Robert Wendell argues against Fundamentalist Islam.

Ken Layne is back!

Just let the damn guy plead guilty already!
What is with everybody trying to declare this guy crazy because he has some weird ideas? The U.S. has the first Amendment. The first Amendment says you can say whatever the heck you want to say. In other words, it is about time someone defended Moussaoui's right to be crazy.

Oliver Willis takes on the race-baiters. QUOTE:

There is a cancer in Black America. What is it? The insipidly annoying habit to resort to certain personalities as "leaders" when an abuse like the current Inglewood case flares up. They are mediagenic, soundbite-worthy. But their lasting impact is to contribute to a stereotype of blacks as loud, abrasive, and quick to snap judgement. Most guilty of this is the original race-baiter, Al Sharpton. Sharpton has never seen a television camera he wouldn't like to to "step-n-fetch" in front of. It's embarrasing, that blacks would select a clown such as this to represent our cause.

A fear exists that at any moment an Al-Qaeda member will blow something up in America. The terror attacks may come at bridges, banks, malls, or in the main terminal of an airport among other places. Several days in the past 10 months have had a 100% chance of an attack. These guys are crazy and we must stop them but how?

John Ashcroft has tried detaining potential terrorists indefinitely. Ashcroft’s actions come under harsh criticism recently for those actions, as well it should.

What can we do to prosecute the terrorists that do not deny them of their civil rights? Connect them with the RICO act. The RICO, or Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, can be surely be used against Al-Qaeda. RICO was passed in order to prosecute those involved in criminal activity but not directly related. Zacarias Moussaoui and Johnny Walker are prime examples of where the RICO act could be used in criminal proceedings that are occurring. Why challenge rights if it is not necessary?

UPDATE: Joe Katsman asks "Why hasn't this been done yet? It's such a useful approach that this makes me wonder if perhaps there's a legal flaw that prevents its use."

This seems like this is something the administration could use since Section 1961 of Title 18 defines "racketeering activity" to include any act or threat involving murder, and dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), which is chargeable under State law and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year. Yet nowhere in Section 1961 is the word "terrorism" used as a punishable offense under the RICO Act. An article in the Detroit News seems to suggest legislators seem to be considering changing the RICO Act to include "terrorism" so a change may be necessary to prosecute Al-Qaeda under the current law.

It's time to end the war on health!

Libertarian Samizdata has moved off blogger and blogspot onto it's new Movable-Type powered site.

Arming pilots is a good idea, but not enough. It is time to let on everybody with a concealed weapons liscense on to the plane with as many guns as they can find to arm themselves. ... Or at least let the public have food and plastic knives to use as weapons.

"We are not going to act like heathens. No heathens!!" -Bill Cosby from The Cosby Show

The bitching between Hot 97 and Power 105 continues.
Angie Martinez has released her new single "Never" on which she disses Power 105 Hey, Angie, stick to deejaying.

Thanks to Rantburg for the permanent link!

Crash catches the music industry in a lie. It's almost a cheap shot though. Sorta like asking Jackson why he is accusing Sony of being racist.
(Link via InstaPundit

Tony Adragna argues that the President has engaged in moral relativism for condemning corporate actions without getting into specifics. Bush is just playing politics here. Bush ignored specifics because 1) Who really wants to hear specifics? and 2)It is easier for Bush to wait until Congress comes up with a solution.

"The market has been shitty all along. It's like trying to turn around a tanker." Quote I heard today.

Bush has decided to create a corpirate fraud taskforce. Bush has done the smartest political move he could by looking like he is making an effort without any real intent to change his plans. Bush has reverted to the good old Presidential technique of appointing a task force or commission who the President plans to ignore.

Mind Over Matters has moved to a new address.

John Miller of National Review argues for putting Reagan on the dime. Hell, anything is better than Wilson.

Kausfiles now has links! (They are at the bottom of the page.)

Nicholas Kristoff has an editorial in the New York Times from today's paper. QUOTE:

Could there be a worse indictment of American agricultural policy, rendered even more scandalous by the new $180 billion farm bill signed by President Bush?

Actually, there is a worse indictment. By inflating farm subsidies even more, Congress and the Bush administration are impoverishing and occasionally killing Africans whom we claim to be trying to help.

Since Tim Blair has compiled his list of insults, someone should really create a quiz that decides which Tim Blair insult that would apply.

You are 50% evil! [?]

You? Evil? Half way there! You're 50%, meaning you can't always be trusted...well, half of the time! You're the perfect balance between good and evil, but being that much evil isn't always good...

I guess I really am a heathen.

Brian Micklethwait over at Libertarian Zamisdata argues that communication not legislation should be the goal of people who want to regulate products or activities. I couldn't agree more. Taxes on junk food unduly hurt the thin people who need to gain more weight. Governments recently have considered taxing junk foods in an effort to halt obesity. But as with every government action, there are unintended consequences of taxing junk food. Those in favor of taxing junk foods should realize thin people will just as likely to stop buying the junk food. And if the thin people are not eating, that leads to anorexia. Do people who care about health, really want to cause anorexia?

I have started a new blog with Matthew Edgar called "Heathen's Unite." It is a look at the world from a deist perspective.

J.C. Watts anounced his retirement from Congress today. J.C. Watts always seemed like a politician that he believed what he said and was not lying through his teeth to get power. I think Ben Domenech is correct to reason this is not the last of Mr. Watts. In fact J.C. Watts said in his farewell speech,

"Retiring from Congress does not mean retreating from the public arena. Our democracy is based on citizen participation, and as a citizen, I intend to participate vigorously in the great ongoing debate over the future of the most wonderful nation in all the world."

Reader Todd Graham e-mails me about the interview with Nas on Hot 97:

I live in the NYC area and heard the interview Nas made on Power 105 live. Two things are clear from the interview that I heard. One is that Nas was clearly frothing at what had happened. The other was that 70-80% of the interview was a long bitch about payola on Hot 97, not about personally getting on anyone. While saying that Hot 97 DJ has a "cizzock in his mizzouth" and pretty much called him a closet case, I think the beef was about what he felt was manipulations behind the scenes, suggesting at payola from the Def Jam music group (the people who part-own Rockafela) was behind the cancellation.

Hot 97 is by far not blameless in this whole matter. For one, representatives from their parent company, Radio One, openly admitted to taking payola. It's also well known in the industry that you have to pay Funkmaster Flex $10k to get your single played on his show or, baring that, some good ol' fashioned gunplay. In the Power 105 interview, Nas claimed that Tracy Cloherty and Angie Martinez actually begged Nas to make a comeback to Jay Z's response to "Ether". The reasoning behind it, according to Nas, was to boost the ratings, which had been taking a beating in the afternoon timeslot compared to Wendy Williams on WBLS 107.5. I don't know if any actual recordings of the interview are making the rounds on the net, but it's clear that a lot of what he said was in anger and frustration, not out of any actual malice.

Payola is a big problem in the music industry. The chances of payola being a reason why Nas was not invited to Summer Jam seems like a highly probable reason especially with Damon Dash, of Roc-a-fella Records, claiming he made the call that removed Nas from the recent summer jamconcert.The payola that occurs with radio is especially ironic after the broadcasters recent release of fees that internet broadcasters must now pay.

New York City has raised the City's cigarette taxes to $1.50 per pack. The price of cigarettes has been raised in New York City to $7 a pack on major brands. New York City may soon, if it has no already, feel the effects of the Laffer curve. Cigarette taxes have reached such a level in New York City that smokers may have a strong motivation to buy cigarettes elsewhere.