Roman Polanski Arrested in Switzerland

The long arm of the law finally caught up to this bum after 31 years. A shame they didn't pick up fugitive Clinton pal Marc Rich while they were at it.

Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police at the request of U.S. authorities as the director arrived in the country to receive an award at the Zurich Film Festival.

Polanski was held yesterday on a 1978 U.S. arrest warrant, the festival organizers said today in an e-mailed statement. The arrest was confirmed by Zurich Cantonal Police spokesman Stefan Oberlin in a telephone interview.

Oberlin wouldn’t comment further on the arrest, referring questions to the Justice Ministry in the capital, Bern. The ministry couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

Polanski, 76, left the U.S. in 1978 prior to being sentenced for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He hasn’t returned since and is considered a fugitive in the country. The director, a French citizen, asked a Los Angeles court in December to dismiss the 1977 case because of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct.

California Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza, who said in February that Polanski would have to come to the U.S. to get a hearing on his request, invoked the fugitive disentitlement doctrine to avoid any consideration of the facts and circumstances that forced the director to leave the country, Polanski’s lawyers said July 7 in a court filing.

A special ceremony will be held at the Zurich festival tonight “to allow everyone to express their solidarity for Roman Polanski and their admiration for his work,” the festival management said in their e-mail.

Figures these twits would admire a child molester.

Remember That 'Christian Terror Drill' in New Jersey?

When the story about the kindergarten children in Burlington, NJ, being forced to sing praises to Dear Leader Obama broke this week, you figured this must be some isolated incident.

I had forgotten this outrage from 2007.

The Burlington Township High School in New Jersey along with the local police and fire departments are taking heat for a fake hostage drill conducted on school grounds last month.

The drill, aimed at testing the reactions of faculty and first responders during a simulated attack, included an imaginary scenario that has some Christians up in arms.

During the simulation, two mock gunmen from a fake right-wing fundamentalist group called the "New Crusaders" — a group that does not believe in the separation of church and state — stormed the school. The idea was that they were angry that one of their daughters was expelled for praying before class.

Nobody from the school, including from the superintendent's office or the police department, was willing to talk about the drill on camera, but the township issued a statement saying the chosen scenario was never intended to offend any group and was meant to be generic in nature.

"The term 'Christian' was not included in the scenario. It was believed that all groups pray and prayer in school is a universal issue," reads the statement from the school.

Anything ring a bell there? Oh yes it does.

It's the same school district.

Hmmm. I sense a troubling pattern of leftist indoctrination here, mmm mmm mmm.

H/T to a Fox and Friends report this morning.

Just imagine if some kids praised George Bush in song and also the same district conducted terror fire drill involving leftwing anarchists or Muslim terrorists. You suppose there would be silence from the left? I didn't think so.

Soviets Activate Reset Button

Russia Urges Restraint Over Iran Nuclear News
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has responded to revelations about a previously undisclosed Iranian nuclear facility by urging all sides to exercise restraint until the details have been fully analyzed.

Speaking to RFE/RL in New York, Lavrov also questioned assumptions that Tehran was hiding anything and accused Western governments of withholding knowledge of a second Iranian uranium-enrichment plant.

"As far as I understand there's no clarity regarding the legal aspects of this situation," Lavrov said. "I don't want to go into legalistic analysis -- it has to be provided by IAEA -- but don't forget that Iran did notify the agency about its intentions, about its plans to construct a new facility, and we are convinced that whatever is being constructed under the Iranian nuclear program must be brought under the monitoring of IAEA."

Lavrov's statements appeared aimed at easing pressure on Moscow to take a tougher line against Iran when the UN Security Council's veto-wielding members meet next week to discuss steps to persuade Iran to comply with UN resolutions on its nuclear activities.

The U.S., French, and U.K. leaders had already condemned what British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called a "level of deception by the Iranian government."

Obama Anger

In a weekly radio and Internet address issued later, U.S. President Barack Obama called it "a serious challenge to the global nonproliferation regime and continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion." He added that the world was "more united than ever before" on the Iranian issue.

Obama said that in meetings and public statements, he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "agreed that Iran must pursue a new course or face consequences."

The U.S. and Russia are both members of the so-called P-5 Plus One -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States) plus Germany -- which has a meeting scheduled for October 1 in Geneva to discuss the nuclear issue with Iranian officials.

Obama said the recent discovery meant "international negotiations with Iran scheduled for October 1 now take on added urgency."

Operational 'Soon'

Iran notified the International Atomic Energy Agency on September 21 that it was building a second enrichment plant but that no nuclear material had yet been introduced there.

Speaking to reporters on September 25 in New York, where he attended this week's UN General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad denied that the existence of the plant was a "secret" and said Tehran was not obliged to tell the U.S. administration about all its uranium-enrichment facilities.

Following revelations about the new plant, Moscow issued a statement calling the construction of a second facility a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and urged Iran to quickly demonstrate that the facility is solely for peaceful purposes.

