As the New Frontrunner, Senator John Kerry is starting to take a beating.
Great stuff about leadership from an Army lieutenant reservist on combat duty in Iraq can be found here.
It's all good.
SNOTCH.GIF
Wondrous.
As for President Bush and spending, I believe as few others do that Bush is trying to do to American Liberals what Ronald Reagan did to the Soviets - spend them into oblivion. It's not totally analogous, of course, but when the President mentioned prescription drugs in the State of the Union Address, that look on Senator Kennedy's face said, crestfallen:
"I cannot believe we no longer have that as a wedge issue!"
If it keeps Democrats out of power during these critical times in our Nation's history, I'm on board with it. Everything takes a back seat to security at this point, in my opinion.
Rotten to the core. Corrupt. Without morals. Weak willed. Arrogant. Snide. Revolting. Filthy. Dishonest. Crooked. Shady. Fraudulent. Decayed, decomposing, putrid, conceited, haughty, egotistical, condescending, overbearing, repellent, repulsive, sickening, nauseating, and WORTHLESS.
Of course I speak of France.
This is just another reason why we should jettison all pretenses of friendship with that country. France is a parasite, a hindrance. France is the epitome of everything that is wrong with Europe, a festering cesspool of failed socialist schemes, corrupt and spineless elites, and subjects instead of citizens. France is not our ally, it is our enemy.
Hat tip to the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler.
Snotching it
What is snotching, you ask? You might remember a little piece back in October, where an ABC reporter caused me to blow scotch out my nose in astonishment. A commenter suggested the term "snotching it", for when you're so astounded that the painful nasal cavity/scotch mixture occurs.
It happened again. John Stossel made me snotch it.
Lies, Myths and Downright Stupidity: Stossel's List of Popularly Reported Misconceptions
That was the title of the piece. So far so good. Still could be edited by ABC to suck, but let's see.
Myth No. 10: Getting Cold Can Give You a Cold
OK. I already knew that, but it's nice to have it confirmed. The next few could be lumped all together.
Myth No. 9: We Have Less Free Time Than We Used To
Myth No. 8: American Families Need Two Incomes
Myth No. 7: Money Can Buy Happiness
Normal so far. Then comes this piece:
Myth No. 6: Republicans Shrink the Government
I'd love to say he was lying, but he wasn't. The Republicans have been spending just as much as the Donks as of late, which is why I no longer consider myself a Republican. As good as Bush has been in the War on Terror, he's been selling us down the river when it comes to domestic spending. And the Donks are just as bad. Is there anyone out there who thinks that a frigging Democrat wouldn't spend just as much of our taxes if not more? I didn't think so. So, we're down to myth number five, which is where the "snotching" moment started to occur.
Myth No. 5: The Rich Don't Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes
We've all heard this one during the presidential campaign. When it comes to income taxes, the Democratic presidential candidates keep telling us, the rich don't pay enough.
(........)
But that's so silly because, and I bet most of you don't know this, the IRS says the richest 1 percent of taxpayers already pay 34 percent of all income taxes. Twice what Sharpton wanted them to pay.
Still you may feel the rich should pay even more. It's a tempting thought, since they have so much.
But let's remember the facts: the top 1 percent of Americans, those who earn more than about $300,000 a year pay 34 percent, more than a third of all income taxes, and the top 5 percent, those making over $125,000, pay more than half
Ho. Lee. Shit. Once again, I cannot believe that ABC actually allowed that to air. And just as I'm recovering, Myth Number Four comes on.
Myth No. 4: Chemicals Are Killing Us
Cancer death rates are actually declining in America. But our fear is contagious and sometimes deadly.
Health Minister Jim Muhwezi of Uganda points out that as many as two million to three million people may die annually because of DDT. But not because DDT is bad, but because Americans' fear of it has deprived much of the world of the DDT that could have saved them.
"If it's DDT, it must be awful. And that's fine if you're a rich, white environmentalist," says Amir Attaran, a scientist leading a campaign urging the use of DDT to fight malaria. "It's not so fine if you're a poor black kid who's about to lose his life from malaria."
The U.S. Agency for International Development defends its approach saying its programs are as effective as DDT. Yet, it fights malaria with drugs that the government's own Web site admits fail up to 80 percent of the time. USAID acknowledges DDT is safe as currently used, but won't pay for it.
I wish the interviews that he had on were transfered to the webpage, because it was astounding. Stossel was raking some USAID spokesman over the coals, and it looked like she was going to throw a fit on camera. He compared the use of DDT in the 50's to the use of DDT now, showing the differences, and it's unreal.
Myth No. 3: Guns are Bad
Full snotching in effect. I should have just put my drink down after Myth #5.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, fewer than 100 kids 15 and under are killed in gun accidents every year. Of course that's horrible, and I understand why demonstrators say we need more gun control.
But guess what? The Centers for Disease Control recently completed a review of studies of various types of gun control: background checks, waiting periods, bans on certain guns and ammunition. It could not document that these rules have reduced violent crime.
Stossel actually went to prison and interviewed criminals who had used guns in their crimes. These criminals LAUGHED at the gun laws! They LAUGHED!
The government wants to say things like the Brady Gun Control Law are making a difference, but they aren't. Some maximum security felons I spoke to in New Jersey scoffed at measures like the Brady law. They said they'll have no trouble getting guns if they want them.
A Justice Department study confirmed what the prisoners said. But get this: the felons say that the thing they fear the most is not the police, not time in prison, but, you, another American who might be armed. (emphasis mine)
It's a reason many states are passing gun un-control. They're allowing citizens to carry guns with them; it's called concealed carry or right to carry. Some women say they're comforted by these laws.
Many people are horrified at the idea of concealed carry laws, and predict mayhem if all states adopt these laws.
But surprise, 36 states already have concealed carry laws, and not one reported an upsurge in gun crime.
HOLY Jebus H. Bend-me-over-and-fist-me CHRIST, SOMEBODY FINALLY SAID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT! We've been screaming this for YEARS, and SOMEBODY FINALLY PUT IT ON NATIONAL TV!!!!!! I'm on the couch twitching with shock, and the girlfriend has pried the glass out of my hand and put it on the coffee table.
