Grandpa The Dealer

An 80-year old man from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is in all kinds of trouble. It seems he got caught dealing crack. Then he got caught doing it again. You see, he was feeding his addiction.

To sex.

PITTSBURGH - An 80-year-old man who pleaded guilty to drug charges sold crack cocaine from his house and gave some of the drugs to prostitutes in exchange for sex, his lawyer said.

Felix Cocco, of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Police said Cocco had been dealing drugs for nearly a year when he was arrested in November. Officers seized crack cocaine, a digital scale and packaging materials, police said. Authorities said they caught Cocco dealing again in February.

"I was trying to stay alive, your honor — pay my bills," Cocco told the Allegheny County judge.

Cocco's lawyer, Martha Bailor, told the court that Cocco wanted to remain sexually active after his wife died three years ago and turned to prostitutes.

"He decided it's cheaper to pay for sex with crack than cash," she said.

Which brings a whole new perspective to both dating and economics, doesn't it? We respectfully point out that it might have been easier and much more legal for Mr. Cocco to have just moved.

Now Do You Believe Us?

We keep trying to warn people about the animal uprising in hopes that we can get someone's, heck, anyone's attention. But now we have a report on the ultimate betrayal. The Benedict Arnold of the uprising. Man's best friend has gone over to the dark side. Even the ones we have trusted the most, the police dogs. And they are running people down in the streets using stolen POLICE vehicles!

OGDEN, Utah - A police dog that was left in a pickup with the engine running apparently knocked the vehicle into gear and ran down a woman who was walking to her mailbox.

Mary F. Stone, 41, was expected to remain hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and tailbone until at least Friday, said her husband, Paul Stone.

The dog, a German shepherd named Ranger, had been left in the truck while its handler responded to a domestic disturbance call Tuesday, police Lt. Loring Draper said. The truck's engine was on so Ranger would have air conditioning.

Draper said Ranger must have hit the shift on the steering column, putting the automatic transmission into gear. As the truck slowly rolled forward, police officers yelled to Stone, but she couldn't get out of the way in time, he said.

Oh sure, we're supposed to believe that cock and bull accident story. The dog did it on purpose. Good thing he couldn't reach the gas pedal or the poor woman would have been only the first victim!

Yup, They’re Serious Alright

The Democrats are rapidly proving that they have come to believe deeply in a fictional America that simply does not exist. Worse, they are basing their efforts in the November elections on that fiction. At a time when the Middle East is a powder keg, where North Korea is acting more and more like a thoroughly deranged aggressor, where a firm ally like India is now under terror attack they have found their one, true campaign issue.

The minimum wage.

A minimum wage that by far and away effects mostly teenage (hence non-voting) workers. And it doesn't even do that in most cases since the local McDonald's in my town starts part-time high schoolers at over $7 per hour. The average wage in the US is over $16 per hour per a left-leaning think tank.

And this is what the Dems have to run on.

Democratic leaders in Congress are closely coordinating their efforts in Washington with campaigns in critical races around the country. Democratic lawmakers say they will try to block what is normally an automatic pay increase for members of Congress until Republicans agree to raise the federal minimum wage.

“We are putting some skin in the game,” said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “We’re saying that there will be no pay increases for Congress until there’s an increase in the minimum wage. This separates us from Republicans.”

Last weekend, Mr. Emanuel held news conferences in five cities across upstate New York, with Democratic lawmakers and candidates signing pledges to oppose any increase in Congressional pay until the minimum wage is raised.

Republican lawmakers have repeatedly defeated increases in the minimum wage over the past eight years. Business groups, supported by many economists, have always fought such increases on the argument that setting wages above normal market levels will cause employers to cut back on hiring the very low-wage workers an increase would be intended to benefit.

“The minimum wage raises the take-home pay for some people at the expense of others,” said Kevin A. Hassett, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy group.

“It is wrong to redistribute money from the worse-off workers to other low-income workers.”

For the most part, Republicans have sought to avoid debates about the minimum wage and focus on the overall strength of the economy. They note that unemployment is down to 4.6 percent, that the nation has added about 5.4 million jobs in the last three years and that wages have been climbing this year. Though most economists are dubious about the benefits of a minimum wage, the evidence of a link between a higher minimum wage and higher unemployment is mixed.