Western governments accuse Tehran of secretly seeking a nuclear bomb capability, a charge that Iranian officials repeatedly deny.

An aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpayegani, was quoted on September 26 by semiofficial Fars news agency as saying that "this new plant, God willing, will soon become operational and will make the enemies blind."

Moscow Wary

Speaking to RFE/RL in New York, Lavrov expressed disappointment that Western partners appeared to have kept intelligence about the existence of a second enrichment facility from Moscow.

"Some of our Western partners said that they had known about this plant for quite some time," Lavrov said. "If that is the case, A) we want this information to be shared with us; [and] B) we really would prefer that this information had been shared with us earlier, when our partners with whom we work on the Iranian nuclear issue laid their hands on this information."

He cautioned that "we need first of all facts before we jump to discuss sanctions or anything else."

Obama and Medvedev on September 23 had appeared to be narrowing their differences over the possibility of further sanctions against Iran over nuclear issues.

Some have suggested that a recent U.S. decision to abandon a Bush-era plan for a European missile-defense shield was part of an understanding between Moscow and Washington whereby Russia would ease its resistance to tougher treatment of a defiant Tehran. Both sides have rejected talk of any such quid pro quo.

'No Legal Clarity'

Lavrov said he had spoken with Muhammad el-Baradei, the director-general of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

More like the UN's toothless tiger.

"As far as I understand, there's no clarity regarding the legal aspects of this situation," Lavrov told RFE/RL. "I don't want to go into legalistic analysis -- [that] has to be provided by IAEA. But don't forget that Iran did notify the agency about its intentions, about its plans to construct a new facility, and we are convinced that whatever is being constructed under the Iranian nuclear program must be brought under the monitoring of IAEA."

Lavrov said that so far the IAEA had no evidence suggesting that the nuclear-fuel-production program in Iran was being shifted to military purposes. Meanwhile, he claimed, pressure exerted on Iran through three previous rounds of UN sanctions is working.

"We want to have all the facts presented to us by professionals, and we want Iranians to engage in serious negotiations when we meet on October 1," Lavrov said. "And this is the common position of the [P-5 Plus One] group, which issued a couple of days ago a joint statement to this effect in New York."

Lavrov said that only through a consensus within the UN Security Council could sanctions against Iran be effective.

He said unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union are merely impeding negotiations with Tehran.

Israeli Alarm

Reuters quoted Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as telling Israel Radio that the revelations over a new Iranian nuclear facility has "done away with" disagreement over Iran's nuclear intentions. He went on to call for an "unequivocal" international response.

"I spoke this weekend with experts from the East and West," Lieberman said. "No one has any doubt, according to the technical data that was published, it's a military core."

Israeli officials have issued repeated warnings over Iran's nuclear activities and refuse to rule out possible military action to preempt a threat.

Iran's previously acknowledged uranium-enrichment plant is at Natanz.

Via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Ohio Woman Dies of Swine Flu, Ghoulish Blogger Exploits It to Score Cheap Political Points

It's bad enough the discourse in this country has sunk so low we have the left doing a touchdown dance over the death of a census worker in Kentucky, so all-consuming is their hatred for all things conservative. That's bad enough. Now we have some ghoul at Think Progress (Motto: If We think, It Would Be Progress!) taking a fantastic leap forward to use the death of a young Ohio woman to take a cheapshot at GOP Congressman John Boehner because Boehner has the audacity to oppose the government takeover of the health care industry.

A 22-year-old woman from Oxford, Ohio, died from swine flu on Wednesday. Kimberly Young graduated from Miami University in December and continued to live in Oxford, Ohio, within Minority Leader John Boehner’s congressional distrct [sic]. Reports now indicate that after initially getting sick, Young put off treatment because she was uninsured.

That appears to be the case according to this news report.

So the young lady eschewed carrying insurance and now paid a tragic price for it. Yet left unmentioned is the fact she apparently didn't have a job with health benefits and there is also no mention of her parents or other family members. I'm not blaming them, obviously, but did she not have anyone to turn to for financial help if she was concerned she didn't have money for treatment?

How is any of this Boehner's fault?

So yet again we have a tragic case and the left immediately exploits it to score cheap political points. It really doesn't get any sicker than this.

The tragic irony in all this is let's say ObamaCare was enacted into law already. From most accounts I've seen it would be going into effect for several years at least, so in all likelihood this girl would still not have had coverage. Would Boehner still be to blame or would the Democrats who passed it but did not yet enact it be taking the hit for it?

We can have a public debate over policy in this country but we just cannot seem to escape the juvenile antics of these bloggers shamefully exploiting tragedies for some partisan gain. Taking this sad case and using it to bash her Congressman over the head with it just further drags the debate into the gutter, which is apparently where these people enjoy being.

It's worth noting that the young lady was apparently very liberal in her political beliefs. It's not a stretch to think is she were a conservative the thugs at Think Progress would probably be celebrating her death and saying she got what she deserved.

Update: This report now says she did not die of swine flu. I guess Boehner's still the blame anyway.

