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TOP STORY FROM AP
Cub Scout Leader Arrested in BTK Killings
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A 31-year manhunt for a serial killer who taunted police with letters about his crimes ended Saturday when authorities said they finally caught up with the man who called himself BTK and linked him to at least 10 murders.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 7:44 AM |

Liberals constantly assert their First Amendment rights, except, of course, when it comes to religion. Here, they firmly adhere to the doctrines of secular atheism. They believe that second-hand smoke is more dangerous than marijuana smoke. They believe that one nut accused of bombing an Alabama abortion clinic deserves far more law-enforcement attention than Jihadi cells planning the 9/11 attacks. They call 9/11 victims "Hitlerian" while calling their murderers "oppressed." They hate SUVs, unless imported and driven by soccer moms. They believe trial lawyers save lives and doctors kill people. They believe the solution to racism is to treat people differently on the basis of their skin color. They deride moral clarity because they can't survive its scrutiny. They promote peace but foment division and hate -- ad infinitum.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 3:03 PM |

How To Save Terry Schiavo's Life

Have the State of Florida convict her of a capital felony ("aggravated vegetativeness"); then the ACLU will file suit to keep her alive.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 11:38 AM |

But, in the broader sense vis-à-vis Europe, the administration is changing the tone precisely because it understands there can be no substance. And, if there's no substance that can be changed, what's to quarrel about? International relations are like ex-girlfriends: if you're still deluding yourself you can get her back, every encounter will perforce be fraught and turbulent; once you realise that's never gonna happen, you can meet for a quick decaf latte every six – make that 10 – months and do the whole hey-isn't-it-terrific-the-way-we're-able-to-be-such-great-friends routine because you couldn't care less. You can even make a few pleasant noises about her new romance (the so-called European Constitution) secure in the knowledge he's a total loser.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 11:25 AM |

Dear Mr. Moyers:

I’ve been meaning to write you for quite some time, in fact, if the truth were known, I originally intended to communicate with you in 1964, when as Special Assistant to Lyndon Johnson, you approved that television ad showing a small girl picking daisy petals as a nuclear blast in the background foreshadows, not only her demise but also, the deaths of thousands. Johnson’s voice then came on to tell us, “…We must love each other or we must die.” [!]

Were you trying to set new standards for your successors in coming elections? At any rate, it worked! Johnson trounced Senator Goldwater in the presidential election of 1964, 61% to 38% and your stylized demonization of Republicans continues to this day.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 2:34 PM |

.........Carter expressed his concern about and opposition to Reagan's defense buildup. He boldly told Dobrynin that Moscow would be better off with someone else in the White House. If Reagan won, he warned, "There would not be a single agreement on arms control, especially on nuclear arms, as long as Reagan remained in power."............

............Carter was not the only Democrat to make clear to the Russians where their loyalty lay. As the election neared in 1984, Dobrynin recalls meetings with Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill.

O'Neill told Dobrynin that no effort should be spared to prevent "that demagogue Reagan" from being re-elected.

Soviet documents report that O'Neill told Dobrynin: "If that happens, Reagan will give vent to his primitive instincts and give us a lot of trouble, probably, put us on the verge of a major armed conflict. He is a dangerous man.".........

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 6:44 AM |

Here are three small news items from around the world you might have missed:

1) An unemployed waitress in Berlin faces the loss of her welfare benefits after refusing a job as a prostitute in a legalized brothel.

2) A British court has ruled that a suspected terrorist from Algeria cannot be detained in custody because jail causes him to suffer a ''depressive illness.''

3) Seventeen-year-old Jeffrey Eden of Charlestown, R.I., has been awarded an A by his teacher and the ''Silver Key'' in the Rhode Island Scholastic Art Awards for a diorama titled ''Bush/Hitler and How History Repeats Itself.''.............

....................It's an open question whether the West will survive this twilight struggle: Europe almost certainly won't, America might; on the other hand, the psychosis to which much of the culture is in thrall may eventually reach a tipping point into mass civilizational suicide. And then the new barbarians will inherit, and young Master Eden will end his days pining for the rosy-hued nostalgia for the Bushitler tyranny.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 7:46 AM |

The blogosphere has gained near immediate influence and credibility with its ability to widely disseminate alternative media coverage. (These days, “alternative” more often than not means “true.”)

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 2:17 PM |

The fact that he has tenure must, I'm afraid, be taken into account. Firing him, or forcing him to resign, might be morally satisfying but would be a tactical error. It would confer martyr status on him, and it would be interpreted by his students, and by Churchill himself, as punishment for speaking the truth to power. Besides, the fault here does not lie with Churchill; he's a symptom, not a disease. The fault lies, generally, with the sick academic culture in which he has thrived, and, specifically, with the administrative weasels at the University of Colorado who have repeatedly rewarded his dubious critical achievements. What should be done with Churchill, therefore, is...nothing. His notoriety should stand as an ongoing monument to the decay of intellectual standards in higher education, and his professorship as an ongoing monument to the intellectual cowardice of the school which hired and tenured him.

