The Goregasm Continues

All you have to do is peruse the various aggregators of punditry online like Memeorandum and you'll see that Gore's Nobel Prize win continues to make waves.

There's still one thing that bothers me to no end.

Last time I checked, the Nobel Prize is issued for peace (or at least trying for peace even when awarded to bloodthirsty thugs like Arafat).

It is not the Nobel Prize for Awareness.

What exactly has Gore or the IPCC actually done about the issue of global warming except issue alarmist shrieks that aren't necessarily supported by the science?

Can you name one thing?

That's all I ask. Has Gore actually reduced his own consumption of fossil fuels? I doubt it, especially when he's busy flying around the world on private jets to espouse the folly of fossil fuels and rambunctious consumption.

Making a movie about global warming, which may or may not be attributed to man, and for which the science still isn't clear about all the factors that play into climate change, is insufficient in my book for a Nobel Prize.

That's why I suspect the award was issued to salve the conscience of the committee to make them look like they're doing something about it. It was a political statement made about incomplete science.

Note that the Nobel science awards - mathematics, physics, and chemistry did not go to increased awareness of some theory or material science discovery. They go to tangible activities and experimenters who have their experiments repeated by others to confirm their work.

Of course, the Nobel Peace Prize operates under a different set of conventions - namely which cause is fashionable this year. That's why Gore and the IPCC won.

Too bad that the win has nothing to do with peace.

The Traffic Nightmare at JFK Airport

Airlines are finally realizing that they've got to do something to improve the on-time performance at JFK airport, so they've been meeting with officials to try and work something out that doesn't involve government intervention like congestion pricing, which would increase the costs of flying into the airport.

The Transportation Department is under orders from the White House to try and ease congestion in the overcrowded New York airspace, the busiest in the world. Delays at JFK, nearby LaGuardia and Newark airport in New Jersey impact flights across the country.

"Our first choice is to find market-based incentives to fix delays so we can preserve passenger choice, but we will consider imposing scheduling restrictions as one option to avoid a repeat of this summer's delays," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.

Airlines overall increased scheduled operations at JFK by 41 percent between March 2006 and August 2007, government figures show. There were 11,000 departures in August alone and authorities say international flights contribute to the problem. According to IATA, overseas carriers account for about a third of all JFK flights.

The bulk of the increase can be attributed to one airline; JetBlue, which makes JFK its home port. Delta has also increased its operations at the airport.

However, it is not simply the overall numbers that make for a problem - it's when those flights are all scheduled to depart and arrive. There are several windows in which there are simply too many planes and not enough space for them on the ground or in the air.

Generally, the biggest problems come during the morning and evening rush, and that also coincides with international arrivals and departures, which are often overnight flights.

Spreading out flights across the day may not be feasible because that's not when people want to fly, so while there may be capacity to fly midday, there simply isn't a demand for it.

That's why there are people pushing for congestion pricing to alter customer behavior - figuring that if they tax those high traffic times, people will shift to less expensive times. I suspect that all it will do is hit the bottom line of the airlines who teeter on a precarious bottom line.

Bernard Kerik May Be In Serious Hot Water

Bernard Kerik, who was a former NYPD Commissioner under Rudy Giuliani (R-NYC) and who was tabbed to become head of the federal Department of Homeland Security before questions arose over his conduct and personal dealings, is now about to be in real hot water.

Federal prosecutors are about to indict Kerik on a wide range of charges:

Bernard Kerik's legal nightmare is about to get worse, with federal prosecutors expected to file charges against the former police commissioner that will likely include allegations of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice, the Daily News has learned.

The indictment, expected next month, could prove to be an embarrassing obstacle for Kerik's former mentor Rudy Giuliani, who is cruising at the top of the polls heading into the presidential primary gauntlet.

The bribery allegations against Kerik stem from a secret meeting at a bar in Tribeca, according to two sources familiar with the federal probe.

Kerik's lawyers recently agreed to waive the statute of limitations on the tax charges until Nov. 17, which will allow them to make one last plea to try to ease the pain.