The unemployment rate among teenagers, a big share of minimum-wage workers, has remained above 13 percent ever since 2000 even though the minimum wage has gone down in real terms, after adjusting for inflation. Unemployment among people 16 to 19 has hovered around 15 percent this year.

Opponents of higher minimum wages contend that prosperity is best generated by stronger economic growth rather than by mandated wage levels. And while the minimum wage has lost about 20 percent of its buying power since the last increase, average hourly wages have done better.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-of-center economic research group in Washington, “real” average hourly wages, adjusted for inflation, have edged up to $16.52 in May of this year from $15.58 in 1997.

The Democrats have let themselves fall into the trap of trying to play to the fictional America they have built up in their collective heads. The coatless girl of John Edward's fame, etc. etc. Instead of calling this for what it is, the highly partisan New York Times portrays it as a successful strategy.

I don't think so. I think it another attempt at a Sale of Two Cities. Stand by for a remake of The Little Match Girl.

UPDATE: The Influence Peddler has a good post up that demonstrates exactly how cynical this campaign by the Dems is. Especially since they blocked the last attempt at an increase.

At The Brink?

My friend Rick at The Real Ugly American has a thoughtful post up that raises troubling questions. Is World War Three coming? Is it coming no matter what we do because others, not fully sane, will force it on us? Lord knows I have a much higher personal stake in what is going on in the Middle East than most pundits commenting these days (a point Rick made when he emailed me the link to this post of his).

If Iran chooses to enter this war, and their president has been nothing but bellicose since his pseudo election, the US will certainly be drawn into it as well. An Israeli attack on Damascus would be seen by Achmadinawhackjob as a perfect moment to walk the walk.

As with all power mad, and delusional tyrants he has far more bravado than brains. Carelessly starting a world war is exactly what his kind are prone to. He would view the death of millions of Iranians as a glorious and noble moment in history, not the horrific and needless waste of life that it will be.

I am not arguing against US involvement. We must certainly support our ally Israel when and if they call for help. My only question is the timing. Do we want this war now?

Are we ready for this war now?

I fear too many Americans are not. A greater war in the middle east would undoubtedly be blamed on George Bush by the world and by many on the left here at home. The naked provocations of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Iranian theocracy all but forgotten.

I rather suspect that Iran will provoke others to act and will fight to the last drop of their proxies blood* before they try to come into anything directly. But the world must wake up, here. This is not America's fight alone. It is civilization's fight. As TRUA's update mentions, Rick Moran sees a slow-motion explosion. I think it's more like a slow motion train crash, but that's a matter of semantics, and I'm not sure that either expression really captures what is happening. I think there is still time, but we have got to pull together.

* Paraphrasing Omar at Iraq the Model.

UPDATE: A Blog For All has an extensive roundup including reaction from Lebanese bloggers (they blame Hezbollah). The last update in the post is the most frightening. There are reports that Hezbollah is trying to take the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers to Iran. If that happens, all bets are off.

Meanwhile, In Another Crisis

North Korea delegates stormed out of bilateral talks with South Korea after making loonier than usual (if that's possible) demands on the South. Even the Chinese appear to be at a loss as to what Pyongyang is up to.

The deadlock threw the spotlight back on wrangling over a U.N. resolution censuring North Korea for its July 5 missile tests, which has pitted Japan against China and Russia.

Kyodo news agency reported that Japan was now prepared to work on an alternative Security Council resolution sponsored by Moscow and Beijing that urges North Korea to suspend its nuclear programs but avoids the mandatory sanctions Tokyo has sought.

"What is important is to adopt a binding resolution," the agency quoted an official as saying on condition of anonymity.

Tension between the two Koreas erupted at bilateral ministerial talks in the South Korean city of Pusan, where the Pyongyang's delegation parried complaints about the missile tests and focused instead on economic cooperation and requests for aid.

"The South side will pay a price before the nation for causing the collapse of the ministerial talks and bringing a collapse of North-South relations that is unforeseeable now," the North Koreans said in a statement before leaving for the airport, a day before the meeting was due to end.

The North Koreans demanded that the South stop joint military drills with the United States due next year, saying it was ready to protect South Korea with its 1.2-million-strong armed forces.

That provoked an unusually biting reply from South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok that echoed the rhetoric of the years before Seoul's determined policy of rapprochement.

