Code Pink casts spells. That’s “spells”, not “smells”.

Code Pink is now resorting to witchcraft to beef up (sic?) the number of its supporters protesting a controversial Marine Corps Recruiting Center in Berkeley, California.

The women’s anti-war group has told ralliers to come equipped with spells and pointy hats Friday for “witches, crones and sirens” day, the last of the group’s weeklong homage to Mothers Day.

Sirens? You mean like “temptingly beautiful woman”, “insidiously seductive woman”, “a woman who sings with bewitching sweetness”? Driven by hormonal curiosity, I went back to THIS, and found nary a siren in the bunch. No eyes of newt, toe of badger, or fuming cauldrons either, but lots of unused potential.

‘Great Distaste’ in Belgrade

Our Embassy Is Burned Over Kosovo

[snip]
Yesterday, as the American Embassy in Belgrade burned, the Associated Press reported that vigilantes set afire a U.N. vehicle in the Serb minority province of Mitrovica on the border between Kosovo and Serbia. Meanwhile, a United Nations-run court building in the province came under attack again from protesters throwing rocks, in what could be an effort from the Serb minority to impose a de facto secession from the newly independent Albanian majority country. [snip]

The street protests are a bitter irony for Mr. Clinton’s foreign policy team especially, considering that the last time protests of that size were seen in Belgrade was in 2000, when Prime Minister Kostunica led marches on the parliament that ultimately forced Milosevic to give up power.

In 2000, Mr. Kostunica was praised as a liberal visionary in Washington. Today he is leading crowds of Serbs in Belgrade insisting that Kosovo remain part of Serbia. [snip]

Maybe we should send in the Archduke to settle this mess.

Keep deporting and close the border!

In virtually every debate about illegal immigration, the other country primarily involved in this American problem – Mexico – is never held to account, despite its role in actually encouraging its citizens to break into the United States. What is equally less known about this problem is that Mexico does this despite its potential to care for its own citizens.

Ranks of anti-illegal immigrant groups swelling

LOS ANGELES - Retired utility worker Charles Warren worries his quality of life is slipping and says that illegal immigrants are to blame.

The 55-year-old retiree complains about day laborers waiting for work outside the nearby Home Depot, saying they give his neighborhood “a Third World look.” [snip]

One group, the Arizona-based Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a civilian volunteer group patrolling the border, says it has collected $600,000 for a proposed border fence.

The American Border Patrol, another civilian group that turns immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexican border over to authorities and is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, says donations are up 25 percent.

And in San Diego, a newly formed Minuteman group went from just two members late last year to 200 today.

“People are joining us so fast because they are frustrated with our government,” said Jeff Schwilk, the group’s founder. “They see all the wrangling, all the political posturing, and I think people are fed up with the inaction of their government.” [snip]

“We know the anti-immigration movement is exploding, that there are certainly more and more organizations and chapters of organizations of chapters being developed all the time,” said Heidi Beirich, deputy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, which tracks hate and anti-immigrant groups.

The danger comes when they focus attention on one ethnic group such as Mexicans, who make up about half of all illegal immigrants in the United States, she said.

“What a lot of these organizations do is … defaming a group of people, like they bring disease, they are terrorist, they are criminals, they are trashing the environment. [snip] (emphasis mine)

Why not examine these statements.

1. An illegal caught crossing the border, tested and proved positive for TB. How many are ill and not caught for testing?
2. OTM’s crossing the border can be terrorists; we have no idea who or from where they arrive.
3. All are criminals by definition for violating immigration law. Many others are far worse, guilty of murder, rape, drug running, felonious pandering and members of gangs.
4. Litter strewn along trails used by the coyotes authenticates they trash the environment. Surrounding lands are not immune as new routes created to avoid the Border Patrol become landfills.

In the low-budget CAPS commercial that motivated union member and Sacramento Democrat Warren to join, swarms of pro-immigrant protesters wave the Mexican flag. A voice-over comes on: “The last thing California needs is more traffic, crowded schools, bankrupt hospitals. The last thing California needs is more immigration. The other side has had its say. Isn’t it time you had yours?”

The commercial targeted the thousands of residents whom Hull believes were incensed by the immigrant protests, which she says is further evidence of plans for a “reconquista” or reconquering of California by Latinos seeking land lost during the Mexican-American war. [snip]

What part of this does not fit the label of Invasion? Demanding the foreign language be spoken by fiat, special rules and regulations, covers much of that label. I’ll accept marching under a foreign flag as solid proof of loyalty to a different government.

Another piece of the problem are cities that declare themselves as “sanctuaries.” Giuliani on sanctuary cities How this hurts our citizenry, health care, insurance rates and the horrible drain on social services is ignored.

