RIP Gerry Solan

Gerry Solan, retired Lieutenant from the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office, has passed on. He was 59.

Gerry and I attended the 1974 Fall Semester Regional Police Academy together. In the academy we were the "old guys," he was 27 and I was 25. Gerry sat right behind me in the classroom. I was a loud mouth wise guy and tried to crack Gerry up ... and did so on a regular basis. Jerry would double over laughing and smack me in the back of my head. IIRC there were about a dozen different law enforcement agencies in our academy.

We teased the State Parks Police rookies unmercifully. I drew a picture of an obscene felony bear stop for them and passed it around the class. It was awful. They never forgave me for that.

Gerry worked the road patrol and later was the CO of their Personnel Section. He retired about a year before I did. After leaving the Sheriff's, he worked for the US Marshals Office providing security for the Federal Office Building here in the city. I would see him whenever I visited the US Attorney's Office for meetings and spend some time with him.

He was truly a decent man, a good cop and I will miss him.

No Confidence In Nifong

Things are going from bad to worse for Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong. From Fox News:

RALEIGH, N.C. — By the time the prosecutor in the Duke University lacrosse case is tried on ethics charges, the sexual assault indictment he sought against three players may have been long since dismissed. The bar association, which filed the ethics charges Thursday, will not schedule Nifong's trial-like hearing for at least three months,

The North Carolina bar association has filed ethics charges against Nifong for his role in violating

four rules of professional conduct by making misleading and inflammatory comments about the athletes, said Thomas Lunsford, executive director of the state bar.

On top of that, Nifong has been forced to reconsider any charges at all in the case.

If the woman who claims the players sexually assaulted her at a party cannot identify them at a February hearing, Durham County District Attorney Mark Nifong has said, he will abandon the divisive case.

First Nifong dropped the rape charges after he withheld DNA evidence that was damaging to his proecution; now the entire case might be dropped.

At the next hearing in the lacrosse case, set for Feb. 5, the defense is expected to ask a judge to throw out the results of a photo lineup in which the accuser — a 28-year-old hired to perform as a stripper at a lacrosse team party — identified her attackers. If that happens, experts have said Nifong would likely be forced to drop charges of kidnapping and sexual offense, and Nifong has acknowledged as much.

This whole charade continues to unravel. Then yesterday

the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys — which does not have any regulatory authority — called on Nifong to recuse himself.

This conference represents all of Nifongs peers, other DA's who can see what this is doing to the reputation of the state's criminal justice system. Nifong kept digging himself deeper with this case. He put his reputation and the prestige of his office on the line and sacrificed it all for his re-election.

So far the best summary of the events in Raleigh is from a defense attorney:

"This is so sad," said Larry Pozner, a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "This case is going to end up with nothing but losers. Everybody who touched it and was touched by it will have lost something, and it is not a shining moment for the criminal justice system."

How Fast Did Saddam Slide Into Hell?

"I saw fear, he was afraid."

So says Ali Al Massedy, the man chosen to videotape the execution of Saddam Hussein. Standing only three feet away from the ex-dictator as he slid into eternity, Ali was in a perfect position to observe Hussein as the final preparations for his death were completed.

There was some discussion whether or not Saddam would be strangled by the rope in a short drop (ala Iranian executions), or if he would be given the option of a quick neck pop in a long drop. From Ali's account,

Saddam dropped through—from "me to you," he said, crouching down to show how he shot the scene. The distance, he said, was "about one meter,"

It was the long drop.

From the official Iraqi government photograph, the rope used to hang Saddam looks like it could be used to lash the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to the dock at San Diego. I wonder if "alleged" lengths of it will show up on eBay?

From the photo, it appears as if there is at least five to six feet of slack in the rope.

Using the British Table of Drops, we can infer that Hussein may have been hung by the 1913 standards. A man weighing 200 lbs and over requires a drop of at least five feet. Saddam was 6'2" and his weight fluctuated between 210 and 220 pounds.

Now for arguments sake, let's assume that it only took a second for Saddam to reach the end of his rope, so to speak. We know that the force of gravity is a constant, that is, 32 feet per second squared. Using the acceleration equation

Vf = Vo + at

we can solve for final velocity. The initial velocity, Vo, is zero because Saddam was at rest. Not really at rest cause he was probably crapping his pants, but he wasn't moving in relation to the gallows. So all we have is that Saddam accelerated for one second at 32 ft/sec2. So he was probably moving at about 32 feet per second when he ran out of rope. That is only 21.8 mph. Saddam's velocity was barely sufficient to get him bagged for speeding in a school zone.

Kinetic energy (KE) is something else. What was the force (power) exerted on his neck vertebrae? The formula for finding the kinetic energy of a moving object is:

KE = 1/2 * M * V2

where m = mass of object and v = speed of object. This is easier to solve in metric units of measure. Estimating Saddam's weight at 210 pounds (he didn't have much of an appetite lately) his metric weight would be 95.25 kilos. His final velocity would actually be zero since the rope brought him to an abrupt stop, but just before that point, he would be travelling at 35.1 kmh or 9.75 meters per second.

Using the KE equation, that is only 4,527 joules/sec. Converted to US measurements, that translates to 3,339 ft lbs/sec. or the equivalent of 6.07 horsepower.

Hmmmm.

The Ultimate Dictator of Iraq was killed by the equivalent output of a Briggs & Stratton mulching lawnmower engine.

Saddam's End

Several news sources give a time of between 9:30 and 10:30 tonight as the time for Saddam's hanging. Scripture states that God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked, but I think a lot of Iraqi's will be deep in the throes of a happy dance tonight.


UPDATE: 10:15 pm EST - Fox News reports that Herr Hussein dwells no more amongst the living.

Cleansing The Gene Pool

MINERAL RIDGE, Ohio —

A nursing home resident started the fire that killed him by igniting a crack pipe with a butane lighter, authorities said.

What more can you say? His self medication program was a complete success. He no longer requires any medical attention at all.

Rickie Raver Sr., 49, of Lake Milton, was on oxygen therapy, which contributed to the Sept. 30 fire in his room at Briarfield At the Ridge, Weathersfield Township fire Chief Randy Pugh said yesterday.

"Keep in mind oxygen is going to saturate on clothes and bedding," Pugh said. "All it needs is an ignition to initiate a rapid burn."

The fire chief almost got it right. All it needs is an idiot sucking on a crack pipe near a tank of O2. Fortunately the fire did not spread beyond Raver's room and has been ruled an accident. Drug paraphernalia was found in the room and an autopsy toxicology test revealed traces of cocaine and alcohol in his body.

Police are investigating how Raver, left a paraplegic by a motorcycle accident, obtained drugs and drug paraphernalia, Chief Joseph Consiglio said.

"We don't know if he brought it in with him, if his relatives or friends brought it to him, if there's someone who is bringing more to other patients, if it's an employee," Consiglio said.

I remember reading in P. J. O'Rourke's book, "Parliament of Whores," where the author quoted a NYC mental health official as stating that the drug problem in this country would end when all the drug addicts were dead. All our efforts to treat them and keep them alive are merely prolonging the problem. It appears that Mr.Raver is now a cured drug addict.

More Bad News For Nifong

It seems that in some states there are consequences for politicians who overstep themselves.

The North Carolina bar filed an ethics complaint Thursday against the prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse case, accusing him of breaking four rules of professional conduct when speaking to the reporters about the sensational case.

The punishment for ethics violations can range from admonishment to disbarment.

I wish this was true everywhere. There isn't a lot to this story, and I wonder about the timing of this as well as other aspects of the Duke rape case.

Among the rules District Attorney Mike Nifong was accused of violating was a prohibition against making comments "that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public comdemnation of the accuser." In a statement, the bar said it opened a case against Nifong in March 30, a little more than two weeks after the
party where a 28-year-old student at North Carolina Central University hired to perform as a stripper said she was raped.

Running for re-election can be worrisome and there is nothing like a little "heightening" to heighten your chances of keeping your job. But if the ethics investigation against Nifong was opened at the end of March, why did it take so long for news of the investigation to become public? Why was the DNA evidence mismatch also withheld? Why were the rape charges not withdrawn until after the elections? These questions need to be addressed also.

Nifong did not immediately return a call for comment.

I imagine not.

And The Bad News Is?

If someone listens to the MSM as the sole source for all information on the middle east, there is but one one viewpoint given: Iraq is an unholy mess, get out, run away. But there are other measures of change, some of them fairly promising. This is one of them from Amir Taheiri of the NY Post:

WHILE the American political elite is using Iraq as an excuse for fighting internal political wars, a different reality is taking shape in parts of this war-torn nation. Wherever some measure of security is assured - that is to say in more than 80 percent of Iraq - towns and villages long left to die a slow death are creeping back to life.

