More Than Loans

The Final Solution

2009-10-15T04:10:00.001-05:00

This past week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quoted while visiting Iran as saying, "It's time we finally finish the final solution."

I Have A Dream

2009-09-22T14:08:00.002-05:00

I had a dream the other night. True it wasn't as profound a dream as Martin Luther King's which was a rather mundane thought, incidentally. My dream was that I woke up in 1988.

This got me thinking about everything that has happened in 20 years. When my grandfather died in 1994 it made me marvel at all that had changed in his lifetime. This dream I had made me look back at all that has changed just since I graduated from high school.

The internet. It was still a sparkle in Al Gore's eye back in 1990. Trying to explain the internet and all of its uses to someone in 1988 is a lot more difficult than trying to explain powered flight to someone in 1900. Nevermind trying to explain how it works. I have way more chance of explaining Bernoulli's principle than I do how my email works.

Medicine. Think about the things we take for granted. Things that were fatal just a few years ago are now rather pedestrian. My mother has diabetes. I've been able to watch the progression of medical advances. It's only amazing when you stop to think about it.

Communications. Everyone bitches about people on the phone all the time. Except it's all of us. Try explaining to someone 20 years ago that EVERYONE has a carphone (which is what we called them then). I don't know anyone without a cellphone. You can argue whether or not this is a good thing, but if you are going to argue it isn't, then throw yours in the trash and see how long it takes until you buy a new one. Tweet, text and talk away. Don't be ashamed of it.

Travel. It used to be that taking a flight was a big deal. It used to be that it was rather expensive. Kind of something the rich did or the middle class did when they saved up and planned for it. Taking a flight today isn't much more than taking the bus... and just as enjoyable.

Thank God I'm A Country Boy

2007-10-10T12:40:00.001-05:00

Ok, I'm back

2007-09-08T16:14:00.000-05:00

Larry Craig.

What did he do illegal? He sounds like a creep. I know what he intended to do. I don't think he did something illegal, though.

I think the cop maybe overplayed his hand knowing that whomever he accused of that was likely to plea rather than make him show proof.

Closing

2007-06-05T23:27:00.001-05:00

CAFE Standards

2007-05-14T11:01:00.000-05:00

I was in a little town in Wisconsin this weekend. I'd forgotten the utter joy of sitting at a counter in a cafe having a cup of coffee and a smoke. Why are people not allowed this simple pleasure here in MN?

I was reminded of Midnight Run.

Victims Here

2007-04-17T16:32:00.000-05:00

Anyone from MN will recognize the sign. I've been thinking about this a bit today because of the recent events. Places of business put them up apparently to advertise that no one there can defend themself.

I learned today from a woman who runs a very nice charity near my home that the law actually requires her to have this sign up.

I understand in bars, but WHY would you advertise that you are defenseless anywhere else? Someone.... actually a bunch of people actually think signs like this make you safer.

How Crazy Do You Have To Be To Write This?

2007-03-22T02:00:00.000-05:00

You're implying that xxxx has watched me have sex and exchange money for the act? You're a sicko, you pervert. You're a fuckin' crazy-ass pervert if you are thinking about scenarios like this. Who would even come up with that except for a deranged individual like yourself? I didn't realize that you were a fuckin' sick pervert who devises weird sex scenarios like this INVOLVING YOUR SON in addition to all your other misgivings.

I'd suggest going NOW to United Hospital to be checked by the social workers. Or if you don't want to go to my hospital, go to Regions, but it's out of network, of course. Sign in under a fake name...I don't care. I'm really worried about you and giving my son to you this weekend if you're envisioning your son inserted into a sex scenario. Don't tell me you went. Don't tell anyone. Just go. This is a serious problem.

Oh My GOD!!!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!

2007-03-13T09:15:00.000-05:00

Watch this video, then read this AP piece today. Utterly shameful.

For example, the report says North America "has already experienced substantial ecosystem, social and cultural disruption from recent climate extremes," such as hurricanes and wildfires.
But the present is nothing compared to the future.
Global warming soon will "affect everyone's life ... it's the poor sectors that will be most affected," Romero Lankao said.
And co-author Terry Root of Stanford University said: "We truly are standing at the edge of mass extinction" of species.
The report included these likely results of global warming:
_Hundreds of millions of Africans and tens of millions of Latin Americans who now have water will be short of it in less than 20 years. By 2050, more than 1 billion people in Asia could face water shortages. By 2080, water shortages could threaten 1.1 billion to 3.2 billion people, depending on the level of greenhouse gases that cars and industry spew into the air.
_Death rates for the world's poor from global warming-related illnesses, such as malnutrition and diarrhea, will rise by 2030. Malaria and dengue fever, as well as illnesses from eating contaminated shellfish, are likely to grow.
_Europe's small glaciers will disappear with many of the continent's large glaciers shrinking dramatically by 2050. And half of Europe's plant species could be vulnerable, endangered or extinct by 2100.
_By 2080, between 200 million and 600 million people could be hungry because of global warming's effects.
_About 100 million people each year could be flooded by 2080 by rising seas.
_Smog in U.S. cities will worsen and "ozone-related deaths from climate (will) increase by approximately 4.5 percent for the mid-2050s, compared with 1990s levels," turning a small health risk into a substantial one.
_Polar bears in the wild and other animals will be pushed to extinction.
_At first, more food will be grown. For example, soybean and rice yields in Latin America will increase starting in a couple of years. Areas outside the tropics, especially the northern latitudes, will see longer growing seasons and healthier forests.
Looking at different impacts on ecosystems, industry and regions, the report sees the most positive benefits in forestry and some improved agriculture and transportation in polar regions. The biggest damage is likely to come in ocean and coastal ecosystems, water resources and coastal settlements.