A roundup of the leftwing insanity here. The Think Progress clown gets eviscerated at the Right Wing Nut House.

What a dick, this Victor Zapanta, fellow is. Identified as a “researcher” for CAP, Zapanta is a blooded political activist having worked for both Clinton and Obama in 2008. Someone should teach this kid what it is a “researcher” does. What they don’t do is smear people based on the most outrageous number of degrees of separation - except in the hyper-partisan world of Think Progress where every raindrop that falls in New York is responsible for a flood in California. That’s actually a more realistic connection to reality than Zapanta’s wretched attempt at guilt by non-existent association.
...
The idea that Boehner’s opposition to health care reform - or that anything Boehner has ever said or done - is in any way responsible for this young girl’s death is unbelievably calumnious and so off base as to be beyond the pale of rationality, of reason, and logic. The notion that Think Progress is connected in any way to an organization - The Center for American Progress - that is supposed to be a serious place for the study and promotion of public policy is a disgrace to intellectual honesty, a blot on our public discourse, and an affront to the decency of our democracy.

If you were to peruse the archives of this uber-partisan rag, you would find literally hundreds of similar off the wall headlines that are not meant to inform, or even to attack based on facts, but rather to simply smear in the most vile and distorted manner. It is the worst of politics, and given their connection to a supposedly august think tank, beneath contempt.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

Poland: A Country That Gets It

Naturally, the "human rights" buffoons are upset over this. Funny how they don't seem to have any concern over the "rights" of kids molested and raped by these monsters.

Poland on Friday approved a law making chemical castration mandatory for pedophiles in some cases, sparking criticism from human rights groups.

Under the law, sponsored by Poland's center-right government, pedophiles convicted of raping children under the age of 15 years or a close relative would have to undergo chemical therapy on their release from prison.

"The purpose of this action is to improve the mental health of the convict, to lower his libido and thereby to reduce the risk of another crime being committed by the same person," the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said late last year he wanted obligatory castration for pedophiles, whom he branded 'degenerates'.

Tusk said he did not believe "one can use the term 'human' for such individuals, such creatures."

"Therefore I don't think protection of human rights should refer to these kind of events," Tusk also said.

His remarks drew criticism from human rights groups but he never retracted them.

Good for him. If we had any decency we'd do the same thing here. But nooooo, we coddle them and think they can be rehabilitated. Then they go out and do it again.

Dangerously Naive: Obama Wants 'Serious, Meaningful Dialogue' With Iran

I see dumb people

The mind boggles at how naive this guy is. OK, well if he's not naive then he's downright reckless and dangerous. You cannot have serious dialogue with madmen. Is that too complex a notion to understand?

President Barack Obama is offering Iran "a serious, meaningful dialogue" over its disputed nuclear program, while warning Tehran of grave consequences from a united global front.

"Iran's leaders must now choose — they can live up to their responsibilities and achieve integration with the community of nations. Or they will face increased pressure and isolation, and deny opportunity to their own people," Obama said in his radio and Internet address Saturday.

Hours later, Iran's nuclear chief told state TV that his country would allow the U.N. nuclear agency to inspect Iran's newly revealed and still unfinished uranium enrichment facility. Ali Akbar Salehi didn't specify when inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency could visit. He said the timing would be worked out with the U.N. watchdog.

Obama said in his address that evidence of Iran's building the underground plant "continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion" that jeopardizes global nonproliferation.

At least someone in Congress see how futile this dialogue nonsense is.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the No. 2 Republican in the House, said Iran is a "real-time security threat to the United States, Israel and our allies around the world."

He said the nuke discovery "leaves little doubt that terrorist nations are not to be trusted or negotiated with diplomatically."

It might be time for Plan B, Bammy.

From the start, the president has been adamant about coddling Iran's head thug, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and pursuing diplomatic talks.

Even after the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the second site yesterday, Obama pledged his commitment to "meaningful engagement" and "dialogue." (Heads up: A mushroom cloud is a powerful bargaining chip.)

When Ahmadinejad stole re-election and violently crushed dissidents, Obama sat on his hands.

When the prez decided to scrap a US missile shield in Eastern Europe, aimed at defeating possible nuke-tipped Iranian missiles, he cited intelligence showing the Iranian nuclear threat wasn't as grave as thought.

(How, exactly, does that square with news of Iran's secret enrichment site?)

And this week, after the UN Security Council adopted an anti-nuclear-proliferation "resolution" that left out any mention of Iran, it took French President Nicolas Sarkozy to express shock: "How," he asked "could we justify meeting without tackling" Iran's nukes?

Now, in light of yesterday's revelation, Obama's nine-month course seems almost suicidal. Surely this second site means Iran is closer to having a bomb than most knew.

That it's on a military base makes it harder for Iran to claim it's for peaceful purposes -- and perhaps tougher to take out by force, if need be.

And the secrecy around it proves that Iran won't ever "talk" honestly with the "international community."

Let's face it: Negotiating isn't likely to work. Obama needs a Plan B. Pronto.