Some are doing more than creeping. Things are booming in much of Iraq and it's not from IED's.

Nowhere is this slow but steady return to life more startling than in Um Qasr, in the southeast extremity of Iraq on the Persian Gulf. Four years ago, this was a jumble of rusting quays, abandoned houses and gutted buildings. By the spring of 2003, its population had dwindled to a few dozen, along with hundreds of stray dogs. There was even talk of abandoning it altogether.

This is the same talk in Democratic circles. The Iraqi's aren't buying it though, and perhaps we should be listening to them rather than the likes of Pelosi.

Today, however, Um Qasr is back in business as a port with commercial and military functions. Hundreds of families that had left after the first Gulf War in 1991 have returned - joining many more who have come from all over Iraq.

The boom in Um Qasr is part of a broader picture that also includes Basra (the sprawling metropolis of southern Iraq), the Shi'ite "holy" cities of Najaf and karbala, Mandali on the Iranian border and much of Baghdad.

You didn't see many new hotels springing up in Berlin in March of 1945. Investors are not idiots. They are not going to invest a lot of money in ventures that are bound to fail in a war zone, so why is this economic activity occuring at all?

Newsweek has just hailed the emergence of a booming market economy in Iraq as "the mother of all surprises," noting that "Iraqis are more optimistic about the future than most Americans are." The reason, of course, is that Iraqis know what is going on in their country while Americans are fed a diet of exclusively negative
reporting from Iraq.

Just how much growth is being experienced in Iraqi market segments?

The U.S. State Department reports that there are now 7.1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Iraq, up from just 1.4 million two years ago.

That is a 407% increase in just two years. Of course everything is not coming up roses in Iraq. Unemployment is about 30% in a country that is in the midst of an alleged civil war. But 30% is the average unemployment rate for the 3 billion workers for the entire planet!

What are the comparative unemployment rates in other countries, many of which are not plagued by daily bombings, kidnapping and murders? Take a look here.

Zimbabwe (unrest) - 85%
Liberia (unrest) - 85%
Zambia (no war) - 50%
East Timor (unrest) - 50%
Djibouti (no war) - 50%
Lesotho (recent unrest) - 45%
Turkmenistan (no war) - 45%
Bosnia/Herzegovina (recent war) - 45%
Nepal (no war) - 42%
Swaziland (no war) - 40%
Afghanistan (unrest) - 40%
Libya (no war)- 40%
Kenya (no war) - 40%
Macedonia (no war)- 37%
Yemen (no war) - 35%
Armenia (no war) - 32%
Gaza Strip (crazy idiots) - 31%
Serbia (recent war)- 31%
American Samoa (Hey, it belongs to us!) -30%
Cameroon (no war) - 30%
(I left out many small island nations such as Nauru with less than 20,000 pop. and an unemployment rate of 90%).

And these countries are just those with an unemployment rate of 30% and higher. Sometimes all you need are corrupt government officials to mess things up. And on top of everything else, that is exactly what Iraq is also recovering from - 30 years of Saddam's corrupt choke hold on the Iraqi economy.

But a good part of the boom is due to an unexpected flow of foreign
capital. This has been facilitated by the prospect of a liberal law on direct foreign investments, which exists only in such free-trade parts of the region as Dubai and Bahrain. None of Iraq's six neighbors offers such guarantee for the free flow of capital to and from the country.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the number of private companies in Iraq has increased from a mere 8,000 to more than 35,000 this year. Each week an average of 60 new companies spring up in Iraq's booming areas. A good part of the investment in southern Iraq, including in Um Qasr, comes from Kuwait and the
United Arab Emirates.

Iraq's neighbors are pouring investment capital into this country. What does that tell us? It appears that these countries do not read the Times or listen to the democrats.

"Whatever happens, Iraq is Iraq," says a Kuwaiti businessman, building hotels in the south. "Iraq will always remain the country with the world's largest oil reserves and the Middle East's biggest resources of water."

One hears similar comments from local and foreign businessmen investing in real estate in Najaf and Karbala. Over 200 million Shiite Muslims regard the cities as holy. Najaf and Karbala have always been dream destinations for pilgrims. Under Saddam Hussein, however, few foreign pilgrims were allowed. With the despot gone, pilgrims are pouring in - and with them the fresh money.

That good business is possible in Iraq is reflected in the performance of new companies, most of which did not exist three years ago. One privately owned mobile phone company is expected to report revenues of more than $500 million this year, a sevenfold increase in three years. Another private firm marketing soft drinks has seen profits double since the end of 2003. The number of luxury cars imported has risen from a few hundred in 2002 to more than 20,000 this year.

Conditions certainly are harsh in Iraq, but that is true of many other places in the world. With a stable, secular government and the end of bloody interference by other nations, Iraq could become the economic powerhouse of the Middle East. And perhaps this is what the White House was trying to accomplish. With everyone in DC appearing to go all wobbly I somehow doubt this will come to pass.

Merry Christmas

May this season bless you and your families.

Hold your loved ones close and praise Him from whom all blessing flow.

Praise our Lord and Savior for our salvation and His sacrifice that we now may be found sinless in His eyes and worthy to enter His Presense.

Never Bring A Brick To A Gun Fight

What should be a self evident truth had to be taught to a group of rock-throwing Mexicans by Border Patrol officers in Arizona.

YUMA, Ariz. -- A U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man who was throwing rocks at officers from the Mexican side of the border late Saturday, officials said. The incident began after agents spotted a suspicious vehicle near the Andrade Port of Entry west of the California-Arizona border, just north of the international border and alongside the Colorado River. The driver fled and then tried to swim across a pond along the river in an effort to return to Mexico, the agency said in a press release.

So The BP stops a smuggler, smuggler panicks, smuggler flees, smuggler swims. Nothing to see here people, please keep moving.

But the man began to struggle to stay afloat and agents threw him a flotation device and began to try to rescue him.

So the aforementioned mope forgets to wait a half hour after stuffing himself at the all-you-can-eat bean burrito buffet and gets a cramp. The ever helpful BP throws the criminal a life saving flotation device and rescues said criminal from a watery grave. The crowd who witnesses this act of kindness responds by showering the federal agents with flowers and chocolates and cries of gracias, right? Wrongomondo.

Several people on the other side of the border then began throwing rocks at the agents, and one officer was struck in the head.

The Mexicans respond by trying to kill the BP officers. Why in the world would they do that?

Attacks on Border Patrol agents have become more common in recent years, and this year agents say they're seeing smugglers become even more violent as more federal resources make crossing into the U.S. ever more difficult. Smugglers are throwing softball-sized rocks, hunks of concrete and whole bricks at agents, either out of frustration or to try to get authorities to back off.

It sounds like the crowd is in the employ of the smugglers. They figure that as long as they are in Mexico and hurl their missiles across the border, they cannot be held accountable. Wrong again.

The officer then shot at a man who was getting ready to throw another rock, the Border Patrol said. Mexican authorities took the man to a hospital, where he died.

So what's the problem? The news release is very sparse on details we'd all love to know. Like what kind of firearm and ammo was used, where the rock thrower was hit, how many times he was hit, if his entrails were blown out his back, if he screamed all the way to the hospital, and if he begged to see his mother just before he bled out and died.

Maybe tomorrow.

It's not that I'm completely unsympathetic (well, maybe I am), but our people had better start controlling our borders. And if this is the only way to do it, then so be it. Better a few are killed so the rest learn. They all can't be this stupid.

The Welfare State

I want to thank Paul Belien for an extraordinary example of just how screwed up things get under a socialist form of government. This from one of my favorite European blogs, the Brussels Journal:

[...] In 1986 Régnier married Christine Wuest (who is now 38). They have fifteen children, between 19 years and 11 months old. A couple of years later, Christine’s homeless sister Karine Wuest (now 35 years old) came to live with the couple. Soon she fell in love with Serge. Christine consented in her husband taking her sister as a second wife. Serge and Karine have six children, between 10 years and 10 months old.

Fifteen kids between the ages of 19 and 1. You'd think Christine would ready to have her tubes tied and fried before her next baby landslide. But you'd be wrong. And since about 1990 there has been another, younger set of willing tubes in sister Karine for Serge to play with.

All that time, Serge had been meeting his former girlfriend Judith De Leenheer (now 38 years old). When Judith’s marriage broke up – which was not altogether surprising since all her children were Serge’s rather than her husband’s – Serge asked his two wives whether they would mind taking her in. They did not mind. Serge and Judith have nine children, between 18 years and 10 months old.

Serge must have got his notions of family planning by watching the Blue Men bang on all those tubes. Think that this scenario is playing out somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains? You'd be wrong.

They all live together in Serge’s house in Marcinelle, a town in Wallonia, the French-speaking South of Belgium.

Not surprising they speak fwench. And the whole dang kit and caboodle is run on the Beligium taxpayer's dime.

