LEAVWORLD: GRAFFITI POLITTI

Excerpts from a press release just in from the NCPPR: Washington, D.C., Feb. 27 - Today, a letter signed by 85 major national and state policy organizations was delivered to Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee. The letter warns Senators that any Endangered Species Act reform effort must include strong private property rights protections. The coalition letter was spearheaded by The National Center for Public Policy Research . "Whatever action the Senate takes on ESA reform should reflect the national, bipartisan outcry for strong property rights protections," said David Ridenour, vice president of The National Center for Public Policy Research. "Quite simply, when the government takes your property, the least it can do is pay for it." ..."Today, private landowners live in fear of the ESA. Those who harbor endangered species on their property or merely own land suitable for such species can find themselves subject to severe land use restriction...

I noticed that all of Sen. Kerry's documents have been taken down from his website. This, while not surprising, is a step in the wrong direction. I'm sure that if he runs again, they'll resurface. What I want to see are any documents from his time in the inactive reserve, or anything that explains the circumstances surrounding his discharge. Join the "Free John Kerry's 180" Blogburst every Tuesday. Details avilable at Cao's Blog.

In the era of James Frey, I wonder if anyone will believe me. "Tales From the Vendome" is the first installment of my anecdotal biography, published on NEXTLEAV . It is a collection of recollections on my years living at the Vendome, a nondescript 7-floor building in Manhattan, (NYC for those in Rio Linda). Here's what I've recalled so far: OUT THE WINDOW: TALES FROM 48 W. 73RD STREET (THE VENDOME) 1974 TALES FROM THE VENDOME: INCIDENT AT 72ND & COLUMBUS BRUCE'S PLEASURE CHEST: A VENDOME TALE HOW I AVOIDED CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AT THE VENDOME: I WAS GIVEN A CHOICE REBUFFING ANOTHER GAY ADVANCE; WHAT, WAS THERE SOMETHING IN THE WATER? GERALDO REPORTS ON A FIRE AT THE VENDOME GETTING ROBBED ON HALLOWEEN, AND CHASING THE CULPRITS TO A PROJECT ROOFTOP  GRAFFITI CHRISTMAS LOSING MY VIRGINITY IN A PET SHOP ON COLUMBUS AVE: WE WERE THE ORIGINAL "PET SHOP BOYS"! THANK YOU AL GOLDSTIEN! MY FIRST BOUT WITH ANTI-SEMITISM: WHY I BEAT UP MY J...

I had occasion to see the latest Time magazine at the supermarket check-out line. It was the first time I've seen Time there. Ever. I got a laugh out of the cover (especially the caption: "Sticking By His Guns: From the Iraq war to torture to energy policy, Dick Cheney stubbornly clings to what he believes"), but didn't have time to read the article. Brent Bozell did, however, and delivers a scathing blow to both Time and Newsweek for their overwrought reporting. He goes on to compare their coverage to the "soft story" (read short and sympathetic) treatment both magazines gave the Vince Foster suicide. That shooting happened in the White House, and was covered up for hours as Clinton aides removed potentially incriminating documents. That those facts didn't come out until much later is attributable to the White House Press Corps' lax attitude toward Pres. Clinton. The irony is that the MSM in general have reacted to the Cheney incident as they sh...

Crossposted from Sweet Spirits of Ammonia In response to a November ruling by a U.S. District Judge, Representative Mike Sodrel, a Republican, has introduced legislation to prevent federal courts from ruling on the content of speech in legislatures. Judge David Hamilton (appointed by Bill Clinton) had ruled that any prayer that refers to Jesus Christ, Savior, or Son of God is unconstitutional. Any such reference, he said, "amounts in practical terms to an official endorsement of the Christian religion." Sodrel and Representative Dan Burton called Hamilton’s ruling “a clear example of judicial activism.” Sodrel said his bill would provide immunity for content of speech for lawmakers or their guests during a legislative session, excluding witnesses and excluding speech that constitutes treason, an admission of a crime or a breach of the peace. The bill would also prohibit the use of federal funds to enforce a decision like Hamilton’s. Well, guess who's up in arms about usin...

