Lawsuit for Insulting France

(Tokyo, Japan) After a prominent government official stated the French is "a failed international language," twenty-one teachers and translators filed a lawsuit against him, asking for 10.5 million yen (about $95,000) in compensation. The official, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, is known for his outspokenness on a variety of issues.

Personally, I think that Ishihara could have said the same thing about the Japanese language and been more accurate. French is the official language in dozens of countries. Japanese is the official language in only one country.

Mr. Ed Is Dead

Several of my acquaintances would be disturbed by this story.

From the Mainichi Daily News:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Some customers say wild horses couldn't drag them to the table at a New Zealand restaurant that's offering a chargrilled horsemeat dish called "Mr. Ed is Dead."

Restaurant owner David Kerr said Wednesday that he received lots of complaints and abusive phone calls after he started serving horse steaks at his eatery in Hamilton, North Island, as part of an annual event during which restaurateurs compete to offer the best out-of-the-ordinary culinary delights to diners.

The calls were "pretty lively and disgusting and not comforting for the staff," Kerr said, adding that "there was swearing, cursing, horrible language," compelling him to call the police.

Nevertheless, some customers couldn't wait to chow down when horse appeared on his menu at the weekend. Kerr said he sold 10 horse steak meals on Monday night.

An official for Monteith's Wild Food Challenge, Kerry Tyack, said that horse is a "different" menu item but there's nothing wrong with it. If people don't care for it, Tyack adds, "stay away."

My take is that people should be allowed to eat whatever they desire and it's pretty much none of my business. Of course, I'm excluding people who want to eat other people.

Iraqis Protest Terror

Iraqi citizens demonstrated in the streets to protest terrorism. I think it's inexcusable that the elite media ignores this type of positive story from Iraq. Blackfive has the story and pictures.

Ballot Measure to Oppose Recruiters

(San Francisco) Here we have a group openly taking action to restrain the ability of the U.S. military to do its job in a time of war. I would deem the action as conduct leading to resistance to the constituted authority of the United States government. My dictionary (Webster's) defines this conduct as sedition.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Anti-war activists delivered more than 15,000 signatures to San Francisco City Hall on Monday in hopes of including on the Nov. 8 ballot an initiative opposing military recruiting at the city's public high schools and colleges.

And, from an AP report:

The San Francisco initiative is part of a larger "counter-recruitment" battle being fought over the Pentagon's recruitment efforts and exclusion of openly gay recruits being waged around the country.

Clearly, the whole purpose of the effort is to impede, or completely deny, recruiting by the U.S. military in high schools and colleges. Now, I'm not a legal scholar but, if this "counter-recruitment" plan doesn't meet the definition of sedition, it sure seems to be cozying up to it.

Car Surfing

Although it's new in the field of athletic endeavors, it seems that just about everyone that participates in the thrilling sport of car surfing wins an award, a Darwin Award.

Mariah Carey's Clothes Fall Off

(Karlsruhe, Germany) Surely, there wasn't any mention in the show's program.

From The Sun Online:

POP stunner Mariah Carey accidentally flashed her breasts at stunned fans during a TV show in Germany when her dress fell apart.


Mariah Carey
But the red-faced superstar saw the funny side, quipping: "Someone bring me a jacket or the show's off, we all know how quickly these images can spread around the world."

Really? I haven't seen any. Nevertheless, I'd recommend that Mariah quit buying cheap clothes.

Regarding a related subject, there's no truth to the rumor that Justin Timberlake was involved. However, it's no rumor that INXS is looking for a new lead singer.

Four Human Rights Activists Murdered

Via Chad Evans comes this story from Baghdad.

From USATODAY:

Armed men stormed a house in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing four Iraqi human rights activists and wounding another, a member of the group said.

The victims belonged to the local International Organization for Human Rights and were shot by several men at their office in the western neighborhood of Jamaa, their colleague Jamal Ibrahim said.

"As soon as we entered the office, we saw four dead bodies," Ibrahim said. "A fifth person was wounded and the neighbors rescued him."

Condolences to the families and friends of those who were murdered.