The media and the crisis of subprime loans

2007-03-12T15:11:00.000-05:00

Dave at Garfield Ridge has a good piece on how the media is treating the contracting credit market and stagnant real estate prices. I started typing this in his comments, but it was getting kind of long, so I just decided to post it here.

I've seen a few of these media reports myself and have found them to be pretty uninformed and typically demagogic.

Here's MPR's example of a victim of mortgage companies.

Ripplinger now owes $187,000 on the house he paid $25,000 for in the 1970's. Ripplinger says the same broker handled his last two refinances which were done within months of each other last year.

I've been a loan officer for almost seven years, now. I've done scores of sub prime loans for purchases, often to 100% LTV (no money down). The major reason for this is that if someone comes to me and asks for a loan to buy a house, I look for the best option available to them. It's not my job to talk them out of buying a house because taking a loan on an ARM (most sub prime loans are ARMs). My job is to usually find them the lowest payment available. By law I have to disclose the rates, the date that it goes adjustable, and the margin the rate will be at when it goes adjustable.

I have no way of knowing what the index will be at on that future date. One thing I am guilty of, I guess, is telling people that when the loan goes adjustable in 2, 3, or 5 years that we'll refinance them into a better loan if they've improved their credit.

This is where the problems have come in. With stagnant property values, their LTV hasn't improved much if at all in the intervening years, and often if they were in a sub prime loan in the first place it's unlikely that their credit improved in the meantime. Someone who had sub prime credit before, is more than likely going to have similar sub prime credit.

I echo Dave's contempt of the idea of having the government "fix" this problem. This IS the market. If lenders make credit too easily available to less than perfect credit borrowers and price the interest rates too low on those loans, they are going to get a lot of people defaulting and won't have made enough to make up the difference. The result of this is that lenders have to price their loans higher or tighten up their lending guidelines if they hope to stay in business. This means fewer people can buy houses. The irony is that the people complaining about this the loudest are the same people who a few years ago were complaining that it was too hard for the underprivileged to get loans to buy houses.

*** Updated ***

I love when I'm validated by people much smarter than myself. From Econlog:

My guess is that the typical defaulter today is not some prudent individual who happened to buy a home that strains his paycheck. Instead, my guess is that the typical defaulter is somebody who is poor at managing spending and credit. Of course, either defaulter is going to appear to be "over his head."

Also at Outside the Beltway:

So, here are my questions:

Who are the people taking out subprime loans?
What kinds of houses are they buying with them?

Starland Vocal Band: Afternoon Delight

2007-03-12T12:40:00.001-05:00

One of my first memories is from when I was four years old and my parents took me to see John Denver in concert. Starland Vocal Band was the opening act.

It's funny, whenever I hear this song, that's what I think of.

Thanks to the Kool-Aid Report.

Space Camp with Dave

2007-03-09T16:09:00.000-06:00

I've never been a big fan of the show, but I know a lot of people are. Dave is one of them. Here he is from the set of Battlestar Gallactica. It looks like a really cool time.

Orpa

2007-03-02T01:00:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine (really) was watching Oprah Winfrey's show today so I got to see a bit of it. She had a guy on whom, I think was a producer or something for a Discovery Channel show that's coming up. They were talking about global warming.

This maroon actually made the claim that polar bears would be extinct by 2030.... the year 2030. I assume he didn't mean by that time today.

I want to see if he'll wager on that one.

If polar bears are extinct on New Year's Day 2030 I'll give him my house. If they aren't, I get to kick him in the balls. Would any reasonable person take that bet? I wonder how many people watched that show and believed that nonsense.

WPXI in Pittsburgh

2007-02-23T11:08:00.000-06:00

I saw this story today and it immediately sent up red flags as to its veracity:

PITTSBURGH -- Soldiers who were paralyzed, suffered brain damage and lost limbs owe the government enlistment bonus money.They must pay the money back because they didn’t fulfill their tour of duty.

When you go and read the story and/or watch the video of their on air piece, you will notice that not a single person who was paralyzed, suffered brain damage or lost a limb is given as an example of this callous treatment. Does it sound plausible that this could have happened because of a paperwork screwup? Yes. Is it likely that this is policy? No.

I've got a call into Ms. Welles to ask her if she actually spoke with anyone who had to pay back their enlistment bonus after losing a limb, etc. and if so, why they weren't part of her report, rather than the suicidal/homicidal guy in the story?

I've said it before, the military, like any bureaucracy is prone to screw ups. What I don't understand is why people in the press feel the need to invent things to tarnish the military when there are plenty of genuine snafus for them to pounce upon.

I can't definitively say that this is false, but it sure looks shaky to me.

If anyone at Castle Aaaaargh has any information on this, I'd love to hear it.

