The irony of this news report is almost too much to overcome. Do not read it as I did, for I did not believe this piece to be true and thought it to be nothing more than a parody.

(CBS4 News) HIALEAH Hialeah Police Homicide Detectives are investigating the gruesome discovery of a dead baby’s body inside of an abortion clinic but conflicting stories may prove there’s more to the discovery than meets the eye.

The body was found at “A Gynecologists Diagnostic Center,” 3671 West 16th Avenue in Hialeah.

Witnesses tell police that a young woman, whose identity has not been released, arrived at the clinic last Thursday at roughly 22 weeks pregnant for an abortion procedure.

Police say the woman arrived the next day after the procedure complaining of severe pain. Workers at the clinic explained to her that the doctor was not available and she’d have to wait.

The woman was taken into a recovery room and according to witnesses, gave birth in the clinic.

‘’Employees cut the umbilical cord, put the baby in a bag and walked away with it,” Hialeah Lt. Ralph Gracia said.

An anonymous caller, who police believe to be a clinic worker, alerted officials that the baby was born alive and possibly killed. When officials arrived, however, there was no body to be found. (more)

I do not know whether to be encouraged by a story such as this or to be completely shocked that the posturing of this story is one of willful ignorance. Has society grown so accustomed to the abortion ritual that we can decidedly separate the situation herein from the actual ritual?

Pro-life advocates are able to parse infanticide (here) from abortion, but I find this story troubling in nothing more than how cold it feels.

Hat Tip - ProLifeBlogs

Pro-Life Pulse

Technorati: Abortion / Reproductive Rights / Pro Choice / Feminism / Pro Life / roe / Wade / Pro-Life / Culture Watch / Pro-Choice / Women / Infanticide

It would appear that Israel has acquiesced to world opinion and has agreed to cessate air missions for 48 hours.

From Breitbart,

Israel has agreed to a 48-hour halt in aerial activity over southern Lebanon, a U.S. official said Sunday amid widespread outrage over an Israeli airstrike that killed at least 56 Lebanese, mostly women and children, when it leveled a building where they had taken shelter. The stunning bloodshed in Lebanon earlier on Sunday prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to cut short her Mideast mission and intensified world demands on Washington to back an immediate end to the fighting.

I grow impatient, and I am desperately weary of “world opinion” playing a factor in the “sovereigny” and “security” of nations such as Israel fighting a terrorist epidemic. Make no mistake, I am not naive to what circumstances “world opinion” should and does matter. And, further, I am not so callous as to be insensitive to the deaths of innocents…..But, that is just it, where is the dire outrage for the very existence of the organization known as Hizbollah? Israel is attempting to eradicate a force of evil atttentively and knowingly targeting innocent women and children civilians. And, the accidental-collateral damage that inflicted by Israel in its quest to eradicate the world of the diabolical pestilence is treated with the same moral equivalency. Absurd.How could one enterntain such an asinine analysis? This entire cease-fire is the equivalent of the U.S. halting operations while we wished to conquer Berlin during World War II. William Tecumseh Sherman is quoted as saying that “War is Hell” and he is known as a scourge throughout the South because of his March to the Sea. And, as much as I deplore the tactics for what they mean to humanity, if not for him conducting such operations at the behest of President Lincoln, the South’s back could not have been broken in a very crucial war. Why, then, do we ask diffferently of Israel?

Hat Tip - Wizbang! 

ThoughtsOnline seemingly shares your humble pundit’s thoughts pertaining to this matter:

What are we to make of this…?

WASHINGTON, July 28 — Two summers ago, on a Congressional trip to Estonia, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton astonished her traveling companions by suggesting that the group do what one does in the Baltics: hold a vodka-drinking contest.

Delighted, the leader of the delegation, Senator John McCain, quickly agreed. The after-dinner drinks went so well — memories are a bit hazy on who drank how much — that Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, later told people how unexpectedly engaging he found Mrs. Clinton to be. “One of the guys” was the way he described Mrs. Clinton, a New York Democrat, to some Republican colleagues.

Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain went on to develop an amiable if professionally calculated relationship. They took more official trips together, including to Iraq. They worked together on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on the issue of global warming. They made a joint appearance last year on “Meet the Press,” interacting so congenially that the moderator, Tim Russert, joked about their forming a “fusion ticket.”

Politics being what it is, there is more friction than fusion. As the 2008 presidential campaign begins to take shape, with Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton at the top of the polls for their parties’ nominations, they are increasingly underscoring their differences on issues like the war in Iraq and port security. Advisers to Mr. McCain have put a stop to his inviting Mrs. Clinton on trips.

Whether their friendship is based on anything other than the respect of one political professional for another, or the opportunity to strike a tone of bipartisanship for public consumption, is unclear. But the interplay between the two senators, both well known and both with compelling personal narratives and a knack for infuriating their own parties’ bases, could determine the tone of the 2008 presidential race and make it less personally vicious than the last two campaigns.

