A Hot Ol’ Time At the Firehouse

WASHINGTON —Fox News-  Washington, D.C.’s new fire chief recently asked police to launch an investigation after a tip that some fire department employees turned at least one fire station into a prostitution house.

Fire Chief Dennis Rubin wants to know if any of his staff are involved— jumping into a heated debate early in his reign.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said he was “troubled” by the reports and admits that there needs to be better background checks in the fire department.

City officials and investigators won’t confirm details, but reports include allegations that a prostitution ring was referred to as “D.C. Fems,” a play on the acronym for the city’s fire and emergency medical services department.

Investigators are also reviewing whether female paramedics performed sex acts for money in the bunkhouses of fire stations.

I don’t suppose I need to tell you, the Washington DC city government is Democrat dominated. I will guarantee you that by the time this is done, the city government itself will be implicated.

From Doug Ross.

Hat tip:  Don Surber.

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3- 22-98 Rochester NY

With the events out in California today, it’s time to address the issue of Guns and the liberals intent to remove them from the hands of the people.

Travel back in time with me, to a few summers ago..  Way back when the Lewinsky scandal was under the surface, Remember? We were inundated with more and more news reports about kids going out and breaking out massive firepower, and using it to deadly result. The left was screaming (as usual) that it was all because guns were too easy to obtain, and that the only salvation was Clinton’s new gun controls. It got to the point where even President Clinton, apparently seeing a diversion from his legal problems, took a stab at it. (Pun intended.)

Clinton at the time said, among other things, something which I can actually agree with; (A fairly unique happening, I assure you…) He stated that these violent attacks the result of a changing culture,and the pressure that those changes bring to bear.

As has been pointed out by me in this medium previously, the left gets an occasional point right, but refuses to come to the only logical conclusion that such discoveries offer. Clinton it seems, is no exception, apparently understanding that at the core of the problem is the social agenda that liberals have been pushing for decades. It’s all come home to roost, now, and the left doesn’t know what to do about it, or, more likely, is unwilling to do what’s needed.  What Clinton to this day doesn’t get, is that it is he, and those on his side of the political and social isle, who have been generating and encouraging those changes in our culture, which have resulted in such destruction. Each are cultural changes which, alas!, even ostensibly conservative people have been caving in on for years, now.  Instead of dealing with the cultural problems he’s identified as being causal, Clinton went on to attack not that problem, but GUNS… something which despite his best efforts, we Americans can still legally own, and use.

The classes in proper gun use and care being given to young people today, including the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program have come under attack from the left, as being the cause, not the cure for such problems.

This is because, we are told, in one case in Oregon the young man in question was a part of those classes. (Notice it’s usually young boys?)

But the connection is less direct than the left makes it; There are many myriad self-defense and martial arts classes going on at any time in our country; my son attends one of the better ones. Given that one commonality they and the NRA’s gun classes share is training on the /proper use/ of their training and the tools given, why do we not see attacks by martial arts students in the news? Could there be an agenda, here, do you suppose?

Now, it is not unlike the left to use a well-publicized issue to work it’s will on another, totally unrelated issue. Race, and welfare rights, are two such. (I.E.; There are more whites than blacks on welfare, but when someone proposes a cut of welfare payments, liberals will invariably scream about how it’s racial bias against blacks.) So, I suppose I shouldn’t be overly surprised when they pull that same stunt regarding guns. One need not look too deeply to find their over-riding concern. It is, of course, the same concern expressed by every other socialist in history including Adolph Hitler; the removal of guns from society, altogether… except for the representatives of government, thereby placing the power in the hands of the government alone. (Let’s not kid ourselves; the founder put the second amendment in place to defend us from tyrants within government.)

Let’s not let the left divert us into thinking that the solution to violence is simply removing guns. Let’s hold them to the core issue; violence vis a vie cultural changes… There has been quite a bit over the last few years, said and written, about the culture’s values, and the effect the change of those values would have on the people within the culture.

