L'Eggo My Lego

By Maureen Martin

A ban was initiated at the Hilltop Children's Center in Seattle. According to an article in the winter 2006-07 issue of "Rethinking Schools" magazine, the teachers at the private school wanted their students to learn that private property ownership is evil.
According to the article, the students had been building an elaborate "Legotown," but it was accidentally demolished. The teachers decided its destruction was an opportunity to explore "the inequities of private ownership." According to the teachers, "Our intention was to promote a contrasting set of values: collectivity, collaboration, resource-sharing, and full democratic participation." LINK

Surrender Date

By Mitch McConnell

Press reports are casting yesterday’s Senate vote in favor of a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq as a victory for the new Democratic majority in the Senate. But the cost of winning that two-vote majority could have devastating consequences for our efforts in Iraq and the broader War on Terror. Yesterday’s vote was potentially devastating to our mission in Iraq because telling the enemy the exact date you plan to leave is the surest way to guarantee defeat. It tells them only to rest, refit, and re-plan until the date the Democrat Congress circled on a calendar for American forces to give up and leave. LINK

Ministry of Defence Map

More lawyers needed for Bush probes

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, has drawn up a contract with Washington law firm Arnold & Porter for help in his investigation of the firing of eight federal prosecutors last year, according to an unsigned copy of the contract obtained by The Washington Times. The contract specifies that Arnold & Porter will subcontract with another firm, Deloitte & Touche, to "assist Democratic members of the Committee on the Judiciary with issues related to the termination of U.S. atattorneys by the Bush administration, a cost of up to $225,000 over the next nine months LINK

Interview with Ignacio Ramos

The following is a transcript of a phone interview that CNN Anchor Lou Dobbs conducted with Ramos.
LOU DOBBS: How are you feeling?
IGNACIO RAMOS: I'm hanging in there, you know. As best I can.
DOBBS: How are they treating you?
RAMOS: Not bad, you know? They give me my meals, they take care of me, I guess, as best they can.
DOBBS: How much time do you have each day to -- to be in the general population? Are you at all in the general population?
RAMOS: No, I'm kept in isolation. That's where I spend all my time.

LINK

IRAN has become a lawless state

Even if by some accident the British had temporarily crossed over into Iranian waters - and there is no evidence that they had - it does not justify their kidnapping at gunpoint. Any civilised nation would point out the errant sailors' location and send them on their way.
It is astounding to me that this outrage has not yet become a huge global issue. It is one of the most blatant and shameless breaches of every aspect of international law and normal civilised behaviour of any state in recent times. It also tells us a lot about the mind-set of the strange group of people in power in Tehran. LINK

U.S. military buildup on Iran border ,Russian intelligence says

MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday.
"The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran," the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched. LINK

Why We Banned Legos

By Ann Pelo and Kendra Pelojoaquin

Carl and Oliver,* both 8-year-olds in our after-school program, huddled over piles of Legos. They carefully assembled them to add to a sprawling collection of Lego houses, grocery stores, fish-and-chips stands, fire stations, and coffee shops. They were particularly keen to find and use "cool pieces," the translucent bricks and specialty pieces that complement the standard-issue red, yellow, blue, and green Lego bricks. "I'm making an airport and landing strip for my guy's house. He has his own airplane," said Oliver.
"That's not fair!" said Carl. "That takes too many cool pieces and leaves not enough for me."
"Well, I can let other people use the landing strip, if they have airplanes," said Oliver. "Then it's fair for me to use more cool pieces, because it's for public use."

LINK

Death of a panda

By Simon Jeffery

A dead panda is a bad thing. But that's not all. There are accusations in the German press that Knut was in part responsible, with the disruption from the visitors who crowded the zoo at the weekend leading to the 22-year-old's untimely demise. Some 30,000 people crowded the zoo at the weekend, several times more than usual, and many who couldn't get a glimpse of Knut went over to check out Yan Yan. LINK

Liberal Myths about Radical Islam

By Dinesh D'Souza

Is it reasonable to think that Muslims today are genuinely outraged about events that occurred a thousand years ago? Let us remember that before the rise of Islam, the region we call the Middle East was predominantly Christian. Inspired by Islam's call to jihad, Muhammad's armies conquered Jerusalem and the entire Middle East, then pushed south into Africa, East into Asia, and north into Europe. LINK

