Whoops. Never Mind.

Police in Annapolis, Maryland, are a bit embarrassed at the moment. It seems they executed a search warrant, kicking in the door, using flash-bang grenades and kicking one of the residents inside in the crotch. All pretty much in a day's work (except the latter, we sincerely hope. One teensy problem: Wrong apartment.

Cops raid wrong place, kick man in groin  

Police spokesman Hal Dalton said something must have gone amiss in the briefing beforehand. "We don't know how the mistake was made," Dalton said.

Silvia Bernal, 30, told The (Annapolis) Capital that about 15 officers burst through the front door of her apartment while she was cooking dinner about 8:20 p.m. She said the officers kicked her husband in the groin while she fled into a bedroom and barred the door with her body.

Then she said both of them were taken to the ground and handcuffed. The Capital said a police officer went outside and realized they had raided the wrong residence.

Dalton said they were supposed to have raided a different apartment and said the incident was regrettable.

I would imagine the Bernal's already have quite a few offers for legal representation. When police finally figured out the right address and kicked that door in, the apartment was empty. And in a really unfortunate juxtaposition, this story appears right next to another on the Yahoo! News site. That story bears this headline:

Calif. man charged with killing Wee Wee

MARYSVILLE, Calif. - A man accused of fatally shooting a beloved pet goose named Wee Wee faces three misdemeanor charges. The Yuba County District Attorney's office charged David Gregory Davis, 48, of Marysville, with hunting without a license, waste of game and overlimit of geese for shooting the Canada goose out of season.

Wee Wee might have appeared no different than any other Canada goose to the average hunter, but he was a family pet to Todd Hulsey and Sharri Neel and their children, as well as a friend to their neighbors.

The family rescued Wee Wee as a gosling from the Sacramento River more than a year ago and he became a pet. He waited for them at the gate to their property, rode in their boat when they went fishing and flew behind a motorcycle driven by Hulsey.

While we are justifiably angry with Mr. Davis for his wanton killing of the goose, we are strangely relieved that the two stories are not connected other than by their placement on the website. Well, at least until the Bernal's representation gets into action. Then all bets are off.

Second Attempt At Cloture Fails

UPDATE: Reid has pulled the bill off the floor of the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) just pulled the immigration overhaul bill from the floor after it failed to clear a procedural hurdle.

"We bent over backwards" to accomodate Republicans who disliked the bill, Reid said. "We have to figure out a way to get this bill passed."

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), one of the top GOP critics of the bill, said: "This is a victory for sanity in this country."

Harry Reid sought to force the immigration "reform" bill to cloture again for the second time today. He failed yet again, this time the tally was 45-50. Debate remains alive, unless Reid carries through on his promise to kill the bill.

WASHINGTON - A broad immigration bill to legalize millions of people in the U.S. unlawfully failed a crucial test vote in the Senate Thursday, a stunning setback that could spell its defeat for the year.

The vote was 45-50 against limiting debate on the bill, 15 short of the 60 that the bill's supporters needed to prevail. Most Republicans voted to block Democrats' efforts to bring the bill to a final vote.

The legislation, which had been endorsed by President Bush, would tighten borders, institute a new system to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers in addition to giving up to 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status.

By the way, notice anything about the reporting on this vote? The Associated Press reports the cloture vote for what it is - a failure to cut off debate. Compare that with their histrionics (and flat-out lies) when the debate was over Iraq timetables. Then they told the world that the Republicans had "cut off" debate by stopping cloture. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Once again, I'll point out that if they secure the border first, they can get everything else settled. I will also repeat my advice: break the entire border security part out as a companion bill with massive poison pills that will keep it from getting gutted by stealth and this thing can pass. But it doesn't look likely right at the moment.

Three (Bronx) Cheers For San Francisco

If the city of San Francisco bows to the demands of the "peace activists" who are trying to get an appearance by the Blue Angels canceled, they deserve every, single bit of scorn the rest of the country can heap upon them.