Kerik will go to the Justice Department in Washington in the coming weeks to try to get expected criminal tax charges reduced to civil fines.

All this may come back to hit Rudy hard as Kerik was very closely aligned with Rudy and it may affect Rudy's chances in 2008.

UPDATE:
It will be interesting to compare and contrast the press coverage of Hillary and her advisor, the malfeasant Sandy Berger, and Rudy and his soon to be indicted former Commish and confidant Bernard Kerik.

I don't think I'd be going out on a limb when I say that the negative stories will really flow against Rudy, ignoring Berger's serious violations of national security and theft/destruction of classified documents that has never been fully explained and whose sentence was lame compared to the seriousness of the crime.

This is not to absolve Kerik of criminal behavior at all. He deserves to do the time, if found guilty, but Berger's criminality included theft and destruction of classified documents relating to 9/11. Clinton apparently has no problem bringing such an individual into her closest circle of advisors, which speaks volumes about her own morals and values.

Long Island Hero To Receive Posthumous Medal of Honor

Back in February, I wrote that Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy was being considered for a Congressional Medal of Honor.

I can now write to say that President Bush will bestow Murphy with the Medal of Honor for his actions in saving a team member on a mission in Afghanistan in which he lost his life.

Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy of Patchogue was killed in June 2005 after leading a four-man reconnaissance mission to find a key Taliban leader east of Asadabad.

The mission turned to disaster when local sympathizers informed militants of the frogmen's position and the SEAL team came under heavy fire.

Even after being wounded, Murphy crawled into the open to make a radio call and continued to fight, the Navy said. That call allowed for the rescue of one wounded man, who eventually wrote a book about the firefight.

Bush will present the Medal of Honor to Murphy's parents at the White House on Oct. 22.

It is a bittersweet moment for Murphy's family and friends, but it is an accolade that is most deserving.

Deutsche Bank Building Demolition to Resume

Even as the investigations continue into the causes of the deadly fire that killed two firefighters, deconstruction is about to resume on the ill-fated Deutsche Bank building at Ground Zero.

While previous schedules had the demolition to be completed by the end of the year, I suspect that demolition will continue on the tower until the middle of next year.

The Forgone Conclusion

So, it was announced earlier today that Al Gore and the IPCC won the Nobel Prize for Peace. Is anyone surprised by this or all the punditry that will follow (myself included)? After all, Gore has won a Grammy, Emmy, and an Oscar all within the last year for his global warming schtick.

Consider that Gore gives the most dire warnings based on incomplete science and no one quite knows what will happen 50 or 100 years from now or what natural processes actually play a role in global climate change, and yet he himself jets around the world on a gas guzzling private jet.

The Nobel Prize for Peace is supposed to be about ending conflicts or solving difficult problems. He hasn't solved anything and raising awareness to a problem that might not even be a problem doesn't qualify in my book.

While the Myanmar junta brutally put down nonviolent demonstrations calling for democracy within the past month and led by Buddhist monks, the Prize Committee could have seen fit to issue the award to Aung San Suu Kyi for a second time. She won it in 1990 for her opposition to the junta and currently in prison for her efforts. The prize could have been used to highlight her efforts at bringing democracy to a totalitarian regime.

In 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Jody Williams won, in large part because of the work of Princess Diana to raise awareness for the problems associated with unexploded munitions from conflicts around the world.

Al Gore gets to jet around the world to pontificiate about the consequences of global warming, and yet he has done little personally to change his behavior. Instead, his high profile jet-setting ways contribute far more to global warming than the average American.

Of course, the Nobel Prize isn't what it used to be. Not when other Laureates include Yasir Arafat (Palestinian terrorist), Kofi Annan (failed to act on Rwandan genocide), the IAEA (failed to stop nuclear proliferation to Pakistan, India, Libya, North Korea and the AQ Khan network) and Jimmy Carter (who certifies that totalitarian thugs won elections despite evidence of thuggery, intimidation and outright fraud in elections). So, I guess in that respect, it is totally befitting of Al Gore to receive this prize.

