Fast Food Nation premieres Friday, Nov. 17. The cast includes Greg Kinnear, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Avril Lavigne, Kris Kristofferson, among other familiar faces. If the statistics on the rise of obesity in kids isn’t getting Washington’s attention, perhaps this celebrity ensemble will.
Schlosser told an audience previewing the movie at the University of California not to expect a documentary, comedy or satire, though early reviews liken the tenor of Fast Food Nation to Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. (Does this mean it will be full of lies, half-truths and innuendo?)
As Schlosser put it at the preview, “I should warn you … this is a very dark film. But these are very dark times.”

Great! We took care of smoking, Next we'll outlaw those pesky constitutional freedoms!
WAKE UP AMERICA. The trains for the re-education camps are coming for us all!

Hope we wake up before the first nuke goes off

Controversial Assignment Leads To Teacher's Resignation
November 17, 2006
SMITHFIELD, N.C. -- A Spanish teacher at Smithfield-Selma Senior High School resigned this week after handing out an assignment that some students and parents said teaches hate.
Khalid Chahhou, who was in his first year of teaching in Johnston County, gave students a worksheet in which they were to translate words and find them within a word-search puzzle.
Some students started uncovering strange words in the process.
"There were words like 'kill,' then I saw it said 'destroy America,'" Eric Herrera said.
As they read on, students found the puzzle contained a paragraph that contained the following phrases:
"Sharon killed a lot of innocent people," a possible reference to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"Palestine is not a terrorist group."
"Allah help destroy this body of evil making humanity miserable."
"It was kind of scary at first to think about, you know, your own teacher in your own school that is teaching you," Herrera said.
School administrators said they confronted Chahhou about an unidentified concern Wednesday and he resigned.
"The situation surrounding the resignation has prompted us to call the proper authorities," said Crystal Roberts, the spokeswoman for Johnston County Schools.
The Johnston County Sheriff's Office reviewed the complaint, but investigators said they don't see any reason to file criminal charges or contact other agencies.
Chahhou, who also teaches Arabic at a religious school affiliated with the Islamic Association of Cary, told WRAL in a telephone interview that students got the wrong message from the assignment.
"When I made the assignment, I was upset and angry about a story I recently saw on the news. If any message appears, it is more of a message to myself, not to my students. I never meant to hurt or upset any students or parents," he said.

This is where this happyland, diversity to the detriment of democracy, PC bullshit has led us. Tolerance my ass! This fool can't even lie effectively. He has advocated the destruction of our country. Don't just let him resign, and go elsewhere. Yank his teaching license so he can't do this again. If he's naturalized, strip his citizenship and ship him back.

CNN is Criminally Negligent News

Midwest Hotel Chain Drops CNN Over VideoThursday, November 16, 2006
The Associated PressBy ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Midwest hotel chain has pulled CNN from the TV channel lineup in its guest rooms, saying the cable network was aiding terrorism with the broadcast of a video showing Iraqi snipers shooting at U.S. troops.
The broadcast, which aired Oct. 18 on both CNN and CNN Headline News, featured edited portions of a tape the network said it obtained from a rebel group called Islamic Army of Iraq.
The video crossed the line from journalism to propaganda, said James Thompson, president of the Iowa-based Stoney Creek Hospitality Corp.
"It was shocking and repulsive," he said. "Their actions supported terrorism."
Guests at the Stoney Creek Inn's 10 properties in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin can still view Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC and other cable news channels.
Supportive comments from guests have outnumbered complaints by a 3-1 margin, Thompson said.
A network spokeswoman did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment Thursday. A CNN producer previously defended the report as an attempt to show the "unvarnished truth" about the Iraq war.

The most wonderful thing about this country is that occaisionally, business puts aside desire for profits for belief in morality and ethics. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's a beautiful thing. I'm glad to see consumers support it. Rock on! Down with the Criminally Negligent News

SCREW CATCH AND RELEASE: LET'S STRIP AND SHIP

Warrantless Eavesdropping Claim Rejected Friday, November 10, 2006
Associated PressBy MATTHEW BARAKAT

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed claims that prosecutors illegally built their case against a convicted al-Qaida supporter on information obtained from the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program.
Truck driver Iyman Faris, 37, of Columbus, Ohio, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after admitting in a plea bargain that he conspired with al-Qaida on an aborted plot to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge by cutting its suspension cables. But Faris sought to have his sentence set aside, in part because of suspicions that the government's eavesdropping program tainted the case.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, filed earlier this week, is under seal, so it is unclear why she dismissed the claim. Faris' lawyer, David Smith, refused to discuss the ruling.