Rifles and nonsense

2007-02-22T14:10:00.000-06:00

Michelle Malkin pointed out earlier this week, the media and Democrats seem to take some perverse delight in (wrongly) pointing out equipment problems in the military. While I'm sure there are problems with equipment, being that there has been since someone first sharpened a stick with which to fight, it's astounding how either ignorant or deceptive these leftists can be when trying to tarnish the military.

From Ms. Malkin's piece on Humvee armor:

Capt. Matt Schoenfeldt, who serves as a gunner in Iraq’s Diyala province, also sent me his reaction:

I would first like to point out that this is just one more attempt by the liberals to take an extremely complicated situation, look at one small aspect of the story, and then invent the story that they [want] to tell. We have over 70,000 M1114 Up-Armored HMMWVs in theater right now. With that said, it is remarkable that we would be able to retro-fit this number of vehicles with armor in this short time period while still conducting 24-hour combat operations. . . . In addition to the upgrades to all of these 70,000-plus M1114s, the Army has upgraded every vehicle that travels out in sector; from ballistic glass for Track Commanders on Tanks and Bradleys, to armored doors and glass for support vehicles, and everything in between. There is not a single vehicle that goes out in sector that has not been upgraded for threats specific to Iraq.

The armored upgrade program is a tremendously successful program and has saved thousands of lives. This story on the armor upgrades has been taken by the media and other uneducated members, and painted a very successful and impressive program as a failure. It is an appalling lack of fact-checking by the media and others that should be informed on the issue.

Today, the NY Times has a story on preparedness of the National Guard.

Capt. Christopher Heathscott, a spokesman for the Arkansas National Guard, said the state’s 39th Brigade Combat Team was 600 rifles short for its 3,500 soldiers and also lacked its full arsenal of mortars and howitzers.

Leftists, of course, leapt on this article as proof that our soldiers are being sent into battle with inadequate equipment.

Confederate Yankee did a great job of pointing out the differences in the rifles that are being discussed. I think he, however, doesn't go far enough in pointing out how stupid this whole discussion is. It isn't even a debate about whether the M4s or M16s are better.

I called and spoke with Captain Heathscott today to ask him about the missing rifles, mortars and howitzers mentioned in the NY Times article. He told me that the reason they don't currently have them is because they left them in Iraq on their last deployment for the unit that relieved them. He said they have all the rifles and equipment they currently need for training and further, he said they would have all the equipment to round out their TO&E when they actually received their orders and deployed.

Vegas Baby!!!! VEGAS!!!!

2007-02-19T14:44:00.000-06:00

When are you in the wrong?

2007-02-09T15:03:00.000-06:00

I heard a story about a woman who left her baby in the car for a half an hour in sub-zero temps. It sounds horrible.

I called and talked to the police (I wasn't able to get hold of her). Apparently what happened was that her car died and she went for help. I haven't been able to find out the woman's name.

Aside from this, I seriously wonder..... If you're from Huntington Beach, does that make you want to touch little kids?

Safety and Dirty Jobs

2007-01-31T00:47:00.000-06:00

I've talked before about what a fan I am of both the show Dirty Jobs and its host Mike Rowe. Not only is the guy funnier than hell, he'll sing you a tune. I became a bigger fan of his tonight after reading this piece by him on workplace safety.

I sincerely appreciate your concern for me and agree that stupidity plays an ongoing role in my professional and personal life. But believe me, I have no wish to be injured on the job.

However, it is not the objective of Dirty Jobs to conform to any particular set of safety standards, other than those dictated by the people for whom I happen to be working at the time. I take my cues from them and I assume whatever risk they assume, for the most part. In the end, we hope to capture an honest look at what life is like for the workers in a particular venue. We do not aspire to set an example or be a poster child for OSHA or any particular industry. I realize that may sound controversial but it's the truth and not nearly as inflammatory as what I'm going to say next.

Ready?

Of all the platitudes automatically embraced in the workplace — and there are many — there is none more pervasive, erroneous, overused and dangerous than "Safety First!" in my opinion. I have heard this slogan countless times. I have seen it emblazoned on banners, T-shirts and hats. I have sat through mandatory briefings, slideshows and presentations designed to "protect me from the hazards at hand." And I have listened as safety officers and foremen have run down list after list of OSHA requirements, all apparently construed to remind me that nothing is more important to the employer than my own well-being.

What a load of unmitigated nonsense.

In the 120+ jobs I have seen thus far, I can tell you with certainty, that safety, while always a major consideration, is never the priority.

Never.
Never, ever.
Not even once.

Is it important? Of course. But is it more important than getting the job done? No. Not even close. Making money is more important than safety — always — and it's very dangerous, in my opinion, to ignore that. When we start to believe that someone else is more concerned about our own safety than we are, we become complacent and then we get careless. When a business tells you that they are more concerned with your safety than anything else, beware. They are not being honest. They are hedging their own bets and following the advice of lawyers hired to protect them from lawsuits arising from accidents.

You are correct to suggest that wearing safety glasses would have made the task at hand safer. But why stop there? Wearing a helmet would have made it safer still. And wearing a steel-mesh shark suit would have made it really super-safe. I know that sounds glib and I know that many will wish to scold me for appearing cavalier. But really, I'm not. In a car, I wear a safety belt. On a motorcycle, I wear a helmet. Not because it's the law, but because it seems a reasonable precaution. And ultimately, the only one responsible for my own safety is me. (Besides, if the government were really concerned with my safety above all else, wouldn't they drop the legal speed limit to 30 miles an hour and make cars out of rubber?)

