Italian Judge Orders Arrest of 13 CIA Agents

As reported by the Associated press in Italy Judge (sic) orders Arrest of 13 CIA agents

An Italian judge has ordered the arrest of 13 CIA agents for allegedly helping deport an imam to Egypt as part of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts, an Italian official familiar with the investigation said Friday.

Of course, this is not your everyday ROP imam walking the streets of Italy:

Omar was believed to have fought with jihadists in Afghanistan and Bosnia, and prosecutors were seeking evidence against him before his disappearance, according to a report last year in La Repubblica newspaper, which cited intelligence officials.

Nice to see even the Associated Press is no longer operating under the pretense that "jihad" is merely a peaceful internal struggle and "jihadists" are merely the peaceful internal strugglers. Alternatively this was a slip in a desperate manuever to avoid labelling Omar with the dreaded appellation of "terrorist".

Benton Harbor School bans the Band from Playing Louie Louie

Alleging that the lyrics to the song Louie Louie are rauncy, the Superintendent of Benton Harbor Schools in Michigan has banned the School Band from playing it during the benton harbor Blossom time Festival.

As reported in the Detroit Free Press article School band song now a banned song

Benton Harbor Superintendent Paula Dawning cited the song's allegedly raunchy lyrics in ordering the McCord Middle School band not to perform it in Saturday's Grand Floral Parade, held as part of the Blossomtime Festival.

In a letter sent home with McCord students, Dawning said "Louie Louie" was not appropriate for Benton Harbor students to play while representing the district -- even though the marching band wasn't going to sing it. (bold added)

In fact the article points out the song was even investigated by the FBI:

the FBI spent two years investigating the lyrics before declaring they not only were not obscene but also were "unintelligible at any speed."

Yes, TWO YEARS spent investigating a song.

The Detroit Free Press has reproduced the commonly accepted version of the lyrics to the song.

Methinks the Superintendent is whistling the wrong tune on this one.

Proposal to Reform Michigan's Alcohol Sales Law

Michigan Senator Gilda Jacobs (D) has introduced legislation to end Michigan's antiquted and riddiculous bans on the sale of alcohol on Sunday mornings and on Christmas Day.

As reported in the Detroit Free Press article Senator proposes altering alcohol sales law,

Democratic Sen. Gilda Jacobs of Huntington Woods introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow alcohol sales between 7 a.m. and noon on Sundays, and also remove the Christmas Day ban.

"Individuals can make their own decisions," Jacobs said. "It's OK to drink Saturday morning and go to the store but not OK on Sunday morning? Sunday should really be no different than Saturday."

Jacobs said the main reason for the bill is convenience -- both for consumers and retailers -- but she noted that not everyone has the Sabbath on Sunday. She said society now is more diverse.

Coming from Sen. Jacobs, the assertion that "Individuals can make their own decisions," is most refreshing, given her clear anti-choice voting record regarding permitting the citizens of Michigan to make their own decisions regarding gun possession and ownership, but, it is a nice start to hear such language from a typically leftward leaning Democrat.

To show that idiocy is not restricted to the Democrat side of the aisle alone, some Republicans are in favor of keeping this ban for such specious reasons as:

"Our predecessors in the Legislature going back to 1933 believed it was important enough to pass this ban," Sanborn said. "The good senator would have a challenge to convince senators it's something we should do."

Ah, the old, "if it was good enough in 1933 its good enough for now". Well Senator Sandborn, prior to 1933 it was not felt to be needed, so shouldn't we respect our even earlier predecessors and not follow the elders of 1933?

Breakfast with the Governor

The Oakland County Bar Association's First Tuesday Breakfast had Michigan's Governor Jennifer Granholm as its keynote speaker.

Gov. Granholm gave a very dynamic speech and spoke about her plans to deal with Michigan's current economic woes.

These plans include:
a) Reductions in the Simple Business Tax (SBT) to encourage job development. The change would result in different tax rates depending on the kind of business was paying the tax.

b) Issuance of $2 Billion (with a B) in bonds for infrastructure improvement, including $400 million in road repair funds, and incentives to companies to lcate in Michigan.

c) Changing the MEAP scholarships from a Merit based scholarship, as it leaves out too many students, to a scholarship to any student who lasts through two years of college (including community college) in the amoun of $4000.

