NPD leaks high level talks surrounding Afghanistan.

Canada: If you need proof of the sick convergence of the left in the west so filled with hate for any success for forces helping in Afghanistan, this is yet more proof.

OTTAWA (CP) - Canadian diplomats and senior military commanders held high-level talks with the United Arab Emirates in January about joining the fight against the Taliban. The Arab nation was apparently interested in contributing a small number of special operations troops who would have come with battle tanks and self-propelled artillery. Questioned about it in the Commons Friday, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said the mission in Afghanistan is not limited to NATO countries and he would encourage others to join the effort. "There are 11 countries beyond NATO in Afghanistan, all contributing to better security and a better life for the Afghan people," the minister said. "We would encourage other countries to join the UN-NATO-led effort to make the life of Afghan people better for the future."

Get a more Muslim face on reconstruction efforts and lessen the load for NATO. But the NPD fears this might actually help so they sabotage the effort.

Documents obtained by the federal New Democrats under access to information laws show that Col. Fred Lewis, deputy commander of Task Force Afghanistan, met Emirates military staff over a five-day period in January to discuss "the feasibility of a bilateral agreement." It's not clear whether there was a resolution to the discussions and a spokeswoman for O'Connor did not respond an interview request Friday. New Democrat MP Libby Davies accused the Conservatives of trying to create a "Bush-style troop surge" in Afghanistan, referring to U.S. President George W. Bush's plan to increase American troop strength in Iraq. The fact Canada was in discussion with a country outside of NATO to commit militarily to the war in Afghanistan was both unusual and troubling, she said. "This is a very key issue for Canadians," she said following question period. "The government has to provide clarity and information and they have to give assurances as to what the heck they are doing.

This is treason on a grand scale, no way about it. The left is determined to undermine anything that will contribute to success.

Arrested for "assaulting" burglar

EU: Lets hear it for the Dutch.

AMSTERDAM – A 41-year-old Enschede resident who used a baseball bat to hit a man trying to break into his house has been arrested by police on charges of assault. The housebreaker suffered minor injuries. After being treated in hospital the would-be burglar was arrested as well. The man was trying to force the backdoor of a home on the Hendrik ter Kuilestraat when he was surprised by the resident of the house. Police called to the site found the man bleeding.

Bloomberg gets Livingstone disease.

Nation: Whats to introduce a congestion tax in Manhattan. Difference this will be a hard fight, this isn't London where the latte sippers will roll over and/or applaud keeping out the nasty cars so everyone can hop on a train.

"....Officials briefed on the plan said that the city anticipates a start-up cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars. But the technology is the least of the mayor’s worries. “It’s going nowhere,” said State Senator John D. Sabini from Queens, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Transportation Committee. “I see it withering on the vine.” He was blunt in predicting opposition from influential legislators representing areas where many drivers to the city come from. “You will see an odd commingling of outer-borough legislators married to the same position as suburban legislators,” Mr. Sabini said. Of his Queens constituents, he said: “We put up with the exhaust of everyone going into Manhattan that drives through Queens. We put up with the exhaust of everyone driving to our airports. Now we’re told we’re not part of the city, and we’ve got to pay an extra fee to get into Midtown.” He added, “I think this goes back to the bad old days of Manhattan against the boroughs.” "

Weekly Thailand surrender check-in.

Terrorism: Proving once again, violence, beheadings and bombings can make even a coup installed government say you're their daddy.

BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand's prime minister said Friday the government is considering granting amnesty to Muslim insurgents in the south, a step that would be a major policy shift in the three-year conflict. At the same time, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said the government supports Buddhists who have taken up arms to protect their families against Muslim insurgents. On a visit to the south, Surayud said he did not object to an amnesty, proposed by the area's top army chief. “I want the issue to be clearly discussed at the local level and accepted by all parties concerned,” Surayud told reporters. “The government is ready to enact the (amnesty) law in the future.” An amnesty was first discussed in 2004, but rejected under former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government in favor of a hard-line approach. Surayud, however, came into office in October following the coup that ousted Thaksin with promises to bring peace to the region through reconciliation. “It opens an opportunity for insurgents to emerge from the shadow and stop using violence,” said Srisompop Chitphiromsri, political scientist at Prince of Songkhla University at Pattani. He said an amnesty in the 1980s successfully ended the country's decades-long communist insurgency. Buddhist civilians, including monks, have been the insurgents' prime targets in three years of violence in Thailand's southernmost Muslim-majority provinces – Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat – which has left more than 2,000 people dead.

Hip-Hop is going to get a good round of pub this week.

Entertainment: Between Akon dry-humping an 14 year old in Trinidad and Cameron going on 60 minutes about the greatness of not snitching. It's going to be a great week.

