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Saturday, April 22, 2006
Wisdom from Blackhawk
DOH CanadaThe PC Moonbats get away with more than they would down here: The "new" Canadian War Museum in Ottawa is in the throes of yet another controversy -- this time over their depiction of Bomber Command in World War II.
Of the 55,000 who made up Bomber Command aircrew in World War II, some 60% were killed, nearly 10,000 of them Canadian -- the highest casualty rate of the war.
The plaque at the war museum leading into the Bomber Command display reads, in part: "The value and morality of the strategic bomber offensive against Germany remains bitterly contested. Bomber command's aim was to crush civilian morale and force Germany to surrender by destroying its cities and industrial installations.
"Although Bomber Command and American attacks left 600,000 Germans dead, and more than five million homeless, the raids resulted in only small reduction in German production until late in the war."Although it is commonly forgotten now, the outcome of World War II was not a foregone conclusion. If Hitler had not invaded the Soviet Union he could have held most of Western Europe. The D-Day Invasion would have been suicide against an army fighting on only that front.
Live Reports from the Milblogger ConfabCheck Smash, Mudville Gazette and Chaotic Synaptic Activity.
Duke Lacrosse Party TimelineI'm going to try to put together all the times known in this case (there seem to be a lot of them): 11:02 PM: The first picture shows at least 10 students hanging out in a living room, apparently waiting for the dancers to arrive. Most of the students appear to be drinking. By the number of people in this photo, it appears only a fraction of the 47 lacrosse team members are there.Shortly before midnight, March 13: Accuser and second dancer (who was driving) arrive at the party. 12 AM, March 14: This is the first picture of the strippers. Students are watching the show, but not grabbing or attempting to touch the women. Bruises are clearly visible on the legs and thighs of the alleged victim.12:00:40 AM: Another picture taken 40 seconds later shows bruises on the accuser's knees. Her right knee appears to have an open cut.12:03:57 AM : About four minutes after arriving, a picture shows the strippers leaving the room. The photo clearly shows that the alleged victim left behind one of her shoes.12:14 AM: Defense attorneys said they have records showing that Seligmann called the On Time Taxi company at 12:14 a.m. from his cell phone that night.12:19 AM. Mostafa said he picked up Seligmann and a friend at 610 North Buchanan Blvd. at 12:19 a.m. He said he could tell that Seligmann had been drinking, but that he didn't appear drunk.Note: ABC says: In a written statement to the defense also reviewed by ABC, a cabdriver confirms picking up Seligmann and a friend a block and a half from the party, and driving them to the bank.12:24 AM. The cab driver said he then drove Seligmann to a Wachovia Bank to get money, and defense attorneys say an ATM receipt shows he withdrew cash at 12:24 a.m.12:24 AM-12:41 AM: Mostafa said he next drove the lacrosse player to a restaurant, then back to his dorm. Defense sources said a card reader at the door of the dorm shows Seligmann's student ID card was swiped to get inside at 12:41 a.m.12:25 AM: By 12:25 a.m., he was making a phone call to a girlfriend out of state.12:30:12 AM: The next photo shows the alleged victim on the back porch, carrying what appears to be her purse and a makeup bag. Her clothes are intact.12:30:47 AM: A photo taken 30 seconds later shows the alleged victim on the porch and she appears to smile.12:31:26 AM: But 30 seconds after that, a photo shows the alleged victim stumbling down the back steps of the house.12:37:58 AM: A series of photos are taken, all showing the woman lying on her left side on the back porch, seemingly passed out or asleep. She had visible cuts on her legs and buttocks that did not appear in the previous photos.12:41 AM: The final photo shows the accuser and the second dancer in a black car. The accuser is in the passengers seat. 12:41 AM: Defense sources said a card reader at the door of the dorm shows Seligmann's student ID card was swiped to get inside at 12:41 a.m. 12:41 AM. Seligman uses a student ID card to gain access to his dormitory. 12:46 AM: Duke University records show that Seligmann's card was used to gain entry at 12:46 a.m.12:53 AM. According to Durham police records, a call was placed to 911 at 12:53 a.m., stating that men from the house were hurling racial slurs It has been widely reported that this call was made by the second dancer, Kim Roberts. 12:55-1:06 AM. Police logs indicate that two squad cars responded, the first arriving at 12:55 a.m. The officers left about 11 minutes later and reported that the house and the surrounding grounds appeared empty -- a far cry from the close to 20 men Mostafa said he saw, NBC 17 reported.1:00 AM (Approximate): The guard says the woman behind the wheel entered the grocery store at approximately 1 a.m. and told her that she needed help, saying there was a girl in her car who refused to get out.1:07 AM (Approximate). "He said he saw about 20 people on the lawn of the home, "yelling, talking back" to each other, including one African-American woman who he said didn't appear to be injured. Four men got into the taxi, Mostafa said, and they appeared to be drunk. One of them said, "She's just a stripper," Mostafa quoted." 1:22 AM: Police were called to the parking lot of a Kroger store not far from the party at 1:22 a.m., search warrant documents said, and found a woman in a car who told them she had been raped.Here's a map of the drive from 810 N. Buchanan to the Kroger Store:  Mapquest estimates a 5 minute drive from the lacrosse party house to the Kroger. Working it back, then the women must have left the house no later than 1:17, and probably much earlier. The security guard estimates that the second dancer entered the store at around 1:00 AM. Working it back from there means that they would have had to leave the party no later than 12:55 PM, probably at least a few minutes earlier, which would tend to fit with the police report at 12:55 which indicated that the house was quiet. Observations: Seligman appears to have had very little time to rape the woman. At roughly 12:04 there is a photo of the woman leaving the room. At 12:19 he has left the party. That leaves only 15 minutes, and that's not considering the time that Seligmann called the cab, or the time that it took Seligmann to walk the block and a half from the party to where he caught the cab. We know that the second dancer lied in her call to 911 at 12:53. She also reportedly lied to the security guard at the store: On the tape, the guard recounts the conversation she had with the the dancer who came into the store: The woman told the guard she was driving down the street and heard people yelling racial slurs at a woman she had never met before, then, out of sympathy, she picked up the woman and brought her to the Kroger parking lot.Now, we know why she lied at the store; because she was desperately hoping not to get involved in the story and have her career choices known to her parents. But the fact that she was lying as early as the 911 call means that she already knew at that point that the incident was going to have repercussions. So it appears that at the moment the dancers were leaving the party or almost immediately thereafter she knew of the rape accusations. Let's put some dots together here. It appears likely to me that the dancer was claiming rape as she left the party. This would fit two other pieces of the timeline together. First, it gives the second dancer a reason to make the fake 911 call. Second, it explains why the police would find the house deserted so soon after the dancers left. Time conflicts: 1. The police and Mostafa obviously conflict on the time at which Mostafa returned to the party to pick up his second fare. There appear to be two possibilities: That Mostafa was wrong, or the police were at the wrong address. This does not appear to affect his estimate of the time when he picked up Seligmann, which certainly appears confirmed by the Wachovia ATM receipt. But it is troubling nonetheless. If he dropped Seligmann off at his dormitory a bit before 12:41, then he would have to have gone back to the lacrosse house within about 10 minutes in order to see the argument between the dancers and the players, which surely took place before 12:53. So why would he remember it being almost a half hour later? 2. ABC News and CNN conflict on when Seligmann used his card to enter his dormitory. This does not appear to be crucial, because he was reportedly in the cab the entire time from 12:19 on with the exception of getting out to use the ATM. 3. This MSNBC piece says the dancer claims she arrived at 11:30 PM. Although some observers have indicated that perhaps she could have been raped before midnight that does not fit with the indictments, which all show a March 14, 2006 date for the offense. Feel free to tell me about any other times you have come across in the case, or other observations. Note: Paul points out in the comments that the time stamps on the photographs may not be accurate. This is certainly true; the question is how far off they could be. They appear to fit very well with other evidence. There are some obvious questions: How many players were taking photos? If there are two similar photos taken by two different cameras and both show approximately the same time, that will be a strong indication the times are right--as would a photo that shows some other evidence of the time like a wall clock or watch.