Again, you're right — I probably should have been wearing safety glasses, not because safety is first, but because I like to hedge my bets. We can always be safer. We can always assume less risk. But if safety were really first, I wouldn't travel at all or engage in any activity that required me to assume any risk. And I certainly wouldn't be hosting Dirty Jobs.

Like most sensible concepts, rational safety is all about balance. But the problem with balance is that you can never maintain it without constantly adjusting. Which means, we are always slightly out of balance, one way or the other.

When are we too reckless? When are we overly cautious? Opinions will vary about where safety should rank on society's list of desirable conditions. But one thing seems certain — safety has never been first, at home or at work. And the current effort to make it so is way out of balance.

And that, ironically, is dangerous.

Mike

Some More Jews Provoke An Innocent Palestinian Into Killing Them

2007-01-29T16:44:00.000-06:00

They were sitting in a coffee shop EXISTING. They were Jews and alive. How provocative!

Apparently a couple of groups have already confessed to the murders. The Palestinian "government" has issued a statement applauding the intentional killing of these innocent people.

Hey... I have an idea. Let's give these people a state with an army and everything. They won't try to kill innocent people then.

Stay tuned to Israelicool for all the updates.

Does anyone out there remember a column that Lileks wrote about one of these maybe 4 years ago? It talked about a little girl who was on a bus which was bombed.

A whole bunch of peace activists get waxed in Baghdad

2007-01-29T05:24:00.000-06:00

Here's some video of some of our guys and Iraqis fighting together against people who want America to abandon Iraq.

I don't know if Jack Murtha was killed in the fighting. I do know he shares the goal of those who were.

Vacation contest

2007-01-22T04:00:00.000-06:00

Everyone I haven't been married to is eligible. Everyone else, please stay away from me.

If you were to go somewhere with 6-8 of your friends for 5-7 days in a couples format, where would you choose? This is currently my top pick. Please keep your suggestions within the realm of possibilities. No Bali or anything like that.

Whomever picks the best place wins my warmest personal regards!

I'm not sure what to say

2007-01-12T05:18:00.000-06:00

It's early in the morning.

I just found out that two of my friends are getting divorced. She cheated on him. They have kids. I wish there was a way to make people understand how much that hurts before it happens.

Holy Crap, someone do the math

2006-12-22T16:32:00.000-06:00

I don't think this is even possible. I'm talking math. Let's pretend this woman is trying to tell the truth.

100,000 since she was 15. 20 years. That's 5,000 every year. I'll let you do your own math from there.

She claims to have had sex with 100,000 men. I wasn't even married to this woman

Charges Dropped, New Ones Added

2006-12-22T14:08:00.000-06:00

I simply cannot imagine what it's like to be falsely accused of a crime in this manner.

Making me feel better about myself

2006-12-15T04:23:00.000-06:00

I suddenly feel in shape.

Thanks to Attu.

Gobble Gobble

2006-12-09T22:30:00.000-06:00

Particularly since the movie There's Something About Mary every guy has been really careful with the zipper. You never really think about getting your throat caught in your coat zipper, though. Don't do this. Trust me. You look like a fucking idiot and, again, trust me, it hurts.

Infamy. Day. History

2006-12-08T02:52:00.000-06:00

Today in my mind is the one that will live in infamy.

God do I wish I had something to post that was interesting to someone other than myself

Here's a shameful confession for anyone reading: I've been watching Sex in the City. I hate them all.

Sorry for all the quiet

2006-12-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

I'm otherwise engaged.

I don't follow boxing

2006-11-14T02:47:00.000-06:00

But holy crap. Is this guy really seven feet tall?

What now?

2006-11-09T12:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Dave asked a great question. I think it was rhetorical, but still. The answer is. It's no longer happening.

I don't want to sound politically petulant because it's really not where this is coming from. I support our war effort wholeheartedly. The American people have spoken, however. They didn't speak with one voice. They weren't necessarily saying that they don't support the effort. In fact, I think only a minority say that. But effectively they elected a leadership that does not support the effort.

That leadership is going to find the fastest way to lose this war they can without suffering too much politically.

To paraphrase John Kerry, "how do you ask someone to be the last man to die for a war that our people and government are abandoning?"

Many have posited that America has one year to pacify Iraq (which is only part of winning the war). There's no way that's going to happen, especially when our enemies now know that we are on a de facto time table. If this is true, then we should pull up stakes and go into Pat Buchanan "fortress America" mode. We can no longer project power to fight our enemies. Our people simply don't have the patience for the long war.

It's been said by people much smarter than me that we will lose this war in America, not in Iraq. Tuesday was our Waterloo in my opinion. We effectively gave up by voting in people who advocate giving up.

Something for the therapists

2006-11-02T12:34:00.000-06:00

To paraphrase P.J. O'Rourke, this story raises a couple of questions; questions like, "What the fuck?" and "What the fucking fuck?"

COEUR d'ALENE -- Six Coeur d'Alene High School students received counseling Monday after they unwittingly shot a suicide victim late Friday night.