Myth No. 2: We're Drowning in Garbage
....Cynthia Pollack of the WorldWatch Institute said back in 1987 that we were approaching an emergency situation. But it wasn't true
The EPA says while some cities have to ship garbage out, overall landfill capacity is actually increasing. All around America, people are building bigger landfills. Some landfill owners are competing for our trash.
Let's see here... We've had a direct bitchslapping to the Republicans, the Democrats, the Eco-freaks, the Gun Grabbing Commies, another slap at the Eco freaks... I don't know how Stossel is still employed by ABC. Peter Jennings must have had a coronary after seeing that. Did someone tie up the ABC suits and stuff them in a closet while this thing aired? That's the only explination that I have for a far-left company like ABC to allow this piece airtime. Kudos to whoever gave Stossel the go on this.
And Myth #1? The Good old days. They weren't as good. And as someone who has indeed washed his clothes by hand, I can confirm this for ya. Everybody talks about the Good 'Ol Days, but nobody can really tell me what was so good about them.
So there you have it. Yet another full fledged Snotching by yours truly. Go read the Stossel piece, and tell me what you think.
What is snotching, you ask? You might remember a little piece back in October, where an ABC reporter caused me to blow scotch out my nose in astonishment. A commenter suggested the term "snotching it", for when you're so astounded that the painful nasal cavity/scotch mixture occurs.
It happened again. John Stossel made me snotch it.
Lies, Myths and Downright Stupidity: Stossel's List of Popularly Reported Misconceptions
That was the title of the piece. So far so good. Still could be edited by ABC to suck, but let's see.
Myth No. 10: Getting Cold Can Give You a Cold
OK. I already knew that, but it's nice to have it confirmed. The next few could be lumped all together.
Myth No. 9: We Have Less Free Time Than We Used To
Myth No. 8: American Families Need Two Incomes
Myth No. 7: Money Can Buy Happiness
Normal so far. Then comes this piece:
Myth No. 6: Republicans Shrink the Government
I'd love to say he was lying, but he wasn't. The Republicans have been spending just as much as the Donks as of late, which is why I no longer consider myself a Republican. As good as Bush has been in the War on Terror, he's been selling us down the river when it comes to domestic spending. And the Donks are just as bad. Is there anyone out there who thinks that a frigging Democrat wouldn't spend just as much of our taxes if not more? I didn't think so. So, we're down to myth number five, which is where the "snotching" moment started to occur.
Myth No. 5: The Rich Don't Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes
We've all heard this one during the presidential campaign. When it comes to income taxes, the Democratic presidential candidates keep telling us, the rich don't pay enough.
(........)
But that's so silly because, and I bet most of you don't know this, the IRS says the richest 1 percent of taxpayers already pay 34 percent of all income taxes. Twice what Sharpton wanted them to pay.
Still you may feel the rich should pay even more. It's a tempting thought, since they have so much.
But let's remember the facts: the top 1 percent of Americans, those who earn more than about $300,000 a year pay 34 percent, more than a third of all income taxes, and the top 5 percent, those making over $125,000, pay more than half
Ho. Lee. Shit. Once again, I cannot believe that ABC actually allowed that to air. And just as I'm recovering, Myth Number Four comes on.
Myth No. 4: Chemicals Are Killing Us
Cancer death rates are actually declining in America. But our fear is contagious and sometimes deadly.
Health Minister Jim Muhwezi of Uganda points out that as many as two million to three million people may die annually because of DDT. But not because DDT is bad, but because Americans' fear of it has deprived much of the world of the DDT that could have saved them.
"If it's DDT, it must be awful. And that's fine if you're a rich, white environmentalist," says Amir Attaran, a scientist leading a campaign urging the use of DDT to fight malaria. "It's not so fine if you're a poor black kid who's about to lose his life from malaria."
The U.S. Agency for International Development defends its approach saying its programs are as effective as DDT. Yet, it fights malaria with drugs that the government's own Web site admits fail up to 80 percent of the time. USAID acknowledges DDT is safe as currently used, but won't pay for it.
I wish the interviews that he had on were transfered to the webpage, because it was astounding. Stossel was raking some USAID spokesman over the coals, and it looked like she was going to throw a fit on camera. He compared the use of DDT in the 50's to the use of DDT now, showing the differences, and it's unreal.
Myth No. 3: Guns are Bad
Full snotching in effect. I should have just put my drink down after Myth #5.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, fewer than 100 kids 15 and under are killed in gun accidents every year. Of course that's horrible, and I understand why demonstrators say we need more gun control.
But guess what? The Centers for Disease Control recently completed a review of studies of various types of gun control: background checks, waiting periods, bans on certain guns and ammunition. It could not document that these rules have reduced violent crime.
Stossel actually went to prison and interviewed criminals who had used guns in their crimes. These criminals LAUGHED at the gun laws! They LAUGHED!
The government wants to say things like the Brady Gun Control Law are making a difference, but they aren't. Some maximum security felons I spoke to in New Jersey scoffed at measures like the Brady law. They said they'll have no trouble getting guns if they want them.
A Justice Department study confirmed what the prisoners said. But get this: the felons say that the thing they fear the most is not the police, not time in prison, but, you, another American who might be armed. (emphasis mine)
It's a reason many states are passing gun un-control. They're allowing citizens to carry guns with them; it's called concealed carry or right to carry. Some women say they're comforted by these laws.
Many people are horrified at the idea of concealed carry laws, and predict mayhem if all states adopt these laws.
But surprise, 36 states already have concealed carry laws, and not one reported an upsurge in gun crime.
HOLY Jebus H. Bend-me-over-and-fist-me CHRIST, SOMEBODY FINALLY SAID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT! We've been screaming this for YEARS, and SOMEBODY FINALLY PUT IT ON NATIONAL TV!!!!!! I'm on the couch twitching with shock, and the girlfriend has pried the glass out of my hand and put it on the coffee table.
Myth No. 2: We're Drowning in Garbage
....Cynthia Pollack of the WorldWatch Institute said back in 1987 that we were approaching an emergency situation. But it wasn't true
The EPA says while some cities have to ship garbage out, overall landfill capacity is actually increasing. All around America, people are building bigger landfills. Some landfill owners are competing for our trash.
Let's see here... We've had a direct bitchslapping to the Republicans, the Democrats, the Eco-freaks, the Gun Grabbing Commies, another slap at the Eco freaks... I don't know how Stossel is still employed by ABC. Peter Jennings must have had a coronary after seeing that. Did someone tie up the ABC suits and stuff them in a closet while this thing aired? That's the only explination that I have for a far-left company like ABC to allow this piece airtime. Kudos to whoever gave Stossel the go on this.