Call Me NutsBut this looks like a controlled demolition of Charlie Sheen: In a searing court attack on Charlie Sheen, actress Denise Richards alleges that her estranged husband is unstable, violent, addicted to gambling and prostitutes, and visits pornographic web sites featuring young men and girls who appear underage. In a remarkable sworn declaration (a copy of which you'll find below) filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court, Richards also charges that Sheen, 40, assaulted her and threatened her life during a December 30 incident at the actress's Los Angeles home. (Boldface added).  Speaking of Sheen, here's a PR release by the 9-11 conspiracy nuts citing his expert testimony: The trial holding Zacarias Moussaoui responsible for the horrors of 9/11 has all the marks of a political charade, according to Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a society of experts devoted to exposing falsehoods and establishing truths about the events of that day. "Even the most basic elements of due process have been violated," according to James H. Fetzer, its founder and co-chair, "by failing to prove that the accused had anything to do with 9/11. What we are seeing here tends to substantiate Charlie Sheen's allegations."The Pretend Pundit has more, including an amusing take on the role of hookers in society.
CIA Leaker Was Kerry SupporterDan Riehl has the details. She also gave $5,000 to the Ohio Democratic Party, according to Wikipedia. She's also a Sandy Burglar appointee. Can somebody explain to me how the CIA became riddled with liberals? On its face this seems unlikely. Were they not-so-liberal people who became anti-Bush because of the restructuring of the CIA during his tenure? Prediction: We won't see cries of treason from the Lefty blogs, and both the WaPo and the New York Times will run editorials calling this A Good Leak.
Rick Moran suggests that perhaps McCarthy was caught in a sting operation, because the major story she leaked was the one about the CIA's secret prisons in Eastern Europe. The story won a Pulitzer the other day for the Washington Post, but the EU is beginning to think that it was a phony report. Update: Kitty has much more, including a photo.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Carnival of the Clueless is Up!Getcha peanuts, getcha cotton candy and head over to my favorite carnival.
Inductive Versus Deductive ReasoningHere's a terrific post by Grandaddy Longlegs on the Greg Mitchell article that I blogged about yesterday. Ordinarily I'd have just updated my original post, but this one is good enough to spotlight. Now that you have your primer on how to detect liberal pundits' fallacies of the undistributed middle and inductive reasoning, I urge you to re-read Greg Mitchell's A Crisis Almost Without Equal in its entirety. His invalid inferences will amaze you -- especially his matter-of-fact suggestion that, "Republicans and Democrats alike are starting to face the [harrowing] prospect of what it means to have George W. Bush as their commander in chief for another 33 months."
Why is it never apparent to the BDS'ers that many people are disappointed with President Bush because he has not used the powers of his office enough, rather than having gone too far? Highly recommended.
Here's An Unfortunate HeadlineAbout the Rachel Corrie dramatization: Play Pushed UndergroundMuch like the protagonist. Joust the Facts reacts to another good headline.
This Week In BloggingPajamas Media has a podcast on this week's big blog stories. I'm listening to it now--good production qualities and interesting discussion.
Out of IraqMichael Totten's continuing series on his Iraq trip comes to an end, but not without major hassles. Definitely worth reading. He pointed at himself and held up five fingers. Then he pointed at Sean and held up five fingers. Then he pointed at me and held up five fingers and said “No problem.” Then he pointed at himself, held up six fingers, and said “Problem.”
I knew what he meant. Each person could carry five cartons of cigarettes across the border without any problem. No one was allowed to carry six cartons. He wanted me to carry five cartons and he wanted Sean to carry five cartons.
“No problem,” he said again.
But it was a problem.
“Problem!” I said.Many years ago I was vacationing in Acapulco. It was during one of Mexico's currency devaluation crises. The official exchange rate inside Mexico was 70 pesos to the dollar, but on the street you could get as much as 105 pesos to the dollar (because the market exchange rate in the US was 118). So if you changed your dollars into pesos at the official exchange rate, you'd only get 7,000 pesos for $100. But there was one problem; apparently the Mexican government recognized that the tourists would be angry if they got back to the US and tried to exchange their pesos back to dollars at the 118 to the dollar rate. So they had set up a special bank just past customs to change pesos into dollars at the 70 to the dollar rate. So I'm going through customs and the guy looks around and says in a whisper, "Senor, you will change pesos into dollars for me?" Of course, what he wanted to do was give me, say 7,000 pesos, get those changed back into 100 dollars, and then he would turn around and convert the dollars back into pesos on the street, ending up with 10,500 pesos. Not bad money if you can get it. But I'd heard bad things about Mexican prisons and I certainly had no desire to get any first hand experience. So I said no. The guy actually started wheedling with me, saying it was alright, everybody did it, so I said no, a little louder. Fortunately by then another group of people were coming up behind me so he probably decided to try another person.
Fran O'Briens/Hilton UpdateThird Wave Dave is guest blogging over at The Dawg, and he's got some updates for you on the story of Hilton's eviction of Fran O'Brien's, the restaurant that serves a free steak dinner to wounded veterans. In a delicious bit of timing, the Milbloggers are having a convention in Washington DC; expect the pressure to rise on the Hilton management. Dave points out in the comments that there will be radio coverage on from 3-5 PM Eastern today. Check out the link above for further information. Update: Thanks to Andrea Shea-King for mentioning Brainster's on the radio; she even brought up Kitty and my scoop on Christmas in Cambodia. I've now been mentioned quite a few times on the radio, but it's always a thrill when it happens. Thanks also to Third Wave Dave, who I'm sure had quite a bit to do with us being mentioned.
Call For More Diversity on the Mound? This strikes me as rather silly: The percentage of black pitchers in the major leagues last year was half of what it was in 1983.
The University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics said Thursday that three percent of pitchers, one percent of catchers and 11 percent of infielders were black last year, based on 40-man rosters listed in 2005 media guides. That compares with 26 percent of outfielders.
In 1983, 6.6 percent of pitchers were black, the study said.I'll probably take some flak for saying this, but isn't it obvious to everybody that the area where blacks have a huge advantage in sports is their footspeed? We all know that the best sprinters in the USA are black. In the NFL last year, the top 30 running backs by yards gained were all black. At wide receiver the picture is much the same; the top 30 in yards gained receiving included two white guys; Jeremy Shockey at 28th and Todd Heap at 30th. Yet nobody looks at those figures and says that the NFL is practicing racism against white running backs and wide receivers. We all accept that talent is not evenly distributed at those positions. Note: This is not to say that racism doesn't exist in baseball or other sports. But I don't think it's extensive at the player level; at the coach/manager/GM level deponent sayeth not.
The Second Dancer At the Duke lacrosse party speaks. At first, a stripper who performed at a Duke University lacrosse team party doubted the story of a colleague who told police she was dragged into a bathroom and raped. Now, Kim Roberts isn't so sure.