GOP Congressman a Target of Terror Plot, Liberalism Under Investigation

I blame MSNBC, CNN, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the leftwing blogosphere for fostering this climate of hate against Republicans.

Rep. Aaron Schock's (R-Ill.) office in Illinois state capital of Springfield was one of the targets of a planned terrorist attack, his office said Friday.

Michael C. Finton, known as Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday after trying to detonate a van he believed was stuffed with explosives near the Paul Findley Federal Building in Springfield. Finton had been collaborating on the attack with an undercover FBI agent and is being charged with attempting to murder federal officers or employees and trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction, according to the Associated Press.

"My office was notified today of the attempted terrorist attack on both the Federal Building and my Congressional Office in Springfield," Schock said in a statement. "I am incredibly grateful to the FBI for their fine work in preventing this terrorist attack."

Schock's office was a secondary target, according to an Associated Press report.

Finton, 29, converted to Islam in prison and said famed American Taliban operative John Walker Lindh was his hero. Finton also expressed a desire to fight Israelis in the Gaza Strip and received military training in Afghanistan. He was under federal supervision for months.

If the kneejerk left wants to blame conservatives for the killing of the census worker in Kentucky, then we'll be happy to play their little game.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

'The Verbal Exchange Didn't Go Well'

If you're ever inclined to do a little karaoke singing and you see this lovely crew in the audience, think long and hard about it. These charming ladies have very delicate ears and you might not want to offend them.

Talk about a hit song.

Six Connecticut women are facing assault charges for attacking a Westchester County woman for her amateurish karaoke performance at a bar, police said Friday.

Leidy Alcantara, 25, was singing "A Dios Le Pido" by Colombian superstar Juanes on Wednesday night when suspect Kiana Strickland, 20, began heckling her, cops said.

"I was singing the song in Spanish, and some girl said I was very annoying," Alcantara told the Daily News.

"I didn't know she was talking to me, and I said, 'Excuse me, are you talking to me?'"

"'Yeah, you're very annoying,'" Alcantara quoted Strickland as saying.

"Then she said something else and punched me in my face," Alcantara said.

Stamford Police Lt. Sean Cooney said, "The verbal exchange didn't go well."

Strickland slapped Alcantara, and then her five friends joined in, kicking, punching and pulling Alcantara's hair, police said.

"I was covering my face on the floor, crying, feeling all the punching and kicking," Alcantara said. "I felt the pain all over my body."

Alcantara's husband and a bartender and customers at Bobby Valentine's Sports Gallery Cafe pulled off the women and called police, she said.

Alcantara was treated for bruises and a chipped tooth and was released from Stamford Hospital, police said.

"That was my first time doing karaoke. I'm a shy person," Alcantara said.

"I don't know if I was good or bad. I was a little confused. I didn't really know the song. But nobody was complaining. Everybody was happy. She was the only one. She was crazy," Alcantara said of Strickland.

All six women - two 20-year-olds and four 19-year-olds from Stamford and Norwalk - were charged with misdemeanor assault, conspiracy to commit assault and breach of peace.

Since the victim has a much lighter complexion than the perps, we should expect them to be charged with a hate crime, of course? Oh wait, that only works the other way around. Sorry. That's raaaaacist of me to even think.

J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!

Any casual observer here knows I'm a diehard New York Giants fan, but that doesn't preclude me from following the other local team. I've been to countless Jets games over the years and any Jets fan knows about one of their biggest fans, Ed Anzalone, a NYC fireman. Like most of the NYFD Anzalone went through hell and back on 9/11 and the aftermath and is as good a guy as there is.

New Jets coach Rex Ryan has been rolling lucky sevens the past couple of weeks and the Jets fans at Giants Stadium last week rocked the house during their 16-9 win over New England. Playing that hand heading into Sunday's game against 0-2 Tennessee, Ryan cleverly found a another way to fire up the crowd: Handing a game ball to Anzalone. Say what you will about Ryan (like, um, maybe losing 100 pounds would be a good idea), but when it comes to currying favor with the fans, he gets it. Are you listening, Eric Mangini?

If you're a Jets fan, don't give up your dream of someday playing for the team. At this pace, Rex Ryan just might be willing to make it happen.

A week after delivering a phone message to season-ticket holders imploring them to be loud during last weekend's game against the Patriots, the first-year coach made the unprecedented move of delivering a game ball to the team's most famous fan - Fireman Ed - in recognition of the fans' support during the Jets' 16-9 win.

Fireman Ed, whose real name is Ed Anzalone, is a New York City firefighter who wears a Jets jersey and a Jets-themed fireman's hat to all home games and leads the crowd in chants of "J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!" He received the ball during a team meeting today.

"On behalf of the fans and representing the fans, we gave him a game ball," Ryan said. "There's two, actually, one in our trophy case and we gave him the other one. He does a great job."

Following Sunday's win, the team's first over their division rivals at the Meadowlands since 2000, many of the Jets credited the crowd with pumping them up.