(CBS) Rap star Cam'ron says there's no situation — including a serial killer living next door — that would cause him to help police in any way, because to do so would hurt his music sales and violate his "code of ethics." Cam'ron, whose real name is Cameron Giles, talks to Anderson Cooper for a report on how the hip-hop culture's message to shun the police has undermined efforts to solve murders across the country. Cooper's report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes this Sunday, April 22, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. "If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me?" Giles responds to a hypothetical question posed by Cooper. "I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him — but I'd probably move. But I'm not going to call and be like, 'The serial killer's in 4E.' " Giles' "code of ethics" also extends to crimes committed against him. After being shot and wounded by gunmen, Giles refused to cooperate with police. Why? "Because … it would definitely hurt my business, and the way I was raised, I just don't do that," says Giles. Pressed by Cooper, who says had he been the victim, he would want his attacker to be caught, Giles explains further: "But then again, you're not going to be on the stage tonight in the middle of, say, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, with people with gold and platinum teeth and dreadlocks jumping up and down singing your songs, either. We're in two different lines of business."

A really great week.

Update# More fallout from Akon dirty dancing with 14 year old Deena Alleyne.

Johnny Soong, owner of the Zen nightclub and one of the promoters of last Thursday's "Akon in Concert" said yesterday that the club has an age limit of 18 years and over. Soong, who is out of the country, was contacted for comment on the highly publicised controversial dance by Akon and 14-year-old Deena Alleyne, daughter of pastor Dave Alleyne. "Patrons have to be 18 years to purchase tickets when we sell tickets for our events," Soong said yesterday. "We do check persons IDs. Obviously she got through the crack.

Speaking of which Akon is a Muslim with three wives who got shut down by his label for talking about it. More angles for him to get hit on by critics.

Update# The girl's father speaks and he is taking heat from his members.

Update# Deena Alleyne says she is sorry.

"....She described the past week as the worst in her life and wished that she could change it. She said her father, pastor Dave Alleyne, did not know she attended the club and only learned of it after seeing a picture of her in the newspaper last week. "He saw the pictures and I told him about it as well because I did not want him to hear it from anyone," she said. "But when he saw the video it really did take a toll on him. He always warned me about this. He doesn't allow me to go to parties, he would always say 'it is not for you, it is not for you'." Alleyne has been criticised by many for her lewd dancing at the Zen nightclub. However, she said her classmates and the members of her church are being very supportive. "There were two teachers who came and spoke to me and they really stood by me and told me that it was a mistake I made and that I would learn from it," she said. Alleyne said she plans to continue with her school studies and focus on spending more time with her family. As for her love of dancing she plans on joining the dance ministry in her father's church, Flaming Word Ministry and use her talent to serve God."

HA! From GAF













You tell her you want to "SMACK THAT.... all on the floor..smack that..... give me some more"...Is this the way you should be talking to a 14 year girl?

St. Louis: We are not Detroit!

Nation: Just disregard all the similarities to Detroit....please?

From a peak of nearly 860,000 residents in 1950, St. Louis had lost more than half a million people by 2000, a depopulation not unlike the devastating postwar exodus from Detroit. Since the 2000 census, St. Louis has kept shrinking, the Census Bureau estimates, while most old cities have added people. Population is a critical indicator of any city’s health, but the sinking numbers here are particularly unwelcome as the city has spiraled from one woe to the next. In the past few months, the public schools were stripped of accreditation and taken over by the state; the city was designated the most dangerous in the country in a national crime survey; and 15 police officers and supervisors were disciplined for giving World Series tickets seized from scalpers to friends and family. “These things are absolutely not helpful,” said John Hoal, an assistant professor of architecture at Washington University who has been involved in numerous municipal planning projects. “We have to redevelop the city regardless; this just makes it harder.”

What could be their savior? young urban (childless?) couples and singles.

Since 1999, according to the Downtown St. Louis Partnership, a civic group, 62 historic buildings have been redeveloped for residences and businesses, 12 are currently being remodeled and about 20 conversions are in the planning stages. And according to the city, the two-square-mile downtown area has over 9,000 residents — 6,300 more than in 2000. “There’s a young middle-class movement beginning,” said James Neal Primm, a retired professor and author of “Lion of the Valley,” an extensive history of St. Louis. “My overall reaction is that there should be a lot more. But there is something going on.” Dr. Primm’s grandson, Chris Termini, 29, lives in one of the new downtown lofts, in an area that was unfit for comfortable living just 10 years ago. At night, the sidewalk cafes are full. Joggers pass; dog walkers idle. “We walk everywhere for food and entertainment,” Mr. Termini said. “It’s great.”

The potential bump in the road would be if the city is willing to go all the way and change their mindset to accommodate this new population demo?

More fallout from the NUJ boycott vote.

Media: Every media person who is clear headed understands how this vote will be looked in terms of reporting. The best thing to do is overturn it quickly and unanimously.