"I was not in the bathroom when it happened, so I can't say a rape occurred ? and I never will," Roberts told The Associated Press on Thursday in her first on-the-record interview. But after watching defense attorneys release photos of the accuser, and upset by the leaking of both dancers' criminal pasts, she said she has to "wonder about their character."Of course, no questions about the character of the accuser? Roberts said Thursday she does not remember Seligmann's face, but said she recalls seeing Finnerty--whom she described as the "little skinny one." Skinny I will grant her. But little? My guess is that he's 6'4" or taller. I'm sure the defense is filing that remark away.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Now There They Go Again The Democrats, chasing the dream that there's something they can do to change their luck without changing their political agenda: Ten states asked the Democratic National Committee on Thursday to let them hold early presidential nominating contests in 2008, promising to bring more racial and geographic diversity to the process of choosing a candidate.If you remember, the magic bullet in 2004 was that they would frontload the primaries to make sure that they had a nominee early. It worked, but they got Le Fraude as their nominee, so they're trying a new way of shaking the dice. The proposal, which has drawn opposition in Iowa and New Hampshire, was designed to let those two states retain much of their prominence in the nominating process while giving a bigger voice to states in the South and West -- areas where Democrats have suffered in recent presidential races.Ah, the delicious irony of it all. I have often commented on the wonders of American politics. Liberals largely desegregated the South, and drove white men from the party. And as a result, the Democrats can seemingly only win when they have Southern white men at the top of the ticket. If we go back to 1964, Southern white male Democrats have gone 4-2 in the Presidential sweepstakes, while Northern white male Democrats have managed a somewhat lackluster 0-5 record. So of course the irony is that the Democrats, having driven most of the white male Southerners from their party, find themselves relying on them for their only chance of winning. Which has got to be galling to the base. "Arizona really represents in many ways the future of the Democratic Party," said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who spoke to the panel by telephone and highlighted the state's growing Hispanic population.
"The West is someplace where the national Democratic Party can make serious inroads," she said.Let me say that the Democrats do well here in AZ considering that they have a joke of a party. Napolitano appears to be cruising towards reelection, but she's the only shining star in the party's firmament. Despite that, Arizona is nowhere near the solid state for the Republicans that it used to be, at least on the national level. Kyl's safe in 2006; the race here will be an early signal of Howard Dean's willingness to pursue his foolish 50-state strategy. This was considered to be an "in-play" seat by some early in the campaign, but Kyl's stature rose with the recent Time Magazine Top Ten Senators rating. Kyl's definitely on the career path for the Supreme Court if not the White House. The guy just impresses the heck out of me. He's not going to run for the big job in '08 but he's definitely somebody every conservative should consider voting for if he does try in 2012 or later.
Terrific Blogging by Patterico--UpdatedLet's see what we have here is an L.A. Times blogger posting comments on other blogs, under a different name, and complimenting himself (both as blogger and commenter). Terrific job of investigative work by Patterico! Let me mention here too that BrainsterKoshi is one of the smartest commenters in the blogosphere. And that guy Pat who blogs over at Silver Age Comics? He's a prince! Update: Mikekoshi responds. Update II: The LA Times shuts down the blog. Kudos to Patterico! Update III: Mr Ugly American has a roundup. Hat Tip: Memeorandum
More Evidence In Duke CaseCab driver says Seligmann was calm, but a later passenger from the same house was angry: Meanwhile, a cab driver who took a since-arrested lacrosse player home from a team party the same night a woman claims she was raped says his passenger was calm and jovial. But the driver, Moez Mostafa, said a second passenger he picked up later was talking about a stripper in a tone that made it "look to me like somebody get hurt."
Mostafa told MSNBC that he returned to the house later to pick up another customer. He told FOX News that when he arrived at the house the second time, some players were on the front lawn and a light-skinned black woman was walking away from the house. She was arguing with the players, then Mostafa said the woman said, "I am going to call the police."
Four of the lacrosse players then got into the cab; Mostafa described them as agitated. He then heard one player say to another, "don't worry, she's just a stripper." He also said, "it look to me like somebody get hurt. But what kind of harm ... I have no idea."More confirmation that both sides were angry when the strippers left, which tends to make sense if there was a dispute over money.  Police had found four fake women's fingernails inside the bathroom where the accuser says the attack took place. The fingernails initially were thought to be a sign that a struggle did occur in that room.
But FOX New confirmed that the defense has photos from 12:04 a.m. March 14, showing the dancer already missing several of her fingernails, suggesting that her fingernails were missing before the time of the alleged attack.Obvious question: Were those the same four fingernails? Where exactly in the bathroom were the fingernails found? If they were hidden, it might indicate the girl planned this all along.
Greg Mitchell, Again Jeez, is this guy a twit or what? Our president, in a time of war, terrorism and nuclear intrigue, will likely remain in office for another 33 months, with crushingly low approval ratings that are still inching lower. Facing a similar problem, voters had a chance to quickly toss Jimmy Carter out of office, and did so. With a similar lengthy period left on his White House lease, Richard Nixon quit, facing impeachment. Neither outcome is at hand this time.Actually, the voters were not facing a similar problem with Jimmy Carter, since his lease was up. The alarm should be bi-partisan. Many Republicans fear their president's image as a bumbler will hurt their party for years. The rest may fret about the almost certain paralysis within the administration, or a reversal of certain favorite policies.Yes, Greg Mitchell only has the best interests of the Republicans at heart. No wonder so many are starting to look for a way to shorten or short-circuit the extended crisis period. Republicans demand a true shake-out at the White House. This week at Vanity Fair online, Carl Bernstein is calling for a Watergate-style congressional probe of possible high crimes and misdemeanors. Even Neil Young is weighing in with a soon-to-be-released song that urges, “Let’s impeach the president -- for lying.”
But rather than push impeachment for partisan reasons, the Democrats will actually put it off -- for partisan reasons. An unpopular president helps their drive for votes in November, and everything else is secondary.Yes, of course that's why the Democrats are not calling for impeachment. It has nothing to do with the polls indicating the public opposes impeachment by strong margins. Not that Mitchell has anything in mind--he just wants to kick start the discussion: I don’t have a solution myself now, although all pleas for serious probes, journalistic or official, of the many alleged White House misdeeds should be heeded. But my point here is simply to start the discussion, and urge that the media, first, recognize that the crisis—or, if you want to say, impending crisis -- exists, and begin to explore the ways to confront it.Yes, let's all start wringing our hands and saying "What are we to do? The sky is falling!" Question: Isn't that what the liberals have been doing for the last 5 years? Others: Just a Bump in the Beltway suggests that it's time for senior party leaders to tell Bush it's time to go. (!) Confederate Yankee sees something sinister in Mitchell's article: What are you asking for, Mr. Mitchell? Are you asking your friends in the professional media to gin up outrage and hysteria, in hopes that in a nation of 300 million... no, you couldn't be.Hat Tip: MemeorandumI've taken the cluebat to Mitchell several times in the past: More of the Same From Greg MitchellBush In New Scandal?In Case You Didn't Get The Memo from RoveConservative Blogz Rool!J-Pod Has a Good PointLet's See Some Gory PhotosWhat a Twit!
Will She Be At Larry Flynt's Table?News item: Valerie Plame to attend White House correspondents' dinner.
