Islamic Terrorists Murder Pro-Palestinian Supporter Because He Wasn't Muslim

An al-Qaeda-inspired group calling itself al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, or Monotheism and Holy War, murdered a member of the International Solidarity Movement, which itself is a radical leftist pro Palestinian group. The group released a video and tortured their victim before strangling him:

The body of Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, was discovered by Hamas security forces in an empty house in Gaza City a day after he had been seized, officials said. Arrigoni had been strangled with a plastic handcuff strip, said Khalil Abu Shamala, director of Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights, who went to the scene with security officials. He said Arrigoni’s head was bloodied, apparently from being beaten before he was killed.

“It seems that he was subjected to torture,” Abu Shamala said in a telephone interview. “I have seen many bodies during the intifada and after assassinations by Israeli soldiers, but I was totally shocked when I saw the way they killed him.”

Curiously, this supposed proponent for human rights ignores years and piles of evidence of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups to instead equate the death of this Italian activist with Israel's actions.

He certainly knows what to say to his intended audience - equate the murder of the ISM supporter with the killings of Palestinians at the hands of Israel (which is acting in self defense).

Apparently that human rights guy has never seen the handiwork of Hamas during the Palestinian civil war - when they were throwing Fatah thugs off rooftops, or the bodies of Palestinians who died when Hamas rockets/mortars fell into Gaza instead of Israel, or when Hamas bomb factories blew up in own-goals, to say nothing of all the torture by Hamas of their enemies at any point since Hamas took over.

He also knows that to speak the truth about Hamas' human rights abuses, torture, and violence would result in a shortened lifespan (and a violent and tortured end as well). The Islamists who have run amok in Gaza routinely ignore human rights laws and condone violence of this sort, and yet Palestinian human rights groups ignore such activities and instead focus on Israel - precisely because it fits into the Palestinian propaganda machine - and because to speak out against the terror groups would result in their own lives being put at risk.

Once again, this highlights that Islamist terrorist groups will murder people who self-identify with the Palestinian cause precisely because they aren't sufficiently Islamist (or in this case, because the person was Christian). ISM ought to realize that in their incessant demonization of Israel they have not only exposed the true nature of the group they purport to support (the Palestinians), but that their actions have bolstered terror groups throughout Gaza and the West Bank.

Hamas has no problem doing the same kind of thing, but does so more judiciously - after all, they fire mortars, rockets and missiles into Israel each with the intent of murdering and maiming anyone they hit. Several non-Israelis have been among the injured and killed, so the Washington Post spin as making the terror group Hamas seem more palatable is distasteful to say the least. It's reprehensible.

Georgia Woman Claims Responsibility For Sending Anti-Semitic Ramblings To Rep. King; State Senator Ball

A Georgia woman who professes to be a Muslim has claimed responsibility for sending a package including a pig's foot and racist and anti-Semitic ramblings to New York Congressman Peter King and New York State Senator Greg Ball, both of whom carried out hearings on Islamic extremists and terrorism.

A self-described Muslim claims she mailed a bloody pig's foot to US Rep. Peter King and a Curious George plush toy to state Sen. Greg Ball to protest their hearings on homegrown terrorism.

Curious George was created by Holocaust survivors.

"I thought the letters explain themselves," Jacquelyn Barnette of Marietta, Ga., told The Post. The woman's bizarre anti-Semitic missives -- King's arrived on April 4 -- are also rife with derogatory references to Christians and white people.

Note too that neither King nor Ball are Jewish, but this woman's deranged ramblings pretty much hit on every group other than Muslims for disparagement. Given her admission, watch for the Postal Service police, FBI and local law enforcement pay her a visit and potentially bring her up on charges of relating to making terroristic threats against public officials.

Latest Developments in Long Island Serial Killers Case

Convicted serial killer Joel Rifkin has reportedly denied that any of the remains discovered in the past month along Ocean Parkway near Jones Beach are related to any of his victims. That contradicts a working theory that some of the oldest remains could potentially be those of Rifkin, who preyed on prostitutes in the 1990s.

The working theory that there may be at least two serial killers involved in these cases seems to be as good as any to explain the recovery of the remains of these victims:



Meanwhile, investigators are looking at cell phone call records in the hopes of tracking down the serial killer who murdered four Craigslist prostitutes. They're also looking at a computer belonging to a pimp linked to one of the dead prostitutes.


Divers searched a nearby bay yesterday and left the scene with several bags worth of evidence, but they didn't appear to find anything relating to the serial killers cases or the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, whose disappearance sparked the initial search of the area and the grisly discovery of 9-10 victims.

Israeli Magazine Rates Top Israeli Models

An Israeli news outlet, Israel21c, has rated the country's top models, and there are quite a few stunners on the list, including Esti Ginzburg, Bar Refaeli and Gal Gadot who have graced the pages of this blog. As a reminder:

Gal Gadot

Esti Ginzberg

The full rundown can be found here.

Once again, these women show that they've got what it takes to compete with the best models in the world and that Israel is known for more than just the ongoing war with the Palestinians or being a tech giant. They're a well rounded (and endowed) country. 

Violence Continues In Syria

Unrest continues in Syria, and Bashar al-Assad's regime is getting assistance from Iran in putting down the opposition.

Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post is reporting that Lebanese police stopped two men trying to smuggle weapons into Syria.

Lebanese border police detained two people trying to drive cars filled with weapons into Syria, where mass protests have been challenging Syrian President Bashar Assad's rule, security sources said on Thursday.

"The cars had AK-47s, semi-automatic weapons, and some bombs," one security source said. The men, a Lebanese and a Syrian, were detained late on Wednesday in the border area of the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The violence continues as snipers apparently shot and killed a Syrian soldier in the port city of Banias and wounded another soldier.

