Once this JAWS CONDOM hooks its teeth into a man’s weenie, it can only be removed by a doctor. OUCH.
THE CONDOM WITH TEETH: SOUTH AFRICAN DOCTOR DESIGNS FEAMALE CONTRCEPTIVE TO WARD OFF WOULD-BE RAPISTS
Mail Online
June 20,2010
A new condom for women designed with teeth to ward off would-be rapists has been launched by a South African doctor.
Rape-aXe was dreamed up four decades ago by Dr Sonnet Ehlers when as a 20-year-old medical researcher, she met a devastated rape victim who was like 'a breathing corpse'.
In an interview with CNN, Ehlers told how the woman said: 'If only I had teeth down down there' said Ehlers. 'I promised her I'd do something to help people like her one day.'
True to her word, Rape-Axe has jagged teeth-like hooks that latch onto a man's penis during penetration.
Once it hooks onto the penis, it can only be removed by a doctor - a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.
'It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on," she said. 'If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter... however, it doesn't break the skin, and there's no danger of fluid exposure.'
30,000 of the female condoms are being distributed around the various South African citites where the World Cup football matches are taking place.
Ehlers said that she had taken the proper research and development steps before launching the product.
'I consulted engineers, gynecologists and psychologists to help in the design and make sure it was safe,' she said.
Once the trial period is over, they'll be available for about £1.50 each.
"The ideal situation would be for a woman to wear this when she's going out on some kind of blind date ... or to an area she's not comfortable with," Ehlers added.
South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world, according to Human Rights Watch.
A 2009 report by the nation's Medical Research Council found that 28 percent of men surveyed had raped a woman or girl, with one in 20 saying they had raped in the past year. It is also believed that 16 percent of the population is living with HIV.
Women take drastic measures to prevent rape in South Africa, Ehlers said, with some inserting razor blades in their private parts.
'I believe something's got to be done ... and this will make some men rethink before they assault a woman.'
Monday, June 21, 2010
THE GOVERNMENTAL APPROACH
HOW TO SELL TOOTHBRUSHES
The kids filed back into class Monday morning. They were very excited Their weekend assignment was to sell something, then give a talk on productive salesmanship.
Little Sally led off: "I sold girl scout cookies and I made $30," she said proudly, "My sales approach was to appeal to the customer's civil spirit and I credit that approach for my obvious success."
"Very good," said the teacher.
Little Jenny was next: "I sold magazines," she said, "I made $45 and I explained to everyone that magazines would keep them up on current events."
"Very good, Jenny," said the teacher..
Eventually, it was Little Johnny's turn. The teacher held her breath ...
Little Johnny walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher's desk. "$2,467," he said.
"$2,467!" cried the teacher, "What in the world were you selling?"
"Toothbrushes," said Little Johnny.
"Toothbrushes," echoed the teacher. "How could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make that much money?"
"I found the busiest corner in town," said Little Johnny, "I set up a Dip & Chip stand, I gave everybody who walked by a free sample." They all said the same thing, "Hey, this tastes like dog shit!" Then I would say, "It is dog shit". "Wanna buy a toothbrush?"
"I used the governmental approach of giving you something shitty that they say is good, and then making you pay to get the shitty taste out of your mouth."
The kids filed back into class Monday morning. They were very excited Their weekend assignment was to sell something, then give a talk on productive salesmanship.
Little Sally led off: "I sold girl scout cookies and I made $30," she said proudly, "My sales approach was to appeal to the customer's civil spirit and I credit that approach for my obvious success."
"Very good," said the teacher.
Little Jenny was next: "I sold magazines," she said, "I made $45 and I explained to everyone that magazines would keep them up on current events."
"Very good, Jenny," said the teacher..
Eventually, it was Little Johnny's turn. The teacher held her breath ...
Little Johnny walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher's desk. "$2,467," he said.
"$2,467!" cried the teacher, "What in the world were you selling?"
"Toothbrushes," said Little Johnny.
"Toothbrushes," echoed the teacher. "How could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make that much money?"
"I found the busiest corner in town," said Little Johnny, "I set up a Dip & Chip stand, I gave everybody who walked by a free sample." They all said the same thing, "Hey, this tastes like dog shit!" Then I would say, "It is dog shit". "Wanna buy a toothbrush?"
"I used the governmental approach of giving you something shitty that they say is good, and then making you pay to get the shitty taste out of your mouth."
Sunday, June 20, 2010
GETTING STONED
A koala was sitting in a gum tree smoking a joint when a little lizard walked past, looked up and said, 'Hey Koala! What are you doing?'
The koala said, 'Smoking a joint, come up and have some.'
So the little lizard climbed up and sat next to the koala where they enjoyed a few joints.After a while the little lizard said that his mouth was 'dry' and that he was going to get a drink from the river.
The little lizard was so stoned that he leaned over too far and fell into the river. A crocodile saw this and swam over to the little lizard and helped him to the side. Then he asked the little lizard, 'What's the matter with you?'
The little lizard explained to the crocodile that he had been sitting with the koala in the tree, smoking a joint, but got too stoned and fell into the river while taking a drink..
The crocodile said that he had to check this out and walked into the rain forest, found the tree where the koala was sitting finishing a joint. The crocodile looked up and said, 'Hey you!'
So the koala looked down at him and said, 'Fuuuuuuck, dude...How much water did you drink!?'
The koala said, 'Smoking a joint, come up and have some.'
So the little lizard climbed up and sat next to the koala where they enjoyed a few joints.After a while the little lizard said that his mouth was 'dry' and that he was going to get a drink from the river.
The little lizard was so stoned that he leaned over too far and fell into the river. A crocodile saw this and swam over to the little lizard and helped him to the side. Then he asked the little lizard, 'What's the matter with you?'
The little lizard explained to the crocodile that he had been sitting with the koala in the tree, smoking a joint, but got too stoned and fell into the river while taking a drink..
The crocodile said that he had to check this out and walked into the rain forest, found the tree where the koala was sitting finishing a joint. The crocodile looked up and said, 'Hey you!'
So the koala looked down at him and said, 'Fuuuuuuck, dude...How much water did you drink!?'
IT MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL THAT GERALD YOUNGBERG ESCAPED WITH HIS LIFE
GOLD STAR PAROLEE DENIED PAROLE FOR 11TH TIME
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
June 19, 2010
The name Gerald Youngberg may ring a bell to Paco’s readers who have been around the system a while. He was denied parole again on Wednesday.
In 1973 Youngberg was on parole and he was fleeing a crime when he shot and killed San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Lt. Al Steward and CHP Officer Larry Wetterling. He previously shot gas station attendant Robert Jenkins.
Youngberg will be up for parole consideration again in 5 years. My guess is he won’t get it.
BarkGrowlBite notes:
Al Stewart and I not only worked together on a number of narcotics cases, but he was one of my very closest and best friends. Al, who was accompanied by a San Bernardino County deputy DA, was on the way to a narcotics task force meeting in Barstow when he heard about Youngberg’s crime spree on the police radio. He made a quick detour – it turned out to be a fatal one - to help his fellow officers.
Al served as the eighth president of the California Narcotics Officers Association. The Alfred E. Stewart Memorial Award was created by CNOA in 1973 to memorialize Al. It is awarded annually to an individual working narcotic officer for outstanding achievement.
Reading Bob’s post has fucked up the rest of this day for me. Al Stewart was one of the really good guys and it makes my blood boil that Youngberg escaped with his life. If that vermin is ever allowed to leave prison in anything other than a pine box, those responsible for his release should be locked up.
Here are more details from the Highland Community News:
CONVICTED MURDERER OF SHERIFF’S LIEUTENANT DENIED PAROLE
Highland Community News
June 17, 2010
In March of 1973, Gerald Youngberg murdered Sheriff’s Lieutenant Al Stewart, California Highway Patrol Officer Larry Wetterling and Citizen Robert Jenkins.
On Wednesday, June 16, 2010, Sheriff’s Investigators attended Youngberg’s parole hearing. Gerald Youngberg’s parole was denied and his next hearing has been deferred for five years.
While out of prison and on parole, Youngberg drove along the Interstate 15 Freeway in the Cajon Pass.
Youngberg had broken down with a flat tire in the stolen car he was driving. Youngberg stole this car and a handgun from Las Vegas. He was returning to Las Vegas when his tire went flat. California Highway Patrol Officer Larry Wetterling saw the disabled car on the side of the freeway and stopped to "assist a stranded motorist." This act of kindness would cost Wetterling his life. Youngberg admitted to Wetterling he was on parole, and had a gun in the glove box. Wetterling reached inside the car to remove the gun and a struggle over the gun ensued with Youngberg. During this struggle, Youngberg shot Wetterling. Youngberg then fired two additional rounds into the helpless officer as he lay on the pavement, killing him.
Youngberg attempted to steal passing motorists’ cars in order to flee the scene. He began firing wildly at passing cars in an attempt to overtake one and make his getaway. When this failed, Youngberg took Wetterling’s gun and sped off in the patrol car.
