There's a letter to the editor from Valinda Jo Elliott in today's Republic.

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From MEMRI comes more of what we knew already. However, the title of the article tells it all: Palestinian Legislative Council Member: The PA is Corrupt. Here are a few excerpts.

'There is Only One Institution—The Presidency'

"No minister can appoint a driver or a delivery boy in his ministry without the president's consent. Things depend solely on the president. The health minister cannot appoint a doctor unless he gets a financial guarantee signed by the president. The education minister cannot appoint a teacher unless he first obtains a financial guarantee for the appointment, signed by the president. There is no institutional process. There is only one institution, and that is the institution of the presidency, which has no law or order and is based on bribing top officials."

'Only Arafat Knows How the Budget is Managed'

"In a meeting that lasted over four hours, we could not manage to obtain any results. We spared no efforts to obtain the necessary funds. We even [considered] the possibility of splitting it up into installments. But the answer was always that there was no money in the budget. This gives rise to questions, [such as] where are the budget reserves? Where is the money? The answer we received from the general budget director was that she didn't know where the funds are, how to withdraw them, or how to get them. The budget director doesn't know; [neither does] the treasury minister. I think Arafat is the only one who knows how the budget is managed. I would like to mention the names of several people from PA circles who can withdraw funds: Abu Osama Muhammad, Abu Osama Sa'id, Abu Hussein, Sami Al-Ramlawi, Fuad Al-Shubaki, and so on. All of them have funds, and need only Arafat's signature to withdraw them."

'Arafat Buys Loyalties'

Q: "Kanafani receives this amount in exchange for what?"

Al-Masri: "For his loyalty to the president. This is why in Legislative Council meetings Kanafani defends the president and the [Palestinian] Authority with all his might – the might of the $40,000 he receives. In exchange for such sums, Kanafani and his cronies act to thwart all talk of reform, of demands for accountability, or even of the smallest of investigations. They act to thwart demands for investigating any top PA official, and do not flinch from saying that the Legislative Council members have no right to demand accountability from the ministers or from the heads of the security apparatuses. This is against [Legislative] Council regulations."
And so on....

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: (via Daddy Warblogs) We'd give the Palestinians a state if Bruce Springsteen would come."

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Cynthia McKinney's extensive campaign contributions from Arab-Americans, some with suspected ties to terrorism, have been published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (via Instant Man)

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Seems like Martha Stewart's actions are catching up with her.

A Florida stockholder in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (MSO.N) filed a class action suit against chief executive Martha Stewart on Friday, blaming her for the recent drop in the company's share price.

In the 13-page complaint, Hahn alleged that he suffered damages of at least $75,000 as a result of Stewart becoming embroiled in an insider trading scandal.

He cited the MSO 1999 prospectus as saying, "Our business would be adversely affected if Martha Stewart's image or reputation were to be tarnished. Our continued success and the value of our brand name therefore depends, to a large degree on the reputation of Martha Stewart."

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O. Ricardo Pimentel sends up his daily dose of drivel glorifying the undocumented immigrant. As Zonitics and others have mentioned, it's a good thing he works for a Gannett newspaper. His consistent plight of the oppressed Mexican-American would only fly at such an institution.

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Just when e-mail was getting boring, I get this:

From;Mr.David Kargbou and Family,
Johannesburg,South Africa.

My Dear , (I like not having a name)

Good day.This very confidential request should come as a surprise to you.But it is because of the nature of what is happening to me and my family urged me to contact you, and I quite understand that this is not the best way to contact you because of the nature of my request and the attention it requires.I got your contact information from your country's information directory during my desperate search for someone who can assist me secretly and confidentially in relocating and managing some family fortunes.
My name is Mr.David Kargbou,the second son of Mr.Smith Thabo Kargbou,of Beitbridge Zimbabwe.At the height of the present political crises in our country,in which the white farmers in our country are being slained and ripped off their belongings by the supporters of our president,Mr.Robert G.Mugabe,in their efforts to reclaim all the white owned farms in our country,my father and my elder brother were brutally slained to a painful death on the 13th of february,2002, in their struggle to protect some white farmers who ran to take refuge in our house.My father,during his life on earth was a prominent business man who trades on diamond and gold from some foreign countries .He publicly opposes the crude policies and crime against humanity on the white farmers by Mr.Robert Mugabe and his followers,which they enforced media law restrictions to protect their wicked acts.That not being enough,the president and his followers after winning the last undemocratic elections decided to block and confiscate all accounts and assets of our black indigenes[that included my fathers assets and accounts] who oppose his policies and render support to these white farmers,along with the assets of these white farmers themselves,that are being presently confiscated.I therefore decided to move my mother and younger sister to the Republic of South Africa,where we presently live without anything and without any source of livelyhood.
During my fathers life on earth,he had deposited the sum of Seven Million and Four Hundred Thousand United States Dollars[$7.400.000.00]in a Trunk box with a Finance and Security Company in the Republic of Togo for a cash and carry Diamond and Gold business with some foreign business customers, awaiting instructions to be moved to its destination,which he never completed before he met his untimely death on that faithful day.In view of this and as the only surviving son of my father,and with the present clamp down,killing and confiscation of his assets as one of those who render support to the white farmers in our country,I therefore humbly wish to inform you of my intentions to use your name and adress in making sure that this fund is lifted out of Africa finally,to the Asia office of the finance company and also seek for your honest and trustworthy assistance to help me clear and accommodate this money over there before it is dictated out and blocked by the present Mugabe's regime.My mother is presently with the valid document covering this deposit.

