Hey buddy, got a dragon?

OK, here's an official Bleg. Lemme give you some background:

My unit, which is still getting formed, needs a mascot or logo. Being as we're a chemical company, the official Chem "logo" is a dragon. Now, I have several talents, but drawing or painting isn't one of them. Hey, a guy has to know his limits, ya know?

So this is what I need, if there's anyone out there artistic who'd like to give it a shot. I need a dragon that the company can use for signs, letterhead, ect. I have a few ideas, but what I really want to see incorporated is la garita.

Las Garitas were the sentry towers built into the Old San Juan wall, as part of Castillo del Morro and Castillo de San Cristobal. They've become almost a logo for Puerto Rico itself.



The 65th RSC, which I belong to, has a garita as the unit patch.



So here's what I'm thinking. I need a dragon either perched or crawling on a garita, although it doesn't have to be used. The only real requirements I have is that I be able to shrink the image down and use it on letterhead (perhaps filled in as a silhouette). In any case, if there's anyone out there who would like to give it a try, I'll make sure your name is on it, copyright it, whatever I need to do so that everyone knows that YOU are the artist, not me.

So what say you? Any takers?

Good thoughts on a bad week

What a week. I would like to say that it was fun, and a great time had by all, but it wasn't. I haven't had a day to myself in several weeks..

Ah well. That's life in the Army, I guess.

But I won't bitch about my job too much on the blog. I volunteered for this shit, and I deal with it. However, I will tell you about two things that made my week a bit nicer. The number one thing that put a smile on my face today was walking into this store in Old San Juan. Don Collins cigars. Hoooo, boy, did that put a smile on my face.

I had been to the store before, several months ago. The Raging Mrs. and I were enjoying a walk through the city when I saw a sign that simply said "Cigars". I bought a few, and they were excellent. Since my brother's birthday is coming up, I figured I'd buy him a couple and mail them off.

When we walked in today, the salesman immediately offered me a cigar to sample on the house. I was more than happy to accept. While I puffed away, looking at the humidor, he offered me a sample of rum from a local distillery.

That was the second big smile of the day. More on that later.

So, I have a damn good cigar in one hand, a small glass of rum in the other, and I'm feeling pretty damn good. So I start talking to the guy. Turns out he graduated from the high school here on Ft. Buchanan. He can tell I'm a gringo, and we start chatting about the military while I'm browsing. I grab four cigars for my brother, two cheroots for the wife and myself, and I head towards the counter. The guy grabs four more cigars, says "I'll double you up on the house as long as you pass one or two out to your co-workers."

Done deal!

So, my co-workers are getting a good cigar, my brother is getting his stogies, I had one fine cigar and a glass of rum that knocked my socks off, and the wife has one happy husband.

It's been a damn good day!

Anyways, if you like a good cigar, check out Don Collins. It's all grown and crafted in Puerto Rico, and they're some of the best I've had. The Cupido Knuckles were probably number one on my list, but since they were a limited production and I can't get any more......

The second smile? The rum. Ron de Barrilito. Most people think of Puerto Rican rum as Bacardi and nothing else, but this stuff was liquid gold. I don't know if you can get it in the states or not, but the actual distillery is about one mile from my Battalion.

Lucky Me!

So anyways, check out the cigars if you like them. They're excellent smokes, and at a decent price. I'll be headed back there once my supply runs out. And if you can get Ron de Barrilito rum where you are, grab it. It's gooooooooooooooooood stuff.

And there you go. Two things I can smile about, no matter what else happens.

I'm noticing a theme

Way back when, I wrote a little piece on John Stossle's Ten Myths entited Lies, Myths and Stupidity. It was an ABC piece about, well, you know. Anyways, Myth number 3 was "Guns are bad!"

It seems that John Stossle just expanded on that myth.

What if it were legal in America for adults to carry concealed weapons? I put that question to gun-control advocate Rev. Al Sharpton. His eyes opened wide, and he said, "We'd be living in a state of terror!"

In fact, it was a trick question. Most states now have "right to carry" laws. And their people are not living in a state of terror. Not one of those states reported an upsurge in crime.

(Emphasis mine)

There is so much evidence showing that allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons actually lowers crime that the only excuse for people like Al Sharpton's ignorance is that they refuse to learn. They have their pre-conceived notions clutched tight to their chest and they refuse to let go.

Hell, that explains the entire Liberal ideology in a nutshell. It doesn't FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL good, so they refuse to believe it, facts and truth be damned to hell.

And there's another myth, with a special risk of its own. The myth has it that the Supreme Court, in a case called United States v. Miller, interpreted the Second Amendment -- "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" -- as conferring a special privilege on the National Guard, and not as affirming an individual right. In fact, what the court held is only that the right to bear arms doesn't mean Congress can't prohibit certain kinds of guns that aren't necessary for the common defense. Interestingly, federal law still says every able-bodied American man from 17 to 44 is a member of the United States militia.

(Again, emphasis mine).

The gun grabbers have no ammunition left for their illegal bans and confiscations. Look for them now to simply try to railroad their dirty tricks through congress, because their arguments never stood up to logic and facts.

"The prospect of tyranny may not grab the headlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do," Judge Kozinski noted. "But few saw the Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed -- where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once."

I couldn't have said it better myself. And you can find Real Clear Politics (where I linked to anyways) link on our blogroll.

Ok, I admit it...

The theory implied by my prior post is a conspiracy theory. As I explained in its comments section, the theory if reduced to bare bones would be:

What if Bush actually wants the Miers nomination to be rejected by the Senate? For that to happen the conservative base would have to tell their Senators to vote "no." If Miers were defeated by the "right" [or a coalition from both the left and the right] that would make it much easier to nominate someone like Janice Rogers Brown for the Supreme Court, and if the demonrats filibuster, no one could blame the republicans for using the nuclear option.

Ok, the theory has flaws, or at least the strategy has flaws which I pointed out - it's why I don't like it (too much uncertainty). Maybe you're right TVE. Maybe I've just "dealt with the vile left long enough" to have been warped by their conspiracy theories. You're probably right in that things are exactly as they appear to be. But I don't have to like it. And by the way, my loyalty is to my own reason and logic first. I'm not in the habit of accepting any assertion on blind faith, but I'll be happy to wait until the November 7 hearings before commenting further on the Miers nomination, though I probably won't have time to watch them.

P.S.: I said the "Harriet Miers's Blog" is a spoof. Sorry if there was any confusion about that. It did serve as a starting point for my post last night....er, this morning I mean. I have also read some things Miers has written at the whitehouse.gov site, which I also linked to in this morning's post. I guess I should have changed the title of the post after writing it. Hey, I'm human, and yesterday was another long day at work. I'd say TGIF but I have to work tomorrow, too. I'm not sorry about the post itself though - it wouldn't be much fun if we all agreed on everything.

I have just one final thought to share on this subject: I just can't help wondering whether we've become so used to liberals constantly blaming Bush for everything, so used to lefties claiming failure no matter what the outcome of any decision made by "this administration," that we defend Bush no matter what. Why aren't the lefties attacking Miers like they did Roberts? If they are happy with the pick, I'm not happy. LiberalLooneyLefties have been constantly denouncing George W. for not having godlike powers to stop hurricanes or land Air Force One on the Superdome and part the waters of Lake New Orleans like Moses, for not preventing 9/11, for not making gas prices lower, for not having better information than all of the intelligence agencies of the Western European countries as well as our own CIA, etc, etc. Well, guess what? He's human. George W. does what he thinks is the right thing to do, and I like that about him, it's why I trust him, but he can be wrong and saying so is not disloyalty. Saying Bush was wrong about everything is just deranged, BDS is a suicide cult, but I'm at least willing to consider the possibility that Bush could be wrong about this.

Miers and Conservative Behavior

Maybe we've dealt with the vile left long enough to forget how to treat honest political disagreements.

An Oct. 6-10 Pew Research Center Poll found that just 9% of conservative Republicans want the Senate to reject Miers' nomination -- a modest increase on the 6% who opposed John Roberts, Bush's earlier choice for the high court. Only 14% of GOP conservatives worry that Miers won't be sufficiently conservative once installed on the bench.

Overall, 54% of conservative Republicans want to see Miers confirmed -- a tepid number that's significantly below the 76% who backed Roberts. But that's understandable, given that nearly half of the voters queried say they don't yet know enough about Miers to decide.

