The Conservative Brotherhood's expansion (that I mentioned last week) was noted this weekend by Wizbang (among other places), and appears to have caused a bit of a dust-up (at least in the comments on their entry). The predictable bitching and moaning is coming from both of the expected places - those who whine about the notion of a collection of "black" conservatives versus a collection of "white" conservatives, as well as the soul patrol regulars who are so enamored with the term "uncle tom" that they toss it at us with mindless abandon.

Feh.

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Prince Charles has caused a bit of an uproar by shaking hands with thuggish Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe yesterday at Pope John Paul II's funeral.

Prince Charles was sitting one space away from Mugabe, and was caught unawares during the portion of the mass when the members of the congregation "exchange the peace," a time of mutual reconciliation and greeting.

A Clarence House spokesman said the prince "finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent" and "was not in a position to avoid shaking Mr Mugabe's hand".

The spokesman added: "He has supported the Zimbabwe Defence and Aid Fund which works with those being oppressed by the regime.

"The prince also recently met Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, an outspoken critic of the government."

A Foreign Office spokesman said seating arrangements at the funeral were made by the Vatican.

But Labour MEP Glenys Kinnock, who has called for the EU to get tougher with the Mugabe regime, said shaking his hand was not "sensible".

She added: "I am sure that by now Prince Charles regrets shaking Mugabe's hand.

"However, this is yet another failure of the establishment, of people with power and responsibility in the international community, to be sensitive enough about how to respond to this man."

MEP Richard Corbett said Prince Charles should have refused to shake Mr Mugabe's hand.

He said: "This was a golden opportunity to deliberately and very visibly refuse to shake hands with this man.

"To fail to do so was, frankly, stupid."

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Eric Robert Rudolph, accused of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing nine years ago, along with two other bombings in metro Atlanta and one in Birmingham, has agreed to plead guilty to all the charges against him in exchange for a life sentence.

Rudolph has signed agreements with the U.S. Attorneys' Offices in Birmingham and Atlanta in which he agreed to plead guilty to the three Atlanta bombings and the Birmingham bombing and agreed to waive all appeals. The plea agreements provide for multiple life sentences for Rudolph without the possibility of parole.

"The many victims of Eric Rudolph's terrorist attacks in Atlanta and Birmingham can rest assured that Rudolph will spend the rest of his life behind bars," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "The best interests of justice are served by resolution of this case and by the skillful operation that secured the dangerous explosives buried in North Carolina."

Rudolph is scheduled to plead guilty to the Northern District of Alabama indictment Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith at the federal courthouse in Birmingham. On the same day, the U.S. Marshal's Service will transport Rudolph to Atlanta, where he is scheduled to plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr., at the federal courthouse in Atlanta.

Pursuant to the plea agreements, Rudolph disclosed to the government the existence and locations of more than 250 pounds of dynamite buried in several locations in Western North Carolina. Three of the locations were relatively near populated areas, including one location where Rudolph buried a fully constructed dynamite bomb with a detached detonator, the press release says.

At least 40 pounds of bomb-making material, mostly dynamite, was found near an armory in Murphy, N.C., near where the task force was based to search for him, according to a source close to the investigation. Authorities also found dynamite scattered throughout the North Carolina woods where agents were looking for him. Allegedly, most of the dynamite was taken from a rock quarry near Cherokee, N.C.

A second bombing occured in early 1997 at an abortion clinic in Sandy Springs. Once first responders and police arrived at the building where the bombing took place, another bomb went off in a trash dumpster, resulting in several injuries. One more bombing took place in Atlanta, at a lesbian bar, The Otherside about a month later.

Early in 1998, a bombing attributed to Rudolph happened at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, resulting in two deaths.

Rudolph then disappeared into the hills of North Carolina, not to been seen until his capture two years ago.

The plea deal, set to be entered in Atlanta next Wednesday, will permit Rudolph to avoid a probable death sentence.

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Pope John Paul II has been laid to rest in the tombs underneath the Vatican. The Pope's body has been placed inside of a simple cypress coffin, which was placed inside of a zinc liner, which in turn has been placed inside a walnut coffin inscribed with a cross and Pope John Paul II's personal crest.