It is beyond my comprehension of common sense to understand how people can devote their lives to human rights activism in the middle of a war zone. It's suicidal. Imagine the ludicrous image of a few activists setting up an office in Berlin during WWII to try and convince the Third Reich to be kinder to prisoners at Auschwitz.

I don't mean to be cruel, but it seems that human rights activists should be working to support and achieve an environment of civilized peace before they worry about blurry human rights idealism. Yet, oddly, any honest assessment of human rights activism, as it's currently being practiced, has to conclude that the wrong side is being supported. The terrorists can maim and behead innocent civilians all day long and neither Amnesty International (AI) nor Human Rights Watch will issue one peep. But let a U.S. Marine inappropriately handle the Koran and, globally and loudly, human rights activists issue protests. And, the protests endure and are magnified, all the way to the floor of the United States Senate.

Day after day, the terrorists kill innocent people and human rights activists look the other way. As an example, the current (7/13/05 0830 EDT) lead story on the AI website calls for President Bush to stop torturing terrorists that are imprisoned while, as a earlier report indicates, a terrorist bomber today killed 24 children in Baghdad.

I personally believe that the term "human rights activism" is nothing more than a euphemism for "anti-American activism" and, by the process of elimination, "activism in support of America's enemies." On an individual level, I'm sure some people are truly concerned about human rights. However, on an organizational level, and relying on an honest assessment, there is little evidence that human rights groups give one whit about global human rights while it's easy to prove their relentless bashing of the United States.

Suicide Bomber Kills 24 Children

(Baghdad, Iraq) What sort of God would sanction the mass killing of children? Just like Beslan last year, the terrorists, militants, insurgents, jihadists, or whatever you want to call them have once again proven that they are nothing but child murderers. They are despicable human scum.

From ABC News Online:

Twenty-four Iraqi children and one US soldier have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack in south-eastern Baghdad.

US forces say 18 more children were wounded, along with two US soldiers.

"A driver approached one of the US Humvees and then detonated his car," Sergeant David Abrams said.

"One US soldier was killed and two wounded," he said.

One eyewitness, Mohammed Ali Hamza, says US forces turned up in the Al-Jedidah district to warn residents to stay indoors because of reports of a car bomb in the area.

"Children gathered round the Americans who were handing out sweets. Suddenly a suicide car bomber drove round from a side street and blew himself up," he said.

Bastards!

Overwhelming evidence indicates that the Muslim religion has been hijacked by a cult of thugs who intentionally kill innocent civilians, many of them women and children. This fact alone should be enough to shake the typical believer's faith.

Terrorists are criminals, plain and simple, waging a war against civilization and humanity. They have no loyalties save deathly violence. The grievances espoused by the terrorists are a mix of pick-any-card complaints that are impossible to satisfy because their real objective is the annihilation of all populations who are not subservient and enslaved to their death-mongering. Terrorists cannot be appeased, nor can they be satisfied. They will continue killing indiscriminately until they are exterminated.

True followers of the Muslim faith need to wake up and not take it anymore. They and their children are being murdered by fanatics.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Mitsubishi Offers to Buy Westinghouse

Japan's manufacturing giant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has offered to buy Westinghouse Electric Co. from its British parent company, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., for a reported $1.8 billion. Mitsubishi and Westinghouse have recently collaborated in a bid to build four nuclear power plants in China.

Jawa on CNN

Congrats to Rusty. Today, The Jawa Report was high-lighted on CNN's inside blogs segment. Next, Rusty will need an agent, then on to the Larry King Show. He'll probably even meet Wolf Blitzer and, maybe, Ted Turner.

Woo-Hoo! Fame!

Sunni Group Beheads Iranian Security Agent

Muslims sure have an obsession with chopping heads off.

From The Courier-Mail:

A LITTLE-KNOWN Sunni Muslim group has beheaded an Iranian security agent it abducted last month in officially Shiite Iran and has issued a video tape of the killing, Al Arabiya television reported today.

Al Arabiya said the Organisation of God's Soldiers for Sunni Mujahideen (Holy Fighters) in Iran had issued the tape, but the satellite channel would not air the footage of the killing.