So, conservatives, instead of slinging around Kos Kid rhetoric and using hyperbole against supporters of a Republican President's Judicial nomination, perhaps we could remember that the people you are opposing (Bush, Miers, and anyone who supports her nomination to the Supreme Court) are not some shit for brains leftist dirt bags that actively cheer for our defeat in the war in Iraq, think state funded abortion on demand is peachy keen, want to outlaw guns, or harbor any other vile leftist characteristic. These are the people you fight with in support of the vast majority of your ideals. Trash them and you risk doing permanent damage to more than just Harriet Miers chances of ending up on the Supreme Court. I'm not saying we shouldn't disagree on things. I'm asking that you pull it back a bit. Letting reason reign over passion is a small price to pay for loyalty.

The "Harriet Miers's Blog" and a wasted first round draft pick

This has got to be a spoof. Whoever is writing for "Harriet Miers's Blog" would get a C in college English. Talk about weak! My daughter can write better, and she's in grade school. If Miers is confirmed, she will be writing opinions that will shape law and be taught in law schools across the country for decades to come.

Ann Coulter, in a particularly good piece, explains why the Miers nomination is bad for our respresentative democracy and makes lawmaking by our "judicial theocracy" more likely rather than less. As far as I can tell though, nobody is thinking in a "Rovian" way - could there actually be a method to this madness? Assuming Bush is a smart guy and a crafty executive, why would he have nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court?

Could it be that Bush's intent with Miers' nomination is to "be a uniter not a divider" - to get republicans and democrats to finally set aside their partisanship and all vote the same way (which they haven't done on anything of consequence since they authorized the Iraq War)? The entire Senate should vote NO on Miers. I suppose the Democrats might support her in the belief that a weak conservative would be preferable to a strong constitutionalist on the Supreme Court. Don't forget also that Harry Reid actually praised the Miers pick right after it was announced. Reid is the leader of the demonrat senators, and Bush did vet his candidates for the position with senators. Presumable, Miers was either approved by Reid or was on a list of potential nominees that was approved by Reid as acting as the Senate Minority Leader.

"But she'd vote to overturn Roe" you say? So what? Granted, the confirmation hearings for Roberts were mostly about "upholding a woman's right to choose" for the democrats, making them look like a single issue party, but they knew he would be confirmed and were just putting on a show for their base. I'm surrounded by lefties at work and I'm telling you that all they really care about is getting back in power - they believe that if Roe were overturned there would be a popular backlash that would sweep them back into power. So I guess at least the Miers nomination might force the dems to take off the mask for a minute. Oh, and their strategy has shifted recently -- instead of blaming everything bad in the world on Bush, they are now blaming everything on "those *insert derogatory adjective here* republicans." See if you can notice it in the MSM, their propaganda arm.

But still, even if the Miers nomination is a set-up, why duck a fight? Why the deception? Why look stupid? Why couldn't Bush just nominate a Janice Rogers Brown or Priscilla Owen or Miguel Estrada or J. Michael Luttig or Edith Jones or Karen Williams or Michael McConnell? There are so many great picks to choose from. If not a judge but just a really good female lawyer who can write well, then why not Ann Coulter - like Harriet she is a good lawyer, but a much better writer than Miers, and we KNOW how Ann would vote on key issues. Instead we get an unknown commodity and we're just supposed to trust Bush because she's his friend and he's known her for a long time? Yeah right, like we were supposed to believe that he had looked deep into Putin's soul and found a good man and strong ally. Russia has been stabbing us in the back at almost every turn since Putin became its president.

To those who say, "To hell with the Supreme Court," I say this is really, really important! From Roe to Kelo, our Constitution and Bill of Rights have been getting shedded. If we continue to allow our courts to usurp legislative powers, we will soon lose the liberties and rights we take for granted. As a Justice of the Supreme Court, Miers' lack of expertise in Constitutional law and general mediocrity in expressing her opinion will hurt us for decades or centuries. Her opinions, as recorded opinions of the court, will serve as the basis for future rulings; sloppy writing or unsound reasoning, anything not firmly grounded in the US Constitution (not Belgium's) will cause more Roes and more Kelos - more "let's make it up as we go along" style judicial meddling. I don't want our country to become another haven for socialism. Tolerating more socialism would be almost as bad as accepting Sharia law, so yeah - I'd put this right up there with the GWOT.

And those people who say that criticizing Miers' qualifications is "sexist" are just patronizing women. If it has to be a woman, why such a mediocre nominee? Couldn't find anyone better? With a proven track record? She has no background in constitutional law whatsoever, and she's never been a county, state or federal judge. Picking Miers is like the Washington Redskins picking Tiger Woods with their first round draft pick - he's very talented and might even turn out to be a decent football player if he works hard, but he hasn't played football previously and it is unlikely he would be a great player. Could you imagine the outrage from Redskins fans if the team's owners selected Tiger with their first round pick and justified it by saying he was the best black athlete they could find? DC would look like Toledo only worse.

Up to now I've been a pretty strong supporter of Bush, but this Miers nomination just makes Bush look like what the DU asshats and Kos kids have been saying about him for years: that he likes his cronies and rewards his friends with positions in high places, that he surrounds himself with people who agree with everything he says, that he is dumb, and (this is the big one) that he is dishonest. Granted, Bush won't be running for reelection again, and republicans voting against his nominee would show voters that they have principles and standards, and that they are not a rubber stamp for the President, but the cost just seems too high. Up to now I had thought that Bush was one of the smartest and most honest politicians we've ever had, but now I am forced to choose between dumb and honest, or very smart but dishonest. For now I'm thinking smart but dishonest in a poker player's sort of way.

P.S.: Sorry I've been gone so long. My job has kept me extra busy these past couple of months.

Oh, and a belated Happy Birthday to Dave! The way my kids sang it to me was:

Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
You look like a monkey,
And smell like one, too.

And a belated Happy Anniversary, too! My ninth is coming up soon. Any suggestions on what I should get the Mrs.?

Still Topical

Something from November 2003, reincarnated just in time for Halloween 2005:



Oh, and this is still good.

This, too.

All together now....

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Ah crap, I've got grey hair and wrinkles,
Happy Birthday to me.

I remember when getting another year older was a good thing.

Quashing Dissent at DePaul

This is a great story.

DePaul University in Chicago has invited Ward Churchill to its campus to speak on--of all things--human rights. The college's Republicans have tried to mobilize opposition to Churchill's visit, but have been blocked by the college's administration. Amazingly, the Republicans were denied the right to post flyers criticizing Churchill's visit on the ground that the flyers were "propaganda"!

Follow the link to The Mental Ward and read a bit.

In the Policies section of their web site, DePaul has codified rules regarding the posting of flyers on campus. One of the rules addresses "propaganda". The "Flyer Posting Policy" section of their DePaul Student Life Policies and Procedures web page appears below.

19 Oct 2005

Fair enough, right? The rules are vague, to be sure, but that's academia. DePaul has a right to establish their own rules, natch.

But here's the thing -- that page has changed in the past ten days. Here it is on 10 Oct 2005:

10 Oct 2005

I have cropped the images to show bits of the preceding and following sections to show that was is depicted is the entire "Flyer Posting Policy".

Amazing, eh? DePaul University changed their rules so Ward Churchill could give a speech while being protected from the speech of others.

Found at Power Line

The Mental Ward

DePaul Student Life Policies and Procedures: before and after.

UPDATE: May 18, 2005 - DePaul Professor Suspended Without a Hearing After Arguing with Students on Middle East Issues

Putting some stang on it

Ok, Tim. You have my attention.

So I checked and sure enough, troll slapped here and here.

The first link is to a discussion of how that hopeless hapless Bush forced soldiers to regurgitate talking points in a tele-conference. Except he just gave them a heads up and they decided who would answer and what they'd say and practiced their delivery.

This is "Alabamagirl":

I've got to be honest, it looked bad. Especially with the girl from DOD even saying something about following the script beforehand. But I still love W!

Posted by: alabamagirl at October 14, 2005 10:10 AM

And I (remembering previous contributions left under the Alabamagirl handle) responded:

Then we have repeat leftist troller "alabamagirl" who pulls the same crap in another thread with "Yeah! Rove HAD to silence Wilson". Which we know is a load of sh*t, but I'm sure this dipsh*t thought their ploy was clever until I smacked the crap out of them there as well. Thusly:

"I've got to be honest,"

You couldn't if you tried.

"it looked bad."

No it didn't.

"Especially with the girl from DOD even saying something about following the script beforehand. "

Who said what?

"But I still love W!"

