John Leo has a piece on the coming generation, the millennials. While I have no facts to back it up, I've been wondering if we aren't in the midst of a new baby boom. Are we? It seems that half the families I know are having kids, but that maybe just a factor of paying more attention now that I have children of my own. Regardless, read this, it'll make you smile a bit.

Yankelovich and other researchers have been picking up a renewed emphasis on family for years. The yearning for a good marriage is a dominant value among millennials, Clurman says, and 30 percent of those surveyed say they want three or more children. Indeed, one research company, Packaged Facts and Silver Stork, recently predicted a 17 percent increase in the U.S. birthrate over the next 10 years.

Industrialized nations are supposed to be suffering declining, aging populations. If true, this means we are actually becoming more vital, with a strong new generation coming. One without some of the faults we have.

That's worth a smile, isn't it?

From Drudge, an update on the Reagan mini-series. No doubt the writers and producers of this show will scream interference, and censorship, but is it really? If I got the money together to produce a mini-series of say....Jimmy Carter, and then proceeded to write in whole passages of fiction, ignoring all requests by the Carter family to at least try and be fair. Would a request that I run a disclaimer at the bottom,

Gillespie said that if CBS denies the request, he will ask the network to run a note across the bottom of the screen every 10 minutes during the program's presentation informing viewers that the miniseries is not accurate.

Really be so unfair? Fiction is fiction, when you mix it with fact in such a way as that people who do not know their history can't tell the difference, then what purpose is served other than a purely partisan one. That everyone who's publicly connected to this in an important way is a member of the opposition party just ads to the suspection a hatchet job is in the works.

A battle rages in the Abu Ghraib suburb of Bagdad, a stronghold for Saddam's Sunni loyalists. A protest, turn riot, turn firefight. Clearly with thousands involved and differing loyalties, nationalities, there is going to be dispute over the cause. The New York Times oddly enough say's so, noting the general confusion over what happened when exactly.

Local residents and American soldiers offered widely varying accounts of the genesis of the firefight. Residents said the violence grew out of an effort this morning by American soldiers and Iraqi police officers to clear vegetable sellers from the street. Soldiers threw a stun grenade into the crowd, injuring some Iraqis, they said. After the Friday prayer services, a pro-Saddam Hussein demonstration of at least 1,000 people later gathered, escalating the confrontation, the residents said.

But American soldiers said the violence flared when someone threw a grenade at troops patrolling the Abu Ghraib market, slightly wounding two soldiers. Then the police station was hit by mortars, they said. On Sunday night, a mortar attack on the station killed at least one person and wounded two others.

The Guardian?....Well never let it be said they ever passed up a chance to blame the whole mess on the US alone. Compare the headlines of the two articles. Note as well the differing account of the same action as described by the NYT's.

Iraqis said the clash at Abu Ghraib, a western suburb of the capital, erupted when U.S. troops tried to clear market stalls from a main road. Youths threw stones at troops and Iraqi police, and set tires ablaze. Protesters shouted, ``Allahu akbar,'' or ``God is great.''

``God damn America!'' shouted friend Ali Hussein, who said the men were innocent passers-by. He said the Americans fired indiscriminately when Iraqis began throwing stones at them.

The Guardian by printing the qoutes they do, clearly believe them, completely ignoring the context, or passions involved. The truthfullness of arab man on the street interviews is highly suspect. I'm sure that civilians were probably killed, but is the Guardian so certain that we killed them when Iragi's were firing and lobbing mortar rounds? Or that the man qouted even knew the dead, did they follow up, will they check the story out after the fight?

Remember Jenin? They was no shortage of breatheless arabs running up to a camera and screaming massacre, thousands dead, murderers and terrorists...I feel sorry that anyone innocent was caught in the middle, but these shitheads started a shootout in their OWN neighborhood. Liars are not scarce in arab culture, they continue to prove that at every oppurtunity. Check any account by Al Jareeza where they qoute arab spokesmen of any kind. We are burning their tanks by the thousands, they are all committing suicide rather than fight us.

Claims of misdeeds need to be checked, but it would be nice if just once the Guardian and it's ilk actually checked the facts and reported what they know for certain, as opposed to reporting what sounds juicy, then turns out to be smoke.

One other point, did you notice that the first account duly noted that the Iraqi's were lobbing mortars, that a mortar tube had been captured. The Guardian account,

Ten explosions and machine gunfire were heard, and U.S. helicopters hovered overhead.

No mention of the Iraqi mortars, but pointing out the gunships were there. The implication is quite clear, they imply we were the ONLY cause of the explosions. Now when they supposedly were there and talked to the same Army spokesmen, why would they leave that part out?

No wonder we get bad reviews in Europe. The Guardian couldn't slant this any harder without making stuff up.

Since I have been slacking on my news reading duties, today we're going to play a game. With all of the talk of geekery, both in the posts and the comments, we are going to play,

What Makes You A Geek?

Basically, what kind of geek are you and why. Just explain your geekiness in the comments. The biggest geek doesn't get a wedgie.

I'll start.

I am a esoteric geek because, over the past year or so, whenever someone mentions Turkey (the country), I start in with a chorus of "Istambul (not Constantinople)" by They Might Be Giants. Which inevitably ends with a follow-up of either "Whistling in the Dark" or "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair".

I am a car geek because if you get me in the room with someone talking, or even mentioning something about automotive history, performance, stats, etc, you can bet that I am there and engaged in conversation. There are certain friends of mine that I cannot invite over to dinner or double date with because the wife says that all we do is talk about cars.

I am a gun geek. And I think that I have Mr. Kim du Toit beat on this because I have a 5x8 notebook that I keep for each gun. It has information on when I bought it, when I last shot it, how man rounds went through it, how it shot, when I last cleaned it, replaced any parts/springs, any mods I have done, etc. Also, I do not allow anyone to read these notebooks. Unless I am in the prospect of selling it, and then they will get the book on that gun with the purchase.

Now your turn.

Or if you want to be a poopy-bottom about it, head on over to FrontPageMag.com or The Tocquevillian. They always have something good there.

To the Great White North.

Ok, so Montana isn't in Canada, but the wife's parents flew back there today. They left Seattle, with temperatures in the high 50's/low 60's and were expecting to touch down to a nighttime low of 21 degrees.

When they landed, it was minus 1 degree and lightly snowing. All I can say is, keep warm. They told a tale of a couple of years back, that the snow that was on the ground in March was the same snow that fell in October. I hope this isn't going to be one of those years for them.

I won't be having many more purrty scenery pics until the wife gets a couple of days off next week. I hope those will be even better than the previous ones.

Have a good weekend folks.

I have this little quirk,...........a fondness for a certain giant firebreathing green scaley monster whom we will refer to as Mr. Godzilla.

I grew up watching Godzilla on saturday afternoons, late night fridays, I still enjoy him. Campy, silly, without any value whatsoever, it makes me laugh, and escape for awhile, sort of my guilty pleasure. This resource is pretty good, though I wish his picture base was larger.

Everybody has a monster favorite, this one is mine. You can't even peg him as a monster really, more akin to a force of nature, like a flood or a hurricane. A big rubber hurricane with a zipper in the back, which is part of the charm I think, .you can't take this too seriously

The good Doctor Dna from the esteemed Voodoo lounge left a very informative and helpful link to a post over at his place. Worthy of far wider attention. So, giving the Doctor his due, I present his answer to a misguided troll.

THE YIN AS WELL AS THE YANG
You've probably noticed that Instapundit has been leading the blogosphere in covering all the negative spinning of the situation in Iraq by the big media. I've compiled a list of the stories that I've collected, including first-hand reports and stories on media coverage.

Also check out Front Line Voices and Centcom, which releases the positive reports, that don't sell newspapers, as well.

Thank you dr. dna, this has been getting under my skin for awhile, and I greatly appreciate your taking the time to compile this information for all to see.

Bill Moyers....(gag, retch,..ack, ack .....awwwwwwwwk, spit), is so well educated, such a pious icon of Christian lefty goodness that I desire to break things when he speaks. This caught my eye.

Unlike today's crop of cookie-cutter, blow-dried corporate television news celebrities, Moyers is a man who chooses his words carefully because he values and respects the power of language and the importance of his own integrity. He is a craftsman in an age that values the assembly line production of indistinguishable news churned out at a numbing pace.

Nice suckup Buzzflash, now if that is true, then consider this piece here in Moyer's own words.

Everyone operates today in what a friend of mine calls "the blinding white light of 24/7 global medium" -- an increased conglomeration of megamedia corporations has essentially stripped journalism of purpose except pleasing consumers. --Moyers

Oh that's bad, very bad, horribly bad, we are supposed to be indoctrinated,...oops I mean educated by the Reverend Bill without something inconvienent like our own thoughts or wishes getting in the way. Naughty old consumers.........Oh, also let's not forget to dump out something like this. Even if the media isn't leftwing enough to please him, he has discovered the internet.

Right now, as we speak, House Republicans are trying to sneak into the energy bill a plan that would prohibit water pollution lawsuits against oil and chemical companies. Millions of consumers and their water utilities in 25 states will be forced to pay billions of dollars to remove the toxic gasoline additive MTBE from drinking water if the House gives the polluters what they want. I can't find this story in the mainstream press, only on niche websites.--Moyer's

Now any reasonable person might conclude from that, that the story is either without merit, or a flatout lie. The web is full of lunatic fringe sites, we all know that, apparently, Bill does not. You can almost imagine him sitting breathless before the monitor, sweaty hands waiting for the next Bartcop or Dem underground release on the EVIL doings of Bush and his minions. For someone who claims to want to teach the rest of us on what to think, he's pretty damn gulible.

Multiple sources Bill, never take just the word of one or two that the sky is falling. The web is a tool, use it smart guy, or is it possible that as much as you laud the power of free thinking, you indeed don't engage in it yourself.

The Japanese are having serious problems with some of their satellites because of the effects of the monster solar flare we are experiencing. I haven't seen any reports about the Russians, French, Indian, Chinese, British or the US of A having any problems at all.

Am I missing something, or is it a uniquely Japanese problem? Perhaps insuffecient shielding on their part? Also, don't we shield ours against EMP pulses, and would that protect them in this case?

Drudge, on a roll today.

The AFL-CIO is struggling over which of the democratic candidates to endorse....(Imagine a closed hand making an empty up and down motion at this point). I'm in a union, as are most of my adult friends. Does anyone think for one teensy second that I would let a union tell me how to vote? That the UCFW has any sway over my thinking?

BWWHHHAAAAAAhaaaaahaaahhaaaaahhaaaa.......................

The union newsletter, (leftwing rag, as refered to in my home) never makes it onto my desk. The trashcan is so much more receptive.

My point is simple, their endorsement means eaxctly nothing. Those same unions endorsed Mondale in 84 and guess what? Union households voted for Reagan by 60%, so I put zero faith in the ability of any national union to deliver a single vote.

Again, Drudge.

I'm no economist, I follow the numbers, watch for what others I respect have to say, but it's not an area of interest for me. I do understand the basics, growth is good, no growth is bad, and that jobs are dependent on a thriving economy.

The democrats know that their only hope of challenging Bush in 04 is for the economy to be in the dumps. That's when their strengths come into play. They no matter how much they complain, can't change the nations perception that the democrats are very weak on national security. During the nineties Clinton used those trends and perceptions to take and hold the White House. But there is a major difference now, war, and the threat of continued attacks on American soil have shattered the easy times feelings that nurtured Clinton. So unless they can run on a poor economy, the democrats haven't a hope in Hell of retaking the White House. Enter the following,

WASHINGTON (AP) - The economy grew at a blistering 7.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter in the strongest pace in nearly two decades. Consumers spent with abandon and businesses ramped up investment, compelling new evidence of an economic resurgence.

As I said, economics aren't my area of interest, and I'm quite sure many of our readers understand the numbers far better than I. This has got to be devastating news to Dean and Kerry. Their pet issue has just disappeared in a cloud of dust, a confidant economy is the last thing they need. Which leaves the deficit, they can run on it if they like, but if we could pay it down in the nineties, then people can be forgiven for thinking that we can overspend a little in wartime.

From Drudge.

Oh what a thought! And no more ABC or NBC too!

This isn't the boycott I've mentioned in the past being organized by a local talkstation host, but this looks just as good. If you haven't already been to read and sign, take a look and do whay you feel is right. And when the radio host gets his up, I'll let you know about that one as well.

From the front page of the site;
This petition is designed to warn CBS President Les Moonves not to smear President Reagan�s legacy. In the days leading up to the airing of The Reagans, it will be sent to CBS to demonstrate that a substantial audience will not appreciate a movie that invents material to discredit Reagan, while ignoring his great accomplishments in reviving the American economy and rescuing the country from its late-70s malaise.

We believe in free speech, and it is in that spirit that we have created this petition. CBS is free to present its version of history � just as we are free to register our displeasure with their choices and turn our TVs to different channels for the next year. It�s our belief that preserving the legacy of President Reagan is more important than watching Dan Rather, Everybody Loves Raymond, or yes, even the NCAA tournament next March.

Does anyone know of a european or British version of NOW? If there is one, are they up in arms over this, or is the ideal more important?

Elderly women are still being denied potentially life-saving surgery for breast cancer because of their age.

"There is a myth that women over 70 will not live long because they are too frail," said Ian Fentiman, professor of oncology at Guy's and St Thomas's Medical School in London.

According to Professor Fentiman, many of these women are given the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen instead of surgery. Studies have suggested that women with breast cancer who are given Tamoxifen without also having surgery are less likely to survive than those who have both.

About the only group that, according to the BBC, is willing to speak out about this is the British version of the AARP.

Found at Right Thinking on the Left Coast

Heya all. Took the wife's parents down to see my parents yesterday and managed to put a bit of sight-seeing in as well.

You do know to click the pic, right?

Here are just a few of the sailboats moored for the winter at Percival Landing on the east bay of Budd Inlet.

I'm sure you figured the last one out.

This one was taken from the beach at Tolmie State Park facing northeast. The land in the distance is, to the left, Longbranch, to the right, Anderson Island, and in between the two, far out there, is the prison on McNeil Island.

We also visited the capitol grounds. A large number of the buildings were being renovated, including the main building, so no pics of those. But here are a couple of memorials that I'm sure the enrollees at Evergreen State College wish weren't there.

Clicker 1

Here is the Washington State World War I Memorial Statue

And here are the four sides
Side 1
Side 2
Side 3
Side 4

In total, the four sides read as follows;
"To the memory of the citizens of the State of Washington who lost their lives in the service of the United States during the World War 1917 - 1918. They fought to safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy. Their sacrifice was to vindicate the principles or peace and justice in the life of the world. Greater love hath no man than this. That a man lay down his life for his friends"

It is sad that the left of today refuses to think this of the men and women currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Clicker 2

The other memorial I was able to get to was the Washington Medal of Honor Memorial.

There are quite a few names here, and I have included links to the pics.
Side 1
Side 2

My wife's cousin Nick paid her and her mother a visit today, he's on a thirty day leave from the 5th Special Forces Group having just returned to the US. I believe he's enlisted staff, not a Special Forces member himself. Even Green Beanies need their pay processed and records kept. He does valuable work and serves with his unit in hotspots around the world. He'll return to Fort Campbell Kentucky in November, then to places unkown. Of interest,

The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) derives its lineage from the unit of World War II fame -- The First Special Service Forces. "The Devils Brigade" -- a combined Canadian-American Force, constituted 5 July 1942 in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment,1st Battalion, Third Regiment,1st Special Service Force.

I talked with him a bit, but we just barely know eachother, his time was with family. He did tell me he had just reenlisted for four years, that after having served in Iraq. He seems a good man. I truely wish him and his wife all the best.

Instapundit pointed to this article. I refuse to pay Salon for all of it, but even the lead paragraphs are telling.

Oct. 27, 2003 | Allan Johnson, a high school English teacher and debate coach from Fairfax, Va., held a sign saying "U.S. Troops Out of Iraq. Bring Them Home Now!" at Saturday's "End the Occupation" rally in Washington. In fact, though, Johnson isn't sure he wants to bring the troops home now, or to end the American occupation of Iraq. At least, not yet.

Why, then, was he marching at an End the Occupation rally? "I don't agree with all the people here, believe you me," he said. But his own sign? He glanced at it, startled, and explained that someone had handed it to him. "I didn't even look at it," he said. "I was just waving it."

I wonder if this English teacher can spell "SAP"? Really, how can anyone take someone like him seriously on the Iraqi issue? He attends the damned protest, and doesn't even bother to see what he ends up endorsing.

And the Headline?

Dazed and confused about Iraq
ANSWER supports "the Iraqi anti-colonial resistance." Military Families Against the War wants to bring their loved ones home safely. Others who rallied Saturday just hate Bush. Can this antiwar movement be saved?

No, it can't. Because of both who backs it, and who attends it, they have shot their credibility right in the head. A good solid double tap to the back of the skull, right behind the ear. In order to succeed a peace movement needs broad support, a grassroots appeal. This hasn't got anything but the usual suspects, anarchists, communists, radicals, anti-globalists and anti-semites. Whatever small amount of merit a peace arguement may have had is drowning in a sea of distorted facts and ANSWER handouts.

Nobody killed the peace movement, it was a suicide.

From Drudge, Dean's public speechs continue to rally the progressive faithful.
I couldn't make up Dean qoutes as patently absurd as he does himself.

Dean declared himself a "metrosexual," the buzz phrase for straight men in touch with their feminine sides, as he touted his accomplishments in "equal justice" for gay and lesbian couples.

"I'm a square," Dean declared, after professing his metrosexuality to a Boulder breakfast audience with an anecdote about being called handsome by a gay man. "I like (rapper) Wyclef Jean and everybody thinks I'm very hip, but I am really a square, as my kids will tell you. I don't even get to watch television. I've heard the term (metrosexual), but I don't know what it means."

Other than garner the Phil Donahue vote, which he already had sewn up, I'm not sure how much good this does him. He gets a hearty thumbs up from "Spud" though.......

"That dude's right," said junior "Spud" Williamson, wearing camouflage pants and purple spiked hair, about Dean's assertion that the extra $87 billion Bush is seeking to rebuild Iraq could have bought health insurance for every American.

Like the gushing support George McGovern had in 72, the Dean supporters just fail to understand how out of step they are with the country as a whole. Jarringly out of step. Spud may very well be a good kid who's kind to his mother, and helps little old ladies across the street. But I think I'll take my own counsel on Dean's intellect. I suspect it's vastly inferior to my own, but I don't want to be president.

Official Tester of Implements of Destruction maybe..........but not president, he has to wear a suit.

UPDATE,....

Sharpton says Dean has an anti-black agenda.

"Any so-called African American leader that would endorse Dean despite his anti-black record is mortgaging the future of our struggle for civil rights and social justice," Sharpton said.

Sharpton is such an ass. Maybe this little rant will cause the progressive wing of the democratic party to rethink his status as someone worth listening too.

I sense a new gun purchase in my future. I'm still looking around for 'just the right one', but I am itching to do something about this nagging feeling that I have.

Lately, I have found one each of these,

KBI/FEG P9M in 9mm (Hungarian copy of the Browning Hi-Power)

KBI/FEG AP MKII .380ACP (copy of the Walther PP)

Kim du Toit talks about FEG products here, and from what I've seen, I would have to say that I agree with him. No, I won't be buying them over the internet from the links above. I have found them locally.

I'll let you all know either on Friday or Saturday. Whenever I get through scratching my head and, per usual, just make an impulse buy. Heck, I could end up with another 870.