Protests erupted in Syria a month ago and have steadily grown, with tens of thousands calling for sweeping political reforms in what is one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. More than 200 people have been killed during the unrest, according to Syria’s leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration.

On Thursday, Syrian troops eased road closures and other restrictions that had stopped movement around the port city of Banias, where the reported sniper attack on soldiers took place.

Soldiers around Banias allowed people to enter and leave the city after checking their identity cards, residents said. In the early hours of Thursday, dozens of detainees from the area were released and another group was expected to be set free soon, activists said.

The activists and residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

Security forces and pro-government gunmen had cracked down on crowds of protesters in Banias over the past several days.

On Wednesday, a military general representing the government met with dignitaries from Banias and nearby areas.

The representative promised the government would withdraw the feared secret police from the area and replace them with army forces, which are more trusted by the people, activists said. He also promised the military would not detain people or carry out raids on homes and that electricity would be restored after a three-day power cut.

The regime cannot be trusted here, and the protests are likely to continue because the people realize that the regime is likely to utilize all the means at its disposal, including snatching those who are involved in the protests never to be heard from again. The regime is attempting to make a "good faith gesture" by releasing hundreds of people it has tortured.

There's nothing to stop the regime from resuming those activities and with one hand it claims to loosen restrictions, while using the other to tighten them.

UPDATE:
Speaking of window dressing, a new Syrian government has been formed. Of course, all are answerable to Assad and Assad has the final word, so this really doesn't change who is in charge and the overall policies carried out by the regime.

Duke Lacrosse Accuser Likely Facing Murder Charges

If the name Crystal Mangum rings a bell, it should - she was the Duke lacrosse accuser whose bogus claims brought disgrace to the school, ruined three students lives, and brought about the end of a prosecutor's career who ignored all the warning signs about the case and prosecuted despite a lack of corroborating evidence.

Well, she had stabbed her boyfriend after an argument and the guy was in critical condition. Well, she's going to be facing manslaughter or murder charges now that her victim has died of the injuries sustained. That is after being convicted on five misdemeanor counts, including child abuse, this past January when she was accused of setting a fire in her former boyfriend's bathtub, while her children were home.

This woman is nothing but bad jobu for all she comes in contact with - and now she's likely to face murder charges in her latest actions. Clearly, she is a troubled woman who is a menace to those around her.

Serial Killers Running Amok in New York and New Jersey

Investigators no longer believe that the same killer is involved in the murder of four women outside Atlantic City and the murders on Long Island near Jones Beach.

"There is no connection between the Atlantic City case and the Suffolk County case," Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said, citing recent investigative findings.

Suffolk investigators began looking closely at the unsolved Atlantic City murders after the remains of four craigslist call girls were found on a remote coastal island in December. The four victims in Atlantic City were all female prostitutes. And they were found dead in November 2006 in a ditch behind a motel on the Black Horse Pike highway.

All were barefoot, their bodies arranged facedown in a line with their heads pointing toward Atlantic City. The four slain hookers found near Gilgo Beach on Long Island were wrapped in burlap sacks and dumped amid brush-covered dunes. Dormer said the different methods used to dispose of the bodies is not the only factor that sets the cases apart.

"There were other items connected to the two cases that indicate that it may not be the same person," Dormer said, without elaborating.

The FBI will lead an aerial search of the island dumping ground, where the bodies of five - and possibly six - additional victims have been found in the past two weeks.

That indicates that we're talking about two separate serial killers, but in reality, the recovery of 9 or 10 sets of remains in Long Island suggests that we've got at least two, if not more killers involved in dumping their victims along a stretch of highway near Jones Beach.

Due to the age of some of the remains, speculation is that at least some of the older remains may be the victims of serial killer Joel Rifkin, but that will take further forensic investigation and the remains are being reviewed and studied by the New York City Medical Examiners and forensic scientists.



The FBI will be assisting local law enforcement in their search, and are using specialized aircraft to identify areas for additional ground searches in the thick scrub brush along Ocean Parkway and the nearby beaches.

Suffolk County Police Chief Richard Dormer suggested that there are at least two suspects in the serial killings of four Craigslist call girls found in December near Oak and Gilgo beaches.

Police divers are also combing the waters of the bay near where the other remains were recovered.

As I had surmised yesterday, it would appear that investigators are looking at multiple serial killers dumping bodies in the area. Due to the evidence gathered thus far, investigators now think that there are at least three serial killers victims recovered thus far, including those that may be the work of Rifkin - and that doesn't count the serial killer who struck outside Atlantic City.

Wishful Thinking Permeates Budget and Deficit Talk In DC

President Barack Obama gave a good speech yesterday that appeared to draw a line in the sand that he would not give a further extension to the EGTRRA/JGTRRA tax cuts that he extended through 2012 for high income Americans. It was essentially his opening salvo in the 2012 presidential campaign, but I found it curious that he claimed that by not extending those tax rate cuts, that he would reduce tax spending by $1 trillion over the next decade.

Eliminating tax cuts are not a reduction in tax spending. They are a tax hike on those affected. It's a semantic argument, and it does relate to how he views income and tax policy.

But more to the point, his plan is full of wishful thinking. For starters, his plan would assume that he's going to win the Presidency in 2012 and that Congress would see things his way and allow for the programmed tax increases to occur - where the rates that are now currently 33% and 35% would rise to 35% and 39.6% respectively. If that were to occur, it's the only part of his deficit reduction package that can be accurately scored for the year it takes effect - Congress and his successor in the White House can adjust the rates and other tax policy items as they see fit, and they can therefore reduce or increase the deficit.