Liar.

Posted by: The Valiant Elephant at October 14, 2005 05:02 PM

This is what I referenced at the beginning of that reply (from the second link):

I am so sick of hearing about all "the bad stuff" that republicans are doing. Democrats should realize that making sure that Joe Wilson didn't get out of hand was necessary. The evil-doers cannot get an upperhand on us. SO WHAT if there's not uranium or whatever. I'm sure there would be soon! I say GO SCOOTER and GO KARL. At least our people know how to play ball. Sometimes you have to take the law into your hands and thank goodness we do!

Posted by: alabamagirl at October 13, 2005 10:07 AM

To which I responded:

"Democrats should realize that making sure that Joe Wilson didn't get out of hand was necessary. "

Out of who's hand? He's been "in hand" of the left since his burst into the news cycles and he's been "out of hand" of the Bush administration that the lying Wilson tried to smear.

"The evil-doers cannot get an upperhand on us."

That had nothing to do with the un-outable Valerie Plame. The question was why Wilson, idiot and liar, was sent to "sip tea" in Niger. The answer was his wife. And then came the leftist hissy fit out the outing of the un-outable Plame.

"SO WHAT if there's not uranium or whatever."

I suggest you get informed on this matter. There was yellowcake uranium. That was not the point. Saddam, according to WILSON'S OWN FINDINGS (not the pack of lies he wrote in the times, but the report he turned in to the CIA), DID try to purchase yellow cake Uranium from Niger. Wilson LIED. He LIED and said Saddam never tried. The British also investigated the claim made by the President in his State of the Union address that Saddam tried to purchase uranium from Africa. Their conclusion? The claim was well founded.

"I'm sure there would be soon! I say GO SCOOTER and GO KARL. At least our people know how to play ball. Sometimes you have to take the law into your hands and thank goodness we do!"

No one is "taking the law into their own hands". No one was "playing ball". They were pointing out why that hack Joe Wilson was sent to Niger to investigate a claim. Wilson claimed that Cheney sent him. He didn't. It was his wife. The Senate investigation proved Wilson a LIAR on that one too.

Posted by: The Valiant Elephant at October 13, 2005 01:18 PM

And then this turns up in our Guest book:

"Name: Jonathan "

Could it be ths Jonathan? I've given him enough grief at GOPbloggers, but I have my doubts. I'm pretty sure it wasn't this Jonathan. Most likely, that isn't this individual's name.

"Home Page: "

It has no place to call home. How sad.

"Date: Sat Oct 15 12:41:48 2005 "

Check the dates on those comments.

"Referred By: Reverand Scaramonga "

I know this is bullshit, I asked him.

Let the fisking begin! :)

"Comments:
Mr. Valiant Elephant, You are a mean,"

Awwwwwwww. I should be a cute and fuzzy bunny!

"hateful person"

I know you hate me.

"and should be ashamed of yourself."

Not a chance!

"Alabamagirl gave her opinion on blogs for bush"

Maybe if she traded in facts.

"and you cruelly called her a "troll"

But she is! :) There is nothing cruel in stating facts.

"and implied that she shouldn't be posting."

Quite an implication, eh? Where was it again? Oh! My bad. It was pure projection on our "guest's" part.

"Conservative blogs already have a reputation for stifling debate"

Leftist trolls do not come to Conservative blogs to debate. They come seeking validation and to stir shit and I send them packing with a sore ass.

"and practicing thought control."

Better grab your tinfoil helmet!

"I wonder why you keep shooting yourself in the foot"

Hard to keep doing something I never do in the first place.

"by limiting debate to those who wholeheartedly support everything Bush does? "

Not true. Cutting out the kool-aid chugging moveondotnever contingent actually allows for debate, not the other way around. That just wastes our time educating those who have no desire to learn.

"Dissent=legitimacy."

Lying and acting like an asshole = Bah Bye, stupid leftist fuck :)

"You have no legitimacy."

I'm 2 Legit to Quit, B!

"Do you want it?"

Not with you. Let me repeat that just so we are perfectly clear! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHETHER YOU FEEL I'M "LEGITIMATE" OR NOT!

"Or do you want to remain a marginal third-rater in the world of blogs?"

Jealous much?

"Your choice, chief."

To your chagrin you pathetic obsessed stupid little troll. So by my very response, I have "stifled debate". I guess that's a defense mechanism for not having a decent retort.

Attention Valiant Elephant! Attention Valiant Elephant!

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Linkdump

A Spanish judge has issued an international arrest warrant for three U.S. soldiers whose tank fired on a Baghdad hotel during the Iraq war, killing a Spanish journalist and one other, a court official said Wednesday.

Bush and Bono do lunch. I actually like Bono and how he presents himself. He seems honest to me. When I see Susan Sarandon or that doof Janeane Garofalo or P Diddy waxing political, I know I am watching half lunatic and half actor. Bono is well spoken and, in my opinion, sincere.

Oh, and the Jews felled the Towers.

But you knew that.

Dujail

What Saddam is charged with (for starters):

Officials at the Iraqi Special Tribunal set up to try the former dictator and his top aides have said they expect to put him on trial by the end of the year in the deaths of nearly 160 men and boys from Dujail, all Shiites, some in their early teens. Some were shot dead in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt, but 143 - 9 of them ages 13 through 15 - were executed three years later by Mr. Hussein's revolutionary court. Townspeople say that many others remain missing - at least 200, by some counts - and that they hope the trial will reveal at least something of their fate.

A Town That Bled Under Hussein Hails His Trial

The New Mumia does have grounds for a countersuit, alas:

"The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have"

Not much to add to this.

At a dinner party not long ago, I was seated next to the director of an Ivy League ethics program. In answer to another guest's question, he said he believes that prospective parents have a moral obligation to undergo prenatal testing and to terminate their pregnancy to avoid bringing forth a child with a disability, because it was immoral to subject a child to the kind of suffering he or she would have to endure.

WaPo

Excellent search from yesterday

"reasons to hate seattle"

How sick is the NFL?

Here's the headlines stories for the Yahoo! NFL coverage:

What happened to Venus?

It's so hot, so dry, so barren.

What happened?

"Runaway global warming" happened, that's what.

What are you, ig'nant or somethin'?

Veteran's Day...

...has been cancelled in Berkeley.

Crunching numbers

John Cross does some figuring and adding with the national debt. You might be interested to see what he came up with.

Oh....some other numbers:

Average deficit 1993-1995: 3.0% of GDP (post-recession)
Average deficit 2001-2003: 1.16% of GDP (in recession, 9-11, Afghanistan, Iraq)

The deficit, as a percentage of GDP, is also decreasing as we speak.

As a percentage of GDP, outlays under this administration will peak at 20.3%, and have averaged 19.86% ...in the Clinton years, they averaged 20.16% of GDP.

To make it all the more sensical (because Congress spends the money), between 1950 and 1994, the average amount of spending as a percentage of GDP was 19.43%. That was a Democratic-dominated legislative branch. Since the Republicans took over, the same measurement yields a percentage of 19.25%...including Bush’s War on Terror.

Now granted, I STILL think the government is spending way too much of our money. However, the Donks are simply trying to use Republican spending as a political tool. Do you honestly think the Democrats would be any better? If you do, go to the end of the line, because you're a dumbass. Look a the planks of the Democrat Party. And then look at what they propose. Handing control of the government to Democrats would be like handing booze and car keys to a teenage boy (with apologies to P.J. O'Rourke).

Who woulda thunk it?

Criminals running amok causes law-abiding citizens to buy guns. No shit, Sherlock. When the people or items set up to protect society fail, it is up to the citizens to protect themselves.

And let's be clear: At some point, the people and mechanisms set up to protect society will fail. It's not that the police don't try hard enough, or that lawmakers don't pass enough laws (for g-d's sake, they pass too many damn laws), it's that the police cannot be everywhere all the time. They can't stop a mini-mart from getting robbed. They can't prevent a woman from getting raped. People cannot expect to have round-the-clock protection 100% of the time because it's just not possible. YOU are responsible for protecting yourself.

Did I mention that Ammo Day is coming up? It's actually ammo WEEK, November 12th to the 20th. Buy one hundred rounds of your favorite ammo. That's at LEAST one hundred rounds. More is better. Much more is great. Although, since I'm in the People's Republic of Puerto Rico, I may have to substitute a NRA or GOA membership for those 100 rounds. Grrrrrrrrrr.....

