Pitfall

Or why political correctness is a fallacy. Muslim attire. Check. Sikh attire. Check. A small, Christian-based silver ring?

HELL NO!

It is only a band of silver, imprinted with a Bible verse, worn by a schoolgirl.

But the decision by one of the country's top state schools to ban American-style 'purity rings' – increasingly worn by Christian teenagers to symbolise a pledge not to have sex before marriage – has prompted not just a standoff with local parents, but a debate over religious expression and sex education.

Heather and Philip Playfoot have spent almost two years in dispute with Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, over their 15-year-old daughter Lydia's ring. While the school's uniform rules forbid jewellery, they argue that the rings – given to teenagers who complete a controversial evangelical church course preaching sexual abstinence – hold genuine religious significance.

'The ring is a reminder to them of the promise they have made, much the same as a wedding ring is an outward sign of an inward promise,' said Heather Playfoot.

'There are Muslim girls in the school who are allowed to wear the headcovering, although that isn't part of the school uniform, and Sikh girls who are allowed the wear the bangle although that isn't part of the uniform. It's a discriminatory policy.

'We don't want her education to be disrupted because of it but we do want her to feel free to wear something that is very significant.'

The family claim that Lydia and up to a dozen other pupils wearing purity rings have been forced to take lessons in isolation as punishment for breaking the rules, threatened with detention and that – in Lydia's case – the school governors intimated she could be expelled for repeatedly defying the rules. Heather Playfoot said the school had told them it was a health and safety issue.

Lydia has now stopped wearing the ring in school. 'It makes me feel quite upset and angry as well, and in a way betrayed a little, because the school are always teaching us to be safe and we are trying to stand up for something,' she told The Observer. 'We get picked on and called out of lessons to see if we have got [the rings] on. I do actually keep to the school rules and I don't like stepping out of line or anything, but I just think this is really unfair.'

What PC boils down to is anti-Christian and anti-Western. Pretty much anything else is perfectly fine. Just not those "icky" things.

McMoby Burgers

Oddly, the question I asked the other day when writing about whaleburgers may have been answered by Daniel Drezner. There may, indeed, be reasons why certain species of whales need not be protected by an overall ban on all whaling.

Second, the pro-whaling coalition has a point — there are some species of whales which are not endangered. The Economist (subscription required) points out that not even Japan is proposing hunting blue whales or other endangered species right now. UPDATE: This Joshua Kurlantzick piece from 2004 in The New Republic makes the policy and gastronomic case for why the whaling ban should be partially lifted.

So there you have it. There may be reasons, other than blatant and outright bribery, that a total ban may not be needed.

So it may still be possible you'll see the burgers!

“We do not believe the Israelis were targeting civilians.”

Said Marc Garlasco, the Human Rights Watch expert (title is open to interpretation) who initially accused Israel of killing civilians with artillery fire.

While sticking to its demand for the establishment of an independent inquiry into a blast on a Gaza beach 10 days ago that killed seven Palestinian civilians, the Human Rights Watch conceded Monday night for the first time since the incident that it could not contradict the IDF's exonerating findings.

….

The main argument between Klifi and HRW surrounded the timeline of the blast, which the IDF said took between 16:57 and 15:10, at least 10 minutes after artillery fire in the area had stopped. HRW however disputes this claim and basing itself on Palestinian hospital documentation, claims that the explosion actually took place right around the time of the IDF artillery fire.

Meanwhile Monday, The Post learned that the IDF was currently inspecting a second piece of shrapnel doctors had retrieved from one of the Palestinians wounded in the blast and currently being treated at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. A first piece of shrapnel, examined by the IDF as well as by an independent academic institute in Beersheba was found to not have come from a 155 mm shell, the type used in IDF artillery attacks on Kassam launch sites in the Gaza Strip. The second piece of shrapnel, sources said, was currently being examined in an IDF lab.

Garlasco told Klifi during the meeting that he was impressed with the IDF's system of checks and balances concerning its artillery fire in the Gaza Strip and unlike Hamas which specifically targeted civilians in its rocket attacks, the Israelis, he said, invested a great amount of resources and efforts not to harm innocent civilians.