Faris, who was born in Pakistan and became a U.S. citizen in 1999, is one of several convicted terrorists who have sought to challenge the legality of the NSA's eavesdropping. So far, no challenge has been successful.

Hooray! Now strip him and his family of citizenship and ship their asses OUT! If we can prove others knew about his plans, strip and ship them too!
HEY DUMMYCRATS, YOU SAID YOU'D DO BETTER. ARE YOU LISTENING?????????

Hey Sheriff Leis, are you listening??

BUFFALO, Mo. (AP) — Prisoners returning to a jail damaged in a failed breakout attempt will find a radically new decor — pink with blue teddy bear accents.
Dallas County Sheriff Mike Rackley said he decided on the color scheme as part of extensive repairs necessary after inmates set a fire and vandalized the interior on Oct. 8.
"Basically, if they are going to act like children and commit a childish act, then we'll make a childish atmosphere," he said. "And it's a calming thing — Teddy bears are soothing. So we made it like a daycare and that's kind of like what it is, a day care for adults who can't control their behavior in public."

Damn, this is just what I needed after losing faith with the voting public. There may be hope for this country after all.

Damn! Brit lawmakers are as stupid as ours!!

LONDON (AP) — Britain's lawmakers Tuesday granted posthumous pardons for soldiers executed during World War I, ending years of campaigning by the families of men condemned to death for cowardice.

Around 300 soldiers, who were executed during the 1914-1918 conflict for failing to return to the front lines, were included in the pardon. The pardons acknowledge that many of the men suffered shell-shock from the horrors of the war and thus refused to return to their units.

In 1993, then-Prime Minister John Major ruled out pardons because "we cannot rewrite history by substituting our latter-day judgment for that of contemporaries." In a debate in the House of Lords in June, however, Lord Dubs said he appreciated that attitudes had changed since the early 20th century.

"The executed soldiers deserve better treatment than to be remembered as cowards; instead, they should be remembered as brave men who were willing to fight for their country in difficult conditions," Dubs said.

Wait a minute, "deserve better treatment"? The charge was cowardice under fire. They weren't willing to fight. They refused to return to their units and fight, ergo, guilty as charged. The punishment? Execution.

The families of the executed men had brought three lawsuits against the government, each one exposing the flawed trials the men received. In one case, a soldier was tried and executed on the same day as his offense.

The Defense Ministry said that though the men have been pardoned, their convictions or sentences will not be quashed.

In plain American English, this means "OK, all you cowards, you're forgiven for being cowards, you're still dead, and you're still guilty. Is it just me, or is this whole thing as meaningless and stupid as it sounds?

Communist News Network/Chicken Noodle News

Two US Marines are listening to the radio in Iraq.
"American soldiers," coos a soft female voice, "Your so-called national Leaders have lied to you. You are needlessly risking your lives to wage A useless, unjust, illegal, and unwinnable war. Now is the time to return home to your loved ones, while you are still alive. If you foolishly insist on remaining where you are not wanted, the brave resistance fighters will have no choice but to kill you and add your name to the long ever-increasing casualty list of this insane war. So why risk never seeing your loved ones again for a so-called president who has repeatedly lied and deceived you at every opportunity? Why should you be sacrificed so that US corporations can enjoy fatter profits? The only wise thing to do is return home now, while you are still drawing breath, before you return zippered into a bodybag."

"What's this?" sneers one Marine. "An Islamo-terrorist version of Tokyo Rose?"

"No," answers the other. "It's just CNN!"

Duty, honor, country. They aren't choices

I may take fire for this, but I won't desert those who serve. Ever.

AWOL Soldiers Reconsider Return to U.S. Saturday, November 4, 2006
By BRETT BARROUQUERE LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)
Since going to Canada to avoid another deployment to Iraq, Corey Glass has considered returning to the United States. But after hearing that a fellow former soldier who surrendered to the military and was ordered to return to his unit instead of being discharged, Glass may not return at all.