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The Conservative Brotherhood, of which I'm proudly a charter member, has expanded it's ranks by three.

Tavares Forby holds down the fort at BlackPundit.org. He's young, Republican and an electrical engineer. He comes from the streets, but knows where his head is at. Laser-beam penetrating logic, a quick tongue, and enthusiasm caught all out attention when he stepped up. We're proud to have him.

Ol' Sarge at The Hunter's Herald is Demond Hunter, back home from serving our nation in the mean streets of Iraq. He's a NASCAR dad, and I'll even forgive him for rooting for the Tarheels over the Illini.

Joseph C. Phillips is a man on a conservative mission across this entire nation. You'd recognize his face from his acting work - running the gamut from General Hospital to The District to The Cosby Show. He was one of the speakers at last summer's Republican National Convention, and he is a family man in the classic sense. I've only spoken with him a few times, but he sounds like a better cook than I am (not that cooking better'n me is a difficult feat).

We're proud and happy to add them to the ranks of the Brotherhood. You can find all our links over on the left menu rail, and you can find strong opinions and fantastic conversation from each one of us.

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The MJ fans are sure to be in a tizzy now. A former Neverland Ranch security guard testified today, and told jurors that he had actually seen Michael Jackson performing oral sex on an underaged boy while Jackson and the young boy were nude outside a shower in 1993.

The defense tried to counter Ralph Chacon's testimony by painting him as a disgruntled former employee forced into bankruptcy by an unsuccessful civil suit against Jackson.

Chacon testified that Jackson and the boy -- who was involved in a civil suit against Jackson in 1993 -- were engaged in "passionate" kissing and were caressing before the sex act.

He told prosecutors that the sex act occurred in late 1992 or 1993.

He said the incident began around midnight, when he saw Jackson and the boy, who was 9 or 10 at the time of the incident, laughing and playing in a whirlpool spa. He said they later went to a bathroom on the ranch grounds, which contained a shower.

Chacon testified he was walking by the room more than a half hour later when he heard Jackson and the boy together in the shower. He said he first walked away, but he returned because he thought to himself, "Hey, what's going on here? There's a grown man in the shower with a boy."

He said he looked through a window, and he saw Jackson and the boy standing naked in a well-lit room outside the shower. Jackson caressed the boy and kissed his hair, then Jackson moved his lips to the boy's genital area and performed oral sex, Chacon said.

Chacon said walked away and later saw Jackson giving the boy a piggyback ride. Both were wearing only towels, he said.

He also said that on another occasion, he saw Jackson passionately kissing the same boy in front of a display of Peter Pan dolls, and "Jackson's hands went down to the boy's crotch area."

Many professional trial-watchers have indicated that since the judge in the case is allowing testimony from prior circumstances - going to a pattern of behavior on the part of Jackson - that Jackson's legal team would be on the ropes under a barrage of bombshell accusations, perhaps leading them to try to settle the case and reduce the amount of time that Jackson would have to spend in jail. As of this point, there is no indication of a plea bargain on Jackson's part. 46 year-old Jackson insists he is not guilty of the child molestation charges brought against him.

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A pie was tossed at David Horowitz of Frontpagemag.com-fame last night during a Butler University lecture last night.

Witnesses say there was some "pushing and shoving" when Horowitz's supporters followed the pie-throwers out of the hall, but the attackers got away. After the incident, Horowitz completed his lecture.

A Butler spokesman called the incident "deplorable." Horowitz has criticized what he calls the "leftist domination" of college campuses. On his blog Wednesday night, Horowitz spoke of "a wave of leftist violence against conservative speakers on college campuses."

Last week, salad dressing was thrown onto Pat Buchanan at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI, while Weekly Standard editor and Fox News contributor Bill Kristol was "pied" at an appearance at Earlham College in Richmond, IN. Last fall, columnist Ann Coulter was nearly hit by a pie during a speech at the University of Arizona.

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1 well, now we know one thing, we liberals have much better aim then you conservatives.

Posted by: steve at April 07, 2005 10:06 AM (PqSU9)

2 They can't legitimately attack the message so they go for the messenger with a pie. Liberals have so much class....NOT!!