So, maybe the Pallywood story is collapsing. Whoopsie. If even the most left-leaning organizations can't buy it, it must really stink. My guess is that the Palestinians just lost a lot of ground, PR-wise.

Despite Being Completely Wrong, We Were Right!

As near as I can tell from this convoluted explanation, that is what Truthout is trying to say about the Leopold articles.

The Rove indictment story is way beyond – in terms of complexity – any other story we have ever covered. In essence, we found out something we were not supposed to find out, and things exploded from there. We were not prepared for the backlash.

On Tuesday, June 13, when the mainstream media broke their stories that Karl Rove had been exonerated, there were frank discussions amongst our senior editors about retracting our stories outright. The problem we wrestled with was what exactly do we retract? Should we say that Rove had not in fact been indicted? Should we say that our sources provided us with false or misleading information? Had Truthout been used? Without a public statement from Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald we felt that it was premature to retract our report.

After spending the past month retracing our steps and confirming facts, we've come full circle. Our sources continue to maintain that a grand jury has in fact returned an indictment. Our sources said that parts of the indictment were read to Karl Rove and his attorney on Friday, May 12, 2006. Last week, we pointed to a sealed federal indictment, case number "06 cr 128," which is still sealed and we are still pointing to it. During lengthy conversations with our sources over the past month, they reiterated that the substance of our report on May 13, 2006, was correct, and immediately following our report, Karl Rove's status in the CIA leak probe changed. In summary, as we press our investigation we find indicators that more of our key facts are correct, not less.

That leaves the most important question: If our sources maintain that a grand jury has returned an indictment – and we have pointed to a criminal case number that we are told corresponds to it – then how is it possible that Patrick Fitzgerald is reported to have said that 'he does not anticipate seeking charges against Rove at this time?' That is a very troubling question, and the truth is, we do not yet have a definitive answer. We also continue to be very troubled that no one has seen the reported communication from Fitzgerald to Rove's attorney Robert Luskin, and more importantly, how so much public judgment could be based on a communication that Luskin will not put on the table. Before we can assess the glaring contradiction between what our sources say and what Luskin says Fitzgerald faxed to him, we need to be able to consider what was faxed – and in its entirety.

What appears to have happened is that – and this is where Truthout blundered – in our haste to report the indictment we never considered the possibility that Patrick Fitzgerald would not make an announcement. We simply assumed – and we should not have done so – that he would tell the press. He did not. Fitzgerald appears to have used the indictment, and more importantly, the fear that it would go public, to extract information about the Plame outing case from Rove.

You see, the more it's disproved, the more right they are. I suspect you've probably pretty well destroyed what credibility you had left with this little foxtrot. Or was it a mambo, I can't tell at this distance. I have it from reliable sources that my horse did too come in at the Kentucky Derby. It was just suppressed to keep me from buying that yacht I had my eye on.

I think you named the site pretty well, guys. Truth.

Out.

UPDATE: Very first comment on the Truthout post "I want some of that stuff you are smoking". As a public service, we here at Blue Crab Boulevard have obtained some of the magic "stuff". Here you go!

Internet Jihad

My hosting company is under a DDOS attack at the moment. They are working on the problem and trying to block the offenders.

101st Blog Of The Day

My ongoing mission to visit one member of the fighting 101st each day led me over to Leather Penguin. Who is exceedingly pleased with the Dixie Chicks. (And TC was suitably impressed with my post about the health-conscious bear, I might add!) Warning, TC is a bit more emphatic than I am.

Word of warning, TC. Black Jack is exceedingly fond of penguin. Prepared in various ways.

For Pete’s Sake

Look, it's a bad thing when five people get shot to death over the weekend. But sending in the National Guard? What in the heck kind of mismanagement is going on in New Orleans? This is ludicrous. The population is considerably lower than it was, yet one presumes the police force all still have jobs.

Why aren't they doing those jobs?

"The senseless slaying of five teenagers this weekend is shocking," Blanco said in a statement. "Things like this should never happen, and I am going to do all I can to stop it."

The governor did not specify how many troops and officers she planned to deploy. Earlier Monday, Mayor Ray Nagin asked for as many as 300 National Guardsmen and 60 state police officers.