It broadcast parts of the video showing a masked man pushing the blindfolded hostage, identified as Shahab Mansouri, to the ground and another approaching him with a knife.

The tape's authenticity could not be verified immediately.

On June 20, Al Arabiya aired a video from the group threatening to "send the hostage's head as a gift to the elected president" if Iranian authorities did not free its imprisoned members within three weeks.

Well, it's been about three weeks and the Sunnis followed through on their threat, presumably carried out on orders from the group's leader, Abdul Malik Baluchi. Based upon his appearance in the video, Baluchi is believed to be from Iran's remote southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, an area of sporadic unrest.

It's interesting that Al Arabiya decided not to air the video. Could it be that the station is leery of offending the Iranian government?

"French Kisses" Ruled Illegal

From the Wichita Eagle:

A teacher who "French kisses" a student over the age of 16 still has committed an illegal sex act under state law, the Kansas Court of Appeals has ruled.

The court ruled on the appeal of Lori Lynn Stout, 32, a former teacher and coach at Wellington High School. She had been found guilty by a Sumner County jury of unlawful sexual relations.

The case involved her relationship with a 16-year-old female student.

Oddly, not once when I was going to school did this type of issue arise, but times change. Curiously, I wonder if the ruling will affect any student's grade.

Diversity Committee Rejects Tolerance Video

(Broward County, Florida) The local school district has decided to protect young children from getting mixed messages.

From The Miami Herald:

A music video that features Barney, Big Bird and SpongeBob singing a message of family and togetherness will not be distributed in Broward County schools, after members of a diversity committee deemed it objectionable.

Some members of the diversity committee said the We Are Family DVD, intended to teach tolerance to preschool and elementary kids, could confuse children about the difference between family members and strangers and open the door to discussion about sexual orientation.

"Even in the liberal group, they understand that these people are trying to mess with our kids' minds and introduce all kinds of activities in the name of tolerance," said Steve Kane, a radio talk show host and a member of the diversity committee, which voted 10-7 against the video in May.

Well, bully for Broward! In my opinion, society is shoving way too much stuff down the throats of kids. I would imagine that in some places kids are being indoctrinated in homosexuality before they can tie their shoes.

Strip Club Spanking

(Jacksonville, Arkansas) One would normally think that spankings in a strip club happen often and with glee. Not so, according to the following story.

From 7Online.com:

Three strippers and two nightclub managers are under arrest - accused of spanking a trucker at his 31st birthday bash and severely bruising his backside.

While one of the strippers restrained his head with her legs Keith Lowery was handcuffed and spanked with a 3-foot-long paddle and a belt, investigators with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office said. His friends paid $25 for the service.

Stripper Kelly Eslick, 21, who works at Sensations nightclub in Jacksonville told police that she used a paddle drilled with holes for less air resistance while the two other dancers, Lisa Nolen, 23, and Charlene Smith, 23, used the belt.

Club employees James Daugherty, 31, and Dena Mitchell, 30, were charged with participating in an obscene performance at a live public show, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while the three women were charged with misdemeanor battery as well.

It just tickles me that someone could be charged with being obscene at a strip club. Who would have thought? And since when do strippers get schooled in subjects like air resistance of paddles? It also appears that Keith Lowery's friends don't like him all that much since they paid to whack him.

Nevertheless, trucker Keith Lowery probably won't be invited back to the strip club.

Shopping Center Bombed in Israel

(Netanya, Israel) - 1230 EDT - The Palestinian terrorist group, Islamic Jihad, has claimed responsibility for this latest suicide attack.

From Reuters:

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya on Tuesday, killing at least three people and dealing a heavy blow to a five-month old truce, security sources said.

It's reported that 30 people have been wounded from the explosion. According to police, the bomb detonated at the entrance to the Kenyon Hasharon mall around 6:30pm local time.

- 1310 EDT - FOXNews now is reporting that 3 people died, including the bomber who has been identified as an 18-year-old Palestinian. Forty-six people were wounded.