Youngberg lost control of the patrol car and ended up in a ditch. Youngberg then abandoned the car and fled on foot, approaching the nearby Summit Gas Station, where Robert Jenkins was working. Youngberg saw Jenkins on the phone and thought he was calling the police. Youngberg shot Jenkins and stood over him shooting him again execution style.
A short time later, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Lieutenant Al Stewart who was traveling to court to testify in a criminal case with Deputy District Attorney John Hardy, came upon the shooting scene. [Actually Stewart was taking Hardy to a narcotics task force meeting when he turned around after hearing about Youngberg’s crime spree on his police radio.] When Stewart got out of his car to check out the wrecked CHP unit, Youngberg exchanged gunfire with him until the Sheriff’s Lieutenant, wounded, fell to the pavement. Then, Youngberg walked over to the fallen lieutenant and fired another shot killing him. Youngberg then pistol whipped Deputy D.A. Hardy.
To this day, on the anniversary of his untimely death, the Sheriff’s Department recalls and reflects upon Lieutenant Stewart’s heroism and true dedication to public safety and his chosen profession.
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
June 19, 2010
The name Gerald Youngberg may ring a bell to Paco’s readers who have been around the system a while. He was denied parole again on Wednesday.
In 1973 Youngberg was on parole and he was fleeing a crime when he shot and killed San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Lt. Al Steward and CHP Officer Larry Wetterling. He previously shot gas station attendant Robert Jenkins.
Youngberg will be up for parole consideration again in 5 years. My guess is he won’t get it.
BarkGrowlBite notes:
Al Stewart and I not only worked together on a number of narcotics cases, but he was one of my very closest and best friends. Al, who was accompanied by a San Bernardino County deputy DA, was on the way to a narcotics task force meeting in Barstow when he heard about Youngberg’s crime spree on the police radio. He made a quick detour – it turned out to be a fatal one - to help his fellow officers.
Al served as the eighth president of the California Narcotics Officers Association. The Alfred E. Stewart Memorial Award was created by CNOA in 1973 to memorialize Al. It is awarded annually to an individual working narcotic officer for outstanding achievement.
Reading Bob’s post has fucked up the rest of this day for me. Al Stewart was one of the really good guys and it makes my blood boil that Youngberg escaped with his life. If that vermin is ever allowed to leave prison in anything other than a pine box, those responsible for his release should be locked up.
Here are more details from the Highland Community News:
CONVICTED MURDERER OF SHERIFF’S LIEUTENANT DENIED PAROLE
Highland Community News
June 17, 2010
In March of 1973, Gerald Youngberg murdered Sheriff’s Lieutenant Al Stewart, California Highway Patrol Officer Larry Wetterling and Citizen Robert Jenkins.
On Wednesday, June 16, 2010, Sheriff’s Investigators attended Youngberg’s parole hearing. Gerald Youngberg’s parole was denied and his next hearing has been deferred for five years.
While out of prison and on parole, Youngberg drove along the Interstate 15 Freeway in the Cajon Pass.
Youngberg had broken down with a flat tire in the stolen car he was driving. Youngberg stole this car and a handgun from Las Vegas. He was returning to Las Vegas when his tire went flat. California Highway Patrol Officer Larry Wetterling saw the disabled car on the side of the freeway and stopped to "assist a stranded motorist." This act of kindness would cost Wetterling his life. Youngberg admitted to Wetterling he was on parole, and had a gun in the glove box. Wetterling reached inside the car to remove the gun and a struggle over the gun ensued with Youngberg. During this struggle, Youngberg shot Wetterling. Youngberg then fired two additional rounds into the helpless officer as he lay on the pavement, killing him.
Youngberg attempted to steal passing motorists’ cars in order to flee the scene. He began firing wildly at passing cars in an attempt to overtake one and make his getaway. When this failed, Youngberg took Wetterling’s gun and sped off in the patrol car.
Youngberg lost control of the patrol car and ended up in a ditch. Youngberg then abandoned the car and fled on foot, approaching the nearby Summit Gas Station, where Robert Jenkins was working. Youngberg saw Jenkins on the phone and thought he was calling the police. Youngberg shot Jenkins and stood over him shooting him again execution style.
A short time later, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Lieutenant Al Stewart who was traveling to court to testify in a criminal case with Deputy District Attorney John Hardy, came upon the shooting scene. [Actually Stewart was taking Hardy to a narcotics task force meeting when he turned around after hearing about Youngberg’s crime spree on his police radio.] When Stewart got out of his car to check out the wrecked CHP unit, Youngberg exchanged gunfire with him until the Sheriff’s Lieutenant, wounded, fell to the pavement. Then, Youngberg walked over to the fallen lieutenant and fired another shot killing him. Youngberg then pistol whipped Deputy D.A. Hardy.
To this day, on the anniversary of his untimely death, the Sheriff’s Department recalls and reflects upon Lieutenant Stewart’s heroism and true dedication to public safety and his chosen profession.
KEYSTONE ROBBERS
They might have left the store for a fourth attempt elsewhere had a cop not come in for his free cup of coffee.
JESUS CAMPOS, DANIEL GARCIA AND JULIO CANTU: VALLEY GANG FAILS ATTEMPTED CRIME SPREE
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
June 19, 2010
You'd think the three Rio Grande Valley teenagers might have realized it wasn't their night after their second attempt at an armed robbery failed. You would underestimate the persistence of this Borderlands gang that couldn't shoot straight.
FAIL #1: It all started at a Wendy's in Harlingen. Jesus Campos, Daniel Garcia and Julio Cantu, all 19 years old, burst in and demanded cash. One of the trio -- it is not clear which at this point -- brandished a pistol that was soon determined to be a toy. By soon, we mean while the robbery was ongoing, for employees of the Wendy's beat up the trio and recovered both the cash and the toy gun before this Wild Bunch could flee into the night.
FAIL #2: They next surfaced in the nearby town of San Benito at a convenience store. There, they were recognized by a night clerk before they could even attempt to rob the place, and they left without further ado...
FAIL #3 ...only to resurface down the road at another convenience store. This time, they had thought to conceal their faces behind bandanas. Yet even in these fearsome disguises, the teens failed to strike terror into the heart of their intended prey -- a convenience store clerk.
He simply told the teens to take the rags off their faces. The teens complied, and then. and only then, decided to rob the place. Brilliant! Just then, a cop on his nightly rounds just happened to walk in on the trio, all of whom were soon arrested and now face charges of attempted armed robbery.
JESUS CAMPOS, DANIEL GARCIA AND JULIO CANTU: VALLEY GANG FAILS ATTEMPTED CRIME SPREE
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
June 19, 2010
You'd think the three Rio Grande Valley teenagers might have realized it wasn't their night after their second attempt at an armed robbery failed. You would underestimate the persistence of this Borderlands gang that couldn't shoot straight.
FAIL #1: It all started at a Wendy's in Harlingen. Jesus Campos, Daniel Garcia and Julio Cantu, all 19 years old, burst in and demanded cash. One of the trio -- it is not clear which at this point -- brandished a pistol that was soon determined to be a toy. By soon, we mean while the robbery was ongoing, for employees of the Wendy's beat up the trio and recovered both the cash and the toy gun before this Wild Bunch could flee into the night.
FAIL #2: They next surfaced in the nearby town of San Benito at a convenience store. There, they were recognized by a night clerk before they could even attempt to rob the place, and they left without further ado...
FAIL #3 ...only to resurface down the road at another convenience store. This time, they had thought to conceal their faces behind bandanas. Yet even in these fearsome disguises, the teens failed to strike terror into the heart of their intended prey -- a convenience store clerk.
He simply told the teens to take the rags off their faces. The teens complied, and then. and only then, decided to rob the place. Brilliant! Just then, a cop on his nightly rounds just happened to walk in on the trio, all of whom were soon arrested and now face charges of attempted armed robbery.
ISLAMISM IS THE PROBLEM, NOT THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
Here are some excerpts from an article by José María Aznar, the prime minister of Spain between 1996 and 2004:
IF ISRAEL GOES DOWN, WE ALL GO DOWN
Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the West’s best ally in a turbulent region
By Jose Maria Aznar
The Times
June 17, 2010
Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival. Punished with missiles raining from north and south, threatened with destruction by an Iran aiming to acquire nuclear weapons and pressed upon by friend and foe, Israel, it seems, is never to have a moment’s peace.
The real threats to regional stability, however, are to be found in the rise of a radical Islamism which sees Israel’s destruction as the fulfilment of its religious destiny and, simultaneously in the case of Iran, as an expression of its ambitions for regional hegemony. Both phenomena are threats that affect not only Israel, but also the wider West and the world at large.
The core of the problem lies in the ambiguous and often erroneous manner in which too many Western countries are now reacting to this situation. It is easy to blame Israel for all the evils in the Middle East. Some even act and talk as if a new understanding with the Muslim world could be achieved if only we were prepared to sacrifice the Jewish state on the altar. This would be folly.
Israel is our first line of defence in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk of descending into chaos; a region vital to our energy security owing to our overdependence on Middle Eastern oil; a region that forms the front line in the fight against extremism. If Israel goes down, we all go down. To defend Israel’s right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared in Europe. The United States shows worrying signs of heading in the same direction.