Now this is what I actually want you to do for me;

1. I want you to be presented to the Finance and Security company as the person I contacted to assist my family for this purpose, with whose name and adress myself and my mother will forward to them their office in the Republic of Togo as the person that will clear this money when they lift it out to their europe office.
2. To finally assist me in accommodating and managing this money in any lucrative business in your country for at least three years.
Please,I hope you will grant and view this very request with favour and much understanding of our situation now,and will be a very honest and reliable person to deal with.And also bearing in mind the confidential nature of this my request,I emphasize please that you keep every bit of it to yourself so as to protect my familys future and yourself rendering this help.Thanking you in anticipation of your urgent response as soon as you read this very request.

Best Regards,

Mr.David Kargbou and family.

My reply:

Daniel, (he didn't give me a name, so why get his name right?)

This sounds like a wonderful opportunity. Please send me more information.

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Although it's not amusing that our leaders are leaking intelligence information to the media, it is amusing that all of them are refusing to take lie detector tests.

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This one's a bit of a stretch.

MINSK, Belarus -- Authorities closed off the capital's biggest McDonald's on Friday to make way for a new university building in what the restaurant chain and the U.S. Embassy called a violation of investors' rights.

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It's a good thing that somebody came to their senses and decided to press charges aginst these hooligans.

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The esteemed professor agrees with the legal decision that the Gitmo detainees do not have the right to have their cases heard in a U.S. federal court.

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Just noticed that we will no longer be getting posts from BizQuick. Shame, as that blog was a good source of information on business and financial news. Maybe Dan will see fit to come back in the future.

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Today's NEWS FROM DENMARK hails from the Berlingske Tidende. The reason I chose this particular item was not because of its content (it's a film review), but the way it was presented. The headline, which was also displayed on the front page of the paper reads "Mexicanske motherfuckere." According to the internet translator, there is no English translation, but most people can figure that one out. You'd get shot in East L.A. if you said that. That's the difference between the Danish culture and ours.

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In the midst of all the stories of young children being abducted, we have a story of a four-year old girl who was the victim of a drive-by shooting.

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Can they can this guy already?

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Authorities have located the two teenage girls who were abducted last night north of L.A. The suspect was shot by police.

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Here's a new one for the conspiracy theorists. It's almost as good as the one that says that all U.S. $20 bills are encoded with a special code so the government can track the behavior of their possessor.

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Florida's controversial secretary of state is in the news again:

Harris, the state's chief elections official, said she had misunderstood the rules about when she had to quit to run for Congress.

Harris, a Republican who was thrust into the international spotlight during the 2000 presidential election recount, said she intended to quit later this month to focus on the congressional race, saying she can't effectively do both.

But the state's resign-to-run law required her to file a letter stating her intent to resign the day she qualified to run for Congress. If candidates don't do so, state law says they must resign immediately.

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Now they're killing Americans. This has to end, and NOW. I thought I was going to stop writing about this conflict, mainly because it was getting tiresome blogging the "Middle East Bombing of the Day," but now they're going after our citizens. It's time to show these Arabs that you don't mess with Uncle Sam.

So here's my proposal. While the Palestinians may be paranoid about the IDF bombing them from Tel Aviv, they won't be expecting US to come in and kick their asses as well! The cable news networks are all spewing venom about a first-strike against Iraq, as it's a deterrent. The nation knows that the enemy watches television, and won't give away the ACTUAL plan. So maybe I'm in step with the government's actual plan... But, more likely not.

It seems that Derbyshire is as outraged as I am, and commands a similar action from our government.

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The Asshole of The Week Award goes to none other than Rep. Steve May, who, after challenging the Arizona Clean Elections Law because he didn't want to pay a $2.70 surcharge on a parking ticket, is getting approximately $21,220 from that same source in the form of a political brochure - something which he could have declined to participate in.

Full disclosure: I have already mentioned in an earlier column that I reside in Rep. May's district, and will NOT be voting for this Asshole of The Week.

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First there was Vanilla Coke, now they want Diet Vanilla Coke. Or so they say. Just hope it tastes better than Tab.

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Guess who else is joining Enron, WorldCom and the others? That's right. My local phone company.