He further couched a significant portion of the deficit reduction in the form of tax simplification, which is something that both sides of the aisle have been clamoring for - except when it comes to their pet projects/constituencies. The rest of his deficit reduction plan consists of betting that the tax hikes and reducing spending around the fringes will result in $1 trillion less in deficit in the form of interest on debt. If those spending reductions don't materialize, the deficit will increase above and beyond what they're claiming will happen.

True tax simplification would eliminate the AMT and merge it in with the existing standard tax calculations since it would eliminate the annual dance in Congress over adjusting the AMT threshold for inflation. The CBO routinely scores legislation based on the law as in effect, and that means that the AMT scoring is routinely off because it doesn't reflect the fact that Congress changes that law annually. Tax simplification means that credits and deductions should be eliminated and the rates reduced to result in a revenue neutral proposal, but Democrats are likely to want the rates increased to increase revenue - that's the true battle here (whether to tackle tax simplification as a revenue neutral matter or as a way of enhancing tax revenues - as an increase in the marginal rates paid by taxpayers).

Most of the rest of the President's deficit reduction plan is based on assumptions and actions that will take effect long after his presidency is over - whether he is out of office in 2012, or whether he wins through 2016.

For the GOP, the plan proffered by Rep. Paul Ryan is little more than slash and burn of programs regardless of whether they serve the greater good and are effective programs or not. Cutting programs such as earthquake and tsunami detection systems to save even $100 million is foolhardy especially considering the Japanese experience where a few moments to minutes notice saved countless lives in a devastating 9.1 earthquake last month - and such measures could reduce damage by billions of dollars if equipment is shut down to protect it against damage.

Gutting clean air and water programs wont bring back jobs, but it will make the air and water much dirtier and contribute to higher health care costs, which is another area in which the President hopes to bring about savings in how Medicaid is funded.

Reducing the social safety net isn't going to bring about the kinds of savings that the GOP hopes for either - it merely shifts the burdens on to localities and the families that are planning for having those programs in place as they enter their retirement years.

Also, all these plans rely on not having to wage further wars overseas or natural disasters that require massive infusions of federal funds to help recover from the damage. The US is regularly hit with major natural disasters, and whether it is a hurricane battering the Southeast or the West Coast being overdue for a major earthquake, it's bound to happen and will throw budget projections off.

Taking the Iraq and Afghanistan wars off the table (as in seeing the money being spent removed from the books at their conclusion) may well help reduce the deficit over the long term - but that's only if the money isn't spent elsewhere. With the US reducing its role in Iraq in 2011, 2012 and beyond, and the US role in Afghanistan up in the air, spending on those two conflicts is likely to continue to decline going forward. That doesn't mean that the money can and should be spent elsewhere- it means that it should not be spent at all.

Federal Judge Sides With the Boobies (Bracelets)

A federal judge has sided with student groups that sell bracelets indicating that they love boobies as part of fundraising for cancer research in a lawsuit against school districts that had banned the bracelets.

“I Heart Boobies” bracelets are sold across the nation and have been banned in many U.S schools, including Oceanside High School, Valley Middle School in Carlsbad and Mountain Empire High School in East County.

U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin sided with students Tuesday in a free-speech test case filed in Pennsylvania by the American Civil Liberties Union. She issued a temporary injunction that bars the Easton Area School District from enforcing its ban.

School officials argue the slogan suggests a sexual double meaning and leads to in-school distractions.

Some schools had banned the bracelets claiming that they were distracting and full of sexual innuendos. The judge got this one right.

New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow Competition Would Worsen Fleet Fuel Economy

No matter which of the three options in the Taxi of Tomorrow is ultimately chosen to replace the existing fleet of yellow cabs throughout the city, they will ultimately result in a lower fleet fuel economy than the existing mix of hybrids and conventionally powered vehicles.

None of the three options, Karsan, Nissan, or Ford are hybrids, and while only the Ford has announced the fuel mileage on its option at 21 mpg, none are expected to rival the fuel economy of the Ford Escape that is in use more than any other hybrid in the taxi fleet and gets 34 mpg.

The competition, which was focused on getting a distinctive vehicle that provides greater comfort and wheelchair accessibility and visibility put fuel economy on the back burner. That's at the same time that the Bloomberg Administration was pushing to get taxi fleet owners to buy hybrids under a regulatory scheme that would have penalized owners who didn't buy hybrids. That scheme was shot down by the courts, but the competition didn't take hybrid vehicles into consideration for the final three.

The city will live with the consequences of this taxi competition for a generation to come, and the lower fuel economy will end up harming taxi fleet owners and drivers over the long run.

Indeed, this competition once again highlights the tradeoffs between fuel economy and comfort, durability, and fuel economy loses out to comfort and size.

Video Shows Capture of Ivory Coast's Gbagbo

Despite claims in earlier reports that French special forces and helicopters were involved in the capture of Laurent Gbagbo, newly released video shows Ivory Coast rebels making the final push into his compound and capturing Gbagbo.



He's since been moved to a villa where he is being kept under guard before he is expected to face justice both under national and international law:

Ivory Coast's new President Alassane Ouattara has said all sides in the country's conflict must face justice.

He said he would ask the International Criminal Court to probe massacres in which both his forces and those of his rival Laurent Gbagbo were suspected.

Mr Gbagbo was captured on Monday by Mr Ouattara's forces after he refused to accept he lost elections in November.

He will now face charges at a "national level and an international level", Mr Ouattara said.

At a news conference in the main city of Abidjan, Mr Ouattara said Mr Gbagbo had been moved to a secure location.

Ouattara won the election in November, and Gbagbo refused to relinquish power, setting off the conflict that claimed hundreds of lives and caused incalculable damage to the economy.

The new president also intends to impose justice equally on those who committed crimes in the name of Gbagbo and his own supporters, and also sought to clamp down on looters taking advantage of the security vacuum. He's saying all the right things for the moment, but time will tell whether he turns out to be what Ivory Coast needs.