In another stunning display of hatred against our military in the city of San Francisco, Code Pink and their allies - along with a San Fran Supervisor - are working to ground the famous Blue Angels show from flying in their city (emphasis added):

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - The annual aerial show by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels — a San Francisco tradition dating back to 1981 that pumps millions into the local economy — is running into opposition from three local peace advocacy groups that are calling for a permanent halt to the popular Fleet Week flyover.

CodePink, Global Exchange and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69, are working with Supervisor Chris Daly on a Board of Supervisors resolution to address concerns over the Blue Angels.

Daly acknowledged he is considering a call to halt the flyovers because, he said, “they seem dangerous and unnecessary.” Daly said he plans on introducing the resolution as early as Tuesday, but is still drafting the language. A resolution is not legally binding, but states a board position.

Not as unnecessary as Daly, mind you. One of Sister Toldjah's readers suggests building a wall around San Francisco. But I'd point out that they can still go over. Use a dome.

The Howland Chainsaw Massacre

Howland, Maine was the scene of a reenactment of a scene from the horror classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. With a twist. This time, the chainsaw got it.

Lionel Dube Jr., 47, of Argyle, was charged with disorderly conduct, criminal threatening and violation of bail conditions after police responded to reports that he was waving the chain saw at passing motorists late Tuesday.

"You know how in the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' the guy raised his chain saw up and revved it? That's what he was doing," Deputy Sheriff Michael Knights said. "Alcohol was involved."

Knights and Maine State Police Trooper Thomas Fiske said they disarmed Dube at gunpoint near the Howland-Enfield Federal Credit Union. By that time, Dube's chain saw didn't pose much of a threat because the chain had fallen off, they said.

"It's not a common occurrence for this sleepy little town," said Gary Bragdon, the credit union's manager, who learned of the incident when he reported to work Wednesday morning.

That's right, Dube killed his chainsaw. (Don't you love that line? "Alcohol was involved." My sister married a Maine boy and I can absolutely hear the accent and the deadpan delivery of that line. Ayuh. Don't get me started on stupid lobster tricks.)

Plan Ahe

ad. You know, I posted about new passport requirements for entry into the US all the way back in September. I wasn't - am still am not - all that happy with the increased requirements on citizens when illegals are being given kid glove treatment. That's another discussion, however. It seems that a lot of people are pitching fits at their elected officials because they did not allow enough time for a new passport to be processed. Yes, the State Department is being swamped, yes, they are 'way behind in getting them issued.

But what in the world are people doing not planning ahead?

A proposal set to be announced as early as Friday will temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. passports be used for air travel to and from Canada and Mexico, provided the traveler can prove he or she has already applied for a passport, officials said Thursday.

The suspension in the rules is aimed at clearing a massive backlog of passport applications at the State Department that has slowed processing to a crawl, they said. Some officials said the change would last several months; others said as long as six months.

But the plan had run into opposition from the Homeland Security Department, which controls U.S. border points and fears the move could make it easier for terrorists or other undesirables to enter the country, the officials said.

Instead of a passport, travelers will now be able to present a State Department receipt showing their passport application is being processed, and a government-issued ID such as a driver's license.

Homeland Security signed off on the proposal on Thursday after consultations with the State Department, the White House and members of Congress, who have been deluged with complaints from furious constituents, according to four officials at the agencies involved.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been announced.

"This is pre-decisional, and I have no comment," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said.

Under the plan, those without passports would receive additional security scrutiny when they travel, which could include extra questioning or bag checks, according to one official familiar with the discussions.

The suspension will give the State Department time to deal with a surge in applications that has overwhelmed its processing centers since the new rules took effect earlier this year.