"....There are a number of reasons why the NUJ boycott motion was misguided - and the exceptionalism of focusing on Israel and its foreign policy is certainly one of them. But there are equally troubling editorial aspects to a motion which strays beyond the reasonable and traditional concerns of a journalists' union. All reporters covering the Israel-Palestine story know that every single word they write will be weighed and scrutinised by both sides for fairness, balance, accuracy, sourcing and general integrity. This is perhaps the most complex, long-running and intractable international dispute in the world. It is likely that a majority of British journalists covering the story are members of the NUJ. It is doubtful that many of them will have welcomed a motion which will inevitably be seen by some as casting doubts on whether they can truly approach their work in a spirit of fairness and distinterested inquiry. In a statement this week the union's general secretary, Jeremy Dear, pointedly said that it was open to union members to seek to overturn the decision. They would be well advised to do so."

Muslim journalist beaten up in Canada by Islamists.

Media: This even got the attention of editor and publisher which is impressive.

TORONTO (CP) - A Muslim journalist beaten with a cricket bat outside a Toronto-area home fears for his life after facing repeated death threats apparently because someone has deemed his writing to be anti-Islam. Jawaad Faizi, a columnist for the weekly Urdu-language Pakistan Post based in New York, suffered cuts and bruises in the attack, which has alarmed his wife and three children and drew the condemnation Thursday of free-press advocates. "I'm really very, very scared," Faizi said in an interview on Thursday. "I'm scared especially for my kids." The Pakistan Post, North America's largest Urdu-language newspaper with an office in Mississauga, Ont., is published in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary as well as in 16 major American centres.

Waiting for condemnation from the various CAIR related groups.

This is Swedish justice for rape..

Sweden: I was looking for a castration order in the story but this is ridiculously light for rape and assault.

A man who sexually assaulted 58 girls after luring them to meetings by pretending to be a woman has had his sentenced reduced to ten years' imprisonment. The man, 31, who posed in internet chat rooms as a modelling agent called Alexandra had originally been sentenced to 11 years in jail, but the Court of Appeal in Malmö reduced this sentence by one year. The court found Atheer al Suhairy guilty of assaulting and, in some cases, raping his victims. His sentence also includes a permanent deportation order. Al Suhairy has been described as manipulative and charming but also quick to resort to physical violence. Many of the girls who fell victim to his charms have suffered serious psychological damage as a result, with some reported to have attempted suicide.

10 years and kicking him out after finding him guilty of 58 victims. Wrong on so many moral levels.

China, Russia, South Africa oppose UN sanctions on Sudan

Africa: I understand China and Russia, but once again South Africa spits in the face of Africans looking for help. First Zimbabwe and now Darfur. What is their excuse?

"...Britain and the United States said they would begin talks in the Security Council Thursday on a new Sudan sanctions draft. But Russia and China, two veto-wielding council members, along with South Africa made it clear that they oppose such a draft at this time. "We don't think it's the right time. It would be very strange," Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. "Why do we have to be so negative?" he said "After a long while, we have this kind of positive development in the dialogue between the UN and Khartoum and all of a sudden to come back with some sanctions would not be good." China's deputy UN Ambassador Liu Zhenmin concurred. "It is better not to move in that direction (sanctions) ... Many parties are engaging the Sudanese government. Agreement has been reached for the heavy package support (deployment of UN 3,000 peacekeepers)," he said."

Everyone wanted America to work thru the UN, be more multilateral and it has worked so well up to this point. The sad part is South Africa has shown itself to be nothing more than Russia/China little bitch. How much longer do we have to wait to get some concrete moves in Darfur? This has become a farce.

But this will all be America's fault in the end.

UK doctors opting out of doing abortions.

UK: It is to the point where if the trend keeps up there might be abortion restrictions due to lack of doctors.

Sometimes you look at a news story and think: “Now why didn’t we see that coming?” Every clue was there, every trend and current flowed towards it. When the thing happens, you look back and see that it was obvious. The latest example emerged yesterday, in a warning from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists about a looming “abortion crisis”. An unprecedented number of doctors are opting out of terminating pregnancies, and the NHS struggles to cope. Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, says: “Unless we can motivate doctors to train in abortion, we may face a situation in five years’ time in which women’s access to abortion is severely restricted.”

Idealism meets reality who both meet morality.

"....However, there is another, even stronger, current that led us to this shortage. These young doctors have a point: if they agree to do abortions they agree to do all of them, not just those undertaken for deep, serious, heartbreaking reasons. They must serve not only the rape victims, the abused, the desperate, the weak-minded, the sick and women who might be so damaged by birth that the welfare of their existing children would be torpedoed. No: once they’re signed up for it they must also serve the silly, the selfish, the careless and thoughtless. These young refusenik doctors are not stupid: they know as well as anyone that despite vast improvements in contraception, abortions have rocketed: doubling since the early 1970s to 190,000 a year. They know the horrifying statistic that one in three British women has an abortion at some point. They are in tune with their generation: they know that for too many women it has become a back-up form of contraception, taken for granted and never likely to be denied them. They know that the old mantra of abortion campaigners — “No woman does this without deep thought and heartbreaking need” — is way out of date. Plenty do it irritably, without a pang, after a drunken fumble with a stranger. Plenty do it because the time isn’t “right” for them, even by a factor of half a year. Even some mothers do it, as Caitlin Moran startlingly wrote last week, after less agonising than they put into choosing new kitchen worktops (read Caitlin's article here)."