Sanctions are likely to be lifted against the country now that Gbagbo is out of power.

A Bipartisan Rickroll Courtesy of the Oregon Legislature

You have been warned:

NY Serial Killer(s) Case Takes Unexpected Turn

There were two developments in the past 24 hours that casts a serious pall over the ongoing investigation to determine whether additional bodies are to be found along a stretch of Ocean Parkway near Jones Beach.

The first is that one of the bodies recovered is a male. Several of the remains have been dismembered.

The grisly twist was the latest revelation as police continued to uncover the murderous path carved along Long Island beaches by at least one killer.

Investigators have determined that bones found Monday were human, bringing the body count to nine and possibly 10 victims. It's still not clear whether a skull found alone Monday was part of victim number 9 or would be victim number 10.

The bodies were strung out over a 3.5 mile stretch of beach with five of the bodies spaced out about 500 feet apart, police said.

The possibility that some of the skeletal remains were dismembered came as police were considering clear cutting the thick brush that has made seaching the area difficult. Police fear that when the brush starts blooming in the coming weeks the search would become even more difficult. Police divers are also preparing to dive in order to search bay waters for more bodies.

Searchers have used cadaver dogs, horses and fire truck aerial ladders to scour the thick vegetation for victims. Faced today with slashing rains and swampy ground, a helicopter was used for today's dragnet.

While at least several of the victims appear to have been killed and dumped by a serial killer, authorities had not yet ruled out the possibility that more than one killer was responsible for the growing pile of human remains, which included those of a child.

The other is that at least some of the remains might be the work of notorious serial killer Joel Rifkin, who was imprisoned for killing 17 prostitutes.

The skull and torso found on a desolate Nassau County beachfront are too old to be connected to the serial killings of four Craigslist call girls -- and could belong to long-lost victims of notorious Long Island butcher Joel Rifkin, a source said yesterday.

"These are so old that roots were growing around the vertebrae and the skull," the source told The Post.

"These could be one or two of Joel Rifkin's victims who were never found," or the work of another killer, the source said.

Investigators also say more than one murderous psycho may be dumping the more recent bodies found on a remote stretch of Long Island beach.

"There are at least two persons of interest," the source said, declining to say if cops think the suspected killers acted independently or as a deadly team.

Rifkin, 52, confessed to cops in 1993 to killing 17 prostitutes, and was convicted a year later in nine of the deaths. Three of his victims were never found.

If the connection with Rifkin is true, then we're talking about potentially solving several cold cases, but are dealing with victims from at least two serial killer cases. The addition of a male victim may be the work of a third killer.

Perhaps most troubling of all is the fact that the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, 24, remains unaccounted for. It was her disappearance that sparked the search along Ocean Parkway that led investigators to find four remains of women who had offered their sexual services on Craigslist last year and then additional remains in the past month.

Thus far, 10 sets of remains or partial remains have been recovered. Investigators are expanding their search to include the surf and additional areas near Jones Beach.

Senate Democrats To Introduce Bill Imposing Sales Tax On Internet Sales

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois is planning on introducing legislation that would would impose state sales tax on purchases made online that should be DOA but wont be.

The proposal--expected to be made public soon after Tax Day--would rewrite the ground rules for Internet and mail order sales by eliminating the ability of Americans to shop at Web sites like Amazon.com and Overstock.com without paying state sales taxes.

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second most senior Senate Democrat, will introduce the bill after the Easter recess, a Democratic aide told CNET.

"Why should out-of-state companies that sell their products online have an unfair advantage over Main Street bricks-and-mortar businesses?" Durbin said in a speech in Collinsville, Ill., in February. "Out-of-state companies that aren't paying their fair share of taxes are sticking Illinois residents and businesses with the tab."

At the moment, Americans who shop over the Internet from out-of-state vendors aren't always required to pay sales taxes at the time of purchase. Californians buying books from Amazon.com or cameras from Manhattan's B&H Photo, for example, won't pay the sales taxes at checkout time that they would if shopping at a local mall--which is what Durbin means by giving online retailers an "unfair advantage."

That advantage is eliminated if state taxing authorities enforced existing use tax reporting and payment requirements. However, most states don't because they consider it too difficult or bothersome to try since the use tax is often collected in conjunction with individual income tax or corporate income tax returns.

The problem with attempting to impose a state sales tax on out-of-state retailers comes down to a Supreme Court case, Quill v. North Dakota, that pretty much prohibits it unless the out-of-state retailer has nexus. Since out-of-state retailers don't have nexus, the taxing jurisdiction doesn't have the ability to impose tax collecting requirements on those retailers.

This law runs afoul of Quill from the outset but that isn't going to stop the likes of Durbin and others who see the Internet as a great untapped revenue source. The Court found that a corporation may have the minimum contacts required by the Due Process Clause and still fall short of the substantial nexus required by the Dormant Commerce Cause. Substantial nexus requires more than occasional sales. One needs to have people, property, or inventory in the state to overcome the nexus question - and that's a fact driven inquiry and one that can very from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

So, because the question of nexus is a complicated one, Durbin and other Internet tax proponents have decided to substitute their judgment for that of the Court precisely because the dire need for revenue trumps solid legal reasoning and widely accepted tax concepts like nexus.

Pointing to the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement isn't exactly a good guide for how to deal with taxing across jurisdictions either. The agreement is rife with adjustments, modifications, and exemptions that allow member states to technically adhere to the Agreement without having enacted the identical language (such as definitions that are critical to whether certain items are taxable or not).

The Agreement isn't a panacea on sales tax collection, and it further reveals the folly of trying to collect tax from thousands of individual jurisdictions (not just state sales tax, but county, special district, city, and town taxes that can result in oddball rates and drive sellers nuts in-state, but can be positively maddening for any out of state retailer and for the certified service providers who are support the tax collecting scheme by maintaining updated lists of tax rates and changes.