When my wife booked the cruise we just got back from - in December - we immediately got her and the kid's passport applications in (I already had one). We had no problem at all and had the documents well before they were needed. I can understand a few people having to travel on short notice being in a bind, but seriously, if you are booking overseas travel you usually do so with a pretty good lead time. And these rules have been widely publicized for a long time now. There's an old, snarky saying, "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine." I think that applies here to all but a few of the people complaining.

Bless The Man

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper absolutely has my vote. Well, except that I'm not Canadian and can't actually, you know, vote in their elections. But it's the thought that counts. Why? When offered the chance to hobnob with Bono, lead singer of U2, he simply had his people tell Bono's people that he didn't have time for that kind of nonsense.

The Irish rock star turned poverty activist met U.S. President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of a Group of Eight summit but was told Harper was too busy to talk to him.

Harper, a somewhat wooden figure regularly mocked for his lack of flair, told reporters on Thursday that meeting Bono was not a priority.

"I've got to say that meeting celebrities isn't kind of my shtick, that was the shtick of the previous guy," said Harper in a dig at his Liberal predecessor Paul Martin, who met Bono regularly.

"I hope we do it at some point but my principle focus in public policies is not kind of to meet celebrities," added the prime minister, a Conservative.

Hey, even the mostly reliably left-leaning Guardian is pretty sick of Bono. (I've been tired of his self-righteous, self-important sanctimony for a while now. I'm sure that comment will endear me to a few people.)

California Democrats Pass A Bill

The California state assembly - controlled by Democrats - has passed a brand-spanking new bill. It will require every cat and dog in the state be neutered. Every. Single. One.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California may become the only U.S. state to require the sterilization of pets under a bill passed by the state Assembly, pitting dog and cat lovers against animal rights activists.

"It's a horrific bill," said Maureen Hill-Hauch, executive director of Castleton, New York-based American Dog Owners Association, adding that enforcement of the bill in theory could wipe out California's dog population.

The bill would require pet owners to spay and neuter their dogs and cats, or face a $500 (250 pounds) fine for each animal.

Breeders, as well as owners of guide dogs, could obtain exemptions.

The Democrat-led state Assembly narrowly approved the bill late on Wednesday. It now goes to the state Senate amid a flurry of legislation that must be passed by Friday.

Republicans in the minority in both chambers do not consider the bill a priority and say it is too intrusive. "It's micro-managing," said Republican Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa.

Supporters say the bill requiring pets to be spayed or neutered is necessary to reduce the population of unwanted pets dumped in the state's shelters.

At least 500,000 animals each year are killed in the most populous U.S. state, imposing an unacceptable "humanitarian" cost on California, said Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, the Democrat promoting the bill.

Welcome to the People's Republic of California, where all your decisions will be made by the government. If you needed any proof that "animal rights activists" are actually motivated by a loathing for humans, there it is.

“It Was Quite A Ride.”

The words of an unidentified 21-year old man from Kalamazoo, Michigan after police stopped the truck that was pushing him down the highway at 50 mph. In his wheelchair.

The 21-year-old man, whose name was not released, was unharmed but was taken to a hospital as a precaution. He had been secured to his wheelchair by a seat belt.

"The man spilled his soda pop, but he wasn't upset," said Sgt. Kathy Morton of the Michigan State Police.

About 4 p.m. Wednesday, a caller told police dispatchers, "You are not going to believe this: There is a semi truck pushing a guy in a wheelchair on Red Arrow Highway," state police said in a release.

Authorities initially wondered whether the report was a prank call until others called with similar reports.

Officers stopped the truck — wheelchair still attached — at a trucking company. The driver didn't believe officers until he stepped from his cab and saw for himself.

"When he saw us, he was like, 'What's going on?'" Morton said.

An investigation revealed the man in the wheelchair had pulled in front of the truck at a gas station and it somehow became lodged by its handles to the front grille.

Somehow became lodged? How in the world did this happen by accident?

Something To Think About

I remember the uproar over the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration amnesty of 1986. I remember the promises that this was the last time and it would never, ever happen again. I remember what happened. 