It was the first time the National Guard has been used for law enforcement in the United States since the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Nagin had sought the troops after five teenagers in an SUV were shot and killed in the city's deadliest attack in at least 11 years. Police said the attack was apparently motivated by drugs or revenge. Also, a man was stabbed to death Sunday night in an argument over beer.

"Today is a day when New Orleanians are stepping up. We've had enough," Nagin said. "This is our line in the sand. We're saying we're not going any further."

Nagin said he would not allow criminals to take over when the city is still trying to recover from the hurricane. The mayor said troops should be posted in heavily flooded neighborhoods to free police to concentrate on hot spots elsewhere.

Why is the Governor sending troops in? I think New Orleans would have been better off with the dead guy for mayor.

See What We Mean?

I'm sure some readers think we're exaggerating when we talk about dreaded ducks of doom and wicked warlike whitetail, but how else do you explain this?

WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It was a real-life version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears — only in reverse — when a woman came home to find a young bear eating oatmeal in her kitchen.

The bear apparently entered through an open sliding glass door, broke a ceramic food container and started eating, West Vancouver police Sgt. Paul Skelton said.

"It sounds like a nursery rhyme, doesn't it?" Skelton said. "At least we have a health-conscious bear on our hands."

Three police officers who went to the home Thursday couldn't get the bear to budge, so authorities let the animal finish its meal.

The police are helpless in the face of this onslaught. Three of them couldn't get the bear out until it had finished his healthy snack. So now it's the black bears of bedlam joining the animal uprising. Or should that be the gruesome grizzlies of granola. One just isn't sure.

And just what do you think they'll be eating after the oatmeal is gone? Hmmmmm?

Oh, I guess it could be apes. Of course, those are in short supply in Vancouver.

Local Actions

Against illegal immigrants. This is how the battle (and it is a battle) looks down in the streets, not it the ivory towers or the safety of your suburban utopia, folks.

HAZLETON, Pa. – With tensions rising and the police department and municipal budget stretched thin, Hazleton is about to embark on one of the toughest crackdowns on illegal immigrants anywhere in the United States.

Last week the mayor of this former coal town introduced, and the City Council tentatively approved, a measure that would revoke the business licenses of companies that employ illegal immigrants; impose $1,000 fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants; and make English the official language of the city.

"Illegal immigrants are destroying the city," said Mayor Lou Barletta, a Republican. "I don't want them here, period."

Barletta said he had no choice but to act after two illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic were charged last month with shooting and killing a 29-year-old man. Other recent incidents involving illegal immigrants have rattled this city 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia, including the arrest of a 14-year-old boy for firing a gun at a playground.

"This is crazy," the mayor said. "People are afraid to walk the streets. There's going to be law and order back in Hazleton, and I'm going to use every tool I possibly can."

The City Council, which approved the measure in a 4-1 vote, must vote on it twice more before it can become law. The next vote is scheduled for mid-July.

La Raza threatens lawsuits, of course. Things are getting quite bad out there. Yes, there are good people just looking to work. There are also, quite obviously some very bad people. Hazleton is not alone, though.

In San Bernardino, Calif., voters will decide whether to adopt a measure nearly identical to the one in Hazleton. An Idaho county filed a racketeering lawsuit against agricultural companies accused of hiring illegal immigrants. In New Hampshire, a pair of police chiefs began arresting illegal immigrants for trespassing.

"They're being forced to pick up the financial tab for all of this nonsense, and they are doing whatever they can to find ways to combat it at the local level," said Susan Tully, national field director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates limits on immigration. "This is a fine example of what I'm talking about."

We have got to get control of the border. Period. The Senate missed a chance. They need to do a lot better in conference or I expect the House to stop that bill in it's tracks.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, in the alternate universe, the New York Times has a ridiculously sympathetic article on the poor, hardworking flood on illegal immigrants. The story contains one thing that really caught my eye:

Starting about 30 years ago, as illegal immigration began to swell, building maintenance contractors in big immigrant hubs like Los Angeles started hiring the new immigrant workers as part of a broader effort to drive down labor costs. Unions for janitors fell apart as landlords shifted to cheaper nonunion contractors to clean their buildings. Wages fell and many American-born workers left the industry.