It's for that reason that enforcing use tax requirements is preferable to upending the nation's sales tax policy and settled sales tax law by throwing out the concept of nexus when it comes to transactional requirements.

Major Disaster Averted At JFK Airport When An Air France A380 Clips Commuter Jet

A major disaster was averted last night when an Air France A380 clipped a Delta commuter jet on a taxiway between Terminal 1 and 2.

The video shows how the A380 was taxing along and clipped the tail of the much smaller commuter jet, turning the commuter jet 90 degrees.



Airport officials and the NTSB are likely to review just where and how the planes collided and whether changes need to be made in where the planes are allowed to taxi in light of the new larger A380s. More clearance may be required to prevent future incursions.

The Absurdity of the Battle Over School Lunches

The battle over school lunches, or more precisely, what goes into a school lunch, has veered into the absurd with two separate stories today.

One report indicates that a school has banned brown bag lunches because parents aren't providing kids with the kinds of nutritious meals that the health experts believe should be included.

One Chicago school has banned lunches brought from home, the Chicago Tribune reports. Administrators at Little Village Academy, a public school, say the policy is all in the name of good health. Principal Elsa Carmona told the Tribune she created the policy after watching students bring "bottles of soda and flaming hot chips" for their lunch.

"It's about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke,” Carmona said.

Some kids and parents at the school beg to differ about the food quality, saying it doesn't taste good, and the Tribune reported that dozens of kids threw food in the garbage, uneaten. We don't know what's on the menu at Little Village, but these photos of "an enchilada dish" are less than appealing. And really, when is the last time you sampled delicious fare in a school cafeteria? (I am forever haunted by the glue-like yellowish thing my elementary school called lemon pudding.)

Recipes aside, the policy leaves a bad taste in the mouth for plenty of other reasons.

Unless a student has a medical excuse to bring food from home, the only option other than eating cafeteria food is to eat nothing. (Think those kids will ace a quiz on an empty stomach?) And does something like glucose intolerance merit a medical excuse? What about vegetarianism?

Cost is another matter. What if parents don't want to spend money on school lunch because they can send less expensive food from home?

When you actually review what meals are provided by these schools, you see lots of mystery meat and milk (or chocolate milk, which I'll discuss in a moment).

I always brown bagged meals throughout public school and refused to eat whatever was being served in the schools in part because it looked so incredibly distasteful. Then, there's the religious exemptions - will these meals be halal or kosher? I doubt it, particularly when you're mixing meat and milk products at the same meal (or included in the same dishes if you're kosher).

Then, there's the ongoing battle over whether chocolate milk deserves a place in school lunches (and see here and here).

At the center of these battles are complex public health calculations: Is it better to remove sugary chocolate flavorings at the risk that many students will skip milk altogether, missing out on crucial calcium and Vitamin D? Or should schools instead make tweaks — less fat, different sweeteners, fewer calories — that might salvage the benefits while minimizing the downside?

However schools answer these questions, protest inevitably follows. When Fairfax County and D.C. schools banned chocolate milk last year from elementary lunch lines, officials heard not just from parents and students. They also received letters and petitions from a slew of nutritionists and influential special interest groups.

Most accused the districts of acting rashly, robbing students of a tasty drink and the vitamins and minerals that fuel bone and muscle growth.

“We got 10 to 20 e-mails a day,” said Penny McConnell, director of food and nutrition services for Fairfax. “It was a lot of pressure.”

This month — and partly because of that pressure — Fairfax officials announced that they would reintroduce chocolate milk in school cafeterias. The newer, low-fat version includes sucrose, which is made from sugar cane or beets, instead of high-fructose corn syrup, which some critics say is more heavily processed and, as a result, less healthy.

Such reformulations have satisfied some of chocolate milk’s critics. But most scientists and nutritionists, including those employed by local school districts, say that changing sweeteners makes little dietary difference if the total calorie content stays the same.

With nanny staters looking to ban soda all over the place, the next step has been to push for banning products that contain more sugar, as these nanny staters believe that anything that provides more calories than they like should not be provided.

Instead of battling over whether parents have a right to determine what their kids eat in brown bag lunches or whether chocolate milk should or shouldn't be provided as part of the lunches, the focus should be on portion control, exercise and moderation. That's the best way to reduce the obesity epidemic in the nation - and that also goes to how so many parents just don't recognize that their kids are overweight according to BMI or other statistical measures). Pointing out that your kid isn't any bigger than other kids in his or her class doesn't cut it particularly when so many kids are now obese and will likely suffer the effects of being physically inactive the rest of their lives.

Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum To Receive Shuttle Enterprise

The NY Daily News is reporting that the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum will be receiving the prototype shuttle Enterprise to add to its collection. The Enterprise never flew in space, but was instrumental in key tests before the first manned space flight of the Columbia in 1981. The Enterprise is currently part of the Smithsonian's collection, which means that the Discovery is likely headed to the Smithsonian to replace the Enterprise. That leaves two shuttles to be split out among the half dozen frontrunners for a shuttle, including museums in Seattle, Dayton Ohio, and the Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center.

The shuttle fleet is flying in to retirement this year after 30 years and more than 100 flights:



Where the three remaining space shuttles will end up is still a mystery. The battle to land these shuttles - priceless relics of an era of NASA manned spaceflight - has been fought by Congressional delegations and museum curators around the country hoping to land these spacecraft to make them the centerpieces of their collections.

UPDATE:
Seattle's Museum of Flight is not getting a shuttle, but will receive a full-fuselage trainer from the Johnson Space Center. The Kennedy Space Center is receiving Atlantis, while the California Science Center is getting Endeavor.