The US Senate voted in favor of the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration amnesty in September of 1985. It took until November 6th, 1986 for it to be finalized and sent to President Reagan to be signed into law. But election day was November 4th.

In 1986 there was a midterm election. The Republicans lost control of the Senate.

The U.S. Senate election, 1986 was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. In a midterm election, the opposition Democrats held the traditional advantage. Also, Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman incumbents elected on Reagan's coattails in 1980. However, 1986 was unusual in that it was the first time since 1918 where the chamber had changed hands in a second term midterm.

Were the two things related? I suspect so but can't prove it, of course. But consider: Simpson-Mazzoli legalized around 3 million illegal immigrants. 20 years later, we're looking at 12 million. Simpson and Mazzoli wrote an article in 2006 that explains, exactly, why it did not work.

The foundation of IRCA was enforcement and border security, but to work, it required consistent funding: for agents to investigate workplace violations, for prosecution of employers who broke the law, for more Border Patrol agents, and for installing the latest in high-tech monitoring and surveillance equipment. We saw the need for funding to develop a simple, reliable and tamper-proof system, a "more secure identifier," using cards or biometrics. Opponents from the right and the left savaged it as "a National ID," although it was not something that had to be carried on one-s person but was to be presented only at the time of "new hire" employment or when applying for government benefits.

After two decades, the system is still not in place. Unfortunately, what is in place is the use of several different identifiers, which were meant to be temporary, and a flourishing underground economy engaged in creating fraudulent documents for illegal immigrants.

All administrations since 1986 have allocated funding and personnel resources more generously to the task of securing the border than to enforcing IRCA in the workplace. Why? One answer is that there are never enough federal budget resources. Another is that administrations of both stripes are loathe to disrupt economic activities - i.e. labor supply in factories, farms and businesses. And we know that disruptions in the labor supply are the natural, unavoidable and even desirable consequence of strong border and workplace enforcement.

I have been saying all along that if enforcement is handled first all the rest can be worked out. But we are going down the same path, yet again, instead.

Immigration Bill Fails Cloture Vote

By a large margin, 33-63. So the Senate is not ready to cut off debate by a long shot. There will probably be yet another vote later today on the measure, however. Harry Reid is not pulling the bill off the floor just yet.

Still, the measure — a top priority for President Bush that's under attack from the right and left — got a reprieve when Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev., said he would give it more time before yanking the bill and moving on to other matters.

"We need to complete this marathon," Reid said.

His decision set the stage for yet another procedural vote later Thursday that will measure lawmakers' appetite for a so-called "grand bargain" between liberals and conservatives on immigration.

By a vote of 33-63, the Senate fell far short of the 60 votes that would have been needed to limit debate on the immigration measure and put it on a path to passage. Republicans — even those who helped craft the measure and are expected to support it — banded together to oppose that move, while a majority of Democrats backed it.

It isn't over yet. But the amendment approved earlier that provides a sunset for the guest worker program - offered by a Democrat - may be the deal breaker.

You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me

This is the first I have read about this case - fortunately, at the moment the news is good. A Connecticut judge has set aside a guilty verdict in the case of a substitute teacher. She was convicted of four felony counts of  "risk of injury to a minor". What happened, you ask? It would appear that students in her classroom were exposed to pornographic images on a classroom computer.

Because the computer was infected with a malicious javascript.

Julie Amero had been convicted of four felony counts of "risk of injury to a minor," but on Friday, the Connecticut superior court judge in charge of her sentencing set aside a guilty verdict in the case.

The ruling by Judge Hillary Strackbein grants Amero a new trial, but whether that will actually happen was unclear Friday. In an interview, Assistant State Attorney David Smith said he had taken "no position" on the defense's motion that triggered the judge's decision to set aside the guilty verdict. Smith declined to comment further on the case because it is still pending.