"They're not going to win the hearts and minds like that," said Glass, 24, who signed on with the Indiana National Guard in 2002.

Kyle Snyder, a one-time combat engineer who joined the military in 2003, disappeared Wednesday, a day after surrendering at Fort Knox and 18 months after fleeing to Vancouver instead of redeploying to Iraq. Snyder, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colo., said a deal had been reached for a discharge, but he found out he would be returned to his unit at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
His troubles are complicating efforts for those among the 220 American soldiers who fled to Canada and want to return to the United States, according to lawyers, soldiers and anti-war activists.

"Nobody's going to come back from Canada anymore," said James Fennerty, a Chicago-based attorney who represents Snyder and other AWOL soldiers.

"After what they did to him, I don't see anybody going back," said Glass, a Fairmount, Ind., native who is currently in Toronto.

Some are seeking refugee status in Canada. Hart, who was joined in Toronto by his wife and their 3-year-old son, served time in Bosnia in the early 1990s, became a reserve, then went to Iraq after returning to active duty. The idea of returning to the United States is appealing to Hart, because he would like to see family and friends.

"I could see going back under some kind of amnesty program or something like that," Hart said. "But I don't trust them. My enemy isn't foreign now. It's domestic."

First off. I don't agree with any war. Or police actions. Or whatever they call it this week. It's barbaric. It's horrific. And people die. That being said, I also know that we will keep fighting them until we find a better way a better way to supress fanatics, idealogues and madmen. But there is one thing I do know. Honor, Duty and Country are not negotiable. If you claim the freedoms this country offers, then you had best be willing to defend them. We do not conscript, we no longer draft. If you choose service, you have chosen. No do overs. No picking and choosing. You come home with your shield or on it. This custom was the hallmark of Rome. When it declined, so did Rome.

If you leave in the middle of a war, it's called desertion. You have abandoned your duty, your country, your brothers-in-arms. And you are without honor. If you run in the midst of battle, the sentence is death. No courts martial necessary. If you run at other times, when you're caught or surrender, you get the luxury of a trial. It's still desertion. So Mr. Glass thinks we aren't going to make the deserters trust us by sending them back to their units? Tough. Mr. Snyder is afraid he'll have to return to his unit until discharged. He should be afraid to face those he abandoned. And his problems are complicating the lives of 220 deserters who want to come back? Good. I want their lives in turmoil. Mr Hart might consider returning if there's an amnesty program? I don't care if they ever come back. They violated an obligation they freely agreed to. They are without honor and deserve nothing but contempt. I stayed. I served. Others still are. They have my respect and my prayers.

When you talk to God, tell Him I said "hi!"

Military Pressed Over Expressions of Faith
By Alan CoopermanWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, November 2, 2006;
The U.S. military is being buffeted by dueling legal claims over religion, with one set of plaintiffs contending that the Pentagon is suppressing evangelical Christianity and another set arguing just the opposite -- that the brass gives the most aggressive evangelicals free rein to proselytize in uniform.

Reports of aggressive evangelism at the Air Force Academy led the service to issue interim guidelines last year urging commanders to be "sensitive" about sharing their faith and called for a minute of silence or at most a "brief, non-sectarian" prayer at mandatory gatherings. Read it all here

I posted the following response

First, separation of church and state was to prevent a state run religion like the Brits have with the Anglican Church. Look it up, get it right, OK? Second, military people are in harms way. If they derive comfort from the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Jesus, Odin or whatever, let them have it. Period. As long as their belief doesnt interfere with performance of duty, its their belief. Third, if the Jew calls on Yaweh, the Muslin on Allah, no one says a word. Call on Jesus and youre fundamentalist, right-wing Christian nut job in violation of that make-believe separation of church and state thing and offensive. Bull. Anyone else who founds their country and their society on their religious beliefs can do so and its OK. So why do some self loathing apologists feel guilty about Americas basis in Christianity? At least ours doesnt advocate KILLING non-believers. And our tolerance of others has made us the most free, the most giving, richest and well fed on the planet. Not too shabby. This whole religious debate thing will never be settled to everyones satisfaction so, if it helps, believe. If it helps, pray. If it helps, call on your diety. Just put in a good word for me too, OK?