Allowing illegals to evade punishment and deportation compounds citizens’ troubles in many ways, one is zoning violations where large numbers of unrelated persons reside in a single-family residence, a real disruption to real estate values.

How about the courts in Orange County CA. promoting this:

The court has contracted since March 2006 with Cal Coast Data Entry, Inc., a Cerritos company that has a facility in Nogales. Information from tickets – including drivers’ license numbers, car license numbers, birth dates and addresses – are scanned at the Cerritos facility and sent electronically to the Mexican facility.

Has the court ever heard of pencil and paper for copying data? The information is very salable to those making false IDs.

“The company and the staff they employ are dedicated to keeping the public’s data secure and safe,” the statement said. “The court wants to ensure the public that private data is safe.”

One thing that brings fear to knowledgeable individuals is government assurances about anything. (Ron Paul is whack, but here he is right) We’ve seen how they protect the country from invasion, then coddle the invader to our detriment.

It’s bad enough that the students’s made idiots of themselves protesting Andy Card’s honorary UMass degree, but the faculty on stage should be ashamed of themselves for acting like children:

The protests were mainly contained to an area in the back of the campus arena and many of the faculty on stage who joined the three- to four- minute outburst.

One faculty member on stage held a sign: “Card — no honor, no degree.” Another sign said “War criminals go home.”

With no football losses to riot over, I guess the student body needed something else to occupy their energies.

This picture with 1 American flag amongst several other national flags of illegal immigrants demanding a path to citizenship says 1000 words:

Is economic benefit the only reason they want citizenship? I hope that’s not what being an American citizen has boiled down to these days. There’s a lot more to being an American than your rights; it comes with a lot of responsibility too. If you don’t believe that, just ask the soldiers who gave their lives defending your citizenship.

Another word of advice: Pick the Fourth of July instead of socialist inspired May Day the next time too.

You’d think the United States signing a biofuel pact with Brazil would make the moonbat crowd giddy. Remember, global warming is a “planetary emergency” according to moonbat spokesman Al Gore, but you’d be wrong:

Demonstrators upset with Bush’s visit here worry that the president and his biofuels buddy, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, really have visions of an OPEC-like cartel on ethanol.

First, do you think CNN should be referring to the president of Brazil as Bush’s “biofuels buddy”? I’m guessing the reporter was just a wee bit sympathetic to the protestors cause. Second, you can’t please these people. Even when you’re doing what they say they want, they’ll invent new reasons and fears about why it isn’t good enough.

And what is the left’s favorite Venezuelan dictator doing about global warming?

While Bush’s nemesis in Latin America, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is using his vast oil wealth to court allies in the region…

He’s pumping CO2 into the air, so he can buy influence in the region. What a contrast. President Bush gets protests for “thinking globally, acting locally” with a biofuels agreement while everyone loves strongman Hugo Chavez.  Trying to please this crowd is a fool’s errand.

The media continues its campaign to derail the war:

In 30-degree weather, nearly 200 protesters packed the corner of Tremont and Park streets in downtown Boston yesterday evening in an “emergency rally” to stop President Bush from sending more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq.

Do you think 200 war supporters would get similar coverage? Maybe our readers see this seething antiwar hatred the media likes to describe, but I don’t. It’s just not a topic that comes up often, and when it does neither side is particularly impassioned. I attend graduate school here in Boston, but I don’t see any evidence of mass protests or antiwar banners on campus. The media is trying to create a radical, Vietnam like antiwar movement that just doesn’t exist.

A couple of days ago my wife and I went shopping early in the morning. We left before eating breakfast so we grabbed a quick sandwich at Dunkin Donuts. As we ordered, I noticed a metal tree full of bananas next to the cash register. Care to guess how many slots were missing bananas? Yes, it’s not shocking that bananas aren’t real popular at Dunkin Donuts whose customers really want coffee, donuts, and other treats full of “evil” trans fats.

So has Dunkin Donuts taken leave of its senses by including foods its customers largely ignore? Our friend the banana is an attempt to stave off the food police who are making their latest protests for greater control over our diets. Liberals of all stripes believe that any cause shown to be a marginal good is reason enough to intrude upon your freedom. But the most interesting thing about the trans fat crusade is what it says about liberal priorities. The same people who aren’t inclined to protect us from hardened criminals have no problem using the power of government to control what you eat. Criminals have rights; law abiding taxpayers need the government to criminalize and police what they eat. It’s an interesting dichotomy to say the least.