Régnier applied for and received the status of an invalid from Wallonia's generous welfare authorities.

Obviously he is an invalid only from the waist up.

He consequently receives a welfare check of over €1,000 a month. His three wives are all unemployed. Hence, they each get €800 in unemployment benefits.

Serge's women are invalids only from the waist down due to terminal stretch marks. Not a soul in this Fertile Fallopian cluster lifts a finger to support themselves. What a system.

On top of this the family receives €4,000 in child allowances. This makes a grand total of more than €7,400 a month ($9,700 or £4,960) – all of it provided by Belgium’s taxpayers.

The Belgium taxpayer kicks in $116,400 a year to feed, clothe and shelter these welfare rabbits. The only hope for the Belgian nation is that Serge's women run out of female relatives for him to screw. If not, all is lost. Serge's offspring will overrun the Continent by 2045.

All the money matters in the household are taken care of by Serge.

Or by a certain "part" of Serge that is incapable of either holding a pencil or a job.

His wives are only interested in children. They have told the press that they each hope to have another baby in 2007.

And his three wives suspect that he is messing around with a fourth woman. I wonder what ever gave them the idea that he would be faithful to anyone other than himself?

Hillary didn't even get it half right. It takes more than a village; it takes a whole nation of taxpayers to support the slobs who abuse the public in this fashion.

A story like Régnier’s is probably only possible in the south of Belgium, where a man can spend his life in idleness while the taxpayers provide him with enough income to sustain three women and thirty children. Wallonia is a Socialist stronghold which is subsidized by Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern half of the country.

Tagged Again

The Merry Window, ahhh Widow, tagged me today so's I guess I better respond real proper like.

1. Three Things I want for Christmas

a) World Peace

b) Feed All The World's Hungry People

c) Hemorrhoids That Explosively Festoon The Toilet in Rose Petals When You Wipe Your Butt.



2. Three Things I Don't Want For Christmas

a) A World At War (Slow down! There's too many that need killing already!)

c) More Hungry People (Dang it! If you're so hungry, why you keep messin' with the wimmens?!? Go plant some chick peas and falafel berries and leave Fatima alone!)

3) Hemorrhoids That Go "Ho, Ho, Ho" When You Wipe Your Butt. (I don't want ANYTHING that requires batteries!)

Think about it ... which end goes in first, positive or negative? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!


Okay Cookie. Enough of the corny Christmas jokes and doggie diets. Read yer comments 'cause you be tagged Purina Boi!

Digging Out The Tick

I can't get away from the UN tick metaphor. I remember how my grandmother used to burn ticks out of our cocker spaniel's fur with a cigarette. Make it uncomfortable enough and the parasite will back out on its own. From the Christian Science Monitor:

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND – It is reasonable that honest, compassionate people seek a means for governments to air their differences. It is also reasonable that honest, compassionate people should desire some way to voluntarily pool resources to provide charitable aid to those who are starving or are victims of natural disaster. Indeed, this is the image of the United Nations that has been sold to the world since its inception.

I can remember how we were indoctrinated in school. Movies in the 50's and 60's glowed with the magnificent efforts of the UN to bring world peace. The UN was the salvation of the world. Now it is like bothersome guests who have overstayed their welcome. It is time to grab the UN by the scuff of the neck and the seat of the pants and throw them out. At gunpoint if necessary.

The UN gives validity to zealots and bigots. It helps to keep tyrannical dictators in power. It gives a voice to international terrorists.

Delay. Negotiate. Recommend. Study. Reconsider. Do nothing. This is the game the UN has played in nearly every international crisis. It is the reason North Korea remains a threat after 50 years. And it is the reason why a terrorist nation such as Syria can be given a seat on the UN's Human Rights Council.

The UN is buried under scandals. It has Oil-for-Food scandals. Smuggling scandals. And theft scandals.

And these scandals are then buried by the MSM. But it isn't buried deep enough because the awful stench still reaches our nostrils. And it's not just the incompetence and larceny, it's also the brutality of its member nations that refuse to exercise control over their troops.

UN peacekeeping missions - with their record of rob, rape,and pillage - can actually bring fear to the local citizens they are supposed to protect.

And through a lack of action, the UN emboldens murderous tyrants: witness the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis by their fellow Rwandans while French peace keeping troops stood by before acting... by retreating. For 12 years Saddam ignored UN sanctions with one hand while bribing them with the other. For all intents and purposes the UN is out of control.

Who has the power to oversee and control its actions? The people don't vote on UN actions. The media has little access behind the scenes. Who audits the accounting books?

Why Paul Volcker of course. Who reported that the UN Oil For Food program was tainted "from top to bottom and riddled with fraud." So far the only person punished for these crimes has been an investigator who helped dig up the evidence. No, the only nation strong enough to put the UN in its place is the US. And our leaders refuse to do so.

UN supporters admit such problems, and they call for "reform." But to them, reform doesn't mean plugging holes in UN spending or clearing up scandals. Instead, it means global governance.

Since its inception, the UN's advocacy has amounted to a desire to eradicate the sovereignty of nations - while imposing what it calls "world-mindedness." A 1949 UNESCO document said, "...nationalism [is] the major obstacle to the development of world-mindedness."

One thing we have to realize about UN globalists is that they are socialists, and socialists have no conscience when it comes to accomplishing their agenda.

Therein lies the UN's true goal. And that belies its public image of being simply a place where nations may come to air their differences and act responsibly. Instead, the UN works to gain power for itself in order to become independent and supreme over its member nations.

These aspirations are mirrored in the sheer arrogance of UN officials. And of course the way for the UN to gain independence (and to really throw off any attempts at accountability) is if it is given the authority to impose taxes.

On Sept. 19, plans were approved by several nations to create a global tax, mostly through airline tickets, to help pay for the treatment of AIDS. There are several other tax schemes on the UN wish list. If the UN gains the power to tax, it will become a monster free of its chains. And, of course, the UN wants its own military. It already has its own court.

Imagine a world run by the justice of China, with the economics of Cuba, and the military might of the United States. Such is the world of the future under UN global governance.

Talk about a nightmare. We used to joke about the black UN helicopters. I wonder...

Why They Walked

I have many Episcopalian (aka Anglican) friends who are very upset with recent developments in their church. Liberal trends have alienated many regular church goers for it flies in the face of millennia old doctrine. The Guardian has a commentary on some ramifications of these actions.

This past Sunday several churches in Northern Virginia announced that their congregations had voted overwhelmingly to leave the Episcopal Church and affiliate themselves with Anglican dioceses in Nigeria and Uganda.

The gas fire under this pot was turned up ever since a practising gay was elected as a bishop several years ago.

Their reasons were the same ones that have prompted Episcopal congregations and even entire dioceses across the country to sever their national ties in recent months: decades of liberalising trends in the Episcopal Church that have led to, among other things, the confirmation in 2003 of the openly gay V Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire and the election in July 2006 of a presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Diocese of Nevada, who is not only a woman (a contentious issue among conservative Episcopalians) but supports both Robinson's confirmation and church blessings for gay unions.

Bishop Schori is the person who was quoted as saying "Episcopalians aren't interested in replenishing their ranks by having children." Mark Steyn had a few things to day about that. As typical liberals, the church hierarchy dismisses the complaints of conservatives.

Jefferts Schori pooh-poohed the mass departure of the Virginians, declaring that they were a splinter collection of malcontents looking for a "quick fix" and that they had failed to embrace "diversity" and "tension," which she defined as the essence of Anglicanism.

I always thought the essense of Christianity was forgiveness of sin through the grace of God manifested by the sacrifice of His Son. No where in scripture is "diversity" or "tension" mentioned as the essense of anything.

[...] The Episcopal Church is in serious trouble only compounded by the current schism. It is a church in demographic free-fall, its numbers now standing at 2.2 million (by Jefferts Schori's own estimate), down from 3.4 million at its heyday in 1965. At the 2,700 Episcopalian parishes nationwide, the median Sunday worship attendance is 80 people, and the churches they attend would be crumbling ruins were it not for their substantial endowments left over from the 19th century, when most of them were founded.

This is what happens when diversity and tension are taught in church instead of the tenets of the faith. The faithful vote with their feet.

Like other mainline Protestant groups in America - Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and the like - the Episcopal Church decided some 40 years ago that the future of Christianity lay in accommodating its theology and moral teachings to whatever was fashionable or politically correct in the secular culture. Militant feminism and blessings for gay sex were only part of the doctrinal upheaval. Avant-garde clerics and theologians throughout North America and Western Europe scoffed at the traditional Christian teachings that Jesus Christ had been born of a virgin, worked miracles, died for human sin, rose from the dead, and founded a church that was supposed to be the means of salvation.