Interesting read.

Tom Joyner gets a trial offer from MSNBC.

Media: He said it this morning on his radio show for a simulcast, so at least MSNBC is taking Rev. Jackson quota demand to heart which is horrendous.

Denmark: All Women Should Wear A Veil.

EU: Yet another bone-headed Imam makes a fool out of himself. Earlier in the year it was Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali with his women are uncovered meat. Now we have Mostafa Chendid who says all women, non-Muslims as well, should wear a veil because it makes them safer from men.

Mostafa Chendid is considered to be the successor of Ahmad Abu Laban, one of the imams who was involved in the affair around the notorious Danish cartoons. Ahmad Abu Laban was one of the leaders of the delegation that traveled around the Middle East and that had added three drawings to the original cartoons in its report to «give a clearer picture of the climate against Muslims in Denmark». Mostafa Chendid is doing well to become just as famous as his predecessor, and the interview that he recently gave to the Danish weekly newspaper Weekendavisen certainly isn't going to reduce the controversy around his person. Earlier he had already succeeded to draw attention to himself by saying, on International Women's Day, to Jyllands-Posten (that's right: the newspaper with the cartoons) that not only Muslim women, but all other women too, should wear a veil. Of course, this resulted in a lot of reactions, and as a matter of fact his remarks in Jyllands-Posten were the direct reason for the interview with Weekendavisen, where he repeated them once more and commented on them. He said for example that wearing the veil is a woman's duty to God, because that is what the Koran says. However, that doesn't mean that he thinks that a woman with a veil is a better person than a woman without a veil. According to him the veil also serves as a signal: women with a veil are «not for sale». Moreover, the veil protects against rapes, he says: in the US for example, every half minute a woman is raped, and according to him that is because women continuously tempt men by going onto the streets without a veil. Maybe not all men have a problem to control themselves when they see a woman without a veil, and perhaps there is only a problem with five to ten per cent of the men, but he says that is nevertheless enough for all women to wear the veil.

Via BrusselsJournal.

Another example of California energy nonsense.

Enviro: April 14th.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Finance chiefs from the G7 industrialized countries have endorsed nuclear energy, an increasingly attractive power source as governments confront global warming and over-dependence on fossil fuels. The Group of Seven, following a meeting here Friday, described energy diversification as an important priority for both rich and poor nations. "Diversification can include advanced energy technologies such as renewable, nuclear and clean coal," said the ministers and central bank governors from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. The group at previous meetings had been unable to agree on a text citing nuclear power, notably in the face of opposition from Germany. But a steady rise in oil prices, from less than 30 dollars a barrel in April 2003 to nearly 80 dollars last year, as well as increased energy nationalism in producers such as Russia, Venezuela and Iran have managed to change minds. France, which has long advocated the adoption of an international nuclear power program as a "clean" alternative to fossil fuels, hailed the G7's latest initiative. French Finance Minister Thierry Breton said he had put "a lot of energy" into getting the G7 to include "nuclear" among potential alternative power sources. "It wasn't my first attempt but it was the first time it was unanimously accepted," he said. France gets 78 percent of its electricity production from nuclear sources, against an average of just 16 percent worldwide and 32 percent in Europe, and is home to several major nuclear energy companies, such as Areva.

April 17th in California.

A bill that sought to lift California's three-decade ban on building new nuclear power plants died Monday in a Democrat-controlled legislative committee. It was clear that the legislation would get a chilly reception in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee when the chairwoman abruptly interrupted a presentation by the bill's author, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine (Orange County), and asked him to finish his opening remarks. "You've spoken for five minutes ... and I'm wondering if you can wrap up," said Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley. The committee voted 3 to 6 along party lines. As his main argument for the bill, AB719, DeVore called nuclear power the answer to meeting the state's growing demand for electricity without exacerbating the problem of global warming. His measure sought to repeal a 1976 moratorium on building new nuclear reactors in California until the federal Department of Energy builds a permanent storage facility for nuclear waste. The federal agency has chosen a site in Nevada, but the effort has been stalled by technical, legal and political challenges. AB719's opponents -- largely environmental and anti-nuclear groups -- on Monday argued that nuclear waste is harmful to the environment, there is no permanent solution for storing spent fuel rods, and nuclear power plants could become targets of terrorism. "Nuclear technology is the most dangerous technology on earth," said Dan Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a California-based anti-nuclear watchdog group. Hancock sided with the skeptics. Before the votes were cast by committee members, the chairwoman said she is convinced that the moratorium needs to stay in place. "In addition, we have safe alternatives. We've just started looking at solar energy potential, wind energy potential ... and new alternative fuel sources," she said.

