News:
Forget the Insurgents targeting our Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Forget the Palestinian Terrorists targeting innocent civilians in Israel. In this day and age, Radical Islamic beasts have a new target: Thai students and teachers. The problem has been growing since 2004 and Today it has reached a new low.

Officials from the Southern Thai province of Pattani have announced that 336 schools will be closed on Monday after two more teachers were killed in as many days, adding to 57 other school officials killed over the past three years by armed terrorists.

More than 1,800 people have died in terrorist attacks across Thailand since January 2004, the vast majority in the southern parts of the country. As of late, schools have become a popular target. One school was burned down on Thursday, and several others were targeted.

The closed schools will remain closed, for the safety and security of staff and students, until the teachers feel safe and are no longer easy targets for the terrorists.http://news.lycos.com/dynamic/stories/T/THAILAND_SOUTHERN_VIOLENCE

Views:
There is a line when acts of terrorism go from bad to insane: the line is a fuzzy one, but in the words of Justice Potter Stewart, “I know it when I see it”. These attacks cross that line and so many others.

Terrorism is terrible regardless of the situation, but at least striking a military institution or personal makes a little sense - they are out there trying to eliminate your kind. What makes no sense to me, however, is the logic behind striking schools and teachers. By striking such location, the terrorists are only going to diminish their limited and retarded supporters, while destroying the future of their nation - in this case Thailand - in the process.

Children are the future of any nation and by either killing them or preventing them from receiving an education, there will be nothing but trouble: the citizens will be idiots, there will be no one to lead, and the workers will know nothing but terror. When a nation degrades to such a point, the downward spiral will be incredibly difficult to break.

With the new revelations and recent increase in attacks on schools, the Thai authorities have an increased duty - at least in my mind - to go out there and destroy the terrorists and cells. Attacking schools is simply the last straw.

I see no reason that the Thai authorities would not be out there on the street this very minute arresting and conviction every single terrorist in their country. Such a goal remains a dream, even in a country as powerful as the United States, but it should stand with all.

Common Sense:
If you’re a Thai student or teacher, stay as far away from your school as possible for the duration of the closure - my understanding is that things do not look good.

At the same time, anyone attending a closed school should continue to learn and read during the closure, be it be book, the computer, private school, or other means.

News:
British Television Station Sky News is reporting that a former Russian spy killed in the United Kingdom is the victim of Polonium 210 poisoning. Alexander Litvinenko, who died Thursday night, had met with two other Russians shortly before falling ill.

British authorities have been searching many areas for radiation, and have so far found it in Litvinenko’s home, a Sushi bar in which he ate, and at the hotel where he met with the other Russian men. Although no one has taken responsibility, the general consensus of friends and family seems to be that it was a assassin working for Vladimir Putin and the Russian Government.

According to the victim’s father, who blames the Russian President for the death: “You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilized men and women.” Whether the claims turnout to be true or not, this could prove to be troublesome for the administration.http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13553599,00.html

Thanks to Captain Ed, we have some additional insight into the poisoning:

Views:
If the suspicions that seem to be present are true, I suspect that the administration in Russia is going to face some very tough questions. I see no reason that this would be terrorism, it is way too targeted, and Captain Ed’s insight (which is also available in Wikipedia’s Polonium article) seems quite convincing.

At the same time, however, I would not be surprised if this is a far more common event to have occur inside Russia and the news simply never makes it out. I realize that they have changed a great deal since the fall of the Soviet leadership, but there is still something a little strange with them, at least in my mind.

Common Sense:
If you’re a former Russian spy, watch out for your life. If you’re a Russian government assassin, be very careful and don’t use such unusual methods of poisoning.

Thanks to HotAir.com for the original story

In the interest of accountability, this post has been retained. Please note that as of February 7th, 2007, News. Views. Common Sense. no longer accepts sponsored posts or advertising. Thank you.

