Corzine's Condition Remains Critical: Questions Swirl Over Seatbelt Usage

Gov. Corzine continues to remain sedated and is using a breathing tube to assist with breathing because of the pain due to the broken ribs, sternum, and shoulder. He underwent a second surgical procedure today to debride the wound (to prevent infections). He's in critical but stable condition and his vital signs are improving slowly. Doctors believe the tube will remain in place through Monday.

State troops say they've located the red pickup truck that they believe precipitated the accident. They've questioned the driver and no charges will be forthcoming. The driver had no idea that the accident had occurred.

State Police located and interviewed the driver of the red pickup truck they say set off the chain reaction on the Garden State Parkway that led to the crash of Gov. Jon Corzine's SUV. They have not charged him and say he did not realize he had caused an accident.

The driver, a 20-year-old Little Egg Harbor resident, told investigators he saw a white Dodge pick-up swerve into a black SUV but left the scene because he did not think he was involved.

State Police did not identify the driver, but Little Egg Harbor police said it was Kenneth Potts Jr., a restaurant worker at Harrahs Casino. He could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

Meanwhile, if you've been living in the US for the past couple of decades, the push to criminalize the failure to wear seatbelts has grown from a handful of states to one that is prevalent nationwide. Seat belt usage is up, but there are still people who choose not to wear them.

According to figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of traffic fatalities in New Jersey is well below the national average. And a record-high 90 percent of drivers and front-seat passengers in New Jersey wore seat belts in 2006, the eighth-highest rate in the country. (The state of Washington is No. 1, at 96 percent.)

Statistics show that 46 percent of passenger vehicle deaths in New Jersey in 2005 involved people who were not wearing seat belts, according to state police records.

While mandatory seat belt laws were strenuously opposed in many quarters when states first started enacting them in the mid-1980s, they are now so much a part of the culture that even toddlers know to buckle up before a car starts moving.

So what might cause Governor Corzine and the others to break the law in such a risky way?

“Even the worst nervous Nellie in the world has some glimmer of a sense of invulnerability, and all of us have some of that,” said Dr. Tony Stern, a psychiatrist in Westchester County, who admits he does not wear a seat belt “100 percent of the time” himself. “And someone who is a doer and an alpha male and a multimillionaire is going to have more than the average sense of invincibility.”

The former governor of New York, Mario M. Cuomo, said in a phone interview yesterday that he, like Mr. Corzine, preferred to sit in the front seat. And while he initially found seat belts somewhat uncomfortable, he said he wore them out of a sense of duty, given the fact that he had signed the nation’s first mandatory seat belt law in 1984.

“I remember the violent opposition it received,” Mr. Cuomo said. “People didn’t like the idea of being forced to strap themselves in. When we adopted the seat belt law, it was the most unpopular thing I had done as governor.”

In New Jersey, which passed its own law shortly afterward, the use of seat belts has been on the rise. The rate was 74 percent in 2000, when New Jersey made the law stricter, allowing police officers to pull over vehicles to issue seat belt citations. Previously, they could issue such citations only if the car had been pulled over for a separate offense.

About half the states now have the stricter form of the law, and organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a nonprofit group, are pushing for the rest to follow suit.

I don't get it. Wearing a seatbelt can and does save thousands of lives every year and yet people find all kinds of reasons to not wear one. New Jersey was at the forefront of imposing strict seat belt laws. Corzine knew these laws were on the books and ignored them.

The question that people are asking is why the driver of Corzine's vehicle - a state trooper - didn't require Corzine to be strapped in. It's a good question and I'm sure that the driver is probably second guessing himself over that as well. However, given that this law has been on the books for years, there's no excuse for Corzine to need to be reminded about being in a car without wearing a seatbelt.

Others blogging: Tigerhawk, Blue Crab Boulevard, Rand Simberg.

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, Is It Just Me?, The Virtuous Republic, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, , Pursuing Holiness, Rightlinx, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, , stikNstein... has no mercy, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, Maggie's Notebook, Adam's Blog, basil's blog, Phastidio.net, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao's Blog, The Pet Haven, , Conservative Cat, Jo's Cafe, Allie Is Wired, Faultline USA, Sujet- Celebrities, stikNstein... has no mercy, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Gone Hollywood, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Speech and Debate

What exactly is acceptable speech and why should anyone seek to limit it (excepting fighting words and words that seek to cause violence). Based on the Imus case, it is increasingly clear that based on the color of your skin you can say some things but not others. And it's not just the content of the words, but how they're used. It's the latter that supposedly got Imus in trouble while others who use similar language are able to get by without so much as a slap on the wrist.

They're just words.

You can say Kurt Goudy has two balls on him in the course of calling a ball game, but you'd get in trouble if you said that Kurt Goudy just got hit in the balls (apologies to George Carlin).

Words are just that - they're a way to express ourselves and some words carry meanings that invoke strong emotions - good or bad. Some just sound funny when you say them. Mahwah or Ho Ho Kus comes to mind. Others have been deemed to be off limits to the airwaves on public broadcast networks (the seven words - ooohh I might catch cooties or someone else might catch cooties if they're said). But apparently there are even more words that are off limits than the seven words. Not because the government says so, but because self professed arbiters of speech say so.

Where was their outcry over the use of the words "Negro" and "nigger" in the movie Pulp Fiction? This is one of my favorite movies, and was a very successful movie lauded by critics around the world (winning multiple Oscars and other awards). One of the reasons was the witty dialogue, which happened to include repeated usage of those two words.

Of course, both those words were used not only by the white characters, but black ones. Does that make a difference? Should it make a difference?

Black rappers can use the words nappy and ho, but a white talk show host can't. There's something wrong with that.

UPDATE:
There are a number of black ministers who are coming forward to challenge the hip hop and rap communities to change their lyrics.

"We have been aware of the recurring theme that is best characterized by the term double standard," said Soaries, who heads the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens. "The culture has produced language that has denigrated women. Our question as we have gone through this week, and now we've had a minute to lift our heads and ask what shall we do about that?"

Soaries is trying to build upon the momentum of Imus' firing towards doing something about the images and lyrics in some popular music.

There's actually a lot of Hip-Hop that has a positive message, particularly a recent wave from down south, but you don't hear it on New York City radio, and that's part of the problem.

In fact, as the minister noted, the black community has marched on radio stations, record labels and rap acts for years, but their pleas have gotten little attention.

"What the young people speak, the way they think is a consequence of experiences and comments that they've seen adults turn a blind eye to," Rev. H. Grady James III said.

CBS 2 contacted two of the radio stations that might be affected from ministers challenging certain lyrics, but Power 105 and Hot 97 said they would have nothing to say.

They haven't gotten attention because they're not Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. Also, these ministers are taking a different approach that doesn't demand firings. I happen to think that it's a better approach than firing, though it's unlikely to result in changes in the lyrics.

Since those stations have not been receptive to the idea that they lyrics are derogatory and offensive, perhaps a boycott should be arranged outside those stations? Will they get the message then? Where's Jackson and Sharpton to arrange that? If those two were really concerned about the language and not about promoting their own self image, they'd take those within their own community to task for the offensive language used and spread by their own. Sadly, they tend to focus on the other.

This is just one of the many reasons I considered the firing of Imus to be wrong. It was a gross overreaction to Imus's comments. The suspension was more than sufficient to get the message across that his comments went over the line. The Rutgers team accepted the apology and the coach is in a forgiving mood, which doesn't quite jibe with the CBS reaction, which was to fire him.

Ethics Charges Will Not Be Dropped Against Nifong

Mike Nifong must be living in a dream world. Did he actually think that the raft of ethics charges against him stemming from his abhorrent actions in the Duke case would be dropped by the North Carolina State Bar?

A disciplinary committee rejected a request Friday to dismiss ethics charges against the former prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse case, who is accused of withholding critical DNA evidence from the defense.

