Thankfully, I am at home today and was able to catch Tony Blair's amazing speech to Congress. I tried to write down some of my thoughts as he was speaking and stopped because it got in the way of appreciating it. A few thoughts for those who might have missed it:

-If only W could be so eloquent

-He implored Congress to "never apologize for your values," isn't that the Democratic Party's platform? To apologize for being America?

-"Never has there been a time when the power of America has been so necessary or so misunderstood." A good 30% of the country wants to decapitate American power and completely misunderstand the role of American power in global stability.

-I am paraphrasing; Blair declared that if we back down from fighting the war on Terror and implicitly, Iraq, we will have 'Hesitated in the face of this menace when we should have given leadership.' This was a clear shot across the bow of the Democratic Party. They have offered no leadership on the issue of defending the West and liberty and have demanded paralyzing caution and hesitation at every decision point since 9/11.

-Finally someone laid out the democratic vision for the Middle East by warning those who provide succor to the Islamists who seek to destroy the West (Syria and Iran) and asking us to envision a stable, democratic, and prosperous Middle East. Bush should have done this a long time ago and should continue to do it. He needs to make his vision clear so that we can all understand that the war in Iraq, the peace process with Israel and Palestine are part of a broad strategic change in the entire region. Bush's end goal is transforming the region. It goes beyond Israel and Iraq. The problem is that it has not been laid out clearly or frequently enough by Bush.

Blair's speech was simply marvelous, eloquent, morally clear, impassioned, inspiring, with an uncompromised vision. It would be cliché to call it Churchillian, but I'll call it that anyway. When you think about it, it was more pro-American than anything I have heard out of the Democratic Party.

That sound you hear is a giant extinguisher putting out the propaganda pyre that the political arsonists on the left have set aflame.

A Mark Steyn gem:

The Spectator.co.uk: "But here’s a much more pertinent question than whether BUSH LIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!: how loopy are the Democrats? One reason why the President, in defiance of last week’s Spectator, is all but certain to win re-election is the descent into madness of his opponents. They’ve let post-impeachment, post-chad-dangling bitterness unhinge them to the point where, given a choice between investigating the intelligence lapses that led to 9/11 and the intelligence lapses that led to a victorious war in Iraq, they stampede for the latter. Iraq was a brilliant campaign fought with minimal casualties, 11 September was a humiliating failure by government to fulfill its primary role of national defence. But Democrats who complained that Bush was too slow to act on doubtful intelligence re 9/11 now profess to be horrified that he was too quick to act on doubtful intelligence re Iraq. This is not a serious party. "


I entirely forgot about the Aspirin factory in Sudan. While I had my suspicions that Clinton didn't care whether or not the building was housing nerve agent, I hardly thought he was perpetrating a fraud. He was doing too good of a job of that with a civil rights sexual harassment lawsuit.

It's no wonder that the Democratic Party is the home of Jerry Springer...

It seems St. Dean is having an identity crisis. The liberal media loves to paint their political puppets as centrist, moderate, or even "conservative on issues". Expect this tactic to be used more often the closer we get to November of next year. It will go hand in hand with conservatives being labled "extreme right wing". Why do they do this? Deception. Instead of being proud of their liberal accomplishments, they distance themselves from the lable due their reputation. Keep your eye out for this stuff friends.

Check this out:

Google Toolbar

The new Google Toolbar 2.0 is in Beta and it includes a popup blocker and a Blog This! icon. I updated it last night and it works great for me so far.

The person in charge of getting to the bottom of Saddam's WMD program is not John Kerry. Howard Dean is not in charge either. I realize I am testing credulity by informing you of this, but the man in charge of investigating the WMDs in Iraq is not Terry McAuliffe. By reports in the press, one might think that these doyens of the political gutter actually know something the rest of us don't. History will make a laughing stock of these three no matter how much the D.C press corps tries to prop them up.

The man who actually is in charge of investigating the WMDs in Iraq is named David Kay. In an interview with Tom Brokaw he made a few statements that must have these mendacious opportunists a bit nervous.

Looking for the smoking gun: "

Brokaw: And the documents had real value?
Kay: The documents have extreme value. They relate to the program that the Iraqis used to hide their weapons program from international inspectors over twelve years.
Brokaw: When I look at a room like this, with all these documents, and this is just the tip of the iceberg
Kay: It is indeed."

After reading this remember that the casus belli was not the possession of WMD but not complying with the terms of the Gulf War ceasefire and numerous UN resolutions. The documents Kay speaks of provide the casus belli.

Another response from Kay puts to rest the notion that the inspectors could have found the WMD and contained Saddam if only given more time:

Kay: You cannot believe how many cases we have of documents and equipment that are stored in private residences. I mean, no inspection regime was ever geared up for going into private residences.

The inspection regime did not even routinely search private residences. This shows how doomed to fail the inspectors were from the start and proves true the Administration's assertion that they could only be successful if Saddam cooperated. Does anyone really believe that if the coalition occupation of Iraq has yet been unable to find WMD that Hans Blix and the boys would have had any luck? Not only were they leaving private residences unchecked, but they were not even securing scientists' families so they could be interviewed off-shore.


I suggest reading the entire thing.

Typical left-wing liberalism from Time magazine. Note how their criticisms of US energy policy leave Clinton untouched. They don't even mention his lame duck executive orders restricting over a million acres from any natural gas extraction.

To make their bias even worse, they hardly mention the power of the environmental lobby, yet the oil men get their due. If the left wing environmental lobby were so insignificant as to not merit any attention in a wrap up of 30 years of energy policy, then why is there no drilling in ANWR? Clearly the fact that American oil companies cannot get their dirty hands on ANWR is proof that the left wing environmental lobby is worthy of mention for their sway over D.C politicians.

Yet more proof of the uncritical liberalism of the Time article is how they quickly dispense with just another of the energy bogey-men on the left, nuclear power:

"The Senate bill also contains an assortment of goodies. It would hand out $3.5 billion to revive America's moribund nuclear power industry—even though the last order for a plant that actually went online was placed in 1973."

So this is how they deal with the method of energy that fuels most of France? Nuclear power is to be eschewed because the last order for a plant that actually went online was in 1973? Why don't they discuss why it has been 30 years since the last order for an online nuclear plant was placed? Might it be because the left and the collectivist environmental movement have demonized nuclear power? Now I am not saying we should construct nuclear plants without a constructive debate on how to safely do so, but it is entirely irresponsible and points at the underlying agenda of these hacks at Time to dismiss nuclear power with haste.

In the end, I do believe we have a pending energy crisis. The price of natural gas has risen steadily. The greatest damage has not been to citizen consumers but to industry. With large chemical manufacturers fleeing the States due to the high cost of doing business, largely attributable to stiff environmental laws and the rising cost of natural gas, it's the economy and job rolls that suffer. I also think there is some value to conservation. I agree with Cheney that it is not the basis for an energy policy, but it is a component. The more salient issue, though, and the reason why this article from Time is irresponsible and points to the agenda of the limousine liberals at AOL/Time Warner, is that any reasonable view of at least the near future understands that energy use is going to increase in this country and that any commentary that avoids the impact of the far left environmentalists and the heavy restrictions on energy production in this country is far more deceptive than Bush's "16 words."



TIME.com: Why U.S. Is Running Out of Gas -- Jul. 21, 2003

WHY THE LEFT'S FRENZY OVER THE URANIUM IS NOT ONLY STUPID AND IRRESPONSIBLE, BUT DANGEROUS:

I do not doubt former Defense Secretary Perry's conclusion that war may be inevitable with North Korea this year. We cannot live with a maniac, hell-bent on destroying the West, madly replicating nukes.

But here is where Perry shows that he just does not get it, and for that matter neither does the rest of the Left, when he says:

"My theory is the reason we don't have a policy on this, and we aren't negotiating, is the president himself," Perry said. "I think he has come to the conclusion that (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Il is evil and loathsome and it is immoral to negotiate with him."

Does Perry forget about the Agreed Framework? His boss and that foreign policy wimp Jimmy Carter already tried negotiating with Jong Il and they were snookered big time. If you replace the word "immoral" with "counterproductive" or "useless" then Perry will have gotten it right. Unfortunately, I think he speaks for 35% of the country who just does not get it. You cannot negotiate with people who have already deceived you based on your previous negotiations. Moreover, it becomes pretty difficult to apply international pressure on anyone when this 35% of the country is trying to tear the country apart and discredit our foreign posture with the asinine notion that Bush intentionally lied and misled to bring the country to war.

All these Democrats have proven, if they have not proven it many times before, is that the country would not be safe under their leadership, and that they really have no real understanding of the threats we face in the 21st century. For the good of the country, it's time to marginalize these power hungry zealots.

