Swimming against the tide...
Michelle Malkin has another great piece in the Washington Times today, titled Just Following 'Standard Procedure' that outlines in grim detail the callous disregard for the law that the INS habitually displays. This is not just kindness to illegal aliens struggling to make a fresh start in the promised land; this is releasing obviously violent illegal aliens back into society who go on to commit further brutal crimes.

And all we'd have to do to fix this is enforce current laws.

Harsh Policies
LGF has linked to a bit of news: Russian security forces are going to bury the terrorists from the Moscow theater siege wrapped in pigskin.

Mean... but maybe it'll be effective. And what a contrast to our treatment of prisoners at Camp X-Ray!

Well, actually...
Clayton's comments on the U of Arizona shooting spree are spot on, with one quibble:

Unfortunately, mass murderers don't pay attention to those signs. Only their victims do.

Personally, I'd bet mass murderers pay plenty of attention to those signs... when they see one, they know it means that they'll be shooting fish in a barrel. I'm of the opinion that one of the greatest benefits of arming a society, is that even the unarmed are protected from criminals, precisely because the criminals do not know which of their potential victims is armed. Putting up a sign that says that such and such a place is a 'gun-free zone', is the equivalent of putting up a sign that says "everyone in this area is unarmed and defenseless."

Here's a challenge to 'gun-free school zone', and other 'gun-free' area proponents: put a sign up outside of your home that says "Gun-free Household."

Why don't we just give ALL of our money to the government and let them take care of everything?...
James Frogue has an excellent piece in the Washington Times, describing socialism in layman's terms. Any Oregon voter - or anyone else faced with the idea of 'single-payer' health care - should take note.

Look at Canada where single payer health care has been in effect for nearly 20 years. Among the world's 29 richest countries, Canada consistently ranks above only Mexico, Poland and Turkey in terms of medical technology. Months-long waiting lists for critical services and referrals to specialists are common. Cancer survival rates are well below those in the United States and prescription drugs are rationed. Of course, the rich and the political elite use their resources to skip the lines and head south to the United States for treatment, or pay privately, but illegally, for expedited service.

.... oh yeah, that's why.

What will it take before the government listens?
Michelle Malkin is watching the INS as closely as Joel Mowbray is watching the Department of State. Thanks guys, those groups bear watching.

Who Let Lee Malvo Loose? she asks, and the answer, unsurprisingly, is the INS.

Eugene Davis, a retired deputy chief Border Patrol agent in Blaine, Wash., told me: "This is another classic example of how our catch-and-release policy for illegal aliens remains a danger to us all. What's it going to take for the American people to demand that we fix the system?"

From what I can tell, we're already demanding that the system get fixed. The problem appears to be that the government is staunchly ignoring us. From the Department of State, which willfully turns a blind eye to the terrorist threat presented by islamists wishing to enter our country, to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which willfully ignores the same laws they are sworn to uphold, and allows blatant scofflaws to wander our country free of fear.

We're yelling. But the government is so busy pandering to the minority and illegal immigrant vote, they're turning a deaf ear to the cries of their own citizens.

Can't say it better...

Rand Simberg has managed to express my feelings on Sen. Wellstone's death precisely.

Slipping further into Socialism
I have no idea if this stands a chance of passing, or not but it's scary... there's an initiative on the Nov. 5th ballot in Oregon that would create a Universal State Health Care system that would have no premiums or copays... and that would be generous enough that the article reports it would cover massage and acupuncture.

The Oregon plan would be financed by a new payroll tax of up to 11.5 percent on businesses and an increase in personal income taxes. The top rate would rise from its current 9 percent to as high as 17 percent.

Glad I'm on the East, not the Left coast.

The Shabby Truth is...
Perhaps Josh Marshall hasn't had time to update his post yet, but I think his comments on the Torricelli race are off the mark.

With regards to whether the Democrats should be able to put a new name on the ballot, he says that "The rather shabby truth here is that Republicans understand that Forrester could only get elected in a state like New Jersey not simply if he were facing a bad candidate but essentially no candidate."

I'm of the opinion that the shabby truth was that the DNC had such a low opinion of New Jersey voters, they thought Torricelli would win the election despite his ethical handicaps. Since it has become obvious he won't, the democrats have embarked on a desperate struggle to put a democrat who isn't bound to lose the race into the election. Too bad they waited way past the deadline, because now they have to make themselves like bigger assholes by taking the whole issue to court, and litigating their way through yet another election, rather than facing defeat. If the democrats had any real concern for the voters, they would have demanded Torricelli step down from his post long ago (and before the ballot deadline had passed), and put a 'cleaner' candidate in Torricelli's place. But the democrats aren't concerned with voter choice, they're concerned with winning. And as this latest debacle has shown, they're interested in winning at any cost.

Hear! Hear!
I'm thinking I don't read the VodkaPundit nearly often enough. He quite nicely writes:

What, right now, prevents any nation, other than the US, from doing exactly what they please?