After all, it's a prize that makes the media elites and the Prize Committee feel at peace about themselves because they think that the sky is indeed falling but make no effort above and beyond talking about it to do something tangible to solve the problem.

UPDATE:
I'm not alone in wondering what campaigning about global warming has to do with peace. Vaclav Klaus, the Czech President, wonders as well. The Nobel Committee says that they issued the award because climate change may increase the danger of conflicts and wars.

Are you kidding me? Climate change will result in wars? How about man's intolerance of their fellow human being. We've already seen this climate change argument posited in relation to the Darfur genocide conflict, even though the Darfur genocide was due to genocidal intent of the janjaweed and an approving Sudanese government in Khartoum that had no problem eliminating animists and non-Muslims from the region.

The award could have gone to the African Union for their efforts at attempting to restore stability to Darfur, or Jammie and Radical Ron point out a few other more deserving candidates.

CBS 60 Minutes: Ramzi Yousef, WTC Bomber, Converts To Christianity

Robert Hood, [Supermax] warden from 2002 to 2005, says Yousef was a special case. He never left his cell because he did not want to face the indignity of a strip search required for recreation. “He has that Charlie Manson look,” says Hood of Yousef. “He has some charisma about him. He’s in [prison] uniform, but you know that there’s a powerful person you’re looking at,” Hood says. Told that Yousef has begun leaving his cell and now claims to be a Christian, Hood says, “He’s playing a game with someone. If he’s doing that, he’s doing it for the reaction….He is the real deal,” he tells Pelley. As a Muslim, Yousef prayed almost every hour, remembers Hood.

If you cease acting and behaving as a Muslim, you'd be considered apostate. That's a crime punishable by death under Islamic law.

Has Yousef, who was one of the key individuals involved in the 1993 WTC bombing that killed six and wounded more than 1,000 people, renounced the very religious precepts that led to attacking the United States? I don't think anyone other than Yousef knows for sure.

If it is true, it would indeed be a major defeat for the Islamists, who believe that they are truly superior and just in their jihad against the infidel West.

However, I can't totally buy into the argument knowing that there is another Islamic concept known as taqiya, which enables Muslims to lie to the infidel to further their agendas. Is that what is happening here? I don't know, but I do remain skeptical of the piece.

The larger CBS 60 Minutes piece revolves around the treatment of inmates at the Colorado Supermax where Yousef and other high profile convicts are held, including forced feeding of convicted terrorists who engage in hunger strikes as though I'm supposed to feel sympathy for their actions.

Rolling the Bones on Name That Party in Atlantic City

A day after the previous mayor of Atlantic City stepped down under a cloud of malfeasance including lying about the extent of his military record, we now know that his successor has his own problems.

The media also has a problem identifying the political affiliation of all those involved.

This scandal-plagued gambling resort has a new mayor, but Robert Levy's successor has his own set of problems.

William "Speedy" Marsh become acting mayor just after Levy resigned Wednesday. The former mayor had slipped out of sight for two weeks before returning to public view just to leave his position, citing ill health and a federal investigation into his Vietnam war record.

Marsh, the City Council president, must repay the city more than $363,000. The money is his portion of a settlement that he and another man received to resolve a lawsuit claiming they were wrongfully fired from their jobs as city workers due to political retaliation.

However, the settlement was approved by the City Council after the other plaintiff, Lorenzo Langford, had become mayor — something the court cited when it determined in May that the deal was "infected by intolerable conflicts of interest." The court ordered the two to repay the money.

Marsh is involved in court proceedings about exactly how the money is to be paid back. His private lawyer, Frederic Bor, did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday evening.

After being sworn in as mayor at City Hall Wednesday, Marsh responded to only one question from a reporter, asking how he would go about restoring public trust in Atlantic City's dysfunctional government.

"Truthful, thoughtful leadership and being amenable to the residents," Marsh said. "Be honest about how we're going to move forward toward making Atlantic City a serious place they want to invest in. I'm going to do that."

Despite his debt to the city, Marsh is looked upon favorably by many residents. This is largely because he staunchly opposed former Council President Craig Callaway, who is serving a 40-month prison term for bribery.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or a pit boss to know that all are Democrats. The Record does make note of the political affiliation in the fourth paragraph, which is an improvement.