A wave of the chuck’s tail to Overlawyered

In Valparaiso, Indiana, Martha Seroczynski stages weekly protests at the county courthouse against the war in Iraq. The Porter County Board of Commissioners has asked her to show proof of homeowner’s insurance and name the county as an additional insured. It’s a county policy of some years’ standing; “Valparaiso Elks Club member Jeanie Stevens said her organization was required to show proof of insurance for its Flag Day ceremony on June 14 at the square.” Ms. Seroczynski’s insurer, however, has raised objections, and that’s aside from the question of why having insurance should be a prerequisite for the right to protest in the first place. County attorney Gwenn Rinkenberger has attempted to resolve the problem by asking Ms. S to sign a waiver promising not to sue the county if injured, but she refuses. “Her right to protest does not relieve us of our responsibility to protect the liability of the other 140,000 citizens of this county,” County Commissioner John Evans has said. (”War protester asked for insurance proof to continue protests”, AP/Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel, Aug. 27; Robyn Monaghan, “Protester furor fuels free speech debate”, Northwest Indiana Times, Sept. 6).

This has the potential to affect parades, sponsored gatherings by clubs or service organizations on public property and concerts in the park as well as protests by individuals. While a political entity may not abridge her speech, just how far must any political entity go to protect someone from themselves and the taxpayers from them.

Remember, most political entities self-insure and may be sued only with their permission.

A wave of the chuck’s tail to The Daily Reporter-Herald

Global warming is happening, but humans are not the cause, one of the nation’s top experts on hurricanes said (last) Monday morning.

Bill Gray, who has studied tropical meteorology for more than 40 years, spoke at the Larimer County Republican Club Breakfast about global warming and whether humans are to blame. About 50 people were at the talk.

Gray, who is a professor at Colorado State University, said human-induced global warming is a fear perpetuated by the media and scientists who are trying to get federal grants.
[snip]

It’s always follow the money.

At the breakfast, Gray said Earth was warmer in some medieval periods than it is today. Current weather models are good at predicting weather as far as 10 days in advance, but predicting up to 100 years into the future is “a great act of faith, and I don’t believe any of it,” he said.

But even if humans cause global warming, there’s not much people can do, Gray said. China and India will continue to pump out greenhouse gases, and alternative energy sources are expensive.
[snip]

Alternative is an apt name for the following sources of energy. Relegation of these power sources to has-been status advanced civilization. If they worked better than what we’re currently using, we’d be using them instead.

Wind Power, once moved sailing ships and pumped water, now is mainly used to sell postcards in Holland. In California, wind farms killed so many birds, the barkheads demanded they shut down ending that power generation trial.

Hydroelectric power sounds like a 5 Year plan replete with Hero of the Union medals. Enough dams and transmission lines and we could be as advanced as the Soviet Union of the 30’s. However, among the Enviro-nuts, anything larger than a clogged toilet line will cause violent protests, so no dams.

Have you seen any Stanley Steamers recently? Beside the attendant pollution, positive feedback systems get a bit involved to operate. Not to worry about avatar vehicles, the unhinged start making guttural noises as soon as the word chop is associated with tree.

The real difficulty with using technology to solve the energy problem is the rejection of technology by the Global Warming freaks. Try mentioning nuclear power and every available erg on earth immediately goes into producing tinfoil berets.

Some of the true believers have mentioned the atom in a positive way. We’ll hear more from them after the visit to the re-education camps.

What the Enviro-nuts really want is for man to disappear. Lets start with them.

It looks like one Congressional Republican is reading the Rep. William Jefferson “controversy” correctly:

In a break with his counterparts in the House, the Senate’s leader said Sunday the FBI was within its right to search the office of a congressman accused of bribery.

“No House member, no senator, nobody in government should be above the law of the land, period,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said.

Senator Frist read this situation correctly. There was absolutely no reason for Speaker Hastert and House Republicans to back a Democratic Congressman accused of bribery. Even if the Constitution contained the prohibition against search they claim, the second the Justice Department went public with the vast array of evidence against Jefferson, it was a lost cause. The Feds have chapter and verse on Rep. Jefferson and protests only make Rep. Hastert look more like the leader of Cosa Nostra than the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Let’s hope his colleagues emulate Senator Frist and move on from this silly episode.

On a side note, Bill Frist has presidential ambitions. Initially, he seemed like an outside shot at best, but his stock might be rising. He certainly seems to have less of a tin ear than his counterparts, and John McCain continues to distance himself from conservatives in the party. Maybe we’ll have to reevaluate him.

It seems the United States is not the only country struggling with affimative action:

Affirmative action is in some ways an even more emotional issue in India than in the United States. In recent weeks, a proposal to extend quotas for admission to some of the country’s flagship, federally financed universities has caused fresh turmoil.

Protests — particularly by medical students who say merit should be the only basis for admission to India’s intensely competitive medical schools — have spread across the country and, here in the capital, hobbled public health services. Advocates and opponents of the measure have exchanged often ugly rants.

For the government, redressing age-old caste discrimination has become mired in divisive politics. The government has said it will not back down from its proposal.