Smacking around the "Bush Lied" crowd

Good morning everybody! A couple of new links for ya, found as I was reading National Review Online.

First up, an article about how the Left is slitting it's own throat as it screams "BUSH LIED" The normal Leftist supporters won't even blink at the damage being done to the Donk party, because they're part of the problem. However, the middle votes, the Swing Votes if you will, are taking notice. Blind partisan hatred doesn't get you very much.

Next up, an article taking on the Bush critics. It's an excellent piece, so I'll just give you a quote and let you read the rest.

"Such hyperbole, of course, ignores the fact that the President's
statement was actually correct. The Brits had indeed concluded that
Saddam went uranium-shopping in Africa -- a practice utterly consistent with his
pattern of seeking to import from wherever he could weapons of mass
destruction-related technology, materials and know-how. Indeed, Britain
continues to stand by this assessment based on multiple sources,
notwithstanding the dubious provenance of one particular document that purports
to confirm a specific uranium sale to Saddam's Iraq by Niger."

(emphasis mine - RD)

I'll post more a bit later, once I'm finished reading the news.

Just another example of liberal bias in the mainstream press. No comment necessary as this happens every time ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, NYT, PBS, et al cover news.

The ABCs of tax cuts - The Washington Times: Editorials/OP-ED

Got another link for ya

from the DANEgerus blog. Let me give you the money quote.

As I previously posted... the (D)'s used to get big bucks from the few ( that's called elitism ) and the PAC's of Lawyers ( people who like to argue over bad laws ), Public Employee Unions ( people who like economy crushing public spending )...
While the (R)'s get a lot of donations from many people... Gore got 80% of his money in 2000 from 16 sources.. Bush got 80% of his money in chunks under $ 200.

Now... for 2004, Bush is raising money the same way at a rate four times that of the Dummocrit9 combined. Rural America is responding to Bush just as they did in 2000 and Urban America isn't responding to the Dummocrits.

Of course the Dummocrits are even more hysterically crying that the (R)'s are the party of the rich... while the numbers prove it's the (D)'s that are in fact exactly that.

I can't say this enough. Look at the red states in America. Hell, just look at the midwest, most of which voted for Bush. This isn't Manhattan or Malibu, folks. These are the conservative heart and soul of America. They're not rich limosene liberals, these are people that come home sweaty and dirty after a hard days work. This is "flyover" country.

And we won the 2000 and 2002 elections.

My Apologies...

.....for yesterday's post-without-a-link. For those who are still interested, the link is right here.

Honestly, it's funny as hell. It reminds me of the old saying (that my dad beat into my head often enough):

"If you don't believe in something, you'll believe in anything."

Well, it's near San Fran. Doesn't take much for the barking moonbats to show up there.

I read the article in the Tennessean with great interest. My guess is that the Left will ignore it just like they've ignored everything else we've found, or they'll come up with some bizarre explination.

By the way, if there's one single person from the US military who can tell me what the hell an artilary balloon is, I'd appreciate it. In my five years of active duty, I've never heard of, seen, or learned about an "artillary balloon".

Check this out. The Tennessean dates this article from June 25. Have I been in a cave or has this story not penetrated the mainstream media yet? I guess it does not fit well with the Bush Lied steamroller. Has FoxNews even picked this up?

Document links Saddam, bin Laden - Wednesday, 06/25/03


I have no idea who Judge Gilbert S. Merritt is but Glenn Reynolds at instapundit says he is a lifelong democrat and a man of unimpeachable integrity. He better watch it; the Fedayeen Left does not take kindly to heretics.

Now I'm all confused!

I always thought that the Left used their tin-foil hats to keep their brainwaves from being read by "The Man" in their black silent helicopters. Now I find out that they're also used to get much needed energy to their brains.

Well, they got the "much needed energy" part right, no matter what else.

Remember those who were discredited during the war? Remember those screeching howls coming from Hollywood, many in the Democratic Party and their house organs the New York Times, LA Times, et al. warning us that we were trapped in a quagmire, that over 100,000 civilians would perish, that the war was just for oil, that going to war with Iraq would harm the War on Terror? Well they Fedayeen Left is now yet again staking what little credibility they have on discrediting the war in an attempt to salvage their tarnished reputations. Clifford May makes a good case that the Fedayeen Left is again making a grave mistake.

Remember also back in 2002, seems so long ago, that these same Cassandras tried to get the scandal ball rolling that Bush knew, or had reason to know, that al Qaida was going to fly airplanes into the WTC. They claimed there was sufficient intelligence for him to know the fate of those who died that day and he decided to do nothing. Their desperate attempt failed when everyone realized that even though there was some intelligence that something was going to happen, it was not clear or certain enough for President Bush or anyone else to come to the conclusion that we would be attacked in the second week of September, 2001. But the point was that President Bush had the benefit of ambiguous intelligence and did nothing.

Jump ahead to 2003 and now look at the accusations of the discredited Left. The accusation now is that in 2003 when President Bush had the benefit of ambiguous intelligence, he had the temerity to act upon it by including it in his SOTU address. As usual, the Francophiles on the left want to have it both ways. They want to accuse President Bush of doing nothing to prevent 9/11 when he had intelligence that was neither specific nor certain and now accuse him of taking that same kind of ambiguous and uncertain intelligence and informing the American public of it during his SOTU address. This gets to the real point, and that is that President Bush cannot possibly win with these people. The nature of intelligence is that it is always prone to being inaccurate and ambiguous. With much of it, if we wait until it has been verified using a standard as vigorous as that used in a court of law (Bubba notwithstanding) it is too late to act upon it.

At this point, my only hope is that when the fate of Saddam's WMD has been determined, the egg on the face of the Fedayeen Left is commensurate with the frenzy they have invoked now. Only then will their timorous whining be relegated to where it belongs, the category of meaningless background chatter.

People are fleeing San Francisco

I left my forwarding address in San Francisco. The foggy city by the bay, which has lost jobs and income in the technology industry bust, saw the largest population decline of any major city in the United States last year, according to U.S. Census data. San Francisco's population declined by 1.5 percent or nearly 12,000 between July 2001 and July 2002, making it the biggest loser among 242 U.S. cities with more than 100,000 people, a report released on Thursday showed


San Francisco Becomes Fastest-Shrinking U.S. City

Yeah. Go Get 'Im, Kofi.



Aaron at Free Will found that the Left's Anti-Tobacco Jihad is in full swing at the United Nations. While you're there, tell Aaron to get off his Conservative duff and blogroll Four Right Wing Wackos.

Rewriting History To Attack Bush On Iraq

John Hawkins DESTROYS the Left at Right Wing News.

"Of course, that wasn't how it actually happened. While the Bush administration certainly talked extensively about weapons of mass destruction, they also continuously discussed Iraq's breaking of UN Resolutions, freedom for the Iraqi people, and Iraq's ties to Al Qaeda & terrorism. But I'm sure many of Bush's critics were too busy screaming about a 'war for oil' & 'US imperialism' to pay attention to what the Bush administration was actually saying; so we'll have to forgive them. "


Rewriting History To Attack Bush On Iraq

Those Poor Dems: They Just Can't Stop Lying

From Lee at Right-Thinking: Halliburton: The Bush/Iraq Scandal that Wasn’t


** This has been added to The Resources

Happy Thursday, everyone.

Now that I actually have a break from working, I can post a little bit. I've been pulling at least one overtime shift a week, due to the fact that we have no people. Literally. One person is out with a pulled hamstring, one person just retired, and we're covering a 24/7 duty with five people. Not good times, BAAAAAAAAD times. Tired times.

Anyways, on my daily rounds, I found a few articles from Townhall.com that I'd like to bring up. One article is by Alan Reynolds, and is about state tax rates. The other is by Bruce Bartlett, and it pertains to "the rich", that mythical class of people who get blamed for every revenue problem. You've heard the mantra "tax breaks for the rich!" Well, the rich pay the most taxes. Specificly, the top 25% of taxpayers shoulder most of the tax burden. But the left seems to have a problem with letting those people keep the money they make.

Another article, by Suzanne Fields, exposes (yet again!) the hypocricy, ignorance, and intolerance of our nations liberal universities. I could write for days about this, but I'll just let you read the article.

Unless you've been living in a hole for the past few days, you know about the Mississippi shootings. A Lockheed-Martin employee walked into work and blasted five of his co-workers into the great beyond, and injured several more. Now, at a memorial, this man's girlfriend stands up and says "Don't criticize this man. He was human too ... don't exclude him. He was a victim, too. ... He was a kind and loving human being."

