Picture of the Day

Here.

Schiavo Musings

Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard and a Fox News contributor writes:

True, there is an arguable federalism issue: whether taking the issue out of a state's jurisdiction is constitutional. But it pales in comparison with the moral issue.

This gets to the crux of the matter: What happens when the law contradicts morality. Are we obligated to disregard unjust laws? What is an unjust law? Is civil disobedience moral?

Are Terri Schiavo's Constitutional rights being violated? The courts have - to this point - said no. Are we morally bound to adhere to the courts decision?

Michael Moore Can't Be Happy

Iraqi special forces backed by US troops have killed 84 insurgents in a raid on a lakeside training camp near the city of Tikrit, officials say.

A 240-strong Iraqi commando unit engaged in heavy fighting before seizing the camp, 160km (100 miles) north-west of Baghdad, on Tuesday.

Iraqi officials confirmed that at least seven Iraqi commandos died, alongside insurgents from a number of countries.

Correspondents say it is the heaviest blow to the insurgency in months.

What?

This can't be true. It can't be. It can't be.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The trust fund for Social Security will go broke in 2041 - a year earlier than previously estimated - the trustees reported Wednesday. Trustees also said that Medicare, the giant health care program for the elderly and disabled, faces insolvency in 2020.

The new projections made in the trustees annual report were certain to be cited by both sides in the massive battle to overhaul Social Security, which President Bush has made the top domestic priority of his second term.

The go-broke date for Medicare was delayed by one year, compared to the estimate that trustees gave a year ago.

The insolvency dates represent when both trust funds will have exhausted the government bonds that have been building up to take care of the pending retirement of 78 million baby boomers.

I bet you the trustees are Republicans who hate old people.

More Great News Out of Middle East

This is awesome:

The Palestinian Authority security forces are foiling just as many terror attacks as Israel, the head of the research division of Israel Defense Forces intelligence, Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday.

Israel handed over security responsibility for the the West Bank town of Tul Karm to the PA on Monday night. At around 8 P.M., armed Palestinian policemen began patrolling the streets of the town, the second in the West Bank to be handed over to the PA.

Last week, the Palestinian Authority assumed security control in Jericho. Talks on the handover of a third West Bank city, presumably Qalqilyah, are expected to begin in the coming days.

You know, someone should ask Jessie Jackson and Jimmy Carter why Yasser Arafat couldn't have done this 20 years ago. Oh, right. He was a murdering, thug terrorist with the support of clowns like Jesse Jackson and Jimmy Carter.

Hee Hee

Howard Dean's now quoting Jesus:

In his speech, Dean told the audience how, under his leadership, the Democratic Party will be made stronger.

The party allowed its opponents too often to define debates and control issues, such as faith and family values, Dean said.

''We need to talk about values and not be afraid of them,'' he said, going on to make two biblical references.

In the first he said Jesus' directive to ''love thy neighbor'' didn't mean one could choose which ones to love. He then remarked that Republicans never brought up the scriptural verse saying it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.

''We should never let anybody tell us we don't respect faith,'' he said.

Congrats to Travis

This doesn't strike me as a real good fit (southern boy with few recruiting connections in the northeast), but here's hoping it works out:

A source close to the situation said yesterday that Travis Ford was so close to landing the University of Massachusetts men's basketball head coaching job that discussions had gone beyond the interview process, and into the negotiating stage.

The secretive, unpredictable nature of the UMass job search has been such that perhaps nothing can be taken for undisputed fact until the new coach is formally introduced. And sources say Kent State coach Jim Christian - who was believed to be the front-runner as late as Sunday night - was told this week he was not out of the picture yet.

But two sources said Ford was visiting UMass this week, and that only a last-minute snafu over details might derail his candidacy.

International Decade for Water

PARIS (AFP) - A UN-backed International Decade for Water has kicked off with addresses, media-friendly demonstrations and awards aimed at drawing attention to the plight of the world's most plentiful but most abused resource.

Placed under the banner "Water for Life," the decade seeks to lobby support for the United Nations (news - web sites)' Millennium Goals, which hope to halve the number of people without access to clean drinking water or sanitation by 2015.

Some 2.4 billion people have no toilets or sewers, and 1.1 billion do not even have drinkable water.

Does this 1.1 billion include Terri from Florida?

Frederick Hart

Now this is art.

"We Don't Need Something More. We Don't Need Something Better."

Pretty good comments from Eugene Peterson regarding The Church:

Galli: Repentance, dying to self, submission--these are not very attractive hooks to draw people into the faith.

Peterson: Repentance, dying to self, submission—these are not very attractive hooks to draw people into the faith.

I think the minute you put the issue that way you're in trouble. Because then we join the consumer world, and everything then becomes product designed to give you something. We don't need something more. We don't need something better. We're after life. We're learning how to live.

I think people are fed up with consumer approaches, even though they're addicted to them. But if we cast the evangel in terms of benefits, we're setting people up for disappointment. We're telling them lies.

This is not the way our Scriptures are written. This is not the way Jesus came among us. It's not the way Paul preached. Where do we get all this stuff? We have a textbook. We have these Scriptures and most of the time they're saying, "You're going the wrong way. Turn around. The culture is poisoning."

Do we realize how almost exactly the Baal culture of Canaan is reproduced in American church culture? Baal religion is about what makes you feel good. Baal worship is a total immersion in what I can get out of it. And of course, it was incredibly successful. The Baal priests could gather crowds that outnumbered followers of Yahweh 20 to 1. There was sex, there was excitement, there was music, there was ecstasy, there was dance. "We got girls over here, friends. We got statues, girls, and festivals." This was great stuff. ....

So how should we visualize the Christian life?

In church last Sunday, there was a couple in front of us with two bratty kids. Two pews behind us there was another couple with their two bratty kids making a lot of noise. This is mostly an older congregation. So these people are set in their ways. Their kids have been gone a long time. And so it wasn't a very nice service; it was just not very good worship. But afterwards I saw half a dozen of these elderly people come up and put their arms around the mother, touch the kids, sympathize with her. They could have been irritated.

Now why do people go to a church like that when they can go to a church that has a nursery, is air conditioned, and all the rest? Well, because they're Lutherans. They don't mind being miserable! Norwegian Lutherans! ...

But many Christians would look at this church and say it's dead, merely an institutional expression of the faith.

What other church is there besides institutional? There's nobody who doesn't have problems with the church, because there's sin in the church. But there's no other place to be a Christian except the church. There's sin in the local bank. There's sin in the grocery stores. I really don't understand this naïve criticism of the institution. I really don't get it.

Frederick von Hugel said the institution of the church is like the bark on the tree. There's no life in the bark. It's dead wood. But it protects the life of the tree within. And the tree grows and grows and grows and grows. If you take the bark off, it's prone to disease, dehydration, death.

So, yes, the church is dead but it protects something. And when you try to have a church without bark, it doesn't last long. It disappears, gets sick, and it's prone to all kinds of disease, heresy, and narcissism.

Sophisticated Europeans

Aren't you glad Europeans aren't racist goons like the hayseeds in this country.

ZURICH, Switzerland -- The president of soccer's governing body stressed Monday that racism must be eliminated at stadiums, his comments coming one day after Real Madrid star Ronaldo threw a water bottle at fans for insulting him and his mother.

"Fighting this scourge is one of our most important tasks," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in a statement. "Whether associations, teams or players at each and every level, we all have a duty to ensure that our conduct does not lead to anybody being marginalized."