The decision by the three-member panel came shortly after an hourlong hearing, at which committee Chairman F. Lane Williamson repeatedly challenged the arguments made by lawyers for Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.

“I just don’t see where this gets you on your argument to dismiss,” Williamson said.

The North Carolina State Bar has accused Nifong of breaking several rules of professional conduct as he led the investigation into allegations that three lacrosse players raped an exotic dancer at a team party in March 2006.

This week, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper dismissed all charges in the case. He said the three players indicted were innocent, and his investigators concluded that no attack occurred.

In doing so, he portrayed Nifong as a “rogue” prosecutor who rushed the case by failing to verify the accuser’s allegations.

“I don’t want to make comments outside the courtroom,” Nifong said after Friday’s hearing. “You’ll have an opportunity to hear things I have to say inside the courtroom.”

The panel agreed. There's no reason to drop the charges against Nifong because his actions cannot be explained away as simple mistakes.

Disbarred and sanctioned. That's my bet.

Mrs. Lawhawk (an attorney in her own right) thinks that the best thing for Nifong to do would be to fall on his sword and quit the practice of law. That is the only honorable thing left for Nifong to do, but I doubt that he'd take the honorable route out considering that he was attempting to weasel out of the ethics charges and his so-called apology to the Duke three was anything but.

The News and Observer notes that the quest to convict hid a lack of evidence. Are you reading that New York Times? Your reporters claimed that there was more than sufficient evidence to not only go forward with the case even as it appeared that there was no DNA evidence or any other evidence supporting the rape charges, but continue to keep your readers in the dark about your own shoddy and biased reporting on the case. As the N&O reports:

A News & Observer examination of Nifong's handling of the case, based on documents and dozens of interviews, adds new insights about the investigation's focus on shoring up Mangum's claims. Nifong ignored contrary facts, withheld evidence favorable to the accused and refused to discuss the case with defense lawyers.

His lead investigator, Linwood Wilson, pressured witnesses and produced different timelines and accounts to support Mangum's shifting statements.

There is no evidence that Nifong or any investigator challenged Mangum to explain the contradictions in her versions of what happened at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. Nor did they speak with the doctor who conducted the pelvic examination hours after Mangum said she had been raped.

Baffling those who knew him along with the millions of people around the world who came to know his name, Nifong stuck with Mangum's stories. As he fought to win the Democratic nomination for district attorney, he made a series of decisions and inflammatory statements that propelled the case into an international scandal. It turned three college students into criminal suspects and brought scorn on Durham, Duke and almost every other institution involved.

That forms the basis of the ethics charges against Nifong. And that will ultimately lead to him losing his career over this.

For the record, Mangum is the last name of the accuser.

Rock the Casbah

Islamic terrorists have once again engaged in terrorist attacks in Casablanca, Morocco and comes on the heels of last week's bombing that killed 33. This time it was suicide bombers:

Two suicide bombers walked into the middle of a street in Casablanca on Saturday and blew themselves up, an Interior Ministry official said. The bombers were killed and a woman was injured, he said.

The official initially said the explosion was near an American cultural center in the city, although he wasn't sure exactly how close. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing ministry policy.

Three suicide bombers also blew themselves up Tuesday in Casablanca and police shot and killed a fourth man who authorities said appeared to be preparing to detonate explosives.

Al Qaeda had taken credit for the major attack last week.

UPDATE:
Major car bomb attacks in Iraq have killed at least 50 in Karbala and Baghdad. The terrorists know that if they manage to succeed in creating spectacular attacks with high body counts, it will be a media win and cast doubt on the ability of the troop surge to work.

Photo of the Day

 

The Venus de Milo. Taken at the Louvre - March 2007

Experimenting With New Ads

If you've been noticing more ads on the blog, that's because I've been playing with ad placements and other ways to improve the monetization of the meager traffic coming through here. Please let me know if the advertising is too obtrusive or whether you know of better ways to monetize your blogs.

Rutgers Lady's Basketball Team Accepts Imus Apology

So, sponsors flee, MSNBC cans the simulcast, and CBS fires Don Imus, and yet the team actually accepts the apology by Imus.

Did someone overreact here by firing Imus? If the team can accept the apology is that not sufficient or were people out to extricate their pound of flesh?

I think this was an overreaction by the networks and sponsors. Suspensions were more than appropriate given the way that they've looked the other way for years when rappers, musicians, pundits, radio hosts, and countless others have made statements far more damaging.

UPDATE:
Macranger wonders why Viacom and CBS have no problem with Comedy Central and the Dave Chapelle show, which has run pieces far more damaging to the sensitivities that they claim caused them to can Imus. Double standards run amok and the firing has little to do with what Imus said and more to do with the pressure the company was under from various sources.

Saudis Spreading Anti-Israel Rumors Again

This time, they're claiming that Israelis are tainting melons with the AIDS virus to infect people who consume them.

"Beware of Israeli melons infected with AIDS arriving in Saudi Arabia!" is the latest rumor being spread throughout Saudi Arabia like a wildfire.

An SMS message being sent around the country this week said, "The Saudi Interior Ministry warns its citizens of a truck loaded with AIDS infected melons that Israel brought into the country via a 'ground corridor.'"

The Interior Minister's spokesman General Mansour al Turki responded to news of the message and made it clear to a-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper that the Ministry "did not issue any such announcement. This is just a rumor."

This is not the first rumor to spread through the country recently. Just last month another rumor had it that sweets containing carcinogenic flour were being sold in many stores.

Another day, another blood libel by the not so Magic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Others blogging: Meryl Yourish and Hot Air.

Hamas Admits They Kidnapped Shalit

Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group that seeks Israel's destruction, all but admits that they were the ones behind the attack killing two Israeli soldiers and the capture of Gilad Shalit. They're the ones who are making the lists of prisoners to be used in a swap.

Hamas is the group holding Shalit's fate in their hands and demanding all kinds of concessions and prisoners released from Israeli prisons including leading convicted terrorists like Marwan Barghouti. They're the ones who assembled a list of terorrists who are serving long sentences to secure their release.

The world simply shrugs its shoulders at such pronouncements. They'll force Israel to make concessions to a terrorist group that is fully dedicated to Israel's destruction.

Israel, for its part, has an elected leadership that appears willing to go forward with the charade of a prisoner release, despite the grave and lasting harm it would do to Israeli national security.

Instead of taking Hamas to task and using military force to eliminate this existential threat to Israel's national security, Israel is appeasing and emboldening this enemy.

Nifong's Asinine Apology

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, who attempted to railroad the three Duke lacrosse players, issued a statement claiming to apologize "...To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused".

Let's get this straight. Nifong withheld evidence that specifically and explictly exonerated the three players. He knew for weeks and months that the three did not commit rape and yet continued to make statements that suggested that the rape case was going forward.

Nifong's prosecutorial misconduct was extreme and abhorrent and violated the ethical and moral obligations of an officer of the court. He abused his power and three people - the three Duke players - had their lives irrevocably harmed.

This non-apology apology is insufficient.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper was explicit in stating that the three players weren't simply not guilty of a rape, but that no such attack ever even occurred. It was the figment of the accuser's imagination, and that Nifong didn't even bother to interview her until months later and even then she couldn't keep her story straight from one version to the next.

No, Nifong can and should suffer the consequences for his actions. Disbarrment is a very definite possibility as is the possibility of criminal charges. That's how seriously this case should be treated.

Corzine's Health Prognosis Updated Following Car Crash

Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to make a full recovery, but it's going to be a long and painful one. He's physically a wreck with 12 broken ribs, broken sternum, broken verterbrae, broken collarbone and compound fracture to the leg. It will be a couple of months before he's able to walk normally.

They've got him sedated and on a ventilator to assist with breathing which is understandable considering all the damage to his chest. He's going to be in a ton of pain for weeks to come.

Doctors say he's lucky to be alive.