These people are not serious about alternative energy. Wind, Solar are still in their infancy and not in any shape ready to handle the demands of California. Same goes biofuels which is already causing prices everywhere else to go up. We have nuke power and the liberals in California refuse to use it. They want to cut emissions and if it slows down the economy, so be it.

Its all about changing people's lifestyles, not trying to find way to maintain and keep up with growing demand for energy.

Obama and his "violence" potpourri matrix.

Politics: When you are trying to tie in the VaTech shootings, Imus, outsourcing, children and everything else you can think of, don't do it.

It's worth a listen, and it captures what moves a lot of people about Obama, and bothers others: His instinct for abstraction and large themes, and his sense that America's problems have at their root solutions that have as much to do with hope and process as with any specific course of action. Other politicians would -- and will -- stay with the concrete. They'll talk about this tragedy, and, soon, gun control. But while Obama mourns the slain students, he takes the massacre more as a theme than as a point of discussion. "Maybe nothing could have been done to prevent it," he says toward the end. So he moves quickly to the abstract: Violence, and the general place of violence in American life. "There's also another kind of violence that we're going to have to think about. It's not necessarily the physical violence, but the violence that we perpetrate on each other in other ways," he said, and goes on to catalogue other forms of "violence." There's the "verbal violence" of Imus. There's "the violence of men and women who have worked all their lives and suddenly have the rug pulled out from under them because their job is moved to another country." There's "the violence of children whose voices are not heard in communities that are ignored," And so, Obama says, "there's a lot of different forms of violence in our society, and so much of it is rooted in our incapacity to recognize ourselves in each other." Many politicians would avoid, I think, suggesting that outsourcing and mass-murder belong in the same category.

This move to tie everything to one theme would be better served without using the term violence and trying to tie everything to one theme. The main theme that I bolded seems to be saying everyone has those special traits, just Americans can't recognize it. That is 100% horse manure.

Americans recognize certain traits in a person,hard-working, honest, dependable, smart..etc..etc. But they also realize unlike this overarching all encompassing dribble that not everyone is the same or has the same sort of traits and you adjust accordingly. Obama is getting dangerously close to be known as a pie in the sky speaker with no real substance under the crust as he did the same in Atlanta.

Europe's obsession on America's gun control.

Europe: Spiegel has the typical editorial roundup by the Euros who are blaming lack of taking away guns from people as a reason for the VaTech shooting. Here is the difference between Americans and Europeans.

Europeans who have had a hand in two World Wars and the Holocaust among other things have this idea people are inherently evil, if one nut used a gun in a killing spree, everyone else is capable of it. So ban it. This applies to any instrument used in a violent act which is why you get nutty things like the banning of swords in Scotland. It is the perfect example of a bubble nanny society that passes laws to make people feel good and have a false sense of superior morality and so called "enlightenment."

America on the other hand points out that some people do bad things and they should be punished. Sometimes tragedies such as VaTech happens because the shooter is a nut job. But to have a knee-jerk reaction such as banning guns from everyone(worked well in D.C. eh?) is out of line, against the constitution and slippery slope into becoming a bubble nanny society.

AAJA: Don't mention he is Asian!

Media: In one of the dumber preemptive strikes is the idiotic memos by the Asian American Journalists Association over the coverage of the VaTech shootings by Seung-Hui Cho. The first came yesterday demanding no race descriptions.

As coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting continues to unfold, AAJA urges all media to avoid using racial identifiers unless there is a compelling or germane reason. There is no evidence at this early point that the race or ethnicity of the suspected gunman has anything to do with the incident, and to include such mention serves only to unfairly portray an entire people. The effect of mentioning race can be powerfully harmful. It can subject people to unfair treatment based simply on skin color and heritage.

You see us dumb Americans are going to rampage against Koreans over an obvious psycho who happened to be Korean. So keep race out, possible his name since it would be a giveaway. This memo gets mocked over at CBS, Malkin and Newsbusters.

Former member Christine Suh blasts the memo as moronic and indicative of the organization's "misguided leadership" on Romenesko.

"I am a former member of the association (and a Korean American) who decided not to renew because of releases such as this one. I hope members out there are as perplexed as I am by the advisory, but the fact that the group's leadership thought to promote such a poor practice tells me there are members out there who agree that ignoring the identity of the shooter would be acceptable in this story."

Another former member blast the memo.