Ronaldo was replaced in the 85th minute of Sunday's 1-0 home victory over Malaga in the Spanish league. He was putting on his jacket when a piece of gum was spit at him and fans yelled racist remarks. "They insulted me and my mother and I had a bad reaction," the Brazilian star said.

Many Madrid fans jeered the players, upset that one of the world's most glamorous teams most likely will end the season without a trophy for the second straight year. Madrid trails Barcelona by 11 points with nine games left.

There has been an upsurge in racist conduct by Spanish fans this season. Last month, a referee stopped a game between Malaga and Espanyol because fans were taunting Espanyol's Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni. Also, Spain coach Luis Aragones was fined this month for a comment about Arsenal star Thierry Henry and an outburst regarding Britain's colonial past.

Schiavo Update II

From today's WaPo:

Attorneys for Robert and Mary Schindler argued that allowing their brain-damaged daughter to die before the federal courts can review her case would violate Congress's will and lead to the "damnation of her soul" because it would conflict with her religious beliefs.

Is there some theological concept I'm unaware of? How does someone else ending her life lead to the "damnation of her soul"? Is this a Catholic teaching that I'm unfamiliar with?

Title IX Clarification from the Dept. of Education

Finally, some common sense has been inserted into this bad law.

Under the third compliance option, an educational institution is in compliance with Title IX's mandate to provide equal athletic participation opportunities if, despite the underrepresentation of one sex in the intercollegiate athletics program, the institution is fully and effectively accommodating the athletic interests and abilities of its students who are underrepresented in its current varsity athletic program offerings.

An institution will be found in compliance with part three unless there exists a sport (s) for the underrepresented sex for which all three of the following conditions are met: (1) unmet interest sufficient to sustain a varsity team in the sport(s); (2) sufficient ability to sustain an intercollegiate team in the sport(s); and (3) reasonable expectation of intercollegiate competition for a team in the sport(s) within the school's normal competitive region.

Thus, schools are not required to accommodate the interests and abilities of all their students or fulfill every request for the addition or elevation of particular sports, unless all three conditions are present. In this analysis, the burden of proof is on OCR (in the case of an OCR investigation or compliance review), or on students (in the case of a complaint filed with the institution under its Title IX grievance procedures), to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the institution is not in compliance with part three.

Nice Endorsement

Rubin likes Wolfie.

Schiavo Update

Michael makes a pretty compelling case:

PINELLAS PARK - Angered by the latest political developments in Washington, Michael Schiavo said Saturday that it isn't just the Florida governor who should visit his wife to learn about the case.

Jeb Bush's brother, President Bush, should visit Terri Schiavo, too, he said.

"Come down, President Bush," Schiavo said in a telephone interview. "Come talk to me. Meet my wife. Talk to my wife and see if you get an answer. Ask her to lift her arm to shake your hand. She won't do it."

She won't, Schiavo said, because she can't.

He made a similar offer to the governor last week, saying lawmakers interferring in his wife's life know nothing about the case. So far, Gov. Bush hasn't responded to the offer.

President Bush has indicated he will sign any federal legislation to keep Terri Schiavo alive.
Weary after an emotional visit with his wife, Schiavo said he is astonished that politicians want to interfere in such a private matter.

"Instead of worrying about my wife, who was granted her wishes by the state courts the past seven years, they should worry about the pedophiles killing young girls," Schiavo said, referring to a local case. "Why doesn't Congress worry about people not having health insurance? Or the budget? Let's talk about all the children who don't have homes."

He said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is leading a charge to extend Terri Schiavo's life, is a "little slithering snake" pandering for votes.

"To make comments that Terri would want to live, how do they know?" Schiavo said of the members of Congress who want to keep his wife alive.

"Have they ever met her?" Schiavo said. "What color are her eyes? What's her middle name? What's her favorite color? They don't have any clue who Terri is. They should all be ashamed of themselves."

Schiavo said he was going to stay at his wife's side through the entire ordeal and said he wouldn't
back down in his fight to have her wishes carried out.

"Terri died 15 years ago," Schiavo said, referring to the collapse and cardiac arrest that doctors say virtually destroyed her brain. "It's time for her to be with the Lord like she wanted to be."

Is Satan Lucky?

An Indiana pet store owner says he sees the image of Satan on the shell of a turtle that was the only survivor of a store fire in October.

You be the judge.

NBC Gets Religion

In times of turmoil, people often turn to religion for aid and succor. So, too, it seems, do the networks. Suffering from a "Friends"-less prime-time lineup and generally lackluster ratings, this spring a beleaguered NBC is finding God - and delivering him to viewers - in a six-episode series based on the apocalyptic prophecies laid out in the Book of Revelation.

With a premiere set for April 13, NBC's "Revelations" follows the efforts of Sister Josepha Montifiore, a globe-trotting nun played by Natascha McElhone, and Dr. Richard Massey, a Harvard astrophysicist (and religious skeptic, of course) played by Bill Pullman, to determine whether the end of the world is indeed near.

...From the get-go, it is clear that "Revelations" will be a far cry from the inoffensively ecumenical brand of spirituality typically found in prime-time offerings like "Touched by an Angel," "Highway to Heaven" or "Joan of Arcadia." "We felt what needed to be done is a television show that expressed itself as Christian," said Gavin Polone, an executive producer of, and the driving force behind, "Revelations." "We're very clear about that here. The words 'Jesus Christ' or 'Christ' are used three times a minute."

Can you say Jesus Christ on network television?

Big Ratings for Cat Fight

Viewers agreed. A 5.6 overnight rating average for the first three days was up 6% from last year's 5.3 average. More important, the rating ties 1993 for the best three-day average since CBS took over the entire tournament in 1991.

CBS' surge was capped by the 7.8 overnight for Saturday night's final games — Kentucky over backyard rival Cincinnati and West Virginia's double-overtime upset of Wake Forest — tops in the tournament since an 8.9 in 1993.

I'll Have to Read More of USA Today

From Howard Kurtz:

The veteran Gannett editor has also imposed strict rules on the use of anonymous sources, which some reporters say go too far and limit their ability to compete on stories. No information attributed to a "senior administration official" has appeared in USA Today since December, largely because of Paulson's crackdown. Even such formulations as "Democrats opposed to Bush's Social Security plan" are barred unless some names are included, and the use of unnamed sources has dropped about 75 percent.

To grant someone anonymity, Paulson says, "you have to go to a managing editor, identify that source -- which was at the heart of the Jack Kelley mess -- explain why we trust that source and how it moves the story forward." Paulson also runs Jones's picture on the editorial page, inviting feedback -- because, he says, past complaints about Kelley never reached or were dismissed by senior editors.

UT Update

From Mike DeCoursey:

Tennessee is aiming big early in its coaching search, attempting to attract interest from Texas Tech's Bob Knight. Knight, by joining Pat Summit, would give the Volunteers two of the most successful coaches in college history, but there's a question of whether Knight's age (64) and extremely high profile would be detriments--and whether the move would be a significant upgrade for him. You also can expect a push for Cincinnati's Bob Huggins, although that might be a tough sell to the UT administration. The Vols would do well to focus less on name value and more on a coach who could elevate the program from the ground level, somebody such as Charlotte's Bobby Lutz or Murray State's Mick Cronin. . . .

More Media Spin

This is classic.

Aren't you glad that you read more than the headline:

"45 killed in insurgent attacks".

Or, indeed the opening paragraph:

"At least 45 people have been killed in insurgent attacks across Iraq as Washington defended its decision to go to war on the second anniversary of the US-led invasion."

