Sexually powerful Hillary bust - premature

Perhaps this exhibition is just a wee bit premature: It's the new attraction as New York's Museum of Sex. Naw, really.

K-Lo at National Review has the scoop.

The best part of the press release includes this:

A presidential bust of Hillary Clinton is set to be unveiled at the Museum of Sex on August 9, 2006 at 10 am. Accentuating her sexual power and bolstered by the presidential seal, The Presidential Bust of Hillary Rodham Clinton: The First Woman President of the United States of America will be officially open for public viewing on August 9 for a limited six week run.

President of the United States? Hmmm ...

Is this some sleezy attempt to woo the men's vote? If so, it's gonna have to be a little less classical looking, don'tcha think?

Yeah, we're chumming.

Worst ever? How does he know?

The Minister of Environment for Lebanon has declared that a heavy fuel oil spill caused by the Israeli bombing of a seaside power plant is "without doubt the biggest environmental catastrophe that the Mediterranean has known."

Okay, we'll bite. What's the second greatest environmental catastrophe suffered by the Mediterranean? Anyone? Anyone? Beuhler? Anyone?

Is it possible that other oil spills occurred during World War II?

Why was this power plant, with its large reservoir of heavy fuel oil, located within 80 feet of the sea? Isn't that sort of asking for a problem? As Minister of Environment, this guy should know these things.

The rest of the article would make it appear as if much of the beach area and aqua-culture of Lebanon was already an environmental mess from Israeli and Syrian industrial waste, and raw Lebanese sewage.

We understand that hyperbole is sort of a cultural trait in the Mideast, but wouldn't it be refreshing if someone actually said something along the lines of gee, this oil slick is a real mess, and it probably ranks right up there with some of the worst crap the Mediterranean has ever witnessed. It still gets the message across, but it doesn't make a claim that can't easily be proven.

This is an AP story. You'd think its editors would know this as well.

Some improvement at the border

The good news: overall Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal immigrants are down.

The bad news: while some of it is the result of discouragement of potential crossings by the slightly increased presence of National Guard troops, it is likely that most of the drop can be attributed to extreme heat (word is getting out about the immigrants who die of thirst in the Arizona desert) and a temporary lull as the action moves east and west.

The Border Patrol reports that illegal crossing attempts are up in Texas, New Mexico and near San Diego. Also, it is reported that the coyotes - the term for professional illegal immigrant transporters - are raising their prices to $1,000 a head. There are two ways to look at this: the first is that it is riskier business to assist an illegal crossing these days. If there, indeed, are fewer customers, prices may have been raised to compensate. A coyote gotta eat too.

As for New Mexico, Border Patrol chief David Aguilar said that the 13% increase is largely due to the fact that New Mexico has been short-changed on border control resources in the past.

Overall, the good news outweighs the bad news. Let's hope the trend continues.

Oh yeah, this is a good idea ...

China plans to test its "artificial sun" on August 15.

It's a super-conducting fusion collider. The Chinese say the plasma discharge will be brief and contained by 5-ft. thick walls and 3-ft. ceilings, all of concrete.

Given the nature of the processes and energies involved, we think the Chinese are skimping a little on the safety barrier. Remember, this is the same China that has huge cracks in the concrete at the just completed Three Gorges Dam project.

You might want to have your bottled water, first aid kit and three or four weeks of canned goods on hand, especially if you live close to the Pacific coast. Just in case.

Cornyn spikes Mexican public works bill

He's not out of the doghouse yet, as far as we are concerned, but U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas took a step in the right direction by spiking his own bill that would create an investment fund for public works in Mexico (paid for, of course, by U.S. and Canadian taxpayers).

Cornyn's office said he took the action after taking a second look (or maybe it was a first look) at the measure, which reads as if it had been written by someone close to American University's Professor Robert Pastor, a big fan of EU-style mega-governments. Pastor wants one for North America.

Which brings up an interesting point: why do senators and congressmen introduce bills they apparently have not read? Who drafts these things? What is the process for getting a senator to sign the dotted line?

Sounds as if we need some of that reform in Washington.

And Cornyn still hasn't explained why he voted against funding 370 miles of new security fences for the southern border. Not out of the doghouse yet, no sirree.

Vegetables As Weaponry

We're not sure if there's any backstory correlation between these two items, but the prudent citizen must be suspicious:

Man Charged After Hitting Wife in Eye with Carrot

Vegetables to Get Olympic Identity Codes

BEIJING (Reuters) - As if China didn't have its hands full keeping tabs on its 1.3 billion people, the country will now begin tracking its vegetables.

In an attempt to ensure food safety during the 2008 Olympics, Beijing is to give every cabbage, carrot and pea pod its own identity number and file, the Beijing News reported on Wednesday.

If there is a "safety incident" the vegetable's file can be immediately checked and its origins traced, the newspaper said, in a report accompanied by graphics showing personnel at computers tracking each vegetable's path from farm to plate.

Apparently the Chinese know something about the rising levels of vegetable violence that we don't know. Shouldn't our government be initiating a buffet of new homeland security initiatives so that we are as protected as the Chinese?

A Discovery followup

A friend of ours pointed out that we looked a bit foolish after making such a fuss over the decision to launch on Independence Day, being as how Discovery's mission has gone pretty well.

Upon further review, we stick with our position. We are grateful to God Almighty for His protection of this (and every) shuttle flight. We're thankful nothing has happened. We hope nothing ever again happens.

But we are not optimistic. As long as public relations and politics wags the dog at NASA, instead of safety, security and prudence, there is a growing chance of catastrophic mishap. Worse, these clowns realize it, but consider it an acceptable risk.

