† Empire State Repubs Rise Again: Hiram Monserrate, one of the two Democrats who helped flip control of the State Senate, left the Senate chamber because he wanted more time to recruit others to join the new coalition, which “deprived Republicans of a quorum, forcing them to adjourn just a few minutes after they called the session to order: reports The New York Times:

Meanwhile, Democrats went to court on Thursday morning to try to block Republicans from moving forward with a legislative session. But a judge refused to intervene, saying he lacked the authority to issue a temporary restraining order in the dispute. He scheduled another hearing with a different judge for 9:30 a.m. Friday.

It was another day of high tension in the Capitol. The doors to the Senate remained locked on orders from the Democrats, forcing the two coalition leader, Pedro Espada Jr., a Bronx Democrat, and Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican, to use a key they obtained to enter the chamber.

No other Democrats were present for the abbreviated session, and they have said they would boycott future sessions because they believe the new majority coalition is illegitimate. But Mr. Espada said he planned to call a vote on a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage, perhaps as early as next week, as a way to entice Democrats to participate.

† Deconstructing Obama’s Cairo Speech: The Washington Times offers additional critiques of President Barack Hussein Obama’s speech in Cairo: 

James Glassman, who left government in January as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said the Obama speech fell short by failing to offer a new strategic direction.

Mr. Glassman said the problem is the president continued the ineffective line of reasoning that the best way to counter the false notion that the U.S. is out to destroy Islam is by promoting the "to know us is to love us" theme.

"That doesn't get you anywhere," Mr. Glassman said. "Nobody wants to listen to that. It's much better to develop a counternarrative that states that what this is all about is that there is a conflict going on in Muslim societies that deeply affects us, but [that it] is an intra-Muslim conflict. We need to say that even though it may not be politically correct." …

Timothy Furnish, a specialist on Islamic history, said that while the president's statement that the United States is not at war with Islam is true, the problem is that "Islam is at war with us."

"For every passage the president cited from the Koran on Islam eschewing violence, I can cite two or three that promote violence," said Mr. Furnish, a former Arabic linguist with the 101st Airborne Division.

The problem in countering the ideology of Muslim extremism is that a majority of Muslims accept a literal interpretation of Islam that permits or condones violence, including suicide bombings, Mr. Furnish said. Islamic writings even permit beheading of "infidels," he said.

"The percentage of people who take the Koran literally is very high," he said. "So it's not a huge step from taking it literally to supporting people who take action on that basis."

And, as The Stiletto noted, one survey suggests that as many as 610K of the type of people Furnish describes live right here in the U.S.

Editorial Note: This Washington Times commentary by Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, makes many of the same points as The Stiletto did about Obama’s speech, and expands further on their significance.  

† Why We Need Gitmo (second item): Four of the 17 Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, detained at Guantánamo Bay were freed yesterday and resettled in Bermuda, reports The Associated Press:

Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown told a news conference that the men will be allowed to live in Bermuda initially as refugees but they would be permitted to pursue citizenship and would have the right to work, travel and "potentially settle elsewhere."

Brown said negotiations with Washington over settling the Uighurs began last month and he had no security concerns because the men had been cleared by U.S. courts. …

Albania accepted five Uighurs from Guantanamo in 2006, but declined to take more. Many nations have said no to receiving the Uighurs, out of concerns that doing so would anger the Chinese government.

At one point, officials had considered bringing some of the Uighurs to Virginia, but the possibility provoked intense opposition in Congress, and the plan was shelved.

The Obama administration’s hegemony has ruffled feathers, reports FOX News:

[T]he transfer of the Uighurs has been criticized not only by Republican members of Congress but by the governments of the United Kingdom, which owns the territory of Bermuda, and China, which wants the Uighurs returned.

On Friday, some members of the Bermudan government who said they'd not been informed of the transfer, questioned the wisdom of moving the inmates to the island located 640 miles off North Carolina, saying it could hurt tourism, Bermuda's chief industry. …

Back in the U.S., Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, also questioned the Obama administration's decision not to let Congress know ahead of time that it was going to release some detainees.

"The Obama administration not only failed to discuss beforehand its release of trained terrorists from Guantanamo Bay with Congress, it also apparently failed to discuss it with our nation's closest ally, the United Kingdom.

Understandably, this failure has caused great diplomatic and national security outrage in Britain, which is responsible for the security and foreign policy of Bermuda," Hoekstra said in a statement. 

And the citizens of Palau, which may be next in line to receive an allotment of Uighurs, are said to be “less than thrilled” at the prospect, reports ABC News’ Jake Tapper. Apparently, the $200 million aid package the Obama administration has promised in return isn’t doing the trick to appease the locals.

 Finally, there’s word that Obama The Washington Post reports that Obama “bows” (he does that a lot, doesn’t he?) on allowing detainees who have been cleared for release to live in the U.S., “a decision that reflects bipartisan congressional opposition to admitting such prisoners but complicates efforts to persuade European allies to accept them.”

† Living In These Mad, Mad, Madoff Times: The Wall Street Journal reports that in a recession, sex doesn’t sell – unless it's deeply discounted, just as with any other commodity:

In order to adapt, many so-called gentlemen's clubs are shedding their upscale trappings and catering to a thriftier clientele by offering less expensive drinks, waiving cover charges and refocusing their marketing. …

[T]here are far fewer of the high rollers who will spend $5,000 in one night. That has led some clubs to trim the portions they serve and do away with pricey entrees like Kobe beef and lobster. Sales of $750 bottles of Cristal Rosé are rarer, and more customers are puffing the $15 cigars from the humidors rather than the $150 variety. …

Amid the hard times, club owners say they have found some benefits. Several report that it's easier to hire "exotic dancers" now that many women are being laid off from more buttoned-down, white-collar jobs.

† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, Now Is Not The Time To Talk About Race): After meeting with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Al Sharpton's National Action Network, the National Urban League and 100 Black Men of America about the infamous New York Post cartoon that critics insist likened President Barack Hussein Obama to a chimpanzee, News Corp. has agreed to create a "diversity community council" that will meet with senior company executives twice a year, as well as to include a statement of commitment to diversity in its annual report. The Associated Press reports:

It was unclear what effect the agreement would have within News Corp., whose New York Post and Fox News Channel properties have been persistently criticized by minorities as insensitive or sometimes racist. …

Maurice Cox, vice president for diversity at PepsiCo Inc., said his company established similar external advisory committees about 10 years ago. "They have paid significant dividends for us," he said.

The relationship is often tense because the advisers don't have to worry about offending company executives, Cox said.

"There has to be huge trust" for the committees to be effective, he said. "You have to feel comfortable, your CEO has to feel comfortable sitting across the table from someone who might stare him or her down."

In other words, to stay on the good side of race-baiters like Al Sharpton and avoid boycotts or other more in-your-face forms of “protest,” white corporate executives must humiliate themselves by being subjected to hostility and intimidation – and they’ve got to be “comfortable” with it, too. A textbook definition of “sadomasochism” – or today’s equivalent, “political correctness.”