Ontario Empoblog

Radio Equalizer has interviewed Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bill Handel, who is engaged in a verbal sparring match with Sabiha Khan of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Here is an excerpt from the Radio Equalizer interview: RE: What do you see as the difference between your situation and previous CAIR protests, where hosts such as Michael Graham at WMAL have been fired? Handel: This company has balls to stand behind its hosts. Disney, parent company of Graham's station, has NO business being in talk radio because they don't like controversy at all. Talk radio is all about controversy. Controversy? KTemoc considers the nature of evil : This man is the absolute pits in human decency. He is an absolute disgrace in any language, society or environment. Bill Handel, host of a Los Angeles radio KFI640, has the disgraceful indecency to made fun of the death of Muslim pilgrims during a stampede in Mecca recently. Yes, MAKE FUN of people being stampeded to death! Regardless of w...

Two additional views on Iran and democracy. See my earlier post for other views. Hawken Blog makes the following comment while linking to stories about Iran arresting strikers: The US government and corporate media's newfound desire to invade Iran...would only serve to further repress genuine grassroots movements for democracy in Iran. Democracy in Iran can only come from below, from the people. Meanwhile, Reality Hammer says the following : While whining that waging war on terrorism is anti-Democratic the New York Times has also made sure to promote radical theocracies as "democracies".... Case in point is the counter-factual op-ed by Hossein Derakhshan ironically titled "Democracy's Double Standard". In this opinion article the false premise that Iran is a democracy is put forth, and then President Bush is criticized for not supporting this "democracy". As with all arguments that use false premises the conclusion is invalid. Iran is not a democ...

Recent links to this here Empoblog: Guide to Midwestern Culture HolyCoast.com Idle Rambling Thoughts From the Ontario Empoblog (Latest OVVA news here )

All of a sudden there are more Ellie Nesler searches than there are Christopher Nance and Krystal Fernandez searches. Not sure why... POSTSCRIPT: I did take the opportunity to look at one of my old posts and found the following comments had been appended: Ellie Nesler was given a compassionate release from her initial imprisonment due to breast cancer - not because of sympathies for her actions. Instead of thanking her lucky stars, flying low and avoiding the radar, she thought she was above the law, and was caught with 10,000 sudafed tablets believed to be intended for the manufacture of drugs (methamphetamine). Even during her second incarceration, Ms. Nesler still believes she is above the law. I know, I served time with her at Valley State Prison for Women in California. She is still there, continuing to make life miserable for everyone she comes into contact with. I also had to endure working with her in a job assignment. She would push rules to the limit, act as though the regul...

Digging a little more into Coretta Scott King, I can't really find fault in the way she died. I knew a co-worker with a sick wife who ended up going to Mexico for laetrile treatment or some such. The treatment was unsuccessful. Anyway, if you don't know what I'm talking about, here's the story : ROSARITO BEACH, Mexico - The Mexican clinic where Coretta Scott King died Tuesday is known for providing alternative treatments to patients with incurable diseases. King, 78, suffered a serious stroke and heart attack last year. It was not known what kind of treatment she had sought at the Santa Monica Institute in the beach resort of Rosarito, 16 miles south of San Diego. Family members and clinic employees would not release any information about her treatment.... Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter's House church in Dallas, who said he helped King get to Mexico, said he did not know what kind of treatment she sought. But he said he was not surprised that the "very health-...

From gambling911.com : She was the talk around the water coolers last year after the steamy GoDaddy.com commercial aired, Candice Michelle is now making quite a splash. Fox killed a repeat airing of the sexy Super Bowl spot, citing pressure from the National Football League to can it. The privately owned company, which had no previous experience in television advertising, paid $3.1 million for the right to air two spots promoting its Internet services during the 2005 championship game. Even before the game, the ad was heavily publicized because it was the only spot that dared to poke fun at the previous year’s halftime “wardrobe malfunction,” which sparked a federal crackdown on broadcast indecency.... GoDaddy.com, virtually unheard of by those outside the internet hosting realm prior to last year, has already gotten their monies worth out of this marketing campaign and it was so successful they've been fighting to get the commercials back on during this year's Super Bowl. The...