Third World slums :In the Coachella Valley

By David Kelly

THERMAL, CALIF. — Like most of their neighbors in the sprawling, ramshackle Oasis Mobile Home Park, the Aguilars have no heat, no hot water. On cold nights, the family of eight stays warm by bundling up in layers of sweaters and sleeps packed together in two tiny rooms.Bathing is a luxury that requires using valuable propane to boil gallons of water. So the farmworker clan spends a lot of time dirty. LINK

Subway hero needs saving

BY JOSE MARTINEZ

The subway superman now has his very own set of archenemies.
Wesley Autrey is suing a lawyer and her Hollywood hotshot partner - accusing them of ripping him off before he's even made any money. They convinced Autrey he could capitalize on his selfless, death-defying act of heroism - leaping from a Harlem subway platform in January to save a stranger's life as a train rolled over both of them. LINK

Democratic Lawmakers to Reintroduce ERA

By Monisha Bansal

Sens. Ted Kennedy (Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, both of New York, plan to join Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority, in making the Tuesday afternoon announcement.This time around, supporters say they hope "women will finally achieve official equality in America." But a conservative group said women's rights activists are "fighting old battles."First proposed in 1923, the ERA states: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."The amendment passed both houses of Congress in 1972 but it fell three states short of ratification and lapsed ten years later. LINK

Letter to a Popular Atheist

By Steve Alderman

In a recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, Sam Harris, an outspoken atheist and author of "Letter to a Christian Nation" once again presents the case that the moderate believers shield the fundamentalists from public criticism . Harris presents the case that if we take the Bible literally and fully, that the God of the Old Testament would be rejected outright by any thinking person. LINK

Lesbian Argues Ga. Gays Can't Adopt Kids

By GREG BLUESTEIN

ATLANTA (AP) -- Sara Wheeler's life has become a contradiction.
Once a proud lesbian, she's now a pariah in the gay community.
Once in a committed relationship with a female partner, she's rethinking her sexuality.
And now she's doing something she once would have considered unthinkable - arguing that gays don't have the legal right to adopt children. LINK

Sex Pact With Girlfriend, 15-Year-Old Daughter

A 37-year-old man who was accused of having sex with his girlfriend's underage daughter under an alleged written contract with the girl and her mother was sentenced to several prison terms.

The case arose after the woman, afraid of losing her boyfriend while recuperating from surgery, allegedly arranged for the three to sign a contract in June, In exchange for the sex, the 15-year-old testified she was to be paid and receive privileges, such as piercings, hair dyeing and permission to stay overnight with her own boyfriend. LINK

Bush Impeachment an Option

With his go-it-alone approach on Iraq, President Bush is flouting Congress and the public, so angering lawmakers that some consider impeachment an option over his war policy, a senator from Bush's own party said Sunday. GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a frequent critic of the war, stopped short of calling for Bush's impeachment. But he made clear that some lawmakers viewed that as an option should Bush choose to push ahead despite public sentiment against the war. LINK

Wife-Beating Legitimized by German Court

By Srdja Trifkovic

The husband routinely beat his 26-year-old German-born wife, mother of their two young children, and threatened to kill her when the court ordered him to move out of their apartment in Hamburg. The police were called repeatedly to intervene. The wife wanted a quick divorce—without waiting a year after separation, as mandated by German law—arguing that that the abuse and death threats she suffered easily fulfilled the “hardship” criteria required for an accelerated decree absolute. The judge—a woman by the name of Christa Datz-Winter—refused, however, arguing that the Kuran allows the husband to beat his wife LINK

Civil War Brewing

The problem is that most Iranians are fed up with the "Islamic revolution," and want less religion and corruption, and more democracy, in their government. Since the clerics running the government, as a dictatorship, could be prosecuted for corruption if they allowed free elections, there is no incentive to loosen up. In Iraq, most Shia Arabs, like most Iranians, have rejected the concept of a religious dictatorship. There is open warfare between pro and anti-Iranian Shia militias in southern Iraq. LINK

GOP faithful seem less high on fidelity

By Ron Eachus

Judging from the marital and political history of major Republican presidential candidates, the so-called "religious right" and its self-proclaimed monopoly on family values may be losing its grip on the Republican Party.