...of this Agence France-Presse story. Because when you get to the second paragraph, you read:

"Twenty-four Iraqi insurgents were killed and six coalition soldiers wounded in a firefight in a Baghdad suburb overnight, the US military said."

That is, more than half of the people killed in insurgent attacks were the insurgents themselves. Actually, when you read on, you discover that another five insurgents died in two separate attack, which means that the number is realy 29 out of 45.

I LIke Our Chances Against Utah

Why? Check out the minutes played by Utah's starters:

STARTERS
A. Bogut, F 40
M. Jackson, G 40
J. Hawkins, F 37
B. Markson, F 34
R. Chaney, G 25

If you think Cincy got tired, wait until you see these guys.

Terri Schiavo

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - Doctors removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube Friday despite an extraordinary, last-minute push by Republicans on Capitol Hill to use the subpoena powers of Congress to keep the severely brain-damaged woman alive, a source close to the case told The Associated Press.

It is expected that it will take one to two weeks for Schiavo to die, provided no one intercedes and gets the tube reinserted. The source had been briefed on the situation but spoke on condition of anonymity.

What have we become?

Duh!

LONDON - Scientists have cracked the genetic code of the female X chromosome which is linked to more than 300 human diseases and may help to explain why women are so different from men.

It contains 1,100 genes, or about five percent of the human genome, along with information that may help to improve the diagnosis of illnesses ranging from hemophilia, blindness and autism to obesity and leukemia.

The discovery, by an international consortium of scientists, shows that females are far more variable than previously thought and, when it comes to genes, more complex than men.

Women more complex than men? I don't believe it.

UK/UC

My prediction:

If Patrick Sparks hits his first shot, UK by 12.

If Patrick Sparks misses his first shot, UC by 8.

This Is Normal

MICHAEL Jackson can't catch a break. "The Simpsons" creator, Sam Simon, went on Howard Stern's radio show yesterday and shared a weird memory of when Jacko was a guest star on the animated series, lending his voice to a mental patient with a shaved head. As recalled by Simon, Jackson demanded the script be changed so his character could spend more time with Bart. So Simon gave Jackson a scene where he spends the night alone with Bart in his room. Simon added that during the voice recording, someone gave Jackson a giant Bart Simpson doll — and that when he thought no one was looking, Jackson started to kiss the doll.

Quote of the Day

"It takes one's breath away to watch feminist women at work. At the same time that they denounce traditional stereotypes they conform to them. If at the back of your sexist mind you think that women are emotional, you listen agape as professor Nancy Hopkins of MIT comes out with the threat that she will be sick if she has to hear too much of what she doesn't agree with. If you think women are suggestible, you hear it said that the mere suggestion of an innate inequality in women will keep them from stirring themselves to excel. While denouncing the feminine mystique, feminists behave as if they were devoted to it. They are women who assert their independence but still depend on men to keep women secure and comfortable while admiring their independence. Even in the gender-neutral society, men are expected by feminists to open doors for women. If men do not, they are intimidating women." - the inimitable Harvey Mansfield, in the Weekly Standard.

No More Shaking Their Behinds

AUSTIN, Texas Mar 18, 2005 — The Friday night lights in Texas could soon be without bumpin' and grindin' cheerleaders. Legislation filed by Rep. Al Edwards would put an end to "sexually suggestive" performances at athletic events and other extracurricular competitions.

"It's just too sexually oriented, you know, the way they're shaking their behinds and going on, breaking it down," said Edwards, a 26-year veteran of the Texas House. "And then we say to them, 'don't get involved in sex unless it's marriage or love, it's dangerous out there' and yet the teachers and directors are helping them go through those kind of gyrations."

Under Edwards' bill, if a school district knowingly permits such a performance, funds from the state would be reduced in an amount to be determined by the education commissioner.

While I agree with Edwards that the youngsters are acting like ho's, I think this is a bit extreme.

The Donald Trump of Havana

I didn't know Fidel had this kind of jack:

Cuban President Fidel Castro has criticized Forbes magazine for the "infamy" of listing him among the world's richest people, with a net worth of $550 million.

"Once again, they have committed the infamy of speaking about Castro's fortune, placing me almost above the queen of England," Castro said in a speech to top officials of Cuba's ruling Communist Party, military and police.

Wow!

This is an amazing story. Makes me want to pull for EKU today.

This Isn't Surprising Either

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A new study says 42 of the 65 teams playing in the men's NCAA tournament graduated less than 50 percent of their players.

The graduation rate statistics, compiled in a study released Tuesday by the University of Central Florida, also found that women's teams in the NCAA tournament continue to graduate players at a much higher level. The numbers are based on athletes who entered the universities from 1994 to 1997 and were or were not able to graduate in six years.

If the NCAA's new academic reform plan was in place, the teams with less than 50 percent graduation rates would face penalties that include loss of scholarships and a ban on postseason play.

The NCAA has said penalties won't be issued until 2004-05 graduation data is included, which will happen in the 2005-06 academic year.

"Regarding graduation rates for women, we can cut down the nets in celebration. As for men's graduation rates, especially for African-American student-athletes, the dance has barely begun," said Richard Lapchick, director of UCF's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. The study also found an increasing disparity between the graduation rates of white and black student-athletes on NCAA tournament teams.

Two men's team, LSU and Minnesota, failed to graduate even one basketball player, according to numbers supplied by the 2004 NCAA Graduation Rates Report. Two No. 1 seeds -- Illinois (47 percent) and Washington (45 percent) -- graduated less than half its players.

This is about what I would expect, but what's with the disparity between black and white players? That makes no sense.

Not Surprising

I think more of this is on the horizon:

Doctors and health officials will consider whether more guidance on abortions is needed following the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute two doctors who authorised a late abortion on a foetus with a cleft lip and palate.

Jim England, the chief crown prosecutor for West Mercia, said the doctors believed, in good faith, that there was a substantial risk the child would be seriously handicapped. "In these circumstances, I decided that there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that there should be no charges against either of the doctors," he said.

The inquiry began after a legal challenge over a previous decision by police not to charge the doctors involved in the abortion carried out, in 2001, on an unnamed woman from Herefordshire who was more than 24 weeks pregnant.

It's In The Genes

The Calvinist in me believes we are all "pre-programmed" to carry out God's divine purpose. The Arminian in me says that's hogwash.

Genes may help determine how religious a person is, suggests a new study of US twins. And the effects of a religious upbringing may fade with time.

Until about 25 years ago, scientists assumed that religious behaviour was simply the product of a person's socialisation - or "nurture". But more recent studies, including those on adult twins who were raised apart, suggest genes contribute about 40% of the variability in a person's religiousness.

The Story The Media Missed

Strategypage points out some obvious developments in Iraq:

Iraqi popular opinion has turned against terrorism in a big way. Apparently the key event was the revelation that Osama bin Laden had appointed Abu Musab al Zarqawi as "Emir" (leader) of al Qaeda efforts in Iraq and commanded him to go forth and kill big-time. But as suicide bombing attacks increasingly failed to reach American targets, and killed Iraqis instead, it appeared that a Saudi (bin Laden) was telling a Jordanian (Zarqawi) to kill Iraqis. This attitude never made headlines, but it slowly spread among Sunni Arab Iraqis over the last year. . . .

A big story that the media missed was that American troops operating outside the fortified camps (like the Green Zone) were a lot closer to what was going on than your average reporter (who doesn't get out much because of the danger). The combat troops, and many of the non-combat troops, deal with the danger, and Iraqis, on a daily basis. The troops saw the change in attitude among Iraqis. They also saw, in neighborhood after neighborhood, the sharp decline in attacks on coalition and Iraqi forces.