The West is going through a period of confusion over the shape of the world’s future. To a great extent, this confusion is caused by a kind of masochistic self-doubt over our own identity; by the rule of political correctness; by a multiculturalism that forces us to our knees before others; and by a secularism which, irony of ironies, blinds us even when we are confronted by jihadis promoting the most fanatical incarnation of their faith. To abandon Israel to its fate, at this moment of all moments, would merely serve to illustrate how far we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears.
This cannot be allowed to happen. Motivated by the need to rebuild our own Western values, expressing deep concern about the wave of aggression against Israel, and mindful that Israel’s strength is our strength and Israel’s weakness is our weakness, I have decided to promote a new Friends of Israel initiative with the help of some prominent people, including David Trimble, Andrew Roberts, John Bolton, Alejandro Toledo (the former President of Peru), Marcello Pera (philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate), Fiamma Nirenstein (the Italian author and politician), the financier Robert Agostinelli and the Catholic intellectual George Weigel.
It is not our intention to defend any specific policy or any particular Israeli government. The sponsors of this initiative are certain to disagree at times with decisions taken by Jerusalem. We are democrats, and we believe in diversity.
What binds us, however, is our unyielding support for Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. For Western countries to side with those who question Israel’s legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel’s vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.
Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.
IF ISRAEL GOES DOWN, WE ALL GO DOWN
Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the West’s best ally in a turbulent region
By Jose Maria Aznar
The Times
June 17, 2010
Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival. Punished with missiles raining from north and south, threatened with destruction by an Iran aiming to acquire nuclear weapons and pressed upon by friend and foe, Israel, it seems, is never to have a moment’s peace.
The real threats to regional stability, however, are to be found in the rise of a radical Islamism which sees Israel’s destruction as the fulfilment of its religious destiny and, simultaneously in the case of Iran, as an expression of its ambitions for regional hegemony. Both phenomena are threats that affect not only Israel, but also the wider West and the world at large.
The core of the problem lies in the ambiguous and often erroneous manner in which too many Western countries are now reacting to this situation. It is easy to blame Israel for all the evils in the Middle East. Some even act and talk as if a new understanding with the Muslim world could be achieved if only we were prepared to sacrifice the Jewish state on the altar. This would be folly.
Israel is our first line of defence in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk of descending into chaos; a region vital to our energy security owing to our overdependence on Middle Eastern oil; a region that forms the front line in the fight against extremism. If Israel goes down, we all go down. To defend Israel’s right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared in Europe. The United States shows worrying signs of heading in the same direction.
The West is going through a period of confusion over the shape of the world’s future. To a great extent, this confusion is caused by a kind of masochistic self-doubt over our own identity; by the rule of political correctness; by a multiculturalism that forces us to our knees before others; and by a secularism which, irony of ironies, blinds us even when we are confronted by jihadis promoting the most fanatical incarnation of their faith. To abandon Israel to its fate, at this moment of all moments, would merely serve to illustrate how far we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears.
This cannot be allowed to happen. Motivated by the need to rebuild our own Western values, expressing deep concern about the wave of aggression against Israel, and mindful that Israel’s strength is our strength and Israel’s weakness is our weakness, I have decided to promote a new Friends of Israel initiative with the help of some prominent people, including David Trimble, Andrew Roberts, John Bolton, Alejandro Toledo (the former President of Peru), Marcello Pera (philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate), Fiamma Nirenstein (the Italian author and politician), the financier Robert Agostinelli and the Catholic intellectual George Weigel.
It is not our intention to defend any specific policy or any particular Israeli government. The sponsors of this initiative are certain to disagree at times with decisions taken by Jerusalem. We are democrats, and we believe in diversity.
What binds us, however, is our unyielding support for Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. For Western countries to side with those who question Israel’s legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel’s vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.
Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
FINALLY, AFTER 32 AND 25 YEARS, IT'S ADIOS SCUMBAGS (2)
Here is an eyewitness account of Ronnie Lee Gardner’s firing squad execution as observed by Daily Mail reporter Andrew Malone:
In the brightly-lit execution chamber, Gardner was sat in a wooden chair, surrounded by sandbags. His forehead and neck were strapped to the chair with bindings; his arms and legs were shackled. A metal tray beneath the seat would collect his blood.
At 12.15 am, the five-man firing squad took their places behind a wall 20 feet from Gardner. At that point, curtains were pulled back, allowing official witnesses to watch the death. Gardner stared at the witnesses, even though the one-way glass prevented him from seeing their faces.
He was asked if he had any last words. Ashen-faced, he replied: 'I do not. No.'
He then tensed his muscles as a hood was placed over his head and the [white cloth] target was attached over his heart with Velcro.
The firing squad leader walked down the line and tapped each marksman on the shoulder. Each gave the thumbs up, indicating they were ready. Only four of the rifles contained a live round: the fifth had a blank, ensuring no one would ever know which of the officers fired the lethal shots.
And then the countdown from five began: 'Five. Four. Three ...'
On two, the executioners opened fire. Three of the bullets struck home near the centre of the target. The fourth hit below and to the left of his heart. The fifth shot, of course, was a blank.
Because he was restrained, Gardner barely moved when the rounds struck. The only movement was his left fist, which clenched, opened and then clenched again in the seconds after the execution.
Covered-up by the prison-issue boiler suit, the fatal wounds were not visible. It was clear, however, that the life was draining out of the killer.
In the brightly-lit execution chamber, Gardner was sat in a wooden chair, surrounded by sandbags. His forehead and neck were strapped to the chair with bindings; his arms and legs were shackled. A metal tray beneath the seat would collect his blood.
At 12.15 am, the five-man firing squad took their places behind a wall 20 feet from Gardner. At that point, curtains were pulled back, allowing official witnesses to watch the death. Gardner stared at the witnesses, even though the one-way glass prevented him from seeing their faces.
He was asked if he had any last words. Ashen-faced, he replied: 'I do not. No.'
He then tensed his muscles as a hood was placed over his head and the [white cloth] target was attached over his heart with Velcro.
The firing squad leader walked down the line and tapped each marksman on the shoulder. Each gave the thumbs up, indicating they were ready. Only four of the rifles contained a live round: the fifth had a blank, ensuring no one would ever know which of the officers fired the lethal shots.
And then the countdown from five began: 'Five. Four. Three ...'
On two, the executioners opened fire. Three of the bullets struck home near the centre of the target. The fourth hit below and to the left of his heart. The fifth shot, of course, was a blank.
Because he was restrained, Gardner barely moved when the rounds struck. The only movement was his left fist, which clenched, opened and then clenched again in the seconds after the execution.
Covered-up by the prison-issue boiler suit, the fatal wounds were not visible. It was clear, however, that the life was draining out of the killer.
OBAMA'S POLICY OF APPEASEMENT
A Houston Chronicle reader hits the nail right on the head in his letter to the editor:
WORLD LAUGHING
In regard to the editorial "Turkey's choices; The Ankara government's decision to cozy up to Iran's renegade regime is troubling" (Page B11, Sunday), Turkey's government courts the Iranian president. The Russians and Chinese dilute sanctions against Iran that were proposed by the Obama administration. Brazil and Turkey vote against the sanctions after brokering a deal with Iran to transfer Iran's uranium. Then, Turkey supports Hamas, which attempts to violently end the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. North Korea launches a torpedo and sinks a South Korean naval vessel.
Our president and his administration chose a path to appease our enemies, and to abandon our friends and allies, and the Chronicle now proposes that the president get tough with the Turkish government. Seriously?
President Obama is the problem, and it is too late for him to ever be the solution. The world is laughing — we voted ourselves a Jimmy Carter clone for president. Hopefully we can vote him out of office in time to avert the next world war.
Steve French, Baytown
WORLD LAUGHING
In regard to the editorial "Turkey's choices; The Ankara government's decision to cozy up to Iran's renegade regime is troubling" (Page B11, Sunday), Turkey's government courts the Iranian president. The Russians and Chinese dilute sanctions against Iran that were proposed by the Obama administration. Brazil and Turkey vote against the sanctions after brokering a deal with Iran to transfer Iran's uranium. Then, Turkey supports Hamas, which attempts to violently end the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. North Korea launches a torpedo and sinks a South Korean naval vessel.
Our president and his administration chose a path to appease our enemies, and to abandon our friends and allies, and the Chronicle now proposes that the president get tough with the Turkish government. Seriously?
President Obama is the problem, and it is too late for him to ever be the solution. The world is laughing — we voted ourselves a Jimmy Carter clone for president. Hopefully we can vote him out of office in time to avert the next world war.
Steve French, Baytown
FINALLY, AFTER 32 AND 25 YEARS, IT'S ADIOS SCUMBAGS
This week two notable executions took place. In Texas a vicious killer was executed after spending 32 years on death row – that’s right, 32 years. The other execution is notable because a double murderer was executed by a Utah firing squad.
Tuesday, the State of Texas executed David Lee Powell for shooting an Austin police officer 10 times with an AK-47 some 32 years ago. This vicious murder took place after the officer had cited a female traffic violator for not having a rear license plate. He let the driver go on her way, but when he went back to his squad car to check out the passenger he learned that Powell had outstanding arrest warrants for theft and passing bad checks. When he pulled the car over again, Powell grabbed the AK-47 and started firing away.