I differ in opinion on this last comment. The church is not the mean of salvation. The church is the body of believers who provide testimony, who proclaim the gospel - the good news - that Christ died for our sins.

All those liberal strands of Christianity are paying the price for their devil's bargain with secularism in vastly diminished numbers, as members figure out that when a religion lets them do whatever they want, one of the things they don't want to do is go to church on Sunday. The mainline denominations, which once represented 40% of US Protestants, now represent only 12%: 17 million out of 135 million.

God has taken His Spirit from these churches as He warned He would in the Book of Revelations. Those who truly seek God have left.

To put it bluntly, liberal Christianity is in meltdown. The election of Jefferts Schori, a theological liberal who prayed to a female Jesus at last summer's bishops' convention, together with the bishops' vote not to endorse the bedrock Christian proposition that Jesus is Lord, proved to be the last straw for many Episcopalians who believe that the essence of their Anglican faith isn't "tension" but fidelity to the Bible and the Christian creeds.

Amen.

The Ghost of Archives Past

The story of Sandy Burglar just won't die. It's like getting a kick in the groin for Christmas (thank you GW Bush), another story about this lying POS is circulating throughout the intertubes.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former national security adviser Sandy Berger removed classified documents from the National Archives in 2003 and hid them under a construction trailer, the Archives inspector general reported Wednesday. The report was issued more than a year after Berger pleaded guilty and received a criminal sentence for removal of the documents.

Yeah, we know what he did, thanks for waiting two years before finally getting around to telling us how he did it Mr. Archives Flaming Jerk Traitor Enabler Inspector Corporal. Some criminal sentence...

Berger, who pleaded guilty to unlawfully removing and retaining classified documents, was fined $50,000, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and was barred from access to classified material for three years.

Aside from the fine, this sentence is what you'd get for stealing lip gloss and a box of Chiclets at Walgreen's. I'd bar him from accessing oxygen for three years.

The report said that when Archives employees first suspected that Berger - who had been President Clinton's national security adviser - was removing classified documents from the Archives in the fall of 2003, they failed to notify any law enforcement agency.

This sounds like hindering prosecution to me. Why weren't these incompetent clowns thrown in jail? Why weren't they indicted? Scooter Libby did less then these fools and yet the Attorney General has still got him up a tree.

Another question ... why did it take these highly trained guardians of our national secrets so long to catch on? Don't they count these documents to make sure that the same number are returned as taken out? It would not surprise me one bit if these idiots were still on the government payroll watching former government officials waltz in and out of the Archives with Lord knows what stuck in their socks.

"Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building)." Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.

Words fail me. He did not forget to return them. This is an overt confession of intent, he removed the documents form the Archives, purposefully concealed them and retrieved them later for his own purposes. Then he destroyed them.

I am sitting here talking to myself and wondering just what in Hades are these fools in DC doing? They'd rather arrest common grunt soldiers for playing Fruit O'the Loom lampshades than prosecute former National Security Advisors who steal classified documents. Particularly when those documents might show that an ex-President has been less then helpful in fighting international terrorism.

More Of Kofe Annan's Antics

I think the latest revelations of the financial shenanigans of the outgoing Secretary-General of the UN are probably the most insightful indicators as to his character. He is nothing more than a low life grifter in a silk suit. From the NY SUN:

As Secretary-General Annan prepares to leave his post at the United Nations, a mystery is surfacing surrounding his apartment on Roosevelt Island, subsidized by New York taxpayers, which is still in use by the family of his brother, Kobina Annan.

Once these thieves find a public teat, you can't get rid of them. Like a tick burrowing into a hound, you have to burn them out or kill the hound to get rid of them.

The apartment was where Mr. Annan and his wife lived before 1997, when he became secretary-general. The Roosevelt Island home is part of an estate of low-rent state-regulated housing. For years, the Annans saved considerable sums by occupying an apartment meant to help financially strapped low- to moderate-income New York families.

This clown is calling for the US to contribute more to the world's needy while he and his wife abused housing bought and paid for by US taxpayers for that very purpose.

One question Mr. Annan has never addressed is why he and his wife felt comfortable availing themselves of this generous arrangement. Another is how it is that, since Mr. Annan and his wife left that Roosevelt Island apartment 10 years ago to move into the rent-free residence on Sutton Place supplied to the secretary-general, their former low-rent apartment was handed over to be occupied by the family of Mr. Annan's brother.

These questions will never be answered. And the useless MSM will never bring them to task for it.

The apartment in question, a three-bedroom unit on the ninth floor, appears from the outside to have a river view looking out on Manhattan. At market rates, according to local real estate agents, a three-bedroom apartment on the island currently rents for about $4,500 a month.

This means the taxpayers have been forking over $54,000 every year since 1997. That's about a half million dollars in free rent given to Kofe Annan's brother - Kobina Annan, who is no stranger to larceny himself. Kofe's son, Kojo Annan, was also involved in the oil-for-food scandal. It appears as if the entire family is like a band of gypsies, traveling around the world ripping people off.

Mr. Annan, after announcing a new policy of U.N. financial disclosure as part of his reforms over the past year, has refused to disclose to the public his own financial records. When Paul Volcker's investigation into the U.N. Oil-for-Food scandal took a confidential look at Kofi Annan's financial affairs last year, investigators declared them clean. But Mr. Volcker provided almost no specifics, releasing none of the underlying documents.

Those documents have been turned over to the UN. Sounds like the new financial disclosure policy is the same as the old one. Now it appears that Kobina Jr., Kofe's nephew, has got his hooks into this apartment. And he is not the only UN-connected slug to do so.

Kofi Annan's former dwelling is not the sole source of Roosevelt Island's Mitchell-Lama mysteries. The enclave is known for its heavy concentration of U.N. staff, many of whom receive U.N. housing allowances on top of whatever savings they might enjoy at the expense of New York state taxpayers. One of Kofi Annan's former special advisers, Italian businessman Giandomenico Picco, lived on Roosevelt Island in the late 1990s, and documents seen by this reporter, including a power of attorney, show him at 531 Main Street, another Mitchell-Lama building, until at least until 2001.

The entire nest of leeches should be burned out. Get the UN out of the US. Let these parasites feed off another host nation for a change.

When Not To Yell...

First this joke:

I bought a new Lexus 350 and returned to the dealer the next day because I couldn't get the radio to work. The salesman explained that the radio was voice activated.

"Nelson," the salesman said to the radio. The Radio replied, "Ricky or Willie?" "Willie!" he continued and "On The Road Again" came from the speakers.

Then he said, "Ray Charles!", and in an instant "Georgia On My Mind" replaced Willie Nelson. I drove away happy, and for the next few days, every time I'd say, "Beethoven," I'd get beautiful classical music, and if I said, "Beatles," I'd get one of their awesome songs.

Yesterday, a couple ran a red light and nearly creamed my new car, but I swerved in time to avoid them. I yelled, "A** H***s!"

Immediately the French National Anthem began to play, sung by Jane Fonda and Barbara Streisand, backed up by Michael Moore and The Dixie Chicks, with John Kerry on guitar, Al Gore on drums, Dan Rather on harmonica, Nancy Pelosi on tambourine, Harry Reid on spoons, Bill Clinton on sax and Ted Kennedy on scotch.

I LOVE this car!

I shamelessly stole the above joke from Wayne at Babylonandon for two reasons; one, it's funny, and two, something like this happened to me a few weeks ago.

I had just left the office and was driving over to the Crime Lab. I was on the cellphone calling the lab's receptionist to let them know we were bringing some evidence in and was making a right turn. Some idiot a half block away doing about 45 in a 30 mph zone got all freaked out and started beeping her horn and came up behind me all pissed off. She then passed me.

I waited until she was right alongside and used my riot control voice (I can be very loud) to yell, "The speed limit is 30, A** H***!"

I forgot I had the Crime Lab on the phone.

I forgot the cellphone was right next to my mouth.

I will never forget the receptionist saying, "I BEG your pardon?!?!"

I said "Oh no!" and then started laughing like an idiot. I tried to explain what had happened but was laughing too hard to get it out. The Lab is only a quarter mile form the office so I quieted down a bit by time I got there. I pressed the annunciator for admittance to the parking area. Of course the receptionist is also the person who raises the gate, so I got a good natured earful right from the get go. Then she has to buzz me in through the front door. Then I have to sign in at her station. Thank the good Lord above that she thought it was funny also.

I have an investigation I am working on so of course I have to be at the Lab almost everyday for awhile after that. She gnawed on me (in a good natured way) for about a week and then spat me out when there was nothing left but some grizzle and a few buttons. After suffering through that, I wish the radio had played "Marseillaise" as sung by the French Military Victory Choir of One.

An Amazing Break Through

Canadian scientists have seemingly cured Type I diabetes in lab mice.

In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body's nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease...

This is really exciting. My father-in-law is one of the over 20 million Americans who suffer from this disease. How did they do it?