No Bias Here

Classic exchange from the President's press conference yesterday:

THE PRESIDENT: Elisabeth.

Q. Paul Wolfowitz, who was the -- a chief architect of one of the most unpopular wars in our history...

THE PRESIDENT: (Laughter.) That's an interesting start. (Laughter.)

Q. ...is your choice to be the President of the World Bank. What kind of signal does that send to the rest of the world?

I'm not sure who Elisabeth is, but my guess is that she works for the WaPo or the NY Times.

A Cool Photo...

...of one of my heroes.

21 in 8

PHILADELPHIA (KYW) Police and prosecutors concerned with a spate of killings in the city begged the public Monday for more help identifying murderers.

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham vowed that her office will protect witnesses, even if it means sending a moving van to their home to take them to safety the day they come forward.

“We cannot only move you out of the city, we can move you out of the state; we can move you across the country,” Abraham said.

Within the past eight days there have been 21 homicides in Philadelphia, including three in the late-night and early morning hours after the prosecutor made her appeal Monday.

I heard someone on the radio this morning ask: "Do we need an exit strategy?"

NARAL Haiku

This is sweet.

Am I Missing Something?

The public overwhelmingly disapproves of 1) the way Bush is handling Social Security (56% - 35%), and 2) "Bush's proposals on Social Security" (55% - 37%).

But the public also overwhelmingly supports — by a margin of 56% - 41% — "a plan in which people who chose to could invest some of their Social Security contributions in the stock market".

Isn't this precisely what Bush is proposing?

Nice Neighborhood

Now why don't business - or anthing else for that matter - want to locate in Over-the-Rhine.

A Head Start center serving 108 children in Over-the-Rhine might close and move out of the neighborhood after a teacher had a gun pointed at her head in a store robbery across the street Tuesday afternoon, the agency's director said.

"I'm appalled at having to make a decision that forces us to run from a community that needs us," Gwendolyn L. Robinson, president of the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency, told City Council members Tuesday.

But she said an incident Tuesday afternoon was the last straw in an escalating atmosphere of violence that threatens the safety of the children and teachers at the center.

Poor Larry

Don't you hate it when The Left eat their own:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 15 - The Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard approved a resolution on Tuesday expressing a lack of confidence in the leadership of the university's president, Lawrence H. Summers, citing longstanding dissatisfaction with his management style and, to a lesser extent, his remarks in January about women in math and science.

This Is What I've Always Wanted

FORT WORTH, Texas - (KRT) - The tag lines on various Web sites make them seem too good to be true.

"CHANGE STOPLIGHTS FROM RED TO GREEN IN SECONDS!"

"NOW YOU CONTROL THE INTERSECTIONS!"

The devices, mobile infrared transmitters, allow a person to change an upcoming traffic light from red to green from as far as 1,500 feet.

They are intended for emergency personnel, but sales of the devices to civilians on the Internet are making authorities nervous.

While the devices can cost more than $1,000 each from official dealers such as 3M, various Web sites sell knockoffs for less than $200.

Great Cameron Mills Story

"If you grow up in Kentucky," Mills says, "Kentucky basketball is it."

It certainly was for Mills, whose father had played for the Wildcats 25 years earlier. Problem: Although he was an all-state guard for Dunbar High in Lexington in 1994, the younger Mills wasn't recruited by then-Kentucky coach Rick Pitino.

On the eve of national signing day, Mills was prepared to sign with Georgia until his father went to the Kentucky basketball offices to explain their situation. Terry Mills eventually found himself in a room with then-UK assistant Billy Donovan, now the coach at Florida.

"Dad said, 'Here's the deal: Georgia's about to sign Cameron, but he really wants to play here. Would you all be interested?'" Cameron Mills says. "Billy just says, 'No, we're set at the two-guard spot.' But somebody, and this is where the story gets fuzzy, but somebody suggested (my) walking on."

"So Dad came right over to the school, to Dunbar. He got there at 11 a.m., got me out of class and brought me to the office. He said, 'OK, they want you to walk on.' All I heard is, 'They want you.' I asked Dad if we could afford it, and he said yes. So I never signed with Georgia."

Chicago High School Basketball...It's Fantastic!

A large brawl broke out at a boys high school state tournament basketball game Monday night, and at least three people were sent to Chicago hospitals.

Two people were in critical condition and one was in stable condition, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight said.

Five ambulances were sent to the scene of the fight, which broke out around 8:30 p.m. at the United Center, which is home of the Chicago Bulls, police Sgt. Robert Cargie said.

The Day My Butt Went Psycho

Rich Lowry notes a recent WaPo article on kids and reading:

Fascinating Washington Post article on why boys have so much trouble learning to read compared to girls. Part of it may be that they are being pushed to do it too young, part of of it is that they like topics--eg., potty humor--that may not appeal to their teachers or parents:

"Jerilynn Hoffman couldn't get her young son to read much until she found a book that wasn't her cup of tea but definitely was his: `The Day My Butt Went Psycho.'"

The P-Man would definitely read that book.

I Didn't Need To See This

This is just creepy.

The Chief Dunce Pontificates

The Chief Dunce (i.e. the leader of the Confederacy of Dunces) has written another great essay. Ah, the Christian menace. It must be destroyed.

UK's Next Coach

This is why I want Rick Stansbury to replace Tubby when he leaves. Not only can he coach, he can recruit.

Third time no charm

No SEC school can match Mississippi State's bad recruiting luck. State is the only league school to lose a prized recruit to a jump from high school to the NBA.

It's happened twice to State. Recruits Jonathan Bender and Travis Outlaw bypassed college for the NBA.

Now it appears about to happen a third time. The jewel of State's recruiting class this year, guard Monta Ellis, is widely considered to be NBA-bound. Ellis, who plays for Lanier High in Jackson, is compared favorably to former prep star Chris Jackson. Only Ellis is bigger (6-3 to Jackson's 5-101/2) and supposedly faster.

When Ellis played against another prep standout, Georgia signee Louis Williams, in January, 23 NBA teams sent representatives to the game. Ellis scored 46 points and Williams had 34.

Memphis Grizzlies president Jerry West has been at three of Ellis' games.

And he's also from Kentucky, which doesn't hurt.

And I Thought The Bengals Couldn't Draft

First they sent #1 pick Tim Couch packing. Then it was #3 pick Gerard Warren. Now it's their other #1 pick Courtney Brown. Nice drafting, guys.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Defensive end Courtney Brown was released Monday by the Cleveland Browns, although the move may be only temporary.

Brown, the first overall choice in the 2000 draft, played five injury-plagued seasons with the Browns and never lived up to expectations. He was cut a day before he was due a $2.5 million roster bonus.

Buzz Is Out

UT fired Buzz Peterson and will now be paying for 3 head basketball coaches next year.

Peterson had four years remaining on his contract, which ran through 2009. Tennessee owes him a $1.36 million buyout, which must be paid within 30 days.

The Vols will be paying three men's basketball coaches next season. Former coach Jerry Green will collect the final $210,000 payment from his buyout in January.

The Best of The Simpsons

Bart: "B6."

Homer: "You sank my scrabble ship."

Lisa: "Dad, that game makes no sense."

Homer: "Tell that to the good men who just lost their lives... Semper Fi."

Big Ben Visiting the Troops

Many 22-year-olds head for spring break at the end of March. Ben Roethlisberger will go to Afghanistan and Iraq, where life is no day at the beach.