The Record also has the quote of the day, coming from Levy's attorney:

"We want to emphasize that this federal investigation is not simply another example of an Atlantic City public corruption case," he said. "As far as we know, there is no allegation of public corruption, no allegation that Bob Levy ever engaged in pay-to-play, or had his hand out. There's nothing being alleged about any criminality being involved in the discharge of his functions as mayor, or in the electoral process."

That's right - Levy's attorney claims coming under federal investigation for lying about your military record (which has the effect of defrauding the taxpayer because it means higher payouts for federal pensions) is not nearly as bad as indictments for corruption.

Of course, far too many New Jersey politicians have been indicted, entered plea deals, or are serving time for corruption and graft.

Cozying Up in Bali

CONVICTED Bali nightclub bombers have feasted on kebabs with Indonesia's anti-terrorism chief at an evening party held at his house.

The party, which brought together more than 20 Muslim hardliners and former terrorists who have shown "regret" for their actions, was the latest "soft" strategy in Indonesia's anti-terror campaign to try and turn former militants into informers, or advocates of religious moderation.

"We approach the terrorists with a pure heart,'' Brigadier General Surya Dharma, the head of Indonesia's anti-terror unit and host of the party, told Associated Press.

"We are all Muslims. We make them our brothers, not our enemy."

Mubarok, who is serving a life sentence for planning and carrying out the Bali bombings, was temporarily released from prison to attend the party, which was free of armed guards. He led the prayers at the celebration, timed to coincide with the breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

Those key individuals involved in the Bali bombings, Islamic terrorists associated with Jemaah Islamiyah, have repeatedly seen their already short incarcerations reduced despite the fact that they were involved in a terrorist group that murdered 202 people and wounded another 267.

Now, we see that the people responsible for going after terrorists in Indonesia are wining and dining with the people who have no problem murdering tourists and engaging in mass casualty attacks.

One has to wonder just how serious the Indonesian government is in dealing with counterterrorism against the Islamists when they have no problem inviting them to feasts.

The fifth anniversary of the attacks is tomorrow - October 12.

UPDATE:
Here's the link to my posting on the reduced sentence for the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah.

Also blogging: Charles at LGF.

Carter Claims US Engages In Torture

Former President Carter again steps in it - claiming that the US tortures prisoners. Nothing like using his bully pulpit as a former President to make the foreign policy and national security posture of the sitting President all the more difficult in a global war launched by Islamist terrorists against the US.

"I don't think it. I know it," Carter told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"Our country for the first time in my life time has abandoned the basic principle of human rights," Carter said. "We've said that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to those people in Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo, and we've said we can torture prisoners and deprive them of an accusation of a crime to which they are accused."

Carter also said President Bush creates his own definition of human rights.

No evidence that this happens mind you. He just states it; the media dutifully regurgitates it, and it's accepted as fact by the left.

This from a guy who didn't bother with the human rights of the diplomats in the US embassy in Tehran in 1979. They got to sit and be paraded in front of cameras blindfolded for more than a year.

That gets a pass.

Interrogating terrorists and suspected terrorists to find out what they know so that other lives can be saved is deemed by Carter to be terrorism.

Carter redefines the Geneva conventions to include terrorists, even though there is no such protection under the conventions for persons not in uniform - you are entitled to protections if you are a soldier in uniform or a civilian - not a terrorist or someone operating outside of a uniform.

If you want to give terrorists protection, just come out and say it - create the terrorist protection act and be done with it (though the military commissions act does extend civil rights protections to terrorists ignoring decades of precedence on the rights of terrorists and those engaging in war against the US out of uniform.

Also, recall that less than a week ago he was busy saying that calling the situation in Darfur a genocide was not helpful. He's got no problem redefining human rights when it suits him just fine. Of course, his definitions don't fit with established international law, and his positions are often to the detriment of the victims - the residents of Darfur for example, or actively assist terrorists in their agitprop campaigns against the West (as per his comments about US engaging in terrorism).