Serbia invaded Croatia and Bosnia. Palestinians blow up Jews. Libya thrusts into Chad (which could be a gay porn title). India and Pakistan wave nukes at each other, while encouraging one another's minorities to commit barbarous acts. Turkey invades Cypress. China and Vietnam have at it. North Korea lobs missiles over the South. Eritrea and Ethiopia go their separate ways, then go after each other's throats. Morocco annexes Western Sahara. Russia bombs Georgia. Iraq invades Kuwait. Iraq invades Iran. Damn near everybody invades Congo. And everybody kills the Jews, to paraphrase Tom Lehrer.

We must be the only nation in the world to ever bother first asking for permission before defending our interests.

Words fail me...
Clayton has posted a letter he wrote to California Governor Gray Davis regarding the plight of the mentally ill in California. All I can add are my sympathies, and my full agreement. This is a national problem that rarely gets any attention unless it ends in tragedy, like the case of Russell E. Weston.

Someone at TSA got a Clue!
Bravo to James Loy, who appears to be taking a more logical approach to airport security.
He calls the random gate screenings "hassle checks."... Has Mr. Loy been listening to Israel's airline officials? Sounds like it.

It's Nice To See Someone Gets It
Rep. Tom Tancredo has been making waves lately, primarily for taking an anti-idiotarian stance on illegal immigration. I don't care if an illegal immigrant is an honor student. He shouldn't be here. Follow the rules when you try to come to this country, because Rep. Tancredo is right when he says "These people are telling everyone else who's doing it right that they're suckers." He is also quite right when he says "How can the Mexican consul be so brazen about telling people to take our laws and shove them? ... If my son showed up illegally at the University of Mexico and asked them for in-state tuition, not only would they refuse, they'd throw him in a detention center. They take illegal immigration seriously there."

And we should, too.

Conspiracy, anyone?
Instapundit, and Jane Galt linked to this story about apparent foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks that I haven't seen before. I know I'm paranoid, but I'd also like to see the media give this a thorough investigation/debunking.

The article has all the elements of an urban legend, but then again, there were all those liars claiming that pictures of so-called 'Palestinians' (really squatting Arabs) celebrating the 9/11 attacks were really old clips of them celebrating the invasion of Iraq... could it be another whitewash to try and keep the enraged American public from getting pissed off enough to burn down the local mosque? (Yes, friends, that's right. The splodeydopes really were celebrating when we got attacked. They only started lying about it when they realized that wasn't good for their 'victim' image.)

Someone didn't get spanked enough as a child...
The ELF, a terrorist organization with a pyromaniacal bent, has taken responsibility for a firebombing attack against a forest service laboratory that was researching ways to maintain a healthy ecosystem on the Allegheny plateau.

Because, you know, growing trees is like, bad man, and against nature's way.

I have to agree with JR when he said "I'm trying to understand these folks point of view, but I just can't seem to fit my head up my ass."

Yeah, That'll Show Her
Both LGF and Best Of The Web have taken the time to comment on this man, who beheaded his seven year old daughter, because he thought she had been raped by her uncle. Yeah, that'll learn her never to do that again.

To turn the story from evil to blackest comedy, the autopsy determined she hadn't been raped in the first place.

Things like this are why we need regime change in islamic ruled countries like Iraq and Iran, and why I get so damned mad when lefty loonies spout nonsense about us being the bad guys. Try telling that little girl that islam is a religion of peace.

A Ray Of Light In the Office Of National Drug Control Policy
New guidelines issued by the Office of National Drug Control Policy for schools are strongly recommending against suspending or expelling student caught using drugs. (from the Washington Post)

Issued Thursday by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the guide says the aim of drug testing "is not to trap and punish students who use drugs. It is, in fact, counterproductive simply to punish them without trying to alter their behavior."
John P. Walters, who directs the office, said such testing should be done to get help for students, not to punish them.
"The goal is to say we believe we can do a better job of making kids healthy," he said.
It strongly cautions against suspending or expelling students without treating them, noting that expulsion can create "drug-using dropouts," an even bigger problem.

Considering this goes against the policies of a large number of 'zero-tolerance' school districts across the nation, this is a refreshingly clearheaded look at drug use coming from the federal government. Three cheers for the Bush administration!

Eugene Breaks It Down
In another in a long line of beautifully written posts, Eugene breaks down the anti-Iraq-war argument to its root form. It has the ring of truth to me.

Swift Poetic Justice
Charles Johnson was kind enough to post this lovely piece by Claire Berlinski. It's worth reading by anyone...fans of Swift or not.

You mean I can't trust the government?
Instapundit links to an excellent article in TechCentralStation that makes the rather obvious point that, while obesity levels may be rising, a lot of the blame can be laid at the feet of the government and their food pyramid. They have, after all, been telling us to eat lots of starchy high-carb foods for years... despite evidence that that's an excellent way to make you fat.

Don't forget they're the demographic with the highest amount of disposable income in our nation...
Okay... so maybe Isntapundit is a mite bit vicious in this post regarding our beloved senior citizens voting bloc, but I love it.