And Myth #1? The Good old days. They weren't as good. And as someone who has indeed washed his clothes by hand, I can confirm this for ya. Everybody talks about the Good 'Ol Days, but nobody can really tell me what was so good about them.
So there you have it. Yet another full fledged Snotching by yours truly. Go read the Stossel piece, and tell me what you think.
Friday, January 23, 2004
I hope the Dear Reader will pardon my vulgarity, but I need to say that the Marines are some tough motherfuckers.
I found this letter via Kim du Toit. It's worth reading a couple of times. It explains why this man carries a gun.
And then go read Kim's post. Even though you may have to take a life, even though you may have no choice, it still effects you.
A Liberal member of British Parliament has stated that if she were Palestinian, she would consider becoming a suicide bomber.
Oy.
Dissecting Leftism here discusses headscarves in France and how Westerners are treated in Arab countries. I think France's proposed ban is stupid and typical of the simpleton Left, but it is worth noting that when you send care packages to Americans servicemen in Arab countries, you are prohibited from sending a Bible.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
More
The Smallest Minority has also found this piece, from the LA Times, who have printed two pro-gun letters in less than a month. Someone must be locking the editor in his office for a while!
The Smallest Minority has also found this piece, from the LA Times, who have printed two pro-gun letters in less than a month. Someone must be locking the editor in his office for a while!
So, ready to get your blood pressure up? If not, then don't read this.
You know, I was living in Northern Idaho at the time of the Randy Weaver debacle. I think that was a turning point in my life, because it was then that I learned to NOT TRUST THE GOVERNMENT. For a few days, all we knew is that a fire-fight had happened, and that some people had died. The government tried to paint Weaver and his family as horrible racists, nutcases living on the mountain planning revolt, what have you. And then we found out why Weaver was there. We found out what had actually happened. We found out that the Feds had shot Weaver's son and dog, touching off the shitstorm. We found out that the Feds had shot Weaver's wife while she was holding their baby in her arms.
The Feds had one fact right. Weaver was a nutcase. But he was a nutcase who lived on a mountain in Northern Idaho, trying to stay away from the rest of the world. He wasn't planning a revolt. He wasn't trying to overthrow the government. He was a guy who had screwed up earlier in life, and just wanted to be left alone.
My friends and I joke around about paranoia. "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that people aren't out to get you", we laugh. But go read that link. Go check out what happened to the Sherburnes. And tell me that we don't have to worry about the damn government ruining our lives.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that people aren't out to get you.
More examples of Unilateral
Brought to you by the all-knowing SondraK, and echoed byAnalog Kid Nukevet. (Dammit, Dave! Look at the name!
And let me finish by saying that Hillary Clinton is a Miserable Failure.
Brought to you by the all-knowing SondraK, and echoed by
And let me finish by saying that Hillary Clinton is a Miserable Failure.
Are we still in the UN because it does good, or returns value to us? Are we still a member state just to monitor others? Or are we locked in because withdrawal would be politically unpopular?
There are strong indications the U.S. and company have broken open a huge ring of lethal weapons dealers, centred in Pakistan's secret nuclear programmes. They are astounded by the scale of operations, of which the IAEA had no clue, and are only beginning to make a reckoning. Naturally, the U.N., whose job it was to do what the U.S. and company are now doing for themselves, want to get in on the action. And this for the oldest of bureaucratic motives: for they now need a reason to exist.davidwarrenonline.com - ESSAYS ON OUR TIMES
Can someone be backward and correct at the same time???
The Grand Mufti said such behaviour was prohibited. "Allowing women to mix with men is the root of every evil and catastrophe. It is highly punishable. Mixing of men and women is a reason for greater decadence and adultery," he said. "I severely condemn this matter and warn of grave consequences."FT.com / News headlines
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Life has a 100% mortality rate
I just found out that one of the guys in my department has terminal cancer. The doctors are giving him a year to live. This is his fourth go-round with melanoma, and this time it's not going away. They've stopped all treatments, because none of the tumors are going away, and new ones are popping up. As of right now, it's terminal.
He's got a year. One short year.
How do you cram a lifetime of dreams into one year?
I can't imagine what this poor guy is going through. He's got children, a happy family, dreams, desires, hopes and fears. And now he practically knows the time of his death. How do you reconcile yourself to that? How do you do everything that you've wanted to do while some fucking disease is eating you from the inside out? He was getting close to retirement, and so was his wife. They were supposed to live to a ripe old age together, and that's not going to happen now. His life, for all intents and purposes, is all over except for the breathing.
I wonder how many plans he had that are now never going to happen. I wonder how many dreams he had that will now go unfulfilled.
When my mom had cancer, they were able to remove it. Surgery can do marvels, but he's had surgery three times and it keeps coming back. He's had chemo three times, and yet here it is, staring him in the face. He's going to die within a year. God damn it, this isn't supposed to happen to the nice guys! The good guys are supposed to ride off into the sunset to destinations unknown, living out the rest of their lives in peace, not writing out their will and testament while their family cries in the fucking hallway!
The worst part is that we know how it's going to end. This isn't going to be some peaceful passing away while he sleeps, or a sudden death that passes quickly. He's going to be in excruciating pain while this shit eats him alive. He's going to be on all the drugs that modern medicine can give him and it still won't be enough. He's staring at living hell, and he's keeping a straight face. I don't know how he does it. I really don't.
He's a better, stronger man than I am, and if you believe in god, say a prayer for Big Jim. He and his family are going through hell right now.
God give you strength, Jim.
I just found out that one of the guys in my department has terminal cancer. The doctors are giving him a year to live. This is his fourth go-round with melanoma, and this time it's not going away. They've stopped all treatments, because none of the tumors are going away, and new ones are popping up. As of right now, it's terminal.
He's got a year. One short year.
How do you cram a lifetime of dreams into one year?
I can't imagine what this poor guy is going through. He's got children, a happy family, dreams, desires, hopes and fears. And now he practically knows the time of his death. How do you reconcile yourself to that? How do you do everything that you've wanted to do while some fucking disease is eating you from the inside out? He was getting close to retirement, and so was his wife. They were supposed to live to a ripe old age together, and that's not going to happen now. His life, for all intents and purposes, is all over except for the breathing.