Posted by: Odd Brian at April 07, 2005 02:46 PM (b4q3c)

3 i'm not sure what steve meant with his quip, but i would have to say most of the non-liberals who have a good aim are serving this country not running around throwing pies. but then again...this is another good example of the kind of people they are.

Posted by: jcrue at April 08, 2005 01:53 PM (wNzN0)

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I've heard of cloak and dagger political plots, but this one has to take the proverbial cake.

A new article by James Ridgeway in the new Village Voice suggests that the Republican party has a wild-eyed plot to put former President Bill Clinton on the Supreme Court in order to nullify any chance Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (Moonbat-NY) has of winning the White House in 2008.

Last weekend Bob Novak described a novel scheme, supposedly emanating from the fevered brain of Karl Rove: Stop Hillary by putting Bill on the Supreme Court.

Here's what's supposed to happen: Bush names either Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia to be chief justice. That leaves one vacancy on the court. Then he appoints Bill Clinton to the court.

The thought of adulterer Clinton on the court (think Monica as clerk) sends right-wingers up the wall. But wait a minute. Think it through: Next, Bill Frist—Senate majority leader, Terri Schiavo defender, and himself a presidential hopeful—immediately moves to hold up Bill's nomination. Next, Harry Reid, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, cuts a deal to free the conservative judicial nominations now backed up in Congress in return for letting Clinton on the court.

Once on the court, Clinton is out of the picture when it comes to campaigning for Hillary or anyone else in 2008. What to do about Hillary? Americans may differ on whether she should be president, but almost everyone will agree that the country could not stand to have two Clintons dominating two branches of government.

Just damn, indeed.

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Cornrows & Co. was founded by the husband and wife team of Taalib-Din Uqdah and Pamela Farrell in the Nation's Capitol in 1980 to provide an underserved clientele quality hair braiding services.

After the company built an excellent reputation and a clientele of more than 20,000, bureaucrats ordered him to cease and desist.

Local bureaucrats ordered Uqdah to cease and desist, or be "subject to criminal prosecution." Why? Because he didn't have a license. "It's a safety issue," said the regulators. Those who run a hair salon must have a cosmetology license. The chemicals they use dyeing or perming hair might hurt someone.

Hair dye is hardly a serious safety threat, but even if it were, Cornrows & Co. didn't dye or perm hair. They only braided it. That didn't matter, said the Cosmetology Board -- they still had to get a license. In order to get one, Uqdah would have to pay about $5,000 to take more than 1,000 hours of courses at a beauty school.

Uqdah thought he understood why the cosmetology board wanted to shut down his salon: "Money -- other salons don't like the competition."

Even if licensing boards intend to protect the public, in time they are captured by the people who care most. Who cares most? Not consumers -- you don't get your hair done that often, and even if you did, you don't care enough about it to want to join a regulatory bureaucracy. Innovators don't join the boards; they're busy innovating. Scientists, economists, doctors, and others with genuine expertise in safety and commerce don't join the boards, either. They're busy doing more important things. So boards are usually captured by the licensees, the established businesses. William Jackson, a former member of the Washington, D.C., Cosmetology Board, admitted, "The board, 90 percent of the time, are salon owners."

Uqdah and Farrell went on to establish the American Hairbraiders & Natural Haircare Association to help others in their situation across the nation to stave off predatory cosmetology laws, and educate the public about their industry and art.

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Asq4WpuymMJ:www.liningup.net/media/images/black_vader_logo.jpg" align=left hspace=3>Star Wars fans got in line this week for the late May opening of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, just as they have before each of the prior Star Wars flicks.

The only problem this time: it isn't opening at the Chinese - it's opening at the ArcLight a few blocks down the street.

"We've heard all this before," said Sarah Sprague, one of the designated spokesmen for the group. In 1999 and 2002, there were plenty of rumors (ultimately false) that the previous two pics weren't going to open at the Chinese.

This year the rumors seem to be true. Fox and the ArcLight haven't finalized their "Star Wars" deal, but execs on both sides say they expect "Revenge of the Sith" to play the ArcLight and not the Chinese.