From PAULETTE CHU MINITER: I fully share Christine Suh's disappointment in AAJA's advisory asking media to keep racial identifiers out of the Virginia Tech story. I am also a former member of the association, Vietnamese American, and decided not to renew my membership due to such positions of AAJA. In addition to being journalistically irresponsible, AAJA's advisory is also plainly and simply crass. In sending out this advisory, the association appears more concerned with political correctness toward Asians than it does about what has actually happened to the victims in Virginia.

AAJA national president writes in saying the memo is being taken wrong.

From JEANNE MARIANI-BELDING, AAJA national president: The comments made by Christine Suh mischaracterize AAJA's position. AAJA never advocated "ignoring the identity of the shooter" as Ms. Suh stated. Our media advisory, which was issued yesterday prior to the identity of the shooter being released, dealt specifically with using race as an identifier.

See the sleight of hand there? Suh was talking about identity based on the memo demanding keeping out race. Belding comes back mischaracterizing Suh's position. This takes us to the SECOND memo released by AAJA tonight.

Now that the identity of the suspected shooter at Virginia Tech is known, AAJA cautions the use of his heritage or immigrant status in news coverage. We understand the need to research the background of Seung-Hui Cho (first name is pronounced "sung hee") and to provide details about him as a nation struggles to make sense of the horrific incident. But we are disturbed by some media outlets' prominent mention that the suspect is an immigrant from South Korea when such a revelation provides no insight or relevance to the story. The fact he is not a U.S. citizen and was here on the basis of a green card, while interesting, should not be a primary focus in the profiling of him. To highlight that suggests his immigration status played a role in the shootings; there's been no such evidence. We remind the media that the use of racial and other identifiers must be accompanied with context and relevance. Without it, we open the door to subjecting an entire people to unfair treatment or portrayal based on their skin color or national heritage.

I would have thought the role of journalism and journalists was to put out all information in dealing with a story like this. What is considered prominent mention? That he was a legal resident who came from South Korea as a child too much? There has been no suggestion that his immigrant status or that he is Korean played a part in the shooting. But to leave out description after description in giving out the story till he turns out be a male who shoot up the school is PC on steroids.

52.6 percent of Americans leeches and parasites.

Nation: Alright fine, not all are unproductive slugs sucking off hard working taxpayers money.

Maybe the era of big government isn't over, after all. As Americans finish their annual tax-filing flurry to meet a Tuesday deadline, it is true that tax rates are lower than they were a few years ago. But according to a different yardstick, the federal government's reach is expanding. Click to enlarge SOURCE: A Gary Shilling & Co., 2006/RICH CLABAUGH – STAFFSlightly over half of all Americans – 52.6 percent – now receive significant income from government programs, according to an analysis by Gary Shilling, an economist in Springfield, N.J. That's up from 49.4 percent in 2000 and far above the 28.3 percent of Americans in 1950. If the trend continues, the percentage could rise within ten years to pass 55 percent, where it stood in 1980 on the eve of President's Reagan's move to scale back the size of government. That two-decade shrink-the-government trend now appears over, if for no other reason than demographics. The aging baby-boomer generation is poised to receive big payments from Social Security and government healthcare programs. "New Deal programs persist," despite the Reagan revolution and its aftermath, says James Galbraith, an economist at the University of Texas in Austin. "They persist because they are largely successful and highly popular." Mr. Shilling's analysis found that about 1 in 5 Americans hold a government job or a job reliant on federal spending. A similar number receive Social Security or a government pension. About 19 million others get food stamps, 2 million get subsidized housing, and 5 million get education grants. For all these categories, Mr. Shilling counted dependents as well as the direct recipients of government income. Many Americans, in surveys, say they don't like the way their tax money is spent. And a majority now says, in a reversal from a year ago, that their federal income taxes are too high, according to an April Gallup poll.

Outrageous, I am not rich, trying to get to upper middle-class with a flat screen tv. But this is ridiculous as America is creating more and more people who will be dependent on the government to be their mommy and daddy. What happens when these people have kids, they will get the same sort of crass, lazy values. That will lead to even bigger government spending. So where do I sign up for these benefits?

What?

Look, if I am paying taxes into this system, I want my pound of flesh. If I can contribute to overburdening the system so it collapes on itself. so be it.

Here comes the NYTIMES gun control cry.

Crime: In the wake of the shootings at VaTech, the Times starts off what will be many editorials whining for gun grabbing laws.

Not much is known about the gunman, who killed himself, or about his motives or how he got his weapons, so it is premature to draw too many lessons from this tragedy. But it seems a safe bet that in one way or another, this will turn out to be another instance in which an unstable or criminally minded individual had no trouble arming himself and harming defenseless people.

Liberals see that one way and I see it a totally different way in light of the fact the campus was a gun-free zone.

Our hearts and the hearts of all Americans go out to the victims and their families. Sympathy was not enough at the time of Columbine, and eight years later it is not enough. What is needed, urgently, is stronger controls over the lethal weapons that cause such wasteful carnage and such unbearable loss.