Ankle Biters Inside Poop on Duke Lacrosse CaseBDP got some information from a source he trusts. Race may be playing a factor - but not how you think. The strippers were hired over the phone, and the person that called asked for white strippers. However, as everyone knows by know, neither of the strippers were white. When the strippers did come over they were clearly impaired - so much so that the alleged victim passed out on the back porch, and some of the players had to help her to the car because she couldn't walk. Further, the strippers did not even "perform" their show.All of this seems consistent with what we know so far, although I have not heard as yet that the second dancer was impaired. The source does seem to get one detail wrong. BDP indicates that the girl was taken upstairs to a bathroom. Here's a photo of the house (white one on the left):  As you can see, it appears to be one-story with an attic or crawl space indicated by the dormer window. The space above the first floor does not appear to be sufficient to warrant a bathroom.
Kudos to Mrs MAs pointed out by a couple of commenters here yesterday, the moonbats have been posting Michelle Malkin's address, phone number, and even aerial photos from Google Earth of her neighborhood. Her response: I'm not afraid of you! I certainly hope that all these kooks are capable of is ringing her doorbell and running away. Or that she's a practitioner of the right to keep and bear arms. I noticed this over at Memeorandum, and thought that perhaps, just maybe, one of the lefty blogs responding would have the responsibility to say enough is enough. Maybe? Nope. About the best is "Let's not stoop to her level" meme. Quite a few liberals responding, but they all seem to have a similar theme: Orcinus: We're all too familiar with this routine. After all, it's what the entirety of her book Unhinged was predicated upon. Malkin, as I said then, is like the lunatic who walks around the public square and pokes people in the eye with a sharp stick, and then is shocked, shocked, that anyone would respond with anger and outrage.Posting information available on the web=poking people in the eye with a stick. Peking Duck continues to refer to Mrs M by her maiden name: Unfortunately, Ms. Maglalang, in case you haven't noticed, the tide in America is turning. We are tired of being spoon-fed candy-coated lies from the likes of Donald Rumsfeld and the Codpiece in Chief. We are tired of the death by a million cuts that is our misadventure in Iraq. We are tired of being dismissed as "moonbats" and traitors simply for demanding that America do better. You can rage all you want, and your angry audience can lap it up, but you are increasingly on the fringe, not the mainstream, having made yourself the poster child for all that is most ugly about the present administration. Have you ever asked yourself why so many people hate you so much?That's an easy one. Because they're a bunch of "hate America" idiots who don't like anybody who stands up for it. TBogg: Field General Jeff Goldstein of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders - Toast-em Pop-Up Division blots his brow with a tissue and calls for condemnation, a snubbing, a black-list, a look askance, a remonstration, and an official "shunning" of any one who does anything like what Michelle Malkin did except what she did was okay because those dumb kids did put their names on a press release that was intended for the press and since Michelle Malkin pretends she's a journalist everything is cool with her doing it.Sadly No wins the prize for the most responsible reaction: Bradrocket adds: Seething, outraged right-wingers should know that when some putz posted Michelle's number in the comments to one of our threads, we deleted it as soon as we saw it. Seriously, people, that sh*t is not cool so please don't do it.Pandagon brings the Duke lacrosse rape case into it: Suffice it to say, the two cases are being received much differently by the right punditry. The Santa Cruz peace group is being called “seditious” and had Michelle Malkin release their private information on her blog so they could get death threats from her readers. As I mentioned yesterday, Kathleen Parker compared the Duke lacrosse team to lynching victims (missing the much more apt comparison of them to lynchers due to the whites-ganging-up-on-one-black-person aspect) and even vaguely implied they were martyrs like Christ. Charlotte Allen is running a series on the Duke rape case called “Crying Rape”, which she says means “accusing someone of rape”, but for some reason she felt that the phrasing that implies to most of us that the victim is lying worked better. The good news is so far I haven’t seen any right wingers fantazing about another Kent State at UC Santa Cruz, and believe me, I looked.All I can think of is that Pandagon has not been following the Duke case or the Malkin/SAW case. Or the Kent State case, for that matter.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Duke Lacrosse Rape Case Continues to Unravel--Updated!The defense is getting rather interesting: Finnerty appears in none of the photos, Abrams said, which bolsters defense attorneys' claims that the teen wasn't at the party when the alleged rape occurred.This may or may not be exculpatory. Were the photos shot from various angles, so that a lot of the participants at the party were photographed? And to point out the very obvious, was Finnerty himself the photographer? Are there multiple photographers? Some photos taken before midnight show the players partying before the accuser and another dancer arrived. No photos were taken between 12:10 a.m. and 12:30 a.m., but the dancer is pictured in several shots taken between 12:31 a.m. and 12:41 a.m. in which she was smiling and getting into a car, Abrams said.
"You could argue that something might have happened in that period between 12:10 and 12:30. The defense would say, though, that because she's smiling in the photo taken at 12:31, it would be hard to believe that she had been brutally raped," he said.For argument's sake, the prosecutor would claim that it proves some drug was administered to her. Update: As pointed out by topsekret9 in the comments, this will depend on the results of tests on the woman at the hospital. Was there any evidence of drugs in her bloodstream? And the defense will counter that she was on drugs when she arrived. The photos also bolster the defense claims by what they don't show, Abrams said.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong previously said no DNA was found under the accuser's fingernails linking lacrosse players to an attack where she fought back because the attackers were likely wearing long-sleeve shirts or jackets. But Seligmann and most of the players pictured at the party were wearing short sleeves, Abrams said.This goes to the heart of the initial order requiring the players to submit to DNA testing. One of the claims that the alleged victim made was that she had scratched the arm of one of her attackers. We've already heard the "maybe they put on condoms" explanation for the lack of DNA evidence that the young men raped her, now we've got the "maybe they put on jackets too" explanation. I'd love to say that this case is falling apart moment by moment, but the fact remains that these two young men are in wheels of the criminal justice system. They will not extricate themselves easily. Update: Paul, in the comments, asks: Why not look into some cry's (sic) of I'm innocent from people on death row?
None of them are white enough?This case isn't about race to me. If you look back to my first post on this case, entitled Racist Duke Lacrosse Team Gang-Rapes Woman?, while I was a little suspicious given the woman's "career choices" I closed with: So it certainly sounds like this was really rape; not just a case of "theft of services". It is only after more details began to emerge that I moved from the "they probably did it" to "they probably didn't". Indeed, it seems to me that the folks who remain in the "they probably did it" camp are the ones who are basing that on race and class and not on the details of the case.