Rudy Giuliani : married three times

Sen. John McCain : married twice

The family troubles of top-tier candidates from both parties have been the subject of political blogs since speculation about the 2008 race began. One cleverly asked in 2006 if "adultery may be a GOP family value in 2008." Another has dubbed the 2008 primaries as a "cheat and greet" political exercise. LINK

Clinton opens up about attorney firings

By MIKE GLOVER

DES MOINES, Iowa - Democratic presidential hopeful
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday dismissed any comparison between the firing last fall of eight U.S. attorneys with the replacement of 93 U.S. attorneys when her husband became president in 1993. "That's a traditional prerogative of an incoming president," Clinton said in an interview with The Associated Press. Clinton argued that the Bush administration's firing of the eight federal prosecutors has caused an uproar because it is seen as a conservative push to shift the balance of power in favor of the executive branch. LINK

Turnout is low at immigration rallies

By Anna Gorman and Tami Abdollah

Immigrant rights rallies staged Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of last year's massive Los Angeles march and to call for reform legislation were marked by low turnout and a rowdy counterdemonstration denouncing illegal immigration. Nearly 5,000 immigrants and their supporters gathered at the Los Angeles Sports Arena for an event dubbed Justice for Our Families, featuring mariachi music and speeches by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other politicians. Carrying American flags and waving banners that read, "We are America," the participants signed pre-written letters to Congress calling for legalization of the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and an end to deportations and raids. Organizers said they received about 6,000 signed letters. LINK

Al Gore's Science Fiction

An Inconvenient Truth (AIT), Al Gore’s film and book on “The planetary emergency of global warming and what can be done about it,” purports to be a non-ideological exposition of climate science and moral common-sense. In reality, AIT is a lawyer’s brief for global warming alarmism and energy rationing. The only facts and studies Gore considers are those convenient to his scare-them-green agenda. And in numerous instances, he distorts the evidence he cites.
The three papers below, which provide running commentaries on AIT with different degrees of detail, find that most of Gore’s claims regarding climate science and climate policy are either one sided, misleading, exaggerated, speculative, or wrong. LINK

Goal of the Wildlands Project

"We have got to share this planet with the other living creatures, and sharing means not merely preserving them in zoos or National Parks, but setting aside huge areas. Whole regions perhaps that will be free of human interference. Ideally, I would like to see certain large areas of the planet set off-limits to human entry of any kind, even aerial over flights." LINK

Feminism 'could be bad for your health'

by CHARLOTTE GILL

A study in Sweden, arguably one of the most egalitarian countries in the world, discovered that men and women who are equal are more likely to suffer illness or disability. Those who earn the same are also more likely to become unwell or suffer a disability.
People who have management jobs, male or female, were also found to die younger than those with a less pressured lifestyle. LINK

The scientists, from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health, said a possible explanation for the link between equality and illness is that men's health may be adversely affected by a loss of what had been seen as traditional male privileges.

'MS-13' is one of nation's most dangerous

Some of the most notorious and dangerous criminals in the United States are part of one gang. It's not the Bloods, it's not the Crips, but a gang called MS-13. 'Live and Direct' takes MSNBC into the streets to investgate how the gang is terrorizing neighborhoods and treating their friends and enemies with brutal, bloody force. LINK

Hispanics steamed by shock radio stunt

By ELIZABETH LLORENTE

Hispanic political and community leaders are up in arms over a New Jersey radio show that is exhorting listeners to report suspected illegal immigrants to 101.5 FM or federal authorities.
The leaders say the radio station's campaign -- named "La Cuca Gotcha" -- is clearly anti-Hispanic and may encourage racial profiling and other bias incidents against Hispanics. LINK

House Bill Would Allow Illegal Immigrants To Stay Then Re-enter Legally

A bill in the US House proposes that illegal immigrants leave America and then re-enter legally before becoming eligible for permanent residency.
The plan by Congressmen Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Jeff Flake of Arizona is expected to be announced Thursday. The measure calls for illegal immigrants in the US as of June 1 of 2006 to remain on six-year work visas.
During those six years, they must learn English and civics, pay a $2,000 fine and settle back taxes. LINK

What if Homosexuality is Biological?