It’s almost beyond belief that the courts tolerated an endless series of appeals on Powell’s behalf, thus allowing this vermin to survive for 32 years. To the families and friends of victims, JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED.
Yesterday, shortly after midnight, the State of Utah executed Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad. The five shooters were cops who volunteered to put this scumbag out of his misery. They stood about 25 feet from Gardner, behind a wall cut with gunports, using a matched set of .30-caliber Winchester rifles. To ensure that none of the volunteers would know whether or not he fired a deadly shot, one of the rifles was loaded with a blank cartridge before being handed out to the firing squad.
Gardner had chosen execution by firing squad. He did, however, make a last minute appeal to have his life spared on the grounds that he was a ‘changed man’ and that by remaining in prison for the rest of his life, he would be able to start a 160-acre organic farm and program for at-risk youths. Now, that’s a good one!
Gardner was sentenced to death for a 1985 capital murder conviction stemming from the fatal Salt Lake City courthouse shooting of an attorney during a failed escape attempt. Gardner had been in court to face a another murder charge in the 1984 shooting death of a bartender.
The usual anti-death penalty weepers and wailers demonstrated outside the prison and outside the state capital. And while covering the pending execution on Thursday’s ABC evening news, Diane Sawyer could not hide her opposition to capital punishment in general and her explicit revulsion to Gardner’s execution by firing squad.
The Powell case in Texas clearly illustrates the fallacy of California’s ‘non-violent’ classification of inmates in order to qualify them for early release from prison. Powell was a NON-VIOLENT OFFENDER who suddenly became a vicious cold-blooded killer. The best minds in the criminal justice system cannot predict the future behavior of lawbreakers.
Tuesday, the State of Texas executed David Lee Powell for shooting an Austin police officer 10 times with an AK-47 some 32 years ago. This vicious murder took place after the officer had cited a female traffic violator for not having a rear license plate. He let the driver go on her way, but when he went back to his squad car to check out the passenger he learned that Powell had outstanding arrest warrants for theft and passing bad checks. When he pulled the car over again, Powell grabbed the AK-47 and started firing away.
It’s almost beyond belief that the courts tolerated an endless series of appeals on Powell’s behalf, thus allowing this vermin to survive for 32 years. To the families and friends of victims, JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED.
Yesterday, shortly after midnight, the State of Utah executed Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad. The five shooters were cops who volunteered to put this scumbag out of his misery. They stood about 25 feet from Gardner, behind a wall cut with gunports, using a matched set of .30-caliber Winchester rifles. To ensure that none of the volunteers would know whether or not he fired a deadly shot, one of the rifles was loaded with a blank cartridge before being handed out to the firing squad.
Gardner had chosen execution by firing squad. He did, however, make a last minute appeal to have his life spared on the grounds that he was a ‘changed man’ and that by remaining in prison for the rest of his life, he would be able to start a 160-acre organic farm and program for at-risk youths. Now, that’s a good one!
Gardner was sentenced to death for a 1985 capital murder conviction stemming from the fatal Salt Lake City courthouse shooting of an attorney during a failed escape attempt. Gardner had been in court to face a another murder charge in the 1984 shooting death of a bartender.
The usual anti-death penalty weepers and wailers demonstrated outside the prison and outside the state capital. And while covering the pending execution on Thursday’s ABC evening news, Diane Sawyer could not hide her opposition to capital punishment in general and her explicit revulsion to Gardner’s execution by firing squad.
The Powell case in Texas clearly illustrates the fallacy of California’s ‘non-violent’ classification of inmates in order to qualify them for early release from prison. Powell was a NON-VIOLENT OFFENDER who suddenly became a vicious cold-blooded killer. The best minds in the criminal justice system cannot predict the future behavior of lawbreakers.
MY GREAT GRANDKIDS CAN KISS THEIR ASSES GOODBYE
This Australian professor is not a quack.
HUMAN RACE ‘WILL BE EXTINCT WITHIN 100 YEARS’, CLAIMS SCIENTIST
by Niall Firth
Mail Online
June 18, 2010
The human race will be extinct before the end of the century, a leading academic has predicted.
Frank Fenner is a professor at the Australian National University and one of the scientists who helped eradicate smallpox.
He has claimed that the human race will be unable to survive a population explosion and 'unbridled consumption.’
Fenner told The Australian newspaper that 'homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years.'
'A lot of other animals will, too,' he added.
'It's an irreversible situation. I think it's too late. I try not to express that because people are trying to do something, but they keep putting it off.'
Fenner, 95, has won awards for his work in helping eradicate the variola virus that causes smallpox and has written or co-written 22 books.
He announced the eradication of the disease to the World Health Assembly in 1980 and it is still regarded as one of the World Health Organisation's greatest achievements.
He was also heavily involved in helping to control Australia's myxomatosis problem in rabbits.
Last year official UN figures estimated that the world’s population is currently 6.8 billion. It is predicted to exceed seven billion by the end of 2011.
Fenner blames the onset of climate change for the human race’s imminent demise.
He said: 'We'll undergo the same fate as the people on Easter Island.
'Climate change is just at the very beginning. But we're seeing remarkable changes in the weather already.'
'The Aborigines showed that without science and the production of carbon dioxide and global warming, they could survive for 40,000 or 50,000 years.
‘But the world can't. The human species is likely to go the same way as many of the species that we've seen disappear.'
His chilling prediction echoes recent comments by Prince Charles who last week warned of ‘monumental problems’ if the world’s population continues to grow at such a rapid pace.
HUMAN RACE ‘WILL BE EXTINCT WITHIN 100 YEARS’, CLAIMS SCIENTIST
by Niall Firth
Mail Online
June 18, 2010
The human race will be extinct before the end of the century, a leading academic has predicted.
Frank Fenner is a professor at the Australian National University and one of the scientists who helped eradicate smallpox.
He has claimed that the human race will be unable to survive a population explosion and 'unbridled consumption.’
Fenner told The Australian newspaper that 'homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years.'
'A lot of other animals will, too,' he added.
'It's an irreversible situation. I think it's too late. I try not to express that because people are trying to do something, but they keep putting it off.'
Fenner, 95, has won awards for his work in helping eradicate the variola virus that causes smallpox and has written or co-written 22 books.
He announced the eradication of the disease to the World Health Assembly in 1980 and it is still regarded as one of the World Health Organisation's greatest achievements.
He was also heavily involved in helping to control Australia's myxomatosis problem in rabbits.
Last year official UN figures estimated that the world’s population is currently 6.8 billion. It is predicted to exceed seven billion by the end of 2011.
Fenner blames the onset of climate change for the human race’s imminent demise.
He said: 'We'll undergo the same fate as the people on Easter Island.
'Climate change is just at the very beginning. But we're seeing remarkable changes in the weather already.'
'The Aborigines showed that without science and the production of carbon dioxide and global warming, they could survive for 40,000 or 50,000 years.
‘But the world can't. The human species is likely to go the same way as many of the species that we've seen disappear.'
His chilling prediction echoes recent comments by Prince Charles who last week warned of ‘monumental problems’ if the world’s population continues to grow at such a rapid pace.
INVESTIGATE AND CONDEMN TURKEY, NOT ISRAEL
HOW IS ISRAEL THE GUILTY PARTY?
by Diana West
Townhall.com
June 18, 2010
We may not live in an Islamic world -- yet -- but we do live with an Islamic worldview. Witness the uniformly Islamicized consensus that met Israel's successful if costly defense of its Gaza blockade.
The blockade, by the way, is a defensive measure that Israel devised after Hamas terrorists were elected to govern Israel-ceded Gaza in 2005 and -- no surprise to any student of jihad -- decided to continue their charter-commanded war on Israel, raining down nearly 10,000 rockets onto Israeli civilians.
The rocketing, of course, was OK with the Islamicized consensus. What wasn't OK happened on the night of May 31 when Israeli commandos, lightly armed with paintball guns and emergency sidearms, unexpectedly battled aboard the Mavi Marmara against trained fighters with ties to the Turkish government, specifically to the ruling AKP party of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, to maintain Israel's lawful blockade.
These hostile forces were organized by the Turkish terror-linked organization known as IHH (which purchased the boat from an AKP entity). They were armed with knives, axes, clubs, Molotov cocktails and more, and they formed a militant cadre barely camouflaged by the "humanitarian cargo" (including night vision goggles, bulletproof vests and nearly a million euros) and other "peace activists," among whom were Muslim Brothers, Hamas partisans (at least one Hamas operative was later arrested), and members of the Turkish supremacist group BBP. At least five "passengers" publicly expressed their wish to become "shahids," or Islamic martyrs. Three got their wish in the fighting that ensued after the ship refused to yield to the Israeli Navy. Some of the Israeli blockade-defenders were wounded, a few seriously; nine jihadist blockade-runners were killed.
An Islamicized world wrath came down on Israel. And with such force as to obliterate what remnants of the Western system -- logic, morality, history - somehow still existed. Simultaneous to the instant apotheosis of blockade-running jihadis into ocean-going pacifists came an avalanche of rage so violent as to reverse the gravitational pull of global politics entirely. Or so it seems.