Roethlisberger, the Steelers' sensational rookie quarterback last season, will join a small group of NFL players on a nine-day USO tour of Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait at the end of the month. The group will visit military troops and help open the Pat Tillman Center, a USO facility in Afghanistan funded by the NFL.

"I'm looking forward to that," Roethlisberger said yesterday as he completed a second full week of workouts at the Steelers' UPMC facility.

"I'm excited to go over and see some of the troops over there, helping us. They support us and they make what we do seem so insignificant. We're just going to try to support them and have fun with it."

The USO tour will be March 29-April 7 with its main objective to open the center in honor of Tillman, a player who left the Arizona Cardinals to join the U.S. Rangers. He was killed last year in Afghanistan.

Smoke and Mirrors

From Jason Stark of ESPN:

Another team that has looked overrated early, according to scouts following them, is the Reds."I don't see how they can possibly have enough pitching," one scout said. "I don't like the relievers they've brought in. And I don't like their starters a lot better. Milton and Ortiz are home-run machines, pitching in a bad park to be a home-run machine. And Paul Wilson is a five-inning guy. With a really deep bullpen, that rotation might work. But I don't see it."

The PBGC Is Busy

I fear we're going to see a lot more of this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The agency that backs corporate pensions said Friday it was taking over United Airlines' pension plan for ground employees, saying the plan operated by the bankrupt airline was only 30 percent funded.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. said it would guarantee payment of an estimated $2.1 billion in benefits out of the plan's $2.9 billion shortfall. The plan has more than 36,000 active and retired employees, the agency said.

What's the big deal? It's a big deal because the taxpayers are picking up the tab for these company's that have underfunded pension plans...and more are on the way.

When It Rains, It Pours

University of Colorado officials investigating embattled professor Ward Churchill received documents this week purporting to show that he plagiarized another professor's work. Officials at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia sent CU an internal 1997 report detailing allegations about an article Churchill wrote.

"The article . . . is, in the opinion of our legal counsel, plagiarism," Dalhousie spokesman Charles Crosby said in summarizing the report's findings.

Churchill did not return calls to his home or office Thursday seeking comment.

You Know It's Time To Change Schools...

...when something like this happens.

Two people were shot in a fight that apparently began across the street from Woodward High School about 9 a.m. today.

Passersby who called 911 described the incident as several teens shooting at each other.

"I was dropping off my kids at (the Phoenix Community Learning Center in Jordan Crossing) and a bunch of kids were in the parking lot by the Shell station, and they were just shooting back and forth at each other," said witness Sean Daniels. "I told my kids to duck."

"These kids were running and shooting. There was a lot of gunfire exchanged," Daniels said.

P-Man is a Star

They dedicated the new physical fitness facility at the high school to Pops yesterday. And of course, the P-Man got his mug in the paper.

Check Mate

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former world champion Garry Kasparov said on Friday he had retired from competition chess to devote himself to Russian politics and oppose President Vladimir Putin.

The world's number one chess player is a leading member of a liberal grouping known as Committee 2008, set up by liberals after their disastrous showing in the 2003 parliamentary election.

"I have done everything I could in chess and more. Now I plan to use my intellect and strategic thoughts in Russian politics," Kasparov said in a statement, quoted by Interfax news agency.

Kasparov, 41, announced his departure after winning a prestigious tournament in the southern Spanish town of Linares for the ninth time on Thursday.

I Like Rod Barnes

Good move by Ole Miss:

OXFORD, Miss. — Mississippi and Rod Barnes have agreed to a four-year contract which will keep him as the Rebels' coach through the 2008-09 season, the school announced Wednesday.
Terms were not disclosed.

"Rod has made positive changes in the direction of our basketball program," Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone said. "With our recent success in recruiting and aggressive play we exhibited this year, we are seeing a resurgence of a typically coached Rod Barnes team."

Barnes is 126-92 in his seventh season at Ole Miss. He coached Ole Miss to a school-record 27 wins and led the Rebels to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament in 2001, and followed that with another NCAA berth in 2002, but Ole Miss hasn't had a winning season since.

"While we aren't pleased with our performance over the last few years, as I know our fans have not been, we have made significant strides in areas that needed improvement," Barnes said. "We will achieve the success that our coaches, players and fans expect."

The Rebels (13-16) play South Carolina (15-12) on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the SEC tournament.

Are Newspapers Extinct?

It appears they're heading that way:

The Prudential Equity Group issued a biting 72-page report this morning on the state of circulation and found that both quality and quantity continue to decline.
Among other findings, the report said that "other paid" circulation was up 34% in the last reporting period, which it labeled "troubling.". . .

In the below-average category, the L.A. Times experienced an overall circulation decline of 5.6%. Full-paid home delivery was down 10.8%, much worse than the 2.4% national average, the report said. Home-delivered copies through third party sales decreased "significantly," said the report.

The report noted a curious trend at the Times regarding other-paid circulation, calling the fluctuations and changes "peculiar." As one category drops another gains, with the rough total remaining constant. "A 158% increase in discounted copies also signals to us more trouble with circulation and selling at the cover price," the report said.

Darfur Update

Out of sight, out of mind.

Women and girls in war-ravaged Darfur are continuing to suffer a high incidence of rape and sexual violence, according to a report issued today by Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Stories of rape survivors told to MSF are a horrific illustration of the daily reality of the ongoing violence that has displaced almost two million people in Darfur.

Between October 2004 and mid-February 2005, MSF doctors in numerous locations in South and West Darfur treated almost 500 women and girls who were raped. MSF believes that these numbers reflect only a fraction of the total number of victims because many women are reluctant to report the crime or seek treatment.

Almost a third (28%) of the rape survivors who sought treatment from MSF reported that they were raped more than once, either by single or multiple assailants. In more than half the cases, the rape was accompanied by additional physical abuse. Women told MSF that they were beaten with sticks, whips or axes before, during or after the act of rape. Some of the raped women were visibly pregnant, as much as five to eight months, at the time of the assault. The majority of survivors of rape and sexual violence tell MSF that the attacks occurred when women left the relative safety of villages and displaced camps to carry out activities indispensable of the survival of the families, such as searching for firewood or water.

81% of the 500 rape survivors treated by MSF reported being assaulted by militia or military who used their weapons to force the assault. In Darfur, as in other conflicts, rape has been a regular and deliberate tool of war. It is used to destabilize and threaten a part of the civilian population, often a particular group.

Why Didn't Somebody Think Of This Sooner?

Muslim clerics in Spain have issued the world's first fatwa, or Islamic edict, against Osama bin Laden. According to the Associated Press, the fatwa issued on the first anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, calls bin Laden an apostate and urging others to denounce the al-Qaida leader:

The ruling was issued by the Islamic Commission of Spain, the main body representing the country's 1 million-member Muslim community. The commission represents 200 or so mostly Sunni mosques, or about 70 percent of all mosques in Spain.

[. . .]The commission's secretary general, Mansur Escudero, said the group had consulted with Muslim leaders in other countries, such as Morocco - home to most of the jailed suspects in the bombings - Algeria and Libya, and had their support.

[. . .]The fatwa said that according to the Quran "the terrorist acts of Osama bin Laden and his organization al-Qaida ... are totally banned and must be roundly condemned as part of Islam."

It added: "Inasmuch as Osama bin Laden and his organization defend terrorism as legal and try to base it on the Quran ... they are committing the crime of 'istihlal' and thus become apostates that should not be considered Muslims or treated as such." The Arabic term 'istihlal' refers to the act of making up one's own laws.