By Selwyn Duke

The Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., recently penned an article that has both fellow evangelicals and homosexual activists feeling none too gay. Mohler raised the ire of the former group by stating that science may very well prove there is a biological basis for homosexuality; LINK

Judge Continues Block of Child Online Protection

PHILADELPHIA — Congress must try again if it wants the federal government to police the Internet on behalf of the nation's children.
A federal judge on Thursday blocked a 1998 federal law that makes it a crime for commercial Web site operators to let children access "harmful" material.
The judge said parents can protect their children through software filters and other less restrictive means that do not limit the rights of others to free speech. LINK

'Political correctness is killing our freedoms'

By Bruno Waterfield

Europe's citizens must be on their guard against political correctness and moralising politicians, says the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. "We should be aware of people who, sometimes for good reasons, try to establish what I call private moral codes, for this or that, be it climate change, religious behaviour or any kind of social behaviour," LINK

Security and Prosperity Partnership

By Tom DeWeese

If you believe there should be no borders marking a specific entity called the United States of America, then a North American Union will not concern you. If you believe nationalism, meaning love and pride of country, is a bad thing, then a North American Union will not concern you. If you believe government control of the market, of health care, and of energy policy is a positive force, then a North American Union will not concern you. If you believe anyone should be allowed to enter our nation, even illegally, obtain work, taxpayer-paid social programs, and owe no allegiance to the U.S., then a North American Union will not concern you. LINK

Liberty or Death? The case for finishing the job in Iraq

Jeff O'Bryant

I sadly cannot state with any firm conviction that modern school children know of Patrick Henry’s famous demand “give me liberty or give me death.” But my own generation and those that came before certainly should. The question is, is Henry right? Is death preferable to living without liberty? Put another way, is freedom for yourself and/or your fellow man worth fighting for and risking your life? LINK

Ban Regular Light Bulbs

By Nathan Burchfiel

A Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban the sale of traditional incandescent light bulbs - which are less energy-efficient, prompting claims that they contribute to "global warming" - one day after a colleague told a press conference that legislating a ban would be a "last choice." One day later, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) introduced legislation that would set target dates for certain types of light bulbs to be prohibited for sale in the United States. LINK

The Media Likes Scaring Us

By John Stossel

I'm embarrassed by my profession.
We consumer reporters should warn you about life's important risks, but instead, we mislead you about dubious risks.
I first started thinking about this when interviewing Ralph Nader years ago, before he stopped speaking to me. Nader worried about almost everything: Food? "It can spoil in your own refrigerator," Chicken? "[It's] contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides." Flying? "Inadequate maintenance." Carpets? "Rugs are dirt collectors. And dirt collectors mean internal, indoor air pollution." Coffee? "Caffeine is not very good for you."
He went on and on. Just interviewing him was exhausting. Nader and interest groups like his fuel the Fear Industrial Complex: the network of activists, government bureaucrats, and trial lawyers who profit by scaring people.
The media should be skeptical of their prophesies of doom, but we rarely are. LINK

Migrants' temporary departure supported

Dan Nowicki and Mike Madden

Momentum is growing on Capitol Hill for immigration-reform legislation that would require some undocumented immigrants to leave the country to apply for citizenship.The provision, known as "touchback," is increasingly seen as a way to garner more conservative support and deflect the politically damaging charge that lawmakers are providing amnesty for people who have broken the law."We recognize that touchback is a powerful political statement," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., co-sponsor of a bipartisan comprehensive reform bill that is expected to be introduced Thursday. LINK

Global Warming Swindle

Al Gore would like you to NOT watch this LINK

What Valerie Plame Didn’t Tell Us

By Byron York

As Mrs. Wilson told her story, some members and staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee watched with great interest. As part of its probe into pre-war intelligence, the committee interviewed Valerie Plame Wilson for the portions of the committee’s report dealing with the Niger uranium matter. At that time, as now, the question of how the CIA chose Joseph Wilson for the Niger trip was a subject of great interest. But Missouri Republican Sen. Christopher Bond, vice chairman of the committee, says Mrs. Wilson did not tell the committee about the young junior officer, the call from the vice president’s office, or the passing CIA official who suggested Joseph Wilson’s name. LINK