Gov. Granholm is a very smart, dynamic speaker, and she has both a strong personality and a great deal of charisma. I can certainly see her running for a seat in the US Senate for the Democrats when her governorship ends.

Personally, I think her plans have quite a few flaws.

For SBT reform, if one wants to make it more attractive for business to locate here, simply scrap the entire antiquated SBT rather then reducing it incrementally and let the resulting economic growth result in greater revenue genration from other already existing taxes.

For the Bond plan, $400 million in road repair is a good start. But, the Governor's fix-it-first-before-building-new-roads plan is flawed in that it does not improve congrestion, cause more congestion due to the closure of lanes during repairs and then increases the wear and tear on existing roads while others are being fixed. In addition this increase in debt now may make borrowing harder later, and lead to increased taxes in the future...but on the other hand Michigan is in pretty bad shapenow and the bond revenue, if spent wisely, may prove to be both a shot-in-the-arm to the economy and hopefully improve Michigan's decaying infrastructure.

The problem with the "$4000 for everyone education" plan is that undoubtedly college tuition prices will rise in response to this new source of money being promised to the students. Additionally, this "free" money may cause many who are neither capable nor ready to handle college to go, thereby reducing spots and resources for those who are ready.

These issues aside, Gov. Granholm is a very effective politician and I'm quite sure that she will be a force to be reckoned with in Michigan politics for some time to come.

Saving Detroit with a Sin Tax on Fast Food

As part of Mayor Kilpatrick's budget slashing attempts to reduce Detroit's mammoth $300 million deficit, the Mayor is proposing a 2% tax on Fast Food sales.

This proposal will likely earn him kudos from such sources as the Center for Science in the Public Interest and other groups that feel that Big Macs and the like are the roots of all evil, or at least obesity.

But for most people, the move is just one more transparant attempt to further tax the residents and visitors to the City of Detroit to support a bloated and expensive City Government that provides services so poorly that Detroit continues to loose population as people gather the werewithal to get out.

As reported in the Detroit News article, Terry Marshell a resident of Detroit wryly observed

How many cheeseburgers will it take to pay for the mayor's Navigator?" Marshell said.

Kilpatrick was recently embroiled in a controversy surrounding a Lincoln Navigator leased to the city for more than $24,000, allegedly for use by the mayor's wife.

"He's the hip-hop mayor, and he wants a 2 percent tax on cheeseburgers? It's not going to happen.

"People will remember this when it's time to vote," Marshell said.

How long it will take other cities to jump on this scheme as a way for raising revenue raising and pushing an agenda is unknown.

Detroit Free Press Doesn't Mind Voter Fraud

The Detroit Free Press Editorial is up in arms that the proposed Michigan legislation permitting early vpoting requires that those voting must show some form of government issued picture identification.

In Absentee Voting Drop ID requirement from bill expanding rights, the Freep bemonas such a requirment for the reasons that

While it's true that a huge majority of people have photo ID these days, there will always be some people who don't -- and they don't deserve to be disenfranchised no matter when or how they vote. For elderly people who no longer maintain a driver's license but still might choose this option over filling out an absentee ballot at home, it would be particularly insulting. For others, the $10 fee for a state personal identification card may be a burden and can amount to the equivalent of an illegal poll tax.

Wow, what a specious argument! The Elderly might be insulted by having to show ID, and being made to purchase such id could be an illegal poll tax. Nonesense.

Apparenlty the Freep concern for people without ID "don't deserve to be disenfranchised no matter when or how they vote" must extend to felons, ilegals and people voting multiple times in terms of when or how theyt might vote.

The right to vote is a precious right, a safeguard and basis for our system of govvernment and reserved for citizens and non-felons to use -- ONCE PER ELECTION. Surely the Detroit Free press ought to be in favor of this minimal requirement of picture identification, which helps protect this cherished right.

Detroit Police Car used to Rob Drivers

The City of Detroit has had an umarked Police Car either misplaced or stolen.