Between 1970 and 2000, the share of Hispanic immigrants among janitors in Los Angeles jumped from 10 percent to more than 60 percent, according to a forthcoming book by Ruth Milkman, a sociologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, titled "L.A. Story: Work, Immigration and Unionism in America's Second City." (Russell Sage Foundation, August 2006.)

Now maybe someone can explain why the Democrats, who supposedly back organized labor and count them as automatic votes, still have any loyalty from the unions? The Dems are backing even more immigration.

Not A Day For Good News, I’m Afraid

Three American soldiers have been charged with murder in Iraq.

The Multinational Corps-Iraq said three members of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division have been charged in connection with the deaths of three male detainees during an operation near Thar Thar Canal in southern Salahuddin province on May 9.

"A noncommissioned officer and two soldiers each have been charged with violating several articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, communicating a threat, and obstructing justice," an announcement said.

It added that "on the day the alleged murders occurred, the unit commander ordered an inquiry to determine the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the three detainees."

The American military polices itself a lot better than the critics want to admit. Now let the court martials go forward without a media circus and make sure the accused get a fair trial.

UPDATE: A Blog For All reaches the same conclusion. There is a presumption of innocence.

In For The Win

Joe Lieberman again confirmed he will stay in the Democratic primary and again refused to rule out a runs as an independent.

But as in the past, he refused to rule out the option of running as a petitioning candidate should challenger Ned Lamont win the primary.

"If the unexpected happened, do I want to keep open the option of taking my case as an independent Democrat to all the voters of Connecticut so that they can have the last word in November?" Lieberman said. That's an unanswered question, he said.

Lieberman made his remarks today to reporters after addressing the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce.

Political analysts have speculated that if Lieberman is seriously considering the the petition route, he might be better off bypassing the Democratic primary and directing his campaign to the broader electorate of Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated voters.

As a practical matter, he would have to gather 7,500 signatures from registered voters by 4 p.m. on Aug. 9. to keep his options open to run as a petitioning candidate.

There's a lot of spin on the signature thing. I suspect it can be done even if it is only done in one day after the primary. I am surprised that a signature drive by an independent group hasn't already started using a "draft Lieberman" theme.

That's what I'd do if I lived in Connecticut.

UPDATE: Rasmussen has some poll numbers that make it pretty clear Lieberman wins in any combination.

UPDATE: Allah reminds us, "That would be wrong."

UPDATE: Treachery, thy name is Gore. (H/T Leather Penguin).

Must Be A Big Day For Follow-Up Stories

A while back there was a discovery of some naturally growing American Chestnut trees discovered in Georgia. Now they have discovered some growing in New Hampshire.

LEE, N.H. – The discovery of two more American chestnut trees growing naturally in a local preserve is giving fresh hope to people in New England who want to see the once common tree restored to the northeastern landscape.

….

The American Chestnut Foundation, based in Bennington, Vt., is now on a mission to restore the American chestnut by breeding a fungus-resistant tree. It aims to cross-breed American chestnut trees with disease-resistant varieties.

This is where the naturally growing trees found in Lee and other New Hampshire locations as well as in Maine and Georgia come into play.

Healthy American chestnut trees have genetic material that is vital to crossbreeding efforts that aim to retain the more unique characteristics of the American tree, including its height (it grows to 80 feet or more) and rot-resistant timber.

The Lee trees are two adult American chestnuts between 50 to 60 feet tall, Eaton said. They've produced flowers and nuts and appear to be unaffected by the fungus.

The trees are located on land that the town voted to conserve in 2002. Eaton would not disclose the trees' exact location, saying no one should seek them out to touch, climb or otherwise disturb them.

Hopeful signs for the return of a once common tree.

“Embracing Defeat Is A Risky Political Strategy”

Says Joe Klein in Time. The columnist that the left probably hates more than any other in America, again tries to get it through that a left-wing agenda will not play well in the US. Meanwhile Kerry and his pals are trying to force a US retreat in Iraq.