Thus, inadvertently, Ward Churchill might teach us all a lesson.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 8:53 AM |

I have never thought, believed or said such words. Nor have I ever said anything similar to that thought which could be interpreted by a reasonable person to mean anything similar to the quote attributed to me.

Because you are at least average in intelligence and have a basic understanding of Christian beliefs, you know that no Christian would believe what you attributed to me.

Because you have had the privilege of serving in the White House under President Johnson, you know that no person believing such a thing would be qualified for a presidential appointment, nor would he be confirmed by the United States Senate, and if confirmed and said such a thing would he be allowed to continue in service.

Since you must have known such a statement would not have been made and you refused or failed to do any primary research on this supposed quote, what was your motive in printing such a damnable lie?

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 11:01 AM |

Now I take the point that "democracy" - as in elections - isn't every thing. In the development of successful nations, the universal franchise is usually the last piece of the puzzle, as it was in Britain. Anyone can hold an election: Mugabe did; so did Charles Taylor, the recently retired Psycho-for-Life of Liberia. The world's thugocracies have got rather skilled at being just democratic enough to pass muster with Jimmy Carter and the international observers: they kill a ton of people, put it on hold for six weeks and then, when the UN monitors have moved on, pick up their machetes and resume business as usual.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 6:28 PM |

Anyway, in his second major speech of the week, Reid said we need a ''Marshall Plan for America.'' Apparently, the United States of 2005 is in as dire condition as the Europe of 1945: its great cities reduced to rubble, and its people starving and desperate for work. Maybe it just seems that way from the ruins of Democratic Party headquarters.

In his third major speech of the week, Reid said . . . well, at the time of writing, he hasn't given a third major speech, but I do hope he does. For every year this guy's on TV as the official face of the party, you can kiss three Democratic Senate seats goodbye. Right now, the Dems are all exit and no strategy.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 8:30 AM |

President Ronald Crutcher withdrew the invitation amid concerns about public safety, college spokesman Michael Graca said.....

......Rey said faculty members who invited Churchill knew his views about Americans Indians were controversial. They didn't know about his essay on Sept. 11.

"I don't think this is what they expected," Rey said.......

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 1:58 PM |

Gunmen have kidnapped an Italian journalist in Baghdad, the latest in a series of brazen abductions but the first since Iraq's election.

Giuliana Sgrena, a journalist with communist Rome newspaper Il Manifesto, was snatched from the street as she conducted interviews near Baghdad University.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 1:51 PM |

....Thus we now expect that the New York Times, Harper's, Le Monde, U.N. functionaries who call us "stingy," French diplomats, American writers and actors will all (1) live a pretty privileged life; (2) in recompense "feel" pretty worried and guilty about it; (3) somehow connect their unease over their comfort with a pathology of the world's hyperpower, the United States; and (4) thus be willing to risk their elite status, power, or wealth by very brave acts such as writing anguished essays, giving pained interviews, issuing apologetic communiqués, braving the rails to Davos, and barking off-the-cuff furious remarks about their angst over themes (1) through (3) above. What a sad contrast they make with far better Iraqis dancing in the street to celebrate their voting.....

....Why would the world listen to a stumbling George Bush when it could be mesmerized by a poet, biographer, aristocrat, and metrosexual of the caliber of a Monsieur Dominique de Villepin? Why praise brave Iraqis lining up to vote, while at the same hour the defeated John Kerry somberly intones on Tim Russert's show that he really did go into Cambodia to supply arms to the mass-murdering Khmer Rouge — a statement that either cannot be true or is almost an admission of being a party to crimes against humanity if it is.......

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 10:28 AM |

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has provided White House media credentials to a man who has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions to the president and his spokesman in the midst of contentious news conferences, and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles on his website.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 11:47 AM |

TRY CUTTING THE HEAD OFF STRETCH ARMSTRONG

We were warned that Bush would turn Iraq into a puppet regime, but none of us suspected that he’d use actual puppets.

Just as well the Mujahideen Squadrons (under-11 division) are rounding up these puppet soldiers before they can be bent into combat-ready positions and left lying around a bedroom somewhere. Instapundit has a complete roundup.

1. This is the sort of thing that I could actually believe was a CIA operation to make the insurgents look desperate and foolish. Or maybe make the AP look desperate and foolish. Hell, both.

   But would the CIA take the risk of letting something so obviously fake get into the media’s hands where it could never be disproved?

   Can you imagine if CBS had come out with that photo? Months later there would still be people saying that no one proved it was a fake.

   Posted by Sortelli on 02/02 at 08:02 AM • #



2. Update: The terrorists have released their plastic hostage unharmed. President Bush is flying to Iraq to bring him a plastic turkey.

   Posted by Paul Zrimsek on 02/02 at 08:12 AM •

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 7:04 AM |