Fall and winter are the seasons for major storms in many parts of the United States, be it wind, ice, or otherwise. One of the problems that many people have in major storms is loosing their electricity. How do you get around in the dark? Some people may turn to candles or kerosene lanterns, but both can be extremely dangerous is not handled properly, especially around children. It is because of this that every household should own at least one flashlight.

Sure, you can find run of the mill flashlights at your local supermarket, but what if you want something more, perhaps a little better? If this sounds like you, perhaps you would like a Streamlight or Pelican model. Then we have those who truly need a top of the line model, something light, bright, and durable. If fall into this category, then perhaps Surefire is the flashlight for you.

Regardless of your flashlight needs, OpticsPlanet.net has an extensive selection of just about every flashlight I can possibly imagine, as well as quite a few I never knew existed. Whether you?re hunting deep in a jungle or simply finding the fuse box, I would imagine that OpticsPlanet has what you need.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I have received $7.00 from OpticsPlanet.net in order to generate buzz about their flashlight store. I have never actually purchased anything from their website and I make no claims of reliability.

News:

Views:
I agree that smoking is a disgusting habit and that secondhand smoke is a terrible nuisance. I tend to support laws which prohibit smoking in restaurants and businesses, as they provide for the health and safety of a great number of non-smoking employees. At the same time, I am against excessive and seemingly authoritarian laws that invade the lives of innocent people. Yes, smokers are disgusting, but they are still people.

What I really don’t like about the proposed law is that it limits the rights of people on their own property. From the article I gather that almost all smoking outside is to be banned - even on the private property that is not a single family detached home.

It is my guess that this law will be challenged within 30 seconds of the first ticket being handed out. I have no idea what the courts will say, being that this will be taking place in California, but it should be interesting.

In the end, it’s not the particular law that I disagree with, but the potential for a slippery slope that could form if it is upheld. How about we ban public consumption of sugar, it’s bad for you too.

Common Sense:
If you do smoke, please don’t do so around others who do not approve and try to quit as soon as possible

If you don’t smoke, never take it up. Smoking is a disgusting and dangerous habit.

News:
In yet another move with seemingly anti-Israeli undertones, the United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution condemning the Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip last weekend. The resolution passed with an overwhelming 156 to 7 majority with six other countries sitting out of the vote.

The resolution, which carries no enforceable provisions, comes on the heels of an attack that may have killed as many as 82 Palestinian civilians. It is important to note, however, that the attacks were not deliberate and have been blamed by Israeli officials as technical issues with an artillery battery.

Both the United States and Israel voted against the resolution and have since condemned it. John Bolton also offered his take, saying “We believe that the United Nations is ill-served when its members seek to transform the organization into a forum that is little more than a self-serving and polemical attack against Israel or the United States”.http://news.lycos.com/dynamic/stories/U/UN_ISRAEL_PALESTINIANS

Views:
First off, I’m glad that this resolution came through the General Assembly, not the Security Council, and thus carries no real weight.

I’ve never been a big fan of the United Nations. It seems that everything they due is either in defiance of the wishes of the United States or somehow condemning of Israel. I know that I’m exaggerating, but they really do seem to focus on the wrong things.

Many people seem to think that Israel has been overstepping it’s bounds for months, certainly since the July invasion of Lebanon and well before. I wholeheartedly disagree with such a view. It is Israel’s right, even her duty, as a free and sovereign nation to defend herself from foreign armies and terrorists, both at home and abroad. Had Israel invaded with no reason whatsoever, I’d have to wonder, but as it is I support them.

As far as I’m concerned, any attacks from the Palestinians on Israel, whether acts of terrorism or of war, should be taken very seriously and be made examples of. If they ever want to stop them, I think the government really needs to crack down. But then again, what do I know, such actions would probably only inflame them even more.