"Who in the South asked you to protect our safety?" Lee told Kwon on Tuesday, according to a South Korean official. "It would help our safety for the North not to fire missiles or develop a nuclear program."

The South said the North could also forget about any more aid until it returns to separate talks on its nuclear weapons.

The South Korean delegate's reply was excellent, by the way. Meanwhile the US envoy is not sure what is going on either right now.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said a "friendship delegation" sent to Pyongyang by Beijing, the closest North Korea has to an ally, had failed to achieve a breakthrough.

"So far they don't seem to be interested in listening, much less doing anything," he told reporters before leaving Beijing for Washington. "I think the Chinese are as baffled as we are."

This is a very, very dangerous time and the world will not get through it peacefully unless the world stands together against this kind of aggression.

Iran To UN: “Phhhhbbbbllliiitttt”

In what can only be a surprise for the truly stupid, Iran's president gave the equivalent to a Bronx cheer to the news that the permanent members of the UN Security Council had voted to refer Iran to the full UNSC.

"The people of Iran will not give up their right to exploit peaceful nuclear technology," Ahmadinejad said in the northwestern town of Mineh, according to state television. "They are not intimated by the arrogant uproar and propaganda today."

Ahmadinejad added that Iran would continue to negotiate over the direction of its nuclear program, "but that doesn't mean blind obedience to the West."

He reiterated that Iran plans to respond to the incentives package in August.

"We are interested in seeing this issue resolved peacefully. But if they (the West) create tension, then the outcome would affect the Europeans. The tension would primarily harm them," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

He said Iran might revise its nuclear policy, but he did not elaborate.

Later, Ahmadinejad said resolving the case would take time.

"A several years-old case is not solvable in only a few months. In a nuclear case, two, three, four months is not a remarkable time," he said in the neighboring town of Sarab.

The package was presented June 6 and the world powers had wanted Iran to respond before the G-8 summit that opens Saturday in St. Petersburg, Russia. The United States and the other nations wanted Iran to say whether it would meet terms to begin negotiations on the economic and energy incentives in exchange for at least a short-term end to Tehran's program to enrich uranium.

Diplomats said recent meetings with Iran's nuclear negotiator have gone nowhere and it was clear Tehran hoped to play for time or exploit potential divisions among the six powers that have offered new talks.

Well, they're busy stirring up trouble all over, so of course they're a little distracted. Better wake up, folks.

Three Front War

Israel is blockading Lebanon by sea and air now. Hezbollah has threated to begin rocketing Haifa if Israel targets the Hezbollah cowards hiding among women and children.

Hizbullah warned Israel Thursday afternoon that if the IDF attacked southern Beirut, where the organization's leadership is based, they would target Haifa.

"The Islamic resistance warns against targeting civilians and the infrastructure," a statement read on Hezbollah TV said. "It (resistance) specifically announces that it will quickly shell the city of Haifa and nearby areas if the southern suburbs and the city of Beirut are subjected to any direct Israeli aggression," the statement said.

Israel laid siege Thursday morning to Lebanon, shutting down the country and closing off access by air, land and sea.

IDF navy missile ships were patrolling off the Lebanese coast and preventing ships from entering Lebanon or leaving. Any ships arriving at Lebanese shores were being turned back.

Other reports indicate Palestinian threats of a three-front war opening by unleashing rocket attacks from the West Bank. Inquiring minds might want to be asking themselves: how did the Palestinians secure large stockpiles of rockets? Who paid for them and who supplied them? In other words, how much aid money meant for the civilians has been diverted to buying arms? People and nations condemning Israel right now might want to consider that question and whether their defense of the Palestinians is justified.

Just a thought.

Other reports indicate Palestinian threats of a three-front war opening by unleashing rocket attacks from the West Bank. Inquiring minds might want to be asking themselves: how did the Palestinians secure large stockpiles of rockets? Who paid for them and who supplied them? In other words, how much aid money meant for the civilians has been diverted to buying arms? People and nations condemning Israel right now might want to consider that question and whether their defense of the Palestinians is justified.

Just a thought.

Sometimes It Seems Like Fate

I just finished pointing out to a commenter that short and to the point is better than seeing how many words you can use to make a point. Then I spotted this item from Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette. It shows both the short and to the point thing, but also shows how news can and is slanted by the MSM rather thoroughly.