Of course, Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton are a long way from facing off for the presidency. Neither has even officially announced a candidacy, and both would still have to endure a primary season that is shaping up to be intense. Neither would probably be the other’s first choice as a rival; both would no doubt prefer to run against someone less skilled in blurring ideological lines.

Should not this last line say it all?

Based off their respective actions in the past, it goes just a tad further than merely “blurring” lines. Senator John McCain is no more conservative than Senator Clinton is moderate.

Technorati: Hillary Clinton / John McCain / Politics / Hillary / hillary-clinton / Democrats / Republicans / 2008 

Anti-war protesters perpetually complain that their message is being squashed by the ee-vel police-state we live in. In Philadelphia, we have a possible double-violation of the 1st Amendment, and, yet, this story can only be found in the realms of the blogosphere thanks to Tongue Tied.

From WorldNetDaily,

“A Philadelphia-based Christian ministry has filed a lawsuit claiming three of its members were harassed by authorities in Chicago for sharing their faith with homosexuals in the city for the “Gay Games,” an Olympics-style sports event.

Repent America - which saw 11 of its members arrested two years ago evangelizing at a public homosexual-activist event - says the three in Chicago were handcuffed and arrested for passing out Christian literature to homosexuals and holding up signs with Bible verses near the city’s popular Navy Pier, reports Agape Press.”

In case one went to sleep last night without perusing through the atmosphere, you would have missed the developing story out of Seattle, Washington. Surely, the MSM would not keep from the American public that which would be of grave concern, surely not….

To put it as simply as possible, there has been a terrorist attack on American soil.

Six women were shot - one fatally - this afternoon at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle by a man who told a witness he was upset about “what was going on in Israel.”

Police spokesman Rich Pruitt said there was one shooter, who was apprehended without incident outside the Jewish Federation building at the corner of Third Avenue and Virginia Street.

“We believe it’s a lone individual acting out his antagonism,” said David Gomez, who heads the FBI’s counterterrorism efforts in Seattle.

Authorities did not release many details, but the FBI said the alleged shooter was between 30 and 40 and agents were investigating the incident as a hate crime. When asked at a news conference if that meant the alleged shooter was Muslim, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said: “You could infer that.” 

…

The gunman, armed with what police said was a large caliber, semi-automatic handgun, forced his way through the security door at the federation after an employee had punched in her security code, Marla Meislin-Dietrich, a database coordinator for the center, told The Associated Press. “He said ‘I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel,’ before opening fire on everyone,” Meislin-Dietrich said. “He was randomly shooting at everyone.”

Nevertheless, as noted by Ace, the lack of candor with the details of such occurrences and those like them illustrate the bias of those which are “objective” and forthright” when it comes to bringing us the news.

Take a moment and imagine if this would have been a bathhouse being the center of the storm, and a “fundamentalist christian” would have been the perpetrator, would the reporting of the event be different?

Unfortunately, I do not think this will be able to be ignored by the MSM since it will only be the first of many such acts taken by the “peaceful” followers of the “Religion of Peace.”

UPDATE #1

Michelle Malkin has the picture of the disgruntled neanderthal.

Technorati: Hezbollah / Terrorism / Seattle / Lebanon / Current Affairs

Remember when life was simple?  I do, sort of.  Back when I was your little arrogant pundit, I remember there was a time when three things in life were certain.  One, Dick Clark was the only voice you needed on New Year’s Eve.  Two, Saturday cartoons did not have homosexual or illegal immigrant characters.  Three, this country had enemies.  “But Right Fielder, what do you mean?  We have enemies now!”  Do we really?  I know most of the readers here think so, as does your arrogant pundit.  However, have you stopped to think about how ignorant people in this country are when it comes to the battle of good vs. evil, democracy vs. any government where people are not free, etc.? 

For example, one of my all time favorite movies is Rocky IV.  For those of you who don’t know, this is the one where Rocky fights the Russian.  While watching this movie I couldn’t help but think…would a movie like this be made today?  Of course not.  In today’s world, we would be forced to “understand” the Russian.  After the death of Apollo Creed, Rocky would have to practice “restraint”.  Of course, examples like these could go on forever.  Now, before anyone gets wound up, I’m not saying that hate is good.  Absolutely not.  However, I am saying that there is nothing wrong with having an enemy.  This is not a perfect world and people will have fundamental disagreements in life.  Should these diagreements be discussed?  Yes!  But after discussion and almighty “diplomacy” (in my very best Kofi Annan voice), it is okay to stand by your convictions.  Sometimes these convictions lead to war…sometimes they don’t.