As theaters normally do, the ArcLight is likely to ask Fox that it be the only theater playing "Revenge of the Sith" in the immediate area. And even if it doesn't, Paramount confirmed it will open "The Longest Yard" at the Chinese the week after "Revenge," which means Fox won't want to book the theater for just one week. (Paramount partly owns Mann Theaters.)

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All-Pope-all-the-time coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II continues with his funeral, set to get underway from Vatican City Friday morning at 4A Eastern Time. All the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, FNC, NWI, BBC World, CBC, Univision, Telemundo, C-Span), along with Catholic television network EWTN will carry coverage live - most coverage gets underway at about 3A ET.

The Conclave that will choose the next Pope (doesn't that sound like the ultimate reality show? Where's Mark Burnett when you need him?) is set to be sequestered at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City on Monday, April 18. 116 Cardinals will get to vote for their choice to be the new Pope. The person elected will need to receive two-thirds of the votes, plus one to ascend to the throne of St. Peter.

Four votes per day will take place until the job gets done. The only signals we will have in the rest of the world are black smoke from the Sistine Chapel's chimney if there is no pope chosen, and white smoke accompanied by the peal of bells if there is a new pope chosen.

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ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings announced this morning that he has lung cancer.

He is set to begin chemo treatments next week.

As you all know, this is a challenge. I begin chemo-therapy next week. I will continue to do the broadcast.

There will be good days and bad, which means that some days I may be cranky and some days really cranky!

In an e-mail, ABC News President David Westin indicated that PJ would continue to do the program, but that he would be off from time to time, depending on how he's doing. Elizabeth Vargas, Charlie Gibson and others will sit in for him on WNT in those instances.

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Newsworld International (NWI), the little-watched
Canadian-based international news network that formerly owned by USA Networks before their purchase by former Vice-President Al Gore, will go away on August 1, as Gore's brainchild, Current, will debut in it's place. Current will be a news network geared toward the 18-34 age-range with MTV-style short-form programming.

Al Gore and Joel Hyatt announced Current's new name and target start date today.

The new network will try to build on the audience of 20 million homes that NWI has from DirecTV, and digital cable deals on some Comcast and Time Warner systems.

Gore and Hyatt have recruited talent from the exsisting broacast universe to spin their form of news both in front of and behind the camera. On-air talent includes Gotham Chopra from the old Channel One network (and creator of the comic book Bulletproof Monk) and Laura Ling, also from Channel One.

Behind the camera, names include Chief Operating Officer Mark Goldman (former programming president of Channel One), Anne Kallin Zehren (former publisher of Teen People) & former ad executive Joanna Drake Earl.

Sounds like they're going to try to shove "news" in the form of blipverts down our collective throats (for any of you who remember the old Max Headroom storyline). I'm sure they'll fail miserably. Even more reason for me to get my Canadian satellite system - a Canadian dish will at least let me continue to watch CBC's The National and ITV's evening newscast.

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I've known Oliver peripherally from a mailing list we are both members of for a number of years, and though we disagree politcally, he's not a bad guy.

Which makes this wrong on about six different levels.

The video is funny though...

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Yesterday, Prince Charles was quoted as saying that he wouldn't delay his wedding to Camilla Parker-Secretariat, even if the funeral for Pope John Paul II was Friday, the date originally chosen for his nuptuals. But new word this morning is that the wedding date may change after all.

Prince Charles' office indicated Monday that his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles could be rescheduled so that it would not conflict with Friday's funeral for Pope John Paul II.

Charles cut short his Swiss skiing holiday to attend a memorial service for the pope in London later Monday, his office added. Parker Bowles also planned to attend the service at Westminster Cathedral, it said.

UPDATE - 12N - Word has come down that the Prince's wedding to Secretariat will take place on Saturday. It wouldn't look good for the grand high poohbah of the Church of England to be officiating for a wedding instead of attending the Pope's funeral. Plus it sounds like Chuck's daddy will be in Rome as well.

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What the heck is this photo and caption trying to say!?

Many Americans are so sleepy that they are having problems in their marriages, making mistakes at work and even going without sex, according to a report. File photo shows supporters of U.S. President George W. Bush sleeping on the floor as they wait for an appearance by the President at an election night gathering in Washington, D.C. November 3, 2004

Just damn.