You can guarantee another insane crowd Sunday when the Jets face 0-2 Tennessee. The scene last week against the Patriots was as loud a crowd Ive ever seen for the Jets since they're played at Giants Stadium.

Props to Ed Anzalone and the rest of the Jets fans. Of course, you still have another 14 games to get through...

BTW, Mark Sanchez is the real deal. He may not be his listed height (I towered over him when I met him at a USC practice last year), but the kid can play. I'd be envious if my team didn't already have Super Bowl MVP at quarterback.

America's Supermodel at the G-20 Summit

If I were mean I'd say that woman on the right looked like Patrick Ewing in a dress. But hey, that's not my style.

If I were really mean, I'd say that woman on the right looks like a wookiee, but that would be raaaaacist, according to certain delicate types (you know who you are).

If I were mean I'd suggest there are NFL teams with linebackers on injured reserve that ought to sign that hulking woman just to add depth.

But hey, that's not my style.

Oddly enough, some suggest she looks better than the actual model to her right, if you can believe it. Check out how hot Carla Bruni looks and consider this insanity.

Michelle's was a bold, bare choice for the G20 crowd. The Times carefully noted in its recap of the event that she wore "straps" and "no stockings" (as if anyone wears stockings these days). But when Carla arrived, they wrote, "Carla Bruni!!!!" adding that she wore "a stunning black silk sheath dress, stops just below the knee." She didn't have on stockings either, but they didn't call her out on it. After last night, the Daily Mail is comparing Carla to Jackie O. So is Carla back on top in the arbitrary battle the press wages between her and Michelle to determine who is the world's most glamorous presidential spouse? Perhaps because she wore sleeves and black? Michelle took a risk, and Carla did what Carla always does. Maybe it's her breathy accent that has the press beside itself? Or maybe if we fawn over Carla for a while, she and Michelle will be forced into the true fashion showdown we're all waiting for. Because in a world with Gossip Girl, they can't be anything other than frenemies.

Most of you had your stomachs churning this morning after we posted this fawning tribute from the NY Daily News, but this may actually be worse.

When I visited the Reagan Library in Simi Valley last year I noticed the display of dresses worn by Nancy Reagan over the years. Mrs. Obama may want to call some of the designers Mrs. Reagan used, if only to save herself further ridicule.

Muslim Prayer Day in DC Draws Sparse Crowd

This event was hyped up with claims up to 50,000 people would attend.

Yet a mere 1000 showed up, and that's probably being generous. Naturally, they blamed the mean old conservatives.

About 1,000 people gathered Friday morning on the west front lawn of the Capitol, with more streaming in via charter buses and Metro, for a day of Muslim unity that organizers said was about prayer, not protest.

"We are decent Muslims," said one of the organizers, Imam Ali Jaaher from Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, N. J. "We work, we pay taxes. We are Muslims who truly love this country."

Organizers had said they hoped 50,000 worshipers would show up for the traditional Muslim afternoon prayer at 1 p.m. But they said many people have been frightened away by the backlash against the event. Some conservative Christian groups and bloggers have been calling it anti-Christian and un-American.

Considering all the terrorism arrests in recent days, I'm surprised the capitol didn't clear out entirely.

Naturally CNN, which went out of their way to play down the hundreds of thousands who attended the 9/12 Tea Party, claims the paltry gathering attracted thousands.

Thousands of Muslims gathered Friday on Capitol Hill for a day of prayer that organizers said was intended to inspire American Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

They provide no evidence to support this claim.

Malik said attendees were traveling from all over the United States -- including Texas, Florida and Georgia -- as well as from other countries, such as Britain and Canada.

Sure.

Curiously one of the organizers is a lawyer who has defended terrorists in the past.

A major organizer of the prayer rally is attorney Hassen Abdellah, president of the Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Abdellah represented several terrorists, including: Mahmoud Abouhalima, who was convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and is serving a life sentence in Florence, Colorado, and Mahamed el-Atriss, who was convicted of selling fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers. On Oct. 25, 1993, New York Times reporter Richard Bernstein described Abdellah as “by far the most aggressively combative of the lawyers in the case.”

Rush Limbaugh On Jay Leno Show

Rush takes the Green Car Challenge.

Watch what he does to Al Gore. Twice.

Heh.

H/T Hot Air.

The Next Phony Noose Story?

I stumbled across this story of a human rights activist who found a noose attached to the front porch of her home and something about the story just didn't pass the smell test. In re-reading the story as presented by the AP and reported on the local television station I realized what it was. Look at these two passages and see if something doesn't set off bells in your head.

First:

That incident prompted her to move to Spokane, along with the fact that her 7-year-old son wanted to be in a more multicultural school.

And then this part:

In the meantime, she said she's trying to keep things normal for her son, who thought the noose was a dog toy. She didn't explain any further

Now this is either a very smart 7-year-old kid who knows what a multicultural school is but can't tell the difference between a dog toy and a hangman's noose or mommy isn't exactly being truthful.