Victim? Kind and loving? I'm sorry, but kind, loving victims DO NOT walk into work and start shooting! Kind, loving victims do not threaten other co-workers, as this man had done in the past! Anyone who starts randomly shooting their co-workers falls into the "definately NOT a kind loving victim" catagory, OK?

Maybe if someone had pulled him aside earlier in life and said "Cut the crap, OK? Life sucks. You have to make the best of it, and not blame other people." he wouldn't have flipped his wig when he did.

That's enough for today. Enjoy!

Washington State Wackos

I love to read newpapers from America's Leftist Cities. They're so, errr, sobering.

Here's a good excerpt:


The board postponed a vote on extending Coca-Cola's exclusive contract with Seattle's public middle and high schools. But a decision must be made sometime and it ought to be made with a nod toward healthier fare in schools.

No one is suggesting in tough economic times the district walk away from $400,000 in commissions and payments.



No one is suggesting the school district not sell their students out for money. No no no!

The Seattle Times: More ammo in junk-food wars

How do these Loonie Lefties face themselves in the mirror?

Protesting the Constitition

I then wandered over to the International ANSWER booth. They had a petition calling for the impeachment of George Bush. I asked the young lady there why should Bush be impeached.

“Because he lied.” she replied earnestly.

“About what?” I asked.

“ The reason for war in Iraq. He lied about the WMD’s. There are none, “ she said fervidly.

“You mean that is a fact. There are no WMD's, “ I asked innocently.

“Well as far as I know there aren’t,” she said.

“So there may be WMD’s,” I replied.

“ Well it’s possible,” she concluded. But she's impeaching a Republican. Who cares? Sign the petition....


Clueless at the Constitution Center

Jesse Watch - Redux

Aaron at Free Will has something worth a quick peek:

"...According to Timmerman, members of the Congressional Black Cacaus, and, quite possibly, Jesse Jackson himself, were bribed with blood diamonds..."

Those Loonie Lefties - Playing Fast and Loose with the Facts. AGAIN!

Oh dear! You know that guy who claimed to have been at a meeting where President Bush heard that the Iraqi nuclear material buy memos were forged? You know, the guy the Soviet Left has been lionizing as a whistleblower extraordinaire?

Uhhhh - he wasn't there.

Today, a White House source I know and trust said visitor logs don't have any record of anyone named Terrance J. Wilkinson ever being present at a meeting with the President. Then a CIA source I trust said the agency had no record of a contract consultant with that name. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever heard of this guy," my source said.

Capitol Hill Blue

Credit: Instapundit

This guy is one of my favorite cartoonists.

Courtesy of Instapundit:

Iraqi With Alleged Links to Atta Arrested

The two-faced dawgs on the Liberal Left are at it again with their free speech ravings:

Trent Lott said something bad? Punish him!

Dixie Chicks? THAT'S FREE SPEECH!

Susan Sarandon? She loves America!

Rick Santorum? BIGOT!

And then there is Michael Savage.

Drumwaster raves a bit about the things we do for business, how we oftentimes feel the need to bite our tongues just to make a buck. Howdy, y'all...

How blogging loosens the Left's stranglehold on media:

You don't have to be an intelligence analyst to connect the dots: in each of these cases, the mistakes, misquoting and misreporting had the effect of sowing doubt about U.S. intentions, President Bush's veracity, and our military. Even if there was no conscious effort behind any of this, the net effect is that media consumers received a distorted view of reality, one that carries with it a definite political slant to the left.

Fortunately, the left's monopoly on the news media is crumbling, and Fox News and The Washington Times aren't the only ones wielding the pick-axes. During the last five years, a new form of media emerged online, one that provides an important check against bias and sloppy reporting in the traditional media. Some are calling this movement open-source media, because it is revolutionizing the news business in much the same way that open-source software is revolutionizing the software industry.

The Great Media Meltdown

Fast Eddie Rendell was once the Chair of the DNC. He left to concentrate on destroying Philadelphia. Now he's trying to buy Pennsylvania a seat on the Board of US Airways.

He's quite a bargainer, that Ed Rendell - the seat will only cost Pennsylvanians $263,900,000.

PittsburghLIVE.com

Need a laugh? Visit Eschaton. It's the home of many a Liberal Loonie.

Good evening, everyone!

I hope you all had a great 4th. I spent Saturday in a suit of armor, bashing the crap out of anything that came my way. Got quite a few good bruises, too. It's called the SCA, or in long form, the Society for Creative Anachronisms. The ultimate in stress relief. And in a few small circles, it's also been called the Society for Consenting Adults, which when I was a young Army boy fit my bill. Now, the girlfriend and I pass on the wild parties and find better ways to spend our time. But boy, when I was younger....

Anywho, I'm back in (mostly) one piece, and ready to continue. Here's a few links, courtesy of Emporer Misha I, the Anti Idiotarian Rottweiler.

First of all, just to get it out of the way, the British Parliment has found that Tony Blair did not lie about WMD. I hold no hope that the Donks will look at this and drop the subject, but it's nice to know that our ally isn't getting reamed because of it. I don't like Blair's domestic policy. In fact, his domestic policy reminds me of my worst "Democrats take over the country" nightmare. That being said, when faced with the Iraq problem he was the best we could have had at our side. That's got to be worth something.

Come to think of it, I'm not growing fond of some of Bush's domestic policy, but that's a post for a later date.

Next up, Iran! No, we're not going to bomb it. Yet. But the UN has asked Iran to be allowed to maybe pretty please have a little peek at the nuclear plants. Iran, to nobody's suprise, told the UN to piss up a rope.

Now, I'm not a betting man, but you would think that the turbaned twits would take a look left..... and then a look right.... figure out what it's between, and then figure out what the USA does to countries that it considers a serious threat. My guess is that the US is helping out the Iranian students as we speak, but that's just my opinion. If we can take down Iran without firing a shot, I would be jumping for joy. As much as I'm a warmonger, I have no doubts about the cost of war. My buddy Hodge is sitting in Iraq right now, sweating out his last drop of sweat, and wondering when he's coming home. I wouldn't wish his duty to be extended for almost anything, but if we can topple another terrorist-supporting theocracy without a battle, I think he would be willing to stay a little longer.

And the newest thing for those who haven't heard of it yet (and if you haven't where have you been?) the EU is still staining their pants over their new top dog, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi. For those who haven't heard, Berlusconi responded to an insult with a few choice words of his own. Not the smartest thing to be sure, but this is a man who has been grating under the snide remarks, condesending tone and imperial demands of France and Germany, the self appointed masters of the EU. From the tone of his words, I'd say he's had just about enough. And from what I've read, people think he's called a German politician a Nazi. Not so. From everything I've been able to read about, (and trust me, when someone sticks a bee into France's bonnet, I'm going to gleefully read about it), Berlusconi stated that this German politician would make a great Nazi Prison Guard in a new film being made in Italy.

If you were to just take that on face value, it's pretty crappy. Petty, vile, and not really a worth insult from a leader of Italy, hmmmm? But lets look at what isn't in the major newspapers, shall we?

Found from the NZoom - One News website, we find a much more complete record of what was said. Berlusconi didn't call this German a Nazi, he stated that this German would be perfect for the part of a Kapo in an Italian film about a WWII concentration camp.

What's a Kapo, you ask? Why, a Kapo was a prisoner, usually a petty criminal, used by the Nazis to enforce discipline. They were known for being toadys and bootlickers to the Nazis as long as they lived and made other camp prisoners miserable.

Let's take this insult in a new light then, shall we? Because I think what Berlusconi said is damn near perfect.

Berlusconi is the Left's worst nightmare. He's a self-made billionare, a driven man who rose to the top on his own, and who refuses to play by their rules. Even worse in their eyes, he's in POWER and WON'T LISTEN TO THEIR ORDERS! He's unapologetic, harsh, curt, abrupt, and everything else you need to be in order to make billions of dollars in Europe. He can also be witty and humorous, leading one British MP to remark about his "Jekyll and Hyde nature". (scroll down, the quote's at the bottom) But it's the fact that he doesn't kowtow to the Franco-Prussion hegimony that scares the EU the most. Here's one dog who won't be whipped, and it's driving them nuts. I'd look for the EU Left to do anything they can to make Berlusconi's life miserable. And I'd also look for Berlusconi to toss everything in their face and laugh. That's what he's been doing for years, and I don't think he's going to stop now.

In other news, I've just had an illusion shattered. I don't know how to go on.... (snort, chuckle, wheeze) I don't know about you, but I predict that this girl is going to be a centerfold for Playboy in the "maybe if I show my body naked I can sell one more album" bid in... say... five years. Any takers?

For news across the pond, we have this Samizdata, go. Read. The man has the goods on what's happening in the UK, and he updates us daily. Good stuff, if you like to keep abreast of the news.