Thus, Islamicized international pressure weighs on Israel's Netanyahu to justify, to apologize -- and not Turkey's Erdogan, who supports the jihadist outlaws. Outrage boils over at the defense of a lawful blockade to protect civilians from terrorist attack, and not at the Hamas attackers, or at the Turks and others who aid them -- and, again, with the Turkish head of state's support. While Israelis have reason to re-examine the efficiency of their strategy to maintain the blockade, the only so-called "impartial" international investigation required is not, as demanded, into Israel's line of defense, but rather into Turkey's destabilizing culpability in the aggression.
Pure and simple, this was an act of jihadist provocation, even an act of war. If the Western system were still functional, it would be Turkey called to account in the international arena, not Israel; it would be Turkey pressured to unmask itself as a fomenter of global jihad -- not Israel for defending itself against it.
If.
But the Western system no longer functions; it takes its lead from "peace activists." And so --- and this is the tragedy of Western collapse - it is Turkey that the West appeases. There is no logic to this; there is fear. There's no morality here; only dhimmitude. History, meanwhile, is ignored. We hide from the gravity of resurgent jihad in the Ottoman land of the last caliphate, deaf to the declarations of cultural and religious war that Erdogan, for one, has always made, from the 1970s, when he engaged in anti-Semitic agitprop with a play he wrote, directed and acted in known as "Mas-kom-Ya," an acronym for Mason, komunist (communist), and Yahudi (Jew); to the 1990s, when he invoked jihad with the lines, "the mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers"; to today, as he exhorts Turks in Europe to cultural conquest, declaring, "Assimilation is a crime against humanity."
Sounds like the call of the marauder to me. But the United States, pondering "Who lost Turkey?" plugs its ears and scapegoats Israel, or, just as fantastic, blames Europe for a vestigial self-preservation instinct that prevents it from committing demographic suicide by admitting 78 million Muslims into the union.
Anything for "peace."
by Diana West
Townhall.com
June 18, 2010
We may not live in an Islamic world -- yet -- but we do live with an Islamic worldview. Witness the uniformly Islamicized consensus that met Israel's successful if costly defense of its Gaza blockade.
The blockade, by the way, is a defensive measure that Israel devised after Hamas terrorists were elected to govern Israel-ceded Gaza in 2005 and -- no surprise to any student of jihad -- decided to continue their charter-commanded war on Israel, raining down nearly 10,000 rockets onto Israeli civilians.
The rocketing, of course, was OK with the Islamicized consensus. What wasn't OK happened on the night of May 31 when Israeli commandos, lightly armed with paintball guns and emergency sidearms, unexpectedly battled aboard the Mavi Marmara against trained fighters with ties to the Turkish government, specifically to the ruling AKP party of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, to maintain Israel's lawful blockade.
These hostile forces were organized by the Turkish terror-linked organization known as IHH (which purchased the boat from an AKP entity). They were armed with knives, axes, clubs, Molotov cocktails and more, and they formed a militant cadre barely camouflaged by the "humanitarian cargo" (including night vision goggles, bulletproof vests and nearly a million euros) and other "peace activists," among whom were Muslim Brothers, Hamas partisans (at least one Hamas operative was later arrested), and members of the Turkish supremacist group BBP. At least five "passengers" publicly expressed their wish to become "shahids," or Islamic martyrs. Three got their wish in the fighting that ensued after the ship refused to yield to the Israeli Navy. Some of the Israeli blockade-defenders were wounded, a few seriously; nine jihadist blockade-runners were killed.
An Islamicized world wrath came down on Israel. And with such force as to obliterate what remnants of the Western system -- logic, morality, history - somehow still existed. Simultaneous to the instant apotheosis of blockade-running jihadis into ocean-going pacifists came an avalanche of rage so violent as to reverse the gravitational pull of global politics entirely. Or so it seems.
Thus, Islamicized international pressure weighs on Israel's Netanyahu to justify, to apologize -- and not Turkey's Erdogan, who supports the jihadist outlaws. Outrage boils over at the defense of a lawful blockade to protect civilians from terrorist attack, and not at the Hamas attackers, or at the Turks and others who aid them -- and, again, with the Turkish head of state's support. While Israelis have reason to re-examine the efficiency of their strategy to maintain the blockade, the only so-called "impartial" international investigation required is not, as demanded, into Israel's line of defense, but rather into Turkey's destabilizing culpability in the aggression.
Pure and simple, this was an act of jihadist provocation, even an act of war. If the Western system were still functional, it would be Turkey called to account in the international arena, not Israel; it would be Turkey pressured to unmask itself as a fomenter of global jihad -- not Israel for defending itself against it.
If.
But the Western system no longer functions; it takes its lead from "peace activists." And so --- and this is the tragedy of Western collapse - it is Turkey that the West appeases. There is no logic to this; there is fear. There's no morality here; only dhimmitude. History, meanwhile, is ignored. We hide from the gravity of resurgent jihad in the Ottoman land of the last caliphate, deaf to the declarations of cultural and religious war that Erdogan, for one, has always made, from the 1970s, when he engaged in anti-Semitic agitprop with a play he wrote, directed and acted in known as "Mas-kom-Ya," an acronym for Mason, komunist (communist), and Yahudi (Jew); to the 1990s, when he invoked jihad with the lines, "the mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers"; to today, as he exhorts Turks in Europe to cultural conquest, declaring, "Assimilation is a crime against humanity."
Sounds like the call of the marauder to me. But the United States, pondering "Who lost Turkey?" plugs its ears and scapegoats Israel, or, just as fantastic, blames Europe for a vestigial self-preservation instinct that prevents it from committing demographic suicide by admitting 78 million Muslims into the union.
Anything for "peace."
Friday, June 18, 2010
THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE IN TOWN: A BAR WHERE COPS HANG OUT (2)
Trey wrote: Just one more round fired at a street lamp. I'll bet he missed.
ALCOHOL CITED IN LAPD OFFICER’S ALLEGED FIRING OF GUN NEAR DOWNTOWN PUB
By Andrew Blankstein and Joel Rubin
Los Angeles Times
June 16, 2010
Several Los Angeles police officers were being questioned Wednesday in connection with an early morning incident in which at least one of them fired a gunshot outside a downtown pub, said several department sources familiar with the investigation.
No one was hurt in the incident reported about 2 a.m. near Weiland Brewery Restaurant in the 400 block of E. 1st Street, according to the sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation.
Three off-duty officers were outside the pub when one of them pulled out a gun and fired at least one shot in the direction of a street lamp, according to the sources.
Based on preliminary information, the sources said, investigators believe the officer was impaired after a heavy night of drinking, which, barring additional evidence, was cited as "the primary factor" in the incident.
The officers were not identified. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents the LAPD's 10,000 officers, had no immediate comment on the incident.
In April, league President Paul M. Weber warned officers about the risks of alcohol and provided information on where they could get help in an article in the union's internal newsletter, The Thin Blue Line.
"Estimates show that alcohol abuse among police officers in the United States is approximately double that of the general population, wherein one in 10 adults abuses alcohol," Weber wrote. "While the social use of alcohol may be accepted in most professions, excessive drinking by police officers can impair their ability to function properly at work and may result in disciplinary issues."
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck last month addressed the alcohol problem in a message to the department's rank and file.
"Using alcohol to deal with job stress can quickly lead to alcohol abuse and drinking and driving," Beck wrote. "Statistics from 2006-2008 revealed that on average, 21 department employees, sworn and civilian, are arrested each year for DUI... When consumption of alcohol leads to abuse and dependence connected to psychological concerns, the effects are seen and felt at home and the workplace."
ALCOHOL CITED IN LAPD OFFICER’S ALLEGED FIRING OF GUN NEAR DOWNTOWN PUB
By Andrew Blankstein and Joel Rubin
Los Angeles Times
June 16, 2010
Several Los Angeles police officers were being questioned Wednesday in connection with an early morning incident in which at least one of them fired a gunshot outside a downtown pub, said several department sources familiar with the investigation.
No one was hurt in the incident reported about 2 a.m. near Weiland Brewery Restaurant in the 400 block of E. 1st Street, according to the sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation.
Three off-duty officers were outside the pub when one of them pulled out a gun and fired at least one shot in the direction of a street lamp, according to the sources.
Based on preliminary information, the sources said, investigators believe the officer was impaired after a heavy night of drinking, which, barring additional evidence, was cited as "the primary factor" in the incident.
The officers were not identified. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents the LAPD's 10,000 officers, had no immediate comment on the incident.
In April, league President Paul M. Weber warned officers about the risks of alcohol and provided information on where they could get help in an article in the union's internal newsletter, The Thin Blue Line.
"Estimates show that alcohol abuse among police officers in the United States is approximately double that of the general population, wherein one in 10 adults abuses alcohol," Weber wrote. "While the social use of alcohol may be accepted in most professions, excessive drinking by police officers can impair their ability to function properly at work and may result in disciplinary issues."
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck last month addressed the alcohol problem in a message to the department's rank and file.