I wonder how many plans he had that are now never going to happen. I wonder how many dreams he had that will now go unfulfilled.
When my mom had cancer, they were able to remove it. Surgery can do marvels, but he's had surgery three times and it keeps coming back. He's had chemo three times, and yet here it is, staring him in the face. He's going to die within a year. God damn it, this isn't supposed to happen to the nice guys! The good guys are supposed to ride off into the sunset to destinations unknown, living out the rest of their lives in peace, not writing out their will and testament while their family cries in the fucking hallway!
The worst part is that we know how it's going to end. This isn't going to be some peaceful passing away while he sleeps, or a sudden death that passes quickly. He's going to be in excruciating pain while this shit eats him alive. He's going to be on all the drugs that modern medicine can give him and it still won't be enough. He's staring at living hell, and he's keeping a straight face. I don't know how he does it. I really don't.
He's a better, stronger man than I am, and if you believe in god, say a prayer for Big Jim. He and his family are going through hell right now.
God give you strength, Jim.
European Union nations are dragging their heels in their ambitious drive to become the world's most competitive economy by the end of the decade, the European Commission said Wednesday.Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The EU's executive agency said Europe is falling further behind the United States after a standstill year in which European job growth evaporated, public finances deteriorated and the average unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent.
In an annual survey of how the 15 EU nations fare in trying to become economically more dynamic, European Commission President Romano Prodi said governments lack political will to overhaul the continent's economies.
His report lamented a "substantial gap" between Europe and the United States in the ability to rally risk capital and money for research and development, quickly process patent applications and spend generously on information technologies.
Another Socialized Deathcare Healthcare Success Story
Via Random Nuclear Strikes (which is up and running again! Hot damn!), comes two new examples of the kind of care you get with State Controlled Healthcare.
Jamie Buckfield, 17, saw half a dozen GPs last year for excruciating headaches and sickness.
He told them the pain was so bad he could hardly move and his vision was blurred. But all of them sent him home saying he either had a virus, a migraine or stress.
Yeah, a virus. Anybody have any viruses that cause them so much pain that they can't move? Anybody go to the doctor with this virus and not have every test in the world done? I mean, that sounds like a damn serious virus!
Not one suggested he have a brain scan as a precaution. Finally a locum who was at the surgery by chance referred Jamie straight to hospital.
A scan spotted the (brain) tumour and two other growths in his neck and spine.
Angry Jamie, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, feels let down by docs at the Fitzalan Medical Centre and now faces nine months of chemotherapy.
He said: “I went to be cured but that didn’t happen. We pay tax for the NHS but we might as well go private because it isn’t there when we need it.”
Let's see here..... pain, check. Blurry vision, check. Couldn't have anything to do with the brain, right? I mean, why would pain and blurry vision be connected to the brain, right? This kid had a massive brain tumour, plus two more elsewhere, and six damn doctors couldn't find anything? Great healthcare system you got over there! But wait, there's more!
Les Atkins has won a six-figure payout after a hospital missed a tumour the size of a tennis ball in his dying wife’s bowel.
Medics diagnosed angina when Les’s wife Marie, 50, was rushed into Barnsley District General Hospital complaining of agonising pains in her chest and side.
Her cancer was discovered when a coroner ordered a post mortem after she died.
Les, 59, of Gold-thorpe, South Yorks, said: “Marie was in agony for months until she died.”
A hospital spokewoman said: “The Trust wishes to express its profound regret and deepest sympathy.”
THE SIZE OF A GOTT-DAMNED TENNIS BALL! We're finding tumours the size of a pinhead at my hospital, and they can't find one the size of a damn TENNIS BALL?!?!?!?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?!?!
Hillary can take her "National Healthcare" and shove it where the sun don't shine. Even that stellar example of Socialized Medicine, Canada, has an average wait time of TWO FRIGGING MONTHS for cancer treatment!
My mother would be dead right now, if she had been Canadian. Socialized Medicine is an abject failure.
Via Random Nuclear Strikes (which is up and running again! Hot damn!), comes two new examples of the kind of care you get with State Controlled Healthcare.
Jamie Buckfield, 17, saw half a dozen GPs last year for excruciating headaches and sickness.
He told them the pain was so bad he could hardly move and his vision was blurred. But all of them sent him home saying he either had a virus, a migraine or stress.
Yeah, a virus. Anybody have any viruses that cause them so much pain that they can't move? Anybody go to the doctor with this virus and not have every test in the world done? I mean, that sounds like a damn serious virus!
Not one suggested he have a brain scan as a precaution. Finally a locum who was at the surgery by chance referred Jamie straight to hospital.
A scan spotted the (brain) tumour and two other growths in his neck and spine.
Angry Jamie, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, feels let down by docs at the Fitzalan Medical Centre and now faces nine months of chemotherapy.
He said: “I went to be cured but that didn’t happen. We pay tax for the NHS but we might as well go private because it isn’t there when we need it.”
Let's see here..... pain, check. Blurry vision, check. Couldn't have anything to do with the brain, right? I mean, why would pain and blurry vision be connected to the brain, right? This kid had a massive brain tumour, plus two more elsewhere, and six damn doctors couldn't find anything? Great healthcare system you got over there! But wait, there's more!
Les Atkins has won a six-figure payout after a hospital missed a tumour the size of a tennis ball in his dying wife’s bowel.
Medics diagnosed angina when Les’s wife Marie, 50, was rushed into Barnsley District General Hospital complaining of agonising pains in her chest and side.
Her cancer was discovered when a coroner ordered a post mortem after she died.
Les, 59, of Gold-thorpe, South Yorks, said: “Marie was in agony for months until she died.”
A hospital spokewoman said: “The Trust wishes to express its profound regret and deepest sympathy.”
THE SIZE OF A GOTT-DAMNED TENNIS BALL! We're finding tumours the size of a pinhead at my hospital, and they can't find one the size of a damn TENNIS BALL?!?!?!?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?!?!
Hillary can take her "National Healthcare" and shove it where the sun don't shine. Even that stellar example of Socialized Medicine, Canada, has an average wait time of TWO FRIGGING MONTHS for cancer treatment!
My mother would be dead right now, if she had been Canadian. Socialized Medicine is an abject failure.
