The Original Musings

… contains a “but only if you’re not breaching the peace” clause?

I didn’t either.  So let’s think about this. Have you ever seen a protest up close and personal?

• I’ve seen protests at nuclear plants and military bases, electric companies and boards of education.
• I’ve seen protests outside of abortion clinics where people were screamed at and names were called, people were blocked and horrific photos were displayed for all the world to see.
• I’ve seen people protest at the funerals of American soldiers where grieving widows, children, siblings and parents were taunted and placards declaring “God Hates Fags!” were displayed in proclamation that God allows the deaths of soldiers to somehow make a point about gays being sinners.
• I’ve seen protests outside of businesses with strikes going on where workers are screaming at customers and non-striking employees.
• I’ve seen the KKK march down the street screaming about how they hate blacks while angry crowds shout and protest their “freedom of speech” that allows them to be so openly offensive.
• I’ve seen angry customers picketing businesses complete with shouting and exhortations not to patronize the offending store/vendor/whatever.
• I’ve seen gays gathered to demand their right to equal protection, right to marry, right to raise children, etc. I’ve seen the crowds of protesters demanding no consideration for what they deem “lifestyle choices.”
• I’ve seen teachers try to block students from attending school, and substitute teachers harassed and blocked as they try to report to work.
• I’ve seen people gathered outside the homes of suspected criminals — especially murderers and child molesters — and I’ve seen their innocent families taunted and tormented with no recourse.

I could go on and on but I think my point has been made.  People get passionate and heated about their beliefs.  Their beliefs are not always noble or just; they’re not always right and sometimes not even understandable. They’re not always quiet about it and they’re not often friendly, nice or polite about it.  ”Peaceable” protest is not often exercised, no matter what the topic du jour may be.

And yet, not once have I ever seen the cops show up and do more than insure that the protesters (and counter-protesters) don’t physically assault someone, interfere with the conduction of business, trespass onto private property or block traffic.

I don’t care how big a whackjob you are, how stupid your protest, or how wrong you may be, as long as you are not crossing the line into violence or property destruction, you’ve got a guaranteed right to do it and that’s how it should be.

So why, then, is a Pastor being denied the right to protest outside of an Islamic Center in Dearborn on the grounds that it *may* (not has, not did, not even “is likely to” but simply *might*) breach the peace and/or incite violence?

This is not right. You cannot penalize someone for something that *might* happen. That’s like saying “you can’t drive a car because you might run someone over” or “you can’t own a gun because it could kill someone.” You cannot punish someone for something — anything — that *could* happen, only for what *does* happen.

WXYZ Action News

How to bookmark a Koran

If a picture really is worth a thousand words, I bet about 900 of them about this one would be related to “infidels,” “Great Satan” and “death.”

Today’s multiculturalism is brought to you by the fine folks over at Noahwhere.

Time for an off-color joke

Three Muslims were hiking through a forest when they came upon a violently raging river.

Needing to get to the other side, the first Muslim prayed: “In the name of God, the infinitely Compassionate and Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds. Allah, be gracious unto your servant and grant me the strength to cross this river.”

Poof! Allah gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim across in about 2 hours, although he almost drowned twice.

After witnessing that, the second Muslim prayed: “In the name of God, the infinitely Compassionate and Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds. Allah, be gracious unto your servant and grant me the strength and the tools to cross this river.”

Poof! Allah gave him a rowboat and strong arms and he was able to row across in about an hour, although he almost capsized once.

Seeing what happened to the first two Muslims, the third Muslim prayed: “In the name of God, the infinitely Compassionate and Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds. Allah, be gracious unto your servant and grant me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross this river.”

Poof! He was turned into a Jew, promptly checked the map, hiked one hundred yards upstream and walked across the bridge.

A few little things to tickle your fancy …

Justin Bieber:  I made the statement on FB that I would be perfectly content to never hear about Justin Bieber again. Stump sent me this link, for which I was going to smite him, but I wound up laughing too hard.

Zombies: Since no one was seriously injured, this one makes me giggle.

Barry: Aww, heck, it’s just his middle name!