After yesterday's post I feel the need to tell you of a secret addiction of mine. Hunter S. Thompson books. Just like Mel Gibson's character in the movie 'Conspiracy Theory' who had the same compulsion with 'Catcher in the Rye', every time I see a book by HST, I have to buy it. Even if I have that very same book, same edition, in better condition, etc, I have to buy it.

So, since the wife's mother went on a shopping trip yesterday, and there was a used book store in the area, I was foolish and wandered inside. And there they were, mint copies of Hell's Angels, Songs of the Doomed and The Great Shark Hunt. They are all mine now along with a trade paper version of a book you must read before next November.

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72.

I don't care if you buy it or check it out from the library, but you need to read this book. I keep hearing about how '04 will be like '68, but they are all wrong. It will be '72 all over again. Read, it stars George McGovern as Howard Dean, Shirley Chisholm as Carolyn Mosley-Braun and Ed Muskie as John Kerry. I haven't figured out who will be Wallace, but I think it may be Clark. Thompson talks football with Nixon and tells about how he invented the fax machine (the Mojo-Wire).

Yes, I know HST's politics kinda suck and his behavior is rather unconventional, but I am not promoting any of that. I just want you to put all that aside for a day or so and take in his drug addled observations of riding around with the Dem candidates in 1972.

By the way, I wanted to name this post 'The Million-Pound Shit Hammer' after one of the sub-chapters in the book, but chickened out. Hey, we try to keep some semblance of a family blog 'round here.

And no, I have never read 'Catcher in the Rye' and I refuse to do so. I have had two friends get strange after reading that one, and since I can't come up with an explaination for it, I stay away.

But I read Poe and Kafka like a madman. Go figure?

"Take a chance and roll the dice."

For the truely refined ghoul on this All Hallow's Eve..........

Ride with the moon in the dead of night

Everybody scream, everbody scream

In our town of Halloween!

An appetizer, main course, then dessert..........While not strickly speaking a Halloween site, it goes to show tongue firmly in cheek, that Canadians do indeed have a sense of humor.........

This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween!

For the start of Ramadan.

It's getting harder and harder to buy the old "Religion of Peace" moniker, know what I mean?

My current spate of time off from work has given me an abundant amount of time for reading. This evening I was perusing through my book collection and found a new counterpoint that you can use whenever you run into one of those 'It's all about the OOIILL!' types. You can assure them that we only went into Iraq for the safety of the American citizen and frogs. Yes, frogs.

Reading further;
"We use only the finest baby frogs, dew-picked and flown from Iraq, cleansed in the finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and sealed in a succulent, Swiss, quintuple-smooth, treble-milk chocolate envelope, and lovingly frosted with glucose."

There you are folks, proof positive that we went into Iraq for frogs and not oil!

You didn't think that I would give you the impression that you should take the 'oil-heads' seriously? Oh Forsooth!

The hardcore Python fans out there will know that I am reading The Complete MPFC All the Words, Book 1, Episode Six "It's the Arts". I should hit Book 2 by this weekend if I don't end up in the hospital from splitting a side first. That would be 'orrible as I would be stuck being only able to read my tech manuals repeatedly during recovery.

(The links above go to Amazon.com. But any respectable shop should carry them)

Below, in the 'More' section is the entire 'Cruncy Frog/Whizzo Chocolate Company' skit. If you're at all interested.

(A door opens. Inspector Praline looks round door. )

PRALINE: (to camera) Hello. (He walks in followed by Superintendent Parrot and goes to desk) Mr Milton? You are sole proprietor and owner of the Whizzo Chocolate Company?

MILTON: I am.

PRALINE: Superintendent Parrot and I are from the hygiene squad. We want to have a word with you about your box of chocolates entitled The Whizzo Quality Assortment.

MILTON: Ah, yes.

PRALINE: (producing box of chocolates) If I may begin at the beginning. First there is the cherry fondue. This is extremely nasty� but we can�t prosecute you for that.

MILTON: Agreed.

PRALINE: Next we have number four - �crunchy frog�.

MILTON: Ah, yes.

PRALINE: Am I right in thinking there�s a real frog in here?

MILTON: Yes. A little one.

PRALINE: What sort of frog?

MILTON: A dead frog.

PRALINE: Is it cooked?

MILTON: No.

PRALINE: What, a raw frog?

(Superintendent Parrot looks increasingly queasy.)

MILTON: We use only the finest baby frogs, dew picked and flown from Iraq, cleansed in finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then sealed in a succulent Swiss quintuple smooth treble cream milk chocolate envelope and lovingly frosted with glucose.

PRALINE: That�s as maybe, it�s still a frog.

MILTON: What else?

PRALINE: Well don�t you even take the bones out?

MILTON: If we took the bones out it wouldn�t be crunchy would it?

PRALINE: Superintendent Parrot ate one of those.

PARROT: Excuse me a moment. (exits hurriedly)

MILTON: It says �crunchy frog� quite clearly.

PRALINE: Well, the superintendent thought it was an almond whirl. People won�t expect there to be a frog in there. They�re bound to think it�s some form of mock frog.

MILTON: (insulted) Mock frog? We use no artificial preservatives or additives of any kind!

PRALINE: Nevertheless, I must warn you that in future you should delete the words �crunchy frog�, and replace them with the legend �crunchy raw unboned real dead frog�, if you want to avoid prosecution.

MILTON: What about our sales?

PRALINE: I�m not interested in your sales, I have to protect the general public. Now how about this one. (Parrot enters) It was number five, wasn�t it? (Parrot nods) Number five, ram�s bladder cup. (Parrot exits) What kind of confection is this?

MILTON: We use choicest juicy chunks of fresh Cornish ram�s bladder, emptied, steamed, flavoured with sesame seeds whipped into a fondue and garnished with lark�s vomit.

PRALINE: Lark�s vomit?

MILTON: Correct.

PRALINE: Well it don�t say nothing about that here.

MILTON: Oh yes it does, on the bottom of the box, after monosodium glutamate.

PRALINE: (looking) Well I hardly think this is good enough. I think it would be more appropriate if the box bore a large red label warning lark�s vomit.

MILTON: Our sales would plummet.

PRALINE: Well why don�t you move into more conventional areas of confectionery, like praline or lime cream; a very popular flavour I�m led to understand. (Parrot enters) I mean look at this one, �cockroach cluster�, (Parrot exits) �anthrax ripple�. What�s this one, �spring surprise�?

MILTON: Ah - now, that�s our speciality - covered with darkest creamy chocolate. When you pop it in your mouth steel bolts spring out and plunge straight through-both cheeks.

PRALINE: Well where�s the pleasure in that? If people place a nice chocky in their mouth, they don�t want their cheeks pierced. In any case this is an inadequate description of the sweetmeat. I shall have to ask you to accompany me to the station.

MILTON: (getting up from desk and being led away) It�s a fair cop.

PRALINE: Stop talking to the camera.

MILTON: I�m sorry.

(Superintendent Parrot enters the room as Inspector Praline and Milton leave, and addresses the camera.)

PARROT: If only the general public would take more care when buying its sweeties, it would reduce the number of man-hours lost to the nation and they would spend less time having their stomachs pumped and sitting around in public lavatories.

US Air Force Counter-Snipers working with the 82nd Airborne.

The Air Force has been quietly training a different breed of sniper, using the aquired knowledge of the Army and Marines, they hope to impress the brass enough to continue the program on an official basis.

Enter Air Force countersnipers, the cat to an enemy sniper�s mouse, to a mission that led late Marine Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Hathcock II, the military�s best known sniper � a man with a confirmed kill from a distance greater than 22 football fields � to say, �The most deadly thing on the battlefield is one well-aimed shot.�

More than two-dozen Guard and active duty security forces airmen have graduated from the Air Force Countersniper School at Camp Joseph T. Robinson in Arkansas. (As of December 2001). The 15-day course, taught at the National Guard Marksmanship Center, gives security forces a boot camp on countersniper tactics and procedures. It also introduces them to the life of one of their key adversaries � the military sniper.

The Air Force has always used the best of the Army's and Marines's lessons to turn out uniquely skilled operaters, surprised? I'm not, not when I've seen some of the historical precursers to this. The average Air Force recruit has traditionally scored higher on entry exams, highly motivated and smarter than average.

I believe the birth of a new kind of spec ops is in the making. The blue suits are joining the Army spec ops, the Marines, and the SEALS in wet work. I'm only sorry that I can't.........

But once upon a time, I was graced. I would so like to have had a chance to attend that school.

One thing we know for certain after 9/11, that terror groups and petty dictaters in the middle east have long had incestous relations. Feeding money, weapoms and people back and forth. So much so that you never can clearly see who exactly is up, and who is down at any given moment.

But for those who iceily proclaim that Iraq and 9/11 have no connection, a little cold water.

There remain exponentially more questions than answers concerning Saddam Hussein's relationship to al Qaeda. Among them, it is a mere matter of detail to know why a native Iraqi, thanks to a contact in the Iraqi embassy, was in a position to escort two September 11 hijackers to a critical planning meeting, or why he possessed contact information for Osama bin Laden's "best friend." But the overarching fact--that Saddam and al Qaeda had a relationship--can no longer be seriously disputed.

No doubt those who blame everything on us, Bush, the Cia, or just plain American failure to give hugs and kisses to the "right" people. My problem with this is simple, when a buffoon factory like Moveon.org claims Bush is guilty of every crime in history because of a round robin course of Kevin Bacon style connection games.............why can't they believe this?

We know why sadly, they've picked their boogeyman, no others will do. They want Bush to be evil, so in their eyes, he is and always will be. They ignore real monsters, I just wonder if they would do so even after the shrapnel gets picked out of their backside?

Hating Bush will not save them. We are all infidels in this Jihad, so selfdelusion is not as safe as it used to be.

Loses its mind - completely. Posting a bogus "story" under the Reuters tag alleging that Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs has been arrested for pedophilia.

How very, very typical. I don't like your message, I can't rationally debate it, so I'll make shit up and try to destroy your reputation.

But I really fucking hate liberals."

It does my heart good to see CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC all look on and wonder WHY people watch Fox news.

Harmonia is back........

So which of these in drag spicettes do you think he/she/it most resembles? Considering harm's past love affair with swarthy young arab fanatics, perhaps we should let it in on a little secret. Muslim countries stone people like him. To survive and be gender confused in the middle east, you have to live in Israel.

But I digress......I will not waste any effort replying to it. It's like talking to a fart machine, designed to offend, without a mind to understand how utterly pathetic it is. Feel free to work it over some if you like, the mop and bucket will be provided.

Friends?

Ahhh, if only life were a sitcom.

Welcome to the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan.

This is a page set up by the US Navy as an introduction to the recently commissioned CVN 76. There are pics, facts and figures there as well as lists of the advancements made during the ships construction. Take some time and walk your way through.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any 'traditional' naval sayings to wish the ship and her crew well, but I happen to know a couple of ex-Navy fellas who sail through these parts that might be able to help me out. Gentlemen?

As you drunk I am, Minority Whip!

Teddy Kennedy, under suspicion of VWI (Voting While Intoxicated)
Kennedy: "I have never had consumptual relations with that liquor".

Hard-drinking Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy appeared to be so confused on the Senate floor last week that he prompted "audible gasps" from his colleagues by mistakenly voting for two pieces of legislation he was known to oppose - only to have his votes corrected later.

The fumble required the intervention of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, who had to explain what happened to Kennedy and get him to change his vote.

He is bringing new meaning to the term "Drunk and passed out on the floor"

Thanks to reader Sondra for the tip.

Well, today is officially my first day of vacation and I wanted you all to see what the wife, the in-laws and I have been doing so far.

Click da pic for supersize.

This is downtown Seattle (plus the Belltown/Lower Queen Anne neighborhoods that house the Seattle Center and the Space Needle on the left) taken from Alki Ave at the base of West Seattle facing east.

Clicken der pic.

This is later that same day and was shot at Golden Gardens Park just outside of the Ballard neighborhhod in North Seattle. The mountain range seen in the background is called the Olympics. I believe that the darker land mass you see in front of the Olympics is Vashon Island.

If'n you like the last pic, I have one other that is as good and 5 or 6 others that I deemed not as good, and I'll email the to you upon request, free of charge (Void where prohibited).

I had to research this somewhat, I didn't want to depend entirely on my own memory. This man may have had the greatest impact on the survival of the state of Israel than any other, and he was an American.

David "Mickey" Marcus

Undaunted, Stone designed a command structure for Israel's new army and wrote manuals to train it, adapting his experience at Ranger school to the Haganah's special needs. He identified Israel's weakest points as the scattered settlements in the Negev and the new quarter of Jerusalem. When Israel declared independence and the Arab armies attacked in May 1948, Israel was ready, thanks to Stone's planning. His hit-and-run tactics kept the Egyptian army in the Negev off balance. When the Jewish section of Jerusalem was about to fall, Marcus ordered the construction of a road to bring additional men and equipment to break the Arab siege just days before the United Nations negotiated a cease fire. Israel had withstood the Arab assault with its borders virtually intact. In gratitude, Ben Gurion named Mickey Marcus Lieutenant General, the first general in the army of Israel in nearly two thousand years.

I remembered this story from childhood memories of this film. Cast a Giant Shadow, in response to this post by Neal.

Catherine was largely right I think. The bond to Israel is real, it's deep, far deeper than mere religion could explain. I feel it, me, a descendant of Brits and Germans with some Cherrokee blood. The songs of the Hebrews are not the songs of my ancesters, yet they speak to me. I'm born and bred pure midwest, I have no contact with the middle east other than what I read or see on television. There is no logical reason for me to care deeply about the fate of people whose lives and religion are so far away,....yet I do care. This story may have set me on that path.

Marcus's body was flown back for burial at West Point, where his tombstone identifies him as "A Soldier for All Humanity." Hollywood would later immortalize Marcus in a movie, "Cast A Giant Shadow."

Ben-Gurion put it simply, "He was the best man we had."

I say sure, why not, I'll gladly send him one. I doubt however the sentiment will be one his snobbish oh so superior upper class breed of lefty will enjoy. I suspect "GET FUCKED" may appear somewhere in the email, which is kindly provided at the bottom of this piece of mindless crap.

Tony Blair, on the other hand, has nothing to gain and everything to lose from the visit. He may not have noticed it, but President Bush is regarded in Britain with something approaching contempt. He has achieved the unusual feat of being simultaneously sinister and ridiculous, and he is regarded as the rich kid who grew up arrogant and inarticulate. But it is his role in making the war in Iraq inevitable that makes him unwelcome here. There are no votes to be won by being buddy-buddy with a man who is despised by most of the British public.

This from a man writing in a paper that represents an ever shrinking circle jerk of British lefties, forever shrieking their hatred for America when it's governed by any republican. We are the same country, same people as when Clinton or Reagan was president. Also to a big part of the reason Bush is disliked by so many Brits (not an overwhelming number) is that fools like this guy have been pounding that in since day one of Bush's presidency.

For all their nose in the air snobbery, the British press has few stars. The London Times, Financial Times just about cover it. They have international credibility, respect. The Guardian?........These guys hate the fact Blair can't be forced out by anyone in the British left, because there isn't anyone good enough to replace him. They hate the Tories even more, and pine for the days when a good Labour PM was insulting the US rather than working closely with us.

Poor widdle babies, does insulting Bush give you a stiffy? When at the same time you insult 300 million pissed off yanks,.......is it worth it? He's our president, our representitive, you insult him, you insult me. That was as true as when Clinton was in. So sip your tea and wrinkle you nose Roy old boy, a fop like you is Britains shame, a lame joke of old class distinction and schoolboy ties. Your time is dying, your best and brightest come here to learn, live, and ultimately,...stay.

You country is becoming more like us, bit by bit, your kids sing our music, wear our jeans, go to our movies. Could it be that your pruned up old ass is out of ideas?

But he ought to know how strongly so many of us feel. Send a postcard to the American embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE.

My email will be to you, I hope you like it. Sideways, upwards, with a twist.

You should be used to walking funny, so the sensation won't be new.

Cox & Forkum have struck again, this time targeting the slap happy lefty love fest on the Washinton Mall. This pretty much says it all, I can't add anything to it.

You'll be in my heart.

I'm more deeply affected by Neal's post on child abuse, than anything else I've seen lately. A man should die before he harms a child, freely, with a smile throwing his life on the fire to protect even one small life. A father, guardian, protecter, it's our role as men, wether you ever father a child or not.

I can't get the mental image out of my head, those poor, poor babies and children. Not now, not ever should we become used to such things. My recent brush with disaster has maybe left me hyper sensitive, but I can't see this unemotionally. My wife and I drove home to meet those EMT's full of terror, my head full of unspoken, silent prayers. Please, God, ...please, spare our baby. We couldn't not imagine the worst, so to see this pair of Hellspawn do this to those tragic little lives.......it makes me shake with rage, burning firery hate, HOW COULD THEY?.........

Their punishment is coming, so I focus now on those kids. Stunted in mind and body, forever scared. I'll pray for them, as will millions of others who will read and hear about this case. Maybe, maybe,....they will be lifted above what has been done to them. Some people are born to nurture children, to care for them, to seek them out and bring a tiny bit of light into their lives. Some, but there are never enough.

I wish there were more.

Come stop your crying
It will be all right
Just take my hand
Hold it tight

You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be here
in my heart always
Always ----------Vocals: Phil Collins and Glenn Close

And read this.

Actually, what I want you to read is comment #32 from Catherine.

Of the Schiavo case. Seems as if Michael didn't attend nursing school until AFTER his wife was stricken, which would obviate the "he should have known about a living will" argument.

Starting to look like a "real" bomb threat. Who knew you could mail rocket launchers around Canada? Well, I guess everyone does, now.

I wonder what kind of comments they would have left at an exhibition of Americans killed during the WTC attacks? I'm sure we "deserved" it as well.

Anyone still think that appeasing these types is a good idea? Anyone? Harmonia? Anyone?

Via LGF

It's the gun control LAWS that get 'em.

�The gun issue is the silent killer� of Democrats, said Deborah Barron of Americans for Gun Safety, which is tutoring candidates on the gun issue. �Democrats will be extinct in red states unless� they change how gun owners view their party. �Red states� is political shorthand for states President Bush won. These red states have a significantly higher percentage of gun owners than the states Gore won in 2000, studies show.
In a new national poll, Americans for Gun Safety � which was created by the founder of Monster.com � found gun owners by huge margins see Democrats as the party that wants to ban guns and blame law-abiding gun owners for crime problems.

A few hundreds of millions of Americans don't.

I wonder how many of those "thousands" are American, and how many aren't? Notice the protestors try and claim 100,000 attendees, but official estimates are an order of magnitude lower. And photos from the scene sure don't support that there were 100,000 people protesting.

So, let's see - The US census "Popclock" estimates that there are 292,432,327 people in the US as of 9:18 EST 10/26/03. Ten thousand (or hell, let's even make it 100,000) protest:

100,000/292,432,327 * 100 = .03 PERCENT of the population. In other words, 99.97% of the population wasn't out protesting with puppets and clowns and Bush=Hitler signs (or 99.997% if you believe the 10,000 estimate). That works out to about 1 protestor per 2924 (or 29,243) Americans "available" for protest. So the guy holding the "Bush doesn't speak for me sign" may be right about him personally, but seems to miss the mark rather badly from a global sense.

To go.

Ooooohhhh, man. The bill is gonna be ugly when France has to pay for its policies of appeasement towards radical Islam. I wonder if we'll be there to bail them out?

But, as Charles says, Chirac should be proud that his popularity is higher than either Osama or Saddam with the "kill America" crowd.

But of course......

For those of you who were able to fight the temptation to watch the 'protest' on the lawn of the D.C. Mall yesterday, here are some necessary updates.