As the Times takes the opportunity to go for a gun grab. That is the only lesson it cares about at times like this.

Global Warming making kids scared neurotic nitwits.

Enviro: All thanks to the media and parents, Considering this Generation Y is already the most narcissistic self-centered, fragile I am special yes I am bunch ever. This is going to push these kids over the top.

For many children and young adults, global warming is the atomic bomb of today. Fears of an environmental crisis are defining their generation in ways that the Depression, World War II, Vietnam and the Cold War's lingering "War Games" etched souls in the 20th century. Parents say they're searching for "productive" outlets for their 8-year-olds' obsessions with dying polar bears. Teachers say enrollment in high school and college environmental studies classes is doubling year after year. And psychologists say they're seeing an increasing number of young patients preoccupied by a climactic Armageddon.

Not that the kids are getting coaching or anything.

After 8-year-old Mollie Passacantando, daughter of Greenpeace USA's executive director, read a story about polar bears in class this year, the Fairfax County youngster and her friends spent recess marching around the playground with signs reading, "Stop global warming. Save the polar bears." A classmate taunted, "You can march all you want, but you're not going to save a single polar bear."

Give that classmate a gold medal for awesomeness. Talking about Global Warming as if the Earth is going to crack in half 20 years from now does nothing but give people like this panic attacks. The kids are going to grow up fearful of everything and gullible to anything.

Minneapolis Muslim taxi drivers can't refuse fares.

Nation: Voted 11-0 for stricter measures against Muslim drivers who refuse to take fares based on their religious interpretation of Islam.

MINNEAPOLIS - Starting May 11, any taxi driver who refuses to transport riders carrying alcohol at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will be suspended for 30 days. And after a second offense, their license would be revoked for two years. The Metropolitan Airports Commission voted 11-0 Monday to approve the crackdown, which some Muslim drivers say violates their religious beliefs. Commissioners called the change reasonable, practical and important for rider safety. "We are sending a message that if you want to drive a taxi at our airport you can't refuse our customers," Steve Wareham, operations manager of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The only approved refusals would involve the driver's safety or would be prompted by riders, such as excess luggage or large families. Jeff Hassan, a lawyer representing Muslim cabbies, said the issue might wind up going to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Other Minneapolis news, more from Katherine Kersten on the "reasonable accomdation" being set for Muslim students Minneapolis Community and Technical College starting with a foot washing basin. The startling bit about the story is the explanation by Dianna Cusick, MCTC's director of legal affairs, who is pointing out a site (Muslim Accommodations Task Force) That hasn't been updated since mid 2005 as their guide. Matter of fact I find the lack of information more disturbing considering its the college's guide.

News&Observer: Fine, our Duke rape coverage stunk.

Media: But we did much better at the end! As yet another media outlet tries to cover its ass for horrible coverage of this case. Melanie Sill with the report.

Our internal conversations about coverage have focused mainly on what we knew so far and what we were trying to find out. In the next few weeks, we'll gather newsroom staff for a what-have-we-learned session. The lessons go beyond the lacrosse story. For instance, most crime reporting begins as the Duke case did -- with a charge or accusation. Good journalism also represents the other side, preferably with direct information from the accused person or his or her representative. We were hampered early on by the unwillingness of the players, their families or other representatives to speak with our reporters. Nonetheless, we should have stated more emphatically that we had not been able to get their side of things. We placed too much faith initially in District Attorney Mike Nifong and the paltry information provided by Durham police. In a few spots, some of our early coverage played to stereotypes, and a couple of opinion columns drew sweeping conclusions too quickly. Our overall reporting was solid and on point, however, and it intensified as we ran into obstacles. We reported on many issues surrounding the complex case, including the team's behavior and reputation. These issues were and are relevant, as are broader questions about drinking and student life at Duke. As questions mounted about Nifong and the police work, we expanded our reporting team with investigative specialist Joseph Neff, who has few equals in covering criminal investigations and prosecutors' conduct. Neff did exemplary work, revealing problems with the case and the DA's handling of it.

Why wasn't Neff brought in the first place to see if the investigation was being done properly? Oh, that's right. You believed whole-heartily in the accusations and saw no reason to question them in the first place.

"Youths" run wild in Malmo estate.

Sweden: The infamous "youths" show up in the legendary city of Malmo

Youths throwing stones and eggs came to blows with police and fire officers in Malmö's Rosengård housing estate on Saturday night. At two points in the evening the demonstrators were judged so threatening that fire officers refused to enter the area without a police escort. The troubles started at about 7:30pm when police received a call from a member of the public alleging that they had been threatened. A police patrol went to Ramels Väg in Rosengård to respond to the report, and while officers investigated youths gathered and started throwing stones. By 8:30pm around 15 young people were throwing stones and eggs at police. When the fire brigade arrived to extinguish a fire in a warehouse on the same street, the stone-throwing youths turned on fire officers. "Because of this and because the situation is tense in the area, the emergency services will from now on wait for the police before entering the area," the emergency services said in a press release on Saturday night. "The emergency services will also send extra resources in the event of an alert," the statement continued. By 11pm two warehouses were burning on Ramels Väg. Extra police had to be called in to protect the fire brigade as they battled to extinguish the blazes. The situation had quietened down by midnight, emergency services said. Police said that no arrests had been made, although officers have made formal reports alleging that they were the victims of assault. The Rosengård estate is known for suffering from high levels of unemployment, and for having the highest concentration of immigrant communities of any area in Sweden.