That's all for tonight. Gotta get some sleep. I'll see you all tomorrow.

For all their talk talk talk talk talk in Hollywood, if you are a woman and you want a big role in a hot film, you gotta take it off.

I saw this fellow Norman Solomon from the self-titled "Institute for Public Accuracy" on C-SPAN this weekend. He repeated the oft-asserted but now-discredited claim that American sanctions killed Iraqi children.

Can you imagine that? CNN sends back pictures of American GIs taking dumps on Saddam Hussein 24 carat gold toilets at one of his dozen palaces, and some people STILL blame America for the suffering of Iraqi children.

Institute for Public Accuracy

U.S. and U.N. officials claim Saddam Hussein might use his presidential compounds to hide weapons of mass destruction. These aren't, after all, just stately mansions. There are scores of official residences, and some are sprawling complexes that cover several square miles, with as many as 90 buildings. Amid waterfalls and man-made lakes in Saddam's assorted Xanadus, there's reportedly a factory for building pleasure boats and a prison for torturing dissidents.

Hello to my fellow RWW. I apologize for the infrequency of my additions to the blog. Perhaps this will make up for it a bit:

Have you heard this rant by the Dims. They know G.W. has a good relationship with the men and women of the millitary, so they resort to one of their favorite tactics - Calling an increase in spending (be it slightly less than those big spendin' Donks want) a "cut". Here are a couple of articles that lay to rest their current pack of lies on the subject:

By Armstrong Williams

House Budget Committee FACT SHEET

Hope you had a happy 4th

Clint

Oliver Willis makesum goodum typum:

"There are very few things I love as much as I love America. I thank the fates every day that this country is my home land. Nowhere else on this planet is it possible for the individual to express himself in the way he or she desires. In many other nations, lip service is given to the freedom of expression but when it comes down to it the state has the final say. "

"Universities in a free society should be places where open minds can flourish and examine ideas from a variety of reasoned perspectives. In recent years, however, sociopolitical agendas often drive the discourse - supplanting, suppressing, and ultimately excluding alternative views. NoIndoctrination.org provides a forum for college students to report courses and programs that in their opinion contain severe bias or amount to indoctrination."

NoIndoctrination.org

This recent poll by the "non-partisan advocacy group for pro-choice women's rights" Center for the Advancement of Women is great news for those of us who believe that abortion should be limited to those rare circumstances like incest, rape, or when the physical health of the mother is in peril:

"Fifty-one percent of women surveyed by the Center for the Advancement of Women said the government should prohibit abortion or limit it to extreme cases, such as rape, incest, or life-threatening complications."

Compared to:

"Only 30 percent support making it generally available, down from 34 percent in 2001, the survey found."

You won't see this in the mainstream liberal press.

As technology advances and we become more intimate with the fetal experience inside the womb, it is inevitable that public support for abortion will decline. No matter how callous we have become to violence and death, we are still compassionate enough of a society to understand that the gratuitous sucking of human life down a sink is deeply disturbing. As more people rely on the internet to obtain their news the information embargo that the mainstream press puts on any information that threatens the pro-abortion status quo will become more and more irrelevant.

It is my hope that science can do what the Supreme Court has failed to do: allow the people to determine the content of a state's abortion laws through the democratic process rather than an unprecedented fiat by unelected judges. Some day, Roe v. Wade will be overturned and the abortion issue will return to the states. While I am against unlimited abortion rights, I can live with a system where the states determine their own position based on elected legislatures.

I have not posted in a while because life has been pretty hectic. My thesis at business school is due in a month and I am grinding away at it. For the next few days, though, I am tucked away somewhere in the Sierra for the holiday and will get more than a few chances to blog. I think I will even blog tomorrow on the 4th.

With all the near misses on finding WMD in Iraq, this AP article hardly constitutes much news. I am certainly not one of those growing increasingly skeptical that Saddam ever had these weapons. As Raging Dave pointed out earlier this week anyone whose head is at least 6 inches from their ass knows Saddam had WMD and had done nothing to prove he was clean. Moreover, during the 21 day advance on Baghdad, Coalition troops found stashes of Atropine (antidote for nerve agent) along with chemical weapons protection suits. The Iraqi troops had no reason to suspect that the Coalition would use nerve agents during the war, so what do you think all this protection was for? The argument that there were no WMD in Iraq is simply the avatar of blind fatuousness. Without engaging in the extensive reasoning why this argument is delusional, let me point you to one telling fact:

The only people who claim that Saddam did not have WMD are:

1. Saddam and his cronies before the war. AND
2. The far-left after the war.

I think the more salient question is why does the far-left continually parrot the arguments of America's enemies?

......But back to that AP article. What I find most interesting about the article is not the substantive content, but the subtle bias. Reporter Libby Quaid writes:

He also defended President Bush's warning on Wednesday that he would find and punish "anybody who wants to harm American troops."

Why does that contention need to be "defended?" Am I being too sensitive to bias here? It seems moronically profound that an AP reporter would assert that the notion that the Coalition will 'find and punish' anybody who wants to do harm to our troops needs any defense at all. I am sure if some demented individual wanted to do harm to Ms. Quaid she would not feel a need to defend her desire to find and punish that person if he took steps to perform on his desire.

Microsoft shifting jobs overseas: Microsoft shifting development, support to India

Jury: Outback Steakhouse owes $39,000,000 to couple injured by drunk driver who got drunk at Outback Steakhouse

HOT DOG!

It's Wednesday! I'm heading out after work today, and you won't see me until Monday the 7th, if not later. So, I'm going to leave you with a few good articles today.

From Random Nuclear Strikes comes a few interesting articles. First up is a Kuwaiti official critisizing the Arab parliments for failing to condem the mass graves found in Iraq. It's an interesting article, and one that highlights one of the many reasons that the Arab world is looked upon as a medevil culture. Another post, an add on to my post from Monday, is an article about the Anti-GM lobby in Europe, and it goes into greater detail as to how Europe is allowing Africa to starve. The more I read about this, the sicker I get. Europe seems to be falling farther and farther to the Left, and consequently, farther and farther into irrelevancy. Note to any Britans who may read this: There is still time for you to tell the EU to piss off. Don't allow the EU to drag you down with it.

Also from RNS is this piece about the Canadian Navy. Folks, this isn't funny anymore. I used to make jokes about the current size of the Canadian Armed Forces, but this is far past any jokes. When a nation's military is unable to continue it's mission because it's understaff and underfunded, it's a serious problem It's sad to see that one of the worlds most feared forces in WWII is now a shell of it's former self. A shell that is unable to continue operating without much help.

Following up on yesterday's post, the US is sending troops to Liberia (Posted on Foxnews.com, but no article as of yet). As I stated before, I think this is a good thing. Nuff said.

And last but not least, something that got my blood boiling over. When I went to ABCnews.com, one of the articles listed is an ad for ABC's World News Tonight. The tagline?

Should the government have the power to take away your right to read?

The fact that this is even a debatable issue shows just how far to the left ABC has gone. And it makes me sick.

See ya later.

"During a question-and-answer session following his speech, German socialist lawmaker Martin Schulz referred to Berlusconi's use of an Italian immunity law to sidestep bribery charges in a Milan court.

'In Italy, they are making a movie on Nazi concentration camps,' Berlusconi snapped back. 'I will propose you for the role of capo,' or chief.

That prompted a rebuke from the president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, who suspended the session after Berlusconi refused to withdraw his comment, saying it was meant as an 'ironic joke.'

Schulz said the remark showed Berlusconi was unfit to represent Europe.

Berlusconi's words 'debase the presidency of the (EU) council and offend Europe,' said Graham Watson, leader of the Liberal Democrat group in the European Parliament. "

The Folly that is the Eurpoean Union

Lookee!!! The Phillies are within 4 1/2 games of the old lazy tired yellowed drudging and generally despicable Atlanta Braves.

Happy July, everyone. Three more days till we celebrate our nation's birth. I'll be on vacation in Oregon from Wednesday night till Sunday night, so that I don't have to listen to mindless drones pontificate on how horrible America is. There will be speeches given in downtown Seattle on how America is imperialist, ect., ect., all the crap I've come to expect from the loony left up here. And people wonder why my blood pressure never falls below 140/90.

But on to todays news! From Random Nuclear Strikes comes a wonderfull article explaining the "Palestinian Right of Return", and why such a thing is unmitigated bullshit. I'm sorry for the harsh language, but I'm still shocked every time I hear some ignorant idiot spout off about how the Jews "stole the land". As Analogkid says, take some time to read it. Bookmark it. And whenever some barking moonbat starts screaming, print it out and beat the moonbat over the head with it.