Of the people affected by cultural change… a change of the roots, if you will, it is younger people, whose roots have not been established, who would be the most affected. No shock, therefore, that the largest number of crimes, particularly the massive violence under discussion, would be teenagers.

Simply put:These teenagers have lost hope.
And why?
Let’s look at the agenda of the modern America, as driven by the left…Perhaps we’ll find a pattern there.

We’re told that man is destroying the earth. The problem is that too many of us exist, we’re told. We’re told that man is a problem for the further existence of the earth. We’re told that we can’t make it without that government handout. We learn quickly, thereby, that we have no real say in our lives, and therefore, no future. As if to give credence to the thinking that life is worthless, abortion has become commonplace. Jack Kevorkian is teaching us that killing ourselves is a valid option, and the government is at least powerless if not unwilling to deal with the issue. Every value we have ever had as a culture is now being abandoned by the government.. Indeed, the government has become outright hostile to the traditional values of the culture that built said government. Can such things be without consequence? The evidence suggests not.

Both parents now work regardless of wanting to or not, simply to pay the taxes… because the taxes imposed by the government consume upwards of 60-65% or our annual income. What kind of basic value will children hold of themselves when parents find they have to work? I understand well the forces that drive such choices, (being driven by
them myself;) but can such choices be without consequence? The evidence suggests not.

Mothers who stay at home are universally castigated by the feminist left, as ‘not being in touch with themselves’ and ‘being a burden on the sisterhood’ whatever the hell THAT is. Can this kind of disdain for traditional family values be without consequence? The evidence suggests not.

Remember when America used to have leaders whom you could look up to? Political leaders, ball players, and to a larger degree than today, even film and TV stars were people which could be held up as examples. Granted, many were never perfect, but they were trying to live up to the then universally held American ideals. Who do we have to hold up in their place today? PeeWee Herman. Tupac Shakur. Madonna. Dennis Rodman.  The Spice Girls. Larry Flynt, Bill Clinton.  Can this be without consequence? The evidence suggests not.

Is anyone of sound mind, foolish enough to suggest that our governmentally induced transition from a values-based society to what is now an essentially valueless society, which provides little if any hope on an individual level, has no effect negative on the people
within it?

History, I think, will record the greatest failure of the governments of the last 60 years, to be not in the financial or political areas, and not with it’s law enforcement, regarding guns, but in the cultural… I.E.; support of the majority culture, and the values that it holds dear. Because in the final view, it’s this which is causing the violence, not guns, per se’. Guns are simply a tool. What people do with guns, and for that matter, what they do with all other weapons of every type, and indeed, how they deal with all conflicts, and live their lives , is a product of their environs, as focused through their values.

And when you remove the values, our sense of right and wrong, the rest falls away.

What we need to reduce the violence, therefore, is a reinforced value structure, that, unlike what the left has been forcing on us, does not run afoul of traditional American culture.. Liberals of the last 40 years are afraid of this, they don’t want to be seen as being ‘judgmental’.  This is not an issue that is going to be solved by ‘finding the middle path’. If we really want to stop the violence, instead of making political points from it…it’s time to move those of the left who have for decades be neutering our value structure, in the name of ‘cultural diversity’, out.

An interesting note this morning from Texas, that was little noticed elsewhere, and yet bears directly on us all, in terms of our own internal cultural war, that the social left has declared on us:

DALLAS —(Houston Chronicle) A federal district judge on Tuesday denied a request for a preliminary injunction sought by a North Texas couple who objected to the words “one state under God” being added to the state pledge of allegiance and wanted to stop it from being recited.

The judge said in a one-page ruling denying the motion that David and Shannon Croft failed to show injury if the preliminary injunction was not granted.

“With today’s ruling, a federal judge denied the plaintiffs’ attempt to prevent Texas schoolchildren from pledging their allegiance to ‘one state under God,'” Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a news release. “The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held patriotic acknowledgments of the Almighty such as these are completely consistent with the U.S. Constitution.”

Earlier this month, the two filed a lawsuit contending that the Texas pledge violates the First Amendment. They filed the lawsuit on behalf of their children, who attend school in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district.