Anniversary

Sorry about the lack of posting lately, I've been a busy boy. But I just wanted to share that I have officially been married to the most wonderful woman in the world for one full year, as of yesterday.

Although, it only feels like six months, with all the activity that's been going on in our life.

So here's to many more years, eh?

Supporting the Troops - Leftist Style!

Excerpt:

Intrepid MediaCitizen reader "lebkuchen" Googled some of the soldiers who were used as stooges before Bush and the cameras on Thursday and found another GI who didn't pass the smell test.

Cool, but my favorite part is this:

There's much more at DemocraticUnderground.

Ain't that the truth.

Great work in the comments as well:

Killing babies for oil has long term pyschological affects.

There's no arguing with that, after all.

MediaCitizen: Soldier Propagandist

Found via Michelle Malkin: Another Soldier Talks Back

The World has a new Top Intellectual

It's Noam Chomsky. But you knew that already.

Off to a nice start in Iraq

Good election turnout and now this regarding Saddam Hussein's upcoming trial:

Last week, the New York-based Human Rights Watch warned that the tribunal "runs the risk of "violating international standards for fair trials."

"In Iraq's fragile political climate, the legitimacy of the court will be in question," it said in a statement. There have also been demands that Saddam be tried before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari rebutted these complaints, arguing that Saddam's crimes were mostly against the Iraqi people, so he should be tried by Iraqis.

"Why cannot a man who committed crimes against his own people be tried by the same people? Iraq's judiciary is just."

Advising the Internationalists to go piss up a rope -- a great sign for a fledging free nation.

FOXNews.com - First Saddam Trial to Begin Wednesday

Staying with this genre....

The Rott has an example of asshatted fuckwittery that just has to be seen. If you STILL have any doubts that the Left in this country is desparately hoping for Iraq to fail, you have GOT to see this.

Juan Cole, the Hollow-Headed Halfwit, has managed to find a way to disparage Iraq's election of a constitution before the results are even in! You've got to go read it. You can almost see Cole in pink bunnie jammies, red-faced and screaming "IRAQ CAN'T WORK! IT CAN'T! IT CAN'T! IT CAN'T! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I WANT MY MICHEAL MOORE DOLL!"

Cheers for Mugabe

LGF

Do they do it purposefully?

So sometimes our courts are wacky

Look at this from Sweden.

Not just...

...staging news, but outright making it up: Michelle Malkin: THE BOSTON GLOBE'S BOGUS SEAL HUNT STORY. Lookit all those links at the bottom of the piece.

All I have to say is, "Yep!"

There's a reason why most military members look at the Lame-Stream Media as some sort of three-day old roadkill.

Ok, but what percentage of the American people favor an immediate pullout, you dolts? Isn't that the most relevant stat here? What percentage of the people oppose the troops? (In reality, the answer is more than anyone on the left wants to admit, though still a small minority of the population.) The AP, however, is Hell-bent on undercutting the president, here (and basically giving the troops a snide and subtle "fuck you" in the process), but what they are really giving is poll numbers that reflect support for the President. Not support for the troops.

Most editors I wrote for as a Time Inc. wretch would have caught that, and never let me get away with it. Not so at the AP I guess.

Personally, I wouldn't trust any member of the Lame-Stream Media any farther than I could throw them. And sometimes not even that far. The media has been anti-military, anti-war, anti-Bush, and anti-Conservative to the point that they can't be anything else if they tried. They have been banging the Democrat's drum for so long that changing their tune at this point and time would require an earthshaking event of such magnitude that half the planet wouldn't survive. I suppose that maybe fifty years in the future, I won't have to read a newspaper and wade through opinion posted as "news", but at this time and place I regard any "news" article about Iraq as an attack on myself and the military, and go from there. The press has an agenda, and they push it non stop. If you want to get the truth coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan, read what a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine is writing.

Oh, and here's the scuzziest bit of all:

Paul Rieckhoff, director of the New York-based Operation Truth, an advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, denounced the event as a "carefully scripted publicity stunt." Five of the 10 U.S. troops involved were officers, he said.

If Operation Truth is simply "an advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan," then I'm the Queen of Sheba. Their website says they're "nonpartisan." But look who's doing the fundraising: Randi Rhodes, Jenine Garofolo, Al Franken, Air America, and Tim Robbins.

This reporter is remarkably uncurious about the sources she seeks for comment.

"If he wants the real opinions of the troops, he can't do it in a nationally televised teleconference," Rieckhoff said. "He needs to be talking to the boots on the ground and that's not a bunch of captains."

Yeah. I guess we're all idiots. None of us know what's going on about anything. Actually, there could not have been more than 4 captains, since only five of the ten were officers, and one was a lieutenant. The remainder were NCOs. Yeah, I guess NCOs never talk to troops either.

Some advocate.

So the AP pushes the line that the President's meeting with "the troops" was a staged event, yet at the same time swallows a line from "Operation Truth" without questioning that group's motives? Why am I not surprised. And since when is a bunch of captains not considered "boots on the ground"? Aren't they there? Aren't they commanding troops there? Don't you think they might actually fucking know what the hell is going on? And don't five Non-Comissioned Officers count for something?

No, not when you've got an anti-troops, anti-Bush agenda to push!

Gah! Worthless fucking pukes. Rope. "Journalist". Tree. Some assembly required.

Want some Rand?

Analog Kid is putting up a quote of the day from Ayn Rand every day, if you're interested.

And why wouldn't you be interested?

If some men are entitled by right to the products of the work of others, it means that those others are deprived of rights and condemned to slave labor.

Any alleged “right” of one man, which necessitates the violation if the rights of another, is not and cannot be a right.

Ayn Rand “Man’s Rights”

Now, I have a confession. I find Ayn Rand terribly dry to read. Almost boring. She was a writer of great technical skill, and she put more important messages into her books than almost anyone, but she's so damn DRY! The only reason I made it through "Atlas Shrugged" was because every time I turned the page, I kept finding little nuggets of wisdom that I hadn't found anywhere else.

Remember that rights are moral principles which define and protect a man’s freedom of action, but impose no obligations on other men. Private citizens are not a threat to one another’s rights or freedom. A private citizen who resorts to physical force and violates the rights of others is a criminal – and men have legal protection against him.

Criminals are a small minority in any age or country. And the harm they have done to mankind is infinitesimal when compared to the horrors – the bloodshed, the wars, the persecutions, the confiscations, the famines, the enslavements, the wholesale destructions – perpetrated by mankind’s governments. Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. When unlimited and unrestricted by individual rights, a government is man’s deadliest enemy. It is not as protection against private actions, but against government actions that the Bill of Rights was written.

Ayn Rand, Man’s Rights

I guess I find her to be much like Bernard Lewis. Wonderful intellect. Great ideas, and the ability to put those ideas on paper. Horribly boring to read. That might get me excommunicated from the conservative blogger's club, but it's the truth.

If one wishes to advocate a free society – that is, capitalism – one must realize that its indispensable foundation is the principle of individual rights. If one wishes to uphold individual rights, one must realize that capitalism is the only system that can uphold and protect them. And if one wishes to gauge the relationship of freedom to the goals of today’s intellectuals, one may gauge it by the fact that the concept of individual rights is evaded, distorted, perverted and seldom discussed, most conspicuously seldom by the so-called “conservatives”.

“Rights” are a moral concept – the concept that provides a logical transition from the principles guiding an individual’s actions to the principals guiding his relationship with others – the concept that preserves and protects individual morality in a social concept – the link between the moral code of a man and the legal code of a society, between ethics and politics.

Individual rights are the means of subordinating society to moral law.

Ayn Rand: Man’s Rights - 1967

So make sure you visit Random Nuclear Strikes on a daily basis. I know I will be, because I can have my Rand without banging my head against a wall trying to get through yet another 1000 page beheamoth that when boiled down, simply says "Any 'right' that infringes on another person is not a right."

Syrian Interior Minister suffers assisted suicide

LGF

We're Number Two

This is amazing to me: Google Search: right wing

If you "Read the whole thing" anywhere today...

...let it be here:

Today the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a letter between two senior al Qa'ida leaders, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, that was obtained during counterterrorism operations in Iraq. This lengthy document provides a comprehensive view of al Qa'ida's strategy in Iraq and globally.

Power Line notes:

Reading Zawahiri's letter is almost enough to make you feel sorry for him. He is like an old Bolshevik, wringing his hands over the murderous policies of his Stalinist progeny. Zawahiri was once a doctor, and is a relatively cultured and learned man. Zarqawi was a Jordanian street thug and is now a sadistic mass murderer. One can easily imagine how little effect Zawahiri's remorse will have on the bloodthirsty leader of the Iraqi 'insurgency.'