Kerry gave an eloquent speech to a group of left-liberal activists on the day of Bush's Baghdad trip. "It is not enough to argue with the logistics [of the war] … or the manner of the conflict's execution or the failures of competence, as great as they are," Kerry said, to wild cheers. "It's essential to acknowledge that the war itself was a mistake." It was an appropriate act of contrition, but then—as is his awkward wont—Kerry overreacted and called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of the year. It was a proposition that garnered all of six votes on the Senate floor when Senate Republicans gleefully submitted Kerry's idea to a vote later in the week.

….

What can the Democrats do? They can play politics or be responsible. The political option is to embrace "cut and run"; call for an immediate withdrawal, as Kerry did; and hope the public is so sick of Bush and sick of the war that it will punish the g.o.p. in the fall. But embracing defeat is a risky political strategy, especially for a party not known for its warrior ethic. In fact, the responsible path is the Democrats' only politically plausible choice: they will have to give yet another new Iraqi government one last shot to succeed.

I think Klein has been trying to warn the Democrats for quite a while an this. They aren't listening, though.

A Bit Over The Top

But still has enough truth in it to be scary. Today's editorial in the Examiner is about the man who was fired from his political appointment to the Metro Board by Maryland Governor Bob Erhlich over remarks he had made about homosexuals.

WASHINGTON – Robert Smith, Roman Catholic and now-former Metro board member, believes homosexuality is a form of “deviancy.” Jim Graham, District of Columbia Council member, believes Smith’s beliefs are “ancient and archaic.” Graham’s views cost him nothing. Smith’s cost him his job.

Graham and Smith’s now-former boss, Maryland Gov. Bob Erhlich, should have said something like this: “I repudiate Smith’s views and find them disgusting, but it’s a free country and he can say whatever he thinks about any issue.” In a culture increasingly dominated by political correctness, however, such remarks would be derided.

So we have a fundamental issue: freedom of speech for Jim, but not for Bob. Thus the state of health of the First Amendment: You can say anything you want so long as it is politically correct. That’s the definition of “tolerance” practiced by officials like Graham, Erhlich and by many among America’s official and elite opinion-makers.

So, if we really are serious about “tolerance,” let’s admit that the words that come out of our mouths are simply how we share the thoughts in our brains with each other. It’s called “communication” and it is the very heart of democracy. So to be a truly “tolerant” democracy, all of our communications must be politically correct.

It goes on from there to describe tolerance (which is where it goes over the top, I think). While I don't actually think Smith's case actually is a freedom of speech issue because he was a political appointee, the issue this raises is important. It's the rewriting of the old "sicks and stones" rhyme that is troubling here, I think. Freedom of speech does not mean you are immune to being offended by someone else's speech. Nor should any be given that "protected status". If someone took offense to Smith's comments, I think the correct response would have been to raise the issue, but not start calling for someone to lose their job over it.

I think that's claiming a special status that you have no right to. Political correctness is untenable because of that.

And You Thought It Was A Myth

You know, the old story of Chinese restaurants using cats to make that dish you weren't quite sure about? Turns out it isn't a myth.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Banner-wielding animal rights protesters swarmed into a restaurant serving cat meat in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and forced it to shut, Xinhua news agency said Sunday.

The 40 or so, mainly female demonstrators — holding banners reading "cats and dogs are friends of human beings" — entered the Fangji Cat Meatball restaurant and demanded the owner free any live cats on the premises, Xinhua said.

There were none in the building, as the owner had already moved them out, it said. But some burst into tears upon finding a skinned cat in a fridge.

"I cannot go on with my business, and I will not sell cat meat any more," the restaurant owner was quoted as saying, though he defended his trade by saying eating cat in Guangdong province was a tradition.

The organizer of the protest, identified only as Isobel, the founder of a cat protection Web site, said the restaurant had been chosen because it killed cats in the street and it was "very bad for the students from nearby schools."

A local beauty queen, Miss Shenzhen 2005, also took part, calling on people to "stop eating cats and dogs and become civilized," Xinhua said.

"Fangji Cat Meatball Restaurant" has a nice ring to it, don't you think?