So before I turn my first rant into a full fledged column, let me leave you with bits and pieces of General Patton speeches.  One can only hope that the patriotism/All-American attitude that let us cheer for ourselves and against the enemy will come again…

“Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big league ball player, the toughest boxer. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.”

“…we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit and the best men in the world. You know, by God I actually pity those poor bastards we’re going up against. By God, I do…”

“There are three reasons why we are fighting this war.  The first is because we are determined to preserve our traditional liberties.  Some crazy German bastards decided they were superman and that it was their holy mission to rule the world.  They’ve been pushing people around all over the world, looting, killing, and abusing millions of innocent men, women, and children.  They were getting ready to do the same thing to us.  We had to fight to prevent being subjugated.”

“He is a self-described “angry white male” who now has a soap box, so we all now have something to look forward to”

I can’t speak for the “look forward to” part, but as your “arrogant pundit”, you can rest assured that angry, bitter, unhinged, yet thoughtful and hopefully knowledgeable is what you will get.  What will I write about?  Well, that depends.  As Publius alluded to last week, I’ve been known to send him messages and rants about everything from “why doesn’t Israel make craters out of its neighbors” to “why aren’t female sports forced to live by the the principles of supply and demand”.  In other words, Publius Rendezvous will now basically receive the same messages I send Publius himself every so often.  So from here on, be on the lookout for random news articles, ramblings, rants, and anything else your arrogant pundit finds worthy of your attention.

Until next time…

Do you want to know why I support the FairTax? Check the various issues below and see how the Income Tax, a Flat Tax, and the FairTax would affect each situation.

16th Amendment
FairTax - Proposes repeal.
Federal Income Tax - No change.
Flat Tax - No change.

Complexity
FairTax - Individuals do not file. Businesses need only to deal with sales tax returns.
Federal Income Tax - Very complex; 20,000 pages of regulations; I.R.S. incorrect over half of the time.
Flat Tax - Withholding continues. Individuals and businesses must still track income and file income tax forms.

Home Business
FairTax - Record all business expenses and is subject to IRS audit? No.
Federal Income Tax - Record all business expenses and is subject to IRS audit? Yes.
Flat Tax - Record all business expenses and is subject to IRS audit? Yes.

Congressional Action
FairTax - 23% Linder/Peterson FairTax Act of 2001 (H.R. 25). Employees receive 100% of pay. Social Security and Medicare funded from consumption tax revenue, not your paycheck. (H.J.Res45) - Will repeal the 16th Amendment.
Federal Income Tax - Used by lobbyists and the wealthy for tax-breaks and loopholes. Used by bureaucrats for social engineering.
Flat Tax - Rep. Armey’s H.R. 1040 has some problems, but is far superior to current law.

Cost of Filing
FairTax - No personal forms are filed. Significant cost savings.
Federal Income Tax - $225 billion in annual compliance costs.
Flat Tax - Significant simplification ­ costs are somewhat reduced.

Economy
FairTax - Un-taxes wages, savings, and investment. Increases productivity. Produces significant economic growth.
Federal Income Tax - Taxes savings, labor, investment, and productivity multiple times.
Flat Tax - Imposes a tax burden some of which is still hidden in the price of goods and services.

Equality
FairTax - Taxpayers pay the same rate and control their liability. Tax paid depends on lifestyle. All taxes are rebated on spending up to the poverty level.
Federal Income Tax - The current tax code violates the principle of equality. Special rates for special circumstances violate the original Constitution and are unfair.
Flat Tax - The flat tax is an improvement over the current income tax, but it is still open to manipulation by special interests.

Foreign Companies
FairTax - Foreign companies are forced to compete on even terms with U.S. companies for the first time in over 80 years.
Federal Income Tax - Current tax code places unfair tax burden on U.S. exports and fails to neutralize tax advantages for imports.
Flat Tax - A flat tax taxes exported goods and does not tax foreign imports to the U.S., creating unfair competition for U.S. manufacturers and businesses.

Government Intrusion
FairTax - As the Founding Fathers intended, the FairTax does not directly tax individuals.
Federal Income Tax - Current tax code requires massive files, dossiers, audits, and collection activities.
Flat Tax - A flat tax still requires personal files, dossiers, audits, and collection activities.

History
FairTax - 45 states now use a retail sales tax.
Federal Income Tax - The 1913 income tax has evolved into an antiquated, unenforceable morass, with annual tax returns long enough to circle Earth 28 times.
Flat Tax - A flat tax just won’t stay flat. Starting out nearly flat in 1913, the income tax grew out of control with top rates over 90% until the Kennedy administration.

Interest Rates
FairTax - Reduces rates by an estimated 25-35 percent. Savings and investment increase.
Federal Income Tax - Pushes rates up. Biased against savings and investment.
Flat Tax - Reduces rates 25-35 percent. Neutral toward savings and investment.