Amero, formerly a substitute teacher at Kelly Middle School in Norwich, Connecticut, was charged after an Oct. 19, 2004 incident during which a classroom computer exposed Amero's seventh graders to pornographic images. She was facing up to 40 years in prison after her Jan. 5 conviction.

The prosecution had charged that Amero had endangered her students by accessing pornographic images and the case had become a cause celebre in the antispyware community, which has portrayed her as an innocent victim of a malicious spyware program.

One of Amero's most vocal advocates, Sunbelt Software Inc. CEO Alex Eckelberry said in a blog posting he was"very pleased," with the judge's ruling. But, he cautioned that "there's still the specter of a new trial and so the show isn't over yet."

Evidence presented at Amero's trial showed that the school's computer was infected with malicious JavaScript code, after a visit to a Web site devoted to hair styles, according to Eckelberry.

You know, I have a never ending battle with spyware around here and have to sweep the systems daily. But, seriously, prosecuting something like this is insane. Send someone to prison because spyware was installed, maliciously, by another party? You have got to be kidding.

Milford Meets Mega-Moose

Milford, New Hampshire police were led on a high-speed chase by a marauding mega-moose one morning in May. Witnesses the monster moose was the size of a minivan.

MILFORD — A loose moose startled onlookers as it wandered down Nashua Street early on the morning of May 31.

Children’s librarian Marybeth Choquette saw the moose at around 8 a.m. as she drove to her work at Wadleigh Memorial Library. She said the animal was across the street from Cumberland Farms and heading toward Franklin Street followed by a police cruiser.

“It was an exciting way to start my day,” said Choquette. “It was lumbering along fast, looking very disoriented.”

The moose was about the size of a mini van, she said. Choquette says she hopes the moose found his way back home.

Police Capt. Christopher Nervik said the police usually handle one or two moose per year. Generally, police follow the animal to make sure no humans get too close.

Yeah, sure. That's a convenient excuse to cover up the fact that the police were unable to catch and ticket the speeding moose. And there is a reason that the moose are virtually unstoppable when they decide to go joyriding like this: they are immune to speed bumps:

DIXFIELD - Moose apparently like the speed bumps that were installed in 2005 along the side of Route 4 in Phillips to prevent them from running into the roadway in high-crash locations.

The gangly critters have been observed walking the length of the angular stone walls, then heading onto the road, Maine Department of Transportation regional manager Norm Haggan said by phone Wednesday afternoon in Dixfield.

"They're using them as a place to get up and dry their feet off," Haggan said.

The bumps consist of 4- to 8-foot-wide strips of riprap of various lengths, the intent of which is to slow any moose running onto the road. They're not a barrier to moose and aren't intended to prevent the animals from entering the roadway, as would fencing.

"They're not a big deterrent so, apparently, they're not effective. When it's car versus moose, the moose is still the boss," Haggan said.

So there you have it: human police are powerless against speeding moose. Especially giant, speeding moose. Score yet another victory for the Animal Uprising™.

Killing Fields

Peter Rodman and William Shawcross have an op-ed in the New York Times that attempts to point out something that is frankly missing from all the political maneuvering over the Iraq war. It is something that many have pointed out but that the politicians and the major media have been studiously ignoring. How badly will the United States be damaged by a withdrawal in Iraq? The answer: Very badly indeed.

SOME opponents of the Iraq war are toying with the idea of American defeat. A number of them are simply predicting it, while others advocate measures that would make it more likely. Lending intellectual respectability to all this is an argument that takes a strange comfort from the outcome of the Vietnam War. The defeat of the American enterprise in Indochina, it is said, turned out not to be as bad as expected. The United States recovered, and no lasting price was paid.

We beg to differ. Many years ago, the two of us clashed sharply over the wisdom and morality of American policy in Indochina, especially in Cambodia. One of us (Mr. Shawcross) published a book, “Sideshow,” that bitterly criticized Nixon administration policy. The other (Mr. Rodman), a longtime associate of Henry Kissinger, issued a rebuttal in The American Spectator, defending American policy. Decades later, we have not changed our views. But we agreed even then that the outcome in Indochina was indeed disastrous, both in human and geopolitical terms, for the United States and the region. Today we agree equally strongly that the consequences of defeat in Iraq would be even more serious and lasting.