How to miss the point entirely.
Only Europe could come up with something so blindingly stupid. People aren't religious because they wear hats, veils, or crosses, and removing the signs of religion won't make them any less religous. In fact, this could just anger people more, thus pushing more people into fundamentalism ("See? They're trying to destroy our religion! We must fight back!").
Only Europe could come up with something so blindingly stupid. People aren't religious because they wear hats, veils, or crosses, and removing the signs of religion won't make them any less religous. In fact, this could just anger people more, thus pushing more people into fundamentalism ("See? They're trying to destroy our religion! We must fight back!").
The Iowa results are in, and it looks to me like Democrats have a lot of work to do regarding diversity in their party.
| Democrat Candidates | Percentage of Vote |
| Rich White Men | 99% |
| Jews | 0% |
| Blacks | 0% |
| Women | 0% |
| Latinos | 0% |
And all this one day after Martin Luther King Junior's birthday. The Mountaintop is still a long ways off, folks.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
How's your stomach?
Don't look at these around meal times. I just ran across an old link that I had read much earlier last year. Siflay Hraka has a series of posts about the Holocaust, with pictures that had never before been published. Read the first post, and continue on from there.
People who deny the Holocaust, or who celebrate it, are sick. They're sick in their souls, and in my opinion, they can't be fixed. They can only be killed like the animals they are. Take a good long look at those pictures, and tell me I'm wrong.
Don't look at these around meal times. I just ran across an old link that I had read much earlier last year. Siflay Hraka has a series of posts about the Holocaust, with pictures that had never before been published. Read the first post, and continue on from there.
People who deny the Holocaust, or who celebrate it, are sick. They're sick in their souls, and in my opinion, they can't be fixed. They can only be killed like the animals they are. Take a good long look at those pictures, and tell me I'm wrong.
I used to think he was cute, but the truth is that now he's scaring me. Byron York on Howard Dean & Iowa Caucuses on National Review Online
Gratuitious pic of the day
Brought to you by Kim du Toit. If this doesn't make you sit back and go "OOO! KICK ASS!" you need to check your pulse. The M1A1 Abrahms tank is 62 tons of fighting machine that is awsome to watch in action.
Brought to you by Kim du Toit. If this doesn't make you sit back and go "OOO! KICK ASS!" you need to check your pulse. The M1A1 Abrahms tank is 62 tons of fighting machine that is awsome to watch in action.
More proof that taking guns out of the hands of the people does nothing to help them or improve their lives. As usual, all emphasis is mine.
As Rezneck and Walton admit, the D.C. government has done little or nothing to disarm violent criminals. It has, however, done a marvelous job of disarming law-abiding citizens who "work hard and play by the rules," as a certain Southerner used to put it. And as a result, the District is the most dangerous large city in America -- edging out Detroit for the 2003 murder capital of the U.S.
I'd like to see those stats. Chicago had 599 murders in 2003, the most of any other city. Are they going by percentage? Ah well, it doesn't matter. At one point DC had a higher death rate than Iraq.
Having failed in this most basic duty of government -- protecting the citizens -- the District has responded, in characteristic fashion, by defining deviancy down. In 2002 D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey lowered his department's goals for solving homicides; where once D.C. aimed at a 65 percent clearance rate, Ramsey decided that solving around half of the city's murders was good enough for government work.
Explaining his decision to lower the homicide clearance goal to 50.9 percent, Chief Ramsey told the Washington Post, "It's more encouraging…. You get these stretch goals, and when you don't even come near it, you get hammered for it."
Heaven forbid we should ask you to DO YOUR DAMN JOB, Chief! This is the result of "political correctness" in America, folks. Can't meet the standard? Lower it! There's no need to improve yourself when you can just lower expectations! And just who is this lowering of standards more encouraging for? The murder victim's families, or the murderers themselves?
That's the police department District residents are supposed to depend on. If you live in the city and someone's breaking your door down, your only legal option is to call 911 and pray that the police arrive on time. And you'd better pray. According to City Council member Phil Mendelson, in 2002 nearly one in five 911 calls was abandoned for failure to get through promptly.
ONE IN FIVE. That's a 20% chance that if some nutcase hopped up on PCP is strangling your child, or beating your head in, that the police won't even get there. Would you accept a mechanic's brake job on your car if there was a 20% chance of it failing? Would you allow someone to fix your furnace if there was a 20% chance of it blowing up in your face? ONE IN FIVE CALLS DO NOT GET ANSWERED! Imaging sitting there while some druggie is raping your daughter and you're screaming for help over the phone.... there is a 20% CHANCE YOU WILL NOT GET ANY HELP!
Many District residents, like the plaintiffs in Seegars, would like to have other options to protect themselves. Standing in their way is a gun control scheme of almost comic rigidity. You can't own a handgun without a registration certificate and you can't get a registration certificate, because the District stopped issuing them to ordinary citizens in 1976. If you do happen to own a pre-1976 handgun that you registered back when disco was king, you cannot lawfully carry it from room to room in your own house without a license. And you can't get a license.
You can register certain rifles and shotguns. You just can't legally use them when your life is threatened. District law requires all guns to be "unloaded and disassembled or bound by a triggerlock" at all times -- and it makes no exception for lawful self defense. If a burglar confronts you in your home, and you load your shotgun to defend yourself, you've just committed a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a year in jail.
Print that out and nail it to the forehead of anyone who says "Oh, you gun nuts are just paranoid!" It's not paranoia when you see it actually happening.
One might suppose that such a regulatory scheme constitutes an infringement on the right of the people to keep and bear arms, if anything does. But Judge Walton disagrees, declaring in the Seegars opinion that "the Second Amendment does not confer an individual right to possess firearms" but rather grants some vague, unenforceable collective right.
Walton's interpretation is, of course, at odds with the fairly clear text of the Constitution. The Framers were careful enough with language not to confuse the "right of the people" with the rights of a state. Just as in the First and Fourth Amendments, "the right of the people" in the Second Amendment is an individual right.
A growing number of legal scholars, including such unlikely gasbags as Laurence Tribe and Alan Dershowitz, are coming to recognize that the Second Amendment means what it says. So too have the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Emerson case and the Justice Department. Both have endorsed the view that the "right of the people" is, well, the right of the people. This trend is one more reason Judge Walton's decision came as such a crashing disappointment.