"Using alcohol to deal with job stress can quickly lead to alcohol abuse and drinking and driving," Beck wrote. "Statistics from 2006-2008 revealed that on average, 21 department employees, sworn and civilian, are arrested each year for DUI... When consumption of alcohol leads to abuse and dependence connected to psychological concerns, the effects are seen and felt at home and the workplace."
WHO IN THE HELL IS IN CHARGE HERE?
In its attempt to counter criticism that it has done too little too late, the Obama administration has insisted that it’s been in control of the BP oil spill disaster from day one. Well, here is another example of your tax dollars at work.
If you talk to the state and local officials in Louisiana and Alabama, from the state governor on down, they will tell you that their requests for putting specific procedures in place to stop the oil from washing ashore keep running into roadblocks.
In addition to the U.S. Coast Guard, the EPA, OSHA and more than a dozen other federal agencies are involved in the oil spill decision making process. The left hand doesn’t seem to know what the right hand is doing. Each agency wants make sure that everyone knows they’re on top of things. And you know that anytime the EPA or OSHA is involved, nothing is going to be simple.
So, who in the hell is in charge here? EVERYBODY AND NOBODY. Thus each request for putting a local procedure in place to keep the oil from washing ashore results in delay after delay. Governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Bob Riley of Alabama see the federal role as a joke – but not a funny one. Obama’s ‘Command and Control’ gets sidetracked, if not lost, within the vast federal bureaucracy. That is typical of the way the federal government works.
If you talk to the state and local officials in Louisiana and Alabama, from the state governor on down, they will tell you that their requests for putting specific procedures in place to stop the oil from washing ashore keep running into roadblocks.
In addition to the U.S. Coast Guard, the EPA, OSHA and more than a dozen other federal agencies are involved in the oil spill decision making process. The left hand doesn’t seem to know what the right hand is doing. Each agency wants make sure that everyone knows they’re on top of things. And you know that anytime the EPA or OSHA is involved, nothing is going to be simple.
So, who in the hell is in charge here? EVERYBODY AND NOBODY. Thus each request for putting a local procedure in place to keep the oil from washing ashore results in delay after delay. Governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Bob Riley of Alabama see the federal role as a joke – but not a funny one. Obama’s ‘Command and Control’ gets sidetracked, if not lost, within the vast federal bureaucracy. That is typical of the way the federal government works.
REVENGE OF THE RED LIGHT CAMERA VICTIM
TENN. MAN GETS HIGH-TECH REVENGE FOR CAMERA CITATION
He saw that his local police department’s website would soon expire, so he bought the domain himself
By Frank Cerabino
The Palm Beach Newspapers
June 17, 2010
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. — If you're one of those people who think traffic surveillance cameras have more to do with municipal fund-raising than traffic safety, here's a story that will warm your heart.
Readers of this column might remember Doreen Poreba, the Stuart public relations company owner who returned from a long car trip to discover a speeding ticket from Tennessee in her mailbox.
Poreba had no idea that weeks earlier a surveillance camera had clocked her car going 56 in a 45 mph zone through a town called Bluff City.
She was just a passenger at the time, she said, but it doesn't even matter with these automatic tickets. She's still liable for the $90 ticket, unless she wants to drive back to Tennessee to dispute it.
"The ticket's due this Friday," Poreba told me Monday. "I'm going to pay it, because I don't want it to ruin my credit. But it bugs me because it says on it that by paying it, I am making an admission of guilt. It's not an admission of anything. It's payment by force."
The Arizona-based company that operates the speed trap in Bluff City is American Traffic Solutions, the same company that runs the red-light surveillance cameras in West Palm Beach. The automated speed trap in that Tennessee town of about 1,500 residents raises between $125,000 and $250,000 a month, the town's police chief said. And it spares the department, which has been downsized to eight officers because of budget cuts, from using an officer along the road with a radar gun.
But it's a nasty way to make money, say scores of people who have been snagged like Poreba.
One of them, though, has done something about it in a big way. His name is Brian McCrary, a 33-year-old telephone company worker from nearby Gray, Tenn.
McCrary received one of those 56 mph speeding tickets in Bluff City.
"I went to the police department's website to get information on how to schedule a hearing," McCrary said. "And I saw that the website was about to expire."
The www.bluffcitypd.com site registration was up for renewal. So McCrary kept checking back as the renewal deadline approached, and discovered, much to his surprise, that the department had neglected to renew its domain name before the expiration date.
So instead of paying his $90 ticket, McCrary paid $80 to GoDaddy.com and bought the police department's Web address, turning it into a virtual bathroom wall to complain about the speed surveillance cameras.
"Just about everybody I know has gotten a ticket from there," he said. "I thought it would make a great sounding board for this speed trap."
The former police site now shows a cartoon character shaped like a police badge holding cash in one hand. And it's devoted to news about the speed surveillance cameras and testimonials from the people who loathe them.
At first, McCrary got messages of support from locals.
"I drive past the camera at least once a day during heavy traffic and it never fails that someone slows down to 35 mph because they are scared of the camera," one person wrote. "In fact, today I was almost rear-ended because someone slowed down too much."
But when news of what McCrary did spread, his site began getting messages of support from around the world and he became heralded as a new age revolutionary.
"Mountain Ranch, CA, salutes you!" one message said. "Dude, you're a hero. You've brought attention to what many of us thankfully aren't burdened with elsewhere."
A man from Austin, Texas, wrote: "Whatever you do, please do not let them bully or intimidate you into giving it up. It is your legal property now, and that's all there is to it. Fight the power."
A minority of messages urge McCrary to pay the fine and give the police department its website back.
McCrary, who still hasn't paid his fine for the February ticket, says he's not sure if he'd give the website back to the police department.
"They haven't asked me yet," he said. "I might consider it, but I don't know."
He saw that his local police department’s website would soon expire, so he bought the domain himself
By Frank Cerabino
The Palm Beach Newspapers
June 17, 2010
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. — If you're one of those people who think traffic surveillance cameras have more to do with municipal fund-raising than traffic safety, here's a story that will warm your heart.
Readers of this column might remember Doreen Poreba, the Stuart public relations company owner who returned from a long car trip to discover a speeding ticket from Tennessee in her mailbox.
Poreba had no idea that weeks earlier a surveillance camera had clocked her car going 56 in a 45 mph zone through a town called Bluff City.
She was just a passenger at the time, she said, but it doesn't even matter with these automatic tickets. She's still liable for the $90 ticket, unless she wants to drive back to Tennessee to dispute it.
"The ticket's due this Friday," Poreba told me Monday. "I'm going to pay it, because I don't want it to ruin my credit. But it bugs me because it says on it that by paying it, I am making an admission of guilt. It's not an admission of anything. It's payment by force."
The Arizona-based company that operates the speed trap in Bluff City is American Traffic Solutions, the same company that runs the red-light surveillance cameras in West Palm Beach. The automated speed trap in that Tennessee town of about 1,500 residents raises between $125,000 and $250,000 a month, the town's police chief said. And it spares the department, which has been downsized to eight officers because of budget cuts, from using an officer along the road with a radar gun.
But it's a nasty way to make money, say scores of people who have been snagged like Poreba.
One of them, though, has done something about it in a big way. His name is Brian McCrary, a 33-year-old telephone company worker from nearby Gray, Tenn.
McCrary received one of those 56 mph speeding tickets in Bluff City.
"I went to the police department's website to get information on how to schedule a hearing," McCrary said. "And I saw that the website was about to expire."
The www.bluffcitypd.com site registration was up for renewal. So McCrary kept checking back as the renewal deadline approached, and discovered, much to his surprise, that the department had neglected to renew its domain name before the expiration date.
So instead of paying his $90 ticket, McCrary paid $80 to GoDaddy.com and bought the police department's Web address, turning it into a virtual bathroom wall to complain about the speed surveillance cameras.
"Just about everybody I know has gotten a ticket from there," he said. "I thought it would make a great sounding board for this speed trap."
The former police site now shows a cartoon character shaped like a police badge holding cash in one hand. And it's devoted to news about the speed surveillance cameras and testimonials from the people who loathe them.
At first, McCrary got messages of support from locals.
"I drive past the camera at least once a day during heavy traffic and it never fails that someone slows down to 35 mph because they are scared of the camera," one person wrote. "In fact, today I was almost rear-ended because someone slowed down too much."
But when news of what McCrary did spread, his site began getting messages of support from around the world and he became heralded as a new age revolutionary.
"Mountain Ranch, CA, salutes you!" one message said. "Dude, you're a hero. You've brought attention to what many of us thankfully aren't burdened with elsewhere."
A man from Austin, Texas, wrote: "Whatever you do, please do not let them bully or intimidate you into giving it up. It is your legal property now, and that's all there is to it. Fight the power."
A minority of messages urge McCrary to pay the fine and give the police department its website back.
McCrary, who still hasn't paid his fine for the February ticket, says he's not sure if he'd give the website back to the police department.
"They haven't asked me yet," he said. "I might consider it, but I don't know."
THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE IN TOWN: A BAR WHERE COPS HANG OUT
DALLAS POLICE INVESTIGATE GUN GOING OFF IN SQUAD CAR
By Cynthia Vega and Rebecca Lopez
WFAA.com
June 17, 2010
DALLAS - A Dallas police officer is on administrative leave after authorities said she fired off her gun while off-duty in a squad car with at least one on-duty officer.