Details Emerging About Long Island Serial Killer(s) Case

There have now been 10 sets of remains or partial remains that have been recovered from a stretch of beach along the South Shore of Long Island. While many reports seem to indicate that this is the work of a single serial killer, which is bad enough, the fact that some of the remains were deposited there in a different manner suggests that there may be two or more people involved.

Partial skeletons were recovered yesterday and medical examiners were working to determine whether the remains were human.



Four bodies were discovered in December, and were believed to be prostitutes working through Craigslist. A renewed search last month turned up four more bodies, and two sets of remains were found yesterday.

Investigators have made the following information known about the remains discovered thus far:

Of the eight in Suffolk, sources with knowledge of the case say:

-- One victim was a child, perhaps no older than 5, discovered near the remains of an adult. The child was found wrapped in a blanket.

-- Another discovery consisted of a human head in a plastic bag.

-- A third set of remains showed signs of dismemberment.

-- One source also said that all of the four female victims found in December were strangled. One had an "item" around her neck.

The discoveries yesterday in Nassau yielded further clues, sources with knowledge of the case say:

-- A preliminary analysis of the skull and vertebra suggests it is of a woman. The four Gilgo Beach victims were all women who worked as prostitutes.

-- The other set of human bones was found stuffed in a black plastic bag. At least one of the recently found Suffolk remains was in a black plastic bag.

Investigators could not rule out the possibility that those bones belonged to one of the Suffolk victims.

"We had eight sets out in Suffolk County already. We have two more now. It’s all been very startling," said Det. Lt. Kevin Smith of Nassau police.

As the search for clues to the Gilgo Beach serial killer expanded into Nassau yesterday morning, a state trooper walking along the edge of an excavation site found bones believed to be human legs in a plastic bag.

Other reports indicated that several of the bodies were wrapped in fabric, while several others were dumped in plastic bags. Several of the remains may have been dismembered.

Typically serial killers stick to a particular method, which is why I think that more than one person may be involved here. Another possibility is that this is the work of a single person, but who is trying to cover up his tracks by using different techniques to throw law enforcement off his trail.

UN Report Claims PA Ready To Govern Palestinian State

The United Nations has prepared a report claiming that the Palestinian Authority is capable of governing a state, but that the ongoing occupation presents obstacles to doing so.

The Palestinian Authority is ready to govern a state of its own, according to a report published Tuesday by the office of UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Robert Serry, AFP reported.

The report, which will be submitted to Palestinian donor nations at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, said that in six areas where the UN is most engaged there are sufficient governmental functions to establish a state.

The report, however stressed that it would be difficult for the Palestinians to make further progress while peace talks remained stalled and Israeli "occupation" continued.

Serry praised Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a statement accompanying the report.

Curiously, there is no mention of the fact that Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, and that the Fatah/Hamas schism is a geographical and ideological divide so severe as to make any claims that the PA is ready to govern ludicrous. The last time that Fatah and Hamas attempted to share/redistribute power between the two terror groups, a civil war erupted and Hamas threw Fatah out of Gaza.

Now, this particular report claims that Israel's ongoing military presence in the West Bank is preventing the PA from operating. That too is a serious misrepresentation of the facts on the ground.

Israel and the PA have divided the West Bank into sectors of operation - the PA has civil administrative control over nearly all the West Bank, and Israelis are limited to move only within certain areas altogether. Israeli security forces operate only within certain areas as well, and the PA is responsible for security in those areas where Israel currently does not operate. These are designated by A, B, and C areas. This was arranged under Oslo, the Gaza-Jericho Accords, Wye, and other interim documents and agreements.

The PA has shown an inability to deal with the terror groups operating from its territories, and the PA has limited ability to operate within Gaza altogether, where Hamas rules with an iron fist.

So, before there can be any talk of statehood, the UN needs to reorient itself with the facts on the ground instead of engaging in wishful thinking about what should happen if Israel stops taking actions defending its citizens against ongoing terror threats arising from both Gaza and the West Bank.

Peace talks have ostensibly been on hold since late last year because Israel decided to go ahead with building housing on areas claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians within the West Bank. Yet, it isn't the housing dispute that causes problems so much as the fact that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian terror factions have been unrelenting in their terror war against Israel's very existence.

The Gaza disengagement should have exposed the lie of land for peace for the world to see, but it is ignored by the diplomats. Instead of using Gaza to establish an economic and political center for a future Palestinian state, it was turned into a terror camp.

Land does not equate with peace.

Settlements - housing - can be transferred, but when one side (the Palestinians) refuse to accept a Jewish state of Israel alongside a Palestinian state, you get to the heart of the problem. The Palestinians refuse to accept Israel on religious, ideological, and political grounds despite the statements in English made to the diplomats. The rhetoric, propaganda, and indoctrination of refusing to accept Israel's very existence continues to this day despite their prohibition under Oslo.

That is the problem.

Until the Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, there can and will be no peace. Israel will have to continue to defend itself against terror attacks on a daily basis because the Palestinians refuse to accept the facts on the ground and that Israel will not go quietly into the night.

Thus, this report whitewashes the problems with the Palestinians themselves, and instead focuses on what Israel is doing to prevent a Palestinian state. It's an infantilization of the Palestinian people - and shows that no one requires them to carry out their obligations under Oslo.

UPDATE:
Hamas has released video confirming Israel's longstanding claims that the terror group purposefully fires rockets and mortars from within heavily populated areas of Gaza (HT: NJDhockeyfan at LGF).

Japan Raises Nuclear Emergency Alert Level

The Japanese government has raised the nuclear emergency alert level to the highest level - it rates a level 7, which indicates the spread of radiation outside the reactor containment facilities and affects the region beyond the nuclear reactor, but the radiation released is a fraction of that which was released in the Chernobyl explosion. Of course, that particular distinction is lost on many people considering the scenes of damage and devastation at Fukushima and Chernobyl and that radiation is an unseen risk.