Also, this:

Zawahiri: "However, despite all of this, I say to you: that we are in a battle, and that more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media.... "

There you go.

Sunni, Shia, Kurds Reach Deal

Great news.

Great, great news.

The Iraqis have come up with a good constitution that, despite some disagreements, can certainly be fixed up once all groups are fully represented in parliament along. It would appear from a glance that the country’s political society is split completely along ethnic and religious lines, but that’s simply not the case, and the results from the December elections will prove that. There are a myriad of interests working for influence. The Iraqi voter hasn’t been one for long, but they are proving smarter and more politically than ethnically savvy, as they are moving away from these superficial biases toward whichever parties can govern the country best.

All politics aside, if the Iraqis can form themselves a solid and sustainable republic, what an achievement it will be.

Now that the constitution looks ever more likely to be approved, it will be important for us here in the west to focus on the December elections as well. We need to make sure that party-backed militias don’t wield undue influence over individuals and how they vote, we must make sure that their cronies don’t tamper with those votes behind the scenes, and we must make sure that, no matter what the real outcome of the vote is, that power transfers peacefully.

Publius Pundit - Blogging the democratic revolution

Saturday is the vote. Perhaps while the Iraqis are casting their ballots, we Americans, as well as focusing "on the December elections", can recall why those elections are possible:

---

Army Sgt. Michael T. Crockett of Soperton, Georgia, died 14 July 14 2003 on patrol in Baghdad, Iraq when he came under RPG attack. Sergeant Crockett was 3rd Platoon Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, Fort Stewart, Georgia. Sergeant Crockett was 27.

---

Marine Sgt. Kirk Allen Straseskie of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, drowned 19 May 2003 in a canal near Al Hillah, Iraq, when he attempted to rescue the crewmembers of a Marine CH-46 helicopter that went down in the canal. Sergeant Straseskie, 23, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Camp Pendleton, California.

---

Navy Chief Joel Egan Baldwin of Arlington, Virginia died 21 December 2004, in Mosul, Iraq, when a suicide bomber entered his dining facility and detonated an improvised explosive device. Chief Baldwin was assigned to Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 77, Gulfport, Mississippi. Chief Baldwin left behind a wife and daughter.

Goddamnit.

---

Air Force Airman 1st Class Elizabeth N. Jacobson of Riviera Beach, Florida died 28 September 2005 near Camp Bucca, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near her convoy vehicle. Airman Jacobson was assigned to the 17th Security Forces Squadron, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas.

Airman Jacobson was 21.

Droplets on Leaf

The clover at lower right is cool.

Average age of newspaper readers?

55

"It's Gore Time"

You say you have high blood pressure, Dave?

Is Al Gore coming back? If allies we talked to have their way, the former veep will be the next president. "It's Gore Time," says a political strategist and fundraiser who is opening a bid to get Gore into the race.

Well, this one's for you.

After all, laughter is the best medicine.

USNews.com: Washington Whispers

I'm sorry, what was that?

Oh, a movie about Ronnie Earle indicting Tom DeLay? And it's been filming for two years?

Let me get this straight in my head. A partisan Democrat who happens to be a District Attourny persues Tom DeLay on whatever charges he can throw at DeLay and make stick, and has a fucking FILM CREW TAPING HIS EVERY MOVE, and people still want to say that Earle isn't a partisan piece of shit with no political motives in his attempts to smear and destroy the House Majority Leader?

Holy Hell people..... Gah. Just as my blood pressure was starting to go back down.

Found at ALMTTR.

John Hawkins asks a question

From Right Wing News

-- Sometimes, the dog that doesn't bark tells a tale. In this case, why is it that the blogosphere doesn't seem to be stepping up to help the victims of a cataclysmic earthquake that has killed so many people in Pakistan? Is it that they're not big fans of Pakistan? Are people too distracted by the Miers nomination? Is it donor fatigue after the Tsunami and Katrina that's responsible?

Personally, I think the US government should pay particular attention to this quake, even if the public doesn't. Pakistan, which has taken a big hit in this earthquake, has been a real help in the war on terror and Pervez Musharraf has caught a lot of hell for it from his own people. Now might be a great time to show everyone in Pakistan that there's no better friend to have in a crisis than the United States. Also keep in mind that Bin Laden is likely still hiding out in the Pakistani back country. Helping Pakistan in their time of need might be just the thing to set a few tongues wagging about his whereabouts.

Honestly, I think one of the big reasons that you don't see conservatives hopping up and down demanding aid for Pakistan is because we're already giving aid. One of the first groups of people to arrive in Pakistan was Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters from our troops in Afghanistan. We're already there, unloading food, water and supplies, as well as helping with rescue efforts where we are needed.

The entire world is pitching in, and there's no way for the USA to do everything that needs to be done. But we are there, as are countries from around the world. We have a chance to make some big inroads with the general population in Pakistan. And we're taking it.

Let's Get Linkdumped !!!

Leading off: Susan Sarandon sez we need to keep our eyes on Katrina. You know, so we can keep an eye on "who's getting the contracts to rebuild".

Nextly, great stuff at Instapundit regarding those faux anti-war people Dave was talking about the other day.

Lastly, Power Line notes that al Qaeda may be making themselves at home in Gaza. Doy.

Just a big joke

Rexibolus sent me a link to this little tidbit of news.

Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency that he heads won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

What. A. Fucking. Joke.

The Kallini Bros. have a list of what happened under ElBaradei's watch.

India announced it officially possessed nuclear weapons.

Pakistan announced it had nuclear weapons.

Libya announced that it had a highly-developed nuclear weapons program, and turned it over—lock, stock, and barrel—to the United States.

North Korea has continued violations of the treaty and is unabashedly seeking nuclear weapons.

Iran has repeatedly violated the treaty and is unabashedly seeking nuclear weapons.

Pakistan has helped spread what it has learned about nuclear weapons throughout the Muslim world.

And you think I joke when I say that the UN is nothing but a corrupt bunch of worthless goat-fucking tyrants who need to be burned alive while we destroy the UN building, preferably with all the UN staff inside it?

But I LIKE P.E.T.A!

I mean, who doesn't want to be a part of People Eating Tasty Animals, anyways?

Oh, he's talking about the OTHER P.E.T.A. I get it now.

If you ever want to see the world's biggest smackdown of PETA and it's cadre of moronic supporters, head on over to the DANE's place.

Bad day to be in Pakistan

From the USGS.

At what point can we declare war on the EU?

They want control of the internet? They can go play hide and go fuck yourself. Why in the name of all that is holy should this country allow a group of unelected beurocrats take control of the internet?

Old allies in world politics, representatives from the UK and US sat just feet away from each other, but all looked straight ahead as Hendon explained the EU had decided to end the US government's unilateral control of the internet and put in place a new body that would now run this revolutionary communications medium.

If the USA allows a bunch of assholes to grab control of the internet, every politician in Washington DC should be hung from a lamp post. In fact, every citizen of this country, left or right, conservative or liberal, should be screaming mad and yelling at their political leaders right now. Just in case anyone has forgotten, the rest of the world doesn't have the same rules that we do.

There's no freedom of speech in the EU. Or in Asia. How would you like China or Iran to be in control of what you can or cannot say online?

Can you say good-bye, gun blogs?
Can you say good-bye, Gay and Lesbian websites?
Can you say good-bye, religious websites?
Can you say good-bye, freedom?

This grab isn't about the number of excuses that the rest of the world has given, it is about controlling information. The free flow of information is something that the EU, Iran, China, Cuba, and the rest of the petty tyrants and dictatorships want to control. Should the world try to wrest control of the internet from the USA, where free speech is guarnateed in the Constitution, then the USA should put the world on notice that any attempt to take control of the internet will be considered an act of war. In short, the USA should fight for the internet as it would fight for Florida or California. With brute force.

The rest of the world can't be trusted with the internet's gate keys. That might sound arrogant as hell, but when I see what happens in the rest of the world, it's just the plain truth. Perhaps when China stops restricting what can or cannot be put on Chinese websites, I won't worry so much.

Why can't we have a hunting season for trolls?

And spammers as well. Most of the goat-fucking pissants use proxy servers to spew their crap, which means that they go through servers in South America, Europe, Pacific Rim and the Caribbean. And as a result, most people simply block entries from those servers.