First, this pic I found @ LGF.

Kind of gives them away, don't it?

Next, we wander on over to Ms. Michele's place (asmallvictory.net) for her play by play commentary on those with 'the look of the simple' who gathered yesterday.

While at Ms. Michele's I found a link to a Ms. Anna's Petbunny blogspot blog (blogspot's links may not work, so just scroll down to the 'Solidarity with Saddam' post).

Now, Ms. Anna was brave enough to mingle with these folks who are only breathing because their brains are hoping for a cohesive thought and it figures that if the body that it is in stays alive a while longer, it is bound to happen. While none of the pictures will probably shock you, they are still very woth taking a look at.

Myself, I caught a total of about an 45 mins of the whole program between the live play and the re-run and the re-re-run. Hell, you could probably flip on C-SPAN now and they'll still be promoting, oops, I mean replaying the 'protest'.

If you're wondering why I put the word 'protest' in quotes, you need to go to Ms. Michele's and read her commentary. It wasn't a protest so much as it was a massive feces blast of hard left issues shat in one fell poop (there I go again, I meant swoop).

Be so fucking monstrous?

But, by all means, let's do everything we can to turn America into a socialist welfare state.

Bastards.

Have editors to catch simple little mistakes like this:

On March 12, the publicity paid off. Residents in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy spotted the man Mary Katherine identified as Elizabeth's abductor, a drifter and self-styled profit named Brian David Mitchell who had done work on the Smart family home. Police found him walking with two people in white robes. One was Elizabeth.

Yeah, it's a simple mistake. But isn't having editors what makes newspapers so much more "superior" than blogs?

The idea for this came from RNS reader Richard.

Where I found this article.

So I ask you, what word does the author try really, really, really hard to keep from mentioning?

Just because we CAN do someting doesn't mean we SHOULD do it.

I haven't posted on this topic, because I think it is a horrible position for the family and the husband to be in. As for the wife in the "vegetative state" - who knows what is going on in her mind. Anything? Nothing? Is she screaming in frustration because all she can do is lay in the same bed for 11 years, never interacting with the outside world, never able to communicate her needs/desires? Has she slowly gone insane because her mind is cut off from all outside stimulus, or does she live in some idyllic fantasy world where her brain doesn't recognize her handicap, and she thinks everything is just lovely.

I guess my belief is that the probability of it being something really horrible far outweighs the likelihood that she enjoys being this way, and that keeping her alive is cruel and unusual punishment.

Yes, there are reports of people that are in comas one day waking up, even after years of being comatose. But this woman isn't comatose - she's vegetative. She has a level of consciousness, but her brain just doesn't work. The possibility of this massive damage reversing itself is basically nil.

After waiting forever to get around to ordering it, my Rugger 10/22 upgrades arrived yesterday (yay! Thanks UPS). As soon as the box was through the door, I set about installing the goodies.

Here is a stock 10/22

Here is mine now,

I ordered the 10/22 Hogue stock and Clerke Barrel combo from J&G; Sales (their page is also in my links section). J&G; are good people. I use them quite often for bulk ammo purchases.

The only sad part was the ease of assembly. I had lots of time to kill yesterday morning and was hoping for something unexpected to pop up.

I was able to take the scope off, remove the barreled action from the stock, install the new barrel, replace the barreled action in the new stock and remount the scope in under an hour without even trying. And it isn't only because I have done this before. One of the greatest things about 10/22's is their ease of assembly and operation. A screwdriver and an allen wrench were the only tools neceassary. I can't think of a reason to not own one. I'm even leaning towards buying another one so that I can get it suppressed. If you have never fired a suppressed weapon, consider your life incomplete. Same thing goes for a full auto.

So now, I have a gun that desperately needs a sighting in and 3000 rounds of ammo for it. Just what is a fella to do? I've got Nov. 1st filled in with Raging Dave. Anyone else want to come along or volunteer?

Here's the "Neocon Quiz". Brought to you by the Christian Science Monitor. Take a moment and run through it. Found at The Ville

My first pass through I was a 'Neocon'

Neoconservatives�

Historical neoconservative: President Teddy Roosevelt
Modern neoconservative: President Ronald Reagan

My second pass through I was a 'Realist'

Here is a list of all the results

Yesterday, Mr. John Hawkins of Right Wing News had a post on 'The Neocon Myth'. Here's a quote,

"I'm not going to pull any punches here. Roberts is making about as much sense as the nuts who claim that the Illuminati rule the world. Moreover, 95% of what you see written about neocons is purely delusional poppycock that the writers may as well just be making up off the top of their heads."

"The reality is that the term neocon was originally coined to describe left-wingers who moved to the right. Beyond that, even prominent neoconservatives like Jonah Goldberg & Max Boot can't describe any truly coherent set of beliefs that neocons adhere to."

All I can think of now is 'I'm glad I'm going on vacation tomorrow'.

Every parents worst nightmare, the unexpected phone call from the sitter to tell you the EMT's are on their way to your house, one of your children is hurt.

Our Amanda and Nathan.

Tonight, at about 9:30 at work, I got that call. First I must tell you that they are both fine, they're OK. But the call was that Nathan had climbed up on an old ridgeback rocker that had been my wife's grandfathers and had fallen, he was bleeding badly from the back of his head. I paged the manager, told them the gest of the call, and ran for the door, my wife was also at work and I was there in about 4 minutes of the call. We rushed home and I drove across the neighbors front yard to get close to the house, the squads had blocked the street.

Nathan was awake and talking to the EMT's, I had about 10 people in my home, family who beat us there, and EMT's. I held my boy as I listened to the fire lt. tell me the situation. They would transport, because a bleeding head injury was always taken seriously and would I ride with him in the squad, since he was calling for me. Satan himself couldn't have held me back.

I've seen enough blood in my life, I don't panic and old training kicks in. I knew Nate was probably alright, that scalp wounds always bleed alot. But that ride to the ER was the longest one of my life. Nate was strapped down, and while the firemen wanted me to sit on the bench, I rode all the way there on my hands and knees straddling Nate, holding his hands and talking to him, he was so scared, so frightened.

A cousin drove my wife, my strength in with my mother in law. First a catscan, then x-rays confirmed no serious injury, just a bump and a laceration requiring two staples to close. We were there for four hours, and by the time we left, Nate was laughing and happily eating M&M;'s. I have to schedule followups with the pediatrician, but Nate is going to be fine.

My son is OK, and I'm thanking God for that. I also can't say enough good things about those fine men and women of the Newark City Fire Department. God smile on you all. My boy impressed the doctors and firemen, he was talking so well for 22 months old. He didn't cry when they injected and stapled him, he yelled out and clung tightly to me,....and I would have let them saw my arm off if I could have traded places with him.

Those pictures were taken last year on a kids digital camera. They are the only pictures I have of them on my computer right now. Our babies are so precious, my Angie and I, we would do anything to keep them safe. Nights like tonight make us stronger for the depths they take us too, when you see bold and clear what matters in the world, and what you have to lose, and what you will do to protect them.

I offer a little prayer, for our children and for all the rest of the babies in the world.

Remember our old friend "Screaming Red" George Galloway? Seems he's been active again.

Maverick MP George Galloway was today expelled from the Labour Party over his outspoken criticism of the war in Iraq.

Not like getting jail time surely, but shame is a wasted emotion on a screaming lefty, they can't feel it. His plans for the President's visit to the UK next month.

"Whilst we bear them (Americans) absolutely no ill will, indeed the opposite, we hate their president and think he is one of the world's most dangerous men," Galloway said. "They should take the opportunity they have next November to do the world a favour, as well as themselves, and get rid of him."

The election for president is next year Gally old boy, he not vry smmart is hee...

His friends stand by him.

Galloway has a relationship with the Muslim community going back many years, since the MP first spoke out against the plight of the Palestinian nation and sanctions against Iraq.

Indeed, his relationship has been reputed to be very "profitable".........

Mr Galloway has always strenuously denied that he took any money from the Iraqi regime.
-------------------

"Our story was based on a different set of documents found in a different set of circumstances.

Needless to say my contempt for this guy is almost beyond description, it's only adding to the comedy that he has a history of questionable money dealings.

But always, always the questions. In that same year, 1987, he faced inquiries over his financial stewardship at the charity War on Want, where he had been general secretary for four years.

But in the process he spoke of his behaviour at an earlier charity conference in Greece. Bemused journalists listened as Mr Galloway

When he looks like a rat, sounds like a rat, and acts like a rat................experience suggests that he may indeed, be a rat.

I found this piece of satire at the Seattle IMC

(Miami)--In a move that has significantly altered the political landscape of the Middle East, PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat on Saturday announced his retirement and quickly moved to Miami, Florida. Almost immediately, Arafat claimed 39% of the land owned by Hillel House on the campus of The University of Miami, as well as land occupied by the Moses Mendelssohn Community Retirement Center situated in the trendy South Beach section of the city.

Ashwari blames the Jews for converting the Florida swamps into settlements, housing developments and malls that have destroyed the historic evidence for Muslim /Palestinian existence in Florida since 1000 BCE, 1600 years before Muhammad.

Don't forget to read this bit I found and posted yesterday. Funny and dead on.

Since I am still quite 'analog' and don't know how to get a real poll up, I'm just going to ask a question and take your responses down the old fashioned way. In the comments section.

Question:
Can the unanimous resolution from the UN last week on the subject of getting more world support for us in Iraq be counted as another French military defeat?

1. Yes?

2. No?

3. Oatmeal-Walnut-Raisin cookies are deeelish.

Imagine that!

Compassion-Based Schools Teach Kids 'Untrue Drivel'

A controversial curriculum focusing on "humane education," which advocates say includes compassion for animals, awareness of environmental problems like so-called global warming and overpopulation as well as non-violence, is expanding into the U.S. public school system.

"This is not preparing students in any way because the whole point here is to stick these kids' heads in the sand and teach them fantasies about how to loathe modern conveniences and prosperity and how to talk to the animals," Horner told CNSNews.com.

Any parent who would let their child go to one of these schools should be locked up for abuse.

Found at ThoseShirts.com. Be sure to check out some of their other great products.

Who changed her name to 'GoVeg.com'?

A new German study found B12 levels low enough to cause attention, mood, and thinking problems in a whopping 68% of vegetarians, and low enough to raise blood homocysteine--a risk factor for heart disease, dementia, and Alzheimer's--in 38%.

Found a while back at Right Thinking, but was misfiled.

As has been happening lately in the sphere (Misha and MTPolitics just to name a couple), the wife and I are hosting her parents for about a week. So blogging from my side will be light. We do plan on visiting some scenic spots and I will be taking pics and posting them, but politics may be out of my realm of research.

Also, as of midnight this Friday I will be on two weeks vacation as mandated by my boss. After Thursday the 30th, If anyone wants to meet up for a range session, I'm game. I'll be going everyday anyway so the location is the only variable.

Remember, pumpkins are cheapest after Halloween. (Mwahahahahaha)

Of the Jenin variety, that is.

So, the Palestinians have a Rodney King moment..........

via LGF

One of the reasons that we need those European style work weeks AK mentions below is so that we can continue to move towards the utopian ideal of a worker's paradise.

Why can't you people understand that?

Wasn't one of the reasons that 10,000 people died from a heat wave in France is bacause people were unwilling to give up their summer holiday to check on Grandma? Not all that interested in that, thank you very much.

Did you know that among certain segments of the ultra religious that the Man in the Moon logo which used to mark the product lines of every product sold by Protor & Gambel was the mark of Satan?

In the spirit of Halloween I give you this little horror story. I have personal experience with some of the believers in this tale. It's not pretty, in fact it makes you dispair for the ability of some people to breath without instructions from their pastor. I've worked for one of the largest retail food chains for a lot of years, I've seen more quirks and distortions in human behavior than you can imagine. I've done most everything that can be done in this business. Dealing with the public is the toughest.

In small town Ohio I probably run into zealots more than a more urban setting would generate. They take your breath away with the patently stupid things they choose to share with you. The Man in the Moon story was one of the first I heard, but there are others. Even among some of my coworkers such beliefs in the boneheaded are not unknown. Did you know that by letting my children go trick or treating and dressing up, that I am teaching them Satanism? Neither did I until a 50 something woman at work told me that. My reply was rude to the point of cruel, but dammit I'm tired of this kind of crap.

Stuff like this is why I don't follow any pastors, why I go my own way. I don't judge God by the people who claim his favor. But if I could get God's ear for just a moment, some of his most outrageous spokesmen would be rendered mute.

Whose picture do you suppose they use as an example? I know who my choice would be.......

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Methane bubbles from the sea floor could, in theory, sink ships and may explain the odd disappearances of some vessels, Australian researchers reported on Tuesday.

If true, how common could this be? Plus, why would it sink a ship? Why would the bubbles not just break on the surface around it, elicit a "who farted" question, and the ship sail on?

A weird little Halloween mystery.

My employer has hooked up my fellow employees and I with a new boot supplier. I was going through their catalog and found, what I believe should be the new standard issue footwear for all the soldiers in the VRWC's Jackboot Brigades.

Let me describe the boot to you. They are made of full grain leather on the outside and Kevlar on the inside. They have both a steel toe and a built-in metatarsal guard along with a stainless steel bottom plate so that if you step on a protester's dropped sign as you are chasing them out of the street, your feet are protected all the way around.

They are shock proof and shed static electricity so that when you knock down their stage and 220V audio equipment at a demonstration with a fire hose, you won't get electrocuted.

They are heat resistant and fire proof so that after you set fire to their homes and are walking through the ashes, you are protected from the calf down.

They are waterproof all the way up to the calf as well. You can slosh your way through hippie and anarcho-commie blood, saliva and entrails up to 10 inches deep without getting your socks dirty. You know those socks that are being specially manufactured in Wolfowitz's central asian sweatshops for the Brigades. You certainly don't want those to get dirty. We need the bleach to pour down the throats of the Gitmo prisoners.

The best thing about them is the new toe design. Called the "Tiger Tip", it is ribbed for your pleasure. Just image the look on the face of the next hippie as you remove these stompers from their ass after being ankle deep.

And remember, hippies wear hemp and these full grain leather boots are clean again after just one wipe with that abrasive material.

I found another satire piece at my local IMC.

One of the most successful programs on the Fox TV Network is something called Joe Millionaire. It has an interesting premise, they take a regular guy, put him in a mansion with a butler, and riches. They tell a group of single women that he is a millionaire and they compete for his attention. At the end he picks one but he has to tell them that he is really broke. The only problem with the show is that if it is a success it you can't do it again. After all the buzz about the show no one could ever fall for it again.until now, last week Fox announced Joe Millionaire 2.

There is even written evidence that shows that while professing peace, Europe's favorite showman has personally ordered terror acts that have targeted Israel's children, women and aged. Israel has shown European leaders proof that Arafat was personally involved in the planning and execution of terror attacks. He encouraged them ideologically, authorized them financially and personally headed the Fatah Al Aqsa Brigades organization.

There is more at the IMC, but if your stomach is sensitive, this is quite enough. Man, I need to find out who this guy is and put a couple of bucks in his tip jar.

How's this?

If American workers had the same holiday, vacation benefits & work hours as European, Canadian & Australian worker, we’d have October 24th to December 31st off!

This is the opening line over at Seattle Activism.org . This particular page tells about a panel/forum happening this evening (arrgh, I have to work!) that will discuss the 'need' to get these working hours for all Americans. From that page you can link to Timeday.org, a group dedicated to making the US as useless to the world as the majority of western European countries.

Of course it would do their cause no good to point out how productive per hour we are compared to the Euros, or about the many American innovations brought about by working so hard, or the fact that to get these hours to work, you essentially have to sell your soul to the state.

I think I now have the secret to why a large number of the left doesn't work. They are probably just waiting for the 4 day work week. 5 days is just too many.

Go take a look and laugh.

Rusty Humphries, a new radio show host (for Seattle) was talking about the Seante plan that would call for Iraq to payback a type of 'loan' on the money needed to rebuild their infrasturcture. He didn't see a problem with the 'loan', but I disagreed and since I wasn't able to get through on the phone, I'll just write my thoughts out here.

My first thoughts on this subject are this;

Yes, we can give the new Iraqi government 10, 20 or even 50 years to pay it back, but why? This 9.2 billion is such a miniscule amount in comparison to our annual budget, we'd probably just misplace it in the transfer process. Now, I know the old adage 'If you don't pay for it, you won't appreciate it', but I think that 20+ years under Saddam's boot is a large enough fee to be paid.

Remember, we did this for our safety. Their newfound freedom is just a by-product of our action.

And also remember the real estate we are planning on getting for a nominal fee (if any) to use to base our troops. We are already moving our men and women out of Saudi territory and I can forsee us getting the hell out of Turkey as well.

Yes, we will still be paying for the oil that will be coming out of Iraq, but we will be less reliant on the House of Saud to make sure the stuff gets piped in the right direction. Heck, we'll save money just by the Iraqis not being connected to OPEC.

So there you go.

I didn't know wether to laugh, or cry when I saw this.............

One of the stranger forms of Otaku (anime and or manga fan) is the Cosplayer. There isn't a hope in Hell I could ever be induced to surrender that much dignity. I don't do costumes, not my way. I can enjoy others doing it though. While this girl no doubt has a generous spirit and a healthy attitude.

I can't help but think she had an escort of drooling fanboys in tow. Possibly carrying a lot of quarters to drop on the floor. You have to love a gal who wears a stiff assed skirt and bends at the waist.

This guy illustrates why men should never attempt Cosplay.

The destiny of a king is not in his future. I also have this overwhelming impluse to step on a twinkie.

I must seek out a hard surface to ram my head into now.

WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, ...............

As a follow up to my post on the CBS mini-series "The Reagans" set to air next month, I want to let you all know that after Drudge posted it on his site it was picked up by many on the 'Talk Radio' circuit.

One of my local hosts, John Carlson of KVI, is going to use his contacts from the local CBS affiliate to gather the names of the companies who want to have their commercials played during the two days that the show airs.

He says that he will post them at the KVI website when he gets the list compiled so that each of his listeners can call/write the companies individually. He will then share the list with any talk radio stations who would like to help participate.

Now, Carlson did run for Washington State Governor last time around, he has always been a straight shooter as far as his promises to his listeners are concerned. When he puts the list up, I will publish them here for your use.

I would like to thank Ken Hahn for e-mailing CBS about his reservations with "The Reagans", along with anyone else who did so. I have done the same and will send a batch out when this list is presented.

If you don't think this is important, remember that this program is likely to be made available to teachers. Do you want your kids to learn history or hate?

P.S. Click on the link to the KVI site and then click on the link that says 'John in Sturgis - photo'. While he didn't ride that bike to Sturgis, he did ride with a dozen or so of his listeners all the way from Seattle on his Softtail.

As a rule, I never comment on celeb's outside a political context. But this plays like a rerun of an old Cops episode. I grew up watching Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in the old movies series Andy Hardy. I watched the mother self destruct in reruns of old shows.

So, this is really kind of sad. I was never a great fan of Lisa, but still, I think it's just,......I really do feel sorry for her.

Frankly, if that guy was in my life somehow, I'd probably beat him too.

whoever did this. And exact a terrible (and, needless to sy, painful) retribution.

that nearly killed her. But not, apparently, before she suffered significant brain damage.

Another washed up artist on the "comeback" trail, pandering to the anti-American sentiments of a foreign audience.

To quote Ricky about Bush:

"I hope it wakes people up. You know, people in America are afraid to say anything; they are afraid of George Bush, afraid of the police, afraid of being fined, afraid of being accused. I feel I'm in the right place and right time spiritually to stand up, and say, 'But you don't have any clothes on'."