The Amazing Race: Sopwith CamelOkay, I missed the first half of tonight's episode (for a good reason, about which you will hear much more in the future), so I'm going to start with what I saw. As always I recommend that you cruise on over to Viking Pundit's for his recap. When I turned on the TV, the teams were racing to deliver camels in the back of a small truck. I saw Ray and Yolander using a winch to hoist the animals up and into the truckbed. The next challenge is the Roadblock. One player from each team must search through mounds of earth to find a luau-style meal deep inside. The hippies and the old couple are the first to arrive, followed by Monicer and Joseph. Monicer kicks butt on the challenge, quickly finding the food and getting the next clue. Fran and Barry finish next, then the frat boys. Ray and Yolander arrive last, but even they find their meal before BJ and Tyler. Things are not looking good for the hippies, and all I could think of was last season's find the red bean challenge which Philiminated the Gaghans. Speaking of which, did you know that last season's sweetheart, Carissa Gaghan, is blogging this year's race, too? There's much discussion of the heat being at least 90, which leads me to ask if I would have needed a sweater? It will soon be 90 degrees here (Phoenix) for the high until late October. I go mountain bike riding when it's 110, so I'm not impressed. BJ finally scores and the hippies are back racing. The Pit Stop is at Jabreen Castle in Oman:  This appears to be about where the mat was:  Monicer and Joseph should win here, but they get lost, and Fran and Barry somehow get far ahead of them; it looks to be at least an hour or more judging by the lighting. The Frat Boys decide to take a "short cut"; regular viewers of The Amazing Race are probably groaning. Taking short cuts is something that people from densely populated areas do because they are used to roads being paved and reasonably straight and well-maintained. Ray and Yolander get past them and reach the mat third. Will BJ & Tyler somehow manage to do the same? Nope. The Frat Boys finish fourth, meaning that the Hippies are facing Phil-limination. Of course, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking--have we had a non-elimination leg yet this year? Sure enough, when BJ and Tyler reach the mat they lose all their possessions, but they are not out of it!
Buffoonish Post (And Comments) of the DayFrom a tax law professor no less: It appears that the VP is a major beneficiary of the Hurricane Katrina tax relief act. In particular, he claimed $6.8 million of charitable deductions, which is 77% of his AGI -- well in excess of the 50% limitation that would have applied absent the Katrina legislation. The press release indicates that the charitable contribution reflects the amount of net proceeds from an independent administrator's exercise of the VP's Halliburton options -- apparently, the VP had agreed back in 2001 that he would donate the net proceeds from the options to charities once they were exercised.
The press release seems to confirm, at least implicitly, the VP's efforts to take advantage of the Katrina legislation -- it mentions that the Cheneys wrote a personal check of $2.3 million to the administrator in December in order to "maximize the charitable gifts in 2005." Admittedly, I don't know anything about the transactions beyond the info in the press release, but my gut reaction is that the personal check was given in order to make sure the independent administrator had sufficient liquid assets to pay all of the promised charitable contributions before the 50% limit returned on 1/1/06.
Despite the importance of the Katrina legislation to his tax return, it looks like none of the charitable contributions actually went to Katrina-related charities (the press release lists the 3 charitable recipients, all of which were designated in the original 2001 gift agreement). While there's nothing inappropriate about that from a legal perspective, it does demonstrate how the legislation, which was sold to the public as providing relief to Katrina victims, provided significant tax benefits to the VP (and potentially other wealthy individuals) in situations that have nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina.Yeah, that nasty Dick Cheney, donating too much of his money to charity! He should be more like Al Gore, who donated $353 in 1997. Or Bill Clinton, who donated his used underwear.  Let's work out some of the numbers. If $6.8 million is 77% of Cheney's AGI, then then AGI must be somewhere around $8.8 million. If he wrote a special check for $2.3 million, then his charitable contributions before that check were about $4.5 million, right around the old limit. So the whole reason Cheney exceeded the old limit is that he wrote out a big check to charity. And we're supposed to be outraged? But the real comedy is in the comments: Why is this man not in jail?
Posted by: Beverly Hill | Apr 17, 2006 11:53:22 PM
How does this guy sleep at night? This administration makes me sick to my stomach. They are sooooo corrupt.
Posted by: Kathleen | Apr 18, 2006 2:05:12 PM
This administration has no shame.
They are "do as I say, not as I do" people
Posted by: Bob Sanderson | Apr 18, 2006 2:09:15 PM
REPREHENSIBLE, totally devoid of any moral values, ...a true, dyed-in-the-wool Robber Baron.
Posted by: tony | Apr 18, 2006 2:10:41 PM
We need a perp-walk, and we need it now.
Posted by: L. Kern | Apr 18, 2006 2:22:38 PM Yep, that's right, the readers want to put Cheney in jail for donating too much to charity. Hat Tip: Blogsnow
This Just InMen make bad financial decisions after looking at pretty women: Men about to play a financial game were shown images of sexy women or lingerie.
The Proceedings of the Royal Society B study found they were more likely to accept unfair offers than men not been exposed to the alluring images.Speaking of which:  Now, how about mailing me $10,000?
Moron Crooks & LiarsThis is one of the dumber blogs on the portside. Reporting on the Malkin/SAW controversy, they quote one of Captain Ed's commenters approvingly: Ed, I know you support MIchele in this. And there's no defense for the pathetic emails she's getting, which I saw at Flopping Aces. But we also shouldn't reinvent conventions around Press Releases. I've written hundreds in my career. The contact information is not for publication.Jeez, somebody better tell PRWeb they're doing it all wrong. World's First Stock Market Search Engine Released: For more information on the service, visit http://www.scanthemarket.com or call 888-318-3754 x87.
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The Worst Historian In History? Is Sean Wilentz, by a large margin. He claims that Bush is the worst president in history, but get this: Twelve percent of the historians polled -- nearly as many as those who rated Bush a success -- flatly called Bush the worst president in American history.That of course is more of a reflection on historians than on Bush. Note that in the entire article, Wilentz does not once mention Jimmy Carter, surely the worst president in my lifetime. Remember Wilentz? He was the history professor whose testimony at the Clinton Impeachment trial was so embarrassing even other liberals told him to stuff it? Here's one of his more shrill claims: If you believe they do rise to that level, you will vote for impeachment and take your risks at going down in history with the zealots and the fanatics.
If you understand that the charges do not rise to the level of impeachment, or if you are at all unsure, and yet you vote in favor of impeachment anyway for some other reason, history will track you down and condemn you for your cravenness. Kind of gives the image of "history" as Inspector Javert, non? He's also notable for his effort to convince people that Al Gore's win in the popular vote in 2000 meant something: Wilentz assembled a bizarre group that included some of our nation's top professors of constitutional law (including Bruce Ackerman, Ronald Dworkin, and Cass Sunstein) mixed together with actors and other celebrities (including Robert De Niro, Rosie O'Donnell, and Bianca Jagger) and persuaded them to sign their names to a full-page ad in the New York Times that spoke of Al Gore's having won a "clear constitutional majority of the popular vote," even though the Constitution says nothing about the popular vote in presidential elections and is perfectly clear that victory goes to the candidate who receives the most electoral votes.Here's a funny Mark Steyn column from November 22, 2000 on that topic. Trouble was, not all the Concerned Citizens knew what they were signing. Like those Palm Beach Jews who punched their chads for Pat Buchanan, prominent members of the Emergency Committee claimed they'd been "confused." Cass Sunstein of the University of Chicago told Slate's Timothy Noah that he didn't even know he'd agreed to join an Emergency Committee. Furthermore, he said, "I was very upset to see my name associated with a position that I reject." He also passed Slate a copy of a letter that he, Prof. Dworkin and Bruce Ackerman of Yale, had sent to the Times:
"We did not see or approve, and do not approve of, the Saturday advertisement on the op-ed page of the Times, which included a number of alleged 'signatories,' including us. The advertisement calls, far too prematurely, for new elections in Florida. We never saw the text and would not have signed it if we had."Joust the Facts also remembers Professor Wilentz's silencing of dissent. James Taranto proves that Wilentz is a bad historian, using Wilentz's own words! Update: Hugh Hewitt and Christopher Hitchens dissect the Wilentz piece. Marathon Pundit concurs with my assessment of the peanut farmer and has evidence to back it up.