Guess which server I'm on? Seeing as how I'm in Puerto Rico.....

I say that spammers and trolls should be hung up by their toes and left to hang until dead. Or perhaps they should be skinned alive and tossed into the ocean for sharks to eat.

My two cents

On Harriet Miers.

I guess since everybody else has covered whether or not she's qualified, I don't need to bore anyone else with my opinion on that subject. However, on the whole issue I can say that I'm disappointed. I can think of several people who are more qualified to sit on the Supreme Court, and I'm hardly an expert on legal matters. So if I can think of a few better examples, I know that actual lawyers and legal experts must be jumping up and down.

On the other hand, my wife holds the opinion that perhaps having someone on the Supreme Court who hasn't been detached from everyday life for years and years is a good thing. In her opinion, too many of the hoi palloi have been so detached from real life for so long that they no longer have much in common with the people they're supposed to legislate or sit on a bench for.

I guess the whole reason I haven't gotten too upset about the whole thing is because for me, the Supreme Court really doesn't have much legitimacy left. Kelo vs. New London, half the court using international law as a basis for ruling on US laws, and the acceptance of McCain-Feingold as constitutional has made me realize that the Supreme Court is by and large nothing more than another political entity, and deserves no more respect than your average junior grade politicians. Perhaps in time that will change, but I don't see it happening in my lifetime. In fact, in my lifetime, I see the general population of the USA ignoring the Supreme Court and it's decisions as much as they possibly can. With all due respect to Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy, I don't hold any of the other justices with much respect at all, and see no reason why I should live by the arbitrary rulings that I see coming out of the court at this time. Short of doing what I must to avoid being locked up, I plan on treating the SCOTUS rulings like I would the rulings of a local town councilman. So the addition of Harriet Miers does nothing more than raise my interest level a notch or two. Sort of like "Let's shake this bottle up and see what floats to the top" interest.

Anyways, that's my two cents.

TV Tower Wires Kill 400 Birds in One Night

Horror.

The deaths may spur the creation of a group to study the dangers communication towers pose to migrating birds, said specialists with the Department of Natural Resources.

Those will be some enthralling discussions.

Yahoo! News

They're NOT anti-war

Before I left for Egypt, I picked up a book to read on the plane flight over. I'd like to quote from it quickly, if I may.

At this point I must drag out my soapbox.
In the twentieth century Gregorian, in the United States of America, something called "revisionist history" became popular among "intellectuals". Revisionism appears to have been based on the notion that the living actors present on the spot never understood what they were doing or why, or how they were being manipulated, being mere puppets in the hands of unseen evil forces.
This may be true. I don't know.
But why are the people of the United States and their government always the villains in the eyes of the revisionists? Why can't our enemies-such as the king of Spain, and the kaiser, and Hitler, and Geronimo, and Villa, and Sandino, and Mao Tse-tung, and Jefferson Davis-why can't these each take a turn in the pillory? Why is it always our turn?
I am well aware that the revisionists maintain that William Randolph Hearst created the Spanish-American War to increase the circulation of his newspapers. I know, too, that various scholars and experts later asserted that the USS Maine, at dock in Havana harbor, was blown up (with loss of 226 American lives) by faceless villains whose purpose was to make Spain look bad and thereby to prepare the American people to accept a declaration of war against Spain.
Now look carefully at what I said. I said that I know that these things are asserted. I did not say that they are true.
It is unquestionably true that the United States, acting officially, was rude to the Spanish government concerning Spain's oppression of the Cuban people. It is also true that William Randolph Hearst used his newspapers to say any number of unpleasant things about the Spanish government. But Hearst was not the United States and he had no guns and no ships and no authority. What he did have was a loud voice and no respect for tyrants. Tyrants hate people like that.
Somehow those masochistic revisionists have turned the War of 1898 into a case of imperialistic aggression by the United States. How an imperialist war could result in the freeing of Cuba and the Philippines is never made clear. But revisionism always starts with the assumption that the United States is the villain. Once the revisionist historian proves this assumption (usually by circular logic) he is granted his Ph.D and is well on his way to a Nobel peace prize.

The book? "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" by Robert A. Heinlein.

Why do I bring this up now? Because of a Cristopher Hitchens piece in Slate that everyone needs to read.

To be against war and militarism, in the tradition of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, is one thing. But to have a record of consistent support for war and militarism, from the Red Army in Eastern Europe to the Serbian ethnic cleansers and the Taliban, is quite another. It is really a disgrace that the liberal press refers to such enemies of liberalism as "antiwar" when in reality they are straight-out pro-war, but on the other side. Was there a single placard saying, "No to Jihad"? Of course not. Or a single placard saying, "Yes to Kurdish self-determination" or "We support Afghan women's struggle"? Don't make me laugh. And this in a week when Afghans went back to the polls, and when Iraqis were preparing to do so, under a hail of fire from those who blow up mosques and U.N. buildings, behead aid workers and journalists, proclaim fatwahs against the wrong kind of Muslim, and utter hysterical diatribes against Jews and Hindus.

Some of the leading figures in this "movement," such as George Galloway and Michael Moore, are obnoxious enough to come right out and say that they support the Baathist-jihadist alliance. Others prefer to declare their sympathy in more surreptitious fashion. The easy way to tell what's going on is this: Just listen until they start to criticize such gangsters even a little, and then wait a few seconds before the speaker says that, bad as these people are, they were invented or created by the United States. That bad, huh? (You might think that such an accusationÂ?these thugs were cloned by the American empire for God's sakeÂ?would lead to instant condemnation. But if you thought that, gentle reader, you would be wrong.)

The people who protest against our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan are not anti-war, they simply support the other side. Never forget that one simple fact.

For my Texas Readers

The West Houston Smoke and Powder Crawl, version IX is planned.

Cap'n Jim has the details.

As for me, I'm still working on getting a firearm down here in the People's Democratic Republic of Puerto Rico. Once I finally obtain one, I'll do my own celebration.

Crap, the things I miss

while I'm out soldiering. Iran is launching a satellite.

Go read Rivrdog's analysis of it. I can't add anything.

Media Blackout fbo Charles Schumer

Democrat wrongdoing hushed.

Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and it's his job to get Democrats elected in hopes of wresting Senate control from the GOP. Michael Steele is lieutenant governor of Maryland, and the DSCC, and along with most everyone else, expects Steele to run for the open seat of retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes.

Steele, an African American, is a rising star in a Republican party regularly accused of racial insensitivity if not outright racism, a party that thought so highly of him and his political future that it chose him to be the deputy permanent chairman of the 2004 Republican Convention.
.
.
.
Apparently nothing frightens the DSCC more than an articulate and charismatic black American who also happens to be a Reagan conservative. How else to explain the behavior of two of Schumer's campaign committee members — research director Katie Barge and junior staffer Lauren Weiner — who dug for dirt using Steele's Social Security number, reportedly culled from court records, to fraudulently and illegally obtain his credit report?
.
.
.
These were no naive, overzealous interns. Barge is a longtime Democratic operative who led the research unit for a liberal media watchdog group run by journalist David Brock. She led the opposition research team for failed Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards. She knew the ropes and the rules.

Steele vs. Obama, VP Debate Night 2008.

Get your VCRs ready.

Investor's Business Daily

Jihad?

In Oklahoma???

Plamegate

Power Line popints out that Judith Miller had sources other than Scooty Libby and speculates that Joe Wilson's old lady's profession was well-known in DC.

One or two pictures

Just because I said I would. I'd love to have pictures that display some of the magnificant images that I saw, but you're SOL. I didn't bring my good camera because the dust and sand would have destroyed it. So I took my little POS camera, and it shows.

Ah well, that's life. Maybe in a few years I'll join the digital age. Until then, you have to deal with my little 35mm quirks.

Anyways.....



Welcome to camp. It's obviously much larger than this, but as I said I couldn't take many pictures there. If you look close, you can see a mosque in the back. For a better idea of where I was working......



Imagine a flat stretch of dust, with a few quanset huts and lots of conexes. That was home for three weeks. By the way, the yellowish tint in the pictures is not a mistake. That was the actual color of everything during the day. And the Chinook in the picture is participating in slingload excersises. I had to shrink the picture a bit to make it fit on the blog (and not kill the bandwidth), otherwise you'd be able to see it better.



This was the view of the camp from a Blackhawk helicopter. Believe it or not, that was my first time on a helicopter, and the pilot was putting the bird through all of it's paces. Intense is the only word I can think of to describe it.