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The tragic story of the death of Terri Schiavo will be the subject of a hastily put-together made-for-tv movie on CBS during next month's May sweeps.

Keri Russell will star as Terri, while Dean Cain will play her husband Michael.

No word on the title, or exactly what date CBS will carry the movie yet.

I was expecting Lifetime to yank one together first. Go figure.

UPDATE 4/4, 9:30A - It looks like I (and by extension WorldNet Daily) have been had. Apparently the Defamer ran an April Fools' story that WND picked up on 4/2. I grabbed it, figuring that since it ran on the 2nd, that it wasn't an April Fool story, plus I considered WND to be a news source that would have researched their stuff.

Shame on me.

Thanks to Wizbang for the heads up.

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The New York Times, like newspapers all over the world, provided coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II, but, as noted by PowerLine, they seem to have had problems finding coverage from a supporter of the Pontiff.

Even as his own voice faded away, his views on the sanctity of all human life echoed unambiguously among Catholics and Christian evangelicals in the United States on issues from abortion to the end of life.

need some quote from supporter

John Paul II's admirers were as passionate as his detractors, for whom his long illness served as a symbol for what they said was a decrepit, tradition-bound papacy in need of rejuvenation and a bolder connection with modern life.

And while we're talking about "offending" folks over the Pope, Michelle Malkin has a rundown of the kinds of things that have popped up in the mainstream media that have irked folks, from CBS' carriage of the Final Four pregame show over coverage of the Pope's death, to an article in the New York Press last month that offensively talked about the "52 funniest things about the upcoming death of the pope," among other things.

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Pope John Paul II, leader of the Catholic Church and one of the world's great all-time leaders, has died in his apartment in Vatican City.

The Pontiff's health has been failing for quite sometime, as he has battled Parkinson's Disease and ultimately heart and kidney failure.

The Pope's health took a major turn for the worse this week, and he nearly expired yesterday before finally succombing to his maladies at 2:37 this afternoon Eastern Time (9:37P in Rome).

John Paul left a staunchly conservative mark on the Catholic Church, and in his 26 years as pontiff, brought the Catholic Church into the 21st Century.

To the Pope, I say God bless you, and thank you. Your leadership has helped this world in ways that many still do not appreciate. Your love and support has provided unerring guidance to multitudes. Your wisdom belongs to the ages.

Live streaming coverage:

Pope John Paul II remains in "very grave" condition this morning in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Several masses have been said in his honor and in prayer for his condition.

The networks have been scrambling to cover the impending end of the Pontificate. NBC's Matt Lauer was able to arrive in Rome in enough time to co-anchor Today from there yesterday morning, and after the Pope's condition became more pressing late yesterday morning, Lauer and Ann Curry in New York anchored a freshened edition of Today for the Pacific Time Zone.

CNN's American Morning ran an extra three hours, until Noon ET, with Wolf Blitzer taking over anchor duties at that point. American Morning is running a special Saturday edition this morning, with Bill Hemmer anchoring from Rome.

Shepard Smith took over the anchor desk at Fox News Channel shortly after Noon Eastern, and ended up making a major faux pas a bit later, when he said that the Pope had died. Smith's call came shortly after a press conference was carried by FNC, during which a producer could be heard talking in English over the translator, exclaiming, "The Pope is dead!" The other networks quickly advised caution, with CNN pointing out that several news services, including networks in Italy, were claiming that the Pope had passed away, but that confirmation had not come from the Vatican.

MSNBC's Lester Holt and Alison Stewart anchored live coverage there, and NBC's Brian Williams was expected to anchor coverage on the broadcast network from Rome as soon as this morning.

The broadcast networks will begin coverage of some measure once the Pope passes away, with John Roberts there for CBS and Peter Jennings in Rome for ABC.

Newsworld International carries special report coverage from CBC Newsworld and the CBC broadcast network, with their lead anchor Peter Mansbridge.

In addition,BBC World is available to some online, and is carrying ongoing coverage during their newscasts, which may be simulcast with BBC News 24. I wouldn't be surprised if BBC America began carrying BBC World coverage once the Pontiff passes.

I'll have coverage off and on during the weekend, and will do a streaming link list once coverage kicks in.

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