This spring, the state Legislature added the words “one state under God” to the Texas pledge. According to a news release from Abbott’s office, the voluntary, teacher-led recitation of the Texas pledge usually follows the U.S. pledge of allegiance in classrooms.

A call to the Croft residence was not immediately returned Tuesday evening.

I would not expect that the call would be answered.

My advice to the atheists involved; get down off the cross you’ve erected yourself on, build a bridge out of the wood, and get over it. not that I think they’ll actually take that advice.  There is a fervor involved with atheism that is religious in nature.  Put another way; If anybody thinks atheism isn’t a religion, all they need to do was watch the reaction of this case is going to receive.

If, in fact, they acknowledge such a defeat.

Addendum: (Bit)

Let’s break this down to it’s most basic:

I submit that if, as Jefferson suggested, one can be a believer,and yet not be a part of the formalized Church…(note the capital C) then  by the same token, our culture can be rooted on Christian principals,  and yet our government be removed from the power of the Church.  On that basis the phrase is acceptable.

look, I don’t think it can be denied the Christian principles were part of our western culture back in Jefferson’s day and today.  On that basis, I think it to be foolhardy to suggest that any government that day for this could be setup that ran so totally off all of these principles, as too seriously contemplate making such a pledge illegal.  I submit further, that our culture can never be separated from those principles if it intends to continue to exist as such.  On that basis, I submit that this constant haranguing about religion with an American life is damaging to American culture.  On that basis and since I hold rights to be a cultural construct, it is damaging to our civil rights as well.

Since today is supposedly a day in celebration of unions, and since my position on unions is fairly well known, perhaps I should make an effort to catalog some of our comments about them in the past.

Unions are Killing America

The Unions vs the Delta Queen 

AFL-CIO goes George Orwell 

DURHAM, N.C. — (AP)  A judge has sentenced disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong to one day in jail for lying to a judge while pursuing the Duke lacrosse rape case.

Nifong was held in criminal contempt of court Friday for lying to a judge when pursuing rape charges against three falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players.

Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III immediately moved to consider a punishment for Nifong, who has already been stripped of his law license and has resigned from office. He faces as many as 30 days in jail and a fine as high as $500.

Forget being slapped on the wrist,  this is an affectionate stroking.  Do these people think we are not watching?  This kind of sentence is an insult to just about everything decent.

Either I got it wrong, last night, or it’s been moved. In any event, the Larry Craig resignation news conference is listed this morning at 12:30 eastern. There’s vid available, too.

The story that the “paper of record” has ignored has a rather large right up on the WSJ’s Page One, today:

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating possible campaign-finance violations by top Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, according to people familiar with the probe. On Friday, Mr. Hsu surrendered to California officials on an unrelated grand-theft charge dating to the early 1990s.

Mr. Hsu, who, until earlier this week was one of the biggest fundraisers for Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton, was booked at the San Mateo County jail, where he was handcuffed and later released on $2 million bail. Wearing a black suit and white shirt, Mr. Hsu rushed to a waiting black Chevy Suburban outside the jail lobby Friday afternoon without answering any questions from reporters.

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign declined to comment yesterday. The New York senator, along with other Democrats, has said she would turn over donations received from Mr. Hsu to charity.

It should be noted, that we as yet have no evidence that those funds were turned over.  It would appear to be a difficult thing to turn over such a large amount of funds.  But can we take Mrs. Clinton and her word?  The obvious answer is ‘no’.

It comes down, in the end, to a matter of trust.  Or, more correctly, the lack thereof.  Particularly given her history.