It has likely turned up being used by criminals to impersonate police.

As reported in the Detroit Free Press Article - Fake cops stop driver, leave with his wallet:

Detroit police officials are searching for a 2001 black Crown Victoria that may have been used in a Friday robbery.

Cops are paying special attention to this case: The missing vehicle is an unmarked police car.

Police spokesman James Tate said the vehicle, with the license plate 580X24, disappeared between March 16 and March 21 from its parking spot at . . . outside of Police Department headquarters.

Since then it has apparently been used by criminals to pull people over and steal their wallets. Not good. The public was finally informed about the theft of the car on Monday April 4, after the robbery on Friday.

Another Good Reason for private ownership of Antiquities

The article in Reason online titled Artifact: Idol Hour by Charles Paul Freund shows a picture of wooden statutes that have been restored after being damaged by the Taliban in 2001.

Part of a collection housed in the Kabul Museum, the wooden statues were badly damaged in 2001 on the orders of the Taliban regime. At the same time that the giant Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed, the contents of the museum were reduced to rubble. A weeklong orgy of destruction in the museum involved thousands of ancient artifacts. Some of these objects had long been in private collections but were returned to Afghanistan in the 1970s.[emphasis added]

The items had been safe in private collections, but in the museum they became easy targets for destruction by the fundamentalist regime of the Taliban. Many have likely been destroyed beyond repair.

Yet another reason why all antiquities should certainly not be housed in government museums where they can be easily targeted for destruction, not to mention theft or defacement.

Unlike the Japanese-Americans, The Islamists in the US do pose a real threat to the US

Appropos the obituary of Mr. Korematsu, a Japanese American subject to exclusion during wartime for personally doing nothing wrong comes this story:
Jihad in America's Public Schools From Little Green Footballs:

Kifah Wael Jayyousi, arrested Sunday at an airport in Detroit, Michigan, was chief facilities director for public schools in Washington from 1999 to 2001. But in the years running up to that high-profile position, he supported “violent jihad” in Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya and Somalia, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday....Jayyousi, a U.S. citizen originally from Jordan...

Unlike the Japanese, we have Arabs in the US, including citizens clearly supporting terrorism and jihad against the United States. Mr. Jayyousi is merely the latest in a great number of such. Considering that Korematsu is still on the books activitiesd such as those conducted by him and his ilk are not exactly the brightest course of action.

While exclusion and internment were reprehensbile when applied against the loyal Japanese Americans, at some point the American public may become less tolerant and demand such action against those who clearly are harmful and disloyal and represent a clear and present danger today.

Fred Korematsu dies

As reported in the Lansing State Journal, Fred Korematsu Dies at Age 86.

Korematsu was the titular appellant in Korematsu v. United States, the case which upheld the exclusion of Japanese and Japanese-Americans from the West Coast during World War II.

The Korematsu decision is still good law today.

Marines - 1 UAW - 0

The UAW after a 10 year policy of permitting Marine Reservcists to park in its lot, decided that Marines could only park there if they did not drive a "foreign" car and not display any Pro-Bush bumper stickers. Wow, telling Marines that they cannot overtly support their Commander-in-Chief...great call on that one UAW.

After the groundswell of outrage at the UAW's actions, they retracted their policy.

These are Marines however and they're not buying it as can be seen in the linked Detroit News Article. The UAW is learning, as have all of the Corps' opponents that its not wise to be an enemy of the Marine Corps.

The UAW has offered an "olive branch" to the Marines and will let them park there again, but that has been rejected. However, there is still a fit use for which the Marines could use the UAW parking lot: for Bayonet Practice.

Cartoonist Mike Thompson turns Green in envy of Steve Fosset's accomplishment

Steve Fosset, who just (link: Vodkapundit) performed an incredible feat of flying around the world -- solo -- without stopping to refuel, can't even have a few minutes of fame without some pissant like Cartoonist Mike Thompson pissing on his incredible accomplishment.

Mike Thompson's Cartoon, which can be seen at the Detroit Free Press. Shows a slovenly obese man dressed in green (how appropriate - perhaps it is Mr. Thompson himself) saying "Ok Fosset your latest round-the-world flying escapade is over, now please come back down to Earth"

A (badly done) caricature of Fosset with a T-shirt reading "the ego has landed" replies "But I already landed the plane". The envious goofball in green replies "That's not what I meant".