The New Press SecretaryLots of speculation it will be Tony Snow, but The Man at GOP & The City has another candidate in mind, one that could certainly handle Helen Thomas and the other members of the Drive-By Media.
Quest for (Nuclear) Fire Here's a very interesting post about Iranian students in the US during the early 1980s. He then began to explain how under his student visa, he needed cooperation from the Iranian government. The Iranian government had their own set of things they wanted from a student. These things were requested through The Snitch. It seems that every semester, an engineering student would be asked to take a class in nuclear physics. The intent was to find someone that could “figure it out”. The “it” in this case, was a “nuclear bomb”. He stopped for a moment and let that sink in.
He then turned to me and said, “They only need two; One for Israel and one for the United States.”Thanks to Texas Songbird for the tip!
US Generals Call for More RetirementsOne suspects that this call won't be as widely publicized as the calls for Rumsfeld's resignation. Hat Tip: Pajamas Media
Indicted Duke Lacrosse Player Has Alibi--Updated The story continues to surprise. Around midnight the night of March 13, Seligmann was already at the party when two women hired from a local escort agency arrived to dance for the boys — $400 each for a two-hour performance. A series of time-stamped photographs viewed by ABC News show the girls dancing at midnight and at 12:02 a.m.
By 12:24 a.m., a receipt reviewed by ABC indicates that Seligmann's ATM card was used at a nearby Wachovia bank. In a written statement to the defense also reviewed by ABC, a cabdriver confirms picking up Seligmann and a friend a block and a half from the party, and driving them to the bank. By 12:25 a.m., he was making a phone call to a girlfriend out of state.
What did Seligmann do after leaving the bank? The taxi driver remembers taking him to a drive-thru fast-food restaurant and then dropping him off at his dorm. Duke University records show that Seligmann's card was used to gain entry at 12:46 a.m. That looks like a pretty good alibi. Obviously it has to be checked out and documented, but ABC seems pretty sure of itself. Update: La Shawn points us to the indictments at The Smoking Gun. What I found striking was this note on the request for sealed indictments: ....even if all charges were consolidated for judgment and the defendant were sentenced to the minimum sentence in the mitigated range, he would face a sentence of 144-182 months upon conviction.Update II: BDP says the alibi for the first defendant should make the DA hesitate to bring either defendant to trial.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Moron the SAWI see Don Surber's making sure his reputation as an iconoclast stays intact. The names were on a press release that was taken down after the students realized that bloggers are not newspapermen and will publish your name, your address and your personal diary if you let them.Okay, and of those three she published the names, from a public relations release. Lots of news sites publish PR pieces complete with the name, phone number, and email attached. Here's one I found with no difficulty (unfortunately there's no permalink, but I found it under "Xinhua Far East China Ratings"): For more information, please contact: Hong Kong
Joy Tsang,
Corporate & Investor Communications Director,
Xinhua Finance
Tel: +852-3196-3983, +8621-6113-5999 or +852-9486-4364
Email: joytsangatxinhuafinancedotcom
US
David Leeney
Taylor Rafferty (IR/PR Contact in US)
Tel: +1-212-889-4350
Email: davidLeeneyattaylor-raffertydotcomMyDD proposes a litmus test for the WaPo's new conservative blogger: I would like to propose a simple "no death threat" litmus test for them as they conduct their search. For starters, don't hire any blogger who posts private phone numbers of college students. Perhaps more importantly, don't hire any blogger whose readers call said phone numbers and issue death threats to said college students. I would take this a step further, and suggest that the Post doesn't hire anyone who blogrolls the death threat issuing blog, but that would exclude around 90% of the conservative blogosphere from consideration. Malkin, is the second most blogrolled conservative blog in the country, with 4,947 conservative blogs giving her a permanent link.Yes, and how many liberal blogs blogroll bookburner Jane Hamsher and Firedog Lake? And about those poor college students? I strongly suspect that they're thrilled. They've become minor celebs in the Lefty movement, which may explain why Mrs Malkin still does not report receiving a direct request from any of the students themselves to remove the "personal" information.
David Mamet Posts a Good CartoonI suspect the Huffpoers are about to go nuts on him, though.
My Favorite BloggerKitty always does a great job with her posts. She's an excellent writer, and she's got an eye for the picture that fits perfectly with her post. She's been posting a little less frequently as she works on her book, but she's always got something delightful cooking. Be sure to click through to see Wetback Mountain!
Sergeant Juanita Wilson, Hero Here's a moving story: "We got everything we needed and [were] on our way back … about an hour from our camp … that's when something happened to our vehicle," recounted Wilson, a full-time member of the Army Reserve whose unit deployed to Iraq in March of 2004.
That 'something' was an improvised explosive device (IED) that wounded her and several members of her convoy in August of 2004. The explosion cost Wilson her left hand and some of her arm.However: While recuperating at Walter Reed, one option Wilson would not consider was leaving the Army, despite the long road to recovery that lay ahead of her.
"From Day One, my decision was, 'I'm not getting out,'" Wilson said, adding that she still has things she wants to accomplish in the military. "My support channel has been there for me and I'd like to give that back to the soldiers of the future."Wilson understands the circumstances that have drawn media attention to her, but doesn’t consider herself to be that special.
"I hope to represent every soldier in the Army Reserve — and my daughter — in a positive way. If you put your feet in Iraq or Afghanistan, your service is just as meaningful and just as appreciated," Wilson said.Amen, Sgt. Wilson! Texas Songbird has more on this story. Lucky Dawg has a video tribute to the men and women of our military that is definitely worth your time.
Smacking Around Bill Richardson Our buddy Chris at Lucky Dawg puts on the gloves and goes a few rounds with the New Mexico governor.
Reminding Us Why They're Called the P-U-Litzers--Updated! Michelle Malkin points out that the Drive-By Media are patting themselves on the back. She highlights a few of the more ridiculous awards. But to me the one that's really absurd is the New Orleans Times-Picayune. I posted here about a shocking story that the NOT-P published. Arkansas National Guardsman Mikel Brooks stepped through the food service entrance of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Monday, flipped on the light at the end of his machine gun, and started pointing out bodies.
"Don't step in that blood - it's contaminated," he said. "That one with his arm sticking up in the air, he's an old man." Then he shined the light on the smaller human figure under the white sheet next to the elderly man.
"That's a kid," he said. "There's another one in the freezer, a 7-year-old with her throat cut."A later NOT-P article about the media's misteps in their Katrina coverage was partially bylined to Brian Thevenot, who was the one who reported the seven-year-old girl's murder. And it's not as if I'm the only one who noted this; Hugh Hewitt jumped all over it too. See also: Sweetness & Light: Yep, the "newspaper" which gave us so many drama queen stories about Katrina that turned out to be woefully inaccurate wins the top prize in US journalism.Ranting Profs: The Pulitzers are out today, and I'm delighted to see (since someone was going to win something for Katrina coverage) that it was the New Orleans Times Picayune (which couldn't even produce paper issues for several days.) Keep in mind that one of their main contributions was to debunk the reporting of their colleagues -- and in doing so to reclaim the reputation of their city.They did do some debunking, it's true. But they seemed noticeably less agressive about pointing out their own mistakes. See also Andrew McCarthy.
More Signs of Global Cooling? And the hazards therefrom to wildlife: Migratory birds are under threat after the coldest March in a decade helped to delay the traditional signs of spring by two weeks.