To my Muslim readers in particular: Before another innocent's blood is spilled, please look at these images that have been created over the years (more by "others," linked in title), and ask yourselves why this recent "cartoon" incident created such worldwide chaos in Muslim nations. In NYC, some Muslims peacefully protested the cartoons , though it got little coverage. Why can't it be like this all around the world? Is the difference in Islam, or the laws of the nation that it's practiced in? Some Islamic Caliphates allowed images of Mohammed to be made, and even Osama's blown-up residence in Afghanistan had murals of Mohammed on them. This "cartoon story" is the mother of all "red herrings" to justify mindless violence. This isn't even about Islam. It's about evil people, who inflame the masses of Muslims in authoritarian states, and terrorists who seduce spiritually weak individuals. The modern "Muslim" natio...

Crossposted from STOP The ACLU We have two recent press releases from the ACLU. 1. Gut National Security! We all know about the ACLU’s lawsuit against NSA, its FOIA request over it, and its constant urging of Congress for full disclosure of what should be classified information. The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the House Judiciary Committee to adopt several resolutions that would formally request any and all documents relating to the illegal National Security Agency domestic spying program authorized by President Bush. “The need for a comprehensive investigation into the NSA’s domestic surveillance is essential to find out exactly which laws were broken,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “ Notice that while they use the word “illegal”, and insist that laws were broken, they don’t even know exactly what laws were broken. WTF? I thought that in America that everyone was considered innocent until proven guilty, but all of the su...

While all the MSM is blathering about Iran's nuclear ambitions, I thought that a look at what's happening inside that country might help. Rosemary from Love America First has some great links detailing the situation on the ground. I want to start with two of the blogs linked; FREEDOM IN PICTURES , and DOCUMENTS ON ISLAMIC REPUBLIC'S CRIMES AGAINST THE IRANIAN PEOPLE . Look at them. Next, I refer you to two posts, in broken English, by Korosh, a contributor at Love America First. A BLOGGER'S BROTHER KILLED BY THE IRANIAN REGIME , and WHAT THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA DOESN'T COVER? Read these, and go to the links on the posts. There is much here that impacts the larger debate about Iran getting nuclear weapons technology. With Ahmedinejad in power, that is a frightful thought. This post is about removing him before that comes to pass, and allowing freedom of political expression in that (once very Westernized) country. It's not just Ahmedinejad, of course. He's ju...

A special request from Gribbit : Blogging Man 2007 is THE Political Blogger's Conference! Blogging Man 2007 will be the FIRST national conference for Political Bloggers EVER. Scheduled for three days in Reno, Nevada, Blogging Man 2007 will set the standard for Political Blogging Conferences to come. A Conference BY Bloggers JUST Like YOU. The developers and speakers for Blogging Man 2007 are bloggers, first and foremost. They come from all over the country, and all have a passion for politics, and blogging. A Conference FOR Bloggers JUST Like YOU. Blogging Man 2007 is for YOU, if you love blogging, and love politics. DON'T Get Left Out Of The First BIG Blogging Event of the Century. There are opportunities for YOU to participate in BM 2007. You can promote YOUR BLOG on our Wall of Blogs , EVEN if you can't attend the conference yourself! The Wall of Blogs will be a MAIN Display at the Conference. Space for the Wall of Blogs is ONLY $20. But Blogging Man 2007 for ONLY ...

I found an interesting site called John Forbes Kerry Timeline . I'll cite this brief passage: May/June 1970 Kerry... traveled to Paris, France and met with Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, the Foreign Minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of Vietnam (PRG), the political wing of the Vietcong, and other Viet Cong and Communist Vietnamese representatives to the Paris peace talks, a trip he now calls a "fact-finding" mission. (U.S. code 18 U.S.C. 953, declares it illegal for a U.S. citizen to go abroad and negotiate with a foreign power.) Why did he do this? Perhaps it was his bourgeois version of the "civil/political disobediance" that was so common in those days. Many have followed in his footsteps, and much more openly; just Google Cindy Sheehan. While John F. Kerry parlayed his anti-war activites into a political career, it may have been built on a house of cards, this event being one of them. How would "President Kerry" treat the war on terror? ...