Egads, we can't let a man bask in an incredible accomplishment for less than even 24 hours before some punk in the MSM tries to tear him down.

Pathetic.

Verily this cartoon gets the nomination for the award for The Most. Pathetic. Envious. Editorial. Cartoon. Ever.

For more on Mr. Fosset's incredible accomplishment see: The Global Flyer Webpage.

Save Arrested Development

Fox seems to be doing its best to permanently arrest the hit and Emmy-award winning comedy show Arrested Development.

For those of you who haven't seen the show (and Fox seems to be doing its damndest to make sure you do not get to see it) it is a very funny show, well-written and with some quite talented actors.

Fox however, in its infinite wisdom, keeps preempting the show from its 8:30 EST Sunday timeslot. Whether for another episode of the Simpsons, or to show the movie Independence Day, or for any other reason, Arrested Development is in luck if it is on twice a month.

It is no wonder then, given the lack of consistent airtime, that viewership suffers. And a lack of a treemendous viewership is of course, an excuse to either cut back on the show, leading to fewer viewers or simply to cancelling the show. A completely manufactured downard spiral.

This is not the first great show that Fox has done this to. Joss Wheadon's Firefly, another fantastic show, was likewise given short-shrift and cut before it could develop a massive following (its since done so with its first season released on DVD, and a Firefly movie is coming soon.

Hopefully Fox will support Arrested Development and not kill it off as it did Firefly. Good shows may cost more than the reality tv that is currently all the rage, but it is certainly better television.

A petition to support Arrested Development can be found here.

hat tip: The Volokh Conspiracy

Granholm Breaks Scholarship Promise

Granholm in her latest bit of assault upon the concept of merit scholarships in a quest to find something to cut in the state budget that doesnt harm a Democrat constituency is, in the words of the Detroit News

trying to quietly welsh on a pledge to give an estimated 48,600 middle school students scholarships of up to $500 for college if they passed state achievement tests.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has cut the Michigan Merit Award funding promised to middle schoolers five years ago to save $9 million in her proposed state budget.

Granholm is going back on promises made to students that if they passed the MEAP exams they would receive scholarship money for college. While the $500 scholarship may not pay for all of college, every bit helps, and it would be going to students who put in the effort to pass the MEAp tests in High School, thus helping to reinforce the value of studying hard and learning.

The effect of the breach of the promise, is, in the words of Ellison Franklin, principal at Plymouth's West Middle School

going to be such a negative lesson about government -- that you can't trust government

That lesson may very well be the most valuable lesson the kids will learn in school.

Slaves being imported into Michigan

Apparently this practice didn't end with the Emancipation Proclamation. But, unlike other places where slavery is still practiced, for example in Sudan, Michigan actively prosecutes such activities.

According to the Detroit Free Press article Couple indicted on slavery charges

Two naturalized U.S. citizens from Cameroon who were convicted in 2001 of abusing an African girl they brought to the United States as a domestic helper have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit on slavery charges, officials said Tuesday.

Joseph Djoumessi, 47, is serving a 9-15 year sentence in Macomb Correctional Facility for sexually assaulting the girl, and his wife, Evelyn Djoumessi, 40, received a 90-day jail sentence for misdemeanor child abuse. Both face up to 20 years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine on the three-count indictment handed up by a grand jury this week, officials said.

The couple were charged with conspiracy "to hold a juvenile alien to involuntary servitude," and "did so for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain...."

Some traditions are best left behind in the old country, or as in the case of slavery, abolished worldwide.

Even as it declines, Detroit legislator tries to prevent Detroit being placed into receivership

Even as Detroit slips further in population and into greater budgetary decline, Legislatior from Detroit is trying to prevent any move by the State to put Detroit into receivership.

According to the Detroit Free Press article: Lawmaker plans bill to block a Detroit takeover, Michigan State Senator Clark from Detroit is trying to pass a law to exempt Detroit from the Local Government Responsibility Act and thus making it impossible to subject it to State financial control.