Here's what police say happened:

The six students, whose names and ages were not released late Monday, went to the dark basement of an unfinished house in Hayden.

Using BB guns, they shot at a dark object hanging from the rafters. One of the students eventually produced a flashlight and the students saw that they had been shooting a man's body.

Terrified, the students called police on a cell phone. While they were screaming into the phone and running out of the house, a machete-wielding man came at them. He was, police said, the owner of the house and had been recently victimized by thieves.

"They shot not realizing it was a guy," said Kootenai County Sheriff Capt. Ben Wolfinger. "The man immediately put the machete down when police arrived. A lot of guys in the office said it was like a B-movie."

The students were attending a nearby party and decided to go into the unfinished house around 11 p.m.

Police said the BB guns didn't damage the body of the man who committed suicide.

Coeur d'Alene High School Principal Randy Russell declined to comment, referring questions to district spokeswoman Janet Feiler. Feiler couldn't be reached for comment Monday evening.

Thanks to Attu.

Beautiful

2006-10-28T20:48:00.000-05:00

I didn't have my camera with, but I got to see an E-3 Sentry patrolling the skies during the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. Gave me a nice warm feeling.

Where am I

2006-10-19T04:16:00.000-05:00

There's a whore to whom I was married who keeps looking at my site and apparently can't let go. We're going to play the game of "where am I" for the next week. Where do the pictures come from? I'll even make it multiple choice. Key West, Honululu, or San Diego? Everyone to whom I wasn't married and who didn't make perjurious claims in court is welcome to offer a guess.

Update.... it's been a LONG time since life was good.

Diplomacy

2006-10-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

I missed this before at Junkyardblog. So many people say things like, "What is the harm of talking to your enemies?" I can't remember who said it, but sometimes diplomacy is saying, "Nice doggie" while you reach for your baseball bat. If that's what the people you are negotiating with are doing, there IS harm in negotiation. Don't give people time to load their gun.

Go read JYB. It makes this point in a really funny way.

Tell me the difference

2006-10-18T12:11:00.000-05:00

Is there a difference between being a member of the Klan and the Nation of Islam? I know one similarity.... Democrats will elect either.

Great list of movie song moments

2006-10-12T15:46:00.000-05:00

See how many of them you can think of then look at the list.

I would have added the tango scene from Scent of a Woman. I guess that isn't pop music, though.

Thanks, Attu.

An interesting idea

2006-10-12T14:39:00.000-05:00

Hugh Hewitt has a really neat idea for finding professionals to work in the national security service. He envisions something like the military academies. It sounds like something that deserves some consideration.

I don't believe it

2006-10-09T11:06:00.000-05:00

A whole bunch of smart people are saying that North Korea tested a nuclear weapon. This is clearly bullshit because they promised Jimmy Carter that they wouldn't. He got that shiny medal as proof from the Nobel Committee [corrected from "UN"-- I'm occasionally dumber than normal].

I won't believe it.... I'm going to sit here and hold my hands over my ears and recite "Foley is a pedophile" for a month.

Ooops, They Did It again!

2006-10-09T07:29:00.000-05:00

Someone figure out what's wrong with this picture? Apparently no one at the DNC did. Go here to see who did.

Let's get the term right

2006-10-08T19:34:00.000-05:00

About 7 years ago I was 27 years old and at a hot tub party with a bunch of friends. There was a girl in the hot tub (which was about the size of a double-wide mobile home) that I didn't recognize. I asked my buddy, "Holy shit, who is THAT?"

"Uh, that's [blah-blah]'s sister [the girl whose house we were at]. She's 15."

Immediately after hearing that I expected to be arrested for the thoughts I'd just previously had.

Now... I don't tell this story to confess some deep-seated sickness. It's to illustrate that exact point that The Jawa Report evidenced with this example.

If you are a man, you WANT to sleep with that. If you are a normal man, you know that it's wrong and don't. It doesn't make you a pedophile. It doesn't make you a pedophile if you DO sleep with that. It makes you a criminal, probably.

And a great big tip of my non-existent hat to Jonah Goldberg for educating me on the word, "ephebophile."

Let's not confuse wanting to sleep with that and wanting to sleep with Jonbenet Ramsey.

Everyone who said that Debra Lafavre's (I'd look up the spelling if I gave a squirt of piss) "victim" was lucky and then called Congressman Foley a pedophile slap themself on the forehead.

Innocence

2006-10-07T01:11:00.000-05:00

When I think of the Islamofascist threat, it isn't the 9/11 attacks that leap to my mind. It's the Beslan attack. This is the threat that makes me break out into a cold sweat when I contemplate it. It's also what I thought of when I heard of the the Lancaster school shooting.

Protein Wisdom pointed out tonight a wonderful post by a blogger in Lancaster County along with photos of those on their way to the funeral. Please go read about the heroism exhibited by 13 year old Marian Fisher in that school room.

Again, go look at the rest of the photos in Joanie's post. It's just heart-wrenching.

The Phelps scum

2006-10-06T20:22:00.000-05:00

I can't remember who I read that once made the observation that there are now so many laws on the books (many of them contracdictory) that it's almost impossible for someone to go through the day without running afoul of at least one of them.

It's probably harassment, but I think the police ought to put this theory to the test with regard to these Phelps assholes. ANYTHING they do remotely illegal should bring prosecution. Let them spend their time in court. Make the system the punishment.