Corzine faces several more operations to fix the compound fracture to his leg.

Ostrum said a rod was inserted in Corzine's leg, and additional operations were scheduled for Saturday and Monday. The injuries were not considered life-threatening, but it would be at least three to six months before Corzine could walk normally, he said.

''He's got a pretty significant rehab in front of him,'' Ostrum said.

Former Governor and State Senator Richard Codey is acting governor for New Jersey until Gov. Corzine is able to resume his duties. Codey has been in this position before - assuming the role of governor when Jim McGreevey was forced to step down over the hiring scandal of Golan Cipel.

UPDATE:
There is some question as to whether Corzine was wearing a seatbelt in the SUV.

Sources tells WNBC.com that Corzine, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the SUV, was not wearing a seat belt; the state police could not confirm that, but Corzine typically did not wear seat belts. A volunteer EMT who happened to be near by said that Corzine was moaning when he saw him: James Freund told the NY Times, "It looked like the car made a direct impact on the left guard rail and kind of hopped over it.” Another witness told the Daily News that Corzine's legs were "hanging out the window" and that Corzine was screaming, "My leg! My leg!"

UPDATE:
According to the latest presser at the hospital, the answer is that he wasn't. The situation appears to be more serious than they were letting on last night and that Corzine may be wheelchair bound for at least the next six months while he recovers.

Corzine is in critical but stable condition, with more than a dozen broken bones -- including 12 ribs and a femur protruding through the skin of his thigh. A doctor said he is heavily sedated and lucky to be alive.

Hospital sources who did not want to be named say Corzine is in worse condition than is publicly acknowledged, and that he's likely to be in a wheelchair for at least six months.

At the press conference, Dr. Steven Ross, head of the trauma unit at at Cooper, said Corzine is unable to speak.

That last part is due to the fact that he's on a breathing tube to assist with breathing due to the numerous broken ribs and sternum that would make it extremely painful to breath on his own.


Others covering Corzine's accident and recovery: Rhymes with Right, The New Editor, Washington Wire (who notes that Corzine wasn't wearing his seatbelt when the accident occurred), Enlighten NJ (who notes that Corzine is lucky to be alive), Blue Crab Boulevard, Outside the Beltway, Fausta, and Blue Jersey.

Parenthetical Remarks notes that Corzine is the third elected New Jersey governor in a row to break their leg in an accident (Whitman broke her leg while skiing, and McGreevey broke his while taking a nighttime walk on a beach).

UPDATE:
Trackposted to Perri Nelson's Website, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Is It Just Me?, Adam's Blog, Maggie's Notebook, basil's blog, Stuck On Stupid, Cao's Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, , Conservative Cat, Jo's Cafe, Pursuing Holiness, Rightlinx, Allie Is Wired, Faultline USA, third world county, stikNstein... has no mercy, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, , The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate's Cove, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Gone Hollywood, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

UPDATE:
Corzine was in a 2-car caravan and the second vehicle, with two state troopers on board, stopped to provide assistance to Gov. Corzine and the other occupants rather than give chase to the red pickup truck that did not stop after causing the sequence of events leading to the crash.

Boot to the Head

Over and Out and the Black Eye

CBS, WFAN, and Viacom have caved to pressure from the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and canned Don Imus. Eight days after Imus uttered that reprehensible phrase (transcript here), CBS determined that it went over the line and fired Imus.

CBS has been down this road before (see Rathergate). They wanted to test the waters. They didn't act to force an apology the day after the incident happened, and Imus was claiming that it was a joke gone awry. Then the likes of Sharpton and Jackson got involved and things took on a life of its own. Executives apparently didn't think there was much of a problem after the segment happened and only began to consider the situation to be serious once Sharpton and Jackson got involved.

Just a day ago CBS President Les Moonves was considering the options. What changed between yesterday and today other than the fact that they axed Imus in the middle of the annual telethon that supports the foundation founded by Imus to help kids with cancer among other charities? More sponsors decided to pull out and MSNBC canceled their simulcast. Money was quickly becoming an issue, but the sponsors were reacting to what Sharpton and Jackson were doing, not necessarily because they had a problem with Imus - who's been paid handsomely over the years because he generated tens of millions of dollars a year for all involved.

Imus made his apology (multiple times) however forced or coerced it may have been. He was supposed to meet with the Rutgers team that he denigrated to discuss the matter face to face. That goes by the wayside (and was not canceled because of despite a completely unrelated incident when Gov. Corzine was injured in a car crash on his way to attend the meeting).

"There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society," CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in announcing the decision. "That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."

If that was the consideration, he should have been fired long ago for various other indiscretions and hateful statements made on various broadcasts. Yet, no action was taken then, and none was taken until today.

Why did Moonves act now and not against others within the organization that have engaged in other acts that affect young people, minorities, and women?

CBS canned him because he supposedly violated some kind of standards. This is what I find so incredible distasteful. If he violated the standards last week, CBS should have fired or suspended him on the spot. They chose not to until pressure from outside sources became too great.

So much for standards. That's just cover for the fact that the suits thought that the network might suffer more economic harm by keeping Imus on than by letting him go.

Then, there's the issue of applying those standards to other aspects of CBS and CBS sister companies. How about applying those standards to the other divisions of Viacom (CBS's parent company). Movies? Music? Television?

CBS had no problem considering a season of the show Survivor where the participants were split along racial lines and didn't change its tune until people complained about the concept. No action was taken against the people who thought up that idea.

CBS had no problem trying to defend the wardrobe incident at the Super Bowl where Justin Timberlake ripped a portion of Janet Jackson's top revealing her nipple for all the world to see over and over and over again on TiVo. How long did the network stonewall on that one? No action was taken by the network against those involved.

Imus claimed originally that it was part of a joke gone awry. To him, it was art. Is that any different than Snoop Dogg saying nasty things about women? Oh, is there a difference because Dogg lived in the neighborhoods about which he sings and writes exploitative lyrics and Imus is an Upper Manhattan rich white guy?

The problem here isn't solely Imus. The problem is the way CBS operates. We saw problems with the way the network handled Rathergate. That was a big black eye for the network, and yet network executives are still tone deaf over crisis management.

There's a larger issue over the way people react to indecency and repugnant speech. Everyone has a right to free speech and a freedom from government interference in that right, but that doesn't prevent companies from acting to fire people who make stupid comments. I don't agree with the firing or its timing, but the company was well within its right to do so. Demanding that the FCC get involved or having politicians getting involved demanding he be fired were uncalled for here since there were no laws broken. This is one of many gray areas that people like Imus have inhabited for years. That doesn't just include talk show hosts, but cable television programs and other media outlets.

The inconsistency over standards and what people find decent or indecent is the issue. Consider that ABC has no problem allowing Rosie stay on the air despite the despicable and hateful things she's said (not to mention stunningly stupid things relating to 9/11 conspiracies). No one called for her to be fired.

Opie and Anthony got run off regular radio and ended up on satellite radio because of an on-air stunt that. Now they're back on regular radio. Bob Grant was also fired and ended up back on the radio some time later, but never recovered from the incident where he made insensitive comments about Clinton era Commerce Secretary Ron Brown who died in a plane crash.

So, who will replace Imus in the morning? That's going to be none other than Mike Barnicle, who was a frequent guest on Imus's show. Barnicle has issues of his own, including being involved in a plagiarism scandal and fabricating a story. This is who CBS thinks is a suitable replacement? Then again, they just fired one of Katie Couric's producers for plagiarizing a piece on libraries. They must have a blind spot for folks who have ethical or moral problems.

Actually, Paul at Wizbang has the kicker of the day: Don Imus was fired and Mike Nifong still has his job.

UPDATE 4/13/2007:
Despite Gov. Corzine's serious car crash, the meeting between Imus and the team went on for three hours and was described as being very intense and productive.