Diabetic mice became healthy virtually overnight after researchers injected a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas.

"I couldn't believe it," said Dr. Michael Salter, a pain expert at the Hospital for Sick Children and one of the scientists. "Mice with diabetes suddenly didn't have diabetes any more."

The substance is capsaicin, the stuff that makes peppers red hot and causes your eyes to slam shut if a cop uses pepper spray on you. It appears that capsaicin causes the pancreatic sensory nerves to shut down, then the pancreas starts to produce normal doses of insulin almost immediately.

Diabetes is known as an autoimmune disease and this research is making a lot of waves.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Dr. Hans Michael Dosch, an immunologist at the hospital and a leader of the studies. "In my career, this is unique." [...] Dr. Dosch had concluded in a 1999 paper that there were surprising similarities between diabetes and multiple sclerosis, a central nervous system disease. His interest was also piqued by the presence around the insulin-producing islets of an "enormous" number of nerves, pain neurons primarily used to signal the brain that tissue has been damaged.

The body works in amazing ways and this research only reinforces that notion.

It turns out the nerves secrete neuropeptides that are instrumental in the proper functioning of the islets. Further study by the team, which also involved the University of Calgary and the Jackson Laboratory in Maine, found that the nerves in diabetic mice were releasing too little of the neuropeptides, resulting in a "vicious cycle" of stress on the islets.

And this treatment has long range implications. Just one injection into the lab mice lasted for four months! I imagine the pharmaceutical will be raising a stink over this.

I take my father-in-law to Rochester on a routine basis where until six months ago he participated in an experimental program to test a new method for treating congestive heart failure. Some doctors believe that the body's immune system is responsible for attacking the heart muscles!

I have not heard the results of the study yet and it was a double blind experiemnt (not even the doctors administering it have any idea whether it was the placebo or medicine that was used for any particular patient). But from what the cardiologist shared with me, this sounds a lot like what the doctors in Toronto are doing.

The Polonium Pixie

Much like Tinker Bell sprinkling magic fairie dust over Wendy and Michael, there appears to be one or more Russians spreading minute amounts of radioactive polonium in England. From Spiegel Online:

Andrei Lugovoi, 40, former KGB agent, currently a kind of mini magnate in the Russian soft drinks industry, is the man British investigators believe left an unmistakeable radiation trail across London.

He is now under quarantine in a Moscow hospital being treated for pixie dust contamination. It shouldn't have been that hard to find this guy, just follow the dead bodies and mutated squirrels. When he broke wind it must have been like Godzilla belch-blasting Tokyo.

Wherever the businessman appeared during his almost weekly visits to the capital of the United Kingdom, he left traces of radiation; in planes that brought him to Britain, in the hotels where he stayed, in restaurants and offices where he met contacts.

There is a reference in the article that:

The Geiger counters even buzzed in the brand new Emirates Stadium where he watched a dull draw between Arsenal London and ZSKA Moscow on that fateful Wednesday, November 1.

If you remember from my prior post, alpha particles can be stopped by a sheet of paper. They are only deadly when ingested. That he was emitting alpha particles indicates that the material probably had to be on the outside of his clothing. Or perhaps he was wearing the new Madame Curie line of men's cologne, eau' de Reactor.

With the subway bombings and all, you would think that the geiger counter activity would have had the bobbies all in a bother.

Scotland Yard's specialists have given clear hints that they regard Lugovoi as the main suspect, the man responsible for the trail of the murder weapon, the isotope polonium-210 [I fixed the typo] which points back to Moscow, where it's not exactly available on the open market -- only eight grams are exported a month.

There's a lot of blather in this article, so we'll cut to the chase. Alexander Litvinenko also met with an Italian wannabe mafioso, Mario Scaramella, on November 1:

The Italian has traces of polonium but the staff of the restaurant show no contamination. It's a different case with the waiters of the Pine Bar. All seven staff who worked that afternoon have tested positive for polonium.

The Pine Bar is a restaurant in the Millennium Hotel where Alexander Litvinenko met with the two other Russians: businessmen Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun.

Litvinenko is dead from radiation poisoning. The other two men are being treated in hospitals for radiation poisoning. Kovtun's car tested positive for polonium-210. Both men are also ex-KGB officers. And the Rooskies deny any part in it.

It just gets better and better. We'll be blogging about this for years.

RIP Charlie Dawson

Last Friday I stopped by the police retiree's luncheon next door at the PD. To tell the truth, I was dragged there by two other retirees. I'm in the middle of a very busy stretch and I tend to get very task oriented, but I was glad that they took the time to haul my ass out of the office.

I saw some guys that I haven't seen in twenty years. Everyone was heavier and grayer. One of the cops greeting us at the door was a fellow I recognized but couldn't remember his name. I had seen him a few times at the DA's Office and so we talked for a bit. Turns out he remembered me alot more than I remembered him. I had helped break him in almost fifteen years ago. My memory is getting bad.

Going through the auditorium glad handing people, I ran into Harry, one of my partners from the old Crime Control Team days in the mid-70's, and spent time catching up with him. His kids are scattered hither and yon and his wife, a school teacher, just retired this year. He retired from the PD in 2004. And then there was Ace and Steffie and Carmen and so many others. Sgt. Billy was there, he joined the department in 1949, the year I was born. He is 84 now and looks and sounds wonderful.

Others are not doing so well. I ran into a former sergeant that I didn't even recognize at first, he had deteriorated so badly - a mere shadow of what used to be a very intimidating physical presence. He is 81 now. I had worked with his brother back in 1970, prior to joining the department. This was a tough cop who was rather feared, he worked in intelligence and handled "special" projects . He was close to the Chief who wielded absolute authority. If he caught you screwing up you were truly up the crick without a prayer. As we spoke about old days and his brother who died some time ago, he started to tear up. He related hhis recent operations and how his health is very poor. I believe he is afraid of his impending death. He didn't remember my name. I told him who I was, but he confused me with someone else. I didn't correct him.

I left this bittersweet affair with mixed feelings. It was great to see the guys, but I wondered who would be missing next year. There's a few guys who left this world way too soon. Then this morning before church, I logged onto my email and got the dreaded message from my retiree's association, "Sad News."

Captain Charlie Dawson, age 92, passed away this month. He was the Court Liaison Officer when I came on and he retired quite some time ago, 1976, after thirty-five years of service. He was one of the kindest men I ever met. He used to carry candy in his pockets to give to children who came into the station.

That's not a bad way to be remembered. I'll bet Charlie is pleased.

What Are Friends For?

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Open the windows then fart in the car, and apologize.
COP FRIENDS: lock the windows, fart, then turn on the heat and laugh their ass off.
(We used to do this with mace, spray it in a patrol car's a/c vents on a hot night, make your buddy drive with his head hanging out of the window for an hour or so. Lord I hated that.)

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Tell you not to do something stupid when drunk
COP FRIENDS: Will post 360 degree security so you don’t get caught
(There was plenty of stupid to go around; needless to say I stopped drinking over 25 years ago.)

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
COP FRIENDS: Call your parents drunk as hell and tell them about the fat chick you tried to pick up

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong.
COP FRIENDS: Will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...we screwed up...but hey, that was fun as hell!"

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Cry with you.
COP FRIENDS: Laugh at you and tell you to put on some Vagasil.
(Listen to a cop if he he tells to stay away from a broad! He already caught whatever she was carrying and is still taking pills for it!)

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
COP FRIENDS: Steal each other’s stuff so often nobody remembers who bought it in the first place.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are happy that someone picked up a one night stand and leave them alone.
COP FRIENDS: Will Low Crawl naked into the room with a camera and hope for the tag team.
(Some cops are pretty strange that way. I never could see that. Three is definately a crowd.)

True story: A cop let himself into his fiancee's apartment a few days before the wedding and found his best man, another cop, in bed with the chick. Almost had a double homicide that night. It is never a good idea to mess with a man who carries a gun for a living. Like I said, plenty of stupid to go around often fueled by booze!

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
COP FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
COP FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowd's ass that left you.
(I tried to get into a dispatched bar fight to help a buddy of mine and could barely open the door. The reason being that he was stacking the unconsciousness bodies right behind the door. He hit like a freight train and was built like one.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
COP FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, "I'm home!"

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will try and talk to the bouncer when you get tossed out of the bar.
COP FRIENDS: Will man up and go after the bouncer for touching you on the way out.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will wish you had enough money to go out that night, and are sorry you couldn't come.
COP FRIENDS: Will share their last dollar with you, drag you along, and try to steal free drinks all night.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough.
COP FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say, "Bitch, you better drink the rest of that shit, you know we don't waste. That's alcohol abuse!!!"
(And the downfall of many a cop's marriage.)