What a pitiful hack.

You Can't Get What You Want

Abbas says that he wants Israel to return to pre-67 borders. Fat chance of that happening, and I don't think the Israelis will stand for a partitioning of Jerusalem despite PM Olmert's signalling that he might cede some parts of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.

Considering how it was impossible for Israelis to visit the holiest place on the planet when Jordan controlled the Temple Mount from 1948 to 1967, ceding those territories to the Palestinians is a huge mistake.

Israelis were not safe in Gaza, and are not safe in places under PA control because of ongoing activities by Fatah, Hamas, and other Palestinian terrorist groups. The Palestinians have repeatedly used the Temple Mount to stone Jewish parishoners praying at the Kotel (Western Wall).

There is nothing in Abbas's demands that even hints at compromise. He's simply touting the line that Palestinian thugs have demanded for decades. This should be a nonstarter, but even a slight deviation from the "return to pre-1967 position" could result in Abbas or anyone else who proposes such moves ending up on a slab.

Palestinians simply are not prepared to concede anything, and the Palestinian leadership has no reason to make concessions on anything when Israel continues to concede items for them and gets nothing in return except verbal promises to take action that inevitably do not come to pass.

Consider that Israel already handed over Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 - and the Palestinians promptly turned Gaza into a rocket/mortar launching facility against Sderot and neighboring Israeli communities. Thousands of rockets have been launched against Israel from Gaza.

Before that, Israel turned over civil administrative control over much of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority under Oslo, the Wye Accords, and the Gaza-Jericho accords. Those territories continue to be used as bases of operation for terrorist activities against Israel, despite the PA obligation to stop terrorist activities.

The PA, of course, is riddled with terrorists - Fatah and Hamas comprise the Palestinian "government" and both ultimately seek Israel's destruction - Fatah only does so in a slower timeframe. Both seek to incite Palestinians to the cause of destroying Israel, and this latest "plan by Abbas" does nothing to change matters.

UPDATE:
This is without even the slightest bit of irony - or even factual and historical context provided:

Ahmed Qureia, a former prime minister who has dealt with five Israeli prime ministers during 14 years of failed peacemaking, is trying again with No. 6, Ehud Olmert.

And he's full of optimism, saying the U.S.-hosted Mideast conference in Annapolis, Md., tentatively set for Nov. 26, is a "very, very, very important opportunity." If it fails, he predicts Israelis and Palestinians will perhaps suffer more than in the blood-soaked years following the unsuccessful Camp David summit in 2000.

The reason that the last seven years have been blood soaked was because the Palestinians didn't even bother to counter Barak's overly generous offer at Camp David. Arafat and his goons rejected the offer out of hand without a counter proposal. The intifada launched nearly simultaneously was predicated on the fact that the Palestinians saw the concessions as a sign of weakness and thought that they could strike at Israel and demand even more.

As it is, the Palestinians continue attacking Israel on a near daily basis, and Israel nonetheless pursues a diplomatic channel with the terrorist regime.

The article goes on to talk about rebuilding trust. I'm sorry, but I can't help but laugh at that since the Palestinians have done nothing in which the Israelis can or should entrust their security to. Palestinian terrorists continue attacking Israel and the PA continues to incite Palestinians to violence. Terrorists continue to operate in the West Bank, and it doesn't even begin to address the fact that Fatah doesn't control Gaza - Hamas does - and that Islamist terrorist group seeks Israel's destruction and refuses to recognize any of the prior agreements.

What these talks are about is trying to gain more time for the Olmert government that is beset by scandal and possible indictments over malfeasance on business dealings and nothing to show for its claimed defense of Sderot and the Negev against the rocket barrages or the war last summer with Hizbullah as Goldwasser, Regev, and Shalit are still in the hands of the terrorists that captured them.

Atlantic City Mayor Resigns Two Weeks After Going Missing

Atlantic City Mayor Robert Levy plans to resign as early as today amid a federal investigation into allegations he profited from embellishing his military service record, according to two people who have been briefed on his plans.

The people declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss Levy's plans.