[...] Wednesday, when confronted with the anxiety that some Israelis feel toward him, Obama said that “some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion.”

“Ironically, I’ve got a Chief of Staff named Rahm Israel Emmanuel. My top political advisor is somebody who is a descendent of Holocaust survivors. My closeness to the Jewish American community was probably what propelled me to the U.S. Senate,” Obama said.

“I think that sometimes, particularly in the Middle East, there’s the feeling of the friend of my enemy must be my enemy, and the truth of the matter is that my outreach to the Muslim community is designed precisely to reduce the antagonism and the dangers posed by a hostile Muslim world to Israel and to the West,” Obama went on to say.

Obama added that he believed a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians could be achieved within his current term. “I think [Netanyahu] understands we’ve got a fairly narrow window of opportunity… We probably won’t have a better opportunity than we have right now. And that has to be seized. It’s going to be difficult.”

He cannot be that naive. I want whatever it is he’s smoking. Seriously. No, wait.  On second thought, I *don’t* want it.

More Barry:  Speaking of our Commander In Chief, he’s staying on top of that Gulf situation.  Honest.

I didn’t even know he had been sentenced!

Three different people (among them my daughter Anna) sent this to me today so it must be making the ’rounds on the internet.

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it? (Richard Reid) Did you know his trial is over? Did you know he was sentenced? Did you see/hear any of the judge’s comments on TV or Radio?  Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.

Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say.   After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his ‘allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,’ defiantly stating, ‘I think I will not apologize for my actions,’ and told the court ‘I am at war with your country.’  The Judge then delivered the sentence.

The version being sent around is close but not identical to what was actually said by the Judge.  Here is what the Judge said to Mr. Reid at his sentencing; this is taken from the transcript itself:

United States v. Reid — Final Statements by Judge Young

Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutive one with the other. That’s 80 years.

On Count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you on each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 for the aggregate fine of $2 million.

The Court accepts the government’s recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.

The Court imposes upon you the $800 special assessment.

The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need not go any further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and a just sentence. It is a righteous sentence. Let me explain this to you.

We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is all too much war talk here. And I say that to everyone with the utmost respect.

Here in this court where we deal with individuals as individuals, and care for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or that happens to be your view, you are a terrorist.

And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not treat with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists.

We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You’re a big fellow. But you’re not that big. You’re no warrior. I know warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders.

In a very real sense Trooper Santiago had it right when first you were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were and he said you’re no big deal. You’re no big deal.

What your counsel, what your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today? I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing.

And I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you. But as I search this entire record it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose.

Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely.

It is for freedom’s seek that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their, their representation of you before other judges. We care about it. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties.

Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms.

Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But this, however, will long endure. Here, in this courtroom, and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done.

The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged, and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That’s the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag still stands for freedom. You know it always will. Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down.

Here’s the best part of this: he was sentenced on January 31, 2003. The man has been serving his sentence for more than seven years, and someone is only just now bothering to pass around the Judge’s commentary. I guess it didn’t make good press?

You should enjoy these!

A FOX News article tells how 7,500 people sold their souls because they didn’t read the fine print.

A computer game retailer revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of online shoppers, thanks to a clause in the terms and conditions agreed to by online shoppers.

The retailer, British firm GameStation, added the “immortal soul clause” to the contract signed before making any online purchases earlier this month. It states that customers grant the company the right to claim their soul.

“By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions.”

GameStation’s form also points out that “we reserve the right to serve such notice in 6 (six) foot high letters of fire, however we can accept no liability for any loss or damage caused by such an act. If you a) do not believe you have an immortal soul, b) have already given it to another party, or c) do not wish to grant Us such a license, please click the link below to nullify this sub-clause and proceed with your transaction.”

The terms of service were updated on April Fool’s Day as a gag, but the retailer did so to make a very real point: No one reads the online terms and conditions of shopping, and companies are free to insert whatever language they want into the documents. [...]

The company noted that it would not be enforcing the ownership rights, and planned to e-mail customers nullifying any claim on their soul.