Bengals Up To Old Tricks

The ESPN Insider rips the Bengals' front office:

At first glance, this looks like the most confusing and dysfunctional front office in the NFL, and it is difficult to analyze who has the power---but the Bengals believe in their system, and at the end of the day, that might be all that counts.

*As usual, at the top is Mike Brown, who runs the entire organization. Brown gives his coaches and advisers a lot of power in personnel decisions and will rarely go against Marvin Lewis.

*Katie Blackburn and husband, Troy, run the business side of the organization. Depending whom you talk to, they can be considered very efficient or a major roadblock when it comes to contracts and personnel -- but they do have significant power and are part of the Brown family.

*Further complicating things are the roles of Bill Tobin, John Cooper and Bruce Coslet. All three are listed as consultants and theoretically are film evaluators, but they have the ear of upper management, which adds more voices to the decision-making process.

*Pete Brown is senior VP of player personnel; Paul Brown Jr. is VP of player personnel; and Duke Tobin is director of player personnel, but most of his expertise is on the pro side. Longtime scout Jim Lippincott is director of FB operations and really the face of the muddled Bengals' front office; he keeps everything running and organized.

*There are no scouts in this organization, which means the coaches are heavily involved in player workout and personnel decisions. The way this department is set up, it gives the Bengals' coaches a lot of opportunities for film evaluation--but nothing substitutes an area scout knowing the players in his area. As a result, with coaches involved, the workout and film production becomes most important and character and intelligence are not scrutinized. There are a lot of titles here, but the power structure is most confusing.

Nice Defense

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- In a city where power-sharing between blacks and whites is still a work in progress, New Orleans' first black district attorney has been hauled into court by 44 whites who say they were illegally fired en masse and replaced with blacks when he took office.

The racial discrimination trial opened in federal court this week, with the white former employees seeking back pay and unspecified damages for emotional distress in a lawsuit against Eddie Jordan, the flashy New Orleans prosecutor who in 2000 put Edwin Edwards, Louisiana's high-rolling former governor, behind bars.

"While it may be OK for a new district attorney or sheriff to come up and clean house, you can't clean house with all of one race," Clement Donelon, a lawyer for the fired whites, said Tuesday. "You can't fire all the white people to hire your friends, and other black people."

Jordan has said that he had the right to choose his staff and that the firings were done for reasons of racial balance.

"This is not discrimination; this is a political effort to create diversity," his lawyer Philip Schuler told the jury of eight whites and two blacks. The lawyer noted that in New Orleans the workforce is overwhelmingly black - nearly 70 percent - and that Jordan merely wanted "a workforce more reflective of the community."

Now, is it just me, or did the defense attorney just admit to being guilty of racial discrimination? What does Mr. Schuler think the city is...a university.

Organic Food Meets Disney

This is for my friend Melissa Yates. I think she'd call this heaven on earth.

Nice Try, Comrad

Apparently, Giuliana Sgrena is totally full of crap.

True or False?

Bush Announces Iraq Exit Strategy: 'We'll Go Through Iran'

WASHINGTON, DC—Almost a year after the cessation of major combat and a month after the nation's first free democratic elections, President Bush unveiled the coalition forces' strategy for exiting Iraq.

"I'm pleased to announce that the Department of Defense and I have formulated a plan for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq," Bush announced Monday morning. "We'll just go through Iran."

Bush said the U.S. Army, which deposed Iran's longtime enemy Saddam Hussein, should be welcomed with open arms by the Islamic-fundamentalist state.

"And Iran's so nearby," Bush said. "It's only a hop, skip, and a jump to the east."

While this sounds like Bush, I'll say it's from The Onion.

Bad Law

I'm with the Dems on this one:

The bankruptcy bill would make it harder for people to abandon their debts by filing for bankruptcy.

The changes have been long sought by credit card companies, retailers and auto lenders but efforts died in the previous Congress in a standoff over the abortion language.

This year, House of Representative leaders have promised to move the bankruptcy legislation quickly if the Senate passes it without dramatic changes.

The Senate was expected to vote later on Tuesday on a motion to limit debate on the bankruptcy overhaul bill. If that passes, the measure could pass the chamber by the end of this week.

At the heart of the legislation is a means test that would determine if people filing for bankruptcy earn enough to pay off their bills. Some filers would be forced into repayment plans, rather than having their assets liquidated to repay creditors.

Instead of changing the bankruptcy rules, credit card companies (and others) should stop giving credit away to individuals with poor credit (or without the means to pay off debt). They make their beds, so they should sleep in them.

Quote of the Day

THE half-dozen black SUVs double-parked on East 57th Street were a clue that an important government figure was inside Tina Brown and Harry Evans' maisonette. The military uniforms meant federal. The well-connected couple was throwing a book party for "The Big Picture: The Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood" by Ed ward Jay Epstein. The well-protected guest was Asst. Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

When a literary liberal gushed to Wolfowitz, "Who would have thought that 8 million Iraqi citizens would turn out to vote?,"the neo-con replied with a smile, "I did."

Is Vietnam the Next Iraq?

Maybe.

Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!

The musical that was meant to be.

This Would Be Great for the SEC

From Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis:

Buzz Peterson seems to be in trouble at Tennessee. If that happens, you may hear the school is interested in Bob Huggins. They can get him if they really go after him.

That would be huge! Love him or hate him, Hugs just wins...and a lot. He'd be perfect for UT. He's tough, he's a good recruiter, and there are great bars in Knoxville.

And don't forget that Hugs is a West Virginia grad. The Knoxville area is very similar to Morgantown.

It Takes A Lickin'...

What kind of society are we living in when a coach can't lick his player's open wounds? Where's the tolerance? Where's the understanding?

HALSEY, Ore. Mar 8, 2005 — A state panel this week is expected to investigate a high school football coach who acknowledged licking one of his player's cuts.

The Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, which licenses and disciplines teachers and administrators, decided to look at the case after a parent complained that Central Linn High School coach Scott Reed's "repeated inappropriate behavior" threatened student safety and health.

The commission meets Thursday in Salem; it is expected to discuss Reed's case in executive session.

Reed, 34, who also teaches science at the school, was disciplined last year for licking the bleeding knee of an athlete. He acknowledged the incident during a police investigation after another parent complained that the coach had licked blood from other players.

The school district placed Reed on probation and required him to take a "bloodborne pathogens" course. The Linn County sheriff's office did not arrest him.

"Sometimes there are actions that are socially unacceptable or bizarre that aren't necessarily criminal," Sheriff Dave Burright said. "If he had done it against a student's wishes, at the very least we might have had harassment. But this contact wasn't forced or necessarily unwanted."

According to the police report, a parent reported in August that the coach had "licked an open wound on the knee" of one student athlete and had similarly licked others.

The student whose knee was licked told police the incident happened after Reed had given team members a pep talk about a coach licking and healing the wounds of injured players so they could get back in the game.

Other team members urged Reed to do the same for a bleeding scab on a player's knee. Reed asked permission, then knelt down and licked it. An athlete who witnessed the incident said Reed seemed to be "joking around" and the licked athlete was not offended.

Reed told the authorities that he licked that player's knee and had possibly done the same for other athletes, but could not recall.

A Must Read

My man Howard Storm has a book out about his terrible death...and new life. It's a very compelling story, so the book should be good.

Domaine La Due

Check out the link I added to the right-side of the page. It's the web page for Domaine La Due, Doug Due's very own wine label...and quite tasty, I might add.

Be sure to pick up a case...or two...and share it with your friends (i.e. me).

Why Can't We Do This?