I may have overstated somewhat the silence from the New York Times as regards to Norman Hsu.  Ed Morrissey, this morning makes mention of a New York Times report on the collapsing cover stories Hsu’s been putting up. Ed allows as how the Times is trying to focus on the headlong retreat of Democrats from Hsu, (Gee, I wonder if they ‘d do that were Republicans the target of such monies?) and suggests that the real story comes a well down into the article in which Hsu appears to be no more than a front:

People who met him said they knew only that he ran an apparel business. Efforts to learn more about his trade hit dead-ends yesterday. Visits to companies at addresses listed by Mr. Hsu on campaign finance records provided little information. There were no offices in buildings in New York’s garment district whose addresses were given for businesses with names like Components Ltd., Cool Planets, Next Components, Coopgors Ltd., NBT and Because Men’s clothing — all listed by Mr. Hsu in federal filings at different times.At a new loft-style residential condominium in SoHo that was also listed as an address for one of his companies, an employee there said that he had never seen or heard of Mr. Hsu. Another company was listed at a condo that Mr. Hsu had sublet in an elegant residential tower in Midtown Manhattan just off Fifth Avenue, but an employee there said Mr. Hsu moved out two years ago, after having lived there for five years. The employee, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about residents, said he recalled that Mr. Hsu had received a lot of mail from the Democratic Party.

Hillary Clinton told a Manhattan audience yesterday that her team tries to do the best they can in vetting volunteers. How could any vetting process possibly miss this? None of his story checks out at all, not even with the most cursory look at his record. It’s filled with false addresses. Not even his listed residence appears current. Exactly what kind of vetting did Hillary do?

I am reminded of an old joke From the old television series “Hogan’s Heroes” a doctor is sent to test an individual’s fitness for service in the then failing German army.  There is but one chair in the room.  The doctor looks at the patient and orders him to sit down in the brown chair.  Being that that’s the only chair in the room, the patient shrugs and sits as ordered.  The doctor notes in his log “Color vision … excellent”

Ed makes a further point:

Hilariously, Eliot Spitzer joined Hillary on stage yesterday. The Governor, whose previous job was Attorney General, got $62,000 of Hsu money for his campaign. Are we to believe that the former top law-enforcement officer of the state of New York couldn’t find out that Hsu was a fraud?

Clearly, it becomes a matter of resources.  Mr. Spencer was obviously spending too many of those resources investigating the political opponent, Joe Bruno.

The corruption picture for the Democrats, just continues to get worse and worse.

Addendum: (Bit) Credit Glenn Reynolds with the name: Hsu-nami. Memorable in it’s own light, and to the point.

Addendum:][ (Bit) Or, maybe the GateWay Pundit

(BBCT: Surber who deserves creds for a fine post on the topic)

A busy day of work, today, and me without decent net access, means you get my notes from today all at once in The Ramble:

• Tony Snow has basically given his two weeks notice.  Says cancer isn’t the reason he’s leaving… and I believe him, but the effects of the disease are starting to become visible, along with the strains of being involved with what has got to be the most strenuous job in the White House, itself a very strenuous place.  Tony is an eminently likable person, facing an unfair burden.  Then again, cancer is like that.
• Today was Karl Rove’s last day.
  
• Turns out, John Warner wasn’t quite so stupid as I suggested he might be last evening, he’s not running for the white house so far as I’m aware, he’s retiring.
  