Her voice is so strange - little-girlie sweet, sleepy and nasal. She stops, tells me she shouldn't say this because she'll be quoted on Fox News, then goes ahead anyway, directly addressing the subject of her bile: "You're an ignorant, low-class, opportunistic man, both personally and politically, who does everything for political gain and nothing for the wellbeing of the people, and you should not be in office, and the kind of fascism you're perpetrating on our country we don't want, and you're out. We're done with you. Ffffhgggmm." She snorts to clear her nose. "He's come from millions of dollars, and no matter how much money he has, he's a low-class human being. I just really think it's not going to take very much for a whole bunch of people to stand and drive him away."

Read on to hear how she hopes someone assassinate Bush. Nothing like doing the Dixie Chicks one better.

But are you relevant?

From The Ville, Mr. Brent finds that none other than Alannis Morissette is demanding that the Deputy Interior Secretary, J. Steven Griles, be removed from office. His crime?

"He has been leading the efforts to drill for oil and gas on these public lands, and he's been working to weaken the laws that protect the air."

Pardon me Ms. Morissette, but aren't you a F*cking Canadian Citizen?

She has teamed up with Mike D from the Beastie Boys (Great! Another artist whose records I can't stand anymore. Only AdRock seems to still have his ball anymore. Any other BS2000 fans here?) and Rick Rubin (Now a recluse who was arguably as influential in the early stages of hip hop/rap as anyone).

Oh what a winning team!

You have got to go and watch this.

What is is you ask? Why it is video of the International Solidarity Movement's gathering at Rutgers Univesity titled "When Protestors Attack", brought to you by Brain Terminal.com. If it wasn't so sad, it would be comical.

Oh, who am I kidding? Its funnier than watching your neighbor who doesn't mow his yard slip and fall on the ice in his driveway.

I swear the folks in this video have 'the look of the simple', if you know what I mean.

But hey, at least they can chant.

P.S. You also should have a high-speed connection to watch this.

This was also sent to me by the ever linkful, Sondra.

The USS Ronald Wilson Reagan

Some things are eternal, lasting, beyond the pettiness of the moment. My president, my commander, my fellow citizen. He is to me what he always was, that won't change because others disagree. His time is past now, he's suffering the ravages of a terminal illness, so why not just leave him alone? He may be past knowing of this, but I'm not, he was a forgiving man, I'm less inclined.

Know this, I value Honor and I value duties fulfilled, he came to lead when failure seemed inevitable. The shock of Vietnam, of Watergate, of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, we were told by weak men that we should go easy, give in, back off, back down, retreat and hope for the best. That we would not give our children a better nation, a safer world than we inherited. That limitations were good, and half measures to be the norm.

Ron came to lead us back out of that, back to the path toward the sun. Back to confidence, back to courage, back to doing what we knew we had to. Back in essence to who we really were, when many had forgotten. He was as human as any of us, and we loved him all the more for it. He was for me, the once in a lifetime leader, my JFK, my hero, when there were so few left. I've never had a hero like him, before, or since. Once and only once do you find someone like that.

Those who remember his years in the White House remember how it was then. Most of us welcomed the change, a very bitter and vindictive minority did not. What they couldn't damage before, they attempt again now. Hollywood be damned, my kids will know about him as their father remembers, not how Hollywood spins it a generation later. Confident they can sucker the younger people who do not remember him. Confident they can rewrite what was.

He certainly hasn't got much time left now, and when he passes, I'll mourn him. Truely that's my right, my right to pick my own heroes to Honor, in my own way. I do not care what others say about the man, about his failings, that's way past being an issue anymore, and I'm not listening. Leave me my hero, go sully somewhere else. As I said, his time is past now, and this serves no purpose other than revenge, a snotty little slap at those who loved him, an insult, a challenge.

Leave the man alone, the good he did was for us all, and they can't reach him where he's risen to since. He's already walking among the giants of our history. They cannot change that, not now, not ever.

To my dying breath I will fight for his good name, as he stood by us, my brothers and sisters in arms. He always stood by us, most importantly, when nearly no one else did.

I'll stand this post, till the next generation finds it's way. I owe him that.

God be with you Mr. President.

My thanks to the AnalogKid.

And I'm not talking about the Charles Bronson movie.

Eight years after NPR’s Nina Totenberg, on Inside Washington, wished death upon Senator Jesse Helms (“If there is retributive justice, he’ll get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it"), on the same show over the weekend she seemingly desired to hasten the death of Army General Jerry Boykin for having supposedly expressed the view that the war on terrorism “is a Christian crusade against Muslims.” Totenberg hatefully advocated: “I hope he’s not long for this world.”

Of all the screaming by the lefties of the 'oppression' put upon them, I've never heard of any right wing spokesperson wish death upon them.

As you have probably heard, Mr Barbara Streisand, James Brolin, is staring as Dutch in a CBS mini-series titled "The Reagans" due to show in mid November.

From the New York Times comes this article detailing the pre-release 'grumblings' around the made for TV movie. I can't put all of it here, so I'll just cut and paste some of the content and you can click to the rest.

In many ways the film follows the standard television biopic formula, sensationalizing the more controversial moments of the subject's life. But given that the main subject is a Republican hero, one who is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease, the events chosen for depiction — and those left out — are sure to come under harsh scrutiny from Mr. Reagan's supporters, who are increasingly protective of his reputation and already suspicious of Hollywood. "The Reagans," according to the final version of the script obtained by The New York Times, does give Mr. Reagan most of the credit for ending the cold war and paints him as an exceptionally gifted politician and a moral man who stuck to his beliefs, often against his advisers' urgings. But there is no mention of the economic recovery or the creation of wealth during his administration, key accomplishments to his supporters. Nor does it show him delivering the nation from the malaise of the Jimmy Carter years, as his supporters say he did.

Say he did? Excuse me? Oh wait, I forgot this was the NYT. It must have been wicca or something that made the economy explode.

The film's producers, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan — who have done a number of successful made-for-television movies including those about Judy Garland and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis — said no major event was depicted without at least two confirming sources, though they said they took dramatic liberty in some spots.

So we will only be seeing the 'Springer' material. Typical.

The script also accuses Mr. Reagan not only of showing no interest in addressing the AIDS crisis, but of asserting that the patients of AIDS essentially deserved their disease. During a scene in which his wife pleads with him to help people battling AIDS, Mr. Reagan says resolutely, "They that live in sin shall die in sin" and refuses to discuss the issue further. Lou Cannon, who has written several biographies about Mr. Reagan, said such a portrayal was unfair. "Reagan is not intolerant," he said. "He was a bit asleep at the switch, but that's not fair to have him say something that Patrick Buchanan would say."

Oh Lordy. They're going to make him out to be a monster. Read the whole article. They are meaner to Nancy than Limbaugh ever was to Hillary.

Things in Iraq must be going so badly that the Iraqis need to go 'on holiday'.

ANISHKI (Reuters) - Before the fall of Saddam Hussein, Baghdad businessman Saad Ali would not have dared to do what he is doing now. He is enjoying a soft drink with his family at a cafe, inside a cave in the hills of northern Iraq.

The tourism revival has allowed many Iraqi Kurds and Arabs to get to know each other again after a decade of separation. Younger Iraqi Arabs have been able to see one of the most beautiful parts of their country for the first time.

I wonder if they are listening to the Go-Go's

And thanks to a link sent by Sondra, you can find gifts here.

Talking Presidents.com has a line of talking action figures available for your gift giving needs.

GHWB, GWB, Clinton. They also have a talking Rumsfeld and a talking Ann Coulter. There are samples of phrases that each doll says on the presentation pages. Go take a look.

We here in the Seattle Metro area had an odd day yesterday. You see, we had a rainstorm. In 24 hours we got the rain that had been forcasted for Saturday, Sunday and today. Depending on where you were in the area, you got somewhere between three and five inches. On the coast they received over eight inches.

Pic and newlink found @ Orbusmax.com

My wife works at a local 911 emergency services center. They just moved into their new building in the middle of July. Sadly, the road that accesses the new building was not fitted with the proper drainage.

I think you see where I'm going here.

I fashioned a fording kit for my truck shortly after I bought it since, in the past, I have been caught on the wrong side of a washout while on the road (or off of it). Well, at around one o'clock in the afternoon the wifey gives me a call on my cell phone asking if I could bring up the trailer and lend a hand getting cars out of the parking lot at her work. And after my patented chuckle and smirk routine, I said "of course dear".

So, what is the lesson here?

Who does everyone call when they are in trouble? 911.
Who does 911 call? Me.

I love a good intellectual debate, society, religion, culture, history or even what your favorite movie is. I can hold several conflicting thoughts in the abstract to deconstruct them, study them for merit.

This man sends a chill down my spine, and he should yours as well. If you hold freedom of thought in any regard at all, this man is your enemy. He wishes to make religious beliefs he doesn't like a crime, well a disease actually.

Ending Biblical Brainwash

For better mental and cultural health, it's time we classified religious fundamentalism as a psychological disorder

Fundamentalism has resulted in some terrible things as he states, but it also has resulted in good things as well. I will not make a religious arguement, but a pragmatic one. Look at his standards and see if you can find the danger that I do.

So, should you insist on follow-up appointments along with some strong medication? Well, quite obviously, the patient is a religious fundamentalist. So he would most likely not be diagnosed with a psychological problem. In fact, such a diagnosis could land you in hot water; the patient's religious beliefs are constitutionally protected.

Yet, perhaps it's time this changed, and that we made religious fundamentalism a mental and cultural health issue. People should be able to believe what they like, but only so long as their convictions don't harm others or, arguably, themselves. Fundamentalism, however, breeds fanaticism and often leads to terrible violence, injustice and inequality. If society can force drug addicts into rehabilitation because they're a danger to themselves and the public, then we should be able to compel religious fundamentalists to undergo treatment as well.

He justifies his prejudice by linking the terrorists of the middle east, but really, is that the whole agenda? I doubt it. I normally hesitate to use a word like Nazi, but Jesus, this screams of eugenics and Stalins mental hospitals. He thinks he draws the line reasonibly. To hold beliefs as he does, is by definition to be unreasonible. You aren't wrong, you are mentally ill................................

He starts with an easy target, nobody likes terrorists or abortion doctor killers. But that's not where he stops. That someone could be classified as deranged because they hold any kind of nonprovable spiritual beliefs would just as easily follow. I consider myself an independent Christian, not answerable to clergy. My friend Bsti holds some unique spiritual beliefs, my partners are holders of what they belief. We would all be suspect to one degree or another. To be safe is to be an atheist or agnostic. If that isn't doctrinare subordination of individual thought, then nothing is. It's not only Christians he's after either, all people who believe in anything intangible should worry about him.

Being free to believe as he will isn't good enough for him, he would use the force of law to make you conform. Which puts the lie to the idea only religious people are intolerant bigots and fools.

He has a blog.

Some of his areas of interest,

What is ImmInst?
ImmInst is an umbrella organization that serves as a platform for its members to exhibit, exchange and debate ideas and information regarding the possibility of human physical immortality.

A fun idea, but we aren't ready or worthy to take on the mantle of demigods yet. It also reeks of an entirely too deep a sense of self worth, it's a spoiled childs dream. Me me me me me me me and only me.

Transhumanism is an extension of humanism, the philosophy of emphasizing human ability and intelligence as the main shaper of our personal reality and the realities of others. Transhumanism, like humanism, rejects superstition and religion in favor of empiricism and reason. However, transhumanism goes one step further than humanism and argues that to obtain true freedom, human beings deserve the opportunity to become more than human through the use of science and technology, in order to improve our mental, emotional, and physical capacities.

Oh, where to begin. First he can believe what he likes, I draw the line when he starts talking about institutionalizing spiritual people as he did in his column. I would prefer to work him over with a bat first. Then he can taste the fruits of medical improvements, like joint replacements.

Incipient posthuman?

Oh,......I understand now.

A technocracy, the religion of pure reason and science. Goody, one more group of experts to ruin things. Utopians are without a doubt the silliest, the most absurd band of theorists. Human nature hasn't changed much in the ten thousand or so years of recorded history, speeding things along with a little tinkering to create the PERFECT society scares the Hell out of me. It should you too.

I'm not against change, I embrace it. We embody change here in this country more than any other. What I abhor is the thought that junk science and crackpots will form the foundation of that change. Leaping blindly into areas where treading very carefully would be in order. Do we really want to mess with the gene pool all that much? Eliminating disease sure, curing deformity, brain defects, absolutely. That's not what he's advocating. He's talking about manufactured people, planned perfection. Who chooses? Him?.................Who decides what should be bred out of existence? What if that isn't fast enough for them? ......What then?

He espouses ideas that have already lead to death camps. His thoughts have the stink of death, not the hope of a better future.

I think I discovered someone I find every bit as loathsome as a communist. Thank God (Smile) that he's just a crank, a fringe dweller. But if his type ever came to power, then God, Goddess or Forest Pixies save us. Because pity and compassion don't compute.

then try and win in the court room.

I'm sorry, but any groundskeeper that roots for the home team in the visiting team's bull pen during a hotly contested and important playoff game deserves to get his ass kicked.

I found this over at the Voodoo Lounge from the good Doctor.

Now I realize many of you are a bit young to remember the Rat Pack, and I can honestly say I never really thought they were especially cool. It is an enteresting little quiz because it covers gang of friends sterotypes. Of course no one can have an exact match, Joey isn't as aggressive or as broad shouldered as I am. But the attitude fits reasonably well.

If you've a mind, let me know how you come out.

As you may know, AK, Puggs, and I have been working on another project separate from RNS. Random Nuclear Strikes we do for fun and relaxation; our chance to rage against the machine. Our other project, however, centers around what for us is a very serious subject: the right of self defense. Specifically, the right of women to have access to resources that will allow them to feel comfortable around firearms, and to gain proficiency in their use if they so desire. Our goal is to provide information in a hype and hysteria free atmosphere. It's a goal we hope we have met with our initial effort, but realize that we can do better with your help. Please take a moment to look around; feel free to make comments, offer links, and be critical. We want the BWB to evolve into something that our readers find useful and helpful.

The Bellicose Women's Brigade

In addition to AK and Puggs, there is one other person I need to thank for making BWB a reality. Mrs. Connie duToit, who graciously registered the Bellicose Women's Brigade domain name, and is hosting it on one of their servers. Additionally, we have used a couple of Connie's essays that seemed particularly appropriate for the BWB's audience (with permission, of course) here and here.

All we can say is thanks, Connie.

This morning, the good Mr. Kim du Toit announced that he will be retiring from his daily rant. He will be switching to a weekly rant format, published on Tuesdays.

While I do find this sad, I will tell you like I told him; I would like to go to the range everyday, but I can't. That fact just makes my weekly visits that much more enjoyable.

He is not part-timing the 'sphere for no half-hearted reason, though. Kim has/is writing novels and is about to go public with a couple of them.

I am toying with the idea of continuing something along the idea of his Gratuitous Gun Pics section, but I will have to look into the amount of research that the process of doing so will require.

In the meantime, head on over there and look at some of his soon to be published novels and wish him well.

You'll notice if you go through the weekends post that I was absent. I was off plotting the downfall of an entertaining adversary. Would you like to know my evil plan?

I am trying to get on the inside of my local IMC. The Seattle IMC is run by volunteers and they are always in need of both help and money. And while I would never give them a red cent (that was a joke. get it?), I would take the time to learn the necessary skills that they would take me in.

Right now I am determining exactly what skills those need to be (besides being able to say nothing but 'Bush Lied, People Died' for 48 hours straight) and whether I can go in as myself or if I need to be sneaky about it.

I don't yet know why I want to do this, but I think that it is just for the hell of it right now.

There are many versions of Bush hater running around these days, people who dislike his conservatism, his religious statements, his families ties, or his vision onwhere to take America,........The newly open one, a total loathing of his face, manner and speech.

From Drudge, this article in the WP.

For some of his friends, Chait says at a corner table in a downtown Starbucks, "just seeing his face or hearing his voice causes a physical reaction -- they have to get away from the TV. My sister-in-law describes Bush's existence as an oppressive force, a constant weight on her shoulder, just knowing that George Bush is president."

Ramesh Ponnuru, a soft-spoken conservative at National Review, pays Chait a backhanded compliment, writing that "not everyone would be brave enough to recount their harrowing descent into madness so vividly."

It's enlightening, and while I can claim at least a couple of friends who fall into this camp, I have to say that while I detested Clinton and Carter, my reactions to them were nothing like this, not even close. I do fully agree with this statement.

"What drives them nuts is that people actually like Bush," she says. "Even if they disagree with him, they think he's a good person." But for many liberals, "Bush isn't just wrong, he's evil. The axis of evil for these guys is George Bush, Karl Rove and Donald Rumsfeld."

I think some people have their priorities all messed up, when Bush is Hitler, but they blink and mutter Saddam? Who's Saddam...........It's really really hard to continue listening to them. Actually, it's difficult not to just tune them out completely.

Hertzberg, whose friends openly disdain the commander in chief -- "The phrase 'President Bush' hurts their eardrums" -- is among those who proudly refuse to Get Over the high court's ruling in Bush v. Gore.

'President Bush'

'President Bush'

'President Bush'

'President Bush'

'President Bush'

'President Bush'

Sorry, (grin), couldn't help myself.

'President Bush'

Oh, did I mention........

'President Bush'

Because it is starting to get cold out and the Republicans are in power, I was bombarded by stories of 'the homeless' this weekend. The wife was watching some tear-jerking MSNBC special called 'No Place Like Home' and then there was this article in the Seattle Times entitled (in the print version) 'Trouble in the Jungle'.

I'm not going to print any of these bullsh*t stories on these pages. They are beneath me.

Let me let you in on a little secret. I was what you could call a 'homeless youth' from the years of 1990 to 1993. I travelled up and down the I-5 corridor between Vancouver BC and Sacramento. I treat it like as sort of a learning experience as I am able to blend into any urban environment and move around almost unnoticed. I have hung out and lived and camped out with both the dingy types you see in the line for food at the shelters and the types of freaks that you'd find at the IMC or DU (and even dated some of the psycho-broads from there).

I truly despise 'the homeless'. There are not words to describe my feelings for them. Especially those with children. Trust me, for the majority of 'the homeless', this is a lifestyle choice. Both the the guy begging on the corner with the sign and the guy who asks for spare change think you are an idiot for getting up and going to work everyday and having a rent or house payment.

I never believed in their BS philosophies, I think it was just the youthful mentality that put me outdoors. Arrogance (knowing it all) and wanderlust (needing adventure). And I, like the vast majority of people I met while in that state of mind, liked living like that. The remainder just didn't mind the lifestyle. I finally tired of sleeping in my car when I couldn't find somewhere else to crash and straightened up. Less than two years later I was making enough money that I probably could have bought a house. I decided, again stupidly, to go racing instead.

Would you care to hear my thoughts on homeless people with children? Prepare to be shocked and possibly pissed off. Click it. I dare you.

People who somehow 'become homeless' and have children are irresponsible if they do not immediately surrender custody (even just temporarily) to either family or to their communities Child Protective Services. Unless you have been there, you do not know the full danger to humans that living on the streets can provide.

I have read the horror stories of CPS agencies across the counrty, but believe me when I say that they don't hold a candle to the street. Kids stand 100 times better chance at getting screwed up either mentaly or physically if their parents drag them around.

It is already the parent/s fault that the family is losing their 'home' and since that person/s have already proven that they are not fit to parent there should be only one option.

Military Orphanages.