Swallows at the end of a 6,000-mile journey from Africa are arriving later than usual and could struggle to find enough insects to build up their vanished fat reserves, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Late frosts have killed frogspawn and delayed breeding in some areas, putting newly-emerged frogs at risk of drying out from the heat when they emerge this summer.
The flowers and insects of spring are appearing later because temperatures have fallen back to what is considered to be the seasonal average, according to the Woodland Trust. Almost a decade of mild winters has led to regular sightings of birds breeding in January, bumblebees in February and hawthorn flowers blooming in March.
But after the coldest winter in 10 years took March temperatures down to 3.9C, more than 1C below the 30-year average and 2.5C lower than in 2005, the trust said that nature's spring cycle was returning to normal after a two- to three-year blip. I doubt Laurie David will be blogging on this topic at the HuffPo.
Lefty Blogs Go NutsI'm amused at the Left Wing blogosphere's reaction to the Malkin/SAW smackdown. Pharyngula: Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin sics her mouth-breathing minions on some college-aged peace activists, and they get swamped with death threats from right wingers. And she does it twice, even after learning what kind of sewage her pals are spewing.Myers also says in the comments: Malkin does not get to excuse her vile behavior by saying "they did it first to so-and-so" -- her behavior is still twisted and repellent, even if there are also twisted and repellent people on my side of the political fence.For a scientist, Myers does not seem to have a strong respect for the free flow of information. I tried to nail him down on what would have been appropriate for Malkin to do; would it have been okay in his eyes if she had just linked to the press release of the students? Peking Duck likes to use Mrs Malkin's maiden name: Not that there was ever any doubt, but the fire-breathing Ms. Maglalang once again proves that she's purely bad news, a reckless bullying demagogue who has abandoned even the pretense of human decency.Why do they use her maiden name? I suppose it's just simple xenophobia; it sounds "different". Digby: Why would Malkin be held to a higher standard than the highest levels of the corporate rightwing media? Handing out private phone numbers is GOP SOP. On the right they call this "good journalism."These "private phone numbers" were included on a press release that you can still see at Indymedia. Ezra Klein: The lucky ones, among whom I include myself, find their path opening towards responsible, serious commentary. The sort of articles that allow us to wake up, yawn, look in the mirror, and feel good about what we see. And then there are the unlucky ones, the Michelle Malkins, who achieve acceptance through hatred and venom, and find themselves groping down the darkest path to political success.Yes, responsible, serious commentary like this: Rather than calling and speaking to them herself, which is what members of the press are supposed to use such releases for, Malkin published their personal information on her website, prompting her hordes of orcish mouth-breathers to brandish their pitchforks and inundate the unsuspecting students with death threats (some of which you can read here).Nope, no hatred and venom there!
Brainster On the Radio (This post will remain on top until Tuesday morning, scroll down for newer content). I will be on with my buddies Jamie Allman and Smash of 97.1 FM Talk for a 10-minute segment tomorrow morning at 7:10 AM Central Time (8:10 AM Eastern, 5:10 AM--Ouch!--my time). If you're not in the St. Louis area, you can listen in via the web.
Two Players Arrested in Duke Lacrosse Case--Updated! Well, the DA got the perp walk he was looking for: Duke University lacrosse players Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were charged today with first degree forcible rape, first degree sexual offense and kidnapping in connection with a reported rape at a Duke lacrosse party, according to George Naylor, director of the Durham County Jail.
Bond was set for each player at $400,000, Naylor said.
Seligmann, a sophomore from Essex Fells, N.J., and Finnerty, a sophomore from Garden City, N.Y., emerged from a sheriff's deputy vehicle and were led, handcuffed, into the magistrate's office at 4:54 a.m. today.I'm sure that photos will be on all the morning shows. And a reminder of what this is all about: "I no longer get to go anywhere in my community without people knowing who I am," said Nifong, who faces two challengers in a primary election May 2.Update: Kitty pointed me to Bulldog Pundit's analysis of the case: Now to the legal part of the case. There are stories that the person who made the 911 call complaining of racial harassment outside the house was the second stripper at the party. The problem is that on the 911 call she identified herself as a "passer-by".
That's a huge, huge, hurdle for the prosecution to overcome. If this second stripper is the main witness against the defendants then the defense attorney's will have a field day with her because the first thing she did was lie. Further, if you've heard the 911 call you know that it's very unusual and odd to say the least. For one thing she changes between speaking calmly and matter-of-factly to crying at the drop of a hat. And the crying/upset part is when she talks about the racial epithets. Given the racially charged nature of the situation, that becomes a major factor both in terms of credibility, and moving the trial out of county.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Who Is More Angry? A fair number of bloggers were annoyed at the Washington Post article this weekend on blogger Maryscott O'Connor, claiming that it just reinforced the media's image of bloggers (especially Lefty bloggers) as angry kooks. But I don't think there's any doubt that there's much more hatred and venom on the Left than there is on the Right. Perhaps you can argue that situation would have been reversed if there'd been a lot of blogging during the Clinton years. Check out the emails that Michelle Malkin has been getting over posting the names, phone numbers and email addresses of the PR flacks for the UCSC Students Against War. Never mind that these folks gave out the information in postings on Indy Media and elsewhere. I'm personally appalled at the disgusting things they write to her; for one thing the sexism and racism from folks who supposedly pride themselves on their tolerance is revealing. Let me point out as well that the goofs at SAW have also been getting some pretty vicious emails as well. That's unfortunate; this shouldn't be about the individuals, but about the general principles. But I don't buy the equivalency argument, either. SAW was wrong to block access to information; in a lot of ways they are no better than book burners or Google China. Michelle Malkin simply found information that was already on the web and reprinted it.
Ham Sandwich Not Indicted Either--Updated! This is pretty interesting: A Durham grand jury issued a list of indictments this afternoon that did not include members of the Duke University lacrosse team.
District Attorney Mike Nifong had been widely anticipated to seek charges today from the grand jury after an escort service dancer told police more than a month ago that she was sexually assaulted by three men at a lacrosse team party.
It was unclear whether any indictments were issued under seal -- a rare move -- or whether the case was among 24 carried over to a grand jury session two weeks from today.Nifong sounds just a little testy in this ironic exchange: Just after noon, Nifong emerged from his office and walked straight across the hallway to the bathroom.
Reporters swiftly surrounded the bathroom door, a crowd that included five television cameras, three still photographers, sound men with boom microphones and at least a dozen print reporters.
When the toilet flushed, the group tensed, raised cameras and prepared. Nifong did not emerge with news.
"I no longer get to go anywhere in my community without people knowing who I am," Nifong said. "I wish you could find me a way to give me my anonymity back."Ironic of course, because the Duke lacrosse players would probably ask for the same thing. Other reactions: La Shawn Barber: At any rate, it’s not over until the grand jury indicts or throws out the case if Mike Nifong sent the case to the grand jury. There’s no confirmation. Now he decides to clam up.Sister Toljah points us to bizarre news: Jesse Jackson has offered to pay the "victim's" tuition. Jeralyn Merrit: Some tv reports indicate sealed indictments. Also: What's so silly about this is that sealed indictments are usually handed down to avoid tipping off a suspect who might flee if he got advance word. The prosecutor seems to be milking this for all it's worth.Update: This report by ABC News casts further doubt on the allegations: On the tape, the guard recounts the conversation she had with the the dancer who came into the store: The woman told the guard she was driving down the street and heard people yelling racial slurs at a woman she had never met before, then, out of sympathy, she picked up the woman and brought her to the Kroger parking lot.