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Want the money they loaned you back next week.
COP FRIENDS: Can't begin to remember who owes who money after taking care of each other for so long.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will say "I can't handle Tequila anymore".
COP FRIENDS: Will say "Okay just one more," and then 2 minutes later, "Okay just one more".
(I remember those nights... sorta)

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will talk shit to the person who talks shit about you.
COP FRIENDS: Will knock them the hell out!!

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will tell you "They'd take a bullet for you."
COP FRIENDS: Will actually take a bullet for you.

Actually civilian friends are just fine!

Eat Fresh!

Paul Shlichta at The American Thinker, has a notion that the polonium that poisoned ALexander Litvinenko may have been fresh brewed.

During the next few weeks of confusion and cover-up about the Litvinenko poisoning, look out for the word ‘lead', which may yet pin the tail on the Russian donkey.

Lead, as in the element Pb, the stuff we drown worms with.

Polonium-210, the next-to-last link in the Uranium 8 radioactive decay chain, decays to lead-206, which is stable. Therefore a sample of pure polonium-210 kept for 138 days (its half life) would change into a 50-50 mixture of polonium and lead. On the other hand, a sample of polonium-210 without any lead in it would have to be fresh-from-the-reactor material.

The radioactive decay chain depicts the gradual transformation of Uranium 238 into Lead 206. If you check the bottom of the chart, you'll see that there are no other elements between Polonium 210 and Lead 206. When a Polonium 210 atom emits an alpha particle (two protons and two neutrons = 4 atomic mass units) it becomes Lead 206.

It is very likely that the doctors treating Litvinenko tested for lead, the most common heavy metal poison. But although the news reports mentioned thallium (a byproduct in the production of Po-210), there was no mention of any traces of lead. If there was none, then Litvinenko was poisoned with freshly made polonium, only a few days old.

It reminds me of the James Bond movie, "From Russia, With Love."

Nothing says STFU like a hot, steaming batch of polonium.

I suggest that any purchase of the poisonous dose through a black market route-say a dealer in Jakarta who had a contact in Kazakhstan who could get it from someone in the Ukraine, etc.-would have taken weeks between reactor and assassin. The only way to have obtained fresh material quickly would have been through the auspices of a high-level official who could smooth the way for fast transport. Now who could that have been, I wonder?

Polonium - It's What's For Dinner

It seems that more and more people are dying from radiation poisoning, particularly people who piss off the Russian President, Vladimir "Polonium" Putin. From the Australian:

MOSCOW: A former bodyguard to Russian President Vladimir Putin was murdered with a poison that produced symptoms remarkably similar to those that killed former spy Alexander Litvinenko, it emerged yesterday.

It's amazing how these former KGBer's are popping up on autopsy tables all across the world like some kind of hairless, glowing mushroom.

Roman Tsepov died, aged 42, in 2004 after suffering severe radiation sickness brought on by a mystery substance he had ingested with food or drink.

It's a mystery how this crap can be transported and used with seeming impunity. After the death of Alexander Litvinenko we now see polonium 210 showing up in airplanes, restaurants, Italians and widows. Pretty soon it will be showing up on $20 bills along with traces of cocaine.

The case suggests that use of radioactive poisons - similar to the polonium-210 that killed Litvinenko - may be more widespread than previously thought.

I think one of two things will happen. More and more instances where former Russian officials died under mysterious circumstances will come to notice. Or reporters will finally get the picture that they are not dealing with the USA, and halt their inquiries for fear of reprisals. This is Mother Russia. And she can be a psychotic bitch.

Tsepov, nicknamed King of the Shadows, is said to have had several powerful enemies but the identity of his killer has never come to light. Tsepov survived three murder attempts in the 1990s. His friends believe his ties to lucrative businesses in Russia could have made him a target but claim he was not linked to a mafia gang.

In September 2004, he was admitted to Sverdlov hospital in St. Petersburg with severe food poisoning. As in the case of Litvinenko, doctors were baffled as his condition grew worse over the first two weeks. He began to show classic symptoms of radiation sickness: he grew pale, his hair fell out and his white blood cell count fell.

Sounds like he also died from terminal Putinitis.

Multiply Or Die

In the Book of Genesis, the command to multiply is given many times. Being fruitful, so to speak, is a sign of God's blessing.

Ge 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Ge 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Man's stewardship of the earth is seen as dominion over it. The hebrew word for dominion is pronounced radah, raw-daw' ; to tread down, i.e. subjugate; specifically, to crumble off:--(come to, make to) have dominion, prevail against, reign, (bear, make to) rule,(-r, over), take.

The simplest way to ensure dominion over a land is to have overwhelming numbers on the land. We did this in WWI and WWII where the Allies put millions of boots on the ground in the PTO and ETO. And then we left.

In Powerline, Captain Ed refers to a November 26, 2006, Chicago Sun Times column by the inestimable Mark Steyn, where Mark compares the breeding capacity of a recent Palestinian suicide bomber, Fatma An-Najara, a 64 year old grandmother, and Katharine Jefferts Schori, the newest female Bishop of the Episcopal Church. It's like comparing a John Deere to a mule, or more accurately, a fire hydrant to an eye dropper.

The recently splattered grandma (May The Prophet Find The Rest Of Her) had her first child at the age of 12 and then spawned another eight. Her nine children produced forty-one grandchildren. All of those grandchildren look at their grandma as a hero, a martyr because she is now in Paradise bossing around those 72 virgins who were expecting a man. Poor things.

There is one woman in our church who can match her. She is still in her child bearing years and we're looking for number ten.

And now we come to the Episcopal Bishop, who was asked:

"Episcopalians aren't interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?"

Her response?

No," agreed Bishop Kate. "It's probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion."

The Episcopals will lose their portion because in a short while there won't be any of them to take a portion. Just like the Neanderthals. And here's Mark's money quote:

Here's the question for Bishop Kate: If Fatma An-Najar has 41 grandchildren and a responsible "better educated" Episcopalian has one or two, into whose hands are we delivering "the stewardship of the earth"? If your crowd isn't around in any numbers, how much influence can they have in shaping the future?

Bingo!

The fertility rate in the Gaza Strip is one of the highest on earth. If you measure the births of the Muslim world against the dearth of Bishop Kate's Episcopalians, you have the perfect snapshot of why there is no "stability": With every passing month, there are more Muslims and fewer Episcopalians, and the Muslims export their manpower to Europe and other depopulating outposts of the West. It's the intersection of demography and Islamism that makes time a luxury we can't afford.

Maybe we need more Mexicans and less Episcopalians, eh?

Kiss My Royal Irish Ass

How long has it been since we were treated to the Islamofascist verson of "Shock and Awe?" How long has it been since our hearts were torn out of our chests as we watched three thousand Americans lose their lives in an incredibly vile fashion? How long since we as a nation looked at those images of the WTC and the Pentagon, our eyes seared, and vowed, "Never Again!"

And how long since we thrilled to hear FDNY firefighter Michael Moran tell Osama Bin Laden to "Kiss my royal Irish ass!" I nearly came out of my skin when I heard that.

But yet the Democrats are already preparing their verson of "Dispute and Scoot" and they haven't even been sworn in.

I wish that Moran would deliver another speech, this one to the Democrats, saying that he'll plant his Royal Irish foot up their punk chicken asses if they dare to pull out of a struggle where our very existence is at stake.

Our Finest

I've already said my peace about the fwench-looking Junior Senator from Massachusetts and his low opinion about those who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Let this link be a reminder of the finest men and women our Country has to offer.

http://www.clermontyellow.accountsupport.com/flash/UntilThen.swf

See if you can keep a dry eye.

Cop Killer Pleads Guity

Something caught my eye this morning. Yesterday a murderous smartass plead out to a life sentence.
MAYVILLE - Ralph "Bucky" Phillips Wednesday pleaded guilty to killing one state trooper and critically wounding two others during a five-month manhunt last summer, also admitting that he was enraged at police for arresting his daughter before one of the shootings.

Let's get one thing straight, Phillips does not give a damn about the Troopers he shot. He could care less that Trooper Joseph Longobardo died from his wounds. Phillips, who is only 44 years old, knows he is spending the rest of his life behind bars where he will be fed, clothed and his medical needs taken care of at the taxpayers expense.

In a day marked by demonstrations of family support for the killer, Phillips accepted plea agreements in Chautauqua and Chemung counties that are likely to put him in prison for the rest of his life.

There should be demonstrations of neck stretching outside the courthouse. His entire family sounds like a real piece of work.

In Chautauqua County Court, the career criminal admitted that he fatally shot trooper Joseph A. Longobardo and critically wounded Trooper Donald H. Baker Jr., who were staking out the home of a friend of Phillips on Aug. 31 in the Town of Stockton.

Phillips "mugged" for the cameras as he was lead into court yesterday (Wednesday)morning.