Gov. Jon Corzine Injured In Car Crash

News reports are coming through that New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was badly injured in a car crash that came as he was heading to a meeting between just fired DJ Don Imus and members of the Rutgers lady's basketball team.

The reports indicate that he broke his leg and suffered some kind of a chest injury and he was airlifted to a nearby hospital for surgery.

DEVELOPING

UPDATE:
Here is a photo and more details on Gov. Corzine's schedule. He had been in Atlantic City for a conference and was heading back to Trenton to be present for a meeting at the Governor's Mansion where Don Imus and the Rutgers team was supposed to meet.

He had been driving in a motorcade in a sport utility vehicle that was somehow involved in a crash with another vehicle:

State Police spokesman Capt. Al Della Fave said the accident was caused when a red pickup truck swerved into the path of another vehicle. That second vehicle then swerved into the path of the governor's vehicle which drove off the road onto the median to avoid it, striking a metal guardrail.

The driver of the second vehicle stopped, but the red pickup did not, Della Fave said. "If an individual was operating a red pickup truck in that area, we hope they contact the New Jersey State Police,'' he said.

A state trooper, a member of the governor's security detail, was also injured in the crash. Della Fave had no information regarding his name or the nature of his injuries.

A source close to the governor said that Samantha Gordon, the governor's personal aide, and the trooper were "shaken up" in the crash but not seriously injured. Both were taken to hospitals to be checked out by doctors as a precaution, that source said.

Corzine suffers from a leg fractures and multiple broken ribs. The surgery is to deal with the leg fractures.

I wish Corzine, Gordon, and the trooper a speedy recovery.

UPDATE 4/13/2007:
The extent of Corzine's injuries is quite bad: 12 broken ribs, broken sternum, broken collarbone, and compound fracture to his leg. It will be several days before he could resume his duties as governor and it will be several months before he'll be able to walk normally again. Law enforcement is still trying to find the red pickup truck that appears to have been the proximate cause of the accident.

Moving Earth

You would think that I'd be more excited about the latest groundbreaking for the Second Avenue Line but considering that this is the fourth groundbreaking held by city, state and federal officials since it was first proposed in 1929, I think people are more than justified by their skepticism.

This is a project that has been sorely needed for decades and has been stopped in its tracks because of fiscal difficulties and a lack of funding. Those same problems may come back and bite the project once again as the MTA has funding issues and the City may have similar difficulties. Indeed, the article waits until the last paragraph before addressing the central issue of how the line will be paid for:

Though the MTA has lined up $1.3 billion in federal funds and $1.65 billion from state and city taxpayers, the project still needs to find $1 billion more in funding in an era when federal deficits are soaring and a host of local transportation projects -- like the No.7 extension -- and other developments will be competing for scarce MTA and city funding.

Funding sources are one problem.

Rising material costs are another.

Rising material costs may also affect the construction as major construction projects are underway all over the city - from the new Yankee and Met ballparks to Lower Manhattan. There's the construction boom along the waterfront in Brooklyn and Queens and projects are popping up all over the place.

It's a good time to be in the construction industry, but all that work means that costs for concrete, steel, and other construction materials is going to be higher.

Gothamist has a liveblogging of the latest iteration.

Baghdad's Green Zone Runs Red After Attack

Here's a video showing the suicide bomber detonating his explosives in the background of an interview going on near the cafeteria where workers and members of Parliament were eating. Eight people were killed in the attack, including at least one member of the Iraqi Parliament.



The purpose of the attack was to make the US surge seem ineffective. That is one effect. Another is that it makes the Iraqi government appear vulnerable to attack. The bomber appears to have been a bodyguard for one of the members of Parliament. While the US forces control access to the Green Zone, Iraqi forces have control over access to the Parliament building. Since additional explosives were found elsewhere in the building, there's a definite possibility that there was a wider plot involved and others involved may still be on the loose.

Hot Air has more analysis. So does Iraqslogger.

Meanwhile, there was a major truck bombing that brought down an important bridge over the Tigris River in Baghdad. That attack killed 10 people. Omar notes that the MPs have to take some of the blame because they haven't done nearly enough to rid their own of jihadi and terrorist sympathizers. There are some MPs who have no problems hiring former or current insurgents and while they complain about the gauntlet of security they have to pass through to get to the Parliament building, this is what happens when that security is breached. Maybe now they'll work harder to improve security and crack down on the infiltrators in their midst, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

New York Unveils Terror Whistleblower Protection Bill

If you see something, say something.

That's what law enforcement and government officials have been urging people to do when they're out and about - at airports, on trains, on buses, on subways, and on the streets.

If they see something that looks out of the ordinary, they should contact law enforcement.

Yet, there are those who are trying to thwart this policy by bringing lawsuits against people who report suspicious actions. That's the case in the flying imams kerfuffle. They want to bring suit against those who singled out the six imams who acted suspiciously and were detained at an airport. They claim discrimination even as there is clear evidence that the six were actively and purposefully engaging in behavior that would arouse suspicions.

Such suits would have the effect of making people reconsider reporting suspicious activities. Note this isn't about reporting people on the basis of race or ethnicity, but on actions.

With this in mind, a New York Assemblyman is proposing a bill that would extend protections to such individuals who come forward to report suspicious activities.

Lancman said his bill would be similar to one passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, which offers immunity for citizens reporting suspicious activities relating to transportation security.

The Democrat said his legislation will "cover all circumstances" and won't be limited to transportation. In the meantime, Lancman again lashed out at Human Rights Commissioner Omar Mohammedi.

Mohammedi is defending six Arizona imams who are filing suit against several US Airways passengers for reporting that they were acting suspiciously on a Minneapolis flight to Phoenix.

Lancman said Mohammedi is president of the New York Chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which Lancman said is a front for the terrorist group Hamas.

The New York Sun reported on Mohammedi yesterday, and Lanceman wondered whose human rights Mohammedi is actually looking out for when trying to push the suit against well meaning US Airways passengers who reported the imams' suspicious activities to authorities. Lancemen questioned whether Mohammedi should remain on the NYC Human Rights Commission as he was pushing the flying imams case, though the Bloomberg Administration claimed that Mohammedi has the right to represent anyone as a private attorney. Funny thing is, that he's got a public role in being a member of the Commission, and there is a potential conflict of interests here.

A Day Later And Many Dollars Short

The fallout from the North Carolina Attorney General's report on the Duke case continues to reach far and wide. Still, Mike Nifong has been silent on the report, as has the accuser (and she's not going to face charges for her part in this mess).

Some people, like John Podhoretz are naming her and are calling her out. He thinks public shaming is in order, in addition to the possibility of criminal charges, though he notes that AG Cooper has already noted that no such charges will be forthcoming.

Meanwhile, two people who were quite vocal about the Duke non-rape case, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, have also been quiet about the turn of events and complete exoneration of the trio. Where are their apologies? They put their considerable energies into defending the accuser even as her story was coming apart at the seams.

Guess who's asking that question. Don Imus. Yes, that Don Imus who's busy losing his simulcast operation and is expecting to be fired by CBS at any time.

It's a good question, but why is it up to Imus to ask that question in defense of his own indefensible statements about the Rutgers lady's basketball team? Why haven't other media outlets and journalists asked that question? After all, Sharpton and Jackson have made quite a few inflammatory and derogatory statements over the years and have not been held accountable for their actions, and yet they want to go on a witchhunt.

Here's Sharpton today:

'It is our feeling that this is only the beginning. We must have a broad discussion on what is permitted and not permitted in terms the airwaves...

So, it's a broad discussion that Sharpton wants. He has no problem demanding Imus be fired, but when it comes to the much larger issue of misogynistic statements and derogatory comments against women and minorities by others in the media and entertainment field, he's looking to have a discussion? Where are the demands to fire those involved in the creation, production, and distribution of music that is derogatory of women and minorities?

Who is Sharpton to demand such things? Who is Sharpton to pass judgment on what others say.