Another one of the prices of freedom

2006-10-06T05:48:00.000-05:00

One of the costs of having the freedoms that we enjoy is that we must tolerate those who exercise them in ways that make you want to beat them to death with a baseball bat. The correct way to deal with them is to shun them and use the metaphorical bludgeon of shame.

It doesn't always work, but I'm glad to see that there are those like Bridget willing to hand it out.

Must give major, major props to talk-show host Mike Gallagher for stomaching an hour of vile rhetoric in return for a signed agreement to keep Westboro Church -- the charming group that protests outside soldiers funerals -- from pulling their same stunt outside the funerals of the Amish schoolgirls killed earlier this week. This "church" takes God's name in vain every time by using it to push their sick, hateful agenda.

...

Then look at the Amish, who have already visited the killer's wife in a gesture of forgiveness, whose faith is shown to the world as a quiet fortitude in the face of unspeakable tragedy, who have cast anger and hatred aside at a time when anyone would understandably feel such emotions.

And she's right, Gallagher deserves some serious kudos. God I hate those people. It isn't fair that the families of the victims of this horrible crime should have to be the ones to pay this price.

*** Update ****

Upon a little further reflection and some convincing arguments that I heard from Glenn Beck, maybe Gallagher shouldn't have caved into these assholes. It just encourages them.

Congressional Page Program

2006-10-05T02:18:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine who works with sexually abused kids told me that when she was in high school she asked Senator Herb Kohl for a recommendation for the program. He gave her one. "Stay away from it." Seems like it was sage advice.

Congressional Page Program

2006-10-05T02:18:00.000-05:00

Defense of Foley

2006-10-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

The guy doesn't seem to have many defenders so here goes.

Come on! Who hasn't gone after a little 16 year old ass once in a while?

Quit being such a bunch of prudes!

Then there's these pricks ripping on the guy.

Though it's a pretty cool name for a blog.

More on the 9-11 conspiracy shitheads

2006-09-29T00:34:00.000-05:00

Assholes on the Loose

Second day in a row I'm flacking for Screw Loose Change. I get such a kick out of the nutjobs they watch for us, I can't help it. Today they pointed out an article in Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi.

I'm guessing that Mr. Taibbi would have trouble agreeing on anything politically, but Jesus did he put the wood to the conspiracy kooks.

Just imagine how this planning session between Bush, Rummy and Cheney must have gone:

BUSH: So, what's the plan again?

CHENEY: Well, we need to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. So what we've decided to do is crash a whole bunch of remote-controlled planes into Wall Street and the Pentagon, say they're real hijacked commercial planes, and blame it on the towelheads; then we'll just blow up the buildings ourselves to make sure they actually fall down.

RUMSFELD: Right! And we'll make sure that some of the hijackers are agents of Saddam Hussein! That way we'll have no problem getting the public to buy the invasion.

CHENEY: No, Dick, we won't.

RUMSFELD: We won't?

CHENEY: No, that's too obvious. We'll make the hijackers Al Qaeda and then just imply a connection to Iraq.

RUMSFELD: But if we're just making up the whole thing, why not just put Saddam's fingerprints on the attack?

CHENEY: (sighing) It just has to be this way, Dick. Ups the ante, as it were. This way, we're not insulated if things go wrong in Iraq. Gives us incentive to get the invasion right the first time around.

BUSH: I'm a total idiot who can barely read, so I'll buy that. But I've got a question. Why do we need to crash planes into the Towers at all? Since everyone knows terrorists already tried to blow up that building complex from the ground up once, why don't we just blow it up like we plan to anyway, and blame the bombs on the terrorists?

RUMSFELD: Mr. President, you don't understand. It's much better to sneak into the buildings ourselves in the days before the attacks, plant the bombs and then make it look like it was exploding planes that brought the buildings down. That way, we involve more people in the plot, stand a much greater chance of being exposed and needlessly complicate everything!

CHENEY: Of course, just toppling the Twin Towers will never be enough. No one would give us the war mandate we need if we just blow up the Towers. Clearly, we also need to shoot a missile at a small corner of the Pentagon to create a mightily underpublicized additional symbol of international terrorism -- and then, obviously, we need to fake a plane crash in the middle of fucking nowhere in rural Pennsylvania.

RUMSFELD: Yeah, it goes without saying that the level of public outrage will not be sufficient without that crash in the middle of fucking nowhere.

CHENEY: And the Pentagon crash -- we'll have to do it in broad daylight and say it was a plane, even though it'll really be a cruise missile.

BUSH: Wait, why do we have to use a missile?

CHENEY: Because it's much easier to shoot a missile and say it was a plane. It's not easy to steer a real passenger plane into the Pentagon. Planes are hard to come by.

BUSH: But aren't we using two planes for the Twin Towers?

CHENEY: Mr. President, you're missing the point. With the Pentagon, we use a missile, and say it was a plane.

BUSH: Right, but I'm saying, why don't we just use a plane and say it was a plane? We'll be doing that with the Twin Towers, right?

CHENEY: Right, but in this case, we use a missile. (Throws hands up in frustration) Don, can you help me out here?

RUMSFELD: Mr. President, in Washington, we use a missile because it's sneakier that way. Using an actual plane would be too obvious, even though we'll be doing just that in New York.