Earlier in the day, Phillips appeared in an Elmira court and admitted that he tried to murder Trooper Sean Brown, who had stopped him in a stolen car June 10. Phillips shot Brown in the stomach.

I hope that smirk is wiped off his face real soon in a maximum security prison cell. There is little that the family of the wounded and slain Troopers can say. I pray that this gives them some closure.

The father of the slain Trooper had a comment for Phillips.

One day earlier, when asked by a reporter outside the Chemung County courthouse if he had anything to say, Phillips responded, "have a good day." He has been seen smiling and waving in court, as well, which has prompted some people to criticize his attitude.

"He's just an arrogant idiot, what can I say," said Trooper Longobardo's father, Tony Longobardo. "I mean, people can see through him like they're looking through a window. Obviously he's a low-down life criminal. He's been a criminal all his life and he always will be."

Goodbye jerk. You've been a screw up your entire life. Now you're going where the big dogs play. Maybe the good Lord will use your circumstances to reach you and bring you to your senses. Or maybe not. Some people are just born for destruction.

Quebecistan

I don't think this is going to make a great difference in Canadian affairs, but did Quebec just secede from Canada?

OTTAWA: Canada's parliament has recognised Quebec as a nation within a united Canada, backing a controversial proposal that has prompted one minister in the minority Conservative Government to quit.

The House of Commons in Ottawa voted 266 to 16 in favour of the motion, which the Government saw as a way to head off pressure from Quebec separatists who want to break away from Canada.

I view this as an arrangement very similar to the one that has existed in the US for centuries: sovereign Native American nations/reservations. Only in the Canadian exercise, instead of tax free cigarettes, you cross the border to get over-priced baguettes and surly waiters.

But critics said the proposal could bolster the separatists, and the pro-independence Bloc Quebecois said it would use the change to demand extra powers, including Quebec's right to speak at international meetings. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Michael Chong resigned over the vote, and claimed the separatists would use it to sow confusion.

It is rather confusing what was actually approved by the Canadian Parliment. While the people of Quebec are now considered a nation, the Province of Quebec is not.

On November 27, 2006, an initiative by Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper to declare Québécois (Quebeckers) a nation within a united Canada was endorsed by the Canadian House of Commons. Though appealing to some separatist sentiments, this motion only refers to the people of Quebec and not to the province itself.

So the Nation of Quebec is renting the Province of Quebec?

French-speaking Quebec already calls its legislature the Quebec National Assembly and describes Quebec City as its national capital.

Go figure. I have no idea what these loons are doing.

There are 7,125,580 people residing in the Province of Quebec, which is is very rich in natural resources. The two largest population centers in the province are the City of Quebec (pop. 528,595) and the City of Montreal (pop. 3,308,645.) Perhaps Kofi Annan can start an Oil-for-Attitude program.

Many Canadian politicians have welcomed the motion as a way of appeasing the Quebecers. But others said it risked opening the door to the break-up of Canada in years to come.

I say bring it on! We'll annex Newfoundland and Ontario and let everything west of Edmonton become part of Alaska. Montana gets the rest! Yea!

No Use For Dense

There is grudging respect in the phrase "That guy just doesn't know how to quit," except when that guy is Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Then the operative expression is "That guy just doesn't have the brains to know when to quit."

After his idiotic remark about "study or go to Iraq" a week before the national elections, Kerry still feels he can run for president in 2008. A Quinnipiac University poll released today gives credence to the notion that Kerry should hire a quitting tutor.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry, mulling a second bid for the U.S. presidency, finished dead last in a poll released on Monday on the likability of 20 top American political figures.

There is a difference between being thick-skinned and dense. A politician needs a thick hide to survive the rough and tumble brawls of elections. There is no use for dense.

This is bad bad news for Kerry," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Hamden, Connecticut, which conducted the survey. "Americans know who he is, and have pretty much decided they don't like him,"

Unfortunately this information means nothing to someone like Kerry. He could receive a Quinnipiac tattoo and he still wouldn't get the message. The only shame is that there were only twenty politicians to choose from. Kerry might have scored even lower.

In the current poll, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, ranked first with a mean score of 64.2, followed by Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, 58.8, and McCain, 57.7. [...] Kerry was last with a rating of 39.6. In three earlier polls this year, he never scored above 46.3.

Peters' Prognostications

Ralph Peters at the NY Post has a different angle on the events we are witnessing in Europe. Where most of what I read seems to have Europe on the ropes, Lt.Col. Peters (US Army ret.). a former intelligence officer, sees different.

The notion that continental Europeans, who are world-champion haters, will let the impoverished Muslim immigrants they confine to ghettos take over their societies and extend the caliphate from the Amalfi Coast to Amsterdam has it exactly wrong.

That's what I have thought for some time now. The summer riots in Paris, the killings in the Netherlands, the bombings in England, everything pointed to a demoralized population just waiting for burqas and sharia law.

Don't let Europe's current round of playing pacifist dress-up fool you: This is the continent that perfected genocide and ethnic cleansing, the happy-go-lucky slice of humanity that brought us such recent hits as the Holocaust and Srebrenica.

THE historical patterns are clear: When Europeans feel sufficiently threatened - even when the threat's concocted nonsense - they don't just react, they over-react with stunning ferocity. One of their more-humane (and frequently employed) techniques has been ethnic cleansing.

And it's not just this past century. Misha at AIR was posting along those lines not too long ago. The Danes, as much of Europe, have a brutal history.

The year 1492 wasn't just big for Columbus. It's also when Spain expelled its culturally magnificent Jewish community en masse - to be followed shortly by the Moors, Muslims who had been on the Iberian Peninsula for more than 800 years.

The Moors were invaders. It took the Spaniards a while, but they finally threw the invaders out. Muslims were not driven out of Europe until the Battle of Vienna in 1683 forced the Muslims into a gradual retreat that lasted for 16 years.

And Europe's Muslims don't even have roots, by historical standards. For the Europeans, they're just the detritus of colonial history. When Europeans feel ufficiently provoked and threatened - a few serious terrorist attacks could do it - Europe's Muslims will be lucky just to be deported.

In March, 2004, Islamofascists killed almost 200 and wounded another 1,700 in a horrid Madrid bombing. The result - Spain tucked its tail and ran. The French are too busy kicking the crap out of their own police to notice what else is happening. But that doesn't dissuade Peters. The EU nations just haven't been shocked enough. And they will be.

WE don't need to gloss over the many Muslim acts of barbarism down the centuries to recognize that the Europeans are just better at the extermination process. From the massacre of all Muslims and Jews (and quite a few Eastern Christians) when the Crusaders reached Jerusalem in 1099 to the massacre of all the Jews in Buda (not yet attached to Pest across the Danube) when the "liberating" Habsburg armies retook the citadel at the end of the 17th century, Europeans have just been better organized for genocide.

The Germans certainly had it down pat, but they were fueled by a madman and centuries of anti-semitism. Can the same ethnic hatred be stoked by a series of obscene acts perpetrated by terrorists?

Far from enjoying the prospect of taking over Europe by having babies, Europe's Muslims are living on borrowed time. When a third of French voters have demonstrated their willingness to vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front - a party that makes the Ku Klux Klan seem like Human Rights Watch - all predictions of Europe going gently into that good night are surreal.

Peters can even see American Marines being mobilized to rescue Muslims from European ports. He believes that there will come a time when the Europeans' easy life style is threatened and that's when the change will begin.

The Europeans have enjoyed a comfy ride for the last 60 years - but the very fact that they don't want it to stop increases their rage and sense of being besieged by Muslim minorities they've long refused to assimilate (and which no longer want to assimilate).

There is more to this interesting article. Give it a read.

Bathtub Polonium?

Evidence - The many types of information presented to a judge or jury designed to convince them of the truth or falsity of key facts

Circumstantial Evidence - Evidence that proves a fact by means of an inference. For example, from the evidence that a person was seen running away from the scene of a crime, a judge or jury may infer that the person committed the crime.

While there appears to be no direct linkage between the death of former KGB then Russian FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko and his former masters, the rare substance that was used to bring about his death is strong circumstantial evidence that the resources of a nation/state were involved.

Or does it?

Polonium 120 is an alpha emitter and can be purchased legally without a license for $69 (plus $11.95 for S&H). Because alpha particles are the big kahunas of radiation (alpha particles are basically helium nuclei - two protons and two neutrons), alpha emitters are very destructive: imagine mini-deer slugs slamming through molecules within your body. But because of their size they do not penetrate far; alpha particles can be stopped by a sheet of paper.

And from the New Scientist: “Alpha particles are ionising. When they strike tissue they knock electrons out of molecules. Such damage can in serious cases wreck cellular machinery resulting in cancer, radiation sickness, or worse," said chemist Andrea Sella at University College London.