Fukushima isn't Chernobyl in several critical ways, particularly in how the reactors were constructed, the kind of damage done, and operational errors in dealing with both reactors:

There is a key difference, he says, in the type of explosions at Fukushima and Chernobyl. At the Ukrainian plant 25 years ago, he explains, a series of operating errors and misjudgments resulted in an explosion and fire releasing toxic smoke that contained parts of the fuel rods and graphite particles into the atmosphere. At Fukushima, however, there have only been steam explosions.

Also, there have been no reported deaths so far due specifically to radiation at Fukushima, where at least five workers have died from other operational mistakes. The initial explosion at Chernobyl killed two workers, and then 28 of the firemen and emergency clean-up workers died in the first three months after the explosion because of radiation exposure.

Still, Oka concedes that it is very difficult to tell exactly what percent of the fuel rods have melted at Fukushima, and therefore how much radiation has actually leaked.

"Fukushima has its own unique risks, but comparing it to Chernobyl is going too far. Fukushima is unlikely to have the kind of impact on the health of people in neighboring countries, the way Chernobyl did," nuclear specialist Kenji Sumita at Osaka University told Reuters.

Geography exacerbated the Chernobyl incident. While that radiation spread to the Ukrainian countryside and blew over Europe, much of the Fukushima radiation has dispersed over the Pacific Ocean. Greenpeace’s Mr. Myllyvirta says the Fukushima crisis would be much worse if Japan was a landlocked country.

The geographical differences are key in just how many people are affected by the spread of radiation downwind; because the prevailing winds take airborne particles from Fukushima out over the Pacific Ocean, the population affected by radiation is much lower.

TEPCO is continuing to attempt to bring the situation under control, and aftershocks continue to shake the region and can affect efforts to bring outside power to the reactors so that coolant systems can be operated to keep the reactors and the spent fuel pools cool. The aftershocks shut down the coolant systems for about an hour, but were restarted. This will be an ongoing problem and concern given that significant aftershocks are expected to continue for the next several months. The backup systems that have been put in place aren't protected against a possible tsunami, which is what caused all the problems at Fukushima to cascade into the troubles that TEPCO are dealing with now.

The overheating reactors at Fukushima Daiichi have two layers of backup functions in case of a power cut—diesel-powered generators and emergency fire pumps—so they can continue receiving cooling water. But these functions require workers to turn them on manually. This became a problem Monday as a tsunami warning forced all workers to move to a shelter on the plant grounds.

"These disruptions must be solved rapidly as a prolonged lack of cooling would easily end the respite they have managed to maintain," said Tetsuo Iguchi, a professor of radiation engineering at Nagoya University.

Two more earthquakes shook Japan early Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, with the levels of magnitude smaller than recent aftershocks that have struck.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the first quake hit the Fukushima area at 8:06 a.m. with a magnitude of 4.0. The second quake struck in the ocean east of Tokyo area at 8:08 a.m. with a magnitude of 6.3, shaking the downtown Tokyo area.

Despite the lesson from the earlier quake and tsunami that rendered the plant's backup cooling systems fully dysfunctional, officials acknowledge the temporary cooling functions at the plant aren't prepared for large tsunamis.

UPDATE:
The seven point INES rates nuclear emergencies based on how far the radiation has spread beyond containment. With Fukushima, while each of the 4 damaged reactors are individually rated as level 5 emergencies, the combined situation rates a 7 - due to the complexities of dealing with containment, the spread of radiation outside containment facilities, and the immediate region.

Despite Pension Time Bomb, NYS Legislators Propose Dozens of Pension Sweetener Bills

The Citizens Budget Commission has reviewed the 2011 legislative agenda and found dozens of bills proposed by legislators that would not only undo pension reforms from past years, but would add to an already crippling level of spending that the state simply cannot afford:

pension bills

Most of these are one-house bills, which means that they stand little chance for passage, but it goes to show that support for expanding pensions is alive and well despite the problems with funding pensions at existing levels. Fiscal responsibility is anything but alive and well in the legislature when you've got legislators running around and hoping to overturn pension reforms and want to expand pension benefits (and therefore state obligations) beyond what the state has a capacity to pay with the current tax burden.

Search Continues For Long Island Serial Killer and His Victims

Law enforcement is continuing its expanded search for victims along the South Shore of Long Island near the Nassau/Suffolk County border and Jones Beach. The searches are being carried out with tremendous care and urgency because the spring foliage is likely to hinder searching the area.

And some sources in law enforcement are raising the specter that the serial killer may be involved in law enforcement in some fashion (akin to Dexter in the tv show).

Then, there are reports that the serial killer apparently called the sister of one of his victims.

"I just don't understand why he chose me...how many other girls and how many other families...why was I chosen, why was I taunted?" she told "Good Morning America" today. The teenager was shown in silhouette and spoke on the condition that she not be identified out of growing fears for her safety.

Her older sister, Melissa Barthelemy, disappeared in July 2009. Her body was found in December on Gilgo Beach in New York's Long Island area along with the bodies of three other women. All found women were prostitutes who advertised on Craigslist, police said.

Four more bodies were found earlier this month, including what the New York Post claims may be the body of a child. Those victims have yet to be identified. In addition, police are still searching for the body of Shannan Gilbert, a woman who also advertised sexual services on Craigslist and was last seen near Gilgo Beach.

One of the victims may have been a child, according to the New York Post. If that's the case, then it wouldn't appear to fit the profile of a serial killer - or at least the one involved with the disappearances of many of the women. However, it is possible that the serial killer targeted a young woman who fit his profile, and that the woman had a child with her. Still, the disappearance of a child is likely to elicit more reports than we have seen to date and law enforcement needs to get all the help it can from the public as well. If you've seen something, say something to law enforcement tip lines. More lives depend on it.