Anyways, that's a small sample of what I saw. Half of my pictures didn't come out very well, which is a disappointment. But that's life in the analog age, I guess. The next time I go anywhere I'll get a digital camera.

Quick Andrew Sullivan Excerpt

The dude's a stone kook.

I have to say that, even after the last few years of amazement at the Bush administration's hostility to gay people, I never thought it would come to this. And this, I think is one key to unlocking the reason for Miers' nomination: it's Karl Rove's way of re-igniting the culture war, of once again using the gay issue to polarize the country, and rally his base. When these people are in a hole, they look to demonize a minority. The Southern strategy is back. But now, it's not blacks who are being used; it's gays.

Read on for the punchline.

The Corner on National Review Online

964

Bloated body watch:

The search for Hurricane Katrina victims has ended in Louisiana with a death toll at 964.

Falls short of 10,000, eh? Our American media couldn't get New Orleans right. Am I supposed to believe what they say about Iraq?

BREITBART.COM

The Democrat War Against Tom Delay

From the braying of the first Democrat, I asked them a very simple question: What, specifically, is Tom Delay accused of doing? As expected, they don't know. They can quote the Washington Post though. "190,000 Dollars!", "Laundered Corporate money!" and presumptions of donkey victory and GOP defeat abound. Let's start with that 190,000. The lie begins that Delay used a Texas Political Action Committee (TRMPAC) to distribute Eeeeeevil Corporate Cash to GOP candidates in Texas by "laundering it" (no mention of how he did this) through the Republican Naitonal State Elections Committee who then sent the same amount in SEVEN checks to Texas House candidates in the same amount. Eeeeevil right? Wrong. First, they had to make it seem like 190,000 just bounced along it's merry way through the money laundering scheme. To do this, they ignore the fact that the RNSEC sent a total of NINE checks to eight Texas House candidates for a total of $234,500. Bah-Bye "190,000". That does not include one of the checks (for 20,000) included in the 190,000 distributed to Texas House candidates cited by the Donks because it came from a seperate account. Which is key to the second part of the Democrat's shell game. NONE of the checks written to Texas House candidates came from the account from which the 190,000 that Democrats have cried "laundered!" about were written from the account that TRMPAC contributed to! So they had to first skew the number of checks that the RNSEC wrote to Texas House candidates in order to skew the amount donated and then completely gloss over the fact that the money sent to the RNSEC went into a different account and was NOT sent to Texas House candidates! OOOPS! Now for some pespective that the leftist press and their jackass handlers have denied you: On Oct. 31, 2002, the Texas Democratic party did essentially the same thing when it sent $75,000 to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and received $75,000 back from the DNC the very same day. The study also reveals that Democrats transferred a total of approximately $11 million dollars in soft money from its national parties to fund Texas campaigns in 2002, compared to $5.2 million transferred by Republicans. Now for Ronnie Earle. Oh he's JUST a registered Democrat, right? Like that has no bearing on his purely partisan attack on Delay:

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who denies partisan motives for his investigation of a political group founded by Republican leader Tom DeLay, was the featured speaker last week at a Democratic fund-raiser where he spoke directly about the congressman. A newly formed Democratic political action committee, Texas Values in Action Coalition, hosted the May 12 event in Dallas to raise campaign money to take control of the state Legislature from the GOP, organizers said. ...
In his remarks, Earle likened DeLay to a bully and spoke about political corruption and the investigation involving DeLay, the House majority leader from Sugar Land, according to a transcript supplied by Earle. ...

So he's JUST a registered Democrat that JUST goes to Democrat fundraising events designed to "take control of the statre Legislature from the GOP" and now he's spun a pile of crap into what he thinks it's golden thread. And what would a Donkey prosecutor doing Donkey work be without the Donkey Press falling in line.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

The orginal charge of Conspiracy was based on 2003 laws that Desperate Jackass Earle tried to apply to 2002 events

Moments ago, from CNN's Anderson Cooper 360:

ANDERSON: Joe, the fact that this is a separate grand jury relating to the same event that caused the first charges to be brought, is this an acknowledgement that the first charges, that maybe DeLay's team was right, the conspiracy charge didn't apply in that time?

JOE JOHNS: That's precisely the question. If you look the pleadings they did put out, it gives you a strong indication the law was changed in Texas in 2003, and that's when they put in conspiracy as applied to this count. So the suggestion is, just looking at it on its face, is that the attorneys for Tom DeLay are right, which certainly would be, if true, a big embarrassment for Ronnie Earle, Anderson.

OOOPS! What's a good little jackass to do!? The heat is on! The movie chronicling his mission from god needs a triumphant ending! You just trump up some new bogus charges! Make no mistake folks. The Democrats have NO AGENDA and as a result they have fallen back on trying to politically destroy their opponents in court. Their behavior is reckless and it makes them a danger to our country. Make sure to click the "destroy their opponents" link. Read about what they are accusing Frist of and how pathetic in light of Frist's actions that charge is.

Also posted at Curiouser and Curiouser

Operation Bright Star

Now that everything is said and done, I can tell you that I was in Egypt for three weeks participating in Operation Bright Star. OPSEC before I left was an issue, so I was instructed not to even mention it until everything was wrapped up. But anyways, that's where I was. In the desert.

By the way, anyone who says that Egypt is "sandy" can bite me. It wasn't sandy, it was dusty. The dust was everywhere. It got everywhere. You couldn't get rid of it. Before I hit the rack at night I would shake clouds of dust off of my uniform. You had to soak a handkerchief with water and tie it around your face before you rode in any vehicles just to avoid sucking dust into your lungs. I'm still coughing up brown crap. Although I did see sand at the airport before I left. Other than that, it was all dust.

I went over there with the expectation of doing the job that I had been trained for. Silly me. I was a logistician with no supply room, no computer or network, and no way to order parts or supplies. So I became an honorary mechanic, as well as being the all around gofer. Still learned quite a bit and got experience I wouldn't have dreamed of just sitting at my unit.

And no, I didn't see the pyramids or anything like that. There were a few people who had time to go on tours and see the tourist sites, but I wasn't one of them. I did manage to pick up a few gifts here and there, but for the most part I was confined to the site we were set up in.

I did manage to snap a few pictures, but due to OPSEC we weren't allowed to photograph any of the base we were at. So most of my pictures are rather non-descript. I did take my camera with me when I was on a Blackhawk helicopter, so once those are developed I'll be posting them. I should be taking them to a lab today or tonight, and scanning them in later.

In any case, I'm back! Once I recuperate a bit and do some laundry, I'll be back to blogging on a semi-regular basis. I see that the Left is up to their usual stupidity, so I'll have plenty to get pissed about.

Time to keep on keepin' on.

Good to be back

Just got back from the FTX today. After giving the (ahem) appropriate attention to the Raging Mrs. and enjoying a gin and tonic (in that order), I settled down to find out what has been happening while I've been incommunicado.

I'll fill you all in with the details once I've had a chance to settle down, do laundry, and have a bite to eat. So, most likely it'll be tomorrow.

See you then.

Goodbye Cruel World

BDS is now a pandemic.

My mental state is collapsing and deteriorating almost daily. It's so consistent you could practically graph it. My life is falling apart at an equally alarming rate, and yet I feel like doing nothing to salvage it. I feel like I'm standing at the bottom of one of the WTC towers, watching it come down on me, floor by floor, knowing I'll be blown to atoms, yet unable to move.

Leftist Angst in high relief at DailyKos.

As always, wash (with hot water and soap) when done.

California National Guard meet ghosts in New Orleans

CBS 5: Video Library

Patrick Ruffini :: September Straw Poll: Tag the Vote

Patrick Ruffini :: September Straw Poll: Tag the Vote

Porkbusters

I don't understand the whole attraction around Porkbusters.

If I lived in Lahaska, Pennsylvania and my Congressman had gotten the town five million bucks to build a parking garage that will help alleviate congested streets, bring more businesses to the town, and bring more shoppers to the town, I'd be damned if I'd volunteer to decline the money so the governments of New Orleans and Louisiana can have it.

Cuts across the discretionary board, or convene the Senate and House and start redlining. That makes sense. But asking individual representatives to volunteer to slash their district's budgets to benefit New Orleans, it seems to me, is just delusional.

When the Dems need Votes, the Buses don't stay Parked

On 45 minutes notice, Landrieu's election campaign had no trouble finding drivers for New Orleans' buses when the cause was getting liberal voters to the polls, but with the election won and her poor voters left stranded in a soon-to-be flooded city with no food or drinkable water, the buses stayed parked. At least we know where her priorities are.

