A rant, from the most tenacious defender of the free world

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities - but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

-Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).

[Wal-Mart] Milwaukie Mayor Opposed, in letter to Portland Mayor Potter

"A Wal-Mart at Tacoma and McLoughlin would drain the life out of our downtown core, as Wal-Marts have done all across this country," is the formal written response to a proposed Wal-Mart on the site of the old Goodwill & the old Mill End Store, sent to Portland's mayor by Milwaukie's mayor, Jim Bernard.

The Oregonian story also notes:

In his letter, Bernard said Milwaukie has been trying to rebuild its downtown and north industrial areas and hopes to bring a full-service grocery store to the central business district. He said allowing a Wal-Mart to build a grocery in that area would be a major blow to the city's efforts.

[Next Door] Trendy-third stranger stabbing?

Tigard geezer stabbed by apparent stranger at lunchtime monday outside McMenamins' on NW Trendy-Third in Portland.

[Justice] Judicial Math Error?

Sixteen years ago, Clackamas County was recognized as a leader in home detention via electronic monitoring of offenders.

How ironic is it, then, that the new sheriff can't expand this program, as recommended by the 2005 Grand Jury Correctional Facility Inspection Report, because of a county court order described in this Oregonian article.

It costs the county $20 an inmate to monitor them on home detention, compared with $95 an inmate to hold them in the county jail.

Hmm...

OK. Here's the Sheriff's plan:

76 jail beds to close, which cost $95 per day to operate = $7,220/day.

Double, from 40 to 80, the non-violent offenders monitored by this system, which would cost $800/day.

Where would that difference of $6,420/day, or two-point-three million dollars a year go?

Sounds to me like even more home detention, backed up with more sheriff's deputies on road patrol, might be beneficial.

PS: The 'County Court', as misnomered in the articles quoted above, is actually the Fifth Circuit Court of the State of Oregon. Phone numbers are listed here and the judges are listed here, county by county, in alphabetic order.

[World] I'm Feeling Jacksonian Today

And this is why they did it is a rather good issue summary from an Iranian, Amir Taheri, in the Times of London.

But, if you want to know what to do about it, read Soft Targets by Ashland's Dean Ing. Had anyone paid attention to him back in 1979, we might have a clue about how to handle this.

[Health] Physician, Heal Thyself: Tigard Doc & RN indicted for fake Botox scams

Hundred of folks were been shot up with fake Botox by an unscrupulous Tigard doc and nurse who bought cheap knock-off drugs instead, says the Statesman-Journal and the Lake Oswego Review. They've got a date in US District Court now, with 53 counts named in the indictments, after a January raid by the feds. The Oregonian adds:

Federal authorities say what Lentini and his nurse, Cathryn Garcia, actually used in treating hundreds of patients was an unapproved form of botulism toxin, some of it made in China and imported from a middleman in Turkey.

And, here's a class-action lawsuit in the making, in the event there's any of the hundreds of thousands of dollars made from the alleged scheme left.

[Next Door] Budget Travel Babbles About Portland

The MSNBC site which houses online content from Budget Travel magazine waxes ecstatic about Portland today.

[Federal] Your Tax Dollars Secretly At Work

The Congressional Research Service does its best to provide members of Congress with untainted and accurate analysis. However, those reports are not publicly made available, so the Open CRS Network has created a website which indexes and stores those publicly-funded reports. Current reports cover such issues as Afghanistan, Enemy Combatants, Energy Policy, Gasoline Prices, Homeland Security, Identity Theft, Iraq, the PATRIOT Act and Social Security.

If you'd like to see the information your Congresscritter uses to make up their mind, this site is worth your time, [UPDATE] as is the University of North Texas Library collection, http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/index.tkl, which you can search on, or browse by topic.

[Fun] Molalla Buckeroo time

Is there anything more All-American than watching vacqueros (tongue-twisted into buckeroos ) engaged in PRCA professional rodeo competitions, with entertainment, food and a fireworks display on the Fourth? Come on down to the Molalla Buckeroo (map and directions).