The mayor's resignation would end one piece of the strange saga that has become Levy's administration. This week, he returned to the seaside resort after an abrupt disappearance Sept. 26 and subsequent questions about who was responsible for running Atlantic City in his absence.

A resignation, though, would do nothing to Levy's trouble with federal law-enforcement officials who suspect the mayor lied on government forms about suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and having received a Combat Infantryman's Badge, a medal given to soldiers who participate in active ground combat.

Well, he apparently checked himself into a mental health facility at about the time he went missing, which does nothing to protect him against the federal prosecution for embellishing his military record with medals he never received.

Also missing? His party affiliation. Why is it so damned difficult for a media outlet to provide that tiny detail? It is such a simple thing to do, and yet omitting the party affiliation seems to be a standard operating procedure when largely dealing with one party and not the other.

Crushing Taxes Will Do That

New Jersey lost 72,547 more residents to other states than it gained from them last year, the fourth-largest such exodus in the nation, according to a new study by Rutgers economists.

The loss of residents has had a big impact on the state's bottom line over the past several years, costing an estimated $10 billion in personal income alone from 2000 to 2006, for example. The study estimated a loss of $680 million in state tax revenues from 2005 to 2006, just as Governor Corzine's administration is hoping to grow the economy and use higher tax revenues to forestall budget problems.

Why are people leaving New Jersey in droves?

High taxes plays a huge role in that. People simply see that they can get more bang for their buck by moving where taxes are lower and the costs of living are lower. That's why places like North Carolina are so enticing. So, what does Trenton figure to do? They're going to likely need to raise taxes to cover the shortfalls in order to maintain services and gold plated benefits packages for state workers who are servicing fewer residents than previously. Cutting spending never even enters the equation.

Meanwhile, New Jersey taxpayers also get hit with a double whammy today. Those NJ property tax rebates that were supposed to save taxpayers a whole bunch of money are going to be treated as ordinary income by the federal government if you itemized your return and took a deduction for property taxes.

In other words, if you got a property tax rebate and itemized your return with the deduction for property taxes (which if you're a homeowner is most likely), it must be declared as ordinary income on your federal 1040 and is taxable. That also means that your rebate isn't worth nearly as much as Gov. Corzine claimed since it gets reduced by the federal tax rate.

They Never Learn

A German engineer and four Afghans taken hostage in July were freed Wednesday in exchange for six Taliban fighters, an Afghan official said.

Rudolf Blechschmidt and the four Afghans were handed over by local elders to officials from Afghanistan's intelligence service in the Jaghato district of Wardak province, said the district chief, Mohammad Nahim.

Six detained Taliban militants had been freed in the swap, he said.

In Germany, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed that Blechschmidt had been freed, and the former captive told Spiegel magazine on his release that he was "doing well."

How many more people will be taken hostage by the Taliban to extort the release of prisoners, fund terrorist operations, or otherwise continue their terrorism because of these prisoner swaps or ransoms?

Does anyone even care that these prisoner swaps result in more kidnappings? The Taliban surely know that if they take hostages that they can secure the release of their own thugs being held in Afghan prisons. That means that there's an impetus for them to continue their heinous activities.

Stop prisoner swaps and paying ransoms and the Taliban cannot rely on kidnappings to continue their operations. They'll have to find other ways to operate, or cease to exist under the withering fire of Afghan and coalition forces.

Do Not Cross

I'm sure lots of folks around the country have seen one of these from time to time. They are railroad crossings. They usually have lights and bells, and many have a swing arm that comes down to block the roadway so that trains can pass safely without hitting vehicles or pedestrians.

So why is it that people think that those lights and bells and swing arms are optional?

What is so damned important that you have to outrace a train to cross the tracks?

If you have a car, SUV or a truck versus a train, the train is always going to win.

Still, within the past few weeks, two drivers thought that they could outrun a speeding locomotive and avoid the signals in New Jersey.

An incident in Garfield, NJ this morning happened to involve the train that my dad was on. Mrs. Lawhawk was on the train directly behind the one that was involved in the incident.

