That's what my Grandfather ("Pop-pop", pronounced, by my sister at least, "PAHpup") used to say to my Grandmother ("Grandmom"). We'd go over to their house, my Mom and Dad and my sister, for whatever occasion, and we'd sit and watch football or boxing (this was when good boxing was on network TV) or baseball and my Poppop would sit in his chair and we'd all sit around in front of the TV. Me and my sister would drink the 7-Up my grandparents always had in the fridge, drink it like the proverbial fish, since we never had soda at home. My sister and I would monitor my grandfather's highball, hoping to mix the next one, so we could slip a measure of Rock 'n Rye into our sodas if the opportunity presented itself.
Grandmom would be in the kitchen, cooking. Her maiden name was Mignona (MIN-yo-nah), and it showed.
Halftime of the game would come around and my grandpop would rise from his chair and call out: "Get it on the table, Mabel."
Can you imagine? They were from a different era, my grandparents -- he worked for thirty years machining power train parts for Westinghouse, and she did the wash and cleaned the house and cooked the meals. He took care of the money, she took care of him. That was the deal they struck up.
I think she has never driven a car.
Anyway, on those occasions when we'd be at their house for dinner, when it was time to eat, my grandpop would take his seat at the head of the table in the dining room, and my grandmom would adjust a closet door at the other end of the room so he could watch the game (on the TV in the living room) in the mirror on the door. He'd crack open a cold can of beer -- Schmidts, if memory serves -- we'd all sit down, too, excepting grandmom, and she'd start bringing the food.
Spaghetti (my grandmom never made pasta), meatballs, bread, salad, applesauce, and the specialty: sausage in tomato sauce. And we'd dig in.
The food never ran out -- it was as if my grandmom had one of those devices like on Star Trek, like she could just press a button and out would pop more spaghetti and more meatballs. Sweet Holy Moses - a feast, every time, head-shakingly unforgettable meals.
Memories.
---
My Grandmom had a brain hemorrhage two weeks ago. She was in Intensive Care for ten days, then tonight was moved to a private room. At her written request and with the consent of her two daughters (one of whom is my Mom) and her only son, the ventilator and feeding tubes that have been keeping her alive since her surgery have been removed.
Grandmom is going to die, at age 90, in that private room, and probably soon now.
---
It's amazing, the memories that come flooding back. I visited her in her ICU room on Saturday and remembered. My sister was there when I arrived, then left soon after, and it was just me and Grandmom for an hour and fifteen minutes.
I cried the whole time.
People grieve mortal illness in loved ones in different ways, and for different reasons. I find myself crying because I am helpless to turn back time so I can tell her "I love you, Grandmom" all of the times that I should have, powerless to rewind and spend more time with her at recent family gatherings when she couldn't get around so well, lamentably unable to go back and visit her all of the times I should have stopped by, just because, just to talk. I think it unlikely that a day will come when I will remember her and not regret not having done those things.
We all live with those kind of regrets though, don't we?
---
They say that smell is the sense most tied to memory. I can confirm the notion. As I sat at her bedside, the smells came back more than anything else. The smell of her basement (she called it a "cellar"), a smell I know well despite not having been in her cellar in decades, a dark and damp smell, the smell of wet eighty year old concrete.
The smell of her rug, an old rug (they were, as most people who lived through the Great Depression were, very thrifty - my Grandmom and Grandpop). Not dirty, not soiled by pets, not unpleasant, but not a fresh clean odor either. I can't explain it. But I can smell it.
The smell of the powder she used -- they had no air conditioning -- and she was from the time when women used powder to keep cool.
And, of course, the food.
I remember how I'd go over there for dinner, and she'd be cooking, always cooking. My Uncle Tommy and my Grandpop and I would sit at the kitchen table, and she'd deliver the goods. We'd watch TV and mange. We'd watch Hee Haw and professional wrestling, which my uncle and grandpop called "wrassling". This was good professional wrestling -- Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy Whitewolf, George the Animal Steele, Gorilla Monsoon, Bruno Sammartino, Andre the Giant -- the Golden Era. We'd watch Hee Haw and wrassling and howl with laughter, the three of us.
God only knows what my Grandmom was thinking -- looking at three generations of men reveling in the absurdity of ludicrous Americana.
She used to make this pot roast -- oh she'd cook it early in the day and then it would just stew in its juices for hours. A finer roast has never graced this Earth, I assure you. My uncle would put ketchup on it, and offense that would have me shaking my head for days and days. I am still amazed that she never cuffed him upside the head on that account.
What a pot roast.
Dear me, the memories - the old ones, numerous but faded, the recent ones, too few, too fleeting.
---
For the past ten days my Grandmom was hooked into all manner of tubes and IVs and wires and stuff. It was atrocious, how uncomfortable she looked. I am in no hurry to see her go, but to keep her alive in that way would have been an abomination.
She's resting easy now, and soon, I suspect, will go to her Husband (departed over a decade ago) and her God -- she attended Catholic Mass every Sunday. He will welcome her, I am certain.
A finer soul He has never created, after all.
Her family will be left, after the grief passes, with the sure knowledge that we were blessed to have loved her, and blessed to be loved by her.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
Live Free or Die
A commenter (Claudia) in the last post drew my attention to an interesting characteristic shared by many criminals, terrorists, and liberals. These people believe that if they do something bad, or good for that matter, it is not their fault. It is society's fault that the pedophile raped that little girl and her brother and killed her entire family. It is America's fault that islamofascist hijackers flew planes into skyscrapers and killed 3000 people. They had grievances. It wasn't their fault, it was the world they live in. To a liberal, it’s never the case that the criminal should “take responsibility” for his crime, but rather, “What made him do what he did?” I don't think that liberals believe that human beings are in control of their own lives. They must think that we are preprogrammed automatons. If you are successful, then they want to take your wealth and give it to those “less fortunate,” as if success is all about luck. This lack of belief in self-determination would also explain why liberals fight any notion of there being a moral right and wrong on any given issue. Of course, when one follows their arguments to their logical conclusions, you find a contradiction every time. For example, if you insist that having moral convictions about what is right and what is wrong is itself wrong, you are displaying a moral conviction. If you assert that people are not in control of their own lives, then what would be the point in arguing about it? For that matter, why not just slit your wrists right now? Without self-determination, what would be the point in trying to achieve a better life? You can't!
About those grievances...
...I think Lileks (i think it was Lileks) stated it best: "The West [at war] kills people as a means to an end. For terrorists, killing people is the end."
As for being afraid, check it out: We're not Afraid!
As for being afraid, check it out: We're not Afraid!
Fury
"How in the world can the dangerous turns of a convicted child molester cross your desk—high risk mind you—and yet you find more benevolence toward the violator than you do towards the violated? He's now killed a little boy that he molested, all in the wake of your legal blessing—in retroactive thanksgiving towards you and your judicial liberalism, Judge. And for good measure, he beat the rest of that little boy's family to death, and abused his sister just for kicks. All because you let him go—judge."Read it all. Our "judges" must STOP putting the rights of pedophiles above those of our children.
The situation with many of our judges is bad, but not only due to their negligence in protecting our children. I can't help but notice the similarity in how the rights of terrorists are protected by judges both here and in Europe, even as the blood of their victims is splashed on the walls of London. And unless the attack is on the scale of 9-11, our governments refuse to punish those states which actively support terrorism. Now everyone has their own theory as to why people want to blow us up.
"We know very well what the "grievances" of the jihadists are.I had, in an earlier post, suggested half jokingly that the reason for Islamic terrorism has to do with impotence. I am more inclined to believe, seriously, that their religion is indeed a death cult - they worship death. (To be honest, I don't care why they want to kill us. Trying to reason with your own executioner is an act of insanity if you ask me.) Our enemies are not afraid of death. Therefore, we must determine what it is that they are afraid of and use that to our advantage. Giving captured terrorists blood transfusions of pig's blood might help... kinda twisted though.
The grievance of seeing unveiled women. The grievance of the existence, not of the State of Israel, but of the Jewish people. The grievance of the heresy of democracy, which impedes the imposition of sharia law. The grievance of a work of fiction written by an Indian living in London. The grievance of the existence of black African Muslim farmers, who won't abandon lands in Darfur. The grievance of the existence of homosexuals. The grievance of music, and of most representational art. The grievance of the existence of Hinduism."
Also, and this is essential, we must hold someone responsible for these acts of terrorism. Iran is only the most likely candidate/target. Syria is also a sponsor of terrorism. But would invading Iran or Syria actually make a difference? Could it actually make things worse? I'm just asking. Eventually, things may become more urgent. An example may need to be made. If it comes down to it, if we have to decide between freedom and survival, the enemy needs to understand that the U.S. is not Europe. "Give me liberty or give me death" are not just words to an American. I think that nuking Mecca and Medina would very much be considered a rational response in this country, and would be demanded if, say for example, the water supply near Lodi, California were poisoned causing mass death (millions).
It is true, we are not afraid, but could you imagine what it would be like if we as a nation really were afraid?
Rage
For four years the MSM have done nothing but attack President Bush, and the democrats in congress have gone against him at every turn even on things like CAFTA which they know is a win-win deal. NAFTA was fine and dandy, but free-trade is too good for the poor people of Costa Rica and Honduras. Hypocrites. They, the democrats, will not allow any kind of victory for Bush no matter what. That is why they undermine the war effort and compare our military to Nazis. They have become the party of NO. Do you think for a second that the democrats would be demanding an exit strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan if AlGore or JFKerry were in office? How about an exit strategy for Kosovo already? It's a freakin' quagmire! And why did we bomb Kosovo, anyway? What did it have to do with national security? Not a thing, but so long as a democrat is president, whether it's Kosovo or Somalia or Vietnam or Hiroshima, it's all good. The second we have a Republican president, it's an unethical war and extremist judges and class warfare, elitist media squawks about "courage" and "speaking truth to power," and everybody's rights are being trampled, etc.
Well, they've thrown everything in their arsenal at this President yet the established media and the DNC, the legions of the left including ABCNBCCBSCNNMSNBCNYTLATPBSBBCNPR, and let's not forget Hollywood which has produced nothing but anti-conservative propaganda (with the notable exceptions of the Passion, the Incredibles, and maybe Team America) since 9-11, have all failed. In entertainment/media circles, and academe as well, open hatred for Bush is a prerequisite for promotion and has become so transparent as to be implicit in nearly everything we see in the newspaper, on tv, and not just the news shows, on the big screen, and in the classroom. But Bush has not broken any law. Even if "there were no WMDs," saying something that isn't true but that you believe to be true is not lying, otherwise we would all be liars. Bush did not lie, and you cannot point to a case where he did lie. It's all huff and puff. Like Jayson Blair, established professionals in the media, journalists, politicians have and continue to make stuff up in the hopes that something, anything, will stick. They all have fallen for fictional reports backed by anonymous sources. They bought into lie after lie after lie after lie, willingly, eagerly, hungrily. They need to believe those lies. They need to believe that Bush is evil to support their world view, because to believe otherwise would mean that they are insane and/or stupid.
Well, they've thrown everything in their arsenal at this President yet the established media and the DNC, the legions of the left including ABCNBCCBSCNNMSNBCNYTLATPBSBBCNPR, and let's not forget Hollywood which has produced nothing but anti-conservative propaganda (with the notable exceptions of the Passion, the Incredibles, and maybe Team America) since 9-11, have all failed. In entertainment/media circles, and academe as well, open hatred for Bush is a prerequisite for promotion and has become so transparent as to be implicit in nearly everything we see in the newspaper, on tv, and not just the news shows, on the big screen, and in the classroom. But Bush has not broken any law. Even if "there were no WMDs," saying something that isn't true but that you believe to be true is not lying, otherwise we would all be liars. Bush did not lie, and you cannot point to a case where he did lie. It's all huff and puff. Like Jayson Blair, established professionals in the media, journalists, politicians have and continue to make stuff up in the hopes that something, anything, will stick. They all have fallen for fictional reports backed by anonymous sources. They bought into lie after lie after lie after lie, willingly, eagerly, hungrily. They need to believe those lies. They need to believe that Bush is evil to support their world view, because to believe otherwise would mean that they are insane and/or stupid.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
The Left and the Damage they cause
Unless you've been hiding in a cave for the past few years, you know about the Joe "Frogmarch" Wilson/Valerie Plame case, and how the liberals were howling for Karl Rove's head. Wilson talked about how he wanted Rove frogmarched out of the White House in handcuffs, and the Left what whipping itself into a masturbatory frenzy trying to get whoever "leaked" Plame's name to Robert Novak arrested and sent to court. On what charges, I'm not sure. Hell, I'm not even sure if the Left knew what charges they wanted to press, but that didn't stop them from frothing at the mouth and imitating feces-flinging monkeys in their shrieking hysterics to do something to somebody.