I know every argument you can come up with against this idea since everytime I speak of it, the wife comes in with some sorry excuse as to why this is a 'bad idea'. So let me tell why you're wrong.

The only other options you have right now are relatives, a pathetic CPS system, or dragging the child/children around. The first is the best of the three and I would not object to this method if it was 100% safe, but sadly it isn't. CPS is a horribly torturous beaurocracy and should not be trusted to 'protect' a cockroach, let alone a child. And dragiing a child/children around should be criminal. Even if a parent/s finds an open shelter that accepts children, just the possibility of horrible acts (prostitution, rape, abduction) is a reason why these shouldn't be an option.

I am almost to the point of adding abuse victims to the list of people who should surrender their children to the orphanages. But I think that if we remove the 'permenantly homeless' out of the shelters, there will be money and room for those folks to recover without having to remove the children.

First off, if parent/s knew that if they were not able to care for their children that they would become Uncle Sam's new nieces and nephews, it would serve as a deterent to their bad behavior. But since deterents don't always work, here is an example of the regiment the children will learn.

Responsibilty. For themselves, their belongings, their friends, their duties.

Respect. The 'self esteem' crap they push at public schools is exactly that. Crap. You cannot have 'self-esteem' until you learn to respect those around you. This is where the schools have gone awry.

Education. Reading, Writing, Math, Science, History. That is it. No 'Social Studies', 'Health', 'Art' or any other limp wristed, namby-pamby BS until those are taken care of. If the student can average a 3.8GPA then elective classes can become available. If the GPA drops below 3.8, electives are canelled.

Community Service. One extra class that will be mandatory will be ComServ. They have to volunteer (that means NO MONEY) in the community. Heck, they can even go to the homeless shelters and serve food. Maybe they'll meet mom and dad.

The orphanages will be run by the USMC, Army, Navy and Air Force and the time the child spends in the orphanage can go towards rank should the child decide to sign up at 18. Sort of a poor kids West Point.

The child will stay in the orphanage until the age of 18 or until the parent/s has 90 days of stability. That means the same job and residence for three months. With out having to feed, cloth, and medicate the children, this should be a cinch. The residence must be suitable for all the children (separate boys and girls bedrooms)with properly performing schools or arrangements made for the children for either private school or home schooling.

If the parent falls behind in any of these areas or becomes homeless again, the kids are again removed and placed back in the orphanages. This time the parent/s must have 6 months of stability. The third time, 1 year of stability and the 4th time means no return.

I can guarantee you that in some instances, the children will not want to return to the parents and there will be a hearing process for this. If the child reaches high school age and is still in the program, a number of vocations will be available. All taught by the military.

The money would come out of (be added to) the military budget.

Sounds totalitarian doesn't it. It is. But when people feel no responsibility for their actions and they go and make another human being who cannot fend for themselves suffer, being harsh is the only way you can fix the problem. I never said I would make a good President, although I think I would make a good god (forgive, forgive, forgive, SMITE).

But don't worry, there is no one in politics with big enough brass ones to even half-assedly implement this.

Just as it only took a few generations for 'Welfare' to destroy an entire class of people, in a few more you can cure it with less pain and suffereing than if we continued on the way we are going.

I would personally hate to have to compete against someone brought up in one of these orphanages. I don't think that the words 'unstopable ambition' could entirely define their drive.

I'm talking about this little AP piece that appeared on the front page of a local paper.

President Bush's grandfather was a director of a bank seized by the federal government because of its ties to a German industrialist who helped bankroll Adolf Hitler's rise to power, government documents show. Prescott Bush was one of seven directors of Union Banking Corp., a New York investment bank owned by a bank controlled by the Thyssen family, according to recently declassified National Archives documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

Heres the 'meat' of the charge:

Union Banking was owned by a Dutch bank, Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaardt N.V., which was "closely affiliated" with the German conglomerate United Steel Works, according to an Oct. 5, 1942, report from the federal Office of Alien Property Custodian. The Dutch bank and the steel firm were part of the business and financial empire of Thyssen and his brother, Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, the report said.

Both Harrimans and Bush were partners in the New York investment firm of Brown Brothers, Harriman and Co., which handled the financial transactions of the bank as well as other financial dealings with several other companies linked to Bank voor Handel that were confiscated by the U.S. government during World War II.

I want to make some snarky remark about how if this 'guilt by association' case means that GWB is a Nazi, then the entire Democratic Party needs to be hung at dawn because of theirs. But then again, it is all about how bad a headline you can print. I think they used to call this "Yellow Journalism"?

My thanks to Ms. Sondra for e-mailing me the link.

I know that the Brits have to live next to them and all, but this is mind-numbingly stupid.

An idea to replace British place-names such as Waterloo to avoid offending European sensitivities was greeted with derision yesterday. The suggestion came from a 60-year-old Briton who works for a Luxembourg-based bank which provides loans for EU projects.

Francis Carpenter wrote in a French newspaper that it would be in the interests of European harmony if "offensive" British names commemorating battles lost by the French were eradicated. Mr Carpenter, employed by the European Investment Bank, suggested that French visitors to London might be "astonished" to find themselves arriving at a railway station called Waterloo. Similarly, Germans and Austrians arriving in France might be uncomfortable seeing place-names marking Napoleon�s victories against their countries, such as the Paris station, Gare d�Austerlitz.

Found at Tongue Tied

But this guy is a special kind of 'jack'.

Bordeaux, France - A French magistrate caught masturbating during a court session was locked up on Thursday and put under investigation, justice officials in the south-western city of Bordeaux said.

According to La Charente Libre, a local newspaper who had a reporter in court at the time of the alleged offence, the magistrate had discreetly lifted up his ceremonial robe while a lawyer was presenting final arguments, undid his pants and "engaged in gestures that left nothing to the imagination".

This 'gripping story' was found at the always excellent Samizdata

Are the kind of jobs we need in Washington.

I believe that here in Washington State we are only behind Oregon in terms of high unemployment at something like 7%. But this work should stay in China.

Gov. Gary Locke's trip to China bore its first fruit Monday with news that a Kent-based printing-press maker signed a contract worth $11 million a year with the People's Daily newspaper, the Communist Party organ.

I am so glad that this Governor in name only won't be seeking re-election. When I say 'in name only' I don't mean it in the way that the Bush-haters do when they speak of GWB.

This man has not done one single thing in the service of Washington citizens, other than be available for a good photo-op. I'm sure that Raging Dave and Mollbot can concur my sentiment. The guy even spent our money to go stump for Gray Davis during the last week of the recall.

Want to get into the 'Homeland Defense' Business?

Uncle Sam wants you � to shoot down missiles

If you have an inkling on the best method to intercept enemy missiles that could potentially threaten the U.S., then Uncle Sam wants you.

"It would seem kind of funny they would open it up to any backyard tinker who could come up with an idea," Steven Staples, a defense analyst with the Polaris Institute told the paper. But American officials say it would be foolish to shoot down concepts from the public arena.

Ok guys, heres what I'm thinking about:
Multi-rotating-barrelled shotguns set up on floating and arial platforms around the US. The guns will have sensors that will tell the shot projectiles when to expand.

Yeah, I know it will never get picked up, but the R&D; would be amazing.

And my favorite Google query that lead to RNS in the last 24 hours:

Why do Democrats suck so bad

Indeed.

Allah is a Bosox fan!

Setting the mood.

IT, Terror from Beyond Space!.................

This film was my favorite as a kid, it was dark and fun. Whenever it comes around on late night TV I try and catch it. A perfect Halloween film. The effects are horribly dated, but come on anyway, suspend your belief for a little while and enjoy a classic piece of fifeties cheese.

In the year 1973, a Martian stows away on a rescue rocket back to Earth after the rescue personnel retrieved the sole survivor of a failed mission on Mars. While most of the astronauts are busy suspecting that survivor, Carruthers of murdering his former shipmates, the Martian begins killing everyone. The crew eventually becomes aware of the beast, and attempt to kill it with grenades, bazookas, gas, and handguns, before deciding to simply evacuate all the air from the ship.

It don't get no better than that...................Bazooka's....OH YES!

A secretly taken picture of an American soldier frisking an Afghan child has shocked human rights campaigners across the world.

Oh the SHAME of it, that the Taliban would consider using children as pawns in their war to reclaim the right to shoot women in the head in public stadiums. That the apologists for terror in this London based Peace and Justice Foundation think that child is being harmed, yet ignore completely WHY the US troops feel searching him is necessary.

Excuse me while I spit, that anyone in the Muslim world can use the word "shame" with a straight face after all that's happened to show they have none, makes me want to throw things. Little biddy things, like this,.....

The Taliban insists the extreme measures of jihad require extreme schooling. "Children are innocent, so they are the best tools against dark forces," says a Pakistani Taliban fighter, who was captured by the Northern Alliance last month near Dast-e-Qale.

The Taliban have broken and violated nearly every normal tenent of civilized behavior, openly, proudly............they admit it. Those apologists in London don't seem to notice that half of the equation. It doesn't fit in with the infidel invader must be driven out line. That picture is hardly something we should feel ashamed over, the ones who should feel shame............don't have any.

One other point.

If these children are being so violated, why are half of them smiling? It becomes obvious to me after blowing up this part of the image, that the children here aren't exactly the shameful victims of US oppression that somebody would have you believe. They don't seem scared or intimidated at all.

War is an ugly business, but distorting the truth doesn't make it any cleaner. There are no weapons pointed at them, no threatening postures. Those GI's are handling it as well as they can, the children are't frightened, their body language says that...That the picture was supposedly taken at extreme range with a telephoto lense says alot too. It's an implication that the cameraman feared for his life in taking this picture, that the US troops would have acted against him for snapping it.

More slander. It never ends, and I grow tired of the people who suck up this kind of pap. They can keep their heads where they are, it must be nice and warm in there, ....................mind the smell though.

Tears of the Sun.........

My wife asked for the DVD, and we saw it yesterday. I love watching Bruce Willis, and I have to say I loved this film. I recommend it highly, the action is great and the supporting cast is superb. Is it art? Make up your own mind, but I found it a worthy diverson.

Madeleine Albright, Clinton's showpiece Secratary of State. Picked as a trophy to show how compassionate he was to advancing women in government, so bad at her job that Anthony Lake routinely sidelined her and excluded her from policy decisions. That Madeleine Albright. This tidbit from Drudge.

In an interview with the Europe 1 station Albright heavily criticised the actions of the Republican leadership that replaced the Democratic administration she worked for, and notably the "chaos" that reigns in Iraq.

For a second opinion,.......Brent Bozel.

Not every interview was supine. On "Meet the Press," NBC's Tim Russert read from Richard Miniter's "Losing Bin Laden." On "Late Edition," CNN's Wolf Blitzer brought up the conservative argument that if the Democrats were in power, "Saddam Hussein would die of old age before he were removed." Albright's answer: "Well, that might not have been bad either." After all the mass graves and children's prisons and horror stories, after all the revelations of Saddam sheltering terrorists and paying off suicide bombers, a continuation of all that "might not have been bad"? Thank God she's gone.

Powell may not be the best we've ever had at State, but at least he's competent. He also avoids the frequent verbal slips that causes you to think he really doesn't care how many people die as long as he gets face time on the news. You cannot say that about Maddy. She frankly sucked at the job. So her credibility here is highly suspect.

A Columbus woman is charged with taking nude photos of her 10-year-old niece so that her husband -- a prison inmate -- could get sexual gratification.

Hanging never sounded good. Or deserved.

The quality of research that goes on in some universities.

Last week, two Philadelphia universities became the home of a growing, disturbing alliance of radical Muslims and white anti-Semites. The Muslim Student Association, a Wahhabi Islamist front, invited Dr. Bill Baker to speak at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University on the similarities between Christianity and Islam. Baker had recently been fired from Rev. Robert Schuller�s Crystal Cathedral after California media revealed Baker was the founding chairman of an anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi political group, the Populist Party. To make matters worse, UPenn paid Baker $5,000 for his insights.

I calmly replied, "If I had told you who Bill Baker was two weeks ago, would you have cancelled the invitation?" He did not answer.

Live from Cornell College.

Caution Before You Click. Some of the other billboards are more grafic and insulting.

The Cornell Coalition for Animal Defense (CCAD) — the campus chapter of People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA) — recently sponsored a student-funded event in which victims of the Holocaust were compared to starving cows and chickens. The event, called “Holocaust on Your Plate,” is part of PETA’s nationwide attempt to gain sympathy for the animal rights movement. CNN first reported on PETA’s insanity in February 2003, when the fringe group’s anti-Semitic campaign commenced.

The CCAD demonstration, which took place in front of Cornell’s student union, was highlighted by the presence of several 60-square-foot panels with photos of concentration camp prisoners alongside pigs, chickens, and cows. One such placard explained the group’s moniker: "During the seven years between 1938 and 1945, 12 million people perished in the Holocaust. The same number of animals is killed every four hours for food in the U.S. alone. The Holocaust is on Your Plate".

Lookee what I found this morning.

Would you really even want to think about a Dean supporter in a thong?

No doubt you are all aware that Mickey D's is the subject of much hatred among the loony left. Did you know sad loonies have a McDonalds watch site? I didn't until I stumbled on this website via "Grow A Brain"

Did you know that the folks at Micky D's were killing the planet, polluting, handing out heart disease, murdering defenseless cows, and promoting selfish capitalism around like a virus?

Yeah,....I'm proud of them too............

There is a much more fundamental problem than Big Macs and French Fries: capitalism. But what about anti-capitalist beliefs like socialism and anarchism? Is it possible to create a world run by ordinary people themselves, without multinationals and governments - a world based on sharing, freedom and respect for all life?

In a word?...............no. Those ideas have been tried over and over. The first chance the good people in the eastern block had, they threw the socialists out on their ass. People want what they want, they'll buy it, borrow it, trade for it. But they will have it.

That's basic human nature, something the free to all and perfect harmony crowd just can't quite understand. Nothing is free. Not in society, not in nature. There is always a cost. They are talking utopian pap, utter nonsense. Still, it's rather amusing to watch them bleat and act as if they mattered. Humans need competition, we thrive on it, deprive us of it and you get Soviet style five year plans that end up decreasing production rather than increasing it.

I think it's a UK site, so the warmed over communism is no surprise. What I'll never understand is why after the last hundred years, anyone is stupid enough to believe in this kind of nonsense. Did they sleep through the collapse of the Berlin Wall? Are they deaf, blind, or just ignorant?

Nobody with two active brain cells could possibly believe that kind of system can work, not after all this time.

That this simpleton hails from here. Dennis the Menace strikes again, opening his mouth to reveal just how much of a nutjob he really is. This, from Josh at Bushblog.

I am running for President of the United States to enable the goddess of peace to encircle within her reach all the children of this country and all the children of the world. And to protect our children from poverty and war, to hold them in the light of grace, and to hold them in the power of peace.-Kucinich

Josh declines to comment, so please, allow me.

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGHHHHH.....................................! Ican't believe this inbred can generate enough wattage in his brain to draw a breath. What a retard, "Goddess"?............I'll bet he keeps his cheap toupee on a special Atlantian crystal at night to ward off negative thought waves.

I can't believe he comes from my state, please, will someone from sunny California come claim him?.....................I'll toss in a free flea dip and neutering!

Really, I'm sure I can find a broken bottle and some kerosene.

I'm taking care of some casual business today that is eating a lot of my time in writing a lot of e-mails, so not much from me today. But the Emperor Misha had a "Gratuitous Gun Pr0n" post yesterday that gave me a 'Big Mac Attack" again. So here is my gratuitous pic,

What is that? Misha posted about a gun from WWII? Yeah, so here you go,

While not as certifiably vital to our victory in WWII as the Garand, the BAR is still an excellent weapon for its time (and still today). If you have never fired one, consider your life unfulfilled. It is truly a handful that gives the results necessary to justify humpin' this thing across a hedgerow all damn day.

Speaking of WWII, have you read about how 1/3 of Germans see themselves as 'victims' of that war?

I was told that this would happen by some friends of my father. One of these guys' names was Emil. He lied about his age (17) to get into the Army. He was from Brooklyn and spoke fluent italian and a little german and french, so guess where he went? Yep, Northern Italy. He didn't have much good to say about a lot of the Marshall Plan. He felt that while the European Axis countries shouldn't be saddled with the entire war debt, like after WWI, they shouldn't have been let off the hook like they were.

Wandering through IndyMedia is like walking through a cow pasture. Be careful where you step. For all the shrill screeching about rights, free speech and disent, what I found is just about as hateful and deluded as anything I've ever seen. Really, this picture says everything you need to know about the protesters.

I don't know this kid, but he's an ass. His existence on my planet offends me, he's young and full of shit, all certainty and righteous conviction, and hopelessly clueless.

At his age I was bearing arms for my nation, at his age I had already seen death, I had held my sister as she died from bone cancer, at his age I had been working for years to feed my brothers and mother. At his age I had survived hundreds of fights, bloody but not broken. At his age I was already older than time.

But I wasn't a cynic. I believed, then and now. America isn't a college dorm debating group where all the worlds problems get solved over pizza by selfsatisfied living on daddy's gold card socialists. America is my world, sweat, blood, frustration and toil. My world, where my kids will get a better chance than me because I'm not giving up on the dream. My world, where standing on a street corner and pissing in the wind is worse than stupid, it's suicidal. My world, where thinking people work hard to change what needs fixed, they don't throw temper tantrums and cry.

This is my nation, and I won't allow this barely out of diapers boy to speak for me. Even if I feel shame over mistakes or crimes done in my countries name, I will never, ever, feel ashamed of my country itself. Because my country is my family, my friends. In uniform and out, real patriots live in my world and I won't tolerate this blanket damning of an entire people because diaper boy has a rash on his ass. when he says he's ashamed, he's saying my families blood, my wife's family's was spilled for nothing. He's spitting on everything we fought for, sacrificed for, worked and lived for. I've come to accept that slowly, bit by bit, my time as a strong man are waning. I have only a couple of good old fashioned knock down drag outs left in me. I would burn one of them on him.

I would smile while doing it.

I believe, and people like me outnumber him by figures that are legion. That's why he will never get his way, why he will never be happy. To win, he'd have to convince me, and others like me.........

The only thing he's convinced me of is that he's not worthy of the effort to save him from his delusions. Go through the fire boy, risk everything for someone, something else other than yourself, feed others by your own sweat rather than through government checks. Work hard because you respect yourself, not just punch a clock and hold out your hand. Be a man, and hold to your responsibilities without whining or running away. Stand up straight and face life as it is, not as you would have it be.

Do these things and maybe in a few years reality will seep into the dark recesses of your brain, maybe you'll have the honesty you'll need to see that not everything that came before your birth is evil,........ then you will know.

Then, we may listen when you speak.

Jonah Hex, ex-confederate soldier, Indian fighter, and bounty hunter. Badly scarred, ugly as sin, and the meanest, cussidest hombre to ever palm a navy colt. I read him in the seventies, and not since. I remember him as the cold hearted bastard anti-hero he was meant to be. Like a force of nature, his anger was a fate to avoid.

The best of the badboy hero's, he was very complex. He cared deeply for some, but would suffer no insult or threat gladly. I gave up collecting years ago, but I always harboured a fondness for Jonah. He had no special powers, no fancy costume, he was a hero based on the possible, and that makes him special.

Is shake your head in amazement.

This Guy?

Cry me an effin river.