Editor and Publisher has a long list of losers and possible winners in the Duke case. The media didn't distinguish itself over the case either, choosing to sensationalize the racial aspects of the case and ignored the clear problems with the case from the outset. There were several in the media and online who didn't succumb to the sensationalism and instead engaged in investigative journalism including the late Ed Bradley, whose piece on 60 Minutes showed the case for the farce that it was.

The calls to disbar Nifong have been growing. Well, join the club. Anyone who has been following this case for months knows by now that Nifong's actions were indefensible and the withholding of exculpatory evidence is one of the biggest no-nos in the criminal justice system.

UPDATE:
Durham DA Mike Nifong has issued a statement. He's apologizing, though the damage has been done by his abject failures and compounding error on error:

The local prosecutor who charged three Duke lacrosse players with raping a stripper apologized to the athletes Thursday, acknowledging that the North Carolina attorney general's decision to drop the case was correct.

"To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused," Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong said in a statement.

While we're on the subject of apologies, where's one from the NYT for their biased coverage?

Photo of the Day

 

A bed fit for a king at the Chateau of Versailles. Indeed, it's an entire bedroom fit for a king. The entire room is gilded and gold thread is woven into all the fabric. You'll note the barricade in the middle of the room. That's to separate the king's private space from his public space. He would often conduct public business in the bedroom, and his officials, ministers, and guests would stay on the outside of the barrier.

The Latest Double Standard On Repugnancy

Don Imus is rightfully getting slammed for his repugnant statements about the Rutgers lady's basketball team. However, where is the outrage from Sharpton, Jackson, et al., over the despicable comments, lyrics, and visual offerings from the likes of hip hop stars and rappers? Are they not just as demeaning to women as Imus' comments? Are they not just as worth of criticism and hitting back at the labels and producers? Are they not just as worthy of being picketed?

Apparently not.

There's a lot of selective criticism going on here, and that Imus would get picked out for his repugnancy is telling. Selective indignation and outrage by the likes of Sharpton and Jackson and their cohorts suggests that this isn't simply about the statements made, but about what Sharpton and Jackson want to accomplish.

Michelle Malkin has much more on this, including a sampling of rap and hip hop videos/lyrics.

UPDATE:
Well, MSNBC has had enough of Imus and his antics. They've dropped the simulcast of his WFAN morning show. It may be a matter of time before he's dumped from WFAN as well, especially as the sponsors flee.

UPDATE:
Here come the calls to fire Imus. Obama wants him fired. He's treading on thin ice here thinking that hosts who say derogatory things about women or minorities on the air should be fired. If that were the case, say goodbye to most rap and hip hop, which present negative images of women and minorities under the guise of art. Here, Imus was operating under the claim he was trying to be funny. Where would Obama draw the line? Certainly nowhere I'd want him to go.

Hillary has no love lost for Imus and wont appear on his show. Wonkette wont go back on the show, not like she'd be invited.

Yet, Imus has some supporters. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain among them. John Edwards believes in forgiveness.

Jesse Jackson is using the opportunity to call on the networks to hire more black hosts.

And then, there's the question of whether and when the government will step in and look at the matter further. Expect the FCC to come out and investigate the incident. The FCC is downplaying the reports that some complaints have filtered in against Imus.

The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 224

The bathtub slurry wall looks like it will be getting a wall of its own. A section will be preserved in its current shape and may allow visitors to reach out and touch it for a small section, the exact dimensions of which remain to be determined. The rest will be covered with an additional layer of concrete to stabilize the structure which is designed to keep the Hudson River water from seeping into the site.

The article also highlights additional timeline issues:

Despite delays involving the continuing search for human remains, the $510 million memorial “is on budget and on time,” said Anthony E. Shorris, the executive director of the authority, referring to its scheduled completion in 2010.

Joseph C. Daniels, president of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, said that $253 million of the foundation’s goal of $350 million had been raised, “$120 million of it since last October,” he said.

Steel structure will begin rising from the ground at the memorial site in December, Mr. Plate said. Looking to the south, Mr. Plate said that managers hoped the dismantling of the shrouded former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty Street would also be finished next December.

It's good to see that the fundraising efforts for the memorial are underway in earnest and that construction will finally get underway.

I've found the advertisements in the PATH system relating to the memorial to be quite good - they show a photograph of an ad hoc memorial to the victims at Ground Zero and states that we needed a memorial then, and we need one now. That is a call that many people can agree upon, even if they can't quite agree on what the memorial is to look like.

This comes as yet more remains have been identified, including an Australian man who was one of 10 Australians killed in the attack. He had been visiting relatives and was on AA Flight 11 when it hit the WTC.

Here's a recap of what's happened thus far this year at WTC, and what is expected to happen for the rest of the year. Also, the design for the new temporary PATH station at the WTC has been unveiled. The existing temporary structure will be dismantled so that the permanent structure designed by Santiago Calatrava can be built. The new temporary structure will be built around the corner from the current location on Vesey Street.

Charges To Be Dropped In Duke Case: UPDATED - DROPPED

Numerous sources are reporting that the remaining charges against the trio of Duke lacrosse students will be dropped, with some reporting that the decision may come as soon as today. Well, there have been several similar reports over the past couple of weeks, but this time it appears based on the fact that the NC Attorney General's office has completed its own investigation into the charges.

As always, check in with KC Johnson for up to the minute changes in the case, and the ongoing analysis and fallout.

Others blogging: Sister Toldjah, LaShawn Barber (who names the accuser, though I will not), and Powerline notes that the three players have thus far only managed to recoup about $1 million of the $3 million in legal expenses incurred thus far. One suspects that a civil suit might rectify that situation, as could any potential book/movie deals, though the three may simply want to put this horrible episode behind them.

Also, it's an interesting ethical question as to whether one should name the accuser. She claimed to be the victim of a sexual assault, and the law generally extends the protection of anonymity to such victims. However, this case no longer is about a sexual assault or a rape, and the accuser herself may become subject of legal actions both in civil and criminal court (though a criminal case may be quite difficult under the circumstances and the accuser isn't exactly rolling in money to be worth the effort of a civil suit). ABC News says that it is their policy not to name the accuser, even as there's no longer a case. It will be interesting to see if they hold to that line even as other networks may or may not release her name.

UPDATE:
According to CNN: The North Carolina Attorney General’s office says it will make an announcement on the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case at 2:30 p.m. ET.

UPDATE:
It will be interesting to see how the Attorney General's office phrases the dropping of the charges. Will it issue a pro forma statement stating that the charges were dropped because they could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, or will the AG's Office detail why the charges should never have been brought in the first place.

I think the AG's Office will try to split the difference, but the statement will essentially slam Nifong for his prosecutorial misconduct and failure to meet with the accuser early in developing the case in chief to determine whether the assertions were believable and consistent with the evidence as it was developing.

UPDATE:
Nifong's tragic rush to accuse was met with an equally tragic rush to condemn by the Duke faculty who rushed to judge, adjudicate, and condemn the trio without all the facts being considered. This is the full text of the NC Attorney General's speech. A portion includes:

We believe that these cases were the result of a tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations. Based on the significant inconsistencies between the evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness, we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges.

We approached this case with the understanding that rape and sexual assault victims often have some inconsistencies in their accounts of a traumatic event. However, in this case, the inconsistencies were so significant and so contrary to the evidence that we have no credible evidence that an attack occurred in that house that night.

The prosecuting witness in this case responded to questions and offered information. She did want to move forward with the prosecution.

However, the contradictions in her many versions of what occurred and the conflicts between what she said occurred and other evidence, like photographs and phone records, could not be rectified.

Our investigation shows that:

The eyewitness identification procedures were faulty and unreliable. No DNA confirms the accuser's story. No other witness confirms her story. Other evidence contradicts her story. She contradicts herself. Next week, we'll be providing a written summary of the important factual findings and some of the specific contradictions that have led us to the conclusion that no attack occurred.