Had something happened to Discovery on Independence Day, the day itself would be tainted for years. Symbolism is important, but it can just as easily work against you as for you. There are good reasons no manned American flight had ever used our nation's birthday as a launching date.

There still are.

You should know: The U.S. Senate is not serious about border security

After making a big show in May about the need for beefed-up border security by voting to authorize 370 miles of fence in critical areas along the border with Mexico, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly DEFEATED a bill to fund it yesterday.

"We do a lot of talking. We do a lot of legislating," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican whose amendment to fund the fence was killed on a 71-29 vote. "The things we do often sound very good, but we never quite get there."
...
Mr. Sessions said that if his colleagues were serious about building the fence that they promised, they would find the funding.

"We will rightly be accused of not being serious about the commitments we've made to the American people with regard to actually enforcing the laws of immigration in America, which many Americans already believe we're not serious about," he said. "They don't respect what we've done in the past, and they should not. We have failed, and it's time for us to try to fix it and do better."

To prove his point, Mr. Sessions offered another amendment, which appropriated another $85.7 million to enable Homeland Security to hire 800 more full-time investigators to probe immigration-law violations. The vote against that amendment was 66-34.

In May the Senate voted 83-16 to authorize the fence. What has changed since May? Absolutely nothing. It was always a sham vote.

These men and women are America's worst hypocrites.

Here's the essential part of what you need to know before November:

1. Every Democrat, save two, in the Senate voted against funding the fence. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is running for re-election and knows his constituency won't stand for any games. That's good. As long as he respects his voters, he can stay. The other Dem was Thomas Carper of Delaware, also running for re-election. A check of his record indicates he isn't as far left as most of his party, so perhaps he should stay as well. As for all others who may be on the ballot this year: may you lose badly and rot in hell.

2. So-called independent Jim Jeffords, the turncoat Republican, voted against the fence. He's retiring anyway. Good riddance. Surely the people of Vermont can do better.

3. Only 27 Republicans voted for the fence. They are (alphabetically) Allen of Virginia, Brownback of Kansas, Bunning of Kentucky, Burns of Montana, Burr of North Carolina, Chambliss of Georgia, Craig and Crapo, both of Idaho, DeMint of South Carolina, DeWine of Ohio, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Dole of North Carolina, Ensign of Nevada, Enzi of Wyoming, Grassley of Iowa, Hatch of Utah, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Isakson of Georgia, Lott of Mississippi, Roberts of Kansas, Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sessions and Shelby, both of Alabama; Talent of Missouri, Thomas of Wyoming, Thune of South Dakota and Vitter of Louisiana. Any of those who might happen to be running for office this year deserve your consideration.

Those Republicans who did not included both Tennessee senators, Lamar Alexander and Bill Frist. (Davy Crockett is surely spinning in his grave!) Wimpy Alexander is up for re-election in 2008. Do not forget!

Notable on the list of those who voted against funding the fence is Texas Sen. John Cornyn who, it was reported earlier this week, is pushing a bill (SB 3622) that would use American taxpayer dollars to fund public service projects in Mexico. It would not surprise us to discover that those projects are connected to the NAFTA SuperHighway project. Regardless of their intent, do we really need to be spending billions on Mexican public works when we can't even muster $1.8 billion (a budgetary hiccup for this bloviated Congress) for pieces of a security fence?

It's damn certain that someone's interests are being representing in the U.S. Senate, but we do not think they are yours or ours. We live in strange times in which the loony left and corporate elitists have Congress in a stranglehold, and the needs and desires of the vast majority of the citizenry is ignored.

The only realistic solution is for us to get mad and stay mad long enough to do some rearrangement of the membership of Congress come next January.

Pray for Discovery & her crew

It is roughly two hours before NASA is set (we would say "hell bent") on launching the space shuttle Discovery, the first launch ever of any space vehicle on Independence Day.

The space agency's chief engineer says the shuttle should not be flown.

The head of NASA's safety office says the shuttle should not be flown.

A piece of cracked foam on Monday threatened the launch today, but the word was given last night to go ahead anyway.

We pray that Discovery's launch goes well, it's mission is successful, and that it returns to Earth safe and sound with all crew members smiling.

For if something goes wrong today, succeeding Fourths of July will be marred with the knowledge that the public relations people overrode the concerns of the people who are charged with the safe operation of the spacecraft, resulting in disaster.

This decision to launch is the very definition of hubris. Obviously we have learned nothing.

A 'rolling fast' - sacrificial farce

Several Hollywood types against the war are pledging to conduct a "rolling fast" in conjunction with celebrated moonbat Cindy Sheehan's authentic fast.

What, you might ask, is a "rolling fast"?

Hollywood star "A" abstains from food for 24 hours, then dials up Hollywood starlet "B" - ala a tag team maneuver - who will take it from there. Since almost anyone can go without food for a day, no one suffers much.

This is what passes for depth of commitment these days.

And the left wonders why America does not take their anti-war effort seriously.

Fasting should be done in the spirit of personal sacrifice. What we see instead is a sacrificial farce.

If these protesters were to combine fasting with prayer, asking God for the return of the soldiers in Iraq, they might actually see results. But no one seems eager to publicly discuss the spiritual benefits of praying and fasting for an end to the war. That's too bad, but not particularly surprising.

With few exceptions, the left would rather demonize the president and the military in pursuit of a political (worldly) solution to the war, than seek God's divine will on a spiritual (non-worldly) solution.