Just another reason to keep your finger next to the "Reset" button. The entire situation disgusts me. And if anything like that ever happened to me, I'd be the first one to barricade the door, load every gun I had, and when nobody was looking make a dash for some place where sanity ruled. It looks like the communist mindset has infected the judged in DC. People aren't even allowed to protect themselves in their own homes, and yet the police can't do anything to help them either.
The first step of making citizens into subjects is disarming them. Don't ever forget that fact.
Hat tip to DANEgerus.
Monday, January 19, 2004
Bill Clinton sez: "If Muhammad had a car, he'd have let his wife drive!"
Yes, but the real question is: Would Mahatma Ghandi have sold her gas????
Doctor Knowlittle Flirts with a Coronary Event
This is why Drudge rules. Oh I have tears pouring down my face!
Dean Goes Nuts - Audio
And his minions are FLAMING MAD!!!!.
Dean Finishes... Third? Third!
Chaos reigns supreme in the Democratic primary race.Today's "Governor, please remember to drink more before you say something stupid so that we can have a PR excuse!" moment, from the article:
The culmination of Dean’s you’d-better-nominate-me-or-else bravado came right before New Year’s Day when he told reporters in Iowa, “If I don't win the nomination, where do you think those million and a half people, half a million on the Internet, where do you think they're going to go? They're certainly not going to vote for a conventional Washington politician."
Kerry first (38%), Edwards second (32%), Dean third (18%), Gephardt will drop out tomorrow. I'm now a happy camper.
Sounds like some people in Iowa finally remembered that Dean has serious problems keeping his stories straight.
I don't get it. Did someone else here actually find that Dean Rally Riot story? I cannot find it.
And yes, the NFL officials sucked yesterday. For the entire Pats-Colts game I wondered "Where is Marvin Harrison? Is he hurt?"
He wasn't hurt, he was just being held trying to get off the line, held by his jersey, every play.
One reader emailed me about the Oregon School debacle with a rant of their own. Since he makes some good points, I thought I'd post his response.
This was really a piece of amateur journalism. For example, the quote of "...she got all the teachers to go up by the door..." Who the is "she"? A teacher? Someone participating in the "session" slash "artistic performance"? The bus driver? I think this clarification is important to understanding the context of the event.
But that aside, the piece starts off as saying it was a short series of "human rights sessions," but later the principal explains it as being a "theatrical skit" which cannot be pre-screened for content -- this I do not accept.
But which was it? And who was presenting the material and why was this allowed to happen?
If it's a "session," the implication is one of being an educational forum. If it was "theatrical" it implies art form where some latitude may be allowed so far as it remains true to the act.
But whatever the case, once the vulgarities started, one of the teachers, or other school authority figure, should have stopped the "session" and not hold the students captive. I feel further investigation into this event is warranted.
I don't think this event should be brushed off, nor do my instincts tell me this was an isolated event. School is a place for learning language skills, mathematics, history, the sciences, etc. It is NOT a place that we can allow to be used to force a captive audience into accepting liberal (or conservative) ideologies.
It's my belief if we must accept the liberal agenda of secularizing our nation by removing references to God from our long standing institutions (eg, the National Anthem, our currency, de-funding the Boy Scouts, etc), then we MUST NOT allow liberals to use our children's (publicly funded) classrooms as anti-American and socialist indoctrination grounds.
Please don't just write this off as being another case of "oh, gee, they're teaching them awfully young these days", because this, I feel, must be taken very seriously.
My daughter is still a few years away from entering school. I hope when that time comes, I will have the means to send her to a private school where I can have a greater say in the curriculum, and where the teachers are held to higher standards of accountability. Otherwise, I will home-school my child.
Our public schools are an utter failure because teachers are no longer teaching our children how become useful members of society through reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Instead, teachers are spending tax payer's money to teach our children to undermine parental authority, to disregard the rule of law, to question for the sake of interruption instead of intellectual curiosity, to hate their own heritage and country, and to spit in the face of right over wrong.
I'm completely outraged to read of this "skit" in Oregon.
Kurt
A couple of comments, Kurt. One, don't even bother with public education. Find a decent private school and enroll your child there. As far as I'm concerned, the public school system is an utter and abject failure, where mediocrity reigns supreme, and anyone showing initiative and promise is squashed, browbeaten, and forced to fit the "norm". That goes for teachers as well as students.
The girlfriend has a five year old niece who lives in Arizona. The niece goes to a private school. At five years old she's reading at a third-grade level and can hold complete conversations with adults. Her math skills are at a similar level. She never would have reached that high a level in public schools. To top it all off, her parents pay $7,200 a year to send her to that school.
The national average spending per pupil in public schools is $7,400. That should be all I need to say. It seems you already see the problems in the public school system. Start checking tuitions at private schools.
Second, the entire episode at this school reeks to high heaven. Seminars, art, skits, whatever, if a student is so upset by it that they try to leave, and are RESTRAINED by the staff, that's cause in and of itself for an investigation. But I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that no investigation will ever happen. It'll be written off as "educational license" or some rot like that. You damn near need an Act of Congress to fire a teacher these days. This won't even make the teacher's union blink.
I've given up on the public school system. At this point, I believe it's too far gone to fix. It needs to be completely demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. I just don't see that happening any time soon. Just do your best to keep your daughter out of it.
And thanks for writing!
John Rhys-Davies speaks out again, and again it's worth reading and listening to.
I BELIEVE in racial equality not racial discrimination. All I was commenting on was that there are cultural changes taking place in Europe that I consider to be unacceptable.
The fact that a minister of the French government has to fly to Cairo to talk with one of the religious heads in one of the mosques to get his approval for a ban on headscarves can be seen in two ways.
One, is how wonderfully culturally sensitive. The other, it seems to give an authority to a wholly unelected figure well outside Europe's jurisdiction.
Gee, ya think? There's this great taboo in America, where it's unacceptable to say anything negative about other cultures. It's not PC. It's not "culturally sensitive". Well guess what, folks: I consider killing gays because of their sexual preference pretty damn barbaric. I consider stoning women to death because they talk to a man who's not a relative damn barbaric as well. Flogging women to death because they accidentally showed an ankle isn't civilized, it's BARBARIC!
Most societies can benefit from a good stirring of genes, but most cultures are tolerant of each other. I do not see Buddhists throwing bombs into Christian churches, I do not see Christians blowing up Hindu temples, I do not see those sorts of challenges.