The call came in at around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, which was when police rushed to the scene at Abrams Road and Gaston Avenue and found three officers at the scene.
Police said the incident happened after Kelly Beemer, an off-duty officer who police said had a few drinks, had gotten into a squad car of an on-duty police officer. Beemer allegedly pulled out her service weapon from her holster and fired the gun. Sources said she was belligerent at the time. Part of the incident was captured on audio tape from a dash cam camera.
Sources said the on-duty officer driving the squad car was originally called to the bar where Beemer and other officers had been drinking. Some kind of disturbance took place at the bar, and Beemer was placed in the squad car to be driven home.
Meanwhile, authorities said there are two ongoing investigations taking place: a criminal and an internal. The female officer has been put on administrative leave.
No officers were injured in the incident.
By Cynthia Vega and Rebecca Lopez
WFAA.com
June 17, 2010
DALLAS - A Dallas police officer is on administrative leave after authorities said she fired off her gun while off-duty in a squad car with at least one on-duty officer.
The call came in at around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, which was when police rushed to the scene at Abrams Road and Gaston Avenue and found three officers at the scene.
Police said the incident happened after Kelly Beemer, an off-duty officer who police said had a few drinks, had gotten into a squad car of an on-duty police officer. Beemer allegedly pulled out her service weapon from her holster and fired the gun. Sources said she was belligerent at the time. Part of the incident was captured on audio tape from a dash cam camera.
Sources said the on-duty officer driving the squad car was originally called to the bar where Beemer and other officers had been drinking. Some kind of disturbance took place at the bar, and Beemer was placed in the squad car to be driven home.
Meanwhile, authorities said there are two ongoing investigations taking place: a criminal and an internal. The female officer has been put on administrative leave.
No officers were injured in the incident.
HE LEARNED THAT A SMILE GOES A LONG WAY
Bob Walsh refers to Smiley as 'A truly worthless quasi-human.'
JOSE "SMILEY" SAENZ: REPRESENTING THE WORST OF THE U.S. AND MEXICO
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
June 17, 2010
Jose Saenz, known as Smiley, was an aimless dropout and tagger in Los Angeles when he went on a killing binge.
He shot two rival gang members in an "honor killing," then viciously murdered the mother of his kid.
He then went to Mexico. He came back a drug-cartel solider, on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List.
"The Killer of his Daughter's Mother," part of Village Voice Media's ongoing "Amongst Us" immigration project, asks:
How did a screwed-up teen raised in a rough American barrio rise to become one of the most vicious criminals in America, in all probability trained by cartels in Mexico, then sent back to represent the worst of both nations?
JOSE "SMILEY" SAENZ: REPRESENTING THE WORST OF THE U.S. AND MEXICO
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
June 17, 2010
Jose Saenz, known as Smiley, was an aimless dropout and tagger in Los Angeles when he went on a killing binge.
He shot two rival gang members in an "honor killing," then viciously murdered the mother of his kid.
He then went to Mexico. He came back a drug-cartel solider, on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List.
"The Killer of his Daughter's Mother," part of Village Voice Media's ongoing "Amongst Us" immigration project, asks:
How did a screwed-up teen raised in a rough American barrio rise to become one of the most vicious criminals in America, in all probability trained by cartels in Mexico, then sent back to represent the worst of both nations?
NO RESPECT FOR ROYALTY
On their current visit to Africa, Prince William, second in line for the British throne, and his younger brother, Prince Harry, stopped off at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve in Botswana. They agreed to clown around for the cameras by holding an 8-foot long rock python on their shoulders.
William made sure that Harry was given the biting end to hold. While William was holding up the tail end, the python decided to show the future King of England what he thought of him. The snake pissed and barely missed drenching his Royal Highness. Apparently there’s no respect for royalty in the kingdom of reptiles.
An 8-foot python? What a couple of sissies. In 1995, while in Columbia’s Amazon, I held a 12-foot long anaconda on my shoulders, and I did it all by myself. While I held the head tightly (for sure) with my right hand, the critter coiled its tail part around my left arm. I held it for about four or five minutes before its weight was about to get the best of me. Man, was that fat sucker ever heavy! Oh yes, the anaconda did not take a leak while I was holding it.
William made sure that Harry was given the biting end to hold. While William was holding up the tail end, the python decided to show the future King of England what he thought of him. The snake pissed and barely missed drenching his Royal Highness. Apparently there’s no respect for royalty in the kingdom of reptiles.
An 8-foot python? What a couple of sissies. In 1995, while in Columbia’s Amazon, I held a 12-foot long anaconda on my shoulders, and I did it all by myself. While I held the head tightly (for sure) with my right hand, the critter coiled its tail part around my left arm. I held it for about four or five minutes before its weight was about to get the best of me. Man, was that fat sucker ever heavy! Oh yes, the anaconda did not take a leak while I was holding it.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
JOHN STOSSEL IS DEFINITELY CONFUSED
I vehemently disagree with John Stossel’s call for an end to the war on drugs. He must have inhaled too much of that pot smoke he smelled walking around midtown Manhattan. He’s definitely right when he says, "I’m confused."
When Stossel compares drugs to alcohol, he is comparing apples to oranges. And he is being downright disingenuous when he implies that "We've locked up 2.3 million people" in the war on drugs. The vast majority of those 2.3 million got locked up for murder, robbery, rape, burglary, etc.
It’s obvious that Stossel has never been in the trenches of the war on drugs. Well, I’ve been there. Stossel seems to be getting all his knowledge of the war from the bad publicity drug raids get in the print media and on TV. If he’d spend a year in the trenches alongside DEA agents, Customs agents, or state and local narcotics officers, he might sing a different tune – that is if he didn’t get his ass shot off.
Since I have given many reasons why we should continue the war on drugs among the nearly 1,500 postings on this blog, I am not going to bother you with repeating them again.
END THE DRUG WAR
by John Stossel
Townhall.com
June 16, 2010
I'm confused. When I walk around busy midtown Manhattan, I often smell marijuana. Despite the crowds, some people smoke weed in public. Usually the police leave them alone, and yet other times they act like a military force engaged in urban combat. This February, cops stormed a Columbia, Mo., home, killed the family dog and terrorized a 7-year-old boy -- for what? A tiny quantity of marijuana.
Two years ago, in Prince George's County, Md., cops raided Cheye Calvo's home -- all because a box of marijuana was randomly shipped to his wife as part of a smuggling operation. Only later did the police learn that Calvo was innocent -- and the mayor of that town.
"When this first happened, I assumed it was just a terrible, terrible mistake," Calvo said. "But the more I looked into it, the more I realized (it was) business as usual that brought the police through our front door. This is just what they do. We just don't hear about it. The only reason people heard about my story is that I happened to be a clean-cut white mayor."
Radley Balko of Reason magazine says more than a hundred police SWAT raids are conducted every day. Does the use of illicit drugs really justify the militarization of the police, the violent disregard for our civil liberties and the overpopulation of our prisons? It seems hard to believe.
I understand that people on drugs can do terrible harm -- wreck lives and hurt people. But that's true for alcohol, too. But alcohol prohibition didn't work. It created Al Capone and organized crime. Now drug prohibition funds nasty Mexican gangs and the Taliban. Is it worth it? I don't think so.
Everything can be abused, but that doesn't mean government can stop it, or should try to stop it. Government goes astray when it tries to protect us from ourselves.
Many people fear that if drugs were legal, there would be much more use and abuse. That's possible, but there is little evidence to support that assumption. In the Netherlands, marijuana has been legal for years. Yet the Dutch are actually less likely to smoke than Americans. Thirty-eight percent of American adolescents have smoked pot, while only 20 percent of Dutch teens have. One Dutch official told me that "we've succeeded in making pot boring."
By contrast, what good has the drug war done? It's been 40 years since Richard Nixon declared war on drugs. Since then, government has spent billions and officials keep announcing their "successes." They are always holding press conferences showing off big drug busts. So it's not like authorities aren't trying.
We've locked up 2.3 million people, a higher percentage than any other country. That allows China to criticize America's human-rights record because our prisons are "packed with inmates."
Yet drugs are still everywhere. The war on drugs wrecks far more lives than drugs do!
Need more proof? Fox News runs stories about Mexican cocaine cartels and marijuana gangs that smuggle drugs into Arizona. Few stop to think that legalization would end the violence. There are no Corona beer smugglers. Beer sellers don't smuggle. They simply ship their product. Drug laws cause drug crime.
The drug trade moved to Mexico partly because our government funded narcotics police in Colombia and sprayed the growing fields with herbicides. We announced it was a success! We cut way back on the Colombian drug trade.
But so what? All we did was squeeze the balloon. The drug trade moved across the border to Peru, and now it's moved to Mexico. So the new president of Mexico is squeezing the balloon. Now the trade and the violence are spilling over the border into the United States.
That's what I call progress. It the kind of progress we don't need.
Economist Ludwig von Mises wrote: "(O)nce the principle is admitted that it is the duty of the government to protect the individual against his own foolishness ... (w)hy not prevent him from reading bad books and bad plays ... ? The mischief done by bad ideologies is more pernicious ... than that done by narcotic drugs."