Don't worry Senator -- the Mayor and City Council have ignored any sense of local Government responsibility for a long time now.

Detroit's Declining Denizens

Detroit has now dropped below the 900,000 population mark, for the first time since 1920, according to the Detroit Free Press

According to estimates released Monday by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, the number of Detroit residents dropped below 900,000 for the first time since 1920. The agency's estimate, as of Feb. 1, is 899,387.

That's a drop of 5.5 percent -- or 51,883 people -- since the 2000 U.S. census, which showed the city had dropped below the magic 1 million mark.
...
A lot of this decline is economic flight and we're aggressively addressing the root of that flight," said Hughey (spokesman for Mayor Kilpatrick). "We will continue to add strategies to grow Detroit neighborhood by neighborhood."

Hmm, people are fleeing due to high taxes, substandard services, corruption and a lousy education system.

Perhaps instead of trying to go for "strategies to grow Detroit neighborhood by neighborhood" its time to decide on strategies to shrink Detroit.

After all a city that used to hold 2 million people at its peak doesn't need all the space it now has. Prrhaps a Detroit Township should be created and some of the abandoned property turned over to it so the area can start anew without the baggage, ruin and inertia associated with the City of Detroit.

Democrats Propose Michigan Law to Outlaw Swiss Army Knives and Multitools

As if Michigan did not already have enough useless and burdensome weapons laws, Representative Reps. Virgil Smith (D) and Murphy (D)have introduced HB 4092, which will ban the sale, manufacture or possession of:

(f) Any sharp-edged, multibladed device, capable of being
carried on the person, with blades that are, or can be, locked into
place for use as a weapon.

Possession or sale of such a knife would be a felony.

Guess what? Under this proposed law, a Swiss army knife or any multitool having more than one sharp blade would be illegal. After all, these have mutltiple blades, and the blades could be "locked into place for use as a weapon".

It is wonderful to see the Michigan Democrats -- State that has tied for the most unemployment and slowest job growth -- playing to their constituency and fiddling with inane laws like these rather than working to help the state grow economically. Indeed, this law would contribute to even more job losses and slowing of economic growth as a whole new class of prohibited items would be created that could not be sold within the state.

Prediction: This proposed bill is DOI (Dead on Introduction) and likely to go nowhere and do nothing but waste the Legislature's time.

Business controlling employees activities beyond the workplace

A company in Okemos, Michigan, has fired employees for refusing to take a test to show if they were using tobacco.

Not that they were smoking in the workplace mind you, but merely that they were using a legal substance on their own time outside of the workplace.

As reported in the Lansing State Journal:

Okemos-based Weyco Inc.'s firing of four people who refused to take a test to determine whether they use tobacco has a lot of Michigan workers wondering whether they might be next.

This certainly raises a question as to how far employers may go to control their employees activities that take place on their own time. While it is legal for Weyco to have done what it did, it may prove to be going to far.

Navigator Errors Compounded

The Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, admitted Saturday that the new 2005 Navigator was in fact for his family's use and was not purchased as an undecover police vehicle or for the police chief.

As reported in the Detroit Free Press

After a weeklong assault, Kilpatrick tried to regain some of his flagging credibility Saturday, when he reversed himself and admitted that the shiny new Navigator reporters found in a locked police garage originally was leased by the city for his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick.

"There were some screwups on communications," Kilpatrick said during an unprecedented and sometimes combative 70-minute news conference in his city hall offices. "I'll take the lumps on that. I'm upset that we handled it the way we handled it."

Woow, denials, false claims and outright lies were simply "communication screwups". Yeesh, if the guy had just said "Yes its for my family, yes it was purchased for $24,995 so it didn't meet the $25,000 cut-off for Detroit City Council Scrutiny big deal". Most of the fuss would have been erased in an instant.

However, the Mayor's office still seems to be having more "communication screwups"

He [The Mayor] said he had nothing to hide, then sat quietly while his police chief distributed lease documents from which the names of key subordinates -- subordinates who could confirm or dispute the administration's account of the Navigator lease -- had been excised.

Apparently the Mayor still can't come clean on the deal.