In this case, with the weight of the state behind him, the Durham district attorney pushed forward unchecked. There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado. And in the rush to condemn, a community and a state lost the ability to see clearly. Regardless of the reasons this case was pushed forward, the result was wrong. Today, we need to learn from this and keep it from happening again to anybody.

I think the strongest way to keep this from happening again is to deal with Nifong harshly but fairly. Cooper's statements suggest that disbarment is a distinct possibility.

Drudge has posted the name of the accuser, as has Smoking Gun, and her name has apparently been revealed in a number of legal documents connected with the case.

UPDATE:
Others providing analysis of the unfolding events and pressers: Outside the Beltway, Dan Riehl, Hot Air (complete with video), and Ed Morrissey.

Stem Cell Treatment Shows Promise For Diabetics

This is potentially excellent news, although the small sample size means that much more study must be done. The 15 patients had to undergo chemotherapy to kill their immune systems and have them replaced by their own stem cells. After three years of study, 13 of the 15 no longer require the daily insulin shots.

In a breakthrough trial, 15 young patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes were given drugs to suppress their immune systems followed by transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood.

The results show that insulin-dependent diabetics can be freed from reliance on needles by an injection of their own stem cells. The therapy could signal a revolution in the treatment of the condition, which affects more than 300,000 Britons.

People with type 1 diabetes have to give themselves regular injections to control blood-sugar levels, as their ability to create the hormone naturally is destroyed by an immune disorder.

All but two of the volunteers in the trial, details of which are published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), do not need daily insulin injections up to three years after stopping their treatment regimes.

The findings were released to reporters yesterday as the future of US stem-cell research was being debated in Washington.

Stem cells are immature, unprogrammed cells that have the ability to grow into different kinds of tissue and can be sourced from people of all ages.

What's missing from the headline (mine included?) is the kind of stem cells involved in the treatment. They're not embryonic stem cells, or even cord blood, but stem cells harvested from the person being treated themselves. That would be an adult stem cell treatment.

There are issues with this kind of treatment considering the serious medical procedure involved to get to this point. Do the costs and risks associated with the chemotherapy and transplant outweigh the ongoing costs of daily insulin shots? I think they do, especially when one considers the quality of life improvement that these patients can gain from not having to take daily insulin.

However, there was one patient who suffered a relapse after suffering from a viral infection. It is possible that serious illnesses can bring about a recurrence of the diabetes, which must be further studied.

Random Hits

Ace links to an interesting rethink of the 2001 anthrax attacks. The FBI has been unable to solve the case, and maybe there's an explanation that brings together key details.

The basic premise is that the anthrax attacks were part and parcel of the al Qaeda attacks on the country in 2001, and that they used weapons grade anthrax obtained from a foreign country, who upon seeing what had been wrought, realized that if the links could be traced all the way back to them, that it would mean their doom. So, that foreign country embarked on a program to destroy their anthrax stocks and all other similar evidence.

The foreign nation involved? Iraq.

I know, that sounds way too convenient and Occam's Razor might have a few questions for this theory. It has all the makings of a conspiracy theory all to its own. Still, there has been quite a bit of evidence over the years that various terrorist attacks against the US have not been as thoroughly investigated as they should have been, including following up on possible foreign assistance - see the 1993 WTC bombing and the OKC bombing.

The Big Reveal

And now the media swarm will focus on the paternity test results that will determine who the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter. Mrs. Lawhawk called in to say that radio reports indicate the father is Larry Birkhead, not Howard K. Stern. As the Dallas Morning News reports:

A DNA specialist who analyzed a sample taken from the child on March 21 was also expected to attend the meeting, said James Neavitt, an attorney for Stern.

Stern will relinquish custody of the girl to him and the two men would “cooperate in transitioning the child,” Neavitt told The Associated Press.

“I think they have some understanding about how they're going to deal with it,” Neavitt said by phone from his office in Los Angeles.

Well, that means Birkhead not only has to care for Nicole's baby, Dannielynn, but will also have to deal with the lawsuits pending against the Marshall estate, which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And Perez Hilton is reporting that Anna's estranged mother is going to appeal the custody ruling.

I don't think Anna's mom has much chance of success, but that wont stop her considering all the money at stake.

Meanwhile, Birkhead is already set to reap a windfall with a variety of television and print deals.

Priorities Askew

Which story should receive more coverage: 1) Israel conducting negotiations with terrorist groups to secure the release of Gilad Shalit and which would also mean the release of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails including notorious terrorists and murderers like Marwan Barghouti; or 2) Don Imus and his inane clown rantings on the Rutgers Lady's Basketball Team.

Well, considering that the top story on most of the online news outlets is the Imus kerfuffle, it is clearly Imus and his rantings are seen as more important than the life and death struggle of Israel, Gilad Shalit, and the considerable ethical and moral quandries in a prisoner swap.

Think about this: Israel is on the verge of even considering a prisoner swap where hundreds of Palestinians are released to secure the return of a single Israeli soldier. Those Palestinians released could include those with Israeli blood on their hands, and there's no reason to believe that those Palestinians wouldn't simply return to their former ways - going after Israelis at the earliest possible opportunity.

Such a release would result in undermining Israeli national security (and indeed much of the West) for years to come. That the feckless Olmert government is even entertaining the Hamas inspired prisoner lists is telling. There's no reason to negotiate with these terrorists and there's no amount of goodwill short of Israel pulling down its flags and quitting the country that would be acceptable to Hamas. These same groups are continuing their attacks on Israel and it is lucky that a major terrorist attack didn't occur during the past week.

Israeli officials are looking at prisoner lists that include murderers and those involved in terrorist attacks on Israel and think they can whittle down the list to a number and selection that will be acceptable to the Palestinians, let alone Israelis who should be outraged that the Israeli government would cave on a matter of such national import.

Any kind of agreement that Israel works out with the Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Fatah will result in a major coup for the Palestinians - and undermine Israel's national security. It will mean that kidnapping Israelis will result in further concessions.

Where will that line be drawn? For the Olmert government, it would appear that there simply is no line that can't be crossed.

Instead, we're treated to the non-stop coverage of Imus and his distasteful comments that landed him a 2-week suspension that will begin next week because he's set to host WFAN's annual 2-day charity event beginning Thursday. He's going to meet with the players, has already been chastized by the coach, and has already met with the dispicable Al Sharpton whose own gory history of distasteful comments should have been more than sufficient to require clothespins for everyone watching that encounter and demand for fealty/apology on behalf of the team.

I find that the priorities of those in the media are so far out of whack that they don't recognize truly important news stories for what are marginal pieces that will affect only a tiny segment of the population; after all Imus has a very limited audience, even counting the marginal coverage he gets on the MSNBC simulcast. That few in the media are willing to delve deeper into Sharpton's background to show his nature as a race-baiter and racist is appalling. The same people who demand that white folks apologize for saying inappropriate comments haven't been above using their own hateful language and have never apologized for them either. Instead, they're now perceived as kingmakers and politicians must consider their support in running for major elections.

I've given up watching or listening to Imus for years now. He isn't funny and that was his schtick for a long time. He made the Broadcasting Hall of Fame on his record, but that record is long past. He's made his apologies and his employer has made him sit in the corner for two weeks. Fine by me.

It is interesting, however, to consider that the issue of race relations now turns on the utterances of an over-the-hill shock jock and his kowtowing to self-annointed protectors of civil rights who themselves care little about racial equality and see incidents such as this as little more than props to stay in the media spotlight rather than on the actual advances made since the founding of the civil rights movement. There's a story in there, and that is where the story truly lies.

Photo of the Day

 

Part of Marie Antoinette's English estate on the grounds of Versailles.