Right on, Ludwig!
When Stossel compares drugs to alcohol, he is comparing apples to oranges. And he is being downright disingenuous when he implies that "We've locked up 2.3 million people" in the war on drugs. The vast majority of those 2.3 million got locked up for murder, robbery, rape, burglary, etc.
It’s obvious that Stossel has never been in the trenches of the war on drugs. Well, I’ve been there. Stossel seems to be getting all his knowledge of the war from the bad publicity drug raids get in the print media and on TV. If he’d spend a year in the trenches alongside DEA agents, Customs agents, or state and local narcotics officers, he might sing a different tune – that is if he didn’t get his ass shot off.
Since I have given many reasons why we should continue the war on drugs among the nearly 1,500 postings on this blog, I am not going to bother you with repeating them again.
END THE DRUG WAR
by John Stossel
Townhall.com
June 16, 2010
I'm confused. When I walk around busy midtown Manhattan, I often smell marijuana. Despite the crowds, some people smoke weed in public. Usually the police leave them alone, and yet other times they act like a military force engaged in urban combat. This February, cops stormed a Columbia, Mo., home, killed the family dog and terrorized a 7-year-old boy -- for what? A tiny quantity of marijuana.
Two years ago, in Prince George's County, Md., cops raided Cheye Calvo's home -- all because a box of marijuana was randomly shipped to his wife as part of a smuggling operation. Only later did the police learn that Calvo was innocent -- and the mayor of that town.
"When this first happened, I assumed it was just a terrible, terrible mistake," Calvo said. "But the more I looked into it, the more I realized (it was) business as usual that brought the police through our front door. This is just what they do. We just don't hear about it. The only reason people heard about my story is that I happened to be a clean-cut white mayor."
Radley Balko of Reason magazine says more than a hundred police SWAT raids are conducted every day. Does the use of illicit drugs really justify the militarization of the police, the violent disregard for our civil liberties and the overpopulation of our prisons? It seems hard to believe.
I understand that people on drugs can do terrible harm -- wreck lives and hurt people. But that's true for alcohol, too. But alcohol prohibition didn't work. It created Al Capone and organized crime. Now drug prohibition funds nasty Mexican gangs and the Taliban. Is it worth it? I don't think so.
Everything can be abused, but that doesn't mean government can stop it, or should try to stop it. Government goes astray when it tries to protect us from ourselves.
Many people fear that if drugs were legal, there would be much more use and abuse. That's possible, but there is little evidence to support that assumption. In the Netherlands, marijuana has been legal for years. Yet the Dutch are actually less likely to smoke than Americans. Thirty-eight percent of American adolescents have smoked pot, while only 20 percent of Dutch teens have. One Dutch official told me that "we've succeeded in making pot boring."
By contrast, what good has the drug war done? It's been 40 years since Richard Nixon declared war on drugs. Since then, government has spent billions and officials keep announcing their "successes." They are always holding press conferences showing off big drug busts. So it's not like authorities aren't trying.
We've locked up 2.3 million people, a higher percentage than any other country. That allows China to criticize America's human-rights record because our prisons are "packed with inmates."
Yet drugs are still everywhere. The war on drugs wrecks far more lives than drugs do!
Need more proof? Fox News runs stories about Mexican cocaine cartels and marijuana gangs that smuggle drugs into Arizona. Few stop to think that legalization would end the violence. There are no Corona beer smugglers. Beer sellers don't smuggle. They simply ship their product. Drug laws cause drug crime.
The drug trade moved to Mexico partly because our government funded narcotics police in Colombia and sprayed the growing fields with herbicides. We announced it was a success! We cut way back on the Colombian drug trade.
But so what? All we did was squeeze the balloon. The drug trade moved across the border to Peru, and now it's moved to Mexico. So the new president of Mexico is squeezing the balloon. Now the trade and the violence are spilling over the border into the United States.
That's what I call progress. It the kind of progress we don't need.
Economist Ludwig von Mises wrote: "(O)nce the principle is admitted that it is the duty of the government to protect the individual against his own foolishness ... (w)hy not prevent him from reading bad books and bad plays ... ? The mischief done by bad ideologies is more pernicious ... than that done by narcotic drugs."
Right on, Ludwig!
ACADEMIA LACKS WISDOM
In his Townhall.com column, "When Good People Do Bad Things," Dennis Prager writes about what he thinks is wrong with academia:
Western universities have an abundance of people of intellect, people with a vast repository of knowledge and people who mean well. Yet, the Western university is a moral wasteland. Why? Because it lacks wisdom.
The university relies on the good intentions of its professors, not on the accumulated wisdom of the past, for answers to society's problems. Thus, the Founding Fathers have little to teach us (they were rich, white men and often slaveholders); the Constitution is what we today say it is (which means it is anything a person with good intentions wants it to be); and the Bible is superstitious nonsense at best, pernicious nonsense at worst.
Instead of wrestling with the great ideas of those who lived before them, the university is dominated by people who are convinced that all one needs to know achieve good is to love equality and social justice, and to regard reliance on the Bible, Judeo-Christian values and the American Founders' values as an indication of moral and intellectual weakness.
Western universities have an abundance of people of intellect, people with a vast repository of knowledge and people who mean well. Yet, the Western university is a moral wasteland. Why? Because it lacks wisdom.
The university relies on the good intentions of its professors, not on the accumulated wisdom of the past, for answers to society's problems. Thus, the Founding Fathers have little to teach us (they were rich, white men and often slaveholders); the Constitution is what we today say it is (which means it is anything a person with good intentions wants it to be); and the Bible is superstitious nonsense at best, pernicious nonsense at worst.
Instead of wrestling with the great ideas of those who lived before them, the university is dominated by people who are convinced that all one needs to know achieve good is to love equality and social justice, and to regard reliance on the Bible, Judeo-Christian values and the American Founders' values as an indication of moral and intellectual weakness.
PROMINENT GENTILE FRIENDS OF ISRAEL
Liberals will try to discredit this group because John Bolton, one of their favorite whipping boys, is one of its members.
‘THERE IS NO WEST WITHOUT ISRAEL’
Israel Today
June 15, 2010
A group of respected former world leaders and academic figures came together in Paris earlier this month to establish the Friends of Israel initiative to combat what they called the "delegitimation of the State of Israel."
The group was led by former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar and included Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former First Minister of Northern Ireland David Trimble, former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo, Italian philosopher Marcelo Pear, British historian Andrew Roberts and former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton.
In a press release prior to the Paris event, the group expressed its outrage over the "unprecedented delegitimation campaign against Israel, driven by the enemies of the Jewish state and perversely assumed by numerous international authorities."
The Friends of Israel initiative differs from and compliments other pro-Israel movements because it "is promoted by people who are not Jewish and whose motivations are based on the deep conviction that Israel is part of the Western world. In fact, today Israel is a fundamental actor for the future of the West."
Aznar, Trimble, Bolton and the rest said that while they view the Israeli-Arab peace process as important, they believe disproportionate attention is being focused on it, while Islamic terror and a nuclear Iran are far greater threats to world peace and stability.
At the inaugural event in the French capital, the group stressed that it is not wrong to disagree with Israel, but that such disagreements over policy should never "be used as an excuse to question Israel's right to exist, its legitimacy or its national rights."
They concluded by declaring that "there is no West without Israel."
News of the initiative's launch was severely muted as it took place less than a day after Israel's raid on the Free Gaza "humanitarian aid" flotilla that was trying to break Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
David Trimble has since been named as one of two foreign observers on Israel's panel of inquiry into the flotilla raid.
‘THERE IS NO WEST WITHOUT ISRAEL’
Israel Today
June 15, 2010
A group of respected former world leaders and academic figures came together in Paris earlier this month to establish the Friends of Israel initiative to combat what they called the "delegitimation of the State of Israel."
The group was led by former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar and included Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former First Minister of Northern Ireland David Trimble, former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo, Italian philosopher Marcelo Pear, British historian Andrew Roberts and former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton.
In a press release prior to the Paris event, the group expressed its outrage over the "unprecedented delegitimation campaign against Israel, driven by the enemies of the Jewish state and perversely assumed by numerous international authorities."
The Friends of Israel initiative differs from and compliments other pro-Israel movements because it "is promoted by people who are not Jewish and whose motivations are based on the deep conviction that Israel is part of the Western world. In fact, today Israel is a fundamental actor for the future of the West."
Aznar, Trimble, Bolton and the rest said that while they view the Israeli-Arab peace process as important, they believe disproportionate attention is being focused on it, while Islamic terror and a nuclear Iran are far greater threats to world peace and stability.
At the inaugural event in the French capital, the group stressed that it is not wrong to disagree with Israel, but that such disagreements over policy should never "be used as an excuse to question Israel's right to exist, its legitimacy or its national rights."
They concluded by declaring that "there is no West without Israel."
News of the initiative's launch was severely muted as it took place less than a day after Israel's raid on the Free Gaza "humanitarian aid" flotilla that was trying to break Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
David Trimble has since been named as one of two foreign observers on Israel's panel of inquiry into the flotilla raid.
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