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA – A few years ago, Martin Bruncko studied the flat tax at Harvard University. Today, the 28-year-old is flying to European cities to promote the idea, which he made a reality in his native Slovakia.

"In theory it was interesting, but we never thought we could do it in practice," says Mr. Bruncko, recalling class discussions at the Kennedy School of Government. "So it was fun to see that you actually can do it."

What flat-tax advocates like Steve Forbes and the Hoover Institution's Alvin Rabushka have been pushing in the United States for decades, Bruncko and a team of Western-educated wunderkinds in this country of 5 million achieved in one year.

Last January, Slovakia became the sixth Eastern European country to adopt a flat tax, which means all income-earners pay the same rate. Since then, Romania and Georgia have followed suit, creating a global proving ground for the concept. In the process, flat-taxers have moved Eastern Europe from a Communist backwater to an investment spring - pressuring its higher-taxed Western neighbors to adapt to the new environment.

Reason #1,245 Why I'm Thankful Kerry's Not President

Here's John Kerry from the May 8, 2001 confirmation hearings for John Bolton to serve in his current position as Under Secretary for Arms Control:

On another issue of great importance to stability in Asia, Mr. Bolton has criticized the Clinton administration's efforts to freeze North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs as 'egregiously wrong.' This despite the undisputed facts that the 1994 Agreed Framework has successfully stopped Pyongyang's nuclear program and more recent talks have convinced North Korea to unilaterally suspend its missile tests until 2003.

Uh, yeah....right.

You Have To See It To Believe It

Is the NY Times next?

Stumbling Into The Truth

I'm sure Mike Allen of the WaPo didn't intend for this to come out the way it did:

Allen took issue with that characterization of what news writers are doing. He said that news writers are trying to present both sides' points-of-view, hence the "he said, she said" quality to it, but that they're trying to present these points-of-view in such a way so that a discerning reader can tell who's right based on reading the story.

They're Protesting Everywhere

This is crazy!

Like Robin Hood, Only With Parking

I'm pretty much agnostic when it comes to Wal-Mart. But Daniel Akst nails what's really going on with the world's largest retailer:

The recent bankruptcy filing of Winn-Dixie Stores, the supermarket chain, would seem to be the latest evidence that Wal-Mart, dreaded by competitors as retailing's 24-hour-a-day death star, has lost none of its price-cutting potency. The company's apparent invincibility is part of what galls its critics, whose opposition led to the cancellation of a proposed Wal-Mart in Queens.

The conventional criticism of Wal-Mart is that it's an insatiable capitalist juggernaut, reaping private benefit at the expense of the public good. The view retains some currency, I suspect, because many of Wal-Mart's critics haven't really shopped there.

The funny thing is that, for quite a while, this view has had the situation almost exactly backward. Instead of producing private benefit at public expense, Wal-Mart has been producing public benefit at private expense. And the equation is likely to become ever more lopsided.

Like the airlines, whose investors generously provide low fares and convenient service while forgoing gains for themselves, Wal-Mart has kindly mustered considerable capital from investors with the goal of providing all kinds of basic goods under one roof at convenient locations and amazingly low prices. These investors must be charitably minded because they aren't the main beneficiaries of Wal-Mart's business.

For several years now, the shareholders, who have more than $200 billion tied up in the company, have not done especially well. Since the end of 1999, Wal-Mart stock is off 23 percent, while Target is up 43 percent and Lowe's is up 95 percent.

The big winners during this period were the juggernaut's customers, who gained by having Wal-Mart drive down the price of consumer goods. Assuming that Wal-Mart investors are more affluent than its shoppers, the system offers a progressive transfer from rich to poor--from capital owners to less prosperous American consumers and hard-working Chinese factory hands. It's like Robin Hood, only with parking.

Great Choice

WASHINGTON, March 7 - President Bush is nominating Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton, a blunt-spoken hawk with a history of skepticism toward the United Nations, to be the United States ambassador to the organization, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced today.

That's High Praise

"I never played with or coached a player with the guts that Nick Van Exel has," former Nuggets coach and general manager Dan Issel said. "If the game was on the line, there is not a player in the NBA right now that I'd rather take a shot."

Multiplicity

From the NY Times:

THERE are couples with a lot in common, and then there is Deborah Fisher and Joel Murphy.

Both are artists specializing in kinetic sculpture. They are nearly the same height, close to the same weight, and they both favor T-shirts, jeans, boots and short hair.

They also share a strong distaste for traditional relationships. "We talk a lot about not falling into the trap of gender roles," Mr. Murphy said.

Who in the hell would want to marry him- or herself? I can barely tolerate one of me...what would I do with two?

I think 20 years ago, these two would have attended The Alliance School (see below).

Thank You, America

Small "d" democrats in Iraq and Afghanistan thank America for all they've done. If only big "D" Democrats in America could do the same.

The Alliance School

Ashley Werner does not mince words when describing her experience as a lesbian at Milwaukee's Pulaski High School.

"If you are even remotely different, (the students) harass and make fun of you," Werner said. The 17-year-old junior said she is teased, called names and singled out almost every day. The situation was no better when Werner attended Clintonville High School as a freshman and sophomore. "I decided that I had had enough with Clintonville and moved down here," Werner said.

Werner hopes her situation will improve next year. She plans to attend the Alliance School, a charter high school that will focus on students who feel discriminated against or bullied. That might be a Goth student, a painfully shy student or a gay one. All three have enrolled in the school, which plans to open in August.

The school will be the first of its kind in the state, and possibly the nation, its founders say.

This is a bad idea for a number of reasons, but these three stick out:
1. When did schools stop punishing students for this sort of crap? Look, teasing and harassment are a part of growing up (which many adults fail to realize), but it appears that some of the more severe instances go unpunished these days. Schools need to crack down on this nonsense, in addition to a number of other things.
2. Bullying and harassment, while generally wrong, tend to serve a greater purpose by curbing craziness that might otherwise appeal to the typical student. For example, the Goths. Students shouldn't harass other students just because they look goofy. But then again, a little bit of harassment goes a long way in curbing the level of goofiness.
3. Society is specialized enough as it is. One of the few places that this specialization is somewhat minimized is in the public schools (which is one of the reasons I send my kids to public schools). Going to school with kids that have different racial, economic, religious, philosophical, etc., backgrounds help socialize kids to those differences...which ironically leads to greater cohesion and uniformity. That has been the experience of this nation...the melting pot. The Milwaukee School System doesn't seem to care about that.

This Is Long Overdue

Betsy Hoffman, the embattled president of the University of Colorado, said today she is resigning her post.

Hoffman's announcement comes as Colorado's flagship university faces mounting pressure over alleged use of sex, alcohol and drugs in its recruiting of football players.

Hoffman also has been embroiled in a controversy over Ward Churchill, an ethnic studies professor who wrote an essay comparing some victims of the 9/11 terror attacks to a Nazi leader.

Hoffman, who has served as CU president for five years, submitted a letter of resignation today to the CU Board of Regents.

Life Imitating Art

Ok, wasn't this the plot in The Godfather III. From Newsweek:

Its roots go back to the late 19th century, when Italian banks were all small, regional and Roman Catholic. In 1894 a modernizing government brought in Austrians and Germans to set up the first national bank, Banca Commerciale, to finance Italy's growing industrial sector. Other so-called secular national banks were founded by Italians who were also baptized, but did not publicly express Catholic beliefs. The Catholic bankers have been reasserting influence in recent years, gaining control over Banca Commerciale, and crossing a milestone when Fazio approved a string of acquisitions through which his ally Cesare Geronzi created a powerful new Rome bank, Capitalia, in 2002. "This occurred in a transparent way, and there isn't anything bad about it," says Bocconi University finance professor Michele Calcattera.