Irony Alert of the Day

Douglas Bruce, come on down. You're the next contestant on the Irony Alert of the Day. Bruce has been a long time tax activist who has sought to affect tax policy in Colorado. The state's TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) owes its existence in large part to Bruce's lobbying efforts.

So, it is not without a little irony that Bruce was indicted on four counts of tax evasion, failure to file tax returns, and influencing state tax officials.

Douglas Bruce, the Colorado Springs activist whose tax-slashing crusades have left an indelible imprint on Colorado's budget, was arrested Friday on suspicion of tax evasion.

A state grand jury indicted Bruce, best known as the author of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR, on four counts of evading taxes, filing a false return, failing to file a return and attempting to influence a public servant. Three of the four counts are felonies, and the most serious of the charges could bring up to six years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

"State law requires that citizens who live in Colorado and enjoy all of the benefits of being a resident pay the appropriate taxes," Attorney General John Suthers said in a statement accompanying the indictment's announcement. "No one is exempt from that obligation."

Colorado Springs police officers arrested Bruce, 61, on Friday at a post office in the city. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail on $10,000 bond, which he later posted. Phone calls to his house went unreturned.

The case will be prosecuted in Denver.

The indictment focuses on Bruce's income and tax filings for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

He failed to file tax returns, failed to report income, attempted to influence public servants, evaded tax and should feel the sting of prison for his abuse of the tax system. The Indictment is here.

French Special Forces Capture and Hand Over Gbagbo To Ivory Coast Opposition

The capital of Ivory Coast is rife with ruined buildings, damaged vehicles, and the remains of the dead from heavy fighting between Laurent Gbagbo's loyalists and Alassane Dramane Ouattara's opposition groups.

The UN and French forces have not been playing peacekeepers so much as pushing to rid the African nation of Gbagbo, who has refused to step down after losing elections in November to Ouattara.



French forces have apparently captured Gbagbo, after assaulting his last bastion with tanks and special forces.

French special forces have detained Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo and handed him to leaders of the rebel opposition, after French tanks forced their way into his residence, a Gbagbo adviser in France said.

"Gbagbo has been arrested by French special forces in his residence and has been handed over to the rebel leaders," Toussaint Alain told Reuters.

The opposition, UN and French forces have worn away Gbagbo's loyalists until there were fewer than 1,000 left. Waning support helped undermine Gbagbo's regime, but that didn't stop him from causing incalculable damage to the country and its economy.

The next step will be to see how Ouattara handles Gbagbo, and how the new government takes shape.

UPDATE:
Video has emerged from his arrest/handover to Ivory Coast:



Looks like someone whose former lifestyle is now a dim memory and whose future is anything but sunny. He knows that he's in for a rough time and that by staying on in power well beyond his electoral mandate, he's won few friends.

Israel Continues Taking Fire From Gaza

The kassams, Grad missiles, and mortars continue to be fired into Israel from Gaza, and media reports claim that Hamas is backing off an all-out confrontation with Israel and floating a ceasefire/hudna?

If Hamas isn't firing all the rockets and mortars, they certainly are giving a wink and nod to the other terror groups and factions that are - because Hamas has no intention of cracking down against other terror groups unless they pose a direct threat to Hamas' ability to rule with an iron fist in Gaza. The PLFP says that a ceasefire is a dangerous thing for Palestinians, which makes no sense until you realize that the only reason that these terror groups thrive is that they've succeeded in indoctrinating entire generations of Palestinians into refusing to accept a Jewish state of Israel living alongside a Palestinian state. Yet, a hudna would play into the terrorists' hands since they'd use the opportunity to regroup and rearm, just as they've done since Operation Cast Lead. The ceasefires/hudnas have not stopped the violence, but any reduction in fire from Gaza is reported by the international media as a "relative lull" even though the attacks have continued unabated.

No nation on the planet would tolerate such a situation for anywhere near as long as Israel has.

Wouldn't you know it that the moment Israel strikes back hard to defend itself against terrorists, the claims of disproportionate use of force come bubbling to the surface. And once again, Turkish leaders are the ones who are busy touting this nonsense.

Turkey has no problem using force against the PKK, a Kurdish group that claims a region that includes parts of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq as its own. Indeed, one could call that use of force disproportionate, but I don't. It's military force designed to combat and defeat an enemy. In Israel's case, Hamas and other terror groups are entrenched within significant civilian populations with the express purpose of maximizing a body count should Israel return fire.

Hamas and other terror groups fire hundreds of rockets and mortars since the beginning of the year, and each and every one was with the intention of murdering and maiming Israelis and to cause significant property damage. Israel's response has been extremely limited - firing only in significant measure after an anti-tank missile blew up a bus carrying two people - injuring one critically. To go after the terrorists, Israel has carried out airstrikes against terror targets and the smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Sinai.

Those aren't disproportionate.

They are barely sufficient to deter Hamas from further attacks.

And now the Arab League is calling on the UN to impose a no-fly zone on Israel over Gaza. That suggestion comes on the heels of UN efforts in Libya to thwart further human rights abuses by Khadafi against his own countrymen and the Arab League thinks it has hit upon a winning strategy to give Hamas cover in its ongoing war against Israel. Make no doubt about it - Hamas is at war with Israel, and but for Israel's restraint, Hamas continues to exist and acts as a thorn in Israel's side.

None of the Arab League nations would tolerate such acts by a terror group against the regime - not Syria, not Iran, not Saudi Arabia, not the UAE, nor any of the other nations in the League. This is an effort to undermine Israel's right to defend itself from attack.