I love the parts about how she says she has lived in Mississippi so she knows all about nooses, which is immediately passed along with no challenge. It is the bigotry of the media and stereotyping of people in the media and in liberal la-la land which allows stuff like this to be said and go unchallenged.

We can no longer let it be allowed to pass as fact whenever statements such as hers are made and by merely invoking a southern state, that lends credence and validation to anything that makes their case, further promoting their misguided and totally fictitious impressions of people living in the south.

The events she described may have indeed occurred, but what has me steamed is the fact that she had to throw out stereotypes of people in the south and the news felt it was good enough to include in the story.

The other thing that got me is that she has had more run-ins with racists in the Great Pacific Northwest then I have had in decades of living in the south. Maybe all the racists live up there and not down here.

Rachel is also an artist.

Rachel Dolezal is the Director of Education & Curator of the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. She is an award-winning Mixed Media Artist with exhibitions in 13 states, internationally, and at the United Nations Headquarters. Dolezal completed her Master of Fine Arts at Howard University, and she is currently a college art instructor and exhibiting artist.

Y'all ought to come to the south sometime; shooooot, we gots runnin' water and 'lectricity and indoor plummin' and everything.

Time for Another 'First Lady Fashion Icon' Story

Please, make it stop.

Michelle Obama has been spicing up First Lady fashion all summer with bold colors and chic patterns. As she takes on a new role as international hostess at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, the News scopes out Michelle's diplomatic wardrobe.

Here, Michelle dons a flowery turquoise dress and silver flats as she arrives in Pittsburgh with the President on Sept. 24.

I'm sure all the ladies out there will be rushing out to by that dress.

Here's what she wore last week while she was making up stories about her kid.

Michelle sports a black and white geometric print skirt with her trademark cinched waist belt while reaching out to women and families on the importance of the President's health care legislation.

Trademark? Huh?

If you can stomach it, there's a slideshow here.

Report: Census Worker’s Death Might Not Be Homicide

A day after the leftwing blogosphere erupted with premature speculation about the death of this man in Kentucky, a report now says it's too early to say what actually happened.

Asphyxiation caused the death of a federal census worker whose body was found at a rural Clay County, Ky., cemetery with a rope around his neck, preliminary autopsy results show, but state police have not determined the death was a homicide.

William E. Sparkman, 51, of Laurel County, Ky., reportedly had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest.

That raised questions about whether he was killed because of hard feelings against the government and catapulted the mysterious death into a national story.

However, on Thursday, police had not confirmed Sparkman was even doing census work in Clay County at the time he died, said Capt. Lisa Rudzinski, commander of the state police post handling the investigation.

One media report — which quoted a census official saying a computer Sparkman used for census work was found in his truck near the cemetery — wasn’t true, Rudzinski said.

Police found Sparkman’s red pickup truck, but the computer wasn’t in it, she said.

Police have not ruled whether Sparkman’s death resulted from homicide, accident or suicide, Rudzinski said.

"There are too many unanswered questions for us to lean one way or the other," Rudzinski said. "We have not ruled this is a hate crime against a federal employee. We’re still trying to determine if foul play was involved."

The only thing police have concluded is that Sparkman didn’t die as a result of natural causes.

Reports that Sparkman was hanging from a tree at the cemetery create an image that doesn’t fit the evidence where Sparkman was found, Rudzinski said.

Sparkman had a rope around his neck that was attached to a tree, but he was not hanging in the sense that many people envision, she said.

Sparkman’s body was in contact with the ground, state police said in a news release.

News that Sparkman had the word "fed" on his chest came to the Associated Press from a law enforcement official who requested anonymity.

The official did not tell the AP what was used to scrawl the word on Sparkman.

Still, despite any evidence to back up their assertions, scores of leftwing bloggers immediately jumped to conclusions.

This report two days ago called it the next generations of lynchings.

We know that the levels of right-wing vitriol have reached psychotic new heights. But could they really be behind the "apparent homicide" of a Kentucky census worker, William Sparkman? Should we be calling this, as some are, a "lynching?"

This "respected" blogger, recently arrested on marijuana charges on Cape Cod, fretted like Nancy Pelosi.

But at some point, unhinged hostility to the federal government, whipped up by the Becks, can become violence. That's what Pelosi was worried about. The Dish will keep its eyes on this story.

Pleae do. And be sure to get back to us if you're hysteria is proven wrong.

This rockhead piled on, blaming Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Beck, Michelle Bachman, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, the corpse of Ronald Reagan and the founding fathers.

With all of that in mind, however, it's admittedly damned difficult not to look back at the kind of wildly-irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric being slung casually across the airwaves to millions of viewers and listeners every day by folks like Bachman, Beck, O'Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, and all the rest, without pondering questions such as: "What the hell are these people thinking?" and "Do they not realize that people are actually out there paying attention to what they have to say?"

Another blogger said let's not jump to conclusions, then jumped to a conclusion.