The other major question revolves around the incident last weekend. Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, I am more than inclined to believe Israel’s version of events than any of the trash that comes from the Palestinian or Hamas sides. As such, I do believe that Israel is telling the truth when they claim it was a mistake - I think they have more to loose by lying than they could ever hope to gain. It is an unfortunate reality, but innocent people are going to get killed in just about any conflict.

Common Sense:
For heaven’s sake, if you’re a tourist or other person not on official business, stay as far away from the Gaza Strip (and the entire Middle East for that matter) as you possibly can.

I didn’t spend much time online yesterday, and as I result I seem to have missed posting a message in honor of Veteran’s Day. I very much apologize for the oversight and I hope that being a day late does not offend anyone.

Read the rest of this entry »

Final results from the 2006 mid-term elections are still not available in some areas, and 10 House races remain too close to call, but it’s already time to start thinking about the next election. Candidates are likely to not even announce candidacy for at least a month or two, but the ‘what ifs’ are already here.

Take part in an early straw pull for the 2008 Republican Presidential candidate, this time at www.GOPbloggers.org.

The November Straw Pull is closed, please see my post on the December Straw Pull.

Thanks to HotAir.com for the link.

News:
According to the Associated Press, Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington has canceled classes tomorrow (11/9/2006) in order to host a campus-wide, student led, ‘diversity symposium’.

Apparently the mess started when a group of students attended an off campus party dressed in blackface, mimicking the racial segregation on the newest season of the popular reality show Survivor.

The real trouble started when pictures were taken at the party found there way online and became fodder for raging debate and discussion on a campus e-mail list.http://news.lycos.com/dynamic/stories/C/COLLEGE_RACE_SYMPOSIUM

Views:
At first glance it was my strong opinion that Whitman had gone one step too far in canceling classes for such a symposium. I did see some merit in such a response, but I saw no reason for them to put learning on hold so that students could attend.

That view, however, had one major thing missing: context. I have no connection whatsoever to Whitman: I had no real idea what the climate was like on campus. It is on that note that I must go out and take a look around the blogosphere - apparently this whole controversy is a very big issue on the campus. I think the following quote sums up my research pretty well:

Even with that in mind, I still believe that canceling classes is excessive and I applaud the administration for not making (as far as I can tell) the event a mandatory, indoctrination type event as we have seen in the Freshman Orientations (which I bet provide amazing content for blogs) at various colleges around the nation, as seen here and here.

I’m starting to ramble, so I’ll close with one last thought: I really hope that parts of the symposium get put online for the blogosphere to dissect. Somehow it has piqued my interest, and I really wonder just what they’ll be talking about.

Common Sense:
Don’t dress in blackface unless you have a really good reason.

I called Virginia for Webb just before at 1:59AM EST this morning (all times and dates on the headers of this blog are PST), and I still stand by my prediction. What I find interesting, however, is that the total vote counted plummeted sometime early this afternoon or late morning. I checked the totals at about 10:00AM Eastern and it was at 99.86% counted. However, the Virginia State Board of Elections is currently reporting only 94.81% as having been counted. Although I have no real source on this, my best guess would be that many absentee ballots have yet to be counted.

None the less, by combining my call on Virginia and the Network calls on the other states, I am confident - albeit mildly upset - that the Democrats have won control of both the House and the Senate for the 110th Congress, making George W. Bush a very lame duck.

The breakdown of the 110th Congress’s Senate will be as follows:

The 110th Senate will consist of 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 2 heavily Democratic Independents.The map is based on data from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2006_US_Senate_results.png and a US map from http://libremap.org/data/boundary/ which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License available online at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

As much as it pains me to do this, I’m ready to make a call on Virginia.

NewsVC now predicts that Virginia is going to the Democrats, leaving the states of Montana and Missouri to decide the election. My gut feeling is not a positive one and I would not be surprised if we wake up to news that the Senate has changed hands.

With 99.63% of the vote counted, Democrat Jim Webb has pulled ahead of Republican Incumbant George Allen by 7,811 votes as of 1:56am EST.