From WCBS : Cindy Sheehan...was arrested and removed from the House gallery Tuesday night just before President Bush's State of the Union address, a police spokeswoman said. Sheehan, who had been invited to attend the speech by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., was charged with demonstrating in the Capitol building, a misdemeanor, said Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider.... Schneider said Sheehan had worn a T-shirt with an anti-war slogan to the speech and covered it up until she took her seat. Police warned her that such displays were not allowed, but she did not respond, the spokeswoman said.... "I'm proud that Cindy's my guest tonight," Woolsey said in an interview before the speech. "She has made a difference in the debate to bring our troops home from Iraq." Woolsey offered Sheehan a ticket to the speech — Gallery 5, seat 7, row A — earlier Tuesday while Sheehan was attending an "alternative state of the union" press conference by CODEPINK,...

I missed the Democratic response to the State of the Union address - I was too busy listening to John Ziegler and blogging about Iran . But here are some excerpts : No matter what political philosophy you hold, or what state you call home, you have a right to expect that your government can deliver results. When there's a crime or fire, you expect that police and firefighters have the tools to respond. When there's a natural disaster, you expect a well-managed response. When you send your children to school, you expect them to be prepared for success. And you have a right to expect government to be fiscally responsible, pay the bills and live within its means. Tonight, we heard the president again call to make his tax policies permanent, despite his administration's failure to manage our staggering national debt. Over the past five years, we've gone from huge surpluses to massive deficits. No parent makes their child pay the mortgage. Why should we allow this administr...

The neo-conservative drive to remake the world was more than evident in Bush's speech. Unlike Kissinger's Realpolitik theories of balance of power, Bush et al believe that parts of the world need to be remade. Bush praised Iraq and Afghanistan for moving toward democracy, and even acknowledged that Palestine conducted a democratic election. But what of Iran? Here are excerpts about Iran from CNN's transcript of the speech : At the start of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in democratic nations. And we do not forget the other half -- in places like Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran -- because the demands of justice, and the peace of this world, require their freedom as well.... Democracies in the Middle East will not look like our own, because they will reflect the traditions of their own citizens. Yet liberty is the future of every nation in the Middle East, because liberty is the right and hope of all humanity. The same is true of Iran, a nati...

The Quietist take on Joel Stein: People are angry at Joel Stein at the LA Times because he says he doesn't support the troops.... I'm not mad at Joel Stein. I think his opinion is wrong, but at least it's an opinion that is possible to debate and disagree with. This is exactly the kind of thing I've been wanting to hear from leftists for a long time: a position, a clear, honest, and coherent stand on a difficult moral issue.... Everybody knows that it's complete nonsense to say that you "support the troops" but oppose what they're doing. The only way you can take that position is take the Cindy Sheehan/Michael Moore route -- that is, envision the military as made up of a bunch of poor, impoverished children who don't understand what they're doing and have no other options. But since most people in this country know at least one or two people in the military, most people know this is complete BS and it's a tough idea to sell.... Joel Stein ...

Since I'm ruminating about Undercover, here are some excerpts from a discussion/interview about Steve Taylor : In 1983, the fledgling Contemporary Christian Music scene was dominated largely by inspirational pop and behind-the-times rock bands. Amy Grant was still a rising star and virtually no one had heard of Michael W. Smith. Suddenly, a young twenty-something emerged with his debut EP, I Want to Be a Clone, armed with a relevant new wave rock sound and lyrical wit that challenged Christians to consider their faith and actions. That artist was Steve Taylor, who went on to become one of the most important Christian artists in the next two decades—half that time in a solo career, including an all-too-brief stint with the mainstream band Chagall Guevara. Since then, Taylor has made an impact as a producer, record label executive, and music video director. But it's been ten years since his last album, and his Squint record label—once home for Sixpence None the Richer, Burlap to ...

From Hot Points , Bob Parsons' blog: Today we had our 13th submission for a Go Daddy advertisement for this year’s Super Bowl rejected by ABC.... Upon learning of the rejection we immediately sent ABC a 14th submission. It is my sincere hope that this just might be the one that gets approved. As we understand it, the deadline for approval is January 31, 2006. So we are going right down to the wire. And in response to accusations by certain people that rejection would be the best thing, Parsons states ( emphasis his): This is no publicity stunt. I’ve been accused a number of times of orchestrating a publicity stunt. While I’ve been pleased with the media attention that this has attracted, it has always been my intention to simply get a commercial approved and nothing more. If we are fortunate enough for ABC to approve the current submission, we will indeed have an ad airing during this year’s Super Bowl. I still hold by my earlier statement, however. Parsons is going into the negot...