Well, the leaks came out, it wasn't Karl Rove, one of them is in jail, and now we're reaping the whirlwind.
While the Right was patiently trying to explain that there wasn't a crime committed by whoever "leaked" Plame's name, the Left was doing everything and anything it could to try and pin the leak on nefarious VRWC plots. And now that the Left has gotten it's way, and people are in jail, it has effected people the country over. Congradulations, Liberals! You have officially screwed not only yourselves, but the rest of the country! I hope you're happy!
I swear, Liberalism is a mental disorder. A disease. A condition of the brain that removes all logic and reason. And as if the above didn't make you angry enough, check out part two of the linked blog post!
That's right folks, political speech by a radio host is now considered "contributions" and is subject to campaign finance rules! Thank you McCain-Fiengold, you worthless bastards! And guess what else might fall under that logic?
NannyState is here, and it's looking for things to control. Where's the reset button?
Well, the leaks came out, it wasn't Karl Rove, one of them is in jail, and now we're reaping the whirlwind.
"As I write this, two stories of profound importance languish in our hands," Clifton wrote. "The public would be well served to know them, but both are based on documents leaked to us by people who would face deep trouble for having leaked them. Publishing the stories would almost certainly lead to a leak investigation and the ultimate choice: talk or go to jail. Because talking isn't an option and jail is too high a price to pay, these two stories will go untold for now. How many more are out there?"
While the Right was patiently trying to explain that there wasn't a crime committed by whoever "leaked" Plame's name, the Left was doing everything and anything it could to try and pin the leak on nefarious VRWC plots. And now that the Left has gotten it's way, and people are in jail, it has effected people the country over. Congradulations, Liberals! You have officially screwed not only yourselves, but the rest of the country! I hope you're happy!
I swear, Liberalism is a mental disorder. A disease. A condition of the brain that removes all logic and reason. And as if the above didn't make you angry enough, check out part two of the linked blog post!
Talk-radio hosts regularly discuss candidates and ballot issues, often with a particular point of view in favor of one or opposed to another.
Do those comments constitute a financial contribution to a campaign?
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham thinks they do. In a ruling issued Friday, Wickham said the comments and activities by KVI-AM (570) hosts Kirby Wilbur and John Carlson on behalf of the Initiative 912 campaign are in-kind contributions that must be reported to the Public Disclosure Commission.
That's right folks, political speech by a radio host is now considered "contributions" and is subject to campaign finance rules! Thank you McCain-Fiengold, you worthless bastards! And guess what else might fall under that logic?
Brian Maloney, a former Seattle-area talk-show host who now runs a national blog on talk-radio issues, raises this question: If talk-radio comments count as political contributions, why not newspaper editorials? Or Web sites?
NannyState is here, and it's looking for things to control. Where's the reset button?
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Miscellaneous Linkage
If the talking heads on tv could just get off their DNC talking points for five minutes and start looking at reality we'd all be a lot safer, and better off in general, but 99% of the time it has to be us vs. them, and modern liberals don't let silly things like facts get in their way. So it's interesting to see the reaction when one of their own dares to bring facts into a tv newsroom, in an interview about the US invasion of Iraq no less. This was supposed to be a friendly interview. Christopher Hitchens is a Democrat but apparently didn't drink enough cool-aid to roll over for the loony left-wingers on the boob-tube; apparently he has had enough and is, finally, standing up and throwing the truth back in the faces of some tv libs. In this interview he exposes Ron Reagan for the idiot tool that he is. (The only reason Ron is even on tv is so the man recently voted Greatest American in History can be dragged through the mud.) More of Christopher Hitchens being interviewed by liberals here. I feel sorry for people like Hitchens. Their party has been hijacked and is being driven straight into the ground.
Here's an amusing item: U.N. Condemns London Terror Strikes. What's the UN gonna do? Rien. Nichts. Niente. Nada. The UN has become a joke.
I don't like it when one group of people in this country claims to have rights, protections and freedoms that other groups of individuals do not have. It is particularly annoying when those in the press assert that they can, in effect, abet criminals with impunity in the name of "freedom of the press." In a free society, the press is not above the law.
Other good reads:
UPDATE: I've been corrected. Christopher Hitchens is not a Democrat since he's not a US Citizen but he used to be a Communist. Oh well. He seems to have recovered nicely. I guess the least I could do is link to a most excellent Christopher Hitchens piece. Here's another neat thing to read if you like 007, and don't miss Where is the Gandhi of Islam?
Here's an amusing item: U.N. Condemns London Terror Strikes. What's the UN gonna do? Rien. Nichts. Niente. Nada. The UN has become a joke.
I don't like it when one group of people in this country claims to have rights, protections and freedoms that other groups of individuals do not have. It is particularly annoying when those in the press assert that they can, in effect, abet criminals with impunity in the name of "freedom of the press." In a free society, the press is not above the law.
Other good reads:
INFORMATION WARFARE: Selling Appeasement to Europeans
Another Episode in the War between Christiandom and Islam
Fixed Bayonets
Whenever an American Soldier Loses His Life a Liberal Gets His Wings
Mercenaries, Not Musicians, for Africa
Unocal 101
In My World: Supreme Anger
UPDATE: I've been corrected. Christopher Hitchens is not a Democrat since he's not a US Citizen but he used to be a Communist. Oh well. He seems to have recovered nicely. I guess the least I could do is link to a most excellent Christopher Hitchens piece. Here's another neat thing to read if you like 007, and don't miss Where is the Gandhi of Islam?
Speak Up, Muslims
We need more Muslims like this man to speak up. Islamic people should rise up and speak with one voice damning the terrorists to hell and they should act as one to hunt them down. If they cannot do this, then they should collectively hang their heads in shame, shut their mouths and get out of our way. As it is, and to put it nicely, most of us in the West both on the left and the right have lost respect for Islamic culture and religion. The terrorists will be wiped out. That is certain. The only question is whether Islam will survive?
For our part, we need to stop being nice to terrorists. When captured, terrorists should get blood transfusions rather than Korans - replace their blood with pig's blood. Film the process and send it to al Jizzeera. It has been made clear that Zarqawi, bin Laden and the rest of these retards watch the media as it has become their primary weapon. Why not fight fire with fire - use the media to scare the living shit out of them. Or we could just go on al Jizzeera and say Usama bin Laden likes little boys and has a tiny penis, and that al Qaeda members are impotent. No joke - we need to get "our" journalists to start making fun of the terrorists instead of giving them so much credibility and respect - that would make a difference. What's that you say? It'll never happen because the mainstream media is on the side of the enemy? Ack! You're right! And Chris Mathews isn't afraid of pig's blood - he only fears 95-pound Filipino women.
For our part, we need to stop being nice to terrorists. When captured, terrorists should get blood transfusions rather than Korans - replace their blood with pig's blood. Film the process and send it to al Jizzeera. It has been made clear that Zarqawi, bin Laden and the rest of these retards watch the media as it has become their primary weapon. Why not fight fire with fire - use the media to scare the living shit out of them. Or we could just go on al Jizzeera and say Usama bin Laden likes little boys and has a tiny penis, and that al Qaeda members are impotent. No joke - we need to get "our" journalists to start making fun of the terrorists instead of giving them so much credibility and respect - that would make a difference. What's that you say? It'll never happen because the mainstream media is on the side of the enemy? Ack! You're right! And Chris Mathews isn't afraid of pig's blood - he only fears 95-pound Filipino women.
Gee, no response from the Left?
I wonder where all the people are who call the Bush economy a failure.... because I don't think Clinton ever got unemployment this low. Can you say 5%? I can.
FIVE PERCENT UNEMPLOYMENT!
Liberals, with their tax hungry social programs and ever-growing lust for governmental control, have always ignored one of the most basic concepts in macroeconomics: When people keep their money instead of shoveling it down the maw of the State, that money goes back into the economy, either when they spend it or when they invest it. Sure, the government can spend your money, but it never invests it, and THAT is how the economy grows. It's a very simple concept, yet the Left ignores it, just like they ignore anything else that disagrees with their ideologic views.
The Left can't be trusted with the economy, they can't be trusted with national security, they can't be trusted with government power....
The Left just can't be trusted.
FIVE PERCENT UNEMPLOYMENT!
Liberals, with their tax hungry social programs and ever-growing lust for governmental control, have always ignored one of the most basic concepts in macroeconomics: When people keep their money instead of shoveling it down the maw of the State, that money goes back into the economy, either when they spend it or when they invest it. Sure, the government can spend your money, but it never invests it, and THAT is how the economy grows. It's a very simple concept, yet the Left ignores it, just like they ignore anything else that disagrees with their ideologic views.
The Left can't be trusted with the economy, they can't be trusted with national security, they can't be trusted with government power....
The Left just can't be trusted.
LGF down for a while
Charles emailed Glenn to let people know: Server hard drive bit the dust today. Don't know when he'll be back up.
Via DANEgerus
Are You Conservative has some nice grafics of flags for websites or personal use.
My browser isn't working for me, so I can't post it from my computer. It's a British flag blended with an American flag, done up rather nicely.
Click on the link to see it.
My browser isn't working for me, so I can't post it from my computer. It's a British flag blended with an American flag, done up rather nicely.
Click on the link to see it.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
A Measured Response
I propose we respond to this latest atrocity, this attack on our staunchest ally, with overwhelming force. My proposal has the advantage of giving the Demonrats and the Chinese what they have been clamoring for - a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan. Let's withdraw right now. There is only one thing the terrorists and those who support them understand, and I suggest we give it to them. We will not cower from cowards. What am I talking about? A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words:
Why
While I would agree with the Mayor of London that those behind the London bombings are nothing but mass-murderers, and that indiscriminate killing is not an ideology or even a perverted religion (though I suppose you could call it a death-cult), I disagree with the politicians and pundits as to the supposed motivation behind the bombings. I don't think these scumbags care about "dividing London" or hating "freedom and democracy" or even their stated cause of driving Britain out of Iraq and Afghanistan. I think these shit-eating camel-fuckers are screaming to the world, "We are not impotent!" Well, they are. They can blow up a train but they can't build a toaster. Even a monkey can kill.
Daily reading
Not to make light of the events in Britain, Here's a question: What blog do you make a daily visit to? I'm simply curious to see how our blogroll compares to the various like-minded blogs. My list?
DANEgerus. First stop, bar none. Dane has more information than almost any blog out there. With the lack of comments that I see sometimes, I wonder if he's the most underappreciated blog out there. It's a wealth of information and well thought out reasoning.
Random Nuclear Strikes. Daily. It's on our blogroll. I don't comment, because I don't have a TypeKey registration (I know, I gotta get that fixed) but I'm there as often as possible.
Kim du Toit. Straight talk and no bullshit. Plus, gun blogging!
Those are my big three. If I don't have much time (which is often) those are the blogs I make sure I check out before moving on to any other reading. Does anyone else have a "must read" blog that you visit?
DANEgerus. First stop, bar none. Dane has more information than almost any blog out there. With the lack of comments that I see sometimes, I wonder if he's the most underappreciated blog out there. It's a wealth of information and well thought out reasoning.
Random Nuclear Strikes. Daily. It's on our blogroll. I don't comment, because I don't have a TypeKey registration (I know, I gotta get that fixed) but I'm there as often as possible.
Kim du Toit. Straight talk and no bullshit. Plus, gun blogging!
Those are my big three. If I don't have much time (which is often) those are the blogs I make sure I check out before moving on to any other reading. Does anyone else have a "must read" blog that you visit?
A message to our British Friends
I think I can speak for every member of this blog when I say that we all stand with you on this day of suffering.
Americans have been accused of many things, but the one thing that no one can deny is that we, as a whole, are uncomparable friends. We can offer shoulders to cry on, hands to comfort you, resourses to aid you, and food to feed you. We can give you what help you may ask for.
But the one thing our enemies forgot is that when you attack an ally of America, you attack America. And when the time comes, we will face our enemies together, with steel bared and firearms blazing, as we have ever since World War One.