There’s not enough information yet to say for sure what was behind this killing, so let’s not jump to conclusions. But the description of the circumstances and the timing (around the time of the Washington DC tea party) raises a strong suspicion that anti-government sentiment may have been the motivation.

The memory holes around the web may be very busy in the near future.

This may well be a teachable moment: Wait until the facts are in before pointing fingers at you political enemies. It'll save a lot of embarrassment, your credibility, time spent scrubbing your website and a lot of backtracking.

The was once a time when people would let the police assess what happened and report the facts. Then pundits could offer analysis and opinion. Now, however, in the zeal to prove some deluded pre-conceived political point, the left prefers to smear their opponents using incorrect reports and wild conjecture. If indeed this is a suicide or a homicide totally unrelated to anything political, how many on the left will stand up and admit they're wrong?

Very few, I suspect.

Violent Tea Partiers Disrupt G-20: 'This is What a Police State Looks Like'

Oh, they're not tea partiers? They're leftwing anarchists?

Never mind.

In spite of a strong police and army police presence, around 300 protestors managed to congregate just minutes from the summit venue, the David H Lawrence convention centre, where Prime Minister Gordon Brown will meet with the leaders of the other 18 countries plus the European Union.

Police threw canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers as US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, arrived for a meeting with leaders of the world's major economies.

The protest close to the summit largely involved members of a Free Tibet lobby group, as well as individuals demonstrating for more jobs, and one man whose face was daubed in black and red paint and was seen taunting officers.

Police managed to contain the scuffle, however, with the giant "ring of steel" surrounding the summit venue, ensuring no protestors managed to get even close, although chants from the crowd could be heard at the convention centre.

Elsewhere in the city, there were reports of rocks being thrown at buses in the Bloomfield district, where the windows and ATM of one bank were damaged.

Many local businesses prepared for the summit by boarding up their properties, while around half of the shops, restaurants and bars in the downtown area – close to the summit – have closed for the duration.

Police have been drafted in from around the country to cope with the protests, with officers from Tuscon, Arizona – some 2,100 miles from Pittsburgh – seen stationed outside the PNC Bank headquarters, while soldiers, special agents and Federal Bureau of Investigation staff are also visible in and around the city.

In the city's Lawrenceville district, about a mile from the summit venue, police deployed tear gas in order to disperse crowds after warning everyone in the area to "leave the immediate vicinity regardless of your purpose." Protestors responded by throwing bottles at the officer.

Funny, but despite the media portrayals of Tea Parties as raucous and angry, we never saw any scenes like this.

More here.

According to Pittsburgh police, 24 people were arrested during the day and another 42 people were arrested overnight as protesters and students thronged in the city's Oakland section, home to the University of Pittsburgh. Police said six people were treated for injuries and other medical problems, including heat exhaustion and reaction to pepper spray; two people were taken to hospitals, but details weren't available.

Protesters complained about the city's response, saying their rights were trampled and that violence would not have broken out if police had allowed the marchers their say.

Jesse Ericson of the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project, an umbrella organization of protest groups, condemned the city for a "bumbling and violent police action."

The G-20 Resistance Project has encouraged "affinity groups" to protest Friday morning at companies that it says represent greed, exploitation, warfare and other social ills, with potential targets including banks, Starbucks, McDonald's, grocery stores and a Marine Corps recruiting center.

In a stunning development, this report actually put a label on someone.

The National Lawyers Guild, a liberal legal-aid group, said one of its observers, a second-year law student, was among those arrested during the march. Its representatives were stationed among the protesters, wearing fluorescent green hats.

Others are whining about a police state.

Later Thursday, hundreds of protesters, including a handful of anarchists, massed near the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden where the G-20 summit was beginning with a welcome ceremony.

"Tell me what a police state looks like. This is what a police state looks like!" the protesters chanted as several hundred riot police blocked them from getting any closer.

Jordanian Busted Trying To Bomb Dallas Skyscraper

Good thing Obama stopped people from hating us.

Details.

James T. Jacks, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, and Robert E. Casey, Jr., Special Agent in Charge for the Dallas Office of the FBI, announced today that Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, has been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Smadi, who was under continuous surveillance by the FBI, was arrested today near Fountain Place, a 60-story glass office tower located at 1445 Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas, after he placed an inert/inactive car bomb at the location. Smadi, a Jordanian citizen in the U.S. illegally, lived and worked in Italy, Texas, (approximately 45 miles south of Dallas).

He has repeatedly espoused his desire to commit violent Jihad and has been the focus of an undercover FBI investigation.

"The highest priority of the FBI and the Department of Justice remains the prevention of another terrorist attack within the United States," said U.S. Attorney Jacks. "In that effort, it is the job of the FBI to locate and identify individuals intent upon carrying out any type of attack upon this country and its citizens/residents. Whether as part of a group or acting alone, persons contemplating such acts need to know that all components of the government are working together to ferret out their activities and to insure that such individuals face the full measure of the law. The identification and apprehension of this defendant, who was acting alone, is a sobering reminder that there are people among us who want to do us grave harm," Jacks continued.