Both the Washington Post and Fox News have this story about Liberia. It seems that the USA has now been asked to send a peacekeeping force to that country, which is embroiled in a nasty civil war. Personally, if we have the troops available, I think we should go. But the Army's Fun Meter is pegged right now, and I honestly don't know if we have the troops to spare. With all the spending going on in DC, you think the goobers in Congress would get off their duff and slide some cash towards the military. Either that, or finally pull our boys out of Germany and put them to good use. They way some of the EUropean countries have acted towards us, pulling our troops out and letting the EU take care of their own defense is making more and more sense to me.

North Korea is barking again. They say that if we don't kowtow to their demands, they will take "merciless retaliatory measures" against us. I say let 'em. And let me explain why:

If North Korea pulled the trigger, I have no delusions about the damage that would be done. There would be nothing but scorched earth for thirty miles north and south of the Korean DMZ. But there is no chance in hell that North Korea would win a war. Their Army is starving. Their equimpent is out of date. And their military structure follows the old Soviet structure. And the Soviet structured army gets it's ass handed to it time and time again when it faces a Western army. So it's not a matter of losing this war, it's a question of how much damage are we willing to accept from winning it?

Once we have that question, we can compare it to "How much damage will occur if North Korea remains unchecked? How much damage will occur if we kowtow to little Kim?" And the answer there is much, much more than a short war. Keep in mind that this is a country who sells missiles to just about anyone. This is a country where the farmers are living on boiled grass, while fat Kim eats his way to another 50 pounds. This is a country who would collapse if not for the money and food coming in from other countries (All of which is labled "Tribute to our Dear Leader" once it hits the Nork's warehouses). This country is a parasite on the modern world. Let it die. The damage inflicted will be much less than if we allow this country to continue on it's current path. My disgust with those who would willingly accept a vile, treacherous, lying, communist dictator as an alternative to war knows no bounds. Does anyone in their right mind think that Kim Jong Il won't sell off a nuke once he builds it? This is a man who has violated every treaty or international rule he has signed. (The Korean War Armstice was signed by his father, I believe, and he's willing to violate that as well). Only idiots would take this man at his word. (Yeah, I'm talkin' about you, Jimmah!)

I personally don't believe it will come to war. China knows that if Kim Jong Il starts a war, it won't be two months before US troops are in Pyongyang and stationed on the Chinese border. And that worries them very, very much. So let the little Kim blow and bluster. But do NOT, under any circumstances, give him what he wants.

And last but not least, the Donks have finally come out and said it. They're at war with the Republicans. It's nice to finally have this out in the open, since they've been at war with the Republicans for years. It's time the 'pubs woke up and realised that fact.

More later. Go read that article now!

Stop screaming, already!

For anyone who's screaming about how "Bush lied!", I suggest you take a breath and read this piece by Richard Spertzel , who was head of the biological-weapons section of Unscom from 1994-99. It's time for the hysterical lefties to stop lying to themselves, period. If you honestly think that Saddam wasn't busy getting any kind of WMD he could get his hands on, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn and oceanfront property in Arizona that you might be interested in.

From Lee, over at Right Thinking from the Left Coast, we find out that the Amazon Rainforest is being destroyed at a record pace. The reason? Soy! It seems that since the loony left of EUrope has violently rejected any Geneticly Modified foods, such as the disease-resistant soybeans the USA produces (and has been eating for years), Brazil has filled the EUro-peon soybean nitch with their unmodified soy. But in order to do this, they've had to clear-cut massive amounts of land. Soy doesn't grow in the woods, donchano.

Of course, this is the same group of people that would rather let Africa starve to death, rather than eat the GM foods that the USA produces.

"Yes, I know you're hungry! Yes, I know you're starving to death. But that GM food is POISON! EVIL, I tell ya!"

Great.

One party controls all three seats of government, the economy is in shambles, people are losing their jobs, and there is no solution in sight.

Washington, DC, home of the Republican takeover? No, This is life in California, on the brink of a fiscal disaster.

Tumult at the Beach

It is a pretty rare thing in life when you take a look around and everything adds up.  Yet 'roundabout Cape Cod way these days, guess what?  It all adds up:

Old Liberal Wealth + the New Liberal Fight Against Global Warming +  the Old Leftist Contempt for New Business + the New Liberal God of Regulation + the Timeless Liberal Fight to Preserve Nature ================================================== a very Instructive NIMBY Battle Amongst Massachusetts' Wealthiest

To wit:

It reads like a summer novel. The location is one of the nation's prized resort areas, comprising Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket -- playgrounds for the wealthy and powerful.

Jim Gordon has an idea that's shaking things up in these New England communities. He's a developer who wants to use wind power to replace electric power plants and the pollution they cause.

"Wind mills are an icon on the Cape and islands," he says. "So, what we're doing is kind of going back to the future and addressing the present day problems that we have now, such as global warming and climate change, by building a clean, green, renewable energy project."

But the idea has raised a storm among some residents, because Gordon wants to build his windmills in the middle of Nantucket sound.

It really is classic.  Some want more regulation, zoning the water, in effect.  Some want to harvest wind to save the Earth.  Some want to preserve the "treasure" of their oceanside views.  Some think it will hurt fish.  Some object to the fact that the developer might make money.  One guy says if we don't stop global
warming, we'll lose the Cape to rising waters anyway.

My favorite parts are where the politicos and Leftist icon heavyweights chime in:

State Sen. Rob O'Leary represents the Cape Cod region. He points to a 200-foot weather tower that Gordon built in the middle of the proposed wind farm. It's half as tall as the wind turbines. O'Leary says he support wind power in principle, just not at that location.

The campaign to stop the wind farms was started by Cape Cod merchants and wealthy landowners. It's also opposed by almost every town government. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who has a home overlooking the proposed wind farm, also opposes the project. So does one of Martha's Vineyard most famous residents, former CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite.

"Our natural treasures should be off limits to industrialization, and Nantucket is one of those treasures," says Cronkite.

Read all about it: CBS News

Read as much as you want: Google: "Cape Wind"

 

You know you want to!

What Gun Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

WARNING: LONG POST ALERT

Sorry I've been gone for a bit. I had a few days off, and needed to take care of some work around the house. And some time to practice my 2nd Amendment Rights, of course. Which brings me to this days post.

Living in Seattle as I do, I get questioned quite a bit as to why I shoot, and why I support gun ownership. It took me a while to figure it out, because I hadn't given it much thought until a few years ago. It was just something you did. But why? So I did a little soul searching. And I was able to name why I believe so heavily in gun ownership. I have several reasons, but one part is this: I believe in being self-sufficient. More to the point, I hate being forced to depend on someone else. And this is what I'm going to touch on today.

I change my own oil in my vehicles. It saves me about $15-$20 per vehicle, and it saves me more for my motorcycle (damn bike shops are expensive!). More to the point, it puts me in control of what happens to those vehicles. I re-surfaced my living room table. It's amazing how much you can do with a sander, file, and a can of oil-stain. Need a tool chest? Forget buying one, I built one. Camp kitchen? Built it. Tent? Built it. Food? I have a garden outside. $1.00 for a head of lettuce, or $1.50 for a packet of seeds that will give me 100 heads of lettuce? Or carrots, peas, onions, cucumbers, squash, tomatos, you get the idea already. The point is, given the choice between purchasing a service or product, and doing it myself, I will do it myself at least half of the time, more often if I have the time to do it myself. It saves me money, and I feel it gives me more control over my life. I don't have to worry about what chemicals are on my produce. I don't have to worry about where my wood came from, or what kind of oil was put in my truck. These are all simple examples but the point is that through these simple things, I control what happens in my life.

Every time you ask someone else to do something for you, you give up a bit of control. This doesn't have to be a bad thing. I can put out a small fire, but there's no way I could put out a house fire. So I depend on the fire department to do it for me. Even though I change my own oil, I have no way to change a clutch plate. More importantly, I do not have the ability to do it myself. Through my lack of knowledge (and the increasing compexity of modern cars) I have become dependant on someone else to fix my car, much like I am dependant on the fire department to put out a housefire. And deep down, it's that dependancy that bugs me the most.

Now then, if I get upset about having to depend on someone to fix my car, how do you think I feel about depending on someone to protect my life?