We understand that you do not capitulate to terrorists, you hunt them down and exterminate them. And we will aid you in this if you so desire. The full might of the United States stands ready to demolish these terrorists who have killed your friends and your family.
No better friend, no worse enemy. It's the unofficial motto of the US Marines, and might as well me the country's motto as well. We stand ready to help if you should need it.
Just give us a call. We'll be there.
Americans have been accused of many things, but the one thing that no one can deny is that we, as a whole, are uncomparable friends. We can offer shoulders to cry on, hands to comfort you, resourses to aid you, and food to feed you. We can give you what help you may ask for.
But the one thing our enemies forgot is that when you attack an ally of America, you attack America. And when the time comes, we will face our enemies together, with steel bared and firearms blazing, as we have ever since World War One.
We understand that you do not capitulate to terrorists, you hunt them down and exterminate them. And we will aid you in this if you so desire. The full might of the United States stands ready to demolish these terrorists who have killed your friends and your family.
No better friend, no worse enemy. It's the unofficial motto of the US Marines, and might as well me the country's motto as well. We stand ready to help if you should need it.
Just give us a call. We'll be there.
London Linkdump
Best place to keep up to the minute: The Corner on National Review Online
Great stuff from Andrew Sullivan.
Democratic Underpants sez the Bush Administration may have arranged it all.
Ready in New York City:
PowerLine recalls the words of Winston Churchill.
Greyhawk asks: "Who's next?" And also: "A carefully considered reply delivered soon would be appropriate." Damascus, perhaps.
"Four possible responses to terrorism"
George Galloway is subhuman.
Great stuff from Andrew Sullivan.
Democratic Underpants sez the Bush Administration may have arranged it all.
Ready in New York City:
PowerLine recalls the words of Winston Churchill.
Greyhawk asks: "Who's next?" And also: "A carefully considered reply delivered soon would be appropriate." Damascus, perhaps.
"Four possible responses to terrorism"
George Galloway is subhuman.
Whaddya think?
Tanzania and Kenya 1998 -- United States 2001 -- India 2001 -- Bali 2002 -- Pakistan 2002 -- Turkey 2003 -- Saudi Arabia 2003 -- Russia 2004 -- Spain 2004 -- Jordan 2004 (foiled)
And now: England 2005
Can we call it a "World War" yet?
UPDATE: Was the attack "homegrown"?
And now: England 2005
Can we call it a "World War" yet?
UPDATE: Was the attack "homegrown"?
But it's for your own good!
Beware the jackbooted nags!
It's the ultimtae in liberal lawmaking, folks. They'll ban anything they don't like, and say it's for your own good.
It's the ultimtae in liberal lawmaking, folks. They'll ban anything they don't like, and say it's for your own good.
This can't be good
Explosions blamed on power surge in London.
My question is this: If the explosions were caused by a power surge, why did several buses blow up? They're not on the power grid.
My question is this: If the explosions were caused by a power surge, why did several buses blow up? They're not on the power grid.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
What's the easiest way to get 400 new visitors to one's site in six hours?
Post a comment with a link at LGF.
That readership will click on anything =wink=.
LGF is one of six or seven sites I visit several times a day. Most 4RWWs readers probably visit it often as well. It's solid, and the Kos Kidz LOATHE it, which is always a bonus...
The comments here illustrate the kind of people who read Little Green Footballs.
That readership will click on anything =wink=.
LGF is one of six or seven sites I visit several times a day. Most 4RWWs readers probably visit it often as well. It's solid, and the Kos Kidz LOATHE it, which is always a bonus...
The comments here illustrate the kind of people who read Little Green Footballs.
Obituaries called to mind
Remembering the above, I feel compelled to take a swag at a couple obits:
-----
SAN DIEGO (Al-Reuters) - Retired Vice Admiral James Stockdale, who ran for vice president as Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, died Tuesday at his home in Coronado at the age of 81. Stockdale was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during America's immoral war against Vietnamese peasants, and spent 7 1/2 years in a North Vietnamese prison after being convicted of offenses against indigenous peoples whose only crime was fighting for the freedom of their country.
-----
EDISON (Al-Reuters) - Grammy award winner Luther Vandross, whose deep, lush voice on such hits as "Here and Now" and "Any Love" sold more than 25 million albums while providing the romantic backdrop for millions of couples worldwide, died Friday at age 54. Vandross overcame the odds inherent in being born black in America to achieve fame, wealth, and stardom in a country that had enslaved African people for four hundred years. The United States to this day practices both overt and subtle oppressive acts against people of color, said Vandross fans gathered outside his Watchung home.
-----
MIAMI (Al-Reuters) - L. Patrick Gray, whose yearlong stint as acting FBI director was marked by the Watergate break-in and the ensuing scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation, died Wednesday. Gray was often hailed as noble and principled after resisting illegal pressure from a Nixon White House desperate to continue its deceptive cover-up of its unlawful and unconstitutional acts committed to steal the 1972 Presidential Election from George McGovern. Historians recently have begun drawing parallels between the Nixon Administration's handling of Watergate and the current Administration's attempts to suppress the Downing Street Memo and other evidence that suggests unsavory manipulation of intelligence in the rush to war with Iraq.
Gray was 88.
Sometimes it's okay to long for the good old days
These fellas should have cross-ventilated craniums by now. Ah, well. The ACLU will ensure that they get their proper defense.
All Chicken And No Hawk
Blackfive gives the ole brickbat to the loathesome Duncan Black, with links galore.
Rest in Peace, James Stockdale
Admiral Stockdale has passed on. May God hold you close, Admiral, and make more of ye.
Following up re: DW and the Kos Kidz
Do the Left really want America to lose in Iraq? An admission, rare as they are.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
So Funny it Hurts
Zarqawi takes offense to being compared to American liberals (via Iowahawk):
"Cripes, you should have seen the collection of numbnuts and droolers on the short bus from Saudi yesterday. Good Allah, I swear the only way we’re ever gonna turn these morons into martyrs is to plant detonation buttons inside their nostrils."Advice for the raving moonbats at Kos: Just keep doing what you're doing. You're cracking me up.
How can more than half a Trillion Dollars in Humanitarian Aid make Africa Worse-off?
Despite having more natural resources than the rest of the world put together: Corruption.
The one who really pisses me off the most in all of this is Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd, who recently stated:
"The failure of democracy and economic development in Africa are due to a large part to the scramble for wealth by predator elites who have dominated African politics..."It seems to me that the question here is not how to provide more aid to poor nations, but rather how can we make it easier for poor people to climb out of poverty? Would any amount of financial aid actually eliminate poverty permanently? Haven’t we learned yet that just throwing money at a problem doesn’t make it go away? Aid can feed the starving for a period of time, but the problem will return unless people are able and willing to support themselves. Moreover, providing aid to poor nations frequently causes dependencies to develop, causing increasing demand for handouts. Free trade agreements worked extremely well in reducing poverty by more than 50% in places like Chile, while fifty years and half a trillion dollars of aid has done nothing for Africa but add to their misery. They say that a sign of insanity is when people keep doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result. Well, we as a global community must be completely out of our collective gourd then. What makes the whole poverty issue seem truly evil to me is the fact that we already know what works, yet the politicians insist on rejecting win-win deals like CAFTA and just keep on doing the same thing, fostering dependencies, killing off any hope for self-sufficiency for the African farmer by dumping food through their corrupt governments, and on top of that giving billions of dollars to corrupt thug-politicians like Mugabe thereby aiding and abetting genocide. Whoever wrote up Live 8's web page (which I will not link to) is a disingenuous communist and needs to be straightened out. And before you America-bashers start lecturing us Americans about how we're not paying our fair share in aid, try adding in the private donations and you'll find that we give more than any European country per capita. According to the Scotsman, US donations to Africa outstrip Europe by 15 to 1. These are the facts, people. No matter how you cut it, the United States is by far the world’s largest source of humanitarian aid. I am sick and tired of being lectured to by millionaire movie stars and rock stars about not being generous enough.
The one who really pisses me off the most in all of this is Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd, who recently stated:
"I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the Third World. It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations."His statement is just plain ignorant for the reasons stated above. Also, this man's view of the role of government is an anathema to me - appealing to half a dozen or so diplomats to take from the taxpayer and give more money that isn't theirs to give. Insisting that it is the government's function to fix all the problems in the world, while ignoring all the good that individuals do. Insisting that the capitalist system that made him a gazillionaire is the source of all that is wrong in Africa where most people are not even allowed to own property, legally. But what infuriates me is that this is David Gilmour, the soul of Pink Floyd. It hurts me to even say this: I've listened to Pink Floyd since the mid-1970s; I've probably listened to Pink Floyd more than all other music combined over my lifetime. Turns out, he's just another America-bashing socialist dog, biting the hand that has fed him so well and for so long. Just another useful idiot. Just another tool. All in all he's just another brick in the wall.
Monday, July 04, 2005
OK guys, knock it off!
It seems that this Fourth of July, we have several bloggers down in the dumps and pessimistic over the future of this country.
Stop it. Now.
Kim du Toit has a list of everything going wrong in the country today, and I can't disagree with him on any of his points. But both bloggers linked to above fail to remember the one important fact that has been made time and time again.
This country is still the best hope for freedom and prosperity.
Or to put it in another light: Where else are you going to go? Despite the government attempting to take our rights away, we as Americans have more rights today than citizens of ANY OTHER COUNTRY. So where else are you going to go? To some socialist shithole where your guns are confiscated, your taxes raise to astronomical levels, and your privacy violated daily at the whim of the State?
Nope. Not me. THIS is my country, and THIS is where I'm staying. If there is to be a war for our rights, let it be here, not some country where the population is ambivalent to the extreme.
This is the country who's Constitution I've sworn to protect from all enemies, foreign and domestic. And if that means that I take the battle to the bureaucrats and parasites on Capitol Hill, then that's what I do. If that means that we hit the reset button, that's what we do. WE HAVE THAT OPTION. Other countries do not.
Perhaps instead of mourning, as Kim du Toit would do, we should get off our asses and remember just what made this country great, and work to move it back in that direction. And if you find that the task is impossible, then we do what the Constitution allows us to do and throw off the shackles of the government that oppresses us. If the State of Texas finally decided that it had had enough, and severed all ties to the United States, what do you think would happen?
Not bloody much. With the surrender monkeys fully in charge of the Democrat Party, and most of the Republican Party wondering where the conservatives are in their elected representatives, there would be hand-wringing, wailing, and name calling, but I guaran-damn-TEE that you wouldn't see American troops marching into Austin. And if they WERE ordered to march, you wouldn't have a damn shot fired. You think we enjoy being bossed around by a group of communist shit-suckers? Hell no. Take back Texas? Yeah right, Hillary. Kiss my freedom loving ass while I relocate to Texas, and then YOU come try to take it back FROM me.
The bottom line in all of this is that we can't afford to have people like Kim and Ogre crying into their cups. We need them proud, pissed off, and still fighting for the American dream that they love. Because if the patriots among us lose heart, then we lose the battle. And it IS a battle, people. It's a battle for a way of life that may slip out of our grasp if we let it.
I'm damn sure not going to let it slip away from me. I'm an American who knows just what that title means, and so is Kim, and Ogre, when they're finished moping around. So the both of you: Take a cold shower, have your wives slap your faces a bit, go burn off some ammo, do whatever you need to do in order to get your mind on the right track.
The battle isn't lost until you give up. I'm not giving up, and I hope that my allies in this fight don't give up either. So, damnitall...
SNAP OUT OF IT!
Stop it. Now.
Kim du Toit has a list of everything going wrong in the country today, and I can't disagree with him on any of his points. But both bloggers linked to above fail to remember the one important fact that has been made time and time again.
This country is still the best hope for freedom and prosperity.
Or to put it in another light: Where else are you going to go? Despite the government attempting to take our rights away, we as Americans have more rights today than citizens of ANY OTHER COUNTRY. So where else are you going to go? To some socialist shithole where your guns are confiscated, your taxes raise to astronomical levels, and your privacy violated daily at the whim of the State?
Nope. Not me. THIS is my country, and THIS is where I'm staying. If there is to be a war for our rights, let it be here, not some country where the population is ambivalent to the extreme.
This is the country who's Constitution I've sworn to protect from all enemies, foreign and domestic. And if that means that I take the battle to the bureaucrats and parasites on Capitol Hill, then that's what I do. If that means that we hit the reset button, that's what we do. WE HAVE THAT OPTION. Other countries do not.
