Jihad Made In Europe

This means, of course, that the Bush administration ought to preempt fate and suspend the visa-waiver program established in 1986 for Western Europeans. It is true that consular officers were a poor frontline defense before 9/11 against Muslim extremists trying to enter the United States. But the United States would be safer with some screening mechanism, however imperfect, before Europeans arrive at our borders. The transatlantic crowd in Washington--the bedrock of America's foreign-policy establishment--might rise in high dudgeon at the damage this could do to U.S.-European relations. The State Department's European and consular-affairs bureaus might add that they no longer have the staff to handle the enormous number of applicants. Ignore them. American-European relations were just fine when we required all Europeans to obtain visas before crossing our borders. Consular officers are among the most overworked personnel in the U.S. government. So draft poorly utilized personnel from the Department of Homeland Security until the consular corps at the State Department can grow sufficiently. Issuing visas to Europeans would be an annoying inconvenience for all; it would not, however, be an insult. Given the damage one small cell of suicidally inclined radical Muslim Europeans could do in the New York City or Washington metro or on Amtrak's wide-open trains, it's not too much to ask.

It's about Iraq - so what?

And then there's the problem of saying that an effort isn't worthwhile if murderers oppose it. Nobody ever says it's not worth prosecuting the mob after mobsters murder policemen or judges in an attempt to intimidate them. And yet, even Blair is buying into the argument that if it were true that the London bombings were the result of the Iraq invasion, then the Iraq invasion would have been wrong. By this logic, it was wrong to declare war on Hitler because of the Blitz.

London attacks "meant to kill"

Of the attacks, Scotland Yard commissioner Sir Ian Blair said, "These are criminal acts and we are in pursuit of a set of criminals." WRONG! The acts are acts of terrorism, and the Yard is in pursuit of a set of terrorists. There is a fundamental difference between a criminal and a terrorist, and Sir Ian knows what it is.

Sad

The fundamental nature of American childhood has changed in a single generation. The unstructured outdoor childhood — days of pick-up baseball games, treehouses and 'be home for dinner' — has all but vanished.

Solidarity!

All human beings of good will are in solidarity with London.

Other Than Mexican? Welcome to America

More horrific news about the porosity of our border with Mexico, and the non-handling of the issue by our government. (Click on title of post to go to full article on FOX News.com.)

You fail.

We are not afraid of the terrorists. What if a terrorist did something that was supposed to be terrifying, and no one was terrified?

 

Why?

Why do children born to illegal immigrants automatically become legal citizens of the United States? I just sayin'.

*thumbs nose at terrorists*

Web site shows defiance to terrorists who bombed the London Underground and a bus, killing over fifty innocent civilians and injuring hundreds.

The Beeb

As usual, Michelle Malkin has the goods. In "The 7/7 Attacks: The BBC Backslides," she details how the British Broadcasting Corporation is back to their old trick of whitewashing terrorism.

Terrorism

FOX News has an article entitled, "Coping With Psychological Effects of Terror." Here's an excerpt:

"The use of terrorism as a tactic is predicated upon inducing a climate of fear that is incommensurate with the actual threat," says Middle Eastern historian Richard Bulliet of Columbia University.

Ergo, the logical thing to do is to realize what level of fear would be appropriate and not allow one's fear to escalate above that level. Thus, terrorism is defeated. Q. E. D.

Supreme quotas?

Dr. Thomas Sowell on Supreme court nominations:

It wouldn't matter if all nine Justices of the Supreme Court were women, if these were the nine best people available. But to decide in advance that you were going to appoint a woman and then look only among women for a nominee was a dangerous gamble with a court that has become dangerous enough otherwise.

Pocket Contents (w/pic)

This photograph is of the coffee table in the living room of my Mother's house. I had just mowed her back yard, my clothes were soaking wet with sweat, and I had emptied my pockets, prior to changing into some dry clothes. Well, not everything on the table was from my pockets, e. g., the battery-powered electric shaver, the paperback book (about which I will have more to say in a later post), the glass bowl, and the cardboard box.

Some of the things that did come out of my pockets (from bottom-center, clockwise): my wallet, some cash (coins and bills), my cellular telephone, keys, more coins, a red comb, a ballpoint pen, my checkbook, a yellow pencil, my belt, my glasses, and a fingernail clipper.

Vacation Fun! (w/pic)

This is where I spent part of my afternoon this Fourth of July holiday--the coin operated laundry, or, as the sign says, COI_ L__NDR_! Also, I spent a good part of the afternoon mowing my Mother's back yard. In a light rain. 

Edjumakashun

From FARK.com:

Toyota building new plant in Canada despite massive subsidy offers from American states. Reason: southern Americans too dumb and illiterate to train; need directions in pictorial form.

FARK entry links to this article:

He [Gerry Fedchun, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association] said Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained - and often illiterate - workforce. In Alabama, trainers had to use "pictorials" to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment.

Smuggling

FOX News is carrying an Associated Press story, on the Internet, which deals with how easy it is to smuggle people into the United States.

A restaurateur in this border city [Tijuana, Mexico] ran another business smuggling Lebanese compatriots into the United States, some with connections to Hezbollah. A Sept. 11 commission staff report called him the only "human smuggler with suspected links to terrorists" convicted in the United States. But he is not unique, according to an Associated Press investigation based on government and court records and scores of interviews.

Supremes

For Independence Day, Supreme Court Slams Founders