I get the feeling there will be no arrests and this situation will be swept under the rug.

Rosie says no more 9/11 talk on the View.

Entertainment: I guess her latest Q-score wasn't very good or has this Imus stuff gotten everyone scared like Bill Maher calling Media Matters names.

Florida lawmaker calls illegal aliens..illegal aliens

Politics: I don't think Planas is going to get much traction with this in this state.

Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, recently forwarded a cartoon from his state e-mail account to his colleagues that read: "Don't forget to pay your taxes ... 12 million illegal aliens are depending on you!" Brown said Friday he meant the message as a joke, but it was met with a fierce reaction from many other lawmakers. He later sent a follow-up e-mail to apologize. Brown still needs to make a public apology, said Rep. Juan Carlos "J.C." Planas, a Miami Republican and member of the Hispanic caucus. "I think he has to specifically state that he understands now that that term, illegal alien, is extremely insulting to many individuals, and I think there has to be something a little bit more public and a little bit more contrite in his apology," Planas said. Brown said he's finished with the issue. "People were offended by it and I have apologized to those who were offended by it," Brown said. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm done. Now if they want to elevate it to an entire new debate about illegal aliens, then we can have that debate." He added: "I apologize if anyone was offended, but it doesn't change the fact that there is an issue, a legitimate political issue of debate today about immigration, so let's move on."

Not that other lawmakers in the state aren't willing to take it to the extreme.

State Rep. Marcelo Llorente, the son of Cuban exiles and a Miami Republican who represents a district heavily populated by immigrants, almost immediately replied. ''Reasonable people have different positions on the immigration issue but to imply that taxpayers are subsidizing illegal aliens is outrageous,'' he later told The Miami Herald.

Llorente just stepped into it.

Illegal aliens cost California billions

Mr. Stein noted that state and local taxes paid by the unauthorized immigrant population go toward offsetting these costs, but do not match expenses. The total of such payments was estimated in the report to be about $1.6 billion per year. He also said the total cost of illegal immigration to the state's taxpayers would be considerably higher if other cost areas, such as special English instruction, school meal programs or welfare benefits for American workers displaced by illegal-alien workers were added into the equation.

That was in 2004, 2006 you have this.

Among the new mothers is a woman who didn't want to be identified — an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Her medical bills will run more than $6,000. But with no insurance, Parkland — a public hospital — is forced to cover the cost. “We have to figure out how to continue to deal with this because it’s very difficult to fund it,” says Parkland President Dr. Ron Anderson. Anderson says the cost of treating undocumented immigrants — millions of dollars each year — is unsustainable.

Planas again.

Rep. J.C. Planas, a Miami Republican, said that in light of Thursday's developments and the immigration debate roaring nationwide, the time may be ripe for a discussion on the matter. ''This country was founded by immigrants and for some reason we have, as a society, turned our back on immigrants. And the more we use that word we are fostering this anti-immigrant mentality,'' Planas said.

Again, no one is turning their back or raising a fuss over legal immigration, but to expect everyone to shut up about illegal or use PC terms for the benefit of those supporting illegals is a bit too much.

Obama making my paycheck cry in fear.

Politics: Via Bookerrising and Plezworld, Obama on the stump trail handing out social programs like its going out of style.

He spoke of Universal Health Care for all Americans and exploring the means of adequately funding the "No Child Left Behind" policy of George Bush. He spoke of providing incentives for car makers and oil companies to create energy efficient transportation, he spoke of creating an industry that will profit from making our environment safer and cleaner.

When politicians speak of incentives, that is a code word for taxes.

Uni Health care would be an explosion of government spending and eventually a rationing of health care services ala the NHS in Britain which according to this report they may have to charge people. Americans won't stand waiting months for treatments and surgeries.

Incentives to car makers and oil companies? Car makers/unions got themselves into this mess by not being innovative, bloated and myopic. Taxpayers shouldn't have to bail them unless there is a drastic change in the way they do business. Oil companies are going to be slammed by the likes of Obama and other Dems by promoting profit envy and taxing them because most Americans just see the price at the pump and think oil companies are ripping them off. Getting oil isn't cheap people. If you want to have a windfall tax on them, go check what happened with Jimmy Carter and his tax. It made us more Middle East dependent.