If a mechanic can't fix my truck right away, it's an inconvienence. If it's sunny, I can ride the motorcycle (and I prefer to do so), but I can't go to the Home Depot and pick up lumber. Not a big hassle. If it rains, I have to carpool or take the bus. That's a bigger hassle, but still not serious. However, if I'm forced to depend on someone to protect my life and property, my life could end. Period. During my Army training, we learned that a man with a knife can cross 20 feet in about half a second. How long does it take to dial 9-1-1? If someone broke into your home tonight, would you rather clutch a phone to your ear, or point a gun at the intruder? And if someone tried to hurt you, do you think the Police would get there in time? I've been trained on the 9-1-1 system, and I've sat through many a call where the caller would ask "Are they on the way? Why aren't they here yet?". Cars can only go so fast, and the police cannot be at your door in seconds. That is a fact that you must accept. And I haven't even touched on the parts of the country where there is no 9-1-1. There are no police to protect you, not for twenty miles. There might not even be a phone to call for help. If you are dependant on other people to protect you, you're done. Pack it up. Shuffle off this mortal coil.

By ensuring that I can protect myself, I am taking control over that part of my life. And more importantly, I can make sure that my life and the life of people closest to me are protected, no matter what happens, or where I am. My life is not dependant on a phone, or someone else's whim. I am in control of what happens to me.

If Tim doesn't kick me off the blog for the length of this post, I'll go into Gun Control at a later date.

Tim has it exactly right. And now we have the goods on the Democratic base. The results of the online primary are in. Howard Dean won in a landslide. Anyone who hopes to see the Democratic Party marginalized by America for at least another 5 years can only hope he sustains this lead in the primaries. If anyone has any doubt that the base of the Democratic party is far left or that there is a strong anti-American component in the party, look at who came out in second place, Dennis Kucinich.

Rumor has it:
Joe Lieberman (1.92%) is looking for a recount.
Al Sharpton (0.53%) is blaming the Digital Divide and proposing the government install computers in every dwelling in America
John Kerry (15.73%) is blaming his poor performance on President Bush and was heard saying something about serving in Vietnam.
John Edwards (3.19%) blamed Big Tobacco and put a call into his mentor, Bill Clinton
Dick Gephardt (2.44%) was heard telling his campaign manager that if he becomes President he will sign an executive order mandating he wins all future online primaries.

Stay tuned for more entertainment and self-destruction from the boobs in the Democratic Party.

Democrat presidential hopefuls parrot Howard Dean. The liberal media has turned the other candidates into Stepford Democrats. To receive any coverage, they have had to ape Dean. This has skewed the Democrat presidential campaign to the far left. It is amusing to observe.

There is an eerie quality to the campaign. It is so predictable. Dean will fly off the handle and attack President Bush. A day or two later, John Kerry comes out with his version. Dick Gephardt will follow with something about how furious he is with the President. Even Joe Lieberman has been seen growing red faced over this or that.

Howard Dean and the Stepford Democrats

It's way too hot here in northern California. Unable to sleep in this heat, I'll take this opportunity to lambaste a few deserving leftists....

Like effete spoiled brat Rep. Patrick Kennedy who makes the case with his own words that his sleazy and corrupt family fulfills the stereotype of the limousine liberal. In a rare paroxysm of honesty, Kennedy credentialized in front of a group of Young Democrats (momentarily torn away from the glass teat of MTV and Jerry Springer) with this beaut: "I don't need Bush's tax cut. I have never worked a [bleeping] day in my life."

I don't know what I like better, Pat's stunning honesty or the priceless delusion on display when the Young Democrats responded with jaw-dropped surprise. It seems the only people who have not figured out that the liberal elite are simply ne'er do wells getting fat on trust funds that someone with far less anti-capitalistic prerogatives earned vote for Democrats.

As my good buddy Dan likes to say: "Every spoiled rich trust-fund liberal has a conservative bread winner somewhere in their family tree."

And.....

I suggest that another condescending liberal, Bradford Delong, show the world that he is indeed the man he implores us all to be by asserting some leadership, showing his manhood, and giving up his position on the faculty at Berkeley to a member of one of his approved boutique minority groups.

You've heard the Dims rage about Job Loss as if it is G.W.'s fault.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 2.5 million jobs lost in the last two years, unemployment rate climbing.

Employment Data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates nothing short of historically average for current unemployment rates. I find that impressive considering the impact of 9/11 on our economy. It would be interesting to find out how John Kerry arrived at his 2.5 million claim. If he used the B.L.S. as I did, he would surely have realized that such an estimate was gathered by polling.

How long has the unemployment rate been increasing? It has been on the increase since before the 43rd President has implemented any economic policies and slightly before he even took office. Note point A on the chart I included. Also note point B indicates a curent trend of the unemployment rate leveling off. What will the future bring? I will not venture a guess at this time.

1976to2003

This guy is harshly Conservative.

"The ignorant classes are the dangerous classes, reminded H. W. Beecher, the great Congregationalist preacher (and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe), in 'Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit' in 1870. 'Ignorance is the womb of monsters,' he said.
And, oh, to what monsters our society has given birth. Several generations of Americans so little understand the meaning of freedom and liberty that they regularly shill for 'solutions' they are convinced will bolster both, never mind they are antithetical to the heartbeat of a democratic republic.
Take John Kerry, for instance. Monday last in Manchester, N.H., the Democrat presidential hopeful chided President Bush for promising to 'rally the armies of compassion' but leaving 'them high and dry without the resources to wage their battles ... .'
The implication is clear: the only acceptable 'armies of compassion' are those underwritten by the federal government and your tax dollars. God forbid that a president would stand and encourage a return to the kind of robust private charity that government 'beneficence' long ago destroyed. "

PittsburghLIVE.com - The rise of the ignorami

This is a good place for Conservatives to be heard. I just stopped by and posted this:

Aaron is correct about a number of things but none more so than this:

Every time a Republican tries to reform welfare, Liberals cry racism. Yet every time Democrats discuss welfare, suddenly the majority of recipients become white. Hoo doggie.

As for Democrats not being out of touch with Americans, two things:

- Firstly, Democrats are like the "Reality TV" programs of politics: everyone knows the show ain't real but they tune in and play along when it's time after a long day at work to succumb to logicless drivel. Once true reality sets back it, though, most recognizes the folly they just witnessed. The Progressive utopia of a gunless and poverty-free society with universal health care is not more real than The Real World, Joe Millionaire, and American Idol.

- Secondly, for one to gauge Progressive Democrats' commitment to American citizens, all one need do is take a look at the once-great American cities that have descended into cesspools under thirty years of Democrat control. Where does one find the most violent crime, illiteracy, domestic abuse, drug abuse, homelessness, and general despair in....

...Pennsylvania? Philly.

...Michigan? Detroit.

...Illinois? Chicago.

...Maryland? Baltimore.

...the United States? Washington, DC.

Surf a bit and find out who's been running those cities for the past three decades. Or don't, and take my word for it: Democrats have.

Liberals have promised cities safe streets, jobs, affordable housing, and good schools for thirty years.

They have failed to deliver.

Were they lying? Or are they just incompetent?

Take your pick, and then recognize that an argument about whether Liberal promises are in or out of touch with Americans is immaterial, because Democrats don't deliver on their promises.

I think we need a little more information before we once again see the egg on the face of the anti-Bush anti-war pro-hysterical timorous leftists in the establishment press and democratic party, but the news that an Iraqi scientist has led officials to components for a uranium enrichment system stashed in his backyard could be only the beginning of a slow unraveling of the NBC situation in Iraq.

I have no problem with the dog burying a bone out in the yard; dogs will be dogs. I draw the line, though, somewhere before someone in the 'nuclear mujahadeen' comes by looking for a place to stash his gas centrifuge. The implications are obvious: If Saddam had nothing to worry about, why were they hiding components in backyards?

I love the caption, "Pentagon officials stressed that none of the material constituted the 'smoking gun' they were looking for." As if only a smoking gun justifies the war. The only reason this find is not a 'smoking gun' is because Saddam and the Baathists are no longer around to pull the trigger.

Might I suggest that you go wish Lee good day?

Well then...

Good morning everybody! It looks like it's shaping up into another fine day here in Seattle. We've had sunshine for (gasp) two days in a row! If this goes on all week, there's a good chance that the end of the world is near.

Now then, what new outrages can I find... not much, but then again, I haven't had a newspaper in hand yet. So we'll go with this:

Howard Dean is showing once again how out of touch he is with the American Public. As I have stated, this is a good thing. The more these people show how far left they are, the more swing votes GWB will get. We just have to bring the Democratic idiocy to light more often. Not an easy thing, when most of the media is turning a blind eye to anything which might counter their views.

A mother who was pulled over and cited for breast-feeding her child at 65mph thinks she's done nothing wrong. Now, I'm not a parent, but even I know that having a child on your lap, while you're driving along at 65, is a bad thing. Driving while distracted is a bad thing. And this ignorant bint thinks that nursing her child while she's hauling ass down the turnpike isn't going to effect how she's driving? Ummmmm... Clue to bint, this is your wake up call. Thank god you didn't get a wake up in the form of a wrecked car and a dead child. I could go on for days about his, but I'll leave it at that.