Not everyone agrees. With close ties to the Vatican and Opus Dei, Fazio travels to Catholic pilgrimage sites and is widely seen in Italy as the latter-day champion of white finance. He became Bank of Italy governor in 1993, and is an ardent follower of Saint Thomas, the medieval Catholic philosopher who inveighed against financial speculation. Fazio's critics accuse him of approving the merger plans of fellow "Catholic bankers," while denying others, including foreigners. Sergio Siglienti, former president of Banca Commerciale, says, "Fazio doesn't believe in the common market; for me he doesn't believe in the market, either." Fazio declined interview requests.

Something's Happening Here....What It Is Ain't Exactly Clear

KUWAIT, March 7 (Reuters) - Around 500 Kuwaiti activists, mostly women, demonstrated outside parliament on Monday to demand female suffrage amidst tensions in the Gulf Arab state over a government drive to grant women political rights.

"Women's rights now," chanted the crowd, which included women dressed in abayas, or traditional long black cloaks. Some of the demonstrators wore veils over their faces.

"Our democracy will only be complete with women," said a placard written in Arabic. "We are not less, you are not more. We need a balance, open the door," said one written in English.

Does This Strike Anyone Else As Suspicious?

Moscow, March 5 - The chief of Ukraine's security service said Saturday that the country's former interior minister, Yuri F. Kravchenko, had shot himself twice in the head on Friday, refuting speculation that he had been killed by someone else.

Inadequate Help

Tom Friedman points out the EU's inadequate military infrastructure:

If you put all the E.U. armies together, they total around two million soldiers in uniform - almost the same size as the U.S. armed forces. But there is one huge difference - only about 5 percent of the European troops have the training, weaponry, logistical and intelligence support and airlift capability to fight a modern, hot war outside of Europe. (In the U.S. it is 70 percent in crucial units.) The rest of the European troops - some of whom are unionized! - do not have the training or tools to fight alongside America in a hot war. They might be good for peacekeeping, but not for winning a war against a conventional foe....

The U.S. is building 180 C-17 long-range lift aircraft to transport troops and tanks anywhere in the world, and 112 C-5's, to replace the aging C-141's. The European NATO members have exactly four C-17's. They all belong to Britain and even those are leased from Boeing. The Europeans are so short of long-range lift aircraft that they basically have to depend on leased Russian and Ukrainian Antonov transports to get to the battlefield. George Robertson, the former NATO secretary general, used to ask them what they would do if a war broke out during the Christmas season, when most of the Antonovs are leased to toy companies shipping electronic games around the world.

Bad Move, Phil

On Tuesday, Phil Mickelson playfully called out Tiger Woods on PTI.

And then, on Sunday, Woods comes from behind to defeat Mickelson in a tournament that carries the name of one of Mickelson's biggest sponsors.

Coincidence? I report, you decide.

Ever Heard of a Treadmill?

I grew up having watched only two soccer players: Pele and Diego Maradona. Pele was, well, Pele. Maradona willed the Argentinean national team to greatness.

I don't know what Pele's up to these days, but here's Diego. Yikes.

David Crail On The Loose

I saw David Crail on a Crimestoppers report this morning. Apparently David, his mom, and I believe a sister were picked up in Over-the-Rhine over the weekend on drug charges. David's mom was in possession of a crack pipe...nice.

Anyway, David feigned sickness - he claimed he had cancer. He later escaped from the hospital and is on the lose.

You can take the boy out of Newport, but you can't take...well, you know the rest.

Hugo Is On The Move

If any doubts remained about President Hugo Chávez's plans for Venezuela's destiny, they have been erased by his decree to "rescue" unproductive lands and assign them to "groups of the population" and "organized communities" from rural areas. Private property is history, so Chávez is proceeding to strengthen the failed agrarian reforms of socialist Venezuelan governments from the 1960s, '70s and '80s, renaming them the "agrarian revolution."

The new Land Law authorizes the government to expropriate land that bureaucrats consider underutilized and to do the same in those cases in which the government discovers an error in a title of land. Venezuelans already know the modus operandi of Chávez's bureaucracy. In trying to obtain a birth certificate, an identification card, a passport, a certified copy of any legal document and even in registering the elderly to receive pensions, each "mistake" represents a potential source of income for each official, and at the same time, a delay of several months for each citizen's request.

Hmmm, sounds a bit like the Newport and Norwood City Councils.

Are the French Moving...Gasp...Unilaterally?

Let's hope so:

Without much publicity, France has moved the replenishment ship Var to the eastern Mediterranean. The Var contains facilities for running commando operations, as well as facilities for about 200 commandoes and their equipment. France apparently believes that the situation in Lebanon is going to get out of control. Since World War II, France has been something of a big brother for Lebanon, especially the Lebanese Christians. This particular relationship goes back some 800 years, to the time of the Crusades. Currently, the Lebanese are out in the streets protesting the continued presence of Syrian troops in the country. If France is going to get involved, it won’t be with a lot of troops. But you can do a lot with a hundred or so commandoes.

Donovan Apologizes

The SEC fined South Carolina when its fans rushed the floor in celebration of a victory over Kentucky on Feb. 15.

After Florida beat the Cats, Coach Billy Donovan apologized.

One of his players, freshman Al Horford, jumped into the first row of the student section to celebrate with the Rowdy Reptiles. David Lee, Corey Brewer, Anthony Roberson and Adrian Moss jumped onto the sideline press table to gyrate for the fans. Lee and Roberson stripped off their jerseys and posed bare-chested.

"I've got a major problem with that ... ," Donovan said of Horford's actions. "One thing I respect about Kentucky, when they win they act like they've been there before."

Donovan labeled Florida's actions as "a level of immaturity."

Said the Florida coach, "To me, we shouldn't be a team storming the floor or running around out there and jumping on the tables. If that happened, I apologize to Kentucky."

Florida's not alone? UNC's fans stormed the court after beating Duke yesterday. That's North Carolina. Man, how the mighty have fallen.

68? 68?

WASHINGTON (AP) - A leading Republican senator is proposing to raise the Social Security retirement age from 67 to 68, while Democrats maintain their opposition to the president's plan to overhaul the retirement program with private investment accounts.

Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel's plan would raise the age that retirees could receive full benefits, beginning in 2023. "We are living longer," Hagel said Sunday on CBS'"Face the Nation.""So when you look at the total universe of this, I think that makes some sense to extend the age."

Now, at least somebody's talking about raising the retirement age. But seriously, 68? When Social Security was created, the age participants could begin receiving full retirement benefits was 65...while life expectancy was just over 60 years. Now, when life expectancy is slightly under 78 years (and advancing fast), we're going to increase the retirement age to only 68.

For my generation, 70 is much more plausible. And even 72 isn't out of the question.

The Oracle Speaks

I think I share Buffett's criticism of "rich spending junkies."

And Now...The Rest of the Story

There's always more to the story than meets the eye:

ROME -- Italian agents likely withheld information from U.S. counterparts about a cash-for-freedom deal with gunmen holding an Italian hostage for fear that Americans might block the trade, Italian news reports said yesterday.

The decision by operatives of Italy's SISMI military intelligence service to keep the CIA in the dark about the deal for the release of reporter Giuliana Sgrena, might have "short-circuited" communications with U.S. forces controlling the road from Baghdad to the city's airport, the newspaper La Stampa said.