Perhaps instead of mourning, as Kim du Toit would do, we should get off our asses and remember just what made this country great, and work to move it back in that direction. And if you find that the task is impossible, then we do what the Constitution allows us to do and throw off the shackles of the government that oppresses us. If the State of Texas finally decided that it had had enough, and severed all ties to the United States, what do you think would happen?
Not bloody much. With the surrender monkeys fully in charge of the Democrat Party, and most of the Republican Party wondering where the conservatives are in their elected representatives, there would be hand-wringing, wailing, and name calling, but I guaran-damn-TEE that you wouldn't see American troops marching into Austin. And if they WERE ordered to march, you wouldn't have a damn shot fired. You think we enjoy being bossed around by a group of communist shit-suckers? Hell no. Take back Texas? Yeah right, Hillary. Kiss my freedom loving ass while I relocate to Texas, and then YOU come try to take it back FROM me.
The bottom line in all of this is that we can't afford to have people like Kim and Ogre crying into their cups. We need them proud, pissed off, and still fighting for the American dream that they love. Because if the patriots among us lose heart, then we lose the battle. And it IS a battle, people. It's a battle for a way of life that may slip out of our grasp if we let it.
I'm damn sure not going to let it slip away from me. I'm an American who knows just what that title means, and so is Kim, and Ogre, when they're finished moping around. So the both of you: Take a cold shower, have your wives slap your faces a bit, go burn off some ammo, do whatever you need to do in order to get your mind on the right track.
The battle isn't lost until you give up. I'm not giving up, and I hope that my allies in this fight don't give up either. So, damnitall...
SNAP OUT OF IT!
Sunday, July 03, 2005
The Fourth of July
When I was a kid, I used to think of the 4th as just another reason to stay up late with my parents. It wasn’t anything REALLY special, although the parades were cool and we got to play with fireworks. I burned myself on a sparkler when I was five and left fireworks alone for about six years anyways. But although my parents treated it as a special holiday, I really didn’t get it.
Later on, when I found a fireworks stand in Idaho that sold bottle rockets, my friends and I would buy about six or seven gross of bottle rockets and have bottle rocket wars with each other. I came close to blowing myself up once or twice, but the 4th STILL wasn’t as special as Christmas or Easter. At least on those two holidays, we were allowed to get out of school for a day or two (or in the case of Easter, it fell on Spring Break).
Then, I started learning history. World History, American History, all the classes in school and other books that I picked up on my own. And THAT is when the 4th of July became special. Because the chances of this country doing what it did when it did were slim to none. And yet it still happened.
The best men that this fledgling country had to offer volunteered to be it’s leaders. I recently finished reading a book on George Washington, and the sense you get is that here was an above ordinary man who became extraordinary, all in the name of something greater than himself, that he himself might never enjoy the fruits thereof. When General Washington won the Revolutionary War, we was offered the crown of America. The CROWN. And he turned it down. He turned it down because he refused to see the dream he worked, sacrificed and suffered for rendered all for naught. ALL the leaders of the Revolution, facing trials that modern Americans cannot begin to imagine, worked to create something larger than any of them could dream. And it WORKED. This novel, unheard of system of government, based on a system two millennia old, instituted in a land still unexplored, paid for by the blood of common men and women, and it WORKED. We won this nation from the mightiest country in the world at that time. “The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire”. Remember that phrase? It was true. From India to America, Britain controlled more land and more people than any country in the world at any time, and yet the American Colonials, aided by the French, managed to win not only military victory but a new nation.
So much rested on so few, and yet they managed to succeed. And the results of their dream, which they could only imagine at the time, have risen to levels never before seen in the world.
Americans brought forth electric light, the steam engine, and powered flight. Americans have brought forth so many inventions that what was astounding now seems modern. Peanut Butter. Unheard of until a man named George Washington Carver, a black inventor looking for ways to utilize peanuts ground up several nuts for an experiment and decided they tasted pretty good that way. The Personal Computer, the very machine that I’m using to type this little piece, came about because of American ingenuity and know-how. While we might have Dell, or Intel, or Gateway, or any of the other makers of computers and computer components these days, I can remember when the letters “PC” were ALWAYS preceded by “IBM”. Radios, televisions, telephones, telegraphs, all the products of American invention or innovation. Even what we didn’t invent, we improved, and passed that knowledge onto the rest of the world. It can be reasonably argued that Americans have done more to help the world in the past two centuries than any other country.
America has welcomed people from the world over. From the first immigrants from Europe, to immigrants from Asia. They have all come because they understood what America stands for. And they still come to this very day, clamoring to be American.
We, in partnership with Great Britain, the country we once fought against, ended slavery in the Anglosphere. I can’t say that we ended it altogether, since slavery still exists in Africa and the Middle East, but we paid for the freedom of all men and women in this country with our blood. We helped save the world from itself not once but TWICE in the 20th Century. And if you count the money and blood used to fight the USSR, we would increase that number to three. And today, Americans are fighting and dying to bring freedom into a section of the world that hasn’t seen freedom in thousands of years. We are doing it for a number of reasons; to prevent state sponsored terrorism, to eliminate dangers to our country, to rid the world of parasites who do nothing but destroy everything around them. But the one reason that has always been stated, the one reason that President Bush has mentioned time and time again, no matter what the Left tries to say or do, has been freedom.
Freedom. There is so much meaning captured by that one word, and yet so many people cannot conceive in their mind exactly what it means in any way. We in this country have been blessed to grow up in a country who’s basic reason for it’s creation was FREEDOM. But that blessing is a double edged sword, because people who have never had to fight for freedom, people who have never been challenged in a real and meaningful way sometimes do not understand exactly what freedom is, or why it is so important. Just observe how many people willingly give away their freedoms to the state, either out of apathy or carelessness. We are now in a position where so many people have given away bits of their freedom to the state that the state is now demanding that we give up other freedoms as well. The list is too long to mention, but a few salient points can be made – the 2nd Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, is all but ignored in several states of the union. The 5th Amendment, which safeguards the freedom that we have to our private property, was violated by the Supreme Court in ways that would make the Founding Fathers take up arms yet again. Our freedom of speech is infringed upon on a daily basis. How many times have you heard “You can’t say that!” in today’s politically correct culture? Saying certain things can now get you tossed in jail!
The same people who give their freedoms away sneer when we mention freedom in other parts of the world, by the way. It is as if they hold freedom in contempt. Perhaps they do. Having never had their freedoms challenged, they by their actions are not free at all.
But despite the problems that face this country, we are still the best hope for freedom in the world. After observing the actions of other countries, perhaps we are the ONLY hope for freedom in this world. While other countries willingly give rights and freedoms away for a false sense of security, Americans still fight, on the battlefield and in the political chambers, to preserve the freedoms that we hold dear. We do it because of the country that we believe in, the country that embodies the freedoms that we have sacrificed for. We do it for THIS COUNTRY, born out of turmoil and bloodshed, an experiment still in the making, that was created on the Fourth of July.
The Fourth of July, in a way, embodies all the beliefs we hold. Duty. Doing what is right, because it is right. Loyalty to the things that support and protect us, instead of misplaced servitude to that which would destroy us. And most of all, Freedom. The freedom that has allowed us to do great things, and that allows us to be who we are. The freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, the freedom to assemble and the freedom to petition. The freedom that has created a country unlike any other in the world. It is THAT which is celebrated on the Fourth of July, as well as all the accomplishments of a country that almost didn’t exist.
I want all of you to think about the gifts that you have, all the freedoms you enjoy, and think about whether or not you would have them if you lived anywhere else in the world.
And then celebrate the Fourth of July with me.
Later on, when I found a fireworks stand in Idaho that sold bottle rockets, my friends and I would buy about six or seven gross of bottle rockets and have bottle rocket wars with each other. I came close to blowing myself up once or twice, but the 4th STILL wasn’t as special as Christmas or Easter. At least on those two holidays, we were allowed to get out of school for a day or two (or in the case of Easter, it fell on Spring Break).
Then, I started learning history. World History, American History, all the classes in school and other books that I picked up on my own. And THAT is when the 4th of July became special. Because the chances of this country doing what it did when it did were slim to none. And yet it still happened.
The best men that this fledgling country had to offer volunteered to be it’s leaders. I recently finished reading a book on George Washington, and the sense you get is that here was an above ordinary man who became extraordinary, all in the name of something greater than himself, that he himself might never enjoy the fruits thereof. When General Washington won the Revolutionary War, we was offered the crown of America. The CROWN. And he turned it down. He turned it down because he refused to see the dream he worked, sacrificed and suffered for rendered all for naught. ALL the leaders of the Revolution, facing trials that modern Americans cannot begin to imagine, worked to create something larger than any of them could dream. And it WORKED. This novel, unheard of system of government, based on a system two millennia old, instituted in a land still unexplored, paid for by the blood of common men and women, and it WORKED. We won this nation from the mightiest country in the world at that time. “The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire”. Remember that phrase? It was true. From India to America, Britain controlled more land and more people than any country in the world at any time, and yet the American Colonials, aided by the French, managed to win not only military victory but a new nation.
So much rested on so few, and yet they managed to succeed. And the results of their dream, which they could only imagine at the time, have risen to levels never before seen in the world.
Americans brought forth electric light, the steam engine, and powered flight. Americans have brought forth so many inventions that what was astounding now seems modern. Peanut Butter. Unheard of until a man named George Washington Carver, a black inventor looking for ways to utilize peanuts ground up several nuts for an experiment and decided they tasted pretty good that way. The Personal Computer, the very machine that I’m using to type this little piece, came about because of American ingenuity and know-how. While we might have Dell, or Intel, or Gateway, or any of the other makers of computers and computer components these days, I can remember when the letters “PC” were ALWAYS preceded by “IBM”. Radios, televisions, telephones, telegraphs, all the products of American invention or innovation. Even what we didn’t invent, we improved, and passed that knowledge onto the rest of the world. It can be reasonably argued that Americans have done more to help the world in the past two centuries than any other country.
America has welcomed people from the world over. From the first immigrants from Europe, to immigrants from Asia. They have all come because they understood what America stands for. And they still come to this very day, clamoring to be American.
We, in partnership with Great Britain, the country we once fought against, ended slavery in the Anglosphere. I can’t say that we ended it altogether, since slavery still exists in Africa and the Middle East, but we paid for the freedom of all men and women in this country with our blood. We helped save the world from itself not once but TWICE in the 20th Century. And if you count the money and blood used to fight the USSR, we would increase that number to three. And today, Americans are fighting and dying to bring freedom into a section of the world that hasn’t seen freedom in thousands of years. We are doing it for a number of reasons; to prevent state sponsored terrorism, to eliminate dangers to our country, to rid the world of parasites who do nothing but destroy everything around them. But the one reason that has always been stated, the one reason that President Bush has mentioned time and time again, no matter what the Left tries to say or do, has been freedom.
Freedom. There is so much meaning captured by that one word, and yet so many people cannot conceive in their mind exactly what it means in any way. We in this country have been blessed to grow up in a country who’s basic reason for it’s creation was FREEDOM. But that blessing is a double edged sword, because people who have never had to fight for freedom, people who have never been challenged in a real and meaningful way sometimes do not understand exactly what freedom is, or why it is so important. Just observe how many people willingly give away their freedoms to the state, either out of apathy or carelessness. We are now in a position where so many people have given away bits of their freedom to the state that the state is now demanding that we give up other freedoms as well. The list is too long to mention, but a few salient points can be made – the 2nd Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, is all but ignored in several states of the union. The 5th Amendment, which safeguards the freedom that we have to our private property, was violated by the Supreme Court in ways that would make the Founding Fathers take up arms yet again. Our freedom of speech is infringed upon on a daily basis. How many times have you heard “You can’t say that!” in today’s politically correct culture? Saying certain things can now get you tossed in jail!
The same people who give their freedoms away sneer when we mention freedom in other parts of the world, by the way. It is as if they hold freedom in contempt. Perhaps they do. Having never had their freedoms challenged, they by their actions are not free at all.