My Allah and Mohammed cartoon has opened me up to a whole bunch of Muslim commentary. Moderate Muslims like the guy at Muslim Unity think I am a clone of Bill O'Reilly or something. Here's where he's wrong: I called O'Reilly a hypocrite openly on this blog , and still can support him on other issues. Try doing that to CAIR, or any "mainstream" or "popular" Muslim spokesman, my friend at the Muslim Unity blog! Again, I cite the tolerance of the west as a testament against the face of Islam in the public square. Muslims need to help reform their own religion, as we work on keeping ALL religions working together in harmony. PEACE BE WITH YOU, BROTHER. PS: The above cartoon is published here to provoke moderate Muslims to act against the ticking timebomb in their midst. --Or has it gone off already?

Gribbit is someone who I don't mention in my posts as often as I should. He has helped me out numerous times, when I didn't (and still don't sometimes) know what I was doing. His patience with me stands in stark contrast to his patience with moonbats. This particular post, or excerpts from it, became the subject of some debate on the STOP THE ACLU Blogiversary post comments section, and it deserves to be crossposted here as well: In 1787, the Congress of the newly formed United States met to discuss changes in the Articles of Confederation. What resulted was a complete redrafting of the Constitution under a Federalist system. The new document contained 7 Articles outlining the duties and responsibilities of the federal government. It was written very specific on certain issues to clearly define the duties and restrictions of the federal government. It was written vague on other issues as to leave enough uncertainty that the matter should be defined by the individual state...

Crossposted from STOP The ACLU (Written by Jay from STOP The ACLU) Today I turn 29 years old, and Stop the ACLU turns one. We started out on blogsnot. Here is our first post. Enough about that...on with the blogburst. Top Ten Myths of the ACLU: 10. The ACLU is non-partisan: The Truth: Not only were they founded on Communism, they are about as liberal an organization in existence. The public saw first hand in 1988 how the ACLU was involved in politics. "The portrayal of the ACLU as a radical liberal lobby reached its climax in the 1988 presidential campaign when George Bush used ACLU membership as a black mark against his opponent Michael Dukakis. The perception had taken root that the ACLU of 1988 has about as much to do with civil liberties as the AT&T of 1988 has to do with telegraphs." "Social reform, in a liberal direction, is the sine qua non of the ACLU. Its record, far from showing a momentary wavering from impartiality, is replete with attempts to reform A...

Bill O'Reilly is a hypocrite regarding the Mohammed cartoons. I respected his decision not to show them, but then came last night's segment on the issue. He was talking with Jim Pinkerton, from Newsday, and a gentleman from Editor and Publisher magazine, making the point that the NY Times hypocritically refuses to publish the cartoons, while publishing Chris Ofili's "dung" Mary painting again this very week. So far, so good. As he was saying this, HE SHOWED THE OFFENSIVE IMAGE ! ( and I don't mean the Muhammed cartoons ) I'm a big fan of Mr. O'Reilly's, as most who read LEAVWORLD know. That remains true, but I have to take him to task on this one. He states that the NY Times should explain why they will run only material that is offensive to Christians or Jews, but not Muslims. I now have to ask him the same question. Mr. O, you got some 'splainin' to do. I should have asked to get on the "bloviate with Bill" segment in my email t...

I found Pres. Clinton's comments at Mrs. King's eulogy hard to swallow. I don't know what it was, but they smacked me as...phony. I wonder why Pres. Bush 41 didn't get the cheers when he made much more poignant points...aside from his lame comeback at those who dissed his son. ...and what's up with dissin' Pres. Bush 43 right in front of his face? Please, give the man a break, liberals! Didn't you learn from the Wellstone memorial that you don't mix politics with funerals? More on Pres. Clinton: Did he not look like a puppy being told to "heel" while Hillary spoke? PLEASE! This guy couldn't even manage one loving glance at his wife as she spoke? -I didn't see the whole thing, so he may have looked at her while she spoke, but he looked chastened in the clips I saw. Carter just played the fool, mentioning the wiretaps that Kennedy OK'd on Dr. King. Did he know that Ted K. was there, and going to speak? Did he intend to make them all l...