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Zacarias Moussaoui may not be the "20th Hijacker" after all, according to French intelligence. (via TalkLeft)

The French officials said they suspected, as do some American investigators, that Mr. Moussaoui, a French citizen arrested on visa violations last August, was not meant to take part in the hijackings on Sept. 11. Instead, they said they believed Al Qaeda leaders planned to use him in a follow-up attack, perhaps hijacking an American international flight.

The French officials, who have dug deeply into Mr. Moussaoui's ties to the terrorist group, said they suspected that other Al Qaeda members who supported him remain in the United States and could still be planning an attack.

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On the heels on Lance Armstrong's fourth Tour de France victory, NBC Sports contributor Ron Borges has the gall to suggest that Lance Armstrong is not an athlete. (via Jeff Cooper)

"CERTAINLY ARMSTRONG IS A HELL of a bike rider, but does that make him superior to Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, Jerry Rice or Marion Jones? Does it make him a better athlete than the Williams sisters?" Let's take that apart. Jordan, Bonds and Rice all play in highly televised, highly publicized sports. They are all great at what they do, but I bet that they couldn't hold their own with Lance on the bike, just like he's not going to knock 70 homers out of PacBell. Tennis is a different paced game, requiring fast reflexes. However, I bet Armstrong's legs and thighs are much stronger than the Williams sisters', who also play in a highly televised sport. Marion Jones competes in track and field, and comes the closest to Lance Armstrong. Why? Because both track and cycling are Olympic sports. Yes, Olympic sports. And last time I checked, Olympic sports were reserved for athletes.

Mr. Borges, please learn a little bit about the sport before vilifying it in the future. In fact, maybe you'd like to try a bit of competitive bikeriding yourself. Get up from behind that typewriter for a change.

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If the Al-Qaeda terrorists thought life it Gitmo was bad, look where we're sending them now. (via Instant Man)

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This article in U.S. News & World Report points out how bloggers are fact-checking and identifying bias in traditional media. We seem to being mentioned more and more in the newspapers and magazines, and that's a good thing, in my opinion. Traditional media outlets will be forced to present more balanced stories, and be more careful with their sources. (link via Susanna Cornett)

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Alley Writer has his own opinion of those who offer opinions, especially when it comes to books.

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Further proof that the "war on drugs" is a crock of bull: (via Andrea Harris)

The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday filed a lawsuit against school and police officials in a South Dakota town for using a drug-sniffing dog to search children as young as 6.

The ACLU said it believes this was the first case of a police dog being used to search elementary school children for drugs. The incident not only violated their Fourth Amendment rights but also left many young children "terrorized" in their classrooms, said Graham Boyd, lead ACLU counsel on the case.

In one kindergarten class, the dog escaped from its handler and chased screaming children around the room, the complaint alleges. In another class, it says, an 11-year-old girl who had been scarred in a pit bull attack two years earlier was traumatized when her teacher denied her permission to stand during the search.

Bernadette Raymond, the mother of four children named in the suit, said she believes there could be a racist motive behind the decision to use a dog to search the students, many of whom are Native American.

My question is, shouldn't we be concentrating our efforts on keeping terrorists out of our communities? I thought this was the Big Thing that the government was going after now. Instead of profiling adult Arab men, similar to the ones that allegedly blew up the World Trade Center and terrorized a nation, apparently the government finds it easier to profile Native American children, and terrorize them with police dogs. If they really wanted to fight this war on drugs and help the government fight its war on terrorism, the government could start by sealing the borders with Canada and Mexico. However, it appears that politics presides over national security once again.

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Here's the latest Amy Fisher column, for those of you that are interested.

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Here's where I got the initial story on the song about John Walker Lindh. The New York Post. Note that this story doesn't mention the full lyrics to the song, and takes them out of context? The song in its entirety makes the guy sound like he's realized he's screwed up somewhere along the line. It doesn't say when Lindh dies, he will "rise up to the sky like Jesus." That's what the Post wants you to think.

Here's what the song's lyrics say:

If my daddy could see me now -- chains around my feet

He don't understand that sometimes a man

Has to fight for what he believes

And I believe God is great all praise due to him

And if I should die I'll rise up to the sky

Just like Jesus, peace be upon him

What these Muslim extremists believe is that if they die in the cause of fighting holy war, then, yes, they will ascend to heaven. The reference to Jesus was made not to compare John Walker Lindh and his like to Jesus Christ, but to draw a parallel for those not well versed in both religions. At least that's my opinion, and it sounds good in the context of the song. I don't think Steve Earle meant to offend anyone in the writing of this song, however, I do think in John Walker Lindh he saw good subject material and went after it.

Screw the Post if they can't take a joke. However, for those of you that may be offended by the song, take a breath and listen to the lyrics. The song's not as full of hope as you may think. Read this, as it's been cited elsewhere. It was my inspiration on an about-face on the song.

Finally, I don't condone what John Walker Lindh did, I think it's morally reprehensible and un-American. He got off very easy and he better have a LOT of information to support that plea bargain he got. However, I'm sure it all comes down to money.

UPDATE: Matt Welch shares my views on both the Post and the song.

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