BUSH: Oh, OK.

RUMSFELD: The other good thing about saying that it was a passenger jet is that that way, we have to invent a few hundred fictional victims and account for a nonexistent missing crew and plane. It's always better when you leave more cover story to invent, more legwork to do and more possible holes to investigate. Doubt, legwork and possible exposure -- you can't pull off any good conspiracy without them.

BUSH: You guys are brilliant! Because if there's one thing about Americans -- they won't let a president go to war without a damn good reason. How could we ever get the media, the corporate world and our military to endorse an invasion of a secular Iraqi state unless we faked an attack against New York at the hands of a bunch of Saudi religious radicals? Why, they'd never buy it. Look at how hard it was to get us into Vietnam, Iraq the last time, Kosovo?

CHENEY: Like pulling teeth!

RUMSFELD: Well, I'm sold on the idea. Let's call the Joint Chiefs, the FAA, the New York and Washington, D.C., fire departments, Rudy Giuliani, all three networks, the families of a thousand fictional airline victims, MI5, the FBI, FEMA, the NYPD, Larry Eagleburger, Osama bin Laden, Noam Chomsky and the fifty thousand other people we'll need to pull this off. There isn't a moment to lose!

BUSH: Don't forget to call all of those Wall Street hotshots who donated $100 million to our last campaign. They'll be thrilled to know that we'll be targeting them for execution as part of our thousand-tentacled modern-day bonehead Reichstag scheme! After all, if we're going to make martyrs -- why not make them out of our campaign paymasters? Shit, didn't the Merrill Lynch guys say they needed a refurbishing in their New York offices?

RUMSFELD: Oh, they'll get a refurbishing, all right. Just in time for the "Big Wedding"!

ALL THREE: (cackling) Mwah-hah-hah!

You get the idea. None of this stuff makes any sense at all. If you just need an excuse to assume authoritarian powers, why fake a plane crash in Shanksville? What the hell does that accomplish? If you're using bombs, why fake a hijacking, why use remote-control planes? If the entire government apparatus is in on the scam, then why bother going to all this murderous trouble at all -- only to go to war a year later with a country no one even bothered to falsely blame for the attacks? You won't see any of this explored in 9/11 Truth lore, because the "conspiracy" they're describing is impossible everywhere outside a Zucker brothers movie -- unbelievably stupid in its conception, pointlessly baroque and excessive in its particulars, but flawless in its execution, with no concrete evidence left behind and tens of thousands keeping their roles a secret forever.

Go read the rest. It's funny except that so many people really think that way.

Jesse MacBeth - Truther

2006-09-27T21:33:00.000-05:00

Reminiscent of Jesse (or Jessie) MacBeth. Once again it's from a "brave truth teller." Meet Lauro Chavez.

I originally saw this on Screw Loose Change, a great place for keeping track of the crazier among us. Then in trying to find stuff on the original butthole Ranger, I found this piece by a Milblog I hadn't seen previously.

Yes! Hot Air is on the story.

Bill Clinton's interview and his speech

2006-09-24T11:31:00.000-05:00

Honestly.... does ANYONE remember ANYONE bitching that he was too obsessed with Bin Laden?

Wasn't Bin Laden offered to America in 1996 by Sudan, Bill? How hard were you trying then? Let's take a listen.

Shit. Bill. You mean. You were offered him but didn't have a legal reason to hold him? Did McCain tell you about his treatment in Vietnam or something? What do you mean you pled with the Saudis to take him? Why...? Why didn't you just take him, have him killed and say you didn't? Oh... that's right... you wouldn't want to lie.

Sis Toljah has makes a great observation

The America Bashing 9-11 Memorial

2006-09-24T05:22:00.000-05:00

By now most everyone has heard about the Phoenix 9-11 memorial that got hijacked by those who hate America. Apparently a newspaper picked up on the story. It's kind of a funny piece. Here are the two funny lines.

"She said all the inscriptions were found factual by an Arizona State University history professor. "

Oh... a history professor found all of the inscriptions to be factual. Well, then.

Factual.

One inscription states, “You don’t win battles of terrorism with more battles.”

Factual.

How to reply to annoying emails

2006-09-22T11:58:00.000-05:00

You know the kind. I got this today from a friend of mine.

Subject line: Why Dogs Hate Halloween

With pictures attached.

Etc.... etc....

Simply hit reply to all and send a picture of your own.

You quickly get taken off the list for such crap.

Broad Strata

2006-09-21T17:38:00.000-05:00

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian police on Tuesday arrested four men suspected of firing shots at an Oslo synagogue last weekend, the national news agency NTB reported.

The four, aged between 20 and 30, were suspected of having fired at least 10 shots at the synagogue in central Oslo with an automatic weapon, or of having taken part in the incident.

"The four men have different ethnic backgrounds,"

Who here wants to take bets on what their "different ethnic backgrounds" are? I'm guessing they come from the same "broad strata" of society that those plotters of the Toronto bombing did. I'm guessing they come from such diverse backgrounds such as, Egyptian, Saudi, Kuwait, maybe Syrian.

***** Update *****

Not quite related, but it is.

Six youths were arrested by Barnet police this week in connection with a vicious anti-Semitic attack on a 12-year-old girl, that left her unconscious with a fractured eye socket.