I dropped the ball this week, so will link to CAO'S blog for today's FREE THE KERRY 180 BLOGBURST. Also see the John Kerry (in)action figure, at Sweet Spirits of Ammonia . Join the "Free John Kerry's 180" Blogburst every Tuesday. Details avilable at Cao's Blog.

Here are some more tidbits on the Cartoon Controversy: First, Jeff Jacoby has a great piece called We are all Danes now . I particularly like the opening paragraph: Hindus consider it sacrilegious to eat meat from cows, so when a Danish supermarket ran a sale on beef and veal last fall, Hindus everywhere reacted with outrage. India recalled its ambassador to Copenhagen, and Danish flags were burned in Calcutta, Bombay, and Delhi. A Hindu mob in Sri Lanka severely beat two employees of a Danish-owned firm, and demonstrators in Nepal chanted: ''War on Denmark! Death to Denmark!"In many places, shops selling Dansk china or Lego toys were attacked by rioters, and two Danish embassies were firebombed. It didn't happen, of course. Hindus may consider it odious to use cows as food, but they do not resort to boycotts, threats, and violence when non-Hindus eat hamburger or steak. Next is a piece from Der Spiegel, by Ibn Warraq, titled Democracy in a Cartoon : Best-selling autho...

I've been thinking about my Allah and Mohammed cartoon alot since I posted it. My fiance has told me that idolitary is the sin, or blasphemy that I comitted, under the religious laws of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. She also believes that Catholics violate this law, and I agree with her, though I went to a Catholic School as a child. I've also heard that the Shiites in Iran allow images of the prophet Mohammed to be published, but I'm not certain (any help appreciated) My point is "so what"? If Jews can get along with Muslims, as they have in the past, and still do in some (not so) rare circumstances around the world, and Christians can get along with Jews and Muslims as well, then WHAT IS STOPPING US FROM IGNORING ALL THE THINGS THAT OFFEND US ABOUT EACH OTHER? In one word, DOGMA. (I cite definition [c.] from Merriam Webster's online Dictionary: c : a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds.) I tried to argue that my ca...

I Googled LEAVWORLD, and found this interesting tidbit . Normally, someone I know will email me after reading any mention of LEAVWORLD elsewhere. In this case, more people may have read my original column than this MSNBC commentary. I still appreciate that they mentioned it the next day, though my thanks are belated. The excerpt sounds pretty good, actually: "The blogger at Leavworld though, sees Tomlinson as a sacrificial lamb who tried his best to expose liberal bias. This blogger hopes conservatives won't lose the battle to see a broader spectrum of views on public television." I can't disagree with that representation of my post. Thanks, Tony Maciulis - Senior producer, 'Connected: Coast to Coast'. I hope your show isn't off the air yet, sir. Really. I'm in the phone book, and have a great professional voice, if you ever need new on-air talent.

Danish Muslims Accept Cartoon Apology (NOT!) There is a huge controversy erupting throughout a large part of the world over some cartoons published in Jyllands-Posten, a Danish publication. At the same time that REAL anti-semitism is resurgent in Europe, Muslims are claiming "anti-Islamism" over "offensive" cartoons. Why this isn't being covered by the US media is the obvious question. My take is that the US media knows that the US public would be on the side of freedom of expression on this one, especially in one of Europe's most liberal nations. There is really no way they can spin this as an assault on Islam, though I wouldn't put it past them to try in the future, hence their current silence on this story. Read about it in full at PBS WATCH (Hat tip to BobG from SSofA ). While many other sites have weighed in on this, I thought I'd put my two cents in with my own cartoon, using the title of this story from Dhimmi Watch as the caption ( hat ti...