Both of them were delayed for more than an hour because someone thought they could beat the train.

Police said Arias drive around the downed gates and was struck by the train at 8:08 a.m. The impact caused the minivan to slam into a second gate at the crossing, severely damaging the mechanism, Stessel said.

The train conductor saw the vehicle go around the gates and hit the emergency brake, Stessel said, but was unable to stop in time. A subsequent investigation by NJ Transit found that ‘the gates came down properly well in advance of the train's arrival and that the flashing lights and the gates and bells were all working as intended,’ Stessel said.

Arias was also issued two summonses by NJ Transit: failure to obey a railroad crossing signal and careless driving, Stessel said.

Transit workers were still restoring the damaged gate at the Garfield crossing and were expecting to have the repairs finished by Wednesday. The work was not expected to impact the evening rush hour commute, Stessel said.

The driver was also transporting her 1-year old child, who was also injured in the incident. The child was not in a child-safety seat as well.

In other words, the child was extremely fortunate to be alive because of her mom's monumental stupidity.

The two men involved in a similar incident on September 17, 2007, weren't so lucky. They were killed.

It is also a coincidence that the incidents occurred on the NJ Transit Bergen Line.

The lesson today is that if you see one of these railroad crossings, don't even think of outrunning a closed gate or slipping past to get to the other side. You're playing with fire and may well end up dead.

Another Toe Tapper?

This comes via Anonymous Emailer.

St. Bernard Parish Councilman Joey DiFatta, who on Thursday withdrew from the 1st Senate District campaign, has been stopped twice since 1996 for suspicion of engaging in lewd behavior in public restrooms in Jefferson Parish, records obtained by The Times-Picayune show.

DiFatta, 53, acknowledged that reports he had been stopped are true, but he denied any wrongdoing in both cases. He said he was not prosecuted in either case and has no arrest record.

"If I had done something wrong, I would have been arrested," DiFatta said Thursday afternoon. "I was not. I will deny that I was involved in any activity of that nature."

Earlier Thursday, DiFatta called reporters to announce that he planned to withdraw from the Senate race. He said he has been having chest pains for a few weeks, and elevated enzyme levels indicate he might have had a minor heart attack in the past few days. As a result, his doctor advised him to slow down and make some changes in his life.

DiFatta, who has served on the St. Bernard Parish Council since January 1996 and is currently its chairman, denied he is stepping down from the Senate race for fear that the reports would become public. In fact, he said he did not know the reports had surfaced when he made his decision.

DiFatta's political affiliation isn't mentioned in the article, and the fact that he comes from Louisiana does make things a bit more difficult.

Indeed, DiFatta is a Republican.

Still, how much play will this get as compared to the hundreds of Democrats arrested for corruption in the past few months?

Sex sells - especially when you get to out a GOPer.

How Many Will End Up Disappeared?

Dozens of students scuffled with hardline supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Tehran University campus and chanted "Death to the dictator" ahead of a speech there by the Iranian president.

"Revolutionary president, we support you," the hardline students shouted back, pushing and shoving those who were voicing opposition to Ahmadinejad.

Police in riot gear gathered outside the campus.

How many will end up disappeared? Vanish without a trace? Totalitarian regimes do not tolerate free expression since people might get the wrong ideas - like expressing ideas that run contrary to those of the ruling elites.

Sacré Bleu!

Vandals attacked and seriously damaged a famous painting by Claude Monet at the Musée d'Orsay early Sunday morning.

A surveillance camera caught a group entering the museum, located on the Left Bank of the French capital along the Seine River and housing a major collection of Impressionist artists like Monet.

An alarm sounded and the group left, but not before damaging the painting, an aide to Culture Minister Christine Albanel said by telephone.

No arrests were immediately made.

Albanel told France-Info radio that the painting could be restored, but she deplored what she said was an attack on "our memory, our heritage."

"This splendid Monet painting (was) punched right in the middle," the minister said with emotion.

According to the aide, a 10-centimetre tear was made in the Monet, perhaps with a fist. The official, not authorized to speak publicly of the matter, asked not to be named.