When you give a speech, your opening remarks set the tone. You must make your key points early (and often) or risk them being lost on all but the most intent listeners. The same is true for writing - or reporting. Your opening paragraphs establish your story. This may in fact be even more important in writing than in speaking - readers can easily move on to something else without the stigma of appearing rude in public, and if you haven't made your point early you've lost them.

Then Greyhawk take apart coverage of a speech by the Washington Post.

Those lead paragraphs were so fundamentally at odds in meaning I honestly thought at first they must have been reporting on a different speech. In fact, those Post quotes must have come from ad-libbed remarks, questions and answers following the actual speech, or the reporter's faulty memory of the event, in which the only reference to civil war is in this context: "A precipitous Coalition departure could unleash a sectarian civil war…". It is a shame that the Post reporter couldn't find anything in the Ambassador's prepared remarks worthy of a newspaper headline.

This is worth the read, including following the links over to the Belmont Club.

Mumbai Police Focus On Kashmiri “Separatists”

The New York Times is reporting that the explosives used in the Mumbai train bombings was RDX, a very powerful plastic explosive. Police are focusing on Kashmiri separatists from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) (I hate that particular euphemism for groups that carry out terror attacks).

Service resumed early today on the rail network that was struck during the evening rush hour on Tuesday. Though the trains were not as crowded as usual, many commuters overcame their fears sufficiently to ride them again.

Police spent the day combing through the wreckage of the seven passenger cars that were bombed, looking for forensic evidence that might help them identify the culprits. Experts were examining a timer found near the site of one of the blasts. Initial tests suggested that RDX, a powerful plastic explosive, had been used, the home ministry said.

The director general of police in Maharashtra, the Indian state that includes Mumbai, said that officers had “no concrete evidence” to implicate Lashkar-e-Toiba, an Islamic militant organization that is fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, a mostly Muslim state that is also claimed, and is partly occupied, by Pakistan.

But the director general, P. S. Pasricha, said “the modus operandi does suggest their involvement.” The organization and scale of the attacks, the type of explosive involved and the use of remote control devices all suggested that Lashkar-e-Toiba may have been involved, perhaps in conjunction with local groups, he said.

“Still, it would be premature and misleading to say anything about their involvement at this point of investigations as forensic lab reports are awaited,” he added.

Officials in Delhi were spoke even more cautiously. Rajneesh Kumar, the deputy director of communications at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said it was too early to comment on who might have set off the bombs.

“Initially, we were focusing on the relief and rescue operation, but now the investigation is under way,” he said in a telephone interview.

Asked to comment on widespread speculation that Kashmiri militants were involved, he said: “It would be very premature to go into which leads we are currently pursuing. The security agencies are looking into who might be behind this, but discussing the involvement of one particular group or another would at this stage be a very speculative exercise.”

Representatives from Lashkar-e-Toiba, whose name means Army of the Pure, telephoned several Indian news organizations to deny involvement. “These are inhuman and barbaric acts” a man who identified himself as “Doctor Ghaznavi”, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters. “Islam does not permit the killing of innocent people.”

Meanwhile, the Times of India has a little background that is of interest. A recent arms and explosives seizure made in India included quantities of RDX. The fugitive member of LeT who was involved in that event is high on the suspect list.

MUMBAI: Zaibuddin Ansari, Lashkar-e-Toiba module leader who is missing after his role into the Aurangabad arms and explosives seizure was exposed, is under the scanner of the Anti-Terrorists Squad of Mumbai Police and central intelligence agencies in connection with Mumbai train bomb blasts, sources said.

Ansari, who is believed to be the brain behind mobilization of arms and explosives in Marathwada region of central Maharashtra, is suspected to be the link between LeT and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Police is probing the role of LeT and SIMI in the present blasts.

Though the ATS seized 17 AK-47 assault rifles and 43 kg of RDX apart from arrested 16 persons in the Aurangabad arms and explosive seizure case, it has not been able to get through the motive behind mobilization of the weapons and explosives, the sources said.

Lest we forget, there are other countries under assault by terror, all of it with ties that seem to stretch back to Iran. Isn't that interesting?  Now I wonder if the fact that China and Russia withdrew their blocking tactics and voted to send Iran to the UNSC had anything to do with the fact that Iran appears to be getting a bit worrisome to them as well. Fallout in China isn't a good way to kick off the Olympics.