• As I predicted here last night, Larry Craig is gone.  Effective 10:30eastern tomorrow morning he will be announcing his resignation, effective September 30th.  The situation turns out to be a win / win for Republicans, given his seat is a fairly safe Republican stronghold in what is probably the reddest state in the nation…. And because the situation will be well behind this from November of 2008.  Also, as we predicted here, Idaho Governor Otter will name lieutenant governor Jim Risch to the slot. The word was, that he was planning on running for the slot in 2008, anyway. Boortz had a wonderful caller this morning who suggested the best thing that could possibly happen for the republicans is that Larry Craig stand up in front of the microphones tomorrow and say that he was switching parties and would now caucus with the Democrats.  What do you suppose they would do in that situation?  It’s an amusing notion, and one that probably should be explored… You know as well as I do that if Craig were Democrat, the party would be going to the mat for himm.  Or, perhaps to the bathroom floor.  The internal fighting that would result from his switching parties would be worth a laugh, watching the fights that would ensue.
• Is it a tough month for Republicans?  Not particularly.  Look; most of these problems have been going on for some time, and it was a matter of time before they all came to a head.  It’s well that the stuff that dealt with now.  And not then.  Still, as I suggested last evening, it does provide a bit of a distraction for the funding business the democrats of been involved in, recently.  My guess is that stuff is going to peak in about another month.  It probably isn’t going to go way for several months thereafter.  Whereas for all the smoke that the far left has been putting up over the first four items on today’s Ramble , it’s going to be gone before we’re halfway down September. Add the dimension, that the internal report as regards our progress in Iraq is due shortly.  Politics is an area where pendulum tends to swing rather quickly, these days.
• I see where John Kerry is in some serious trouble in terms of getting reelected.
• Jon Henke notes that NRO’s Campaign Spot has some interesting numbers up… from The Economist numbers which Jon suggests do not suggest a massive move to the left… I’m of bit reluctant to jump on board without reading of the numbers.  First of all, at first blush the questions as asked do seem a little too general.  I’ll go over those numbers tonight, and make the pronouncement on it tomorrow.
• Speaking of Neal, he responds to Senator Bill Nelson, the democrat senator from Florida this morning.  The response has to do with the senators OP Ed in Useless Toady. The senator argues that the voting rights act guarantees every U.S. citizen in equal right to vote in Federal actions.  Neal responds that that’s not the case; saying there isn’t a right to vote in the Federal action under the constitution.  And the voting rights act to which the senator refers, only sets forth criteria that cannot be used to deny certain people the vote if and when the state decides there actually going to hold an election.  I wonder about the law of unforeseen consequences, here.  Is this a move to federalize state elections?  Even if that isn’t the intent, the way people such as Nelson read the law (or, dare I say this, misread the law) we’ll certainly end up in that situation.
• Oh; it did I forget to mention that Fred Thompson is supposed to be entering the race next week? I suppose it’s probably going to be the best timing he could manage. on that basis I suggest he will probably do it.
• As we mentioned last night, less than half of all published scientists, endorsed the theory of global warming… and only a small subset of that, think man has anything to do with it.  Here’s the report from the senate committee on environment and public works.
  
• Billy Beck notes Dalrymple, and both of them are wondering about the amount of time and emotional investments into the death of Lady Di. Investments, which agreed are being driven to the greatest of extents by the mainstream media. Billy goes on to quote Hitch, who in his turn, suggests that what we’re really dealing with is the fusion of feudalism, which after all the royal family is on the upper end of, and celebrity culture. That may be a valid point , but I don’t think it’s the first instance of this happening.  Anyone here of Bessie Wallis Simpson?  Anyone ever hear of Princess Grace?  Queen Noor?  All of these and more are royals whose celebrity is only partly born of their being Royal.  A goodly chunk of it has to do with the media.  I’ll tell you the truth, my friends, that trend has been around for a couple of centuries, anyway.  And the power is growing, has the power of the mainstream media has been growing.  If anybody ever doubts again the amount of impact that the mainstream media still has on the populations of the world, we need look no further than the kind of nonsense that has been going on all day today.  Or, perhaps what the MSM did with Princess Grace.  Truth to tell, I felt for the woman as well.  But is it really so slow on News day has to necessitate circling around the grave like vultures?  Maybe it’s easier to do that, then it is to do some serious investigation into Hillary Clinton‘s finances.
• Speaking of which Norman Hsu turned himself in, today. Who noticed?

Bit beat to Martin Lewis. However I will not be denied.

For those who just don’t know when to stop digging,  The winner of the first Bitsblog Golden Shovel Award:

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – Mike Nifong, the disgraced former Durham County district attorney, was held in criminal contempt of court Friday for lying to a judge when pursuing rape charges against three falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players.

Hat tip photo:  Ground-Breaking Awards.

Robert McFadden, New York Times, reports on Saddam Hussein’s illegal war material found at the United Nations.

No unconventional weapons were found in Iraq after the United States-led invasion in 2003. But a potentially deadly chemical agent produced by Saddam Hussein‘s regime has turned up, improbably, in an office at the United Nations in New York, and it had the F.B.I. and the city police scrambling yesterday.

What say you Pinch?