Just Another Day in Paradise

A whole bunch of Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces for planning to carry out a massive car bombing in Israel on the last day of Passover. The only reason they were caught was because the trigger mechanism didn't work.

Oh, and the terrorists were all linked to Hamas. Hamas, of course, denies any involvement. Of course they do so.

Meanwhile, suicide bombers have been busy elsewhere in the world. One blew themself up to avoid being captured in Morocco. A female suicide bomber murdered 17 other Muslims in Iraq.

And leave it to Newsweek to profile the Taliban's latest weapon: suicide bombers. No doubt that they'll come in handy during the Taliban's annual spring offensive that leaves quite the body count of dead and shattered Taliban and al Qaeda in its wake. What the headline doesn't entirely make clear is that this isn't exactly a new tactic; they've been at it for some time, though the results shouldn't inspire more Taliban to blow themselves up:

Fortunately the load on his shoulder killed no one at all that day. But Taliban leaders are counting on these weapons to drive America out of Afghanistan. In his latest propaganda video the murderous Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah Akhund brags of having 1,800 trained suicide bombers just waiting for orders to strike and kill. Other Taliban leaders question that figure, but there's no doubt that the rate of attacks is skyrocketing. With tools and tactics borrowed from Iraq's insurgents, the Taliban committed 139 suicide bombings last year, more than five times the 2005 number. So far this year they have carried out more than 30 such attacks, killing dozens of people and wounding scores more. Security forces in Afghanistan are bracing for even worse to come: in his new video, Dadullah declares that the Taliban's annual spring offensive is "starting now."

While Taliban leaders claim to attack only legitimate military targets, most of the dead and injured have been civilians. Of the nearly 300 people who were killed by suicide bombers in Afghanistan last year, 75 percent were unarmed men, women and children. This year is expected to be even bloodier. Suicide car bombs went off last week in Laghman province and Kabul, reportedly killing a total of 14 people—at least five of them children.

Those leaders couldn't care who they kill and the numbers bear out the fact that Karzai was right to say that the Taliban is licked, but they don't know it yet. They can't dislodge the US and coalition forces and they can't inflict the kind of death and misery that their cohort in Iraq has been able to achieve thus far.

The Taliban have quite a bit in common with the insurgents and terrorists blowing up cars and themselves in Iraq - a ghoulish desire to inflict the maximum number of casualties on civilian populations as possible. The attacks aren't against military targets because that would mean certain discovery and death, so they go against lightly defended targets.

This is what to expect during the latest spring offensive by the Taliban. The media will focus not on the dead Taliban or al Qaeda, but the fleeting moments when Taliban manage to wrest a village from Afghan control for a few hours.

Out of Water Body Experience

The USS Intrepid, which has been a fixture on the Manhattan waterfront as a sea, air, and space museum, will be going into dry dock later today. This is the first time in nearly 40 years that the ship has been out of water and it will get a much deserved cleaning and painting.

The war veteran turned floating military museum was to be placed Tuesday in dry dock, where it will be perched on 212 custom-made pine blocks while crews scrape and power-wash its salt and weather corroded keel, then paint it the traditional battleship gray.

It took a complex engineering feat just to have the blocks milled to mimic each dent and scar in the keel from years of wartime service, including repeated Japanese kamikaze and torpedo attacks, said Intrepid Foundation President Bill White.

"This has been such an exciting project to see Intrepid go through such an overhaul to honor our heroes," White said in an interview with The Associated Press.

On Tuesday, the aircraft carrier was to be untied from its slip at Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal and towed to an adjacent dry dock by the same six high-powered tugs boats that wiggled it free of mud where it got stuck four months ago.

The tugs will pull the 41,000-ton Intrepid into the graving dock, a concrete bathtub-like encasement about the size of three American football fields. The ship will be winched into place and then lowered onto the blocks.

The encasement's rear door will be shut and sealed, and the water will be pumped out. More than 6,500 gallons (24,600 liters) of paint — enough for about 400 large houses — will be used to cover the ship from bow to stern.

The Intrepid's dry dock experience is being assisted by a purchase from e-Bay. The Intrepid foundation purchased detailed plans from the company that had acquired records of a shipyard that last worked on the Intrepid 38 years ago. That information was crucial to designing the wooden blocks on which the ship will rest while the maintenance and painting is done.

Web cameras (camera 2) are detailing the work that is taking place both on the ship and at the Manhattan pier (camera 1), which is being completely rebuilt.

Tainted Pet Food Affected Thousands Pets

Scientists have extrapolated that 39,000 cats and dogs may have been affected by the tainted pet food, based on data received by 615 hospitals. The scientists believe that three out of every 10,000 cats and dogs was affected by the tainted pet food. Cats seem to have been more affected by the tainted food than dogs.

Banfield, The Pet Hospital, said an analysis of its database, compiled from records collected by its more than 615 veterinary hospitals, suggests that three out of every 10,000 cats and dogs that ate the pet food contaminated with melamine developed kidney failure. There are an estimated 60 million dogs and 70 million cats in the United States, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The hospital chain saw 1 million dogs and cats during the three months when the more than 100 brands of now-recalled contaminated pet food were sold. It saw 284 extra cases of kidney failure among cats during that period, or a roughly 30 percent increase, when compared with background rates.

"It has meaning, when you see a peak like that. We see so many pets here, and it coincided with the recall period," said veterinarian Hugh Lewis, who oversees the mining of Banfield's database to do clinical studies. The chain continues to share its data with the Food and Drug Administration.

FDA officials previously have said the database compiled by the huge veterinary practice would probably provide the most authoritative picture of the harm done by the tainted cat and dog food.

From its findings, Banfield officials calculated an incidence rate of .03 percent for pets, although there was no discernible uptick among dogs. That suggests the contamination was overwhelming toxic to cats, Lewis said. That is in line with what other experts have said previously.

Chagall He Isn't

A Dutch artist has included an image of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in a stained glass window he designed for a cathedral.
Marc Mulders said the image, one section of a 20-pane window showing representations of heaven and hell, was intended to depict "hell on earth".

The pane shows an aeroplane flying into one of the twin towers.

The image of the stained glass in its context is found here. The USA Today blog has more, including more commentary from the designer (and apparently garbled in the translation:

Here's how Mulders, a Catholic, explains the depiction of 9/11:

For me it is THE example off the devil now; all those so called believers in mine and other religions who have blood on their hands instead off love in their eyes and soul for the other. For example:
1 the war between Catholics and Protestants all these years in Ireland
2 the crusaders in my religion
3 the soeni’ten and shi’eten in Iraq [ed: should be Sunni and Shi'a]
4 President Bush, he defends his battle with pointing to his and my God, and that is a God who asks us not to fight.

So for me that's devilish; believers who do the opposite; instead off the message off peace and understanding written in the Koran and the Bible, they buy a gun, go to war, hijack an airplane...

He's pointing to a conflict in Ireland that has been as much about politics and power as it is about religion. The Crusades ended hundreds of years ago, though the Islamic jihad continues to this day. The Sunni and Shi'a are fighting the same war they've been fighting since the Shi'a/Sunni schism more than a thousand years ago. As for the comment about President Bush, it seems to be an almost obligatory jab as Bush has and does defend the war in Iraq and Afghanistan on national security grounds against terrorist groups that operate in the name of their god. Bush has gone out of his way to avoid the religious implications, so it would seem that Mulders has it backwards.

If he's trying to make religious statements, it's muddled at best. Not that it matters much. The art just isn't all that impressive.

For the record, this is a Chagall cathedral window at the cathedral in Reims. (I'll have my own photo posted shortly).

UPDATE:
I promised Chagall. I deliver:

 

Three Bronx Cheers

The latest rumor in the Gilad Shalit saga is a three-stage prisoner swap that involves using Egypt as an intermediary.

First, Israel will release prisoners sentenced to long terms, and Schalit's captors will transfer him to Egypt.