According to another opinion poll, more than a third of the Germans now think of themselves as "victims" of the Second World War -- just like the Jews. Nor has this new interpretation of history remained limited to books. Lately momentum has gathered behind a movement to build a new museum in Berlin dedicated to Germans expelled from their homes at the end of the war -- just like the Holocaust museum. It's not wrong for Germans to remember their relatives who suffered, but the tone of the campaigners is disturbing, because they seem, at times, almost to forget why the war started in the first place. Their leader, for example, is the daughter of a Wehrmacht officer, and was born in occupied Poland. Tragically, she was expelled from her childhood home when German troops were defeated -- the adverb "tragically" representing a certain point of view here, not an objective observation.

That point of view, always popular on the far right of the German political spectrum, has spread rapidly leftward in recent years, attracting supporters among Social Democrats, bank presidents and others. Not everybody agrees by any means, but the subject is shockingly raw, even difficult to discuss politely. As I can attest, there are German politicians who will shout down other guests at dinner parties if their right to victimhood is questioned too harshly.

This is not Scrappleface!

"A long-term undercover intelligence operation hangs in the balance as the District of Columbia appeals a circuit court judge's ruling ordering the Metro Police Department to reveal the identities of all undercover officers who have infiltrated and become active in a controversial anti-Bush group."

"The group shot to prominence when it created an anti-war coalition named International ANSWER, immediately after 9-11. ANSWER was formed to combat the "criminal conduct" of the U.S., and went on to organize and dominate the recent anti-war demonstrations."

Who was it that said 'Kill all the lawyers"?

I may have already mentioned that the wife listens to the local NPR station almost constantly. They lure her in with some fairly decent jazz music and then whoop the politics on as a garnish. I don't listen to that station because they don't play enough old jazz (anyone want to discuss late 60's/early 70's BlueNote and Pacific Jazz B3 Hammond players?) and because, of course, it is NPR.

The station is having their yearly pledge drive (aka begging session) and she made the mistake of metioning that she was going to send in some money. Our money. I kept my cool, gave a 'hrmph' and did the 100 meter mosey over to the computer to look up a few reasons why I didn't want the product of our labor to go to bastards.

What do I find? This FrontPageMag.Com article that has a number of the things I despise about NPR listed in chronological order.

Heres two:

Recently, NPR has run no fewer than six stories on anti-Israel polemicist Edward Said, whose death occasioned only laudatory remembrances on the network.

The startled guest expert responded that, in fact, Eichmann "played an extremely responsible role" in the "destruction of European Jewry." The NPR interviewer persisted on Eichmann's behalf, arguing, "There is a possibility that playing out his drama in a court, that his own rights can become abridged."

I love my wife, and if she demands that a contribution is going to be made, she will get her way. But I will demand that the bedroom radio be turned off when she is not in there. You see, she listens to the music at night and leaves before the 'news programs' come on. I am sleeping in there with NPR broadcasting their junk while I am sleeping. So if one day I drastically switch my position on something here, you'll know who is to blame.

If you wander around any of the IMC sites you will see stories (like this one) that make your stomach turn as they lie in detail about 'the brutal Israeli army destroying home of innocent 'palestinian' civilians' and 'make thousands of new homeless families overnight'.

But then you see stories like this and you wish you'd cleared your desk of throwable objects.

"IDF forces, including tanks and helicopters, are once again operating in Rafiach, searching for arms-smuggling tunnels. The first phase of the operation, in which three tunnels were found and destroyed, lasted from early Friday morning until Saturday night. The second phase began late last night; no deadline has been set for its termination. Intermittent exchanges of fire are being registered."

"The smuggling operation is essentially a family enterprise, report Huberman and Shalom, with several large Gaza families "owning" a piece of the action. They pay families that agree to have a tunnel running from their homes $1,000 each month, and they then sell the weapons that are thus smuggled to the Palestinian Authority. If a tunnel-camouflaging home is destroyed by the IDF, the PA pays generous compensation to the family - and even builds the family a new home in the Tel Sultan neighborhood. Some residents have therefore begun spreading rumors of tunnels in their homes, designed for Israeli ears, so that they can "start all over" with a destroyed home, PA reparations, and a new modern house."

Actually, now I'm laughing. Maybe these leeches will bankrupt the PA/Arafat/Hamas groups.

As in 'the state'.

As in 'me alone'.

"In Washington state's last legislative session, two lawmakers introduced companion bills that would make this the only state in the country with a required minimum leave for employees. The bills remain under consideration.
If passed, they would require employers to provide a minimum of 40 hours of paid time off for each six months of full-time work and encourage employers to provide more. Part-time workers would get a proportionate amount."

"The bills, sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, and Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, leave it open whether employees would use the days as sick leave, vacation leave or personal days."

In 10 years, I've changed jobs 4 times and tripled my income. I will readily admit that I have 'no saleable skills' for any of the jobs I have had in this decade, other than I show up for work, on time and ready for work. This and my on the job ethic has helped me move up to the mid-level I am now.

I got my 'on the job' ethic from a line sung by Mr. James Brown. I don't let anybody do my job better than I can do it. And believe it or not, I said that to the guy who interviewed me for the job I have now. Ask him tomorrow if I've kept my promise and I can guarantee you he'll say that I haven't let him down.

I guess what I am trying to say is that you get paid what you are worth, both on payday and in benefits. My other basic philosophy at work is this, 'My job is to make my boss look good to his boss. If I do this, he will reward me'. It has served me well for 10 years.

I get so much freaking vacation time as a 'bonus' that I am being forced (by my boss) to take two weeks off this fall or lose the time. Yes, I make him look very good to his boss. I suggested that they just cash me out for those two weeks (I saw a new M1A in my future), but corporate wouldn't have it, so home time it is.

Whenever neo-socialists get their hands on workers benfits, it is never good for those of us who have earned what we now enjoy as it cheapens the earned reward.

Things like 'vacation' and 'health benefits' started out as items offered by businesses to attract the best employees. Now, it is an entitlement.

Iran has been busy.

The NCRI, which in August 2002 broke the news about a large underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and other sites Iran later declared to the IAEA, said its information came from well-placed informers inside Iran.

"The (secret) site has been built to test centrifuges that enrich uranium," NCRI official Firouz Mahvi told reporters in Vienna. "It is located 15 km (nine miles) east of Isfahan under the name of Isfahan's Fuel Research and Production Center."

The battle continues......

The list?

Do you wanna be?

Be sure and read the crap being spewed as "fact". Statements like:

"..Assault weapons ban that has made our streets safe for the last decade."

Really? How many people were killed by assault weapons before the ban, and how many actual lives have been saved because of it? Ooooooh, that's right. There's no data to actually support this claim, but the gun control guys just "know" that the law saves lives. Do I even have to bring up the CDC study again?

Maybe they wouldn't be so "scared" of the NRA if they owned a gun or 2. Just a thought.

Now, I don't have any problem with people wanting to have a say in the gun debate. I don't even care that morons like Michael Moore and Barbra Streisand are on the "list". But don't you think that it is just a wee bit disinginuous that most of these NRA "blacklisted" celebrities are protected by armed guards? Yep, it's fine for Michael and Barbra to be protected by armed safety personnel, they just don't want you to be able to protect yourself. But, since you're so much less important than they are, you really shouldn't need any protecting, anyway. And if you are killed - well, that's too bad, but it's not like you were an important celebrity or anything, right? You can't compare the life of an unknown housewife and mother of 2 with that of a stand up comic or liberal shill docufantasy director, now can you.......

Do you want to read something side-splittingly funny? Try this,

"Sen. Feinstein, in her traditional role as lap dog to the fascist right,"

It is a lead in to this 'yahoo news' story I found posted at my local IMC.

I just don't understand these folks sometimes. Do they really believe that 'The Left' can do no wrong, or is it that Feinstein really is to the right of their politics?

I just want to know why they haven't started their 'Revolution' yet. I've been waiting for over 10 years now.

Two words come to mind on seeing this photo, .................get fucked.

France is eager to 'turn this bitter page' in the dispute over Iraq (news - web sites), says Paris' ambassador in Washington, but significant differences remain with the United States over Iraq's future. French President Jacques Chirac and President George W. Bush (news - web sites) are shown at the G8 Summit in France, June 2. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Like the whiney kid on the bench, the French still don't get it. So they aren't a real player, so they have managed to ruin the britlle friendship that did exist, so they are far more isolated than we ever have been.......They'll forgive us if we just let them coach. Only fit for towel carrying in the locker room, the French will never learn.

They aren't in charge, haven't been, never will be. They've decided to try the friendly approach, after going the insulting and obstructionist route. Now having pissed off most thinking Americans they'll find that a hard sell. Our aversion to France and French goods was the object of ridicule last year, sniff...where else will Americans get quality food and travel?

Well the numbers are in and the French are coming up short. They miss our money it seems. But rather than address the real issue, their insulting and self righteous hypocrisy, their sanctimonious finger waving while selling arms to every Tom, Dick and Saddam..............They just want better PR.

Too late, too late by far. It's in time of crisis that you learn much about who is your friend,......and who is not. France has failed miserably, they get no second chance.

The Australians have our respect, our admiration, our friendship. Of all the former colonies, they are possibly the most like us. We share many traits and qualities, not least of which is the burning need for justice, by any means necessary.

Our first rule, thou shalt not fuck with us.

The bombings were the world's deadliest terrorist strike since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and have been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked regional militant group Jemaah Islamiyah.

We are in this together, it's for blood, and it's personal. With the Aussies on our side I almost feel sorry for the dirtbags of the world,....almost.

I'm..............baaaaaaaaaaack!

Just in time for..............

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..............

This is MY holiday, as the semiofficial keeper of things dark and acursed it falls to me to be the grandmaster of this half remembered pagan ritual. Besides............anybody else here got a theme song tagged to their nickname?

Thought not, so seeing as how my sense of humor is so deeply attuned to the spirit of All Hallow's Eve I stake my claim now. So load up the heavy firepower, zombies and witchs and trolls.............Oh my!

and now Viagra spam. Spent this AM cleaning Viagra spam comments off of RNS. If this continues, I might have to close off comments (I currently have to delete 15-20 comments a day that contains all of this crap). Hopefully the much anticipated MT-Blacklist will solve this problem.

At least I don't think the Lolita commentor was a troll any more (although the posts chosen to spam the comments of were consistently critical of leftist icons) - just some moron trying to drive people to their porn site.

More proof of liberal racism.

At UC Berkeley they have convinced themselves that 'those poor colored folk' can't do anything for themselves and must be helped by the charitable 'whitey'. Who is evil. You shouldn't forget the evil.

"More than 400 students -- nearly 90 percent of them minorities -- were admitted to UC Berkeley in 2001 with below average SAT scores under an admissions policy that was to have ended racial preferences at state universities, The Chronicle found in an analysis of admissions data."

"UC Berkeley officials developed the policy, which considers grades and SAT scores but includes other factors, such as socioeconomic status, after voters approved Proposition 209 in 1996 to ban affirmative action in admissions."

"Considering the numbers, John Moores, chair of the UC Board of Regents, and Regent Ward Connerly, who spearheaded Prop. 209, are concerned that the policy might have been used as an end run around the ban on racial and ethnic preferences."

Take a look at this (caution: caustic yarn).

"I had the unique opportunity to interview five US military servicemen who just got back from Iraq, or in the case of two men, corresponded with their wives so that I could ask questions of these soldiers by mail. When the two I corresponded with came back just last week, I was able to complete the interviews I started several months ago with some new details on how the war is actually going."

"I was shocked and angered when I found out how many of the service men hate being in Iraq and want nothing to do with rebuilding and policing the devastated nation. From the conversations I had, many soldiers never wanted to go over to Iraq and fight, and the ones who had were now convinced of the awful crime that had been committed against Iraq and our own troops. I was told very few soldiers now believe in staying in Iraq, or want to stay in the country and serve any more days."

I think the guy is either using selective editing of answers, found a couple of 'GI Bill weenies', or is pulling this entirely out of thin air and completely full of shit.

I was able to get to the sencond question before having to exit the screen my first time through.

And this seems like a good occasion.

From the excellent Samizdata,

"The police have come up with a new way to catch irate motorists who vandalise speed cameras: set up other cameras to film them in the act."

"A closed-circuit television system would be installed beside the speed traps under plans being considered to curb a spate of attacks in which 700 cameras have been burnt, pulled down or had their lenses spray painted."

While I don't agree with the vandalizing of tax-payer funded property, this is getting ridiculous. There is something called 'bait'.

At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

This goes in the "What the heck were they thinking?' file.

"In March, Andrew Collins, an anthropology teacher, pleaded guilty to molesting a 12-year-old girl. No big deal for the school - it allowed him to finish molding the young minds in the one class he taught this spring while keeping his $60,000-a-year job as an academic staffer."

"To top it off, two months after his conviction, UWM officials agreed to pay him another $3,000 to teach a four-week summer class."

Read the whole thing. The guy told one of his supervisors he had been convicted of a Class-B felony. The supervisor never bothered asked WHAT crime he committed and even sent a letter to the judge stating "Mr. Collins' conviction in and of itself will not cause UWM to terminate his appointment in our Learning Technology Center".

When the teacher was sentenced and sent to jail for two years, he never bothered to tell the school.

And here is the other twisted part, instead of being mad at the teacher Collins, the school was mad at the court for not notifying them that he would be gone. Talk about no clue as to how they real world works.

Well, actually it is more like a breeze.

I found this over at Curmudgeonly and Skeptical yesterday and thought you might fing it funny. I know I did.

Television commercials for Democratic state Senate candidate Fred Madden have been boasting that he's endorsed by the South Jersey Taxpayers Association.

But the Courier-Post has learned:

The group was formed two days before Madden's TV ads began airing Sept. 19.
The group has only three members.
The members are Collingswood banker Gerard Banmiller, his daughter and his wife.

If they didn't have this judge on the bench to decide what was good for them?

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- A judge temporarily blocked a law that would make Missouri the 45th state to authorize concealed guns.

The judge cited comments from debate at Missouri's constitutional convention of 1875 that carrying concealed weapons is "a practice which cannot be too severely condemned" and is connected to "incalculable evil."

I guess Judge Ohmer didn't have time to review the CDC metanalysis of guns laws, the one that detailed their inability to correlate increased gun regulation with decreases in violent crime. But it doesn't matter what the data show. It doesn't, apprently, even matter what the people of Missouri want. All that matters is that Judge Ohmer is there to save the people of the state of Missouri from themselves.

And exactly what "incalcuable evil" is Judge Ohmer going to prevent - something like the escalation in gun violence that is occurring in the UK now that private citizens are completely disarmed?

When I was growing up in Texas, we had a name for guys like you. You know, whining, over-reactive punks who were always screaming and crying to their mommas. If you had behaved this way in one of our little league games, we would have serenaded you with cries of

Titty-baby

Certainly seems about right.

Wow, look at how close that pitch was to your head. Why, Clemens had the audacity to throw a ball over the plate after your pitcher threw a head high ball BEHIND a Yankee batter. What a whiney little baby. Do they make Depends that work with jock straps?

Muslim Slave Trade and Genocides

It has a couple of links to some decent info on these subjects as well as the Muslim Crusades.

My old friend 'Zorro' jumps in to make excuses but, oh, just go and read.

Update: It seems Z has been a busy boy while I was taking some time off.

Go here to read about how Islam is kinder to women than Christianity, and go here to read a revised history of the 'Israeli/'palestinian' conflict by Alison Weir.

I'm sure that this article will confirm most everyone here's thoughts on the subject of the UN, but it is still a good read.

From 'Capitalism Magazine dot Com'.

"Prior to President Bush�s address to the United Nations on September 23, Kofi Annan, its Secretary General, told the General Assembly that �we have come to a fork in the road.� The problem he cited was that of pre-emptive strikes on nations that pose a threat to peace in their region and to the rest of the world. This was why the US is doing the job the UN had refused to do through twelve years of �resolutions� that Iraq�s Saddam Hussein ignored."

"The answer is not to deprive nations of their sovereignty to resolve or respond to threats, but to eliminate yet another failed international institution that more often than not has proven a roadblock to action. That was President Bush�s dilemma with Afghanistan and Iraq and he solved it by creating an international coalition to alter the future of the festering Middle East, providing the platform for democracy for its oppressed people, and the promise of prosperity blocked by its various despots."

Missouri Gov. Bob Holden on Monday banned concealed weapons from state office buildings, something he said would minimize the harm that a new law would cause.

"It again shows the governor is out of touch with reality," Crawford said. "He thinks that he is protecting state employees by barring law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves. The governor's making sure these places are targets for people who want to go and create mayhem."

I can't even work up the ire to fisk this turd. It is just too typical.

Howdy all.

Back from some necessary time off, I'm wanting to show y'all what I've been up to.

First though, I'd like to thank all who emailed me over the weekend. That was very kind of you all.

Now, here you go,

(Not my photo. I didn't bring a camera this weekend)

We had a few trees at my grandmother's house that have been looming for a year or so and I figured now would be as good a time as any to teach them the gravity theorum. 2 1/2 cords later I'd figured I had settled things that had been on my mind recently. I have found that going back to what you do well is good for the mind. Lots of time to think, working in cruise control, mind and body separated, etc. I can confirm that I hurt like a SOB, but all is well in Casa de Analog.

My uncle gave the felling the thumbs up, but didn't tell me that he didn't want any of it. He told me to keep the $ from the sale of it all ($150) and I found a buyer. So the kid gets to do a little shopping,

2 new mini axes (large hatchets really, but great for flicking)

A new 28in main axe.

And a new Maul and Wedge.

Yes, all that sharp stuff adds up to more than $150. Don't tell the wife.

I may also get me a new one of these (scroll down to either #490 or #490-2). I already have a #490 and two #490-2's, but I truly feel that you can never have too many axes. Again, don't tell the wife.

Why am I going on a spending spree, you may ask. Grandma was 5'2" and never weighed more than 95lbs, but she always had an axe handle around. And she knew how to use it.

Grandpa owned a concrete company and then (for some ung*dknown reason) got into the restaurant business. His restaurants always had either a bar or a 'card room' attached to them and grandma spent 30+ years managing these places. I'll never forget the night I spent with her (back in the late 70's) when my mother had to work late and grandma was closing the restaurant. The bar was still open and a couple of fellas were giving the waitress on duty a hard time about not being able to order anything but appetizers.

Grandma heard a racket starting up in the bar and made her way there. She told me to stay in the kitchen, but being a curious 7-8yr old, I waited a second and followed her and waited at the entrance of the bar. She was speaking very 'un-grandmotherly' towards these guys and one of them stepped towards her. Before I knew it, she had grabbed an axehandle from behind the counter and made contact with that guys jaw, dropping him to the ground. She told the other two fellas to pay their tabs and "grab their (ungrandmotherly word) friend and get the (ungrandmotherly word) out of her bar".

It was from then on I was absolutly sure you never messed with grandma.

Even though she was confined to a walker or a wheelchair for the last 6 months of her life, she always had a good piece of hickory wood by her bedroom door.

She also had always come to watch me in junior axe throwing competition and was encouraging even when I did badly. I think I'm going to retire my old thrower and get me something new.

Just watched an interview of Al Franken on CNBC. This guy hates everything about anybody that doesn't agree with him. His smug assurances that his book isn't ideologically driven are hysterical to the point of pathetic. He uses the word "Right" like the most obscene epitath possible. And, of course, the left is completely blameless. He gives Clinton a free pass, while presenting his personal opinions of Bush as if they are undeniable fact.

It certainly is great to know he is the official "spokesman" for the left. Michael Moore and Al Franken - how can you argue with a ticket like that?

And speaking of cowardly pukes - all you gotta say is.....Manny

But hey, if you're a Boston fan, read this guy. Apparently it is all Zimmer's fault, and Pedro's a saint for not pummeling him.

May the curse of the Bambino last forever.

That I despise the BoSox?