But despite the problems that face this country, we are still the best hope for freedom in the world. After observing the actions of other countries, perhaps we are the ONLY hope for freedom in this world. While other countries willingly give rights and freedoms away for a false sense of security, Americans still fight, on the battlefield and in the political chambers, to preserve the freedoms that we hold dear. We do it because of the country that we believe in, the country that embodies the freedoms that we have sacrificed for. We do it for THIS COUNTRY, born out of turmoil and bloodshed, an experiment still in the making, that was created on the Fourth of July.
The Fourth of July, in a way, embodies all the beliefs we hold. Duty. Doing what is right, because it is right. Loyalty to the things that support and protect us, instead of misplaced servitude to that which would destroy us. And most of all, Freedom. The freedom that has allowed us to do great things, and that allows us to be who we are. The freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, the freedom to assemble and the freedom to petition. The freedom that has created a country unlike any other in the world. It is THAT which is celebrated on the Fourth of July, as well as all the accomplishments of a country that almost didn’t exist.
I want all of you to think about the gifts that you have, all the freedoms you enjoy, and think about whether or not you would have them if you lived anywhere else in the world.
And then celebrate the Fourth of July with me.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
On Justice O'Connor's retirement
Well, get ready for a rumble in D.C. After seeing how the Donks went into hysterics over Federal appointments, there's no way they're going to allow Bush to nominate anyone without a fight.
On one hand, I really don't give a damn, since it's clear that the Supreme Court doesn't give two shits about the Constitution anyways. It wasn't O'Connor who needed to step down, it was Ginsburg, or Souter, or any of the other five justices who took the 5th Amendment out of the Constitution and wiped their ass with it. As far as I'm concerned, those five judges need to be impeached. Taken off the bench. And it needs to happen right now, before we lose any more rights to a bunch of un-elected black robed tyrants. Perhaps if we got rid of the political figures on the bench, we could go back to having judges actually rule on the constitutionality of laws, rather than making them up and handing them down like feudal lords.
On the other hand, if Bush nominates another judge like Janice Rodgers Brown, watching the Democrats try to hysterically smear another black woman as evil reincarnate could only help conservatives in the next election. I won't even think that the Republicans would ensure the judge got an up or down vote, because the Pubs have proven that they're a group of spineless jellyfish with the moral fiber of an intestinal parasite. The fact that they STILL rate higher than the Democrats is a matter of the Donks being worse, not the Pubs being better. If I had my druthers, I'd kick every one of those worthless bastards out of office and hold new elections in all 50 states, with a qualifier that anyone involved with politics in the past is ineligible to run again. We need to clean house in D.C. Not that I think it'll happen. I'm just in a pessimistic mood.
Anyways, there's my two cents.
On one hand, I really don't give a damn, since it's clear that the Supreme Court doesn't give two shits about the Constitution anyways. It wasn't O'Connor who needed to step down, it was Ginsburg, or Souter, or any of the other five justices who took the 5th Amendment out of the Constitution and wiped their ass with it. As far as I'm concerned, those five judges need to be impeached. Taken off the bench. And it needs to happen right now, before we lose any more rights to a bunch of un-elected black robed tyrants. Perhaps if we got rid of the political figures on the bench, we could go back to having judges actually rule on the constitutionality of laws, rather than making them up and handing them down like feudal lords.
On the other hand, if Bush nominates another judge like Janice Rodgers Brown, watching the Democrats try to hysterically smear another black woman as evil reincarnate could only help conservatives in the next election. I won't even think that the Republicans would ensure the judge got an up or down vote, because the Pubs have proven that they're a group of spineless jellyfish with the moral fiber of an intestinal parasite. The fact that they STILL rate higher than the Democrats is a matter of the Donks being worse, not the Pubs being better. If I had my druthers, I'd kick every one of those worthless bastards out of office and hold new elections in all 50 states, with a qualifier that anyone involved with politics in the past is ineligible to run again. We need to clean house in D.C. Not that I think it'll happen. I'm just in a pessimistic mood.
Anyways, there's my two cents.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Sandra Day O'Connor announces her retirement...
...thirty-nine years, to the day, after President Lyndon Baines Johnson ordered the bombing of fuel depots in Hanoi-Haiphong, resulting in several civilian deaths, worldwide protests, and indignant reaction from China and the Soviet Union.
No word on Sioux casualties.
No word on Sioux casualties.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Speaking of Moonbats...
...I wonder how the pottymouthed old AgHay is doing these days???
(((I really don't wonder, you know.)))
Asked and Answered: She's doing well.
As Senator John F. Kerry traveled the country on his presidential campaign last year, his personal investment portfolio earned him between $14,700 and $42,300 in addition to his Senate salary of $158,100, while his wife's investments made the couple millions more, according to financial disclosure forms released yesterday.((( here's where we get to the part about his empathetic old lady )))
Kerry reported ownership of four trust funds, with the combined value stated within the broad range of $430,000 to $2.56 million...
((( but before we do, let's have an empathetic picture )))
((( There we go. Now back to the story: )))
But much of Senator Kerry's 73-page financial disclosure report is dedicated to describing the vast holdings of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the primary heir to the Heinz family fortune. Heinz Kerry's net worth has been estimated at more than $500 million, and her wealth has made Kerry the richest senator in the nation by some estimates.That's about all there is about the oft-looney-but-always-caring woman who'd have been First Lady if Diebold hadn't stolen Ohio for The Bad Guys.
Heinz Kerry reported holdings of more than $1 million in a wide range of companies, including H.J. Heinz Co., Gannett Inc., IBM, Wells Fargo & Co., Comcast Corp., Liberty Media Corp., Noble Energy Inc., and Wachovia Corp. She has investments of at least $1 million in 31 separate venture capital funds, including funds run by Bain Capital, Beacon Capital Partners, and Polaris Venture Partners.
She also reported owning more than $25 million in municipal bonds, including many in Pennsylvania, the home state of her late husband, former senator John Heinz. Her ownership stake in the Washington restaurant Thyme Square was valued between $250,000 and $500,000, and her airplane charter company Flying Squirrel Inc. was valued at more than $1 million.
If you click the link, you'll find that the article moves on to talk about Senator Kennedy's pile 'o dough.
Portfolio boosted Kerry's income - The Boston Globe
Seth McFarlane - Moonbat
"You're the amoral puppet master behind George W. Bush."
"We're conservatives. Abortion is the only type of killing we don't support."
Those are a couple of lines from the "American Dad" episode "Deacon Man, Jesus Man". The plot: Stan is obsessed with besting his neighbor. He covets his car, house, pay check, wife, kids, etc. After the death of their church Deacon, Stan and his neighbor campaign to be elected the next Deacon. Stan calls upon the services of Karl Rove who, I shit you not, looks exactly like the Emporer from Revenge of the Sith (Senate scene after the Jedi's failed attempt to arrest him). Wolf howling is heard every time someone says his name. He tries to enter the church when Stan beckons him in, but upon crossing the threshold, he starts to smoke. The abortion line comes into play when Stan's son becomes impregnated by the alien that lives in their house. But Stan takes his son to Mexico (which he calls "God's blind spot") to get it taken care of.
Did I mention that the most recent episode of Family Guy has the following scene: Peter has a flashback to when he "entertained at the White House". He is introduced to George W. Bush at his desk in the oval office. Peter say's "ooga booga booga" and acts like an ass causing W to laugh like an infant and wave his arms which is how he knocks a snow globe off his desk which causes him to cry like an infant". Gee, Seth. You don't hate conservatives, do you?
It seems making TV shows (and movies) that attempt to poke fun at or vilify your political rivals is therapy for wealthy spoiled Hollywood leftists. At least in the world of fairy tales, your rivals don't put up a fight. The Rove vilifaction was such blatant demonizing that it's actually funny. The other shit was just what he thinks of those who disagree with him. Yeah....fuck you too, Seth. :) Learn the difference between "killing" and "murder".
"We're conservatives. Abortion is the only type of killing we don't support."
Those are a couple of lines from the "American Dad" episode "Deacon Man, Jesus Man". The plot: Stan is obsessed with besting his neighbor. He covets his car, house, pay check, wife, kids, etc. After the death of their church Deacon, Stan and his neighbor campaign to be elected the next Deacon. Stan calls upon the services of Karl Rove who, I shit you not, looks exactly like the Emporer from Revenge of the Sith (Senate scene after the Jedi's failed attempt to arrest him). Wolf howling is heard every time someone says his name. He tries to enter the church when Stan beckons him in, but upon crossing the threshold, he starts to smoke. The abortion line comes into play when Stan's son becomes impregnated by the alien that lives in their house. But Stan takes his son to Mexico (which he calls "God's blind spot") to get it taken care of.
Did I mention that the most recent episode of Family Guy has the following scene: Peter has a flashback to when he "entertained at the White House". He is introduced to George W. Bush at his desk in the oval office. Peter say's "ooga booga booga" and acts like an ass causing W to laugh like an infant and wave his arms which is how he knocks a snow globe off his desk which causes him to cry like an infant". Gee, Seth. You don't hate conservatives, do you?
It seems making TV shows (and movies) that attempt to poke fun at or vilify your political rivals is therapy for wealthy spoiled Hollywood leftists. At least in the world of fairy tales, your rivals don't put up a fight. The Rove vilifaction was such blatant demonizing that it's actually funny. The other shit was just what he thinks of those who disagree with him. Yeah....fuck you too, Seth. :) Learn the difference between "killing" and "murder".
September 11 and Iraq: Short Memories
That's the title of this piece at Power Line. Quick, head-shaking read.
Hunh?
This is just outright bizarre, Bush Derangement Syndrome at its most foaming.
Found at lgf: What Media Bias?.
UPDATE [Tim]: DANEgerus comments. "I dream," he says, "of going 'kennyrogers' on some Al-Reuters cameraman."
Classic!
Found at lgf: What Media Bias?.
UPDATE [Tim]: DANEgerus comments. "I dream," he says, "of going 'kennyrogers' on some Al-Reuters cameraman."
Classic!
Pantwetters
Dem Dopey Dems are again wetting their pants because President Bush mentioned "9-11" in a speech about Iraq.
DANEgerus has compiled what is pretty darn close to being a compendium of links, excerpts, and factoids that together illuminate why someone in his right mind would consider the Battle For Iraq and the events of 11 September 2001 to be related.
If that ain't enough, there's more from Andrew McCarthy at National Review Online.
DANEgerus has compiled what is pretty darn close to being a compendium of links, excerpts, and factoids that together illuminate why someone in his right mind would consider the Battle For Iraq and the events of 11 September 2001 to be related.
If that ain't enough, there's more from Andrew McCarthy at National Review Online.
Oh Happy Day!
I was at the PX yesterday when I snagged my weekly copy of the Army times. It's a ritual, so I don't bother actually looking at the front page until I get it home.
So I get home, grab it out of the bag, and look at the cover. And promptly wet myself with joy.
The cover story? "Dump the M9? Why you may be turning in your 9mm for a .45"
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Now, it won't happen tomorrow, but it seems the top brass has finally listened to soldiers when they say that the M9 is a worthless piece of crap that doesn't work. The list of WHY it's a piece of crap has been gone over all too often, but I'll repeat a few points:
1) Steel slide with aluminum body. Gives you much more kick than a 9mm round should, due to being completely unbalanced.
2) Lack of stopping power. That's a given, since the military has to use ball ammunition, and the 9mm is a puny bullet.
3) Lack of lethality. There was a report of a terrorist being shot IN THE FRIGGING NECK with a 9mm, and it didn't drop the goat-fucker. Now, if you shoot someone in the neck, they should go down. Again, since the military is forced to use ball ammo, that puny little 9mm slug just went in one side and out the other with very little collateral damage to the surrounding tissue. A .45 would have blown half the bastard's neck out.
Oh, and by the way, the US Army SF uses a .45 ACP pistol. That tells you all you need to know.
In any case, within the next few years, the Army can look forward to a .45 pistol.
So I get home, grab it out of the bag, and look at the cover. And promptly wet myself with joy.
The cover story? "Dump the M9? Why you may be turning in your 9mm for a .45"
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Now, it won't happen tomorrow, but it seems the top brass has finally listened to soldiers when they say that the M9 is a worthless piece of crap that doesn't work. The list of WHY it's a piece of crap has been gone over all too often, but I'll repeat a few points:
1) Steel slide with aluminum body. Gives you much more kick than a 9mm round should, due to being completely unbalanced.
2) Lack of stopping power. That's a given, since the military has to use ball ammunition, and the 9mm is a puny bullet.