Then, Israel will release an additional group of prisoners, and Schalit will be transferred from Egypt to Israel.

In the last stage, to be completed some two months after Schalit is home, Israel will free a third group of Palestinian prisoners.

This plan is just as nuts as any other plan involving a prisoner swap of terrorists for Israelis being held by various terrorist groups. Israel has to deal with the increased security threat from the released prisoners, who could include Marwan Barghouti, and would recover a single soldier in this particular swap.

How this is to Israel's benefit is entirely unclear. Doves might claim that Israel would be showing a sign of good will by releasing Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, but isn't it funny how so many of those who have been released in earlier swaps or goodwill measures end up back in Israeli prison, many with Israeli blood on their hands.

No, it is time for the Palestinians to start showing goodwill. Lay down their arms and to release Gilad unconditionally. That's the kind of goodwill that should apply here - not the release of convicted murderers like Barghouti.

Oh, and the Palestinians also want a convicted suicide bomb planner released as well.

Palestinian media reported Monday morning that captors of Cpl. Gilad Schalit were demanding the release of Hassan Salameh as part of a prisoner swap deal to release the soldier.

Salameh is responsible for planning several suicide attacks against Israel which were carried out as a response to an IDF assassination in 1996, Israel Radio reported Monday.

Also among those Hamas want released are jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti who is currently serving five life sentences for murdering Israelis and Ahmed Sadat, the PFLP's secretary- general, responsible for the assassination of former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi.

Hamas is also demanding the release of Fuad Shubaki, a high-ranking Fatah official and the paymaster of the 2001 Karine-A affair, during which the IDF intercepted a Gaza-bound Iranian weapons ship.

Far from making concessions on who would be released, it would appear that the Palestinian terrorists are getting even more bold in their demands - asking for more high profile terrorists being held by Israel.

If Israel even considers these releases, there is absolutely no reason to believe that the Palestinian terrorists will not simply conduct more raids like the one that captured Shalit and killed two other Israeli soldiers in order to wring yet more concessions from the Israelis. It will have been shown to be a profitable and valuable tactic against the Israelis in yet another form of asymettrical warfare.

The Palestinians seem that if they can't kill Israelis, they're more than content to kill each other. Fighting among various groups has broken out not only in Gaza, but in the West Bank as well. Some of the fighting is attributed to clan warfare, but some is between PA forces and various terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, at least the Israelis aren't following the Italian lead of paying millions of dollars to terrorists and thugs to secure the release of those kidnapped.

Italy's prime minister, Romano Prodi, came under fire on Monday after the Taliban killed the Afghan translator of an Italian journalist freed in a controversial prisoner swap last month.

Prodi has already had to fight accusations of encouraging hostage-taking in Afghanistan after he pressured the Kabul government to free five Taliban prisoners in exchange for reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo.

On Monday he was accused of double standards over Mastrogiacomo's translator, who was beheaded by the Taliban, and also faced charges that the government paid $2 million to free another Italian journalist kidnapped in Afghanistan last year.

Double standards, a policy that makes no sense from a strategic standpoint, and providing terrorists with incentives to continue their violence. What could go wrong? /sarc

UPDATE:
Just today there was yet another example of a Palestinian who was freed after serving time in Israeli jails for attacking Israelis. She was arrested yet again after being detained with two knives at a checkpoint and that she had been planning to attack the Israelis manning that checkpoint.

The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 223

With construction on the Freedom Tower moving forward, the deconstruction of the Deustche Bank builing progressing in fits and starts (and if you want to keep tabs on the air quality in the vicinity check here), news that a section of West Street will be closed off and torn up to search for yet more remains has come as a bit of a shock to some families who have yet to find any remains of their loved ones.

The debris from the collapsing towers pierced a wide swath of West Street and shut down this heavily travelled road for weeks. It is possible that some remains were not recovered before the roadway was temporarily restored.

One of three lanes on the northbound side of West Street – between Liberty and Vesey Streets – was shut down this morning as crews excavate the area for human remains.

The search for new remains started last October when Con Ed workers discovered more than 200 bones in a manhole.

The closure will be in effect around the clock now through Sunday, May 13th at 10 p.m.

The Daily News notes that 445 remains were recovered from utility vaults in and around the Ground Zero site, and nearly 800 were recovered from the Deustche Bank building, despite that site having been searched for remains.

This comes on the heels of a new DNA identification technique being used to help match remains that have gone unidentified for more than five years.

All the construction work, which is still just gearing up, is proving to be an inconvenience to some who live in the neighborhood and some are griping about it. Will these folks try to slow the pace of rebuilding?

Financing of the 9/11 memorial is also continuing. The WTC Memorial is allowing people to purchase cobblestones for $500 each that will be engraved with the donee's name.

The NJ Pension Gap

Welcome to the world of fiscal accountability in New Jersey. Let's go back to the days of Christie Todd Whitman, who first noticed that there was a pension shortfall of $2.8 billion, and used borrowing to make up the gap. The shortfall was there because prior administrations had failed to fully fund the pension fund.

The problems were only to get worse.

Next up came Donald DiFrancisco, James McGreevey, and Richard Codey, who all ignored the warning signs and the dot.com bust, which eliminated the so-called $5 billion surplus. What did these administrations do? They not only stopped funding the pension fund, but increased the benefits to pensioners by 9%. The combination meant that the discrepancy between what was in the fund and its obligations would not only widen, but accelerate.

The gap is now at $33 billion. That's nearly as large as the state's annual budget.

The blame game in Trenton has lots of finger pointing between the Treasury Department which is supposed to manage such things, and the Legislature, which is required to meet the state's obligations.

Gov. Corzine is not only stuck with this mess, but he's trying to do it on the cheap. Even though he recognizes the problem, he's not fully funding this year's obligations, let alone making up for the shortfall from prior years.

What can and should be done? Well, there are no easy answers, and if you're one of the people who are relying on the pension fund, you might not like the possibilities.

1) Amend state law and the state constitution to reduce the pension benefits to manageable levels and force a shift from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. This is the same kind of shift that has occurred in the private workforce, and would alleviate many of the concerns with the pension plan going forward. The problem is that the unions hate these kinds of changes and would fight it tooth and nail every step of the way. I would give the odds on such a change about 100-1.

2) Cut state jobs. New Jersey continues to tack on more state jobs even as the state's population declines. This untenable situation means that the state continues to spend ever more money despite having less coming in. The tax situation is out of whack, and the state spending needs to be brought under control. Cutting state jobs would work, but only in conjunction with other changes. Odds: 50-1 (same problems with unions, but unions have a tendency to hang new workers out to dry and want to protect the entrenched old timers' benefits).

3) Cut state spending and redirect money to pension funds. This means giving up pet projects and other initiatives. That new stem cell research facility? Well, sounds great until you realize that there's no money to pay for it despite it having the backing of the governor. The state must reprioritize its spending habits, and get back to basics.

Fund the pension fund. Fund the transportation trust fund. Address property tax reform and education funding in a comprehensive manner that is not only equitable, but gets the state out from under crushing Abbott rules that have done nothing to improve the education in those areas. Odds 25-1. Abbott rules have court backing and it means the legislature must decide to take on the courts, which is no mean feat. Cutting spending and eliminating pet projects means that the pork doesn't get delivered and campaign promises go unfulfilled.

The article suggests that the state should consider one-shots to get the pension system funded, such as selling/leasing the Turnpike. Funny thing about those one-shots is that they never work. All that will do is reduce the number of assets available to the state and the state will need to make the money up in another fashion. Transportation funding should come from any change in the status in the Turnpike. It shouldn't go into a general fund or address the pension problems. One of the reasons that the state is in this mess is because the state was playing with the money. Dedicated money streams would guarantee that various items would be funded and if there are shortfalls, the difference must be made up from the general fund. Surpluses shouldn't be treated as slush funds, but kept for rainy day for the individual revenue streams.