A surprising (at least to me) 88% of shoppers did not check the box which would have negated the soul-selling whilst keeping the transaction. That’s scary. I’m guess I’m anal or something because I actually DO read all the fine print. I almost got burned one time on eBay when I didn’t read all the terms and conditions of the sale which stated that if the winning bid was under a certain figure the postage and handling for the $10 item was $99. Since then, I go looking for crap in the fine print before I virtually sign on the dotted line.

From Hit & Run comes this notice of a challenge: the First Annual Everybody Draw Mohammed day, to be specific. Michael writes:

Via Dan Savage’s blog at The Stranger, some clever chappie (I don’t know who) has declared May 20, 2010 “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day,” in support of Matt Stone and Trey Parker and in opposition to religious thuggery.  [...]

I will be employing my tremendous skill as an illustrator, of course, and expect that my colleagues will do the same. If they refuse, they will be declared weak-kneed, namby-pamby, quisling infidels and will be shamed on this blog (Though such idle threats rarely work these days; perhaps I could threaten them with a painful death, which seems to do the trick). If readers would like to show their solidarity, please email your Mohammed masterpieces to me here: [obscured by me - go to his site to get the address, I don't want to contribute any fodder for spambots! I already admitted I'm paranoid about crap like this.] The best ones will be published on Hit & Run, which, along with the concomitant death threat, is reward enough.

I have to confess, I’m kind of surprised by Comedy Central pulling the episode. I didn’t realize they were that wimpy. You can’t honestly tell me there haven’t been dozens upon dozens of more offensive South Park episodes — why weren’t they pulled? I’ll tell you why: because Censorship = BAD. Shame on Comedy Central for caving.

Finally, you’ll get a kick out of this one … From the BBC News, an interesting little typo occurred on one page of a cookbook. Seems that although almost every recipe in the cookbook called for “salt and freshly ground black pepper,” one recipe had a tiny faux pas …

An Australian publisher has had to pulp and reprint a cookbook after one recipe listed “salt and freshly ground black people” instead of black pepper.

Penguin Group Australia had to reprint 7,000 copies of Pasta Bible last week, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported.

The reprint cost A$20,000 ($18,000; £12,000), but stock in bookshops will not be recalled as it is “extremely hard” to do so, Penguin said. [...]

The publisher professed amazement as to why anybody would be offended by the “silly mistake” but has assured that anyone who complains will be offered a replacement of the corrected edition. Has this dude read a newspaper lately?  Does he not realize how tight people’s knickers are wadded these days?  Personally, mind you, I’d like to get hold of one of the misprints!

… what he said! …

I was reading an American Spectator article by Ben Lerner which talked about the three Navy SEALs who are currently facing courts martial.

On the off chance you’re not familiar with the case, in a nutshell, the SEALs captured Ahmed Hashim Abed. Whilst so doing says Abed, one of them allegedly punched (some accounts say “slapped”) him, while the other two purportedly made false statements helping to cover up the incident. Bear in mind that this whole mess began with an unsubstantiated complaint levied by an al Qaeda terrorist who was wanted for the torture and murder of four American contractors in Fallujah back in 2004. Further, I might point out that as a part of his training, our friend Abed was instructed to be sure to make false allegations of abuse and torture if he was ever captured.

So, regarding the SEALs, Mr. Lerner was remarking that more than 170,000 American signatures were delivered to the Pentagon requesting that courts martial proceedings be dropped, as they of course should be. (In an ideal world, they never would have been brought up on charges based on unsubstantiated allegations by a known terrorist in the first place, but whatever.) Mr. Lerner recently returned from a week-long media tour in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba “where some of our finest soldiers and sailors are tasked with a difficult and thankless job: guarding dangerous detainee enemy combatants captured in the course of the Global War on Terror.” He went on to draw some parallels between Gitmo and the case of the Navy SEALs.
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Kick the week off with a grin

I saw this when searching for something else …

Is it just me who finds it silly that they keep calling him “The Underwear Bomber?”

I think this one is worth a few more than that

But most of them aren’t fit for mixed company.

Found it on TROP.