The 1975 Communist victory in Indochina led to horrors that engulfed the region. The victorious Khmer Rouge killed one to two million of their fellow Cambodians in a genocidal, ideological rampage. In Vietnam and Laos, cruel gulags and “re-education” camps enforced repression. Millions of people fled, mostly by boat, with thousands dying in the attempt…….

…….Our conduct in Iraq is a crucial test of our credibility, especially with regard to the looming threat from revolutionary Iran. Our Arab and Israeli friends view Iraq in that wider context. They worry about our domestic debate, which had such a devastating impact on the outcome of the Vietnam War, and they want reassurance.

When government officials argued that American credibility was at stake in Indochina, critics ridiculed the notion. But when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, he and his colleagues invoked Vietnam as a reason not to take American warnings seriously. The United States cannot be strong against Iran — or anywhere — if we accept defeat in Iraq.

I have said this many times, this is the war we have, regardless of how we would like it to be. The politicians are posturing, but they need to address this in a forthright manner. The Democrats are studiously ignoring the voices of experts, doing exactly what they claim Bush does. The cost will be enormous both to the US and to the world - we deserve an honest discussion of that, not more posturing.

Take Out Or Delivery?

This is absolutely hysterical. Chinese officials spent hours stocking the Songhua river with 13 truckloads of carp in an effort to clean the river up. Which is a good thing. But villagers living downstream from the restocking effort regarded the entire thing as a delivery and promptly caught the carp.

More than 3,000 workers in northeastern China spent two hours dumping fish worth 70,000 yuan (9,100 dollars) into the Songhua river earlier this week in an effort to improve its ecology, the Xinhua news agency said.

But minutes after the operation was completed, thousands of residents from nearby Jinlin city swarmed to the riverbank with nets and other fishing equipment to scoop up the easy catch.

Officials patrolling the river attempted to confiscate some of the tackle, but no arrests were made, the report added.

Next up: chips! And tartar sauce.

“She’s Looking At Me!”

Every parent with more than one child has had to deal with some pretty absurd situations when siblings get on one another's nerves. Most of the time we muddle through it and avert bloodshed. But this story reminds me of what it's like to referee a couple of kids. Only it involves a grown woman, a police officer and a police dog.

Hutchinson, 33, of Lebanon, N.H., was charged with cruelty to a police animal and resisting arrest after a July 31 incident in West Fairlee in which police were called to a market to investigate a report of a brawl. They were approached by Hutchinson, who told one officer she had been assaulted the day before by one of the men involved.

She asked Vermont State Police Sgt. Todd Protzman to take her statement but he refused, telling her she smelled like alcohol and was drunk but that he would take her statement at another time.

After a heated exchange, she approached Protzman's cruiser, where his dog Max was waiting, putting her face within inches of the window and "staring at him in a taunting/harassing manner," Protzman wrote in an affidavit.

"While the defendant taunted my canine, Max was focused on the defendant and the perceived threat she presented to him," the affidavit said. "He was no longer focused on me and the other officers at the scene."

Officers arrested Hutchinson, adding the resisting arrest charge because she pulled her arms and upper body away during the arrest. She registered 0.21 percent blood-alcohol content on a breath test, more than twice the legal limit for drivers in Vermont.

On Tuesday, two days before Hutchinson was to go to trial, Orange County State's Attorney Will Porter decided to drop the charges, after viewing a videotape of the incident over the weekend.

Staring at a dog in a taunting or harassing manner? "She's looking at my dog." With that rising inflection on the last word that parents are far too familiar with. Why do i get the distinct impression that the State's Attorney felt just like an annoyed parent? You two take a time out.