Is anybody willing to argue that doctors produced under a meritocracy tend to be more qualified than those filling quota allotments? Even supporters of affirmative action policies do not claim the program produces more qualified professionals.

When liberals like Ted Kennedy need medical treatment, do you think they seek out doctors who benefited from affirmative action policies? Do you think Patches Kennedy’s lawyer got an extra bump into law school from an affirmative action program? Bet your last dollar that our political elite use only the most intelligent and skilled professionals they can find, so why doesn’t it logically follow that everyone attending these schools also be the best and brightest? Apparently, cutting corners on the quality of the doctors operating on you and I is a small price to pay for social “progress”.

Have you ever noticed who protests around this country? It’s always the groups that feel “they aren’t getting what’s owed to them”. Ever notice who they tend to be? I do. Always found this interesting. Take a look at any protesting group and think about the time it takes to make the signs ( I failed art in high school), organize the group or coalition if you will, identify a place and time to complain and protest, and then actually have the time to walk around for hours in little silly circles holding up a sign that states your complaints or demands.

Sound familiar? Of course it does…if you have children like I do, you see an example of this every day. Of course we are talking about Liberals if you haven’t figured this out yet. Of course this is our rights to protest..as it should be. It all started when we began protest groups against the British in New England. We of course actually did something significant–like threw them the hell out and incorporated our freedom….which is about as substantial and historical as you can get.

But man..has this idea been taken to new heights….. It’s either Cynthia Sheehan, Gay activists, unions, or Democrats whose candidate just blew an election opportunity. They all act exactly like my kids……”Dad…can I have Bobby over the house all day and a brand new car?…”No”..I say…..Then all day long he protests, whines , and complains around the house..literally for hours because he didn’t get his way…hoping to break me down. Did you notice that when Bush was elected over Kerry, the Liberals protested in the streets of Washington….did they think Bush would come out of the White House waving his arms…”Ok, Ok, enough…give it to Kerry! I can’t take it anymore!”

Gay activists protest the St. Patrick’s Day parade each year, when the NYC Mayors say the parade is for the Irish based groups walking in a silly parade on March 17…you people have your own “Gay Parade” being held on June 9th or something—they still protest and try to ruin the parade……………..Ever see a group of about 300 plastics salesman protesting together with signs that read ” Give us cheaper polycarbonate resin so we can better compete!”?

How come when Clinton or Jimmy Carter, or any Democrat won a Presidential Election…..we don’t have Republicans protesting on the streets of Washington? Call me crazy…but I strongly feel it has something to do with “having to go to work”…………Conservatives need to go to work-right? They have kids, and jobs and all kinds of responsibilities..I mean, even I do.

These “advocates”, and “marchers”, and “humanitarians”, and in general…annoying people all need to stop wasting time and money on signs and get back to work and simply–do a better job both at work, at home, and everywhere else they go…and they will be amazed how more effective they will be.

Just once I wish I could have gone to my old boss years ago and said…”Boss..I’m taking today off because I am marching with Alec Baldwin because some guy is killing whales off the coast of New Zealand”…where he would have of course said…”Wow…that sounds like good time spent…good luck and maybe nobody will kill any more whales again…in the meantime…we have replaced you with a salesman that likes to make his bonus”

The more things change, the more they stay the same:

After weeks of protests and strikes, President Jacques Chirac announced plans Monday to “replace” a law that would have made it easier for companies to fire workers under age 26.

The deal represents a defeat for Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who had insisted on the law as a means of reducing high unemployment rates among young people.

Chirac’s office said the president decided to “replace” a key provision of the law with a measure aimed at “youths in difficulty.”

It seems odd to say de Villepin is correct, but France does need to loosen its labor laws to create more jobs. The students want more jobs, but are unwilling to take the risks associated with creating them.
I would bash the French for caving to the protests, but I have zero faith in our own politicians’ ability to stand up to the illegal immigrant protests here. It is very disheartening to admit the US and France have so much in common when it comes to leadership at the top.

Update: Our politicians’ spines are turning to jelly at this very moment. On the bright side, at least they carried American flags this time around or the sympathetic media is not reporting the Mexican flags.

These illegal immigrant organizations really know how to win friends and influence people:

The groups, which are organizing a wave of protests in 60 US cities Monday in a bid to halt plans to expel illegal immigrants, reacted after the compromise law that would have allowed millions of undocumented workers to normalize their status in the United States failed to pass in the Senate.

Is Monday a holiday? These “temporary guest workers” have an amazing benefit plan.

“We don’t want half measures, we demand an amnesty, the immediate and unconditional legalization of the 12 million undocumented workers who work in this country,” said Nativo Lopez, president of the influential Mexican American Political Association (MAPA).

Well, as long as you are willing to compromise, no problem. Somebody must have taught them what “compromise” means on Capitol Hill.