My, how unsensitive of you, Mr. Rhys-Davies! Heaven forbid that you should actually point a finger at a certain group of people who are committing murder world-wide! That's just not done!
I do not want to see a society where, should I ever have any, my granddaughters have their fingernails pulled out because they are wearing nail varnish.
How about clitorectomies, or other forms of female genital mutilation? Is it taboo to call that barbaric? I mean, if NOW is going to scream and cry about the supposed "glass ceiling" in America, why aren't they crying about the tragedy that women in Africa go through every day? Oh, right, it's just part of a different culture, so in their minds, it's OK.
Y'know, slavery is part of the culture in Sudan, does that make it OK? Killing Christians and Jews is part of the culture in many Middle East countries, is that OK?
Rhys-Davies nails it. This kow-towing to other cultures, this moral relativism, this false idea that everything is equal is a crock of steaming bullshit, and anyone with half a brain should be able to see it.
Hit tip to Instapundit.
Check it out! I just figured out where Dumb Yeah gets his comments from: The George W. Bush Conspiracy Generator! Fill in a few boxes, select a few targets, and my conspiracy was:
George W. Bush lowered taxes so that The Jews, oil companies, and gun owners could conquer minorities.
Yep, sounds just like 'ol Dummy.
Almost forgot the Hat Tip to Right Thinking!
Is it just me...
Or did the NFL refs suck like a ten dollar whore on payday this year? It's not just the gaffes that occured against my team, I watched a late hit on McNabb that should have been a roughing call. McNabb had been sacked, was asshole over elbows, and a Carolina goon decides to add injury to insult. The Patriots were pulling on the Colt's jerseys so hard that the shirts were two sizes larger at the end of the game. This whole year has been one cockup by the officials after another.
Is it just me?
Or did the NFL refs suck like a ten dollar whore on payday this year? It's not just the gaffes that occured against my team, I watched a late hit on McNabb that should have been a roughing call. McNabb had been sacked, was asshole over elbows, and a Carolina goon decides to add injury to insult. The Patriots were pulling on the Colt's jerseys so hard that the shirts were two sizes larger at the end of the game. This whole year has been one cockup by the officials after another.
Is it just me?
Successful Indoctrination
Means getting to the children early.
Students say vulgar language and so called "Bush Bashing" were the reasons they walked out of two human rights sessions at Churchill High Thursday
Hmmmm, I don't remember anyone saying that the Democratic debates were happening in an Oregon high school!
Everyone was trying to get out and she kept telling us it wasn't over and she got all the teachers to go up by the door so we wouldn't leave," said sophomore Grayson Dahn. "They were cussing and saying the f-word a lot."
"It ain't f**king over, you little s**ts! Sit down in your f**king seat until I'm f**king done telling you how to f**king think!" Sound familiar? Only these kids were forced to sit through it. BY THEIR TEACHERS, who obviously saw no problem with one giant mutual masturbatory insult-the-president fest.
Some students don't think school is the proper place for politics. "I don't think we should have to listen to that. School is a place to learn what is happening in the world, not what one teacher or person thinks about the president," says Mitch Sablosky.
No Mitch, sadly in todays day and age, school doesn't have much meaning. Just wait till you graduate and find out that all your hard work doesn't mean much. There's no use for "Peace Studies" unless you want to be a professional protester or part of the Democrat political machine.
But you at least have the brains to see what's wrong. That's the first step.
Hat tip to DANEgerus.
Means getting to the children early.
Students say vulgar language and so called "Bush Bashing" were the reasons they walked out of two human rights sessions at Churchill High Thursday
Hmmmm, I don't remember anyone saying that the Democratic debates were happening in an Oregon high school!
Everyone was trying to get out and she kept telling us it wasn't over and she got all the teachers to go up by the door so we wouldn't leave," said sophomore Grayson Dahn. "They were cussing and saying the f-word a lot."
"It ain't f**king over, you little s**ts! Sit down in your f**king seat until I'm f**king done telling you how to f**king think!" Sound familiar? Only these kids were forced to sit through it. BY THEIR TEACHERS, who obviously saw no problem with one giant mutual masturbatory insult-the-president fest.
Some students don't think school is the proper place for politics. "I don't think we should have to listen to that. School is a place to learn what is happening in the world, not what one teacher or person thinks about the president," says Mitch Sablosky.
No Mitch, sadly in todays day and age, school doesn't have much meaning. Just wait till you graduate and find out that all your hard work doesn't mean much. There's no use for "Peace Studies" unless you want to be a professional protester or part of the Democrat political machine.
But you at least have the brains to see what's wrong. That's the first step.
Hat tip to DANEgerus.
Dogtulosba has MLK's entire "I have a Dream" speech posted. Go read and tell me if you think it's actually happened yet or not.
Weekend Update
Hit the Puget Sound Bloggers Meet, Greet and Shoot on Saturday, and had a ball. Myself, Ari, Analog Kid (who's site is down right now), Mollbot, SondraK and her husband Joe, dogtulosba, and a few others all showed up for the range, although Ari and I didn't make it to the breakfast. I spent about five hours there, putting rounds downrange. My ammo supply is properly reduced. I also figured out that I need a beavertail grip safety on my new pistol, but I'm working on that.
(Side note to prospective thieves: Just because my RANGE supply is low, do not make the mistake of thinking that my HOME PROTECTION supply is low. Thank you.)
In any case, it was great getting to meet new people. And once again, I'll put out the offer; anyone who wants to learn how to shoot, or re-acquaint themselves with shooting, let me know. I'll take you to the range, let you borrow my guns, let you use my ammunition, and get you started.
I also used the smoker again this weekend. This time we did smoked cheeses. Three pounds of medium cheddar, and a pound and a half of mozzarella. I cut up half the mozzarella and rolled it in Italian herbs before I smoked it. All of it came out pretty damn well, although the herbed cheese would go better on a sandwich than anything else.
All in all, I'd say we had a kick-ass weekend. Time to meet the daily grind once again!
Hit the Puget Sound Bloggers Meet, Greet and Shoot on Saturday, and had a ball. Myself, Ari, Analog Kid (who's site is down right now), Mollbot, SondraK and her husband Joe, dogtulosba, and a few others all showed up for the range, although Ari and I didn't make it to the breakfast. I spent about five hours there, putting rounds downrange. My ammo supply is properly reduced. I also figured out that I need a beavertail grip safety on my new pistol, but I'm working on that.