This contradicts the scenario that the two women were dancing together for lacrosse players earlier that night. ABC News has seen photos of both women dancing in the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
Protest Report Wayne Boettcher reports on his protest (with others) of a Code Pinko event in Tucson. But the problems didn't end there. Feedback from the PA system interrupted frequently. Khamas was stopping and starting her descriptions of American atrocities at random with long periods of dead time as computer malfunctions abounded with eerie irony. A woman was typing desperately on the PC keyboard. But as the Iraqi accuser described bombings of civilians, photos of happy tuxedoed and gowned young people at a party were shown. When she told of a horrible death, a cute puppy holding a stuffed toy in his mouth appeared. Finally, they changed back to the Mac. Thankfully the option switching man was not summoned and the deceptive dialogue finally began in earnest as the slideshow started. Later it was stopped and then started again just before the end.Wayne did a terrific job of countering the propaganda of Code Pinko and Saddam supporter Eman Ahmed Khamas. This one is highly recommended!
Murtha For President?A particularly clueless lib at the Huffpo proclaims his support: This country needs a leader to step up today, to be a symbol of hope, to be a President-in-waiting.
My candidate is Congressman John Murtha from Pennsylvania. If you agree, add your email address below, and then send to a friend right now.
Congressman John P. Murtha looks like a kindly grandfather in his blue suit, white shirt and striped tie, but he breathes fire. He is angry and decent, and when people hear him speak (which he is doing on behalf of scores of candidates all over the country) they shout "Murtha for President!" and the room erupts with cheers. You can feel the beginning of a grassroots campaign following him everywhere he goes.This is just another variation on Bush Derangement Syndrome. Here's what Wikipedia says about Murtha: Murtha is a somewhat conservative Democrat. He opposes abortion, consistently receiving a 0% rating from NARAL. However he supports stem-cell research. He generally opposes gun control, earning an A+ from the National Rifle Association. He opposes the ban on drilling in ANWR. Murtha was also one of the few Democrats in Congress to vote against the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.But you know how it is; he opposes Bush, so the radical left is happy to adopt him as their own. He'll also be older than Reagan was when he ran for reelection in 1984 (76 versus 73).
Glenn Greenwald: Stop Comparing People to Hitler(Note: Be sure to read the clarification at the end of this post). This is pretty funny. Glenn Greewald gets upset at the comparisons to Hitler. No, not those comparisons:  These comparisons: To pro-Bush war supporters, the world is forever stuck in the 1930s. Every leader we don't like is Adolph Hitler, a crazed and irrational lunatic who wants to dominate the world. Every country opposed to our interests is Nazi Germany.He invokes Godwin's Law: The now well-known principle, Godwin's Law, holds: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler" increases and that once such a comparison is made, "the thread in which the comment was posted is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress." That principle should be applied 100-fold to foreign policy choices, especially decisions about whether to start new wars.Predictably, it only takes a few comments before the most common comparison to Hitler is made: The Queen is Not Amused said...
One regime that can be compared to the Nazi regime is the Bush regime. Everyone knows that. We also know that this country was "founded" on the same principals...CONQUER THE SAVAGES and TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS. (What...? You thought it was freedom?)Clarification: Glenn stopped by in the comments and was, shall we say, not amused. Let me be clear. Glenn's point is reasonable and debatable. I do think that in general, comparisons to Hitler by either the Left or the Right are hyperbolic. What I found funny was that one of his commenters almost immediately responded with a comparison of Bush to Hitler.
Who Are the Santa Cruz Students Against War?(Welcome, fellow Michelle Malkin readers!) Michelle Malkin has a post on their latest "action". Apparently a group of them rode around on 10-speeds last night, slashing tires and vandalizing SUVs. [Inserted correction: Kalkin in the comments points out that there is nothing in the story to connect this vandalism to the SAW contingent. It may symbolize the general moonbattery of Santa Cruz lefties, but it's far from established that there is any connection to SAW, and I apologize for implying otherwise.] At the end of the story she notes that she's been criticized for posting "personal" information on the SAW group, although it came from the anti-war kooks themselves. There are three names listed on the SAW PR sheet. As it happens, none of them is a "Sam Jones" or similar common name so I thought I'd spend a little time Googling them. David Zlutnick is a rebel with many causes: Protesting increased tuition and fees. UCSC students Ryan Wadsworth and David Zlutnick were escorted from the room for speaking out of turn.
Zlutnick, a member of the Student Worker Coalition, said he works 20 hours a week busing tables to pay for rent, leaving him less time to study. Protesting the "selling-out" of the revolution: The word “revolution” is used so often it makes me wanna puke. The term is being thrown around so much it’s losing significance and credibility. Radio stations owned by Clear Channel playing “alternative” music refer to themselves as the “new rock revolution.” Car companies call their new lines of SUVs a “revolution.” Video games now have “revolution” in their title. As do laptops. And MP3 players. And motorhomes. And speedboats. And energy drinks. And… well you get the idea. Is it a good thing that revolution is used to sell products? And products that, for the most part, only the well-off can afford? I don’t know about you, but any revolution that I wanna see happen does not include SUVs, motorhomes, and most definitely not “alternative” music.Here he admits that gays in the military is not the issue for him: Protestors claim that the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell policy,’ which requires gay men and women to hide their sexual orientation, violates campus discrimination policy. Although this is only one part of the protest platform, third-year UCSC student and SAW member David Zlutnick said, “The bottom line is if queers are included in the military we’d still be anti-military…[discrimination] is definitely part of the bigger picture.”Here he does his impression of Juan Cole: Word on the street is that Iraq is headed toward civil war. Every day we hear about it from the mainstream media, telling us that the sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims are turning bloodier and bloodier by the day. Fears jumped when the Al Askari Mosque in Samarra, a Shia holy site, was bombed on February 24th and reprisals began against Sunnis. Over 50 Sunni mosques were damaged and three Imams (religious leaders) were killed following the initial attack. The question now is whether or not this is just the beginning of a larger conflict that has the potential of engulfing the entire nation.Here's a digital project he did at UCSC. I'm guessing that he's not interested in pursuing law enforcement as a career. Sam Aranke is apparently a female. Here's some discussion of the recent ouster of the military recruiters: Aranke expressed doubt that a member of SAW would throw a rock, though she noted that the group had no control over who participates in events.
By protesting military recruitment, Aranke said, the students resisted both the war in Iraq and what Aranke called a war at home.
The tendency of the military to recruit among low-income communities amounted to a “back door poverty draft” whereby recruiters draw from populations who might think of the military as their only opportunity to escape poverty, she said.Janine Carmona pops up here with some poetry for us: The streets crack open
beneath dissent
spilling
through cracks
it pools
in black-lined eyes
the whirlwind of shouts
is concentrated bliss
before it stretches and splits
cut by the roar of police bikes
toothed tires eager to rip flesh
inches behind
gobbling up freedom
swallowing
the only way
out Autum Ashante, she's not! She's part of the Gay Pride movement at UCSC. She's also active in the theatre, appearing in Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues. Update: See also John Hawkins: Let me just say that there was absolutely nothing whatsoever wrong with Michelle posting the phone numbers and email addresses of the SAW people on her website. Nothing.
While I have condemned posting private home addresses and phone numbers publicly, when you put a phone number or email address on a press release, as far as I'm concerned, you have no standing to complain about it being publicized. After all, that's the whole point of the press release.Mr Ugly American has more coverage.
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