Russia Gives Iran Ultimatum

By ELAINE SCIOLINO

The ultimatum was delivered in Moscow last week by Igor S. Ivanov, the secretary of the Russian National Security Council, to Ali Hosseini Tash, Iran’s deputy chief nuclear negotiator, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a confidential diplomatic exchange between two governments was involved.
For years, President Bush has been pressing President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to cut off help to Iran on the nuclear power plant that Russia is building at Bushehr, in southern Iran. But Mr. Putin has resisted. The project is Tehran’s first serious effort to produce nuclear energy and has been very profitable for Russia. LINK

Climate scientist sees cover-up

By Eric Pfeiffer

James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who argues global warming could be catastrophic, said NASA staffers denied his request to do a National Public Radio interview because they didn't want his message to get out. But Republicans told him the hundreds of other interviews he did belie his broad claim he was being silenced. "We have over 1,400 opportunities that you've availed yourself to, and yet you call it, you know, being stifled," said Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican. LINK

"For the sake of the taxpayers, they should be availed of my expertise. I shouldn't be required to parrot some company line."

P&G wins $19.25 million in Satanism suit

Rumors had begun circulating as early as 1981 that the company’s logo — a bearded, crescent man-in-moon looking over a field of 13 stars — was a symbol of Satanism. Procter & Gamble Co. has won a jury award of $19.25 million in a civil lawsuit filed against four former Amway distributors accused of spreading false rumors linking the company to Satanism to advance their own business. LINK

De Facto Diplomats

By Kyle-Anne Shiver

No Constitutional scholar am I, but I do seem to recall from my seventh-grade civics class that responsibility for relations with foreign governments resides in the Executive Branch - that would be at the discretion of our elected President, I believe. Are diplomatic appointments not made by the President and confirmed by the Senate? LINK

'Global Temperature'

It is generally assumed that the atmosphere and the oceans have grown warmer during the recent 50 years. The reason for this point of view is an upward trend in the curve of measurements of the so-called 'global temperature'. This is the temperature obtained by collecting measurements of air temperatures at a large number of measuring stations around the Globe. LINK

"It is impossible to talk about a single temperature for something as complicated as the climate of Earth"

Obama 1984 Ad

Make up your own mind.

Killings In Haditha

On Nov. 19, 2005, United States Marines killed 24 apparently innocent civilians in an Iraqi town called Haditha. The dead included men, women and children as young as 2 years old. Iraqi witnesses said the Marines were on a rampage, slaughtering people in the street and in their homes. In December, four Marines were charged with murder LINK

"What I did that day, the decision that I made, I would make those decisions again today. Those are decisions that I made in a combat situation, and I believe I had to make those decisions."
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich

Some scientists eye odd climate fixes

By SETH BORENSTEIN

WASHINGTON - When climate scientist Andrew Weaver considers the idea of tinkering with Earth's air, water or sunlight to fight global warming, he remembers the lessons of a favorite children's book. That scenario in "The King, the Mice and the Cheese," by Nancy and Eric Gurney, should give scientists pause before taking extreme measures to mess with Mother Nature, says Weaver of the University of Victoria. LINK

They are exploring global warming solutions that sound wholly far-fetched, including giant artificial "trees" that would filter carbon dioxide out of the air, a bizarre "solar shade" created by a trillion flying saucers that lower Earth's temperature, and a scheme that mimics a volcano by spewing light-reflecting sulfates high in the sky.

McCain to Romney

By MICHAEL MOFFETT

Like so many of my fellow veterans, I enthusiastically supported McCain's 2000 Presidential bid, which saw him win a decisive victory over George W. Bush in the New Hampshire primary.
Sen. McCain remains one of my heroes. But I now believe former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the man who should serve as our next commander in chief.
The reasons are many, and they include the impressive analysis of the international situation that Romney articulated after his trip to Asia earlier this year. I expect that as the months go by, many of my fellow veterans will join me in supporting a Romney candidacy in 2008. LINK

Mastermind of USS Cole Bombing Confesses

WASHINGTON — Waleed Mohammed Bin Attash, long suspected of plotting the bombing of the USS Cole, confessed to planning the attack during a hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a Pentagon transcript released Monday.
He also said he helped plan the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 that killed 213, LINK

Sun's pulse 'points to rain'

By Matthew Warren

DROUGHT-BREAKING rains across eastern Australia have been predicted in new modelling by a scientist who believes massive pulses in the sun's magnetic field are helping to drive the Earth's climate systems.
If proven, the research will make the prediction of floods and droughts in Australia far more reliable and influence models projecting future climate change. LINK