(Side note to prospective thieves: Just because my RANGE supply is low, do not make the mistake of thinking that my HOME PROTECTION supply is low. Thank you.)
In any case, it was great getting to meet new people. And once again, I'll put out the offer; anyone who wants to learn how to shoot, or re-acquaint themselves with shooting, let me know. I'll take you to the range, let you borrow my guns, let you use my ammunition, and get you started.
I also used the smoker again this weekend. This time we did smoked cheeses. Three pounds of medium cheddar, and a pound and a half of mozzarella. I cut up half the mozzarella and rolled it in Italian herbs before I smoked it. All of it came out pretty damn well, although the herbed cheese would go better on a sandwich than anything else.
All in all, I'd say we had a kick-ass weekend. Time to meet the daily grind once again!
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Do we have a story spiking on our hands? Drudge reported "Political Rallies End in Brawl; Joan Jett Attacked..." with this link. The link is now dead.
But check out Eyewitness News - Des Moines' search results page:
==REPOST==
An Apache makes a mess of some bad guys. A bit graphic, folks. I mean, not any definable gore, bit one moment there's people moving around and the next, well, there's not.
Here it is.
This just in!
Fat drunken slob furthers Donk Party downslide!
The Iraq war was a "political product" marketed by the Bush administration to win elections, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a speech Wednesday.
Keep babbling, Teddy. Remember '88? You gave a speech lambasting GHW Bush up one side and down the other. And you always kept asking "Where was George? Where was George?" I believe that was the key turning point to the whole election, because Republicans were able to answer you with one sentance.
"Dry, sober, and home with his wife."
The speech continues Kennedy's vigorous assault on Bush's Iraq policies. Last September, in an interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy called the war a fraud "made up in Texas." Bush later called Kennedy's remarks "uncivil."
You keep bearing that flag, Teddy. Raise your standard high! Let the world know that the leader of the Donk party is a fat slob with a drinking problem who let a girl drown in his car as it sank! Yeah! That'll teach 'em!
And now, he said, the ongoing reconstruction in Iraq and plans to turn control over to the Iraqi people this summer "are intended to build momentum for the November elections in this country as well."
How DARE you give people freedom, George Bush! Shame on you for desposing of two ruthless governments, freeing those people from a life of brutal repression! How DARE you allow them to lead their own lives! For SHAME!
I want everybody to take a goooooooooooood long look at Teddy. He's not hard to miss. The big fat guy with the red nose and empty bottle clutched in his hand. That is one of the Democrat's big guns. He shows up to work drunk, has killed more people with his car than I have with my guns, and embarasses himself every time he opens his mouth. Yeah, what a guy, eh?
Do you really want to get your political information from that man? I didn't think so.
Hat tip to Bill Quick.
Fat drunken slob furthers Donk Party downslide!
The Iraq war was a "political product" marketed by the Bush administration to win elections, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a speech Wednesday.
Keep babbling, Teddy. Remember '88? You gave a speech lambasting GHW Bush up one side and down the other. And you always kept asking "Where was George? Where was George?" I believe that was the key turning point to the whole election, because Republicans were able to answer you with one sentance.
"Dry, sober, and home with his wife."
The speech continues Kennedy's vigorous assault on Bush's Iraq policies. Last September, in an interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy called the war a fraud "made up in Texas." Bush later called Kennedy's remarks "uncivil."
You keep bearing that flag, Teddy. Raise your standard high! Let the world know that the leader of the Donk party is a fat slob with a drinking problem who let a girl drown in his car as it sank! Yeah! That'll teach 'em!
And now, he said, the ongoing reconstruction in Iraq and plans to turn control over to the Iraqi people this summer "are intended to build momentum for the November elections in this country as well."
How DARE you give people freedom, George Bush! Shame on you for desposing of two ruthless governments, freeing those people from a life of brutal repression! How DARE you allow them to lead their own lives! For SHAME!
I want everybody to take a goooooooooooood long look at Teddy. He's not hard to miss. The big fat guy with the red nose and empty bottle clutched in his hand. That is one of the Democrat's big guns. He shows up to work drunk, has killed more people with his car than I have with my guns, and embarasses himself every time he opens his mouth. Yeah, what a guy, eh?
Do you really want to get your political information from that man? I didn't think so.
Hat tip to Bill Quick.
Sabine Herold
Is proof that absolute gems can turn up where you least expect them to.
Found all over the web, including Free Will and Kallini.com
Is proof that absolute gems can turn up where you least expect them to.
Found all over the web, including Free Will and Kallini.com
A Southern Liberal explains why he hates Howard Dean. Now, I seriously doubt if this guy is going to be voting for Bush anytime soon, but he nails 'ol Howie to the wall.
I've got a pretty fine grip on why he's such a pathetic excuse for a presidential candidate, and I'll get to that. But it bears mentioning that he is devoid of charm, humor, charisma or feeling. He's kind of like the busy doctor who's got a lot of other patients on his mind. Words spew out of his mouth, but bedside manner is not to be found.
Well, we already know how he treats retirees with questions, don't we? "Shut up and sit down, plebe!"
What really ticks me off--and now we're at the nub of my gripe--is that when he opens his occluded trap and starts talking about the South, his unearned entitlement just shows. This is a man who grew up on Park Avenue, went to boarding school, angered his family by eschewing a Wall Street career, became a doctor (which is admirable, I confess), and was elected a conservative governor of the most liberal state in the country where there are no African Americans or Hispanics, just old hippies harvesting syrup and weaving blankets. George Bush got out of Yale and became a redneck in the oil patch, which you have to say was a real-life experience. Howard Dean got out of Yale and set about building bike paths for the people. It was a hobby existence set in the middle of lovely hills.
When it comes to the real lives people lead in the South, I don't think Howard Dean feels, knows, understands or remotely approaches the truth about anything we do here. When asked whether he could appeal to Southerners, he said no problem--he was going to speak to the guys who have Confederate flags waving from the backs of pickup trucks. Come again?
I really do think that Dean will win the Democratic nomination. In fact, I hope he does. Because Bush could as well not even campaign, and against Dean he STILL could win.
Hat tip to Hobbs Online.