From the Los Angeles Times : Handel said he would apologize to the group but imposed three conditions: The group must condemn all acts of terror; agree that Israel is a sovereign nation and has a right to defend its borders; and that CAIR has no ties to terror organizations or individuals. The answer to those demands are "yes, yes and no," said Sabiha Khan, communications director for the CAIR chapter. "KFI and Hendel continue to fail to take responsibility for Bill Handel's offensive comments that he made, mocking the tragic deaths of innocent pilgrims during religious rituals," she said today in a television interview. "I'm glad he is starting to acknowledge that an apology needs to be made, but it is unfortunate that he has to put conditions on doing the right thing," said Khan, who added that she had heard Hendel's broadcast. From the Ontario Empoblog (Latest OVVA news here )

A transcript is now available. Bill Handel Apology...Strings Attached Bill Handel 1/30/2006: Interesting news that happened actually started January 12th, on the morning show, the day of the Hajj in Mecca. A few hundred people were trampled to death as sometimes happens in Mecca, it’s a problem they’ve had for many many years. And we did a little skit that morning, about them desperately needing a helicopter in the sky, and a traffic reporter to guide traffic. We did a little skit on that, and Paul did it in his accent, as an Arab helicopter/traffic reporter. You never know, whenever we do something on a show, when it hits a nerve. Who are we going to offend today, and what is going to reverberate? I have no idea! I mean we start at 5:00 am in the morning offending people. That’s what this show is about, we make fun of everybody! There is no group that is off limits to us. There is no religion that is off limits to us, there is no ethnic group, no nationality. Nothing is off ...

Some excerpts from the comments section of this Little Green Footballs post (see here for context): #3 Jheka 1/30/2006 08:18AM PST It'll be nice to see someone make CAIR defend their MANY terrorist ties. #7 Biff Baxter 1/30/2006 08:19AM PST CAIR will denounce terror right after Cindy Sheehan is sworn in as California Senator. IOW, never. #8 Jheka 1/30/2006 08:19AM PST Also, I hereby demand that CAIR immediately move back to their 1967 offices ... #49 SlothB77 1/30/2006 08:36AM PST This is fantastic. CAIR utilizes media stories such as this to try to 'expose' radical talk show hosts. Handel has just turned the tables back on CAIR. He calls them to the carpet for what they really are and totally undermines their momentum. I wish the WMAR guy in Wash DC had done this. Handel has just used the favorite technique of CAIR against them. #98 BIG 1/30/2006 09:03AM PST I am sure ACLU lawyers are rushing to defend the free speech of Bill Handel? #137 ...

The latest about Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bill Handel. From Drudge Report : LOS ANGELES RADIO STATION SQUARES-OFF WITH MUSLIM GROUP Mon Jan 30 2006 10:10:49 ET Los Angeles's top talkradio station is under fire from a Muslim group because of comments made earlier this month by morning man [Nobel Peace Prize nominee] Bill Handel. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has demanded an apology from Handel for making fun of a stampede that killed hundreds of Muslims during an annual pilgrimage. But Handel is set to fire back, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. Handel will apologize IF the Council on American-Islamic Relations: 1) Decries all acts of terror (described specifically, not generally) 2) Agrees that Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to defensible borders 3) CAIR has no ties of any sort, financially or otherwise, to any terror orgs or individiuals. MANAGEMENT STATEMENT KFI-AM does not condone making light of the deaths of people engaged in religious observances. We ...

Gil (remember him? ) links to a news source called Lark , which is running this news item. (And I'm reading it in Alaska, too.) Pastor and author Rick Warren has signed a deal to purchase the New Orleans Saints football franchise for $320 million from current owner Tom Benson, and has pledged to pour his time and energy into helping the city and team rebuild. "This is the start of the Saints' turnaround," a Warren spokesman said. "America is going to see what a purpose-driven team can accomplish."... The Saints will now operate differently than most NFL teams. Players will be required to go through the 40 Days of Purpose program. Alcohol will not be served in the stadium, and every attendee will receive a copy of the Purpose-Driven Life. Halftime shows will offer "edgy, cool" evangelism and worship concerts, says a spokesman. Here comes another one: Out of fashion for 4,000 years, asherah poles have shown up in night clubs and hip restaurants in L...