Special Agent in Charge Casey said, "Today's arrest of Hosam Maher Husein Smadi underscores the FBI's unwavering commitment to bring to justice persons who attempt to bring harm to citizens of this country and significant danger to this community. Smadi made a decision to act to commit a significant conspicuous act of violence under his banner of "self Jihad." He will now face justice. The many agents, detectives, analysts and prosecutors who helped to bring about Thursday's arrest deserve special thanks for their efforts. This case serves as a reminder of the continuing threats of terrorism we face as a nation and the FBI's resolve to meet those threats. The arrest of Smadi is not in any way related to the ongoing terror investigation in New York and Colorado."

"The criminal complaint alleges that Hosam Smadi sought and attempted to bomb the Fountain Place office tower, but a coordinated undercover law enforcement action was able to thwart his efforts and ensure no one was harmed," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

He wanted to pull it off on September 11, but that happened to fall during that very holy month of Ramadan, when these maniacs supposedly don't try to commit mass murder.

In late August 2009, while meeting with one of the undercover FBI agents in Dallas, Smadi discussed the logistics and timing of the bombing, stating that he would have preferred to do the attack on "11 September," but decided to wait until after the month of Ramadan, which ended on September 20, 2009. At the conclusion of the meeting, Smadi decided that a vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) would be placed at the foundation of the Fountain Place office tower.

Unbeknownst to Smadi, the FBI ensured the VBIED contained only an inert/inactive explosive device which contained no explosive materials.

A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The offense of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction carries, upon conviction, a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Here's the FBI release.

I'm sure some crackpot lefty blogger will somehow tie this to the tea parties, Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, right?

Did I note he was here illegally? Sadly, his chances of being legalized and receiving free ObamaCare look pretty slim right now, but I'm sure Eric Holder and the boys will treat him leniently. He'll probably get a couple of years and first class passage back to Jordan.

Update: This is just too rich to ignore.

How can anyone criticize our President when we are at War?
Republicans are just un-American.
...
I think they should spend more time catching REAL terrorists like the assholes that strung up the census worker the other day. and less time tricking stupid gullible kids into doing idiotic things so they can pad their arrest statistics and show us all how "tough on terrorism" they are.

Legal Defense Fund Set Up for Hannah Giles

Well, that didn't take long.

ACORN's case against her, James O'Keefe and Andrew Breitbart is incredibly thin and likely meant to intimidate, but I suspect the coffers will fill up quickly.

Can't find one yet but I'm sure O'Keefe will have one soon if he doesn't already.

Here's the home page for the Legal Liberty Institute.

Scandalous! Hot Model Exposed for Looking Hot

Can you believe this? A model dressed up in a skimpy outfit? What on earth is this world coming to?

Oh, I see, it's Carrie Prejean, so for some reason I guess we're supposed to freak out or something. Perhaps when she took this gig she was supposed to have known some freakazoid would ask her about gay marriage and the left would implode because she dared to utter an opinion held by the vast majority of this county.

Whatever. She looks awesomely hot however you slice it.

Here's a Halloween costume that's certain to scare away the competition.

Photos of former Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean, posing in skimpy Halloween costumes have surfaced on a Web site, according to TMZ.com.

The photos on Disguise.com, which show the notoriously conservative and self-proclaimed Christian wearing knee-high shiny boots, a black mini skirt and belly-baring low-cut top in one ensemble, were taken last year when Prejean modeled for the Women of Marvel costume line, according to TMZ.

Prejean also apparently wore the sultry get-ups during a live runway show at Comic Con 2008, a video posted on TMZ.com revealed.

The former pageant queen became the center of much controversy for answer to a same-sex marriage question during the Miss USA 2009 pageant in April. After facing a slew of criticism for her comment, Prejean, who did not win the national title, was later stripped of her Miss California crown when a photograph of her partially nude was released on the Internet.

Uh, that wasn't the reason given for her being dismissed as Miss California, but hey, we can't expect the media, with their layers upon layers of editors and fact checkers to actually get the story right.

Trump and other pageant leaders said Prejean was being sacked not because of the remarks but because she hadn't been holding up her end of the agreement she signed when she entered the pageant.

Man Arrested After Seeking a Threesome

What's wrong with that, you ask? Ponder this.

A Staten Island man was reportedly busted after seeking a sexual encounter with a woman and her 14-month-old daughter.

Pennsylvania prosecutors said Anthony Taylor, 48, met a woman in an Internet chat room.

On Wednesday, when Taylor arrived in Media, Pa., he was met not by the woman -- but police, WABC/Channel 7 reported on its Web site.

The woman turned out to be an undercover detective.

Taylor was arraigned on multiple sex-related charges and is currently being held on $750,000 bail.

In the criminal complaint filed against Taylor, prosecutors allege that he told the undercover cop, in respect to the baby, "I liked control ... how far you want me to go with her."

There's a special place in hell for scumbags like this. Let's hope he goes there soon.