...when the management team got word at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday that a GOP tracking poll showed Jenkins ahead, it was time for an instant parade. "Within 45 minutes, we arranged a motorcade," Tucker said. "We found Mary and Marc, got school buses for workers and sound trucks with music and put on a parade to flush out our voters."
...[NOLA Democrat] teams tracked the turnout all day in target precincts. If the vote was slow compared to past elections, some of the 1,000 street workers were sent there to knock on doors and ask people to vote.

Emphasis mine. (Abridged version of original article here.)

If you read about Tom DeLay...

...start here.

Is anyone else...

...getting 404 or Not Authorized errors when visiting Four Right Wing Wackos?

Neat photos

Rescuing Torahs after Katrina.

Cindy Sheehan on John McCain

"He is a warmonger, and I'm not."

WaPo

What a complete, utter creep she is.

Two from LGF

Moonbat marchers mania. Don't miss "Anatomy of a Photograph".

Also, Honor Killing in Denmark. Say no more.

Race Card Poker

Sacred Cow Burgers

Move America Forward

Jake Jacobson attended the conference in Chicago.

"I was a lifelong Republican until Bush..."

We've all heard it before. Well, here is some choice debunkery.

More here.

Commander in Chief

Starts tonight on ABC. I wonder how many episodes go by before a funny talking Southern religious righter or two are craftily dismissed by our new Galantess in the White House? How long before the Patriot Act is vaguely referred to and criticized? How long before protestors in the streets are lauded for their involvement in the process?

Well only time will tell.

ABC set up the show's web site to look like a blog: Mackenzie Watch

Drudge goes just a little bit overboard

Ah well. Here's the story: BREITBART.COM

UPDATE: Dane is on it.

Carnival of Moonbattery

Coverage of this weekend's anti-America protests can be found here:

Global Cop (signs and confrontations)

Pro-America at Stupid Random Thoughts

Totally wacked at Mudville Gazette

How come the rallies keep getting smaller? Gay Patriot

Photos Galore at California Conservative

Open with care. Eek.

LGF

Sights and Sounds at Baldilocks

In San Diego, it's Citizen Smash.

The Grieving Father

Unable to attend today's protests, alas.

(thanks to reader Quinn R. for the donated graphic)

Okay this is weird

What happened to Kim DuToit?

Damned if he do...

After President Bush briefed reporters on his intention to visit the area affected by Hurricane Rita as soon as possible, one reporter yelled, "Sir, what good can you do going down to the hurricane zone? Might you get in the way?"

Click and keep reading.

National Review Online

It's Protest Weekend !

Lots of good clickables in this post at Instapundit.

Ditto the Gazette, whose Patrice Cuddy links are fantastic.

What's Taking So Long?

CNN is the choice of stooges.

Yet more Stuck on Stupid

California "moderate" senator joins the looney left. Shocking stuff.

"I cannot in good conscious cast a 'yea' vote. I will cast a 'no' vote," [Senator Feinstein] said.

Mebbe she could do it while unconscious?

This will just make it that much easier to nominate Janice Rogers Brown for O'Connor's spot.

UPDATE: The Senate Judiciary Committee just voted 13-5 to confirm John Roberts to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Senate will vote on Monday.

Storm Donations Found at Official's Home

C'est le bon!

Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday.

Officers searched Cedric Floyd's home because of complaints that city workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods.

Storm Donations Found at Official's Home

In case you were wondering

My favorite website (besides 4rwws of course... and Danegerus, Captain's Quarters, and Michael Yon... er... and Ace): WuzzaDem. I particularly like this post.

The Battle of New Orleans

This article tells you all you need to know about what went wrong after Katrina and why the 2nd Amendment is so important:

NEW ORLEANS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - After the storm came the carjackers and burglars. Then came the gun battles and the chemical explosions..."The hurricane was a breeze compared with the crime and terror that followed," said Gregg Harris, a psychotherapist who lives in the battered area...Citizens organized armed patrols and checked on the elderly. They slept on their porches with loaded shotguns and bolted awake when intruders stumbled on the aluminum cans they had scattered on the sidewalk.

Gunshots rang out for days, sometimes terrifyingly close.

Telling Un-PC Jokes Earns Soldier Reprimand

At his blog Pass the Brass, Pfc. Heath J. Coleman a.k.a "Sure Fire", a military policeman based at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, often writes humorously, invariably laughing at his own mistakes. His posts, which he says are all true, often end with a message or lesson.

Appearantly, he discovered the hard way that there can be consequences for posting things his commanders don’t approve of. "He was given a list of rules to follow concerning his posting, and SF did fine by sticking to them. So this website has been known to his superiors for quite some time."

This entry from Sure Fire's blog by his brother, Chad, details the worst part of the politically correct war against his brother:

He has been labeled a rascist, a sexist, and an extremist by his fellow soldiers and officers at Bragg. They have gone as far as to call him a disgrace to the United States. Now, I know my little brother is quite a few things, but he is Far from being a disgrace. They have searched his quarters for extremist materials, stripped him of any privilege’s he had, plan to publicly demean him in front of the company. And this is the beginning stage. They have already sought out how to give him a general discharge.

As all of SF’s friends, family, and readers know, SF has a posted some tacky jokes, and off-color humor. Just like most privates or even civilians. He likes to make up weird crazy stories that are obviously phony, all for the sake of being imaginative and funny. We all knew what was true and what wasn’t.

I think everyone who follows SF’s postings knows that SF is NOT a racist, sexist, or even an extremist. Yea, I’ll agree that some things were definetly in bad taste, but I’m guilty of crackin a joke in the same manner.

An entry on the 14th by Chad states that, "things are looking up for him. He can keep the site. He was given an article 15 for some of his Un-PC comments or jokes, and he has to go through and delete those out." And one on the 20th says he has not yet received the artile 15 they threatened to give him so he is getting out "realitively unscathed".

I can completely understand why it is important to monitor the statements made by mil-bloggers to prevent sensitive information from falling into enemy hands. That is a legitimate concern. Preventing them from offering aid and comfort to the enemy would be another. Ensuring that their statements are politically correct is not.

I'f you share these sentiments, you may want to let the officers at Fort Bragg know. Remember to be civil and respectful. Despite the internal conflict transpiring before us, you are still addressing America's finest.

Hat tip to blogger, Pebblepie, who left word of this in our comments.

Also posted at Curiouser and Curiouser.

Cindy Sheehan's Other Son Drowns In New Orleans

It's a parody, and a good one.

Dirty Tricks continue

Two members of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have resigned after admitting they obtained Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's credit report.

Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), said the two staffers told committee officials in July what they had done. He said the committee began an internal investigation and determined it was an isolated incident.

"The DSCC immediately ensured that Mr. Steele's credit report was not used or disseminated to anyone," Mr. Singer said, "It also reported this incident to the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C."

Steele is black, Republican, and considering running for the United States Senate.



Prepare for jihad.

Democrats got Steele's credit report - The Washington Times

Stuck on Stupid: Quick Download...

...Classic Moment.

Newspapers Slashing Jobs

The New York Times, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and San Francisco Chronicle have all recently announced staff reductions.

Pigs, Fascists, Stalinists

The Grieving Mother has some kinda friends.

Is this guy a dope or what???

He'd lose an election to Heinrich Himmler at this point. A race against Robert Byrd might ge tighter.

Bars, restaurants and shops had just begun showing signs of life when the mayor suspended the reopening of the city and ordered nearly everyone to leave town again as a new hurricane headed toward the Gulf of Mexico.

The call for another evacuation came after repeated warnings from top federal officials, including President Bush himself, that New Orleans was not safe enough to reopen. Federal officials warned that Tropical Storm Rita _ upgraded to a hurricane Tuesday morning _ could breach the city's weakened levees and swamp New Orleans all over again.

Jeez.

BREITBART.COM

Broussard Hoax Confirmed

Sometimes I wish I had a bigger megaphone, though, admittedly, a lot ot times I just don't have anything to say.

An emotional moment and a misunderstanding - Hurricane Katrina - MSNBC.com

Money Earmarked for Evacuation Redirected

Who'da thunk it?

As far back as eight years ago, Congress ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan for evacuating New Orleans during a massive hurricane, but the money instead went to studying the causeway bridge that spans the city's Lake Pontchartrain, officials say.

BREITBART.COM