Investment
FairTax - Increases investment by U.S. citizens, attracts foreign investment.
Federal Income Tax - Biased against savings and investment.
Flat Tax - Neutral toward savings and investment.

IRS
FairTax - Abolished.
Federal Income Tax - Retained.
Flat Tax - Retained with reduced role.

Jobs
FairTax - Makes U.S. manufacturers more competitive against overseas companies.Escalates creation of jobs by attracting foreign investment and reducing tax bias against savings and investment.
Federal Income Tax - Hurts U.S. companies and decreases available jobs. Payroll tax a direct tax on labor.
Flat Tax - Positive impact on jobs. Does not repeal payroll tax on jobs.

Man-hours required for compliance
FairTax - Zero hours for individuals. Greatly reduced hours for businesses.
Federal Income Tax - Over 5.4 billion hours per year.
Flat Tax - Reduced.

Non-filers
FairTax - Reduced tax rates and fewer filers will increase compliance.
Federal Income Tax - High tax rates, unfairness and high complexity harm compliance.
Flat Tax - Reduced tax rates and improved simplicity will improve compliance.

Personal and Corporate Income Taxes
FairTax - Both are abolished.
Federal Income Tax - Retained.
Flat Tax - Retained in a different form.

Productivity
FairTax - Increases.
Federal Income Tax - Inhibits productivity.
Flat Tax - Increases.

Savings
FairTax - Increases savings.
Federal Income Tax - Decreases savings.
Flat Tax - Increases savings.

Visibility
FairTax - The FairTax is highly visible and easy to understand. No tax is withheld from paychecks.
Federal Income Tax - The current tax code is hidden, embedded in prices, complex, and incomprehensible. Taxes are withheld from paychecks.
Flat Tax - The business component of the flat tax and payroll taxes are hidden and would be embedded in prices. Taxes are withheld from paychecks.

Any questions?

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to host the weekly postings on your blog, please e-mail Terry. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

A Clarification on my Position on Immigration Written By Linda at Right as Usual In talking to some readers, I realized that they were under the impression that I disliked immigrants. Nothing could be further from the truth. My maiden name sounded distinctly “ethnic” and unusual. As a result, most people assumed that I was one of the many displaced people that arrived in the Cleveland area after WWII, including the recently arrived. I, not being the brightest bulb in the pack, just thought they were interested in fascinating me when they eagerly initiated conversations. I didn’t realize at the time they were hoping to talk to a fellow “newbie”. This resulted in my acquiring friendships with people from:

* Estonia * Germany * Brazil * Lebanon * Syria * India * Taiwan * Japan * Hong Kong * Pakistan * Vietnam * England * Greece * Jordan * Romania * Hungary * Poland * Spain * Peru * Korea * Austria * Liberia * Yugoslavia * Mexico

…just to name the ones I can think of off the top of my head. With the exception of one person from Mexico, they all had something in common - they LEGALLY immigrated. And that’s the crux of my “problem” with immigration. I simply think it’s unfair to keep allowing people to flow over the border without going through channels. Some want to think of themselves as compassionate people, who gladly accept the “poor, huddled masses, yearning to breathe free”. Yeah, right. By allowing those who ignore inconvenient laws to escape retribution, our country is denying law-abiding foreigners to claim their rightful spot in the queue. Folks, we can’t accept everybody. The world holds over 6 billion people. At what point would you like us to stop taking everyone in? When our economy breaks down under the strain of taking in under-educated, under-skilled workers? Many of them don’t contribute to Social Security and taxes - they are paid under the table. When our schools no longer have the ability to educate our children? It costs money to provide ESL services, folks. When the illegals outnumber the natives? And vote against democracy? See last week’s Blogburst articles for examples of THAT. Any discussion of immigration has to begin with a recognition that we can’t take in a flood of people without documentation, who started that journey by breaking the law, and who largely don’t speak much English and have little education or skills. To do so jeopardizes the very structure of our society. We can bring in SOME, we can adjust to helping them assimilate, we just can’t manage the process with this many at once. Yeah, I know they just want to work. The question to ask is, would you give up YOUR job to help the immigrant? Would you take them into YOUR house? Would you work a second job to pay for educating their kids? If not, then you haven’t the right to expect the rest of the country to do what you won’t do.

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It is syndicated by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration in our country, join the Blogburst! Send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

One could only hope.

Drudge is reporting,

Israeli warplanes destroyed the building housing the headquarters of Hezbollah guerrillas in south Beirut Friday, the group’s TV station reported.In an urgent flash, the station said the building housing Hezbollah’s leadership was destroyed.

It did not elaborate, nor say whether there were any casualties.

Hezbollah says the residence and office of its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, have been destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, but he and his family are safe.

Hat Tip - StoptheACLU / The Real Ugly American / Michelle Malkin / Ace of Spades HQ / HotAir