Way to go, Pedro. You were able to take on a 72 year old guy with medical problems like a real pro. Not to mention that you started it with your headhunting crap. AGAIN.

Pedro Martinez is just like Keyshawn Johnson in my book. A spoiled athlete that has never won the big one, but somehow believes he doesn't get the "respect" he deserves. What a sniveling little puke.

OK, so I head out for a little salmon fishing this morning. Leave at 4am, get back about 6pm, and find that someone who disagrees with the RNS stance on many things (like Woody Harrelson, Michael Moore, etc, etc) has posted MANY comments containing links to child pornography. So, I went through and deleted all of them, after forwarding copies to the appropriate authorities, and notified their ISP of what was going on. I wonder if I should be surprised that the ISP used traces back to Vancouver, Washington, which is VERY close to where I am right now. Perhaps my cover has been blown, and I'm being stalked by the wiley leftist assassin squads that were formed to save our country from the evils of Republican rule. Isn't it amazing that these guys, instead of EVER engaging in actual debate, choose to do things like this.

What about the fishing, you ask? All I can say is: 6 in the boat before lunchtime, 138# of salmon fillet needing to go somewhere..........

I'm sorry Phil, so sorry about your loss. I've been there too much, and I know what you feel now. But this isn't my time, it's yours. We all find our own way on dealing with grief, yours is as valid as any. I agree the named stages of grief are at best, useless. Because as individuals the absolute last thing we need, or want to hear is that it's all OK, that it will pass, and we can somehow navigate our way will a handy filling station map on what we should feel.

It's not OK, it's fucked....we all know that, you most of all. The hostility you feel is your own, and if you are anything like me, then you don't need or want someone telling you not to hurt. Anger is a survivors emotion my friend. It will make you strong when you need it. So don't worry about giving your feelings free reign right now, you have the right to feel as you do. Just remember that you have friends, and we understand.

That grief is light which can take counsel. -- Seneca

The hurt never quite goes away Phil, but it becomes a part of you, it colors who you are, and what you remember. But that never makes it any easier.

Just know my thoughts, and a prayer, are with you now.

My enforced silence is nearly over. The computer is in the shop, a firewall on the agenda, and hopefully, I'll be back up swinging by Thursday. Patience is a virtue I do not possess.

True I can still post on the inlaws computer, but I refuse to be a pest and hog it for the time I would need to research posts. So, Not to much longer.

Heh.

Into enemy territory. This time to that hotbed of Rachel-Corrieness, Portland.

Wish me well......................

I'll be gone for a couple of days.

Most everyone has a person or persons for whom one puts themselves behind in order of importance. Spouses, children, etc. The easiest way for a stranger to learn the taste of their own blood is to speak badly of this person/s. Someone for whom an entire bloodline would be erased and towns and small cities razed to ensure their safety and longevity. I had three such individuals. I now only have two.

As of yesterday afternoon, my grandmother lost her long fight with COPD.

I am not meaning to be rude by shutting off the comments on this post. I would like to thank any and all with condolences at this time. The added responsibility of logging on and doing so over the weekend is not something I can do along with helping my mother make preparations.

I believe that I should be OK and back in a day or two. I have a feeling that I will be rearranging the furniture multiple times while the wife is at work tomorrow, and that she will not think highly of my doing so. I already have things to write about and am just waiting until I have built up the necessary vitrol.

Caution: Do Not read below if you do not want a peek inside my screwed up head.

I need to write this out as I cannot afford therapy at this time.

I see 'grief' as an obtuse concept created by the soft science hacks in the psycology/psycotherapy industry. But I will be using the term here as my vocabulary sucks more so than usual right now. I am not contesting its existence, I just don't like being told how I should feel, why I feel that way, and their best guess as to what I need to do to get rid of it.

I have only three stages of 'grief' instead of the usual eight that are touted in psycology. After watching my grandmother go in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last couple of years with her condition, I have lost 'shock' as one of the stages. I went straight into 'guilt', immediately took the turn into 'hostility', got through that and am moving back into 'guilt'.

I was at her house yesterday a couple of hours before she passed and she was so out of it, I did not get to talk to her. I stayed for just under an hour in the hope that she would gain consciousness and then had to leave to go to work. I doubt she even knew I was there. I had last seen her on the previous Saturday and had promised her that I would bring the wife with me yesterday (wife's day off) per her request. So my 'guilt' stems from the thought that my grandmother might have thought that I had not kept my promise.

Trust me, you do not want to know a lot about the 'hostility' phase. I'll just say that edged weapons were brought out of retirement for some long overdue practice (consisting mostly of axe throwing until I could no longer raise my arms).

This is the first death in the immediate family I have had to deal with as an adult. The next previous one was my grandfather in 1982 (I was 10). My grandmother was the last in her family of her generation. Less than two years ago we lost her brother (my great uncle) to a stroke. Her other brother died four years before that. Both of the brothers were Pearl Harbor survivors who went on to serve in the Pacific theater until V-J Day.

There. That was mildly helpful.

Who let this lady into Canada? She must not have gotten the memo that only anti-American op-eds are allowed.

For Arafat. If this is true, the upheaval and violence that will follow his death will almost certainly be very, very ugly.

Should she be given?

"KING COUNTY - A police dog named Titan is recovering from stab wounds after helping Kent police catch a suspect. The police dog, from the Tukwila department, tracked one man and the woman behind a building where the woman was bitten. In the scuffle, the woman stabbed the dog with a pocket knife. The woman was treated at Valley Medical Center in Renton. The dog was taken to a veterinarian in the Issaquah area. He was expected to make a full recovery."

I keep thinking 'Attempted Murder of a Police Officer'.

To not send your children to public schools.

"Colman McCarthy knows an easy way to get people riled up. He merely suggests they consider peace. One morning this past May found the journalist-turned-teacher attempting to get the 15 or so juniors in his "Alternatives to Violence" class at School Without Walls, an experimental public school five blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C., It was an unseasonably hot day two weeks before summer vacation, and the students sitting in the circle of desks just couldn't get excited about counting the number of articles about violence in the newspapers in front of them. Coming across a story on the Democratic party, McCarthy—a 65-year-old with owlish glasses whose lanky frame was arranged awkwardly in a beat-up chair—decided to pique their interest by making the lesson personal. He started asking rapid-fire questions about the political affiliations of students' families.

"What party are you from?" a boy asked McCarthy—a challenge as much as a question. Before the teacher could answer, another student ventured a guess: "Anarchist, right?" she said.

"I am a conscientious nonvoter," McCarthy revealed. "I don't cooperate with the voting system because anybody sworn into office is sworn in to uphold and defend a violent constitution. How can you vote for people who believe in armies? As soon as we get a new constitution that says we're going to solve our problems through nonviolence, I'll be there to participate."

I heard this article on a local radio talk show and went and found it at the link above at "Teachers Magazine.Org". This was their cover article. Put up as an example for other teachers.

Not that they need the big flashing arrow. Check out this quote from the end of the article,
"McCarthy reluctantly wrapped up his speech at the 45-minute mark and was mobbed by several teachers who wanted to buy his books. Another group gathered in the back of the room to discuss what they'd just heard. While agreeing that McCarthy's in-your-face comments wouldn't fly with most school boards or parents, they excitedly talked about how radical pacifist ideas could enliven their own classes."

"Suddenly, the teacher registered with alarm that a reporter's tape recorder was running. She declared that her comments were off the record and abruptly walked away from the group. Reconsidering their candor, one by one other teachers in the circle requested that their comments, too, be considered off the record."

Three words. Shot on sight.

Some of you will remember this pic. Back in July I told the story that revolves around this pic. If you haven't see this story, take caution of the advisory on the last pic link.

The reason I bring this up again is because of this,
"Bear Mauling Kills Grizzly Advocate and Friend"

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - An advocate of grizzly bear protection and his camping companion were mauled to death by one or more bears in a remote part of Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve, officials said Tuesday"

Please let me apologize now, because I am going to call this guy and his girlfriend stupid f*cking idiots. I don't get out into the woods as much as I used to (or as much as I like either), but I know to watch out for (and be armed for) large furry creatures who think of me as a lunch. People who call themselves 'Conervationists', yet abhor hunting, are usually stupid f*cking idiots. This guy and his girlfriend proved my point.

UPDATE: I found this over at Kim du Toit's place. It claims to have the real (and not as sensational) story of how this bear was felled. Read for yourself. Decide for yourself.

It has only begun.
Links to the Seattle IMC. If you're feeling brave and have removed the throwable objects from around our desk, go and see the other photoshopped pic.

Yesterday, Mr. John Hawkins, of Right Wing News fame, had a post asking "Does The Left Want Punchcard Ballots Or Electronic Voting?"

The truth is this, they don't want either. They know that their current agenda will never fly with the middle 40% and when they lose, they blame the voting machines. They're hope is that this will make folks start to believe that voting is useless and fewer people will vote. Their ultimate goal is to prove representative democracy unreliable, giving them even more reason to get rid of it.

Also, there was a comment about the my calling the Recall in Cali a car wreck. The person pointed out that I hang out at the train wreck known as Indymedia (where you can find me taking threats and abuse daily). But even I can't handle the mid-air, multi-aircraft collision of the Democratic Underground like Mr. Hawkins can.

Here's the link to his posts about what he found on the Recall at the DU. Please note that I recoil from the DU so heavily, I won't even soil the RNS pages with a link to the DU. You'll have to go to RWN for that puppy.

Oops, they've already started.

The Times of London reports that an official remembrance ceremony for British and allied soldiers who died in Iraq will forgo the usual military honor guard in order to appease opponents of the war.

Poor Brits. I'm starting to get the feeling we need to start an organization to help fleeing right-leaning Britons become US citizens.

Found @ Tounge Tied. I've given you the link to Tongue Tied because the Times requires a subscription.

Move to New Zealand!

"It has been revealed that the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) had a secret deal with a known armed robber to obtain taxes from his income."

Yeah, you have to pay taxes, but they won't rat you out to the police. Plus, most of the people there are unarmed.

Wouldn't this revelation make the IRD an accomplice?

I have abstained from posting about the California Recall here, because I feel that it is sort of a highspeed car wreck, hence the name of this post.

While I am pretty satified with the preliminary results, some folks aren't. I found this at Eye on the Left (the ex-'Blogs of War). He found this at the Frisco IMC.

"The legions of white males who support Arnold believe his lies and exaggerations. He is the savior of California. I have never seen such zest and zeal for a candidate. People who have never voted before have registered. They are having homoerotic fantasies about him. That 15 women have come forward with allegations of sexual harassment by Arnold Schwarzenegger and that he is having such trouble courting women voters further highlights who his base of appeal is and their struggle in holding on to power."

"Win or lose, this is the white man’s last stand. If elected, having Arnold as governor will be a surreal experience, but he cannot alter the course of history. Perhaps, he can accelerate it. According to some estimates, Hispanics are up to 35% of the population of California. Yet, they’re only 16% of the electorate. Combine this with a higher birth rate and immigration, and it becomes apparent that those who wish to ignore this group’s perception of reality do so at their own peril. Since Proposition 187, Republicans have been swept out of state office, and Democrats have established firm majorities in both legislative houses. This should also cause people, including all those writers critical of Bustamante’s style, to question their perception of reality."

"Through the recall process we can see California’s political future. In the first debate, there were multiple candidates, including Peter Camejo of the Green Party. Arnold was conspicuously absent. It’s as if Arnold is an illusion. If Arnold were not running, who would the Republican candidates be? Tom McClintock? Bill Simon? Darell Issa? Richard Riordan? All unelectable extremists. The term “moderate Republican” is an oxymoron."

And here is the last paragraph. It will explain the rest of the post to you.

"The Republican Party has endorsed Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a Hispanic who has been educated in the California public school system from kindergarten all the way up through the university, I object to the election of a racist to the governorship of the state of California in the year 2003. That is my perception of reality. In the future, Republicans will either change their spots, or go extinct." - Francisco Frias

To the Bacon Bowl Baybay!

I've been meaning to write about this sooner, but I procrastinated until the tickets came in the mail today. If you are near the Seattle/Tacoma area, check out the link and come on down. If you decide to do so, let me know and we'll meet up.

Here's some history.
"Bacon Bowl was conceived for several different reasons.
It was at the time when law enforcement officers across the country were called "Pigs" among other things and the climate between law enforcement and their communities was at an all time low in relations."

"We are proud of Bacon Bowl, the largest charity football game in the United States."

All you need to see are the words "castration" and "kitchen table".......

LGF had a photo of Arafat up this weekend showing him looking haggard and not well. And now comes this,

"Four ambulances that were seen entering Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah on Monday afternoon triggered off rumors that he was seriously ill."

"You can see that he's very ill," said someone who attended the meeting. "He can hardly speak. Something bad is happening to him."

I am still looking for the story that came out a few weeks ago where the 'palestinians' were guarding 'ol Yassir against a 'Jew Death Ray' that they were sure was going to be aimed at him. I'm pretty sure I made fun of it here at RNS but I can't find it right now. I will keep looking and possibly have to eat my words.

Either that or he ate some of Mama Corrie's vegan home cooking. Maybe she was good for something after all.

UPDATE: Found it.

"Palestinians have thrown a tight security cordon around President Yasser Arafat fearing his assassination by unconventional means that could be construed as "a natural death", highly informed sources told Gulf News yesterday."

"These rays can cause palpitations in the heart leading to a failure of brain resulting in gradual stop in breathing and ultimate death."

I'm still thinking it was Mama Corrie's cooking.

OK, I have despised Keyshawn Johnson since he played for the NY Jets. The Jets were my "adopted" team while I lived in NYC, and it was hard for me to root for them while this prima donna strutted around, shooting off his mouth, and doing exactly 0 to help the team while continuously bashing his teammates. Surely you remember his epic auto-biography - "Just give me the damn ball", right?
Anyways, I was watching the Tampa/Indy game last night. Monday Night Football had wired the miracle mouth, and showed him walking up and down the sideline making fun of one of the receivers for the Colts. I'm not sure who the Indy receiver was (not a team I follow at all) - but Keyshawn kept going on about "Is that how he get his catches?" and "he's supposed to be the #1 receiver in the NFL, and that's how he get his catches". Typical Keyshawn stuff. If you've ever seen a Keyshawn post-game interview, you will know what a pompous ass he is. I am convinced he was the inspiration for that beer commercial (bud?) that shows the football player placing the blame for his team's loss squarely on his teammates - for failing to recover any of his 4 fumbles.

So, all I can say, Keyshawn, is

HA

Notice that Keyshawn didn't play in the OT. This was also typical of his tenure when he was with the Jets - just give up if things looked hopeless. Good thing that Manning didn't have that attitude.

In fact, I have a suggestion for the sequel to Keyshawn's "rookie" autobiography....

So I walked into an IMC discussion of the PFC Lynch book/possible movie of the week deal, and one of the commenters noted how no one remembers the names of the casualties of the 507th or Lynch's fellow ex-POWs.

I sat back and realized that, for once, an IMC'er was right.

But no longer. Consider yourself educated.

Here is a link to Beeville.net's "Lest We Forget" site

Here is one to 'Coalition Armed Forces'

You will also now find both of these in my links section, and I again find I am kicking myself for adding them earlier.

OK, I'm not sure what it is about this post from AK that got this commenter from overseas so worked up. Worked up enough to leave 10 hysterical comments in about 2 minutes (scroll down from the post to read them).

I can't tell if he/she's upset because they somehow got the idea that there was child porn here, or that they didn't actually find any when they arrived.

I'm not sure what he/she/it means about "our cover saying you could download child porn here", but RNS has never been into that kind of stuff, and would frankly kick the ass of anyone who even suggested it. But, apparently, we are "absolute mongs", whatever that means.

Why is this individual carrying on about a post from May, anyways?

Ok, so I waxed poetic about the CDC gun law meta-analysis below.

Here's a bit more fuel for the fire - reported by the Guardian, no less.

The obligatory teaser:

According to the Association of Chief Police Officers, gun crime is 'growing like a cancer' and spreading to smaller communities.

Last year saw a record 35 per cent jump in gun crimes, which means there are now, on average, 30 incidents each day. There were almost 10,000 incidents involving firearms recorded in England and Wales and, although the largest increases were in metropolitan areas, the figures showed use of handguns was also growing in rural communities. Overall, handguns were used in almost half of these incidents.

Ooooh, yeah. Strict gun control works, all right. It works at insuring that the only people armed are criminals.

Let's trust the "professionals". Instapundit has a great round-up of media bias against the US "successes" in Iraq.

But nope, let's not believe the people actually on the ground in Iraq - they're all just shills for the Bush Industrial/military complex Hunta-like hegemony. Much better to trust shrill and sniping voices from the Guardian/WaPo/NYTimes.

And, of course, the Al-Guardian is all over it. Like flies on you know what.

"Michael Moore fired his opening salvo against George Bush and his rightwing cronies with his bestseller Stupid White Men. Now the president is in his sights again. In this second extract from his new book he asks his old enemy seven awkward questions."

Actually, they aren't all that awkward (a couple are even 'Yes' or 'No'). But I guess it is how you sell the news.

But this is the one that gets me.

"5. Why are you protecting the Second Amendment rights of potential terrorists?"

"Mr Bush, in the days after September 11, the FBI began running a check to see if any of the 186 "suspects" the feds had rounded up in the first five days after the attack had purchased any guns in the months leading up to September 11 (two of them had). When your attorney general, John Ashcroft, heard about this, he immediately shut down the search. He told the FBI that the background check files could not be used for such a search and these files were only to be used at the time of a purchase of a gun."

That is correct. They are violating my right to privacy by doing that. Even if they are not looking for me.

"Mr Bush, you can't be serious! Is your administration really so gun nutty and so deep in the pocket of the National Rifle Association? I truly love how you have rounded up hundreds of people, grabbing them off the streets without notice, throwing them in prison cells, unable to contact lawyers or family, and then, for the most part, shipped them out of the country on mere immigration charges."

Because they are not citizens. The two who had tried to buy guns were turned down because they do not have the right to purchase firearms.

"You can waive their Fourth Amendment protection from unlawful search and seizure, their Sixth Amendment rights to an open trial by a jury of their peers and the right to counsel, and their First Amendment rights to speak, assemble, dissent and practise their religion. You believe you have the right to just trash all these rights, but when it comes to the Second Amendment right to own an AK-47 - oh no! That right they can have - and you will defend their right to have it."

Again Michael, they are not citizens. And therefore they do not have the rights of citizens. Much to your dismay I see. If they wanted an AK-47, one of our civilian versions wouldn't do. They would sneak them into the country, somehow.

"Who, Mr Bush, is really aiding the terrorists here?"

Good question there Mike? In my opinion, it is you for trying to cause dissent in the ranks and aid illegal immigrants by giving them the full rights of citizens. And in the meantime, helping disarm the true citizens of this country from being able to defend themselves.

A quick look over at his site tells me that there are only 44 more days unitl 'The National Ammo Day Buycott'

I am already kicking myself for not putting a link to the 'Ammo Day' site in my links section before now, so you don't have to do it.

I'm ahead of the game (but that doesn't mean I won't contribute when the time comes). I bought 2000rnds of 22lr and 250 of 38spl this weekend. Start saving your $$$ now, National Ammo Buycott Day will be here before you know it.

UPDATE: If you're feeling like getting started early and have a GI Joe's chain store in your area, they are having a sale this week on Remington 22lr ammo. $7.99 for 525rnds. That even beats what I paid this weekend ($9.99 per 525).

SHTF - Originated in the land of du Toit - (acronym) Shit Hits The Fan -- when law and order disappear (eg. Rodney King riots in L.A., Hurricane Andrew aftermath in Florida, etc).