It was not immediately clear how many people were in the group that broke into the museum.

Monet led the 19th century Impressionist movement, experimenting notably with light and colour in works now deemed priceless.

"Le Pont d'Argenteuil" shows a view of the Seine at a rural bend, featuring a bridge and boats.

I have no idea why someone would cause damage to that piece of art and can only hope that curators are able to restore the painting, though it will probably never be the same. Mrs. Lawhawk and I both got to see the painting in pristine form back in March.

Slouching Towards Partition?

I go offline for a few days and some Israeli diplomats get the crazy idea of partitioning Jerusalem and that they wont pass up the opportunity to deal with the Palestinians? 90,000 Palestinians will apparently get Jordanian citizenship. As many here know, that would actually reflect the real history of the region, and not the invented one propagated by Palestinian terrorist sympathizers. The problem is that these reports also suggest that Israel is getting ready to partition Jerusalem. The story is disputed by the Israeli government though I have to wonder whether this was floated to gauge reaction to a possible framework under which Israel would cede parts of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.

The Prime Minister's Office said that no agreement had been reached on the holy sites in Jerusalem.

According to the report in the London-based newspaper, Olmert and Abbas had agreed that the Temple Mount sites would be under Jordanian jurisdiction in a final peace deal, and Jordanian citizenship would be granted to 90,000 east Jerusalem residents.

The report also said it was likely that a supreme supervisory commission would be established, which would include representatives from the UN, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the PA.

The report drew strong criticism form the right-wing.

MK Uri Ariel (NU/NRP) said: "If the report is true, the Israeli government has stripped itself of any linkage to Zionism or its Jewish roots."

Hasn't anyone bothered to check their history books from 2000 or 2005? Don't they realize that concessions and appeasement of terrorist groups do nothing to improve Israel's security situation? Gaza is now Hamastan from which rockets and mortars are launched on a near daily basis. Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon in 2000, and Hizbullah turned it into an armed fortress with bunkers and ammo dumps from which they launched a destructive war across Israel's northern border for a month last year. That inconclusive end - along with tepid and indecisive acts by the Israeli government to prosecute the war to actually win it, shows what happens when you give up territory without defeating those who seek it.

Concessions are seen as weakness to be exploited. Israel should be negotiating from a position of strength, but time and time again we see that they're doing the opposite - they're making concessions where none is needed or required or demanded of them because the Palestinians themselves have never lived up to their obligations under Oslo or any of the successive diplomatic efforts.

What ends up happening is that diplomats end up reworking the same failed strategies in the hopes that this time they'll get it right. The problem is that those strategies usually end up with dead on both sides - as the Palestinians continue to launch terrorist attacks and Israel defends itself.

The notion of giving up parts of Jersualem, including the Temple Mount should be abhorrent to Israelis and everyone in general. Israel, and the Jewish people have historical ties to the City for more than 2,000 years, and the Temple Mount is the most sacred spot on the planet for all Jews. Ceding those areas to any other group puts the access to those areas under the power of someone other than Israel, and as we saw in the period between 1948 and 1967 when Jordan controlled the Temple Mount and East Jerusalem, that meant that Jews could not access the holiest sites at all.

That is a scenario that should not be repeated.

It would be a mistake of monumental proportions, and it would gain Israel nothing in terms of peace and security. Peace on a piece of paper is not the same as peace on the ground. The Palestinians have repeatedly shown themselves incapable of making peace - or living up to their obligations. Yet, the world puts the onus of responsibility and making concessions on the Israeli government.

That is a recipe for disaster, and the Israeli government would be wise to resist all calls to partition or cede territory that is part of Jerusalem - especially the Temple Mount.

UPDATE:
Just remember that the Palestinians are really pushing for peace when they fire new and improved rockets. However, their version of peace is quite different than yours or mine. It means the peace of annihilation of all that Israel is and stands for. They want to eliminate Israel from the map, and while they may lack the means to do so, they haven't given up trying. Every diplomatic effort ignores that basic truth, glossing it over in the hopes that someone will eventually choose diplomatic acts instead of military ones.