There's a new study that says Teen's brains are hard-wired for quick thrills. I'm going to start a study to figure out how much money is wasted on studies that say nothing we don't already know.

And now for some news that I'm actually happy to read! The USA is working with Pakistan to deliver economic aid to that country. Now, say what you will about Musharraf, but without substantial help from Pakistan the US efforts in the Middle East would have been severely hampered. I don't know of any national leader who rose to power in a military coup and then improved that country from the inside out. Due to Musharraf's political dealings, Pakistan has been able to get out from the economic hell-hole they were stuck in, and now their economy is growing at a rather decent rate. Between our boys and theirs, we've been able to nab some high level terrorists, including the #3 man in the Al-Queda network. All of this needs to be encouraged, and working with Musharref is going to advance that aim. Are things perfect and lovey-dovey? Not by a long shot. But our relations with Pakistan are lightyears ahead of where they were four years ago. We need to keep improving. If Pakistan can transform inself into a vibrant functioning society, there's hope for the rest of the Middle East.

And to end on a lighter note, as well as hop on the Harry Potter Bandwagon, I've discovered that the Sorting Hat as placed me in Gryffindor. Yay!

I'm from Gryffindor!

Hogwart's Sorting Hat Quiz

made by The Genki Gang

Ali Marri: Enemy Combatant

Am I the only one who looked at this guy and thought, Yanni?

Yanni

I cannot help but say a little something about the country I know best, aside from the USA of course, Zimbabwe. Colin Powell is right to make the disintegration of the country under Mugabe's solipsistic tyranny an issue. Not because Zimbabwe is vital to our national interests, it's not, but because the continent of Africa is important. While the world moves forward into the 21st century at various speeds, including the emerging Asia, Africa remains the "Heart of Darkness" for most Westerners. Corruption, instability, post-colonial strife, and AIDS have ravaged a beautiful continent filled with ambitious bright minds, eager laborers, immense natural resources, and desires no different than ours. Zimbabwe is important because it serves as a litmus test for the civility and words of the rest of the continent. Its decay and human rights catastrophe will exist only so long as its neighbors allow it to.

It's time for the once-estimable Nelson Mandela to stop lecturing Bush & Blair and end his creepy coziness with dictators. Mugabe is cut from a cloth not that different than Saddam and Mandela has made excuses for both. If Mandela rejuvenated his former moral influence and galvanized southern Africa to support human rights and apply pressure to Mugabe, he would do the people of Zimbabwe a huge favor. I suspect, unfortunately, that Mandela will continue to castigate anyone who criticizes Mugabe as a neo-colonialist and continue to bizarrely erode his once powerful moral authority.

More news to piss you off

Yet another Bush judicial nominee is being filibustered.

Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl (Hey, how kuhl a name is that?) will be fillibustered, alone with Washington lawyer Miguel Estrada, nominated to the D.C. Circuit, and Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen, nominated to the 5th Circuit. Estrada and Owen have been stalled by the Donks for a long time, and now another one is going to be in Limbo while the Donks do their merry dance.

Now, I know that a lot of people will shake their heads and say "Business as usual". However, the CongressCritters going against Judge Kuhl are none other than Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Why would this piss me off, you ask? Well, let me give you a few quotes, as wonderfully provided by the Washington Times:

"I am pleased that we will be voting," Mrs. Boxer said during a January 1998 floor debate on a nominee. "I think, whether the delays are on the Republican side or the Democratic side, let these names come up, let us have debate, let us vote."
Similarly, Mrs. Feinstein said during a September 1999 floor debate: "A nominee is entitled to a vote. Vote them up; vote them down. ... It is our job to confirm these judges. If we don't like them, we can vote against them. That is the honest thing to do."

Ya smell that? It's hypocrisy.

C&F

While doing the rounds today, I saw that the masterfull minds of Cox & Forkum have once again hit the ball out of the park.


Why people haven't made these guys rich, I don't know.

Got a deck?

This is a nice machine.

Lee over at Right-Thinking posted something about Whiteness Studies a week or so ago.

As a follow up, the dilapidated and delusional Eric Alterman sez:

"Are white-boy conservatives the whiniest people on the planet or is there a special subset of white-boy conservatives named 'Goldberg' who manage, somehow, to set an even higher standard?"

What a dweeb.

"As a farmer and a National Weather Service spotter, Dale Obermeier has spent more than 25 years pondering nature's fury.

"A 1991 hail storm destroyed his entire corn crop. A tornado nearly took his mother in 1936; she held onto a tree while the twister uprooted trees and buildings around her.

"Never had he seen anything like what fell from the sky onto his yard Sunday.

"'I looked outside, and it was raining volleyballs,' he said. "

Headache!

Racism, and the various definitions ofit.

I'm going to be quick on this post, because you folks have said more than I could ever hope to about it.

It is incomprehensable to me that learned men and women find the treatment of people due to skin color anything but racism.

David brought up the case of Asian minorities, and it's a damn good point. Why aren't Asians, as a minority, treated with the same privledges that blacks are? Aren't they a minority as well? Or are they the wrong minority for those race-baiters?

I think that the so called "black leadership" in this country has made victimhood the mantra of the black community. I think they make a living off of it. And I think that until these people wake up and realise that they don't need the dead weight of AA or people like Jesse Jackson, the situation will keep perpetuating itself.

Tim, my comment seems to have wiped itself from that thread. I'll try to repost it, or at least put in an entry. David, I've changed my handle to Raging_Dave in order to keep us a bit more separate in names. More later.

A little more on the Bollinger cases:

In Justice Thomas' dissent to the Grutter decision, he begins with this priceless quote from Frederick Douglass:

"What I ask for the negro is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice. The American people have always been anxious to know what they shall do with us... . I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are worm-eaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! ... And if the negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! ... [Y]our interference is doing him positive injury."

Unfortunately, this great man never lived to see the 20th century. But can we not all agree that his words are sorely needed in the 21st?

The legal issues aside, it seems abhorrent to me that political and intellectual elites can socially engineer favored races in this country. Note that Asians, a minority for sure, were not beneficiaries of the racial spoils system in Ann Arbor. So are we to believe that blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, etc are discriminated against because of the color of their skin, but somehow Asians have escaped this discrimination? Or, are they discriminated against like the rest, but have figured out some way of succeeding in the face of it? The implications of either of these are many. Part of me calls for an articulate leader in the Asian-American community to speak out on the affirmative action ruling and their second-class status as an unfavored minority. But isn't that the real problem? Maybe the reason Asians succeed and do not require government jerryrig to attend top Universities is because they do not present the noxious notion that race equals ideology. There is no large Asian-American lobby group. I know of no Asian equivalent to the racial brigand Jesse Jackson. Could it be that Asians succeed because they are not vested to the notion that the white world is out to get them? When is the last time you heard an Asian blame their conducting a crime on whites or the system, etc?

It seems like the Asian-American community understand the words of Frederick Douglass. Unfortunately, some on the Supreme Court do not.

And the there were FOUR!

MwaahaahaahAAAAAA!

I'd like to say hello to Clint and David, (Hi guys!) and I look forward to contributing with you.

Well, it's another day, so let's see what outrage we can dig up this time, shall we?

First off, we have the "Windshield Death" trial going on in Texas. For those who have been paying attention elsewhere, this is a woman who was on not one, not two, but THREE different intoxicants, driving home from a party, when she hit a homeless man with her car. Now, any normal person would stop, if for no other reason than to pull the man out of their windshield where he had been lodged, but apparently Ms. Mallard felt the need for speed. So she drives home, parks the car in her garage, and then apologises to the man while he's bleeding to death. I really don't have much to say, because the sickening feeling I have in my gut after reading this just takes any and all words away.

Can you imagine yourself in that man's position? Bleeding, sticking out of shattered glass, begging for help, while some stoned bint sits there and says "Oh, I'm so sorry!"? The pain he must have gone through boggles the mind. Personally, I think she needs to get life in prison. That's just my opinion.

More news. Israel is rounding up Palestinians who have connections to Hamas. This is sure to have the normal suspects howling about how Israel is wrecking the "Roadmap to Peace". (a.k.a. the Road to Hell) However, several things have made me believe that the only way Israel can survive is by doing what they are doing.

First of all, there's the whole question of whether or not Arafat can even control Hamas. According to the BBC, Arafat doesn't even control the militants directly under his command. Of course, there are some people who believe that Arafat doesn't WANT to control the terrorist factions, and there are some facts to back that viewpoint up. And in 2001, Iran was so confident of the Gaza Strip falling under Hamas control that the mullahs were actively funding that group.