3) Lack of lethality. There was a report of a terrorist being shot IN THE FRIGGING NECK with a 9mm, and it didn't drop the goat-fucker. Now, if you shoot someone in the neck, they should go down. Again, since the military is forced to use ball ammo, that puny little 9mm slug just went in one side and out the other with very little collateral damage to the surrounding tissue. A .45 would have blown half the bastard's neck out.
Oh, and by the way, the US Army SF uses a .45 ACP pistol. That tells you all you need to know.
In any case, within the next few years, the Army can look forward to a .45 pistol.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Linkdump
Strange, isn't it? If "they" held a benefit for Africa, and no palefaced artists pitched in, well, that'd be horrible. And if "they" hold a benefit for Africa and almost all of the acts are lily-white, well (I'll be doggone), that'd also be horrible.
The Rhode Island Senate Tuesday approved legislation that protects patients and their primary caregivers who use and prescribe marijuana for medical reasons from arrest. I love States.
The Truth About Hillary is Number 13 at Amazon. I must say I think that's a generally bad thing. I think this kind of puerile and superficial coarseness is how we get to places where "big" political issues are, umm, puerile and superficial.
Guilty in East St. Louis! Lead item for Perky Katie tomorrow, no doubt
That is all.
The Rhode Island Senate Tuesday approved legislation that protects patients and their primary caregivers who use and prescribe marijuana for medical reasons from arrest. I love States.
The Truth About Hillary is Number 13 at Amazon. I must say I think that's a generally bad thing. I think this kind of puerile and superficial coarseness is how we get to places where "big" political issues are, umm, puerile and superficial.
Guilty in East St. Louis! Lead item for Perky Katie tomorrow, no doubt
That is all.
Torture - Then and Now
Not much can be added to this.
For 5 months 'I stayed in the box' -- The Washington Times
On the first of June, I was put in a cement box with a steel door, which sat out in the tropical summer sun. There, I was put in leg irons which were then wired to a small stool. In this position I could neither sit nor stand comfortably. Within 10 days, every muscle in my body was in pain (here began a shoulder injury which is now inoperable). The heat was almost beyond bearing. My feet had swollen, literally, to the size of footballs. I cannot describe the pain. When they took the leg irons off, they had to actually dig them out of the swollen flesh. It was five days before I could walk, because the weight of the leg irons on my Achilles tendons had paralyzed them and hamstrung me. I stayed in the box from June 1 until Nov. 10, 1969. While in the box, I lost at least 30 pounds. I would be curious to hear Mr. Durbin explain how this compares with having a female invade my private space, and whether a box in which the heat nearly killed me is the same as turning up the air conditioning.Phew.
For 5 months 'I stayed in the box' -- The Washington Times
Take a Good Look at the New President
of Iran.
UPDATE [Tim]: Jawa Report (linked to by DW above) mentions that there is some suspicion that the photographs that show Iran's new President during the Iran Hostage Crisis are doctored, Photoshopped.
Here's the dust jacket of a book on the Crisis, published 1999:
Amazon.com: Revolutionary Days: The Iran Hostage Crisis and the Hagur Claims Tribunal
UPDATE [Tim]: The story hits the mainstream: AP: Ex-Hostages Say Iran Leader Was a Captor
UPDATE [Tim]: Jawa Report (linked to by DW above) mentions that there is some suspicion that the photographs that show Iran's new President during the Iran Hostage Crisis are doctored, Photoshopped.
Here's the dust jacket of a book on the Crisis, published 1999:
Amazon.com: Revolutionary Days: The Iran Hostage Crisis and the Hagur Claims Tribunal
UPDATE [Tim]: The story hits the mainstream: AP: Ex-Hostages Say Iran Leader Was a Captor
The President's Speech
"There was nothing in it that we and our readers didn't already know," says Power Line. I concur.
Best line, in my opinion: "They are trying to shake our will in Iraq — just as they tried to shake our will on September 11, 2001. They will fail."
Of course that is, or SHOULD BE, boilerplate stuff.
If every Democrat who criticizes the way the war has been run would just toss that in at the end of their remarks, I'd be pleased to entertain their objections. Dissent, after all, is a stone in the foundation of America. Seems to me sometimes that when Democrats dissent they appear to be willing to trade a Radical Islam win in Iraq for the President's head.
Best line, in my opinion: "They are trying to shake our will in Iraq — just as they tried to shake our will on September 11, 2001. They will fail."
Of course that is, or SHOULD BE, boilerplate stuff.
If every Democrat who criticizes the way the war has been run would just toss that in at the end of their remarks, I'd be pleased to entertain their objections. Dissent, after all, is a stone in the foundation of America. Seems to me sometimes that when Democrats dissent they appear to be willing to trade a Radical Islam win in Iraq for the President's head.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
The Girdle Zone
I'd not click it at work, though there is little to no nudity. I link it here because it is simply amazing that a site like this exists. I am near-continually astounded by the the plethora that is the Web.
Zona - The Girdle Zone
Zona - The Girdle Zone
Can you say, "Poetic Justice?"
I think this is for real. I sure hope someone posts pictures of Justice Souter's home getting bulldozed when it happens.
One Tenth of One Percent
The insurgents are "not nearly as capable" as they want people to think, Army General George W. Casey Jr. Commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said on ABC's "Good Morning America" program. In fact, he said, insurgents represent "one tenth of one percent of the Iraqi population." Casey said the insurgents have no positive vision for Iraq, and the vast majority of Iraqis reject their attempts to derail democracy.
That is 1/10th of 1/100th of 26,000,000 people or 26,000 terrorist bottom feeders. For all you mouth breathing leftist vermin this means that Moore-on's prediction that "they will win" arrived at absolute zero a while back. By all means, continue betting that our enemy will prevail if it makes you feel better.
More goodies at the link.
That is 1/10th of 1/100th of 26,000,000 people or 26,000 terrorist bottom feeders. For all you mouth breathing leftist vermin this means that Moore-on's prediction that "they will win" arrived at absolute zero a while back. By all means, continue betting that our enemy will prevail if it makes you feel better.
More goodies at the link.
Link Dump
If it quacks like the Enemy, maybe it is. (LINK FIXED)
Ward Churchill - he does crave attention, doesn't he?
About that other quagmire (not the one in Afghanistan, and certainly not the ones in Germany and South Korea).
Ward Churchill - he does crave attention, doesn't he?
About that other quagmire (not the one in Afghanistan, and certainly not the ones in Germany and South Korea).
One of the great things about the "blogosphere"...
...is the endless linking, where one can follow pathways of links, well, endlessly. To wit:
Click and read.
Monday became a favorite of Dodger fans from that moment on, and the next year the team traded for Monday. He played on three pennant-winning Dodger teams and played a key role in their World Series win in 1981. Today he still works for the Dodgers as a broadcaster, continuing an almost 30-year association with the team...What did Rick Monday do in that "moment"?
Click and read.
Gee, what a quagmire
We're doing so horribly in Afghanistan that Afghan nationals are now being accepted into West Point.
But, but, but.... it was a MISTAKE! QUAGMIRE! VIET NAM! BUSHITLERHALLIBURTONROVE!
Yosoufzai studied some English grammar at Kabul University, which helped him with his SAT exam and for the past four months has built his English language skills at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Yep, Bush hasn't done anything good in the ME at all. Nope, not a thing, it's a failure, quagmire, blah blah blah blah blah.
I doubt that Mr. Yosoufzai thinks that the War on Terror is a failure. And I'd trust Mr. Yosoufzai before I'd trust any of the Democrat Party members.
Just wait until the first Iraqi gets accepted to West Point. You'll hear the Donk's heads popping all over Washington DC.
The first Afghan native to attend the U.S. Military Academy is scheduled to report for duty at West Point June 27.
Shoaib Yosoufzai, one of 21 international cadets accepted as a member of the Class of 2009, comes from Laghman providence in Eastern Afghanistan.
Yosoufzai spent two years at Kabul University learning civil engineering. Continuing in the engineering field and gaining a strong military background are two of the reasons he wanted to come to West Point.
But, but, but.... it was a MISTAKE! QUAGMIRE! VIET NAM! BUSHITLERHALLIBURTONROVE!
Yosoufzai studied some English grammar at Kabul University, which helped him with his SAT exam and for the past four months has built his English language skills at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
He said his generation now has the right to make their own decisions, unlike a few years ago under Taliban rule, and he is happy for all the help from the U.S. and the international community. Also, his time in Nebraska changed some of his views of Americans as well.(emphasis mine)
Yep, Bush hasn't done anything good in the ME at all. Nope, not a thing, it's a failure, quagmire, blah blah blah blah blah.
I doubt that Mr. Yosoufzai thinks that the War on Terror is a failure. And I'd trust Mr. Yosoufzai before I'd trust any of the Democrat Party members.
Just wait until the first Iraqi gets accepted to West Point. You'll hear the Donk's heads popping all over Washington DC.
Attaguy, Johnny!
Senator John Cornyn of the Great State of Texas has introduced something called The Protection of Homes, Small Businesses, and Private Property Act of 2005.
Go get 'em, Senator!
Further links and discussion here.
Limited effect, I would think, but gets that ball to rollin'.
Go get 'em, Senator!
Further links and discussion here.
Limited effect, I would think, but gets that ball to rollin'.
Blogs Have Changed
Here is Bill Hobbs, circa 2003: HobbsOnline
Here he is today: BillHobbs.com - Political punditry and blog-journalism from Nashville.
I guess the focus really is the content and if a "citizen" (read: not Big Media) can make money while putting forth opinion and "news", that's good with little old Capitalist me.
Still, there's something about a little bit of commentary surrounded by ads ads ads ads ads ads that makes BillHobbs.com no longer a "blog". There is something in between a blog, like our site and Right Thinking and Drumwaster, and, say CNN.com. That's where sites like Bill Hobbs' are. I guess the line is crossed when the site has its own tax return. It's more like MiniMedia than blog.
Here he is today: BillHobbs.com - Political punditry and blog-journalism from Nashville.
I guess the focus really is the content and if a "citizen" (read: not Big Media) can make money while putting forth opinion and "news", that's good with little old Capitalist me.
Still, there's something about a little bit of commentary surrounded by ads ads ads ads ads ads that makes BillHobbs.com no longer a "blog". There is something in between a blog, like our site and Right Thinking and Drumwaster, and, say CNN.com. That's where sites like Bill Hobbs' are. I guess the line is crossed when the site has its own tax return. It's more like MiniMedia than blog.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Gulag. Gulag. Who's got the gulag?
You call that a gulag? Bah! Now this is a gulag.
While our own lying representatives in congress tell us our brothers and sisters in military service are criminals, those same brothers and sisters continue to sacrifice everything so that we can continue with our pampered lives and say whatever scampers across our highly cultured minds.
One can only hope that voters will one day open their eyes and see people like Dick "Gulag" Durbin, John "Ghengis Khan" Kerry, Ted "Quagmire" Kennedy, and Harry "Loser" Reid for what they are.
In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with our troops.
While our own lying representatives in congress tell us our brothers and sisters in military service are criminals, those same brothers and sisters continue to sacrifice everything so that we can continue with our pampered lives and say whatever scampers across our highly cultured minds.
One can only hope that voters will one day open their eyes and see people like Dick "Gulag" Durbin, John "Ghengis Khan" Kerry, Ted "Quagmire" Kennedy, and Harry "Loser" Reid for what they are.
In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with our troops.
"We know that our troops have volunteered to put themselves in harms way for the benefit of all in this nation - even those who do not understand, do not wish to understand, will never understand - and we know that all they ask in return is that America keep the faith with them, and hang in there ’til the end, that America will not cut and run and render all of the work our troops have done, all of their sacrifices, meaningless."