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Sliming’s New Meaning, Apparently, Is When You’re Quoted Accurately

I understand lefty bloggers are quite bothered by this story in the Washington Post, with the eye-catching headline, “Lawmakers Describe ‘Being Slimed in the Green Zone’

Jim Geraghty, National Review.

More, Don Surber.

Michelle Malkin has Larry Craig’s police transcriipt and tape.

There seems to be no clear ccnsensus on the tape.  From the legal perspective, the tape seems helpful.  Craig does not admit to anything near illegal and is the more polite of the two.

From the political vantage, the tape does not seem to help Craig.   He seems much too comfortable with the arrest process.   How many times has Craig been arrested?

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In the last few days, I have suggested repeatedly that this Norman Hsu was connected to the Chinese connection that was funneling money to the Clintons for their White House runs. The Wall Street Journal today, confirms this, to a large degree:

DALY CITY, Calif. — One of the biggest sources of political donations to Hillary Rodham Clinton is a tiny, lime-green bungalow that lies under the flight path from San Francisco International Airport.

Six members of the Paw family, each listing the house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. as their residence, have donated a combined $45,000 to the Democratic senator from New York since 2005, for her presidential campaign, her Senate re-election last year and her political action committee. In all, the six Paws have donated a total of $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005, election records show.

…

It isn’t obvious how the Paw family is able to afford such political largess. Records show they own a gift shop and live in a 1,280-square-foot house that they recently refinanced for $270,000. William Paw, the 64-year-old head of the household, is a mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service who earns about $49,000 a year, according to a union representative. Alice Paw, also 64, is a homemaker. The couple’s grown children have jobs ranging from account manager at a software company to “attendance liaison” at a local public high school. One is listed on campaign records as an executive at a mutual fund.

The Paws’ political donations closely track donations made by Norman Hsu, a wealthy New York businessman in the apparel industry who once listed the Paw home as his address, according to public records. Mr. Hsu is one of the top fund-raisers for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign. He has hosted or co-hosted some of her most prominent money-raising events.

…

On four separate dates this year, the Paw family, Mr. Hsu and five of his associates gave Mrs. Clinton a total of $47,500. In all, the family, Mr. Hsu and his associates have given Mrs. Clinton $133,000 since 2005 and a total of nearly $720,000 to all Democratic candidates.

The Paw’s Daly City home is a one-story house in a working-class suburb of San Francisco. On a recent day, a coiled garden hose rested next to a dilapidated garden with a half-dozen dried out plants. The din of traffic from a nearby freeway was occasionally drowned out by jumbo jets departing San Francisco International Airport.

William and Alice Paw are of Chinese descent. The entire family got their Social Security cards in California in 1982, according to state records. All but one of the Paws registered to vote as “nonpartisan.” A San Mateo County elections official said that members of the Paw family vote “sporadically.”

And yet, they donate many times their income to Democrat party causes, including races on the opposite end of the country, such as Elliot Spitzer? Why? And where’s the money coming from?

The signs that we’re being sold out by the Democrats for votes to the Chinese, are all there, folks… as they were back in ’92 and ’96. Do you suppose we’ll take the threat seriously, this time? Or will we accept Democrat claims of innocence, again?

Afterthought:(Bit)

In case nobody’s made note of it, the ‘truthers’ and the leftie blogs have been mostly silent as the grave about this.  These people are always so ready to leap off the deep end at the slightest possible fit of a conspiracy scenario, and yet when the evidence is sitting right out in plain sight, they’re not interested.  Not proof of itself, but historically, that’s always been a pretty good indication that there’s something going on and they’d rather we didn’t notice.

As promised, I spent some time cleaning out the link list tonight, otherwise known as the Blogroll.

In going through them I find myself surprised that the number of people who am I now realize it me up for links, and then what old off into the sunset never to be heard from again.  In most cases their sites are gone, too.  I will die down by quite a bit, that rather largish list.  I still have some work to do.

Now; that being said, if you’re interested in being listed in the Bitsblogroll,  well, by all means, drop Uncle Bithead a note.