So which is it? Does Arafat control Hamas? If so, he's done absolutely nothing to stop the terror bombings which occur. And if Arafat cannot control the terrorist groups within the PLO, then at best he's incompetant, and at worst aiding and abetting murder. What choice does that leave Israel?

You're seeing it. And wonder of wonders, how many busses have been blowing up lately? It's kind of hard to plan out a terror attack when your head honchos have been turned into a fine red mist, or captured and taken away.

I'll have my opinion on the Affermative Action ruling later. Tim, my response to the Locke post is in that post's comments.

Yeah! What David said. And.....

I am a firm believer in the constitution of our individual intangible qualities being essential to the creation and implementation of the rules that govern our society. Anyone unfamiliar with the Supreme Court's decision today on the issue of affirmative action can read about it here:

High Court Has Split Decision on Affirmative Action


It is important that we recognize that this decision put an end to the University of Michigan's practice of adding points (20 or 1/5 of those) needed to earn admission into the institution to an individual's score if they were considered to be belonging to a racial minority. It is also important to note that they saw fit to allow the practice of giving significant consideration to a student's racial identity during the admissions process.

The spirit of this ideology seems to originate from a belief that the circumstances for each individual vary significantly based upon their racial identity, and an unfair advantage exists for non-minority applicants. It is as if parts of our society (specifically it's highest court) has learned nothing from the Jason Blair debacle, and see fit to perpetuate a perception of victimization among certain individuals. Do you remember learning of an individual or group being attacked for a belief that one group of people is somehow inferior to another group based solely on the color of their skin?

From Webster's:

Main Entry: rac·ism
Pronunciation: 'rA-"si-z&m also -"shi-
Function: noun
Date: 1936
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination

If you had a list of groups who perpetuated systematic racism in mind, you might want to ad the proponents of affirmative action to the list. What disappoints me more than the decisions are some of the individuals who supported them. This "Right Wing Wacko" sees a few high profile advocates of a dogma similar to my own abandoning fundamental principles by endorsing today's Supreme Court decisions.

Diversity is the often cited goal of those perpetuating race-based legislation like affirmative action. Diversity is indeed desirable. But once again, we become focused (almost solely) on each individual's skin pigmentation in order decide whether our educational institutions are "diversified".

I find it interesting that there are criteria associated with the physical traits of an individual being used to determine admission into an institution created to enrich the mind.

I'd like to thank Tim for adding me to his crew, and I hope you've enjoyed my first submission to Four Right Wing Wackos.

The Valiant Elephant

Add another Dave to the list. You might as well call me David since Dave II sounds like a sleep-inducing sequel. It seems we have the west coast covered. Dave is up in Seattle and I am in the Bay Area of California. To make things more interesting, I went to college in Berkeley, finished law school, and am soon finished a Masters in Business. So believe it or not I am a Berkeley educated conservative attorney. I know of no other.

I have never written on a blog before. Thank you Tim for inviting me. I should add an interesting perspective as I understand liberalism quite well. I was inundated with Marxism and Foucault at Berkeley and can state that at least 85% of the legal industry, in California at least, is well left of center. The Federalist Society chapter at my law school attracted about 15 students; we could not convince any of the faculty members to sponsor us (they all had mouths to feed and wanted their job), and I was called a bigot for just going to a meeting. If you want to see the face of intolerance, just find some of those sheltered liberals who have never done anything other than read Rolling Stone, watch MTV, and satisfy their suburban parents by getting good grades in school. These myopic fools still do not fully understand that a group of atavistic madmen want to slit our throats, convert our children to Islam and torch our country. To them, this is all a Bush conspiracy.

My thought for the day is a no-brainer: The Bollinger Affirmative Action Cases. I have not yet gotten the chance to read the cases and I will do so soon, I hope. But from what I have read and heard so far, it sounds like a judicial blow most conservatives/libertarians did not expect. It seems that the US government has not yet understood that the Constitution demands it judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Unfortunately, it appears that SCOTUS today has institutionalized what leftists call "benign racism" for a generation. While some may say that the decision is a victory because it shot down the quantified racial spoils system of giving chosen boutique minority groups 20 points in the admission scale, it is hardly a victory. SCOTUS held that viewing race as an advantage in the admission process is ok so long as it is but a component in a process that looks at each individual rather than uses a mathematical scheme. This signals a boom time for unemployed college admissions agents as Universities across the country will be pouring resources into their offices in order to personalize the process so that they can retain affirmative action and be consistent with the law. Instead of using objective formulas that account for race and weed out the unacceptable, Universities will now go through applications one by one to dole out racial preferences. Anyone who thinks they will not take the time or spend the resources does not fully understand the religious zeal behind the left's love for affirmative action.

It took Mrs. Clinton TWO YEARS to "find" a stack of papers in the White House. Yet today her supporters are wailing that there have been found no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, a country the size of California, in ALMOST EIGHTY DAYS OF SEARCHING. Golly jeepers!

"The mysterious appearance of the billing records, which had been the specific subject of various investigative subpoenas for two years, sparked intense interest about how they surfaced and where they had been. Shortly after the discovery of the records, Hillary Clinton made history -- she became the only First Lady ever called to testify before a Grand Jury inquiry. "

frontline: once upon a time in arkansas: Rose Law Firm Billing Records

Perhaps Dave will be kind enough to chime in on the folly of all two faced spineless mealymouthed suirming worm follies: Governer Locke's tax breaks for Big Airplane.

Locke is a solid Liberal but when faced with job losses what does the guy do? He ponies up some corporate welfare, errrrr, tax cuts, for Boeing.

What a hoot.

"Gov. Gary Locke on Monday launched an 11th-hour bid for a major tax break for The Boeing Co., the state's largest private employer, if it agrees to build its next-generation jetliner here.
The tax package, available only if Boeing assembles the new 7E7 here, would be worth an estimated $2.4 billion over 20 years. It includes a 40 percent cut in business taxes, research and development tax credits and lower property taxes. "


Locke Unveils Boeing 7E7 Tax Cut Wish List

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S DAVEY!

Wow. Me on a blog. Who woulda thunk it? I'd like to thank Tim for inviting me, and I promise that I won't bore too many people out there.

As for who I am, that's simple. I'm a former Army boy, a gun-owning, motorcycle riding conservative living in Seattle, of all places. This is the first time I've put any kind of record or log online. I know basic HTML, so I should be able to make it through without causing the screen to blink and fade to the "Blue Screen of Death", although if your computer starts to smoke.. just remember, Tim brought me here. It's his fault.

So then.... the outrage du jour. I see we have H. Dean's son covered, as well as the BBC poll.... what else.... How about the speech by Dick Gephardt, where he shows his true intentions? It seems that Tricky Dick v. 2.0 thinks that all he needs to do is be elected and wave his magic pen! Perhaps Dick should look over the constitution a bit more.

Then again, maybe these nut-jobs should just keep talking. I mean, we have Tricky Dicky blabbing away, retired Gen. "Taxes" Clark spouting parts of the communist manifesto on public TV, and every other democratic candidate making complete and utter fools out of themselves. As long as this keeps up, Bush is a shoo-in for the 2004 elections.

TheChamplainChannel.com - News - Howard Dean Says Son Allegedly Involved In Burglary

The World (or at least those in the World who observe the BBC and have Internet access) comments on America. Dig:

BBC NEWS : What do you think of America?

Bush's supporters retort that post-9/11 sympathy was ephemeral. At the end of the day, they argue, a strong America will attract more support than a weak one. In any case, France and Russia were determined to play the spoiler; it was the world that squandered America's goodwill, more than the other way around.

Probably, possibly, and maybe. It's all very complicated. But those arguments miss the larger point. The talk of squandering is fundamentally misconceived. Bush did not squander the world's goodwill. He spent it, which is not at all the same thing.

Reason

Again, I'm not suggesting that Nader's request of James was wrong. I'm just wondering why there's rarely a push for non-African-American athletes to develop an agenda that goes beyond on-field performance. Michael Jordan is vilified and deemed a coward for keeping his mouth shut on controversial social issues. I can't remember anyone wanting to probe Larry Bird's mind about anything more important than "tastes great" or "less filling."

Look no further than the PGA Tour. We in the media want Tiger Woods to be a freedom fighter of Nelson Mandela proportions. Woods, who is only one-fourth African-American, is expected to speak out against racism, sexism, war and Phil Mickelson's refusal to wear a manbro. Meanwhile, the Tour's non-Cablanasian players need only worry about their games.

ESPN.com - Page2 - What would Larry Bird say?

This is an odd Blog:

About D@mn Time