An Open Letter to the President
I sure hope that President Bush does read this letter and gives it serious consideration. The only part that I would quibble with would be the part about reinstating the draft. That would give amunition to Bush's political enemies, which is obvious particularly when you notice that the House bill to reinstate the draft was introduced and sponsored by Charles Rangel (D) and the Senate bill to reinstate the draft was introduced and sponsored by Ernest Fritz Hollings (D) in the months leading up to last November's election. Rather than do that, redeploy the troops currently in Germany, & Korea. If Kim Jong Il invades South Korea then use a sub and turn Pyongyang into a small sea of black glass. To be honest, so long as we can prevent their export of nukes and bio-weapons and counterfeit dollars and heroin, I don't see North Korea as a threat. Besides, the South Koreans don't seem to want us there. Furthermore, Kim Jong Il seems to get upset when he's being ignored, so I say ignore the little peckerhead. Why should we have to take psycho dictators seriously, anyway? He's just killing his own people (for now). According to Demonrats, we're supposed to leave those types alone. Granted, the Syrians are rumored to be working on something with Kim Jong, but if we wax Syria, problem solved (for now), besides our intelligence info is ... um ... problematic. Anywho, the main problem in Iraq seems to be border control right now. It's them foreign Jihadis looking to blow up little Iraqi girls we gotta stop. Within Iraq, the key mission would seem to be lowering our profile and working behind the scenes to support and train the Iraqi military. (Announcing a withdrawal timeline is retarded, and is just part of the Demonrat agenda to defeat Bush by making the war effort a failure.) As the author of the open letter points out, if we lose this war it won't be due to a lack of firepower, it will be from a lack of will. The battle that is being lost, a battle that could easily turn the War on Terrorism and ultimately bring it back to our own turf, is not the battle for Iraq but the battle being fought right here in the USA. Osama knows this. It is why he went on tv and appealed to American voters last fall, threatening us with death if we voted for Bush, even suggesting that blue states would be spared the coming rain of terror (*laugh*). Osama and Zarqawi have been using the media as if CNN and NYT were on the al Qaeda payroll. The evidence is overwhelming - somebody ought to write a book. Journalists do not represent the people, and their agendas are easily exposed when one occasionally takes the time to look. (Unfortunately, most of us don't bother to find out for ourselves and just believe what we're told or whatever fits conveniently within our existing worldview.) The national/international media is on the side of the enemy. We need to fight back. Don't buy papers or publications that hate America. Don't buy products that sponsor anti-American news outlets like CBS, CNN, NYT & Newsweak. They have been in the process of tearing down this country since the 1960's. (CNN had a late start but they sure did make up for lost time, didn't they?)
Once again, from the Broadband Files...
...download it, if you got it: Brain-Terminal.com ? Brainwashing 101
Sprechen Zie Whitewash
Here is America, our 9/11 monument might mention massacres of the Apache. History has a different meaning in Germany.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Taxes, Productivity, MSM, Midterm Elections, SCOTUS, etc.
It was one of the major domestic policy issues of the 2004 elections, wasn't it? Social Security reform was an election issue, too, but making the 2001 & 2003 tax cuts permanent was a major campaign issue while Social Security was not. (Social Security was more of an issue in 2000 that got sidetracked due to more important things like psycho mass murdering islamofascist goatmolesters flying jets into skyscrapers and two resultant wars.) Kerry you may recall had said that he believed the tax cuts were irresponsible and would have them repealed if elected president. Well, Bush won the election, and despite the nearly constant negativism we've been bombarded with from the media and politicians on the left, the economy is doing quite nicely thank you very much, so is this issue going to come up or are the 2003 tax cuts going to be allowed to expire? I'm just wondering because it is starting to look like John Kerry won the '04 election the way people are behaving in Washington, you know with Bolton's nomination to the UN blocked, the military being compared to Nazis, with the Republicans in the Senate pretty much checking with the Democrats before they do anything to make sure its ok with them, and the five liberal SCOTUS justices deciding to give municipalities the power to seize private property and give it to whoever has political pull. I'm starting to wonder if the Republicans can do much of anything with their 55-45 majority in the Senate.
For some perspective on the tax cut issue, see William Kristol's article in this week's Weekly Standard:
I think this recent court case in particular is bad for the Dems, particularly since they've made such a stink about blocking judicial nominees who defend the Constitution and its founding principles. Those on the right have made a lot of noise about it and those on the left have not, or if they have their response has been a whisper compared to their outrage over comments critical of liberals made by Karl Rove, but I don't think the lefties like it either since big business benefits from the SCOTUS decision. (I should stress here that, though some businesses with political pull will benefit from this, capitalists in general are livid because without private property rights, capitalism ceases to exist. Any American 16-year old could tell you that.) The only people who are happy about that case decision are communists who believe in central planning and think that property rights for individuals are inherently wrong. Which raises an interesting question: are John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer communists? This case also raises an interesting question for these United States as a whole: can a nation survive when the principles which serve as the basis for its formation are discarded?
P.S.: Welcome to our 250,000th visitor.
For some perspective on the tax cut issue, see William Kristol's article in this week's Weekly Standard:
The 2003 cuts in personal income rates, and in the tax rates on dividends and capital gains, have helped produce economic growth of better than 4 percent a year--as non-tax-cutting European economies have stagnated. Unemployment here is down to 5.1 percent, while it remains 10 percent or more in Germany and France. The Dow is up by about 24 percent since May 2003, and capital spending by business is up some 22 percent.In case you're wondering about that "Laffer" curve, if you're to the right of the hump (as we were, evidently) then a decrease in tax rates results in more tax revenue due to increased spending, investment, productivity, etc. Ha ha what a laugher! But you know what? Bush won't tout it. Why bother? Bush can't get good press no matter what. Not from the MSM. The media will just laugh at him - they've invested too much in their campaign to destroy Bush to stop now. They've already lost a lot of credibility, but they figure they still have enough clout to ride out the rest of his term, then they're home free with Darth Rodham. Stupid, no? They'll say that up is down and the economy sucks and that all the suffering in the world is Bush's fault just like they always do. They'll do their little mind control thing and get the public to think the tax cut was bad just like they got people to think that social security is fine the way it is and owning a piece of your own retirement account instead of trusting the gummint is dangerous. Bush is getting sick of fighting CNN,NYT,ABC,CBS,NBC,PBS,NPR,etc. all the time (though Karl Rove seems to be warming up to the task). I suspect W.'ll wait until after the 'o6 elections before making a push for the Senate to vote to make the tax cuts permanent. In the '06 midterm elections the Republicans will most likely pick up more seats in both houses. It might not yet be enough to defeat a filibuster unless the Demonrats in the Senate continue their suicide strategy of lockstep obstructionism (because if they do, they will most likely lose the five seats the republicans need to reach 60, i.e., no more filibusters), but Bush can't take the chance of letting the current Senate screw up a perfectly good economic recovery.
And tax revenues are up. As Stephen Moore has pointed out in the Wall Street Journal, the supply-side Laffer curve has worked. Federal tax receipts are up by over 15 percent so far this fiscal year--and state tax receipts are up 7.5 percent. Individual and corporate receipts are up some 30 percent in the two years since the tax cut. The budget deficit looks as if it will be down by some $60 billion this year.
It's a Bush administration success story. They should tout it. Usually politicians seek to forget--and to have others forget--their failures. In this case, the Bush administration has forgotten to take credit for its successes.
I think this recent court case in particular is bad for the Dems, particularly since they've made such a stink about blocking judicial nominees who defend the Constitution and its founding principles. Those on the right have made a lot of noise about it and those on the left have not, or if they have their response has been a whisper compared to their outrage over comments critical of liberals made by Karl Rove, but I don't think the lefties like it either since big business benefits from the SCOTUS decision. (I should stress here that, though some businesses with political pull will benefit from this, capitalists in general are livid because without private property rights, capitalism ceases to exist. Any American 16-year old could tell you that.) The only people who are happy about that case decision are communists who believe in central planning and think that property rights for individuals are inherently wrong. Which raises an interesting question: are John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer communists? This case also raises an interesting question for these United States as a whole: can a nation survive when the principles which serve as the basis for its formation are discarded?
P.S.: Welcome to our 250,000th visitor.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Not much blogging from me...
Since we finally recieved the household goods, and I'm now trying to kick this piece of shit computer into shape. I'm going to find a way to transfer Mozilla from my laptop to this computer, because both Netscape and Microsoft IE make me want to scream. There's nothing like typing out a good, long, irreplaceble post, attempting to put a hyperlink in, and having your web browser wipe the entire thing RIGHT OFF THE FUCKING PAGE!
I'm stressed out enough right now, and my wife had to restrain me from chucking this entire fucking crapbucket out the window with great force. It's a sad fucking day when a laptop built in 1997 performs better and with less problems than a relatively new computer. If I have my druthers, my next computer won't have a fucking thing to do with Microshaft, and I'll take great pleasure in sending my copy of Windows XP back to Redmond wedged into a nasty morning-after beer shit, wrapped in cellophane and tied up with a big red bow. Happy fucking birthday to you, Bill Gates, and when you go back to making a product that doesn't shut down anytime a mosquito farts in it's general vicinity, then I'll give you another try. Until then, take a long walk off a short pier.
In any case, since I now have to code entirely by hand, I'll keep it simple. Dear reader Rexbolious sent along this little tidbit of information detailing just what our congresscritters have been up to. With all the money being wasted and hot air being blown around on Capitol Hill, you would figure that there should be deeds of great importance being done, right?
Wrong. Take a gander.
Juneteenth? JUNETEENTH? What in the name of all that is holy is JUNEFUCKINGTEENTH???
Now if only the congresscritters would drink in good Fraternity tradition until they passed out and then drowned in their own vomit.... although I think Teddy (hic!) Kennedy is to the point that it would take more booze than D.C. has alltogether to get him that inibriated. Keep blathering away Kennedy, you worthless drunken murderer. At least you're good for an example of what NOT to be in life. Tell me, other than being related to JFK and RFK, what exactly have you done that's noteworthy in life?
Oh, right, that whole girl in the car in the water thing. Way to go, Teddy! There's nothing like being an embarrasment to the rest of the country to make you feel proud.
Six through Ninteen are to designate "such and such US postal facility the MakeMeRichYouSuckers" Postal facility. While I'm sure that there are many good people having Post Offices named in their honor, this is not something that the Federal Government needs to be spending it's time on. All it shows me is that those parasites are getting paid WAAAAAY too much money and have WAAAAAY too much time on their hands. Of course, they do spend a lot of time ignoring the fact that the Supreme Court just took the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and wiped their collective ass with it, so maybe they have an excuse.
And once you get down a little bit, the real good stuff comes out.
Have no fear, the Leftists are still trying to push their moonbat, drug-induced agenda through. John Fonda Kerry is still trying to get the USA under the UN's thumb. Thank God this man was not elected president. I can't think of a better way to relegate the USA to Third-World status than allowing that pompus prick to be president.
How many damn liberals were worried about cost effectivness when Clinton was opening the taps to the SPR in an attempt to make Al Gore look good before the 2000 election? Let's not forget, the whole reason the SPR isn't full is because Clinton had no problem using our STRATEGIC OIL RESERVES to play politics with!
Congress HAS no sense when it comes to climate change. And the more I see of Congress, it has no sense when it comes to legislation either.
How about you keep your nose where it belongs, you greasy fucking toad? And why don't you try pushing your glasses up once in a while? You would think with a nose that big, you could keep them somewhere in front of your eyes once in a while. Hell, I've got a good sized schnoz, and I have no problem keeping my glasses where they belong. And I'll trust some liberal fucking fuckstain to understand hydrogen cars when pigs fly and monkeys create fusion power.
Take a look at that list; it's a Who's Who of liberal politics. Diane Finestien and Chucky Schumer dominate the list early on, and then Jumpin' Jim Jeffords and Lamar Alexander take over. This is a documented waste of time and money, folks. OUR money, because the government doesn't have any of it's own.
Makes you kinda sick, doesn't it? While we have important issues that need to be dealt with, the Liberals are busy on bullshit and hot air.
Why are we paying them, anyways? I say we cut them off. I wonder how many of those oh-so-pious "public servants" would still serve if they couldn't make six figures doing it? If they wanted to do something worthwhile, they'd give themselves a pay cut and save this country millions of dollars.
But then, liberals and "worthwhile" should never be in the same sentance. Grrrrrr......
I'm stressed out enough right now, and my wife had to restrain me from chucking this entire fucking crapbucket out the window with great force. It's a sad fucking day when a laptop built in 1997 performs better and with less problems than a relatively new computer. If I have my druthers, my next computer won't have a fucking thing to do with Microshaft, and I'll take great pleasure in sending my copy of Windows XP back to Redmond wedged into a nasty morning-after beer shit, wrapped in cellophane and tied up with a big red bow. Happy fucking birthday to you, Bill Gates, and when you go back to making a product that doesn't shut down anytime a mosquito farts in it's general vicinity, then I'll give you another try. Until then, take a long walk off a short pier.