For more information on the effects of radiation on human tissue and why it is so devastating, read this Department of Energy article.

Radioactive materials aren't all that hard to procure. Read this story about a high school student who tried to build a nuclear reactor in his garage. He came a lot closer to accomplishing this than I care to think about. He nearly poisoned his whole neighborhood.

To be effective as a poison, polonium must be ingested (more on the effectiveness of polonium as a poison from Blogs of War). It is alleged that Litvinenko was given the poison at a London sushi restaurant on 1 NOV 06, possibly administered as a salt, polonium nitrate. He died last Thursday, 23 NOV 06.

From another source:

One of the deadliest radioactive isotopes is 210Po (Polonium-210). It is a strong alpha emitter with a half-life of 128 days. Polonium metal is also rather volatile, with a melting point of 255 degrees C, making it a particularly deadly component of tobacco smoke (inhaling alpha emitters is not a very good idea). Fortunately, polonium is found only in minute amounts in Nature.

Polonium is so radioactive that a 0.50 gram sample will reach temperatures greater than 500 degrees all by itself.

So it seems that a very small amount is needed to provide a lethal dose. Just how lethal is this stuff and what constitutes a lethal dose? Radioactivity in America is measured in curies (Ci) and internationally measured in becquerels. A becquerel is defined as "the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second ." A Curie is 37 billion becquerels.

One measure of lethality in radioactive material (decaying nuclei) is its half life. Plutonium (Pu-239) a deadly weapons grade metal, has a half life of over 24,000 years. Polonium, (Po-210) has a half life of 138 days.

For $81 ($69 plus $12 S&H) you can purchase a small amount of polonoium that generates 0.1uCi or one tenth of a microcurie (one millionth of a curie). A microcurie is the amount of radioactive material in which 37,000 nuclei decay per second, so one tenth of that is 3,700 nuclei decays per second. These small amounts are primarily used for certifying various kinds of equipment.

Here are some terms to help define what constitutes a lethal dose of polonium.

American Terms:
Curie (Ci) - Amount of radioactivity produced by a given amount of a substance.
1 Ci = 37 billion particle emissions per second

rad (radiation absorbed dose) - The rad is a unit used to measure a quantity called absorbed dose. This relates to the amount of energy actually absorbed in some material, and is used for any type of radiation and any material.
1 rad = 100 erg/g

rem (radiation equivalent, man) - The rem is a unit used to derive a quantity called equivalent dose. This relates the absorbed dose in human tissue to the effective biological damage of the radiation. Not all radiation has the same biological effect, even for the same amount of absorbed dose.
1 rem = rad × Q (for alpha particles Q = 20).

Roentgen is not used as it is a measure of exposure to x-rays and gamma rays in air.

International Terms:
Becquerel (Bq) - One Becquerel is that quantity of a radioactive material that will have 1 transformation (decaying nucleus) in one second.

Gray (Gy) - Used to measure a quantity called absorbed dose. This relates to the amount of energy actually absorbed in some material, and is used for any type of radiation and any material. One gray is equal to one joule of energy deposited in one kg of a material.
1 Gy = 100 rads.

Sievert (Sv) - Used to derive a quantity called equivalent dose. This relates the absorbed dose in human tissue to the effective biological damage of the radiation. Not all radiation has the same biological effect, even for the same amount of absorbed dose.
1 Sievert = 100 rem

The US Environmental Protection Agency lists a fatal dose as 1,000 rad. The US Nuclear Regulatory Agency states: The dose of radiation expected to cause death to 50 percent of an exposed population within 30 days (LD 50/30). Typically, the LD 50/30 is in the range from 400 to 450 rem (4 to 5 sieverts) received over a very short period.

So pick your poison: either 450 rem or 1,000 rad. If you use the conversion from above where rem = rad x Q (where Q = 20 for alpha particles) then a fatal dose is over 20,000 rem.

It starts to get real murky here. I believe that 1,000 rad is a single exposure, while the 450 rem is a continuous exposure over a short period of time. But it still doesn't tell me how much polonium is needed to give us this amount of radiation exposure over a three week period? Should this material be watched at least as closely as, say, firearms?

Polonium has a specific activity (amount of radioactivity - or the decay rate - of a particular radionuclide per unit mass of the radionuclide) of 4.5E3, or 4500 curie (4.5 curie times 1,000)per gram of polonium. This means that a gram of polonium will undergo 167 thousand billion nuclei decays per second.

I'd appreciate it if someone checks my math and my methodology. I divided 1.67E+14 (the number of decaying nuclei per second in a gram of polonium) by 3,700 (the number of decays in a microcurie of polonium). This means that a sample of polonium that emits .1 microcurie weighs only 0.00000000002 grams. That is approximately 2 ten billionths of a gram.

This crap is incredibly dangerous. I go to great pains to avoid using the NY Times as a source for anything, but this article gives an indication as to how much polonium was needed to kill Alexander Litvinenko:

Polonium 210 is highly radioactive and very toxic. By weight, it is about 250 million times as toxic as cyanide, so a particle smaller than a dust mote could be fatal. It would also, presumably, be too small to taste.

Anyone have a clue as to the weight of a dust mote? Will a dust mote of polonium generate 450 rad? The problem is that converting a curie to anything resembling a dosage measure is very imprecise. In fact, I can't find one. A curie is a measure of radiation activity, a rad is the measure of energy absorbed by tissue and a rem is the biologically effective dose in terms of the particle type. How many curies to generate 100 erg/g? Your guess is as good as mine.

Cultural Learnings of New York for Make Glorious Ass Whipping

The British comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen, who stars in the surprise comedy hit, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" , was surprised himself when he tried his Romanian news reporter act on a no nonsense New Yorker. This month, after taping a Saturday Night Live segment, Cohen and a friend, "House" star Hugh Laurie, were walking to a local bar.

Going into his Borat character, Cohen approached a complete stranger on the street and asked him:

“I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with it.”

The stranger, obviously believing that he was being accosted by a pervert, responded by pounding Cohen in the face several times. Hugh Laurie intervened, sparing Cohen from serious injury. It is not known if Cohen received medical care for the thrashing.

Cohen had been warned by his managers not to pull this kind of prank outside of a television studio. He has been criticized (and is being sued) for duping people into saying ridiculous things on which he based his movie. This controversial art form has been labeled "ambush humor."

French (Not So) Civil Servants

A demonstration by so called professional firefighters in Paris, Tuesday, demanding higher wages, a premium for dangerous assignments (combat pay?) and better pension benefits turned into a riot.

Police say fifteen officers were wounded and two are in serious condition after protesters hurled flares, street signs and other heavy objects at them. A police vehicle, another car and several trash cans were also set ablaze. Thirty-five firemen have been taken into custody.

Sounds like the firefighters union has taken a page from the muslims.

Several dozen fire fighters attacked security forces with flares, bottles, stones and anything else they could find, including street signs and traffic cones. Police countered with tear gas, but were only able to disperse the mob after 30 minutes.

Many of the 6,000 firefighters who attended the demonstration wore their issued gear. This serves also to protect them from the water cannons, tear gas, night sticks, etc. that police officers use to disrupt violent demostrations. It also helps to protect their identities from police surveillance.

One gendarme suffered a head injury from one of the projectiles, while another had his leg broken after being hit in the knee by a sledgehammer.

Some how I doubt that the normally cordial relations between police and fire in Paris will be restored shortly.

This was not the first demonstration of French fire fighters in recent memory.On September 25, pompiers from all over France gathered in Paris, and after an altercation with police forces also managed to block the peripheral road.

So twice in two months the firefighters have tussled with the gendarmes. I'm hoping this is atypical behavior, but does it seem to you that french society is becoming a bit unraveled?

Our Government In Action

It seems that when the US Government is really, really concerned about something, it will find a way to address it. No matter is so trival that the US Government won't throw a few million, or ten, at it. So the subzero cockles of my heart were warmed when I read this story about the measures our government is willing to take to track another public menace .... cows.

The USDA is developing the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) to identify and track individual animals, the aim being to allow the USDA to track a diseased animal back to its source, through every location it's been, within 48 hours. Under NAIS, a national database maintains animal ownership and location histories.

How's that for service? Our government was so concerned over the possible loss of life resulting from Mad Cow Disease (or BSE) that a national database was created in order to protect us. Using techniques that

would combine GPS, cellular and radio frequency technologies to track cattle as they are in transit,

government officials will be able to track the location of any one of the 100 million cattle in the country, and do so within 48 hours. Just think of it, 100 million cows being tracked by the latest high tech so that you and I can rest easy in our beds.

Obviously what we need is a new disease to spur our government to additional action.

I have discovered such a disease: Mad Mexican Disease.

If we can track 100 million cows in freight cars, we can find 11 million illegals in pick up trucks.

Break out the RFID ear tags, errr, earrings.