English-Learner Testing Challenged

(Phoenix, Arizona) Whoa! Teachers are complaining that their students are doing well. Yep! There's screeching on the blackboard with some educators saying that kids are being set up for failure because too many are passing the new state English test. Preliminary results indicate that students are passing the English proficiency test at twice the former rate. The educators contend that the new testing and grading process is flawed and that the students really can't write and talk none too good.

Not so, says Tom Horne, the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. On the contrary, Horne asserts that the criticism of the new test arose because school districts lose the extra money, about $350 per English-language learner, when the student demonstrates proficiency by passing the test.

As an everyday citizen who hasn't seen the test, I can't evaluate the appropriateness of the testing. Maybe an expert like Kimberly Swygert at Number 2 Pencil could weigh in on that. However, I do know that organizations (all organizations, not just school systems) will always battle to keep funds flowing long after a program's justification has vanished. Therefore, Superintendent Horne's contention that criticism is fiscally based has merit.

Worth mentioning is another aspect of the controversy which likely disturbs at least a few teachers. It is the federal requirement to have one test only used in determining English proficiency. Previously, school districts could choose among four alternative tests. Taking away that authority must gall at least a few educators.

In conclusion, the simple fact that students are passing the new test at an astonishingly higher rate indicates that either the new test has significant flaws, the old tests have significant flaws, or both. Whatever the circumstance, however, correction is achievable by having everyone take the same test. Tom Horne might want to tell his critics to pound their erasers.

Eight Polygamists Arrested on Child Sex Charges

(Flagstaff, Arizona) The eight men in custody are part of the multiple-marriage sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The group's members are accused of sexual misconduct with children and they have lived for years in Colorado City, along the Utah-Arizona border, where a cat-and-mouse game with law enforcement has been ongoing. Thanks to additional resources, authorities are making strides to shut down the operation.

From The Arizona Republic:

In another blow to Colorado City's frontier polygamist society, eight men on Monday surrendered themselves to Mohave County authorities in Kingman after being indicted during the past month on sexual misconduct charges with their underage brides.

Among those arrested were a former police officer, Rodney Holm of neighboring Hildale, Utah, who received national attention two years ago after being convicted of marrying his third wife, who was 16 at the time. Holm, 38, who served a year in county jail in Utah, also is married to the girl's older sister.

Others arrested include: Donald Robert Barlow, David Romaine Bateman, and Terry Darger Barlow, Vergel Bryce Jessop, Randolph Joseph Barlow, Dale Evans Barlow, and Kelly Fischer.

The leader of the sick pedophile sect, Warren Jeffs, is on the lam. He's wanted on sex charges and illegal flight. Jeffs may be in Colorado, Texas, or British Columbia, holed up with other sect members.

Suspicious Package Scare at Clear Channel

(Independence, Ohio) Here's the story. Someone spills coffee or something else on a package delivered to a building that houses several radio stations in Independence. No one could explain the package or the liquid, so 500 employees were ordered to evacuate the building. Authorities investigated and found the package contained only paperwork.

Overly cautious? Maybe, maybe not, however, one thing seems certain. The general public is sensitized to the possibility of terrorism.

At Least One Ohio State Professor Is An Idiot

(Columbus, Ohio) It's certain that some people believe there are more. However, assistant clinical professor and director of public health practice at OSU, Frank Holtzhauer, definitely dons the dunce cap today for trying to board an airplane with a loaded .32-caliber handgun.

Tom Cruise Not Welcome in Paris

(Paris) If you're a communist, socialist, anarchist, or jihadist, you'll likely not be hassled in France. Unfortunately, Tom Cruise picked the wrong "ist."

From The Australian:

THE Paris city hall has pledged not to make US actor Tom Cruise an honorary citizen - because of his membership of the Church of Scientology.

In a debate late yesterday, the Socialist-controlled municipal assembly approved a resolution "never to welcome the actor Tom Cruise, spokesman for Scientology and self-declared militant for this organisation."

The French, along with many other European countries, have deemed that Scientology is a dangerous cult and Cruise is considered a "sect-symbol" for the cult.

My take is that one doesn't have to be European to suspect that Scientology is a cult. Just take a close look at Tom Cruise's eyes while he's being interviewed.