In any case, since I now have to code entirely by hand, I'll keep it simple. Dear reader Rexbolious sent along this little tidbit of information detailing just what our congresscritters have been up to. With all the money being wasted and hot air being blown around on Capitol Hill, you would figure that there should be deeds of great importance being done, right?
Wrong. Take a gander.
1. H.CON.RES.160 : Recognizing the historical significance of Juneteenth Independence Day, and expressing the sense of Congress that history should be regarded as a means for understanding the past and solving the challenges of the future.
Sponsor: Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] (introduced 5/19/2005) Cosponsors (69)
Committees: House Government Reform; Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 6/22/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Juneteenth? JUNETEENTH? What in the name of all that is holy is JUNEFUCKINGTEENTH???
2. H.CON.RES.163 : Honoring the Sigma Chi Fraternity on the occasion of its 150th Anniversary.
Sponsor: Rep Gerlach, Jim [PA-6] (introduced 5/23/2005) Cosponsors (8)
Committees: House Education and the Workforce; Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 6/22/2005 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Resolution agreed to in Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.
Now if only the congresscritters would drink in good Fraternity tradition until they passed out and then drowned in their own vomit.... although I think Teddy (hic!) Kennedy is to the point that it would take more booze than D.C. has alltogether to get him that inibriated. Keep blathering away Kennedy, you worthless drunken murderer. At least you're good for an example of what NOT to be in life. Tell me, other than being related to JFK and RFK, what exactly have you done that's noteworthy in life?
Oh, right, that whole girl in the car in the water thing. Way to go, Teddy! There's nothing like being an embarrasment to the rest of the country to make you feel proud.
Six through Ninteen are to designate "such and such US postal facility the MakeMeRichYouSuckers" Postal facility. While I'm sure that there are many good people having Post Offices named in their honor, this is not something that the Federal Government needs to be spending it's time on. All it shows me is that those parasites are getting paid WAAAAAY too much money and have WAAAAAY too much time on their hands. Of course, they do spend a lot of time ignoring the fact that the Supreme Court just took the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and wiped their collective ass with it, so maybe they have an excuse.
And once you get down a little bit, the real good stuff comes out.
54. S.AMDT.841 to H.R.6 To prohibit the Commission from approving an application for the authorization of the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of facilities located onshore or in State waters for the import of natural gas from a foreign country or the export of natural gas to a foreign country without the approval of the Governor of the State in which the facility would be located.
Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 6/22/2005) Cosponsors (14)
Latest Major Action: 6/22/2005 Motion to table amendment SA 841 agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 45. Record Vote Number: 146.
55. S.AMDT.844 to H.R.6 To express the sense of the Senate regarding the need for the United States to address global climate change through comprehensive and cost-effective national measures and through the negotiation of fair and binding international commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 6/22/2005) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 6/22/2005 Senate amendment not agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 844 not agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 46 - 49. Record Vote Number: 151.
Have no fear, the Leftists are still trying to push their moonbat, drug-induced agenda through. John Fonda Kerry is still trying to get the USA under the UN's thumb. Thank God this man was not elected president. I can't think of a better way to relegate the USA to Third-World status than allowing that pompus prick to be president.
58. S.AMDT.864 to H.R.6 To ensure that cost-effective procedures are used to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Sponsor: Sen Levin, Carl [MI] (introduced 6/22/2005) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 6/22/2005 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 864 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
How many damn liberals were worried about cost effectivness when Clinton was opening the taps to the SPR in an attempt to make Al Gore look good before the 2000 election? Let's not forget, the whole reason the SPR isn't full is because Clinton had no problem using our STRATEGIC OIL RESERVES to play politics with!
59. S.AMDT.866 to H.R.6 To express the sense of the Senate on climate change legislation.
Sponsor: Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM] (introduced 6/22/2005) Cosponsors (12)
Latest Major Action: 6/22/2005 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 866 as modified agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.
Congress HAS no sense when it comes to climate change. And the more I see of Congress, it has no sense when it comes to legislation either.
62. S.AMDT.927 to H.R.6 To provide a budget roadmap for the transition from petroleum to hydrogen in vehicles by 2020.
Sponsor: Sen Levin, Carl [MI] (introduced 6/22/2005) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 6/22/2005 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 927 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
How about you keep your nose where it belongs, you greasy fucking toad? And why don't you try pushing your glasses up once in a while? You would think with a nose that big, you could keep them somewhere in front of your eyes once in a while. Hell, I've got a good sized schnoz, and I have no problem keeping my glasses where they belong. And I'll trust some liberal fucking fuckstain to understand hydrogen cars when pigs fly and monkeys create fusion power.
Take a look at that list; it's a Who's Who of liberal politics. Diane Finestien and Chucky Schumer dominate the list early on, and then Jumpin' Jim Jeffords and Lamar Alexander take over. This is a documented waste of time and money, folks. OUR money, because the government doesn't have any of it's own.
Makes you kinda sick, doesn't it? While we have important issues that need to be dealt with, the Liberals are busy on bullshit and hot air.
Why are we paying them, anyways? I say we cut them off. I wonder how many of those oh-so-pious "public servants" would still serve if they couldn't make six figures doing it? If they wanted to do something worthwhile, they'd give themselves a pay cut and save this country millions of dollars.
But then, liberals and "worthwhile" should never be in the same sentance. Grrrrrr......
Friday, June 24, 2005
Another reason for Civil War
The SCOTUS just wiped away most of your private property rights, and what's the big news on Capitol Hill?
It's the fact that Dems are upset about Karl Rove telling the truth.
For the record, this is what has the Donks in such a tizzy:
So Karl Rove talking about liberals is more important than the property rights of every US citizen?
Those witless bastards on Capitol Hill need to be drug out of their offices and put up against a wall, then shot. Every last one of them. They're so concerned about their own petty politics than they have forgotten the reason why they were elected in the first place. In fact, most of them forgot the reason they were elected the moment after their election. Those rat bastards are worthless parasites who need to be exterminated.
Nuke D.C. NOW!
It's the fact that Dems are upset about Karl Rove telling the truth.
For the record, this is what has the Donks in such a tizzy:
Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.
So Karl Rove talking about liberals is more important than the property rights of every US citizen?
Those witless bastards on Capitol Hill need to be drug out of their offices and put up against a wall, then shot. Every last one of them. They're so concerned about their own petty politics than they have forgotten the reason why they were elected in the first place. In fact, most of them forgot the reason they were elected the moment after their election. Those rat bastards are worthless parasites who need to be exterminated.
Nuke D.C. NOW!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
One step closer to civil war
I'm not kidding, although I wish this was just a bad joke.
The Fifth Amendment allows for eminent domain, which means that the government can take your property for public use, with roads probably being the best example. Nowhere does it say that increasing a municipality's tax base is "public use". What the Supreme Court just decided was that if a town or city wants to tear down your house for a shopping mall, it can do so. If your city wants to bulldoze your house and put up an apartment complex, it can do so. If your city wants to kick you out of your home so that a developer can put up a bigger house that brings in more property taxes, it can do so.
The bottom line is that your private property rights as you know them no longer exist. The government can take away your land and give it away to someone who wants to put up a gas station.
If the people in New London, CT were to shoot the first fucknut in a bulldozer who was coming at their house, could you blame them? In fact, if the people being uprooted from their homes were to stage an armed revolt at the New London city hall, can anyone say that they were in the wrong?
I couldn't. This is such a gross over-reach of governmental power that it astounds me. And it makes me sure than there will be a civil war in my lifetime. If the institution set up to ensure compliance with the US Constitution now completely disregards it in their rulings (or substitute "international law" for our Constitution, a la Ginsburg), I see no other option than to remove the offending politicians and judges.
It's time to push that "restart button".
A little while ago I linked to this piece from Cap'n Jim, which included this quote from Claire Wolfe:
As far as I'm concerned, it's no longer too early to shoot the bastards. We have a Congress who dithers while thousands of illegal immigrants and other various people flood across our unsecured borders. We have a Congress who feels that banning flag burning is more important than fixing the Social Security problem. We have so called representatives of the people who in all honest opinion aren't worth the time it would take to haul them out of the Capitol Building and hang them from a lamp post.
We have so called representatives who don't care one damn bit about the rights of the citizens.
It's time to fire the bastards. And if they won't leave, then shoot them.
UPDATE: Arguing with Signposts has a round-up of reactions, and almost all of them are negative. One blogger says that President Bush needs to come out right now and denounce this ruling. I think that would help, but I don't think it's going to happen. President Bush is a Republican, not a conservative, and I think that's a distinction that needs to be made over and over.
There are very few people who think this was a good decision. And the more I think about it, the worse it looks. And to top it off, I'm in Puerto freaking Rico, where I have to get a permit to even THINK about buying a gun.
Fuck.
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses against their will for private development in a decision anxiously awaited in communities where economic growth often is at war with individual property rights.
The 5-4 ruling represented a defeat for some Connecticut (search) residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.
As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue.
The Fifth Amendment allows for eminent domain, which means that the government can take your property for public use, with roads probably being the best example. Nowhere does it say that increasing a municipality's tax base is "public use". What the Supreme Court just decided was that if a town or city wants to tear down your house for a shopping mall, it can do so. If your city wants to bulldoze your house and put up an apartment complex, it can do so. If your city wants to kick you out of your home so that a developer can put up a bigger house that brings in more property taxes, it can do so.
The bottom line is that your private property rights as you know them no longer exist. The government can take away your land and give it away to someone who wants to put up a gas station.
If the people in New London, CT were to shoot the first fucknut in a bulldozer who was coming at their house, could you blame them? In fact, if the people being uprooted from their homes were to stage an armed revolt at the New London city hall, can anyone say that they were in the wrong?
I couldn't. This is such a gross over-reach of governmental power that it astounds me. And it makes me sure than there will be a civil war in my lifetime. If the institution set up to ensure compliance with the US Constitution now completely disregards it in their rulings (or substitute "international law" for our Constitution, a la Ginsburg), I see no other option than to remove the offending politicians and judges.
It's time to push that "restart button".
A little while ago I linked to this piece from Cap'n Jim, which included this quote from Claire Wolfe:
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
As far as I'm concerned, it's no longer too early to shoot the bastards. We have a Congress who dithers while thousands of illegal immigrants and other various people flood across our unsecured borders. We have a Congress who feels that banning flag burning is more important than fixing the Social Security problem. We have so called representatives of the people who in all honest opinion aren't worth the time it would take to haul them out of the Capitol Building and hang them from a lamp post.
We have so called representatives who don't care one damn bit about the rights of the citizens.
It's time to fire the bastards. And if they won't leave, then shoot them.
UPDATE: Arguing with Signposts has a round-up of reactions, and almost all of them are negative. One blogger says that President Bush needs to come out right now and denounce this ruling. I think that would help, but I don't think it's going to happen. President Bush is a Republican, not a conservative, and I think that's a distinction that needs to be made over and over.
There are very few people who think this was a good decision. And the more I think about it, the worse it looks. And to top it off, I'm in Puerto freaking Rico, where I have to get a permit to even THINK about buying a gun.
Fuck.
Long Drive Home Last Night
From New York.
Listened to NPR.
Heard a great, great show.
You'll need broadband, RealPlayer, and 39 minutes. If you have it, I suggest a listen. Really, really great stuff.
This American Life | My Experimental Phase
Listened to NPR.
Heard a great, great show.
That's Funny, You Don't Look Jewish. Chaim and Billy both lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, just blocks away from each other, in worlds that almost never collided. Chaim was a Hasidic Jew – he'd never heard pop music or watched MTV. Billy Campion, known as the rocker Vic Thrill, was the star of an underground band. Billy put Chaim, who took on the name Curly Oxide, into the band, and in just one year, he leapt from the 19th Century into the 21st.
You'll need broadband, RealPlayer, and 39 minutes. If you have it, I suggest a listen. Really, really great stuff.
This American Life | My Experimental Phase
My Favorite Flag Burner
Ah well -- she's everyone's favorite.
I don't understand the push for Amendment but disagree with Dave about the GOP base -- if they weren't hearing their base clamor for this, they wouldn't be doing it (most of them), although it is possible that it is simple jockeying for 2006, i.e. "MY OPPONENT VOTED FOR FLAG BURNING!!!"
I think maybe the Legislature should make burning a flag "fighting words", but, truth be known -- can we get the bleepin' borders under control first???
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