On Sunday, Kim du Toit posted his SHTF pack. It is quite impressive and functional, but since everyone is different, I wanted to show off mine.

We�ll start with the vehicle. These boxes are always in my truck. (Click for larger image)

The �Dry Box� on the left contains 100rnds of 12ga 00Buck and the sideways 30cal can has a bandoleer which holds another 50 rounds. The other 30cal can has another 20rnds of Buck plus 50 rnds of 12ga slug ammo. The Ma Duce can holds 500rnds of 45ACP, 500rnds of 357 and another 50rnds of 12ga Buck. I keep these in the lockbox of my truck along with other essentials (blankets, food, water, spare tires, etc).

This is what I will grab to accompany them. (Again, clickety click)

Savage single shot 12ga, Win 94 in 357Mag, and my Remington 870 (also my stock barrel, mag spring and cap) and another 100rnds of 00Buck (this �dry box� also contains my extra choke tubes, including the rifled slug tube, and wrench). What can I say, I was born a shotgunner. Everything else gets locked in the safe room (OK, so it is a converted closet. But you try to get into it without the key in under an hour. And then you have to deal with the safe)

When Ashcroft feels frisky and switches us to �Code Orange�, I get frisky as well and keep the 870 locked in the cab of my truck in one of these (see, the color system is useful).

I always (and I mean always) have my 1911 on me whenever I leave the house. (Sorry, no clicking here)

And the wifey grabs her revolver.

I gathered up all my 1911 mags in the house for a total of 21 out of 30 (you have to rotate your mags). I have three on me at all times, which means that I have 6 in the truck (glove box, console, map rack, etc.). This is average.

I follow the same way of thinking as Kim when it comes to SHTF situations. Close quarters, short distances, etc. But when my Rem 700 gets back from Hart Barrel Co., I�ll have to find a way to incorporate it into the arrangement (I�ll have over $2000 into it (w/o a scope), and I refuse to leave something like that behind).

Why, you ask, do I feel the need to have 300rnds of 00Buck with me? In case I run into zombies.

You're better off not crossing.....

DOESN'T have a sense of humor.......

Via newcomer jcrue

True

That the US would attack Iraq during Ramadan? I guess the world, and certainly Arafat's terrorists, don't hold the same level of concern for the Jewish celebration of Yom Kippur.

First, of course, there was the Yom Kippur War - where Egypt and Syria chose to attack on Yom Kippur purely because they perceived Israel would be pre-occupied with their holiest day, their "Day of Atonement".

And now, we have this suicide bombing at a jointly owned Arab/Jewish business right before the start of Yom Kippur. The female "martyr" who did this is human waste (now both figuratively and literally). But of course, she was driven to it because the Jews had the audacity to kill her terrorist brother - no matter what, it's always Israel's fault.

It's time we unshackle Israel and let her defend her citizens. Because this kind of shit is just pure evil incarnate. If Israel is going to be demonized no matter what she does, and if Arafat is just going to stand by and let his terrorists claim more and more innocent lives, then I say let Israel do whatever is necessary to defend her people.

UPDATE:

Tom Paine over at Silent Running has some thoughts in a similar vein. His comment about having difficulty adequately atoning for the sin of anger seems particlularly germane to the point of this post.

Hoooo, baby. This must have been a tough report for the CDC to release - and for CNN to report. I mean, we've been told for years that "gun control laws work" and that they "save lives" and "prevent violent crime" - despite evidence to the contrary in the UK,

So, what does an objective evaluation of the data suggest?

A sweeping federal review of the nation's gun control laws -- including mandatory waiting periods and bans on certain weapons -- found no proof such measures reduce firearm violence.

Ahhhh, but these things are always open to interpretation, you see:

The CDC said the report suggests more study is needed, not that gun laws don't work. But the agency said it has no plans to spend more money on firearms study.

Yep, they didn't get the results they wanted - so it means more study is needed. BUT, they aren't going to spend any more money doing so. Is this because it's no longer considered to be an important question, or because they know that spending more money will yield the same results. The CDC has been VERY active in the gun control arena: you can bet that the study was designed to find a positive effect for gun laws, and that the data were massaged every way possible to see if there was an effect. The fact that they were unable to find any benefit, coupled with their decision to not pursue the matter further, speaks volumes about what the CDC did (and did not) find when they tabulated their data.

And, of course, the Brady Center takes the opportunity yet again to tell us that gun control laws work - even if their benefit can't be discerned by reviewing the literature on gun control laws as was done by the CDC:

A spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said the laws work, but it is nearly impossible to prove it [how convenient - ed] because people can buy guns in one state and carry them into one of the handful of states with strong antigun measures.

"It's hard to study whether gun control laws work in this country because we have so few of them," said Peter Hamm. "Talking about studying gun control in this country is like talking about studying democracy in Iraq."

So few gun laws? I thought there were something like 28,000 gun control laws already on the books across the US (I have no idea what the real number is, just that it is huge. If anyone can provide the real number, let me know). The Brady Center response is, however, typical of any ideologically driven argument. There is no evidence that gun control laws work. The CDC was unable to find any evidence that they work. But the Brady Center knows they work, and knows what is best for you. So they want the federal government to keep funding studies until they get the results they want. Then, once they get the results they want (from the taxpayer-funded studies that will be performed until the "appropriate" conclusion is reached, of course), they will try and get the same federal government to undo the second amendment. It doesn't matter what the data says - it only matters what THEY say. After all, THEY are the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and have some kind of omnipotent knowledge when it comes to the effectiveness of gun control in the US. Study results be damned - THEY KNOW GUN CONTROL WORKS, DAMNIT!

But, of course, it is not that gun control laws don't work, it's because the studies are flawed:

"When we say we don't know the effect of a law, we don't mean it has no effect. We mean we don't know," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, chairman of the CDC task force. "We are calling for additional high-quality studies."

This is classic researcher mental masturbation. We all go into a research project (including this kind of meta-analysis reviewing all of the literature on a topic) with pre-conceived ideas. This so-called "researcher bias" is very difficult to control for, and why, in the biological sciences, things are typically done in a "blinded" fashion. For example, if we are testing to see if a new cancer drug increases survival, then there will be a study done that compares the effects of the drug against a placebo - and the researcher won't know which compound an individual patient is receiving. This is harder to do for social sciences research, and allows investigator bias to come through, sometimes even in the face of perceived objectivity. So, if these results had come out of a meta-analysis performed by the NRA, you would be right to be skeptical and wonder where the bias lay. However, these results came from the pro-gun legislation CDC - which is telling indeed.

Of course, the CDC spokesman tells us their negative results aren't really negative, and offers all kinds of reasons why this is so - most of which blame the quality of the studies evaluated. This is also a classical researcher two step. If the results of the study support your pre-conceived ideas - then you are perfectly willing to believe that the study is well designed and appropriately controlled. If the results are NOT what you wanted, the tendency is to look for the problems with the study - after all, it couldn't possibly be your preconceived ideas that are in error, right?

I don't doubt the CDC spokesman's claims that the studies were less than ideal - retrospective meta-analyses never are. There are a huge amount of confounding factors involved. But I would be willing to bet a small fortune that, if there had been even the slightest positive benefit shown, these results would be being presented to us as definitive proof that gun control works, and there would be nary a word about how "inadequate" the studies reviewed were.

First Kyoto gets dissed by Russia, now this. It�s been a bad week for the tree-hugging "we know what's best for you" crowd.

Maybe we are finally about to vanquish the specter of Huey P. Long's Democratic machine.

Pretty amazing when you consider that it wasn't all that long ago that David Duke was a "credible" politician in this state.

Hmmmm, watch out going to that last website. Apparently it is where the ISM gets a lot of its propaganda - at least I can't tell the difference between what the KKK and ISM are saying about Iraq. STrange bedfellows, indeed - or maybe it's just the fact that all truly hateful speech sounds exactly the same, regardless of who utters it.

KKK + al Qaeda/Taleban/Ba'athists/Hama + ISM: Now THAT'S an axis of stupidity as big as the come.

Target rich environment

Of thought, that is.

Check out their account of the Kelly affair:

The Government's efforts to put aside the controversy by honouring the war dead - and to "pray for the people of Iraq" - will also be dogged by deep unease over Mr Hoon's and Downing Street's roles in events leading up to the suspected suicide of the weapons' scientist David Kelly.

Apparently no need at all to mention the BBC's role in Kelly's suicide. You can see where these lefty types get their completely inadequate debating skills - only present the side of the story that supports your position and then scream about being oppressed if someone disagrees with you.

But the real issue, apparently, is the fact that the Labour party wasn't given the final say, :

Mr Green admitted he felt highly emotional about Mr Blair's presence at the service. "I think he's a war criminal, it's as simple as that. The man, without any consideration to the Labour parliamentary party, elected to go to war with this scabby little friend in Texas [President Bush], and killed 51 of our men unnecessarily," he said. "If I have a chance to meet him on Friday, I will tell him to his face."

Scabby little friend from Texas - ooooohh, that European sophistication is sure evident in this piece, eh?

most foul.

The commentor who says "i'll kill you if you ever come near me" pretty much sums up my feelings on the topic. Although I'm sure Harmonia is trying to find an address so she can send the parents a nice fruit basket in honor of their daughter's brave sacrifice.

I've said before that I really am ignorant of computers, other than using one for specific tasks I really don't know much. It seems my problem is of my own making. I am using my motherinlaws computer to do this post. My computer works, but it has a trojan virus. That caused it to send out spam I wasn't aware of, resulting in my being smacked with a rubber chicken by my server. I updated my Norton, dealt, I thought, with it, only to discover that it was still there. Norton says the virus probably came from my wife's kasa downloads. But until I can drag a friend over to clean it up for real, I can't connect back up.

My server is already miffed at me, and I don't want to take any chances with being shut out again. I may just check into a DSL hookup, cable is fine, but if I have to go back to dailup, I'll beat my head into a tree.

It may take a week or so, but I'll be back up if I have to hunt down every spammer and end his existence personally.

I'm having difficulty accessing my email from here for some reason, the page won't come up. So If I miss some messages, I'm sorry, I plead ignorance and throw myself at the tender mercy of rabid wolves.

Not a unsurmountable problem, but annoying as all Hell.

While current technology French missiles turn up in Irag, Chirac plays the fool, ......again. You would think shameless and French were the same word. Obviously no one here could possibly care less that Chirac is "disappointed" by the US position. That's kind of like Bill Clinton questioning the moral character of someone else, and just as absurd. The French are whores, they always have been. With notable exceptions, the French have always sold out their "friends" and paid lip service to our common enemies.

So, maybe the EU should push for a consensus seat and boot France off the Security Council. France say's they speak for Europe, that's a bad joke. They don't speak for Poland, Italy, Spain and any number of European states that have taken our side. They speak for the petty interests of a failed ex-empire. They speak for lefty stooges, anti-Americans and the nose in the air snobs of Old Europe, content and happy in their failure and impotence.

I consider it a badge of Honor when France dissagrees, we must be doing something right.

My alma mater never gets another cent from me.

This is pretty illegal

Funny how the left screams about the US acting unilaterally to depose a vicious regime, but says nary a word about France acting unilaterally to keep him in power. Oh, that's right, it wasn't unilateral on France's part. They had a little help from Russia and Germany as well.

Update:

Even though there are not many things more entertaining than bashing Chirac, it appears that this story is in error. Or, more correctly, that the Poles were in error when the story was written.

You gotta protect the furry little animals, man.......

We recently had some ALF nonsense here at my university. Extensive damage was done to a lab in our building, with years of research destroyed and hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

It really is time to start dealing with these people like terrorists, rather than letting them continue to do whatever they want under the guise of "protectors of animal rights".

The net result? We now have cameras in all of the labs, and much more intrusive security. Aren't these ALF morons the same ones screaming about erosion of civil liberties, and the evils of "big brother"? Well, thanks for doing your little part to help "Patriot Act II" become a permanent fixture.

Any other takers in my offer?

For Mad Mikey.

Your 'Official Fan Club T-Shirt'

Front

Back

Heya Mikey, there might be an 'adult' version of this shirt floating around. Would you like me to find it?

Instead, you have the spectacle of the head of the Russian Academy of Scientists (not a fringe scientist, by any means, although I'm sure the ad hominem attacks will start) saying that the only people who would be affected by the abandonment of Kyoto "would be several thousand people who make a living attending conferences on global warming"

Hahahaha! Too beautiful for words.

Howdy all, its Friday again and here I go with more Friday Fun.

Yesterday I made a T-shirt from a tip from Cait. Now I want you to give me ideas of what you would like to see on a shirt. I will do my best to make your suggestions a reality and post them today and throughout the weekend.

Just put your ideas in the comments, or send me an e-mail. If your idea is not at least PG-13, I'll mail it to ya.

So come on folks, hit me with your best shot.

The David Kay report on WMD in Iraq that was released this week is giving the media all kinds of nifty soundbytes, headlines, etc. But Andrew Sullivan has taken the time to read between the lines (so you don't have to) and comes up with more than should be enough for even the skeptics.

To give credit where its due, I don't regularly read Mr. Sullivan. I found the link to this at Right Thinking on the Left Coast.

Here's a sample,

"We have discovered dozens of WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in late 2002. The discovery of these deliberate concealment efforts have come about both through the admissions of Iraqi scientists and officials concerning information they deliberately withheld and through physical evidence of equipment and activities that ISG has discovered that should have been declared to the UN."

"Translation: Saddam was lying to the U.N. as late as 2002. He was required by the U.N. to fully cooperate. He didn't. The war was justified on those grounds alone. Case closed. Some of the physical evidence still remains, despite what was clearly a deliberate, coordinated and thorough attempt to destroy evidence before, during and after the war."

Go read the rest. It is a long read, but well worth it. Shortly after the section I cut and pasted here is a list of nine evidence points that'll knock your socks off. Sadly though, the UN will say "Yeah, so what?".

See the comments in the post below for reference.

If the t-shirt depicted a minority or Arabic target instead?

Don't get me wrong - I think political correctness has run amok in the US. However, I wonder about the ACLU's choice of battles to fight.

But, at the end of the day, the student in question will find out if his message is inflammatory or not, probably the hard way. If he gets his ass kicked by his fellow students, then I guess the assistant principal was right.

Hmmmm, I guess Bretton Barber isn't so convinced of the rightness of his position that he's willing to show his face......

Hit them in the back of the heels with your shopping kart.

"Whirl-Mart is a participatory, anti-consumerism, performance trend started by the Breathing Planet Troupe (www.breathingplanet.net/whirl). It is art, performance, ritual, and meditation all in one. The Whirl-Mart ritual involves a group silently pushing empty shopping carts through the aisles of a superstore, wearing Whirl-Mart smocks. Utilizing tactics of occupation, Whirlers call this symbolic spectacle a �collective reclamation of space that is otherwise only used for shopping and buying.� Averting outright protest of the �emptiness of material consumption,� they instead mimic the absurd shopping PROCESS instead! When asked by Wal-Mart employees what they are doing, and knowing that protests are not permitted inside Wal-Mart, they respond that they are participating in a �consumption awareness ritual,� confusing store employees and shoppers alike. And the good news is, Whirl-Mart is coming to a superstore near you!"

Maybe I'll have to start accompanying the wife when she goes shopping. But knowing my luck, they won't be 'at a store near me'.

I'm sure you do. The Corries held a press conference in Jerusalem.

Here is the text, if you're interested.

It is a bit hard to read. Both for the fact that it contains so many lies, half-truths and distortions, and that the person who entered it doesn't know how to cut and paste. Go figure.

The Hindustan Times

Kuwaiti security authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle $60 million worth of chemical weapons and biological warheads from Iraq to an unnamed European country, a Kuwaiti newspaper said on Wednesday.

Hehe. Who knew that Ba'ath is just arabic for Nazi?

Ba'ath party (b��th) , Arab political party, in Syria and in Iraq. Its main ideological objectives are secularism, socialism, and pan-Arab unionism. Founded in Damascus in 1941 and reformed, with the name Ba'ath, in the early 1950s, it rapidly achieved political power in Syria.

The WaPo/NYT/Guardian Triumvirate of stupidity, or these guys?

Sometimes you find a piece written with such bile and distortion, you have to douse it in gas to bring a little purity back into the world. A match helps too. The New Zealand Herald is the halfwitted step brother to the UK's Independent, and just as distorted. This opinion piece says it all about their attitude. The US did it, the US is wrong, always has been, always will be. The author is in a funk because we haven't embraced the kum biya bend over and give us another please brain rot of NZ leftiness.

For instance,

And then, last week, Iraq was put up for sale. Defoliated now of its infrastructure, its morale, its educated and competent people and all impediments to the new regime of a perfect free-market economy, the US announced that all 192 state companies will be sold to foreigners, income tax will be introduced for the (local) workforce and the entire country opened to unlimited foreign investment.

I take it she would be happy if they continued to live in rubble and starve instead? She can't even begrudge these Iraqi's the simple concept of making a dollar to feed their families. It's the usual anti-globalism rant. Dark people are proud and noble while they starve and suffer, it's selling out to actually embrace the global economy. She's an idiot.

Her words on the US using the Mark-77 (naplams successer), is to say it's bad because .......then goes into a rant about agent orange. Failing to make any connection between the two. Her facts are wrong, her assertions based on halftruths and half remembered history from Vietnam. This piece so deserves a serious fisking, but I don't have the time right now.

Suffice to say she's unhappy because Americans walk the earth. Well, I grant her the same courteousy, till she grows a brain anyway.

Day By Day, is what Doonsberry was supposed to be, but hasn't been for twentyfive years. Smart, savy, and not blindly partisan.

This particular strip illustrates the tunnel vision that afflicts the left on Bush. There may be reasons not to vote for him, unfortunately those aren't often the ones raised. Every screech of nazi, every chant of blood for oil merely convinces the moderate listener that the hard left in the democratic party are wearing their ass for a hat.

Bush's best weapon for reelection? The hardcore American left, .......THANKS guys, I appreciate it.

But sadly, not literally.

Al-Qa'ida Website, Back On-Line Publishes Book About its War on the U.S. and Bombing in Saudi Arabia. The book called "The Raid of the 11th of Rabi' Al-Awwal - The Eastern Riyadh Operation and Our War on America and Its Agents."

"The book's foreword states, among other things, that the "raid of the 11th of Rabi' Al-Awwal 1424 [the May 12, 2003 suicide attack on Western residential housing complexes in Riyadh]… was but the opening shot, Allah willing, and the Mujahiddeen had a need for this detailed communiqu� to present the reasons for the Jihad activity in the Arabian Peninsula and to remove some of the religious and military problems regarding it."

That 'minorities' can't discriminate.

'Male lesbians' barred from Lesfest event

"Though lesbian activists have traditionally fought against discrimination based on sexual orientation, it is homosexual women who now are being accused of insensitivity by wanting to exclude from an upcoming event a specific group of people - transsexual lesbians who used to be males."

"Festival organizers obtained an exemption from local equal-opportunity laws before going ahead with the controversial ads. According to the report, those in charge wanted even the event's caterers to be traditional lesbians."

Now, I've often considered myself a lesbian in a man's body, do you think they'd let me in? I'm sure they'd let the Doc in. After all, he's the 'Cunnilingus Fairy'.

On a serious note, how do you get an 'exemption' from having to follow the law? Is there paperwork that you have to file? Asses to kiss? Lawsuits to threaten. Or do you just have to ask nicely?

What's next, hirstute lesbian sailors wanting to ban razor-using, oyster-shuckers with no sea-legs from their clam digging celebration called 'BeardedClamO'Rama'?