Go read Countercolumn's comments on this.

The perps, of course, are remarkably free of identifiable ethnic or national origin - as Jew-hating sociopaths always are when they get written up in the media.

9/11 Conspiracy whackjobs rebutted

2006-09-21T15:31:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago Rob at Say Anything put up a video that rebuts the assholes who made the stupid movie, Loose Change. I went back to look at it again but Google didn't have it any longer, or at least not in the same spot (clearly a Zionist plot).

I wanted to be able to find it again when there was something I wanted to see, so I decided to make a link to it here. If you haven't seen this video take the time and watch it. It's long, like three hours long, but it takes quite a bit of time to thoroughly knock down all the lies, obfuscations, misrepresentations and errors in Loose Change. The video is really well done, the film makers play the original piece of shit and stop it occasionally to show how what is being said is wrong.

38,000 Bronze Stars

2006-09-21T14:12:00.000-05:00

I read Sharkman Six last night, really good book BTW. Owen West has a great sense of humor and does some really interesting character development. In the book the main character makes the observation that most people in America couldn't name a single soldier fighting in the war he was writing about under the rank of four-stars.

I was thinking about that last night. I keep up with the war more than most people and I'm not sure how many I could name. What's most disturbing to me is that when I was trying to think of names, the first one that came to mind was Lyndie England.

Thankfully the second I came up with was Chuck Zigenfuss (Chuck and Carren, I'm sorry if I butchered the spelling), then I started thinking of those I knew personally who are there. But the larger point is one that Free Frank Warner made a couple of weeks ago and INDC Journal brought to my attention today. There have been 38,000 Bronze Stars issued in OIF. I wonder how many heroes from this war your average American can name.

I had trouble coming up with their names and I've written about them. Why was I able to come up with Lyndie England's name and not

Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, who was killed April 4, 2003, just as Baghdad was liberated. Sgt. Smith jumped atop an Armored Personnel Carrier and machine-gunned at least 20 of the 100 Iraqi Republican Guard troops who were closing in on about three dozen of his fellow soldiers near Baghdad’s airport. So far, Smith is the only soldier whose Iraq service has been recognized with a Medal of Honor.

Another hero is Army medic Pfc. Stephen Tschiderer, who on June 2, 2005, in Baghdad was shot in the chest, got back up, chased and captured the sniper who shot him. When Tschiderer discovered the sniper was wounded, he gave him first aid.

Do yourself a favor and go read about a few more of these guys either at INDC Journal or at Free Frank Warner. For a more exhaustive list, see Blackfive's list of "People you should know."

Marlboro Gold

2006-09-21T01:41:00.000-05:00

Thank God we have the U.S. Department of Justice out there looking out for us. This will really make a lot of people shrug and keep calling them the same thing.

From the London Times:

America's big cigarette makers must stop describing their products as "low tar," "light," "ultra light" or "mild," according to the decision of a long-running legal battle with the US Government - but they will not have to pay billions of dollars on campaigns to stop people smoking.

I honestly don't know what people are thinking this is going to accomplish... Oh wait, I do. From injuryboard.com:

It is critical that all Floridians who believe they may have a claim contact an attorney handling these tobacco cases promptly. The window of time for the filing of the individual lawsuits will close in 2007. Our firm is able to quickly ask the important, qualifying questions and, if warranted, obtain the relevant medical records for a more detailed evaluation.

Strange Pictures

2006-09-21T00:43:00.000-05:00

I don't really have anything to say about these fellas. Just got them in an email from a friend of mine today. I totally want that Tron costume for bringing my boy trick or treating this year.

I sort of admire him too.

2006-09-15T03:23:00.000-05:00

A few questions

2006-09-15T02:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, I read this story and I still can't wrap my mind around it. I might have to become pen pals with this guy to get some answers.

First the gist of it.

A man who authorities say threw hot grease on his housemate has been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.
Donovan A. Blunt, 21, pleaded no contest to one count of unlawfully possessing a harmful device causing injury and one count of assault with intent to commit great bodily harm. A no contest plea in Michigan is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

Ok, I get this is serious, but TWENTY YEARS?

Also, if you're facing 20 years, No contest? Was this a plea bargain? From what?

Further down in the story.

In handing down the sentence, Borchard noted previous criminal behavior by Blunt, including gluing someone's eyes shut with Super Glue.

To shamelessly steal from P.J. O'Rourke, this brings up a couple of questions. Questions like, "What the fuck?" and "What the fucking fuck?"

If splashing your fry daddy in someone's face gets you 20-40 what does gluing someone's eyes shut get you? This guy was only 21. That means he did this to someone and still was out in time to make the rounds for the big birthday.

I'm also sort of interested in what this guy's references look like when he's being looked at as roommate material.

Ok. Continuing.

Authorities initially said the dispute revolved around Blunt's stereo. At the preliminary examination, Pandey, a native of New Delhi, India, testified that he was studying in his room when Blunt knocked on his door and doused him with the hot fluid. He said he had asked Blunt to turn down his music in the past but didn't remember if he made that request the day of the attack.

I'm dying to know if he heated up the grease IN ORDER to throw it on this guy or if he was cooking up some french fries and came up with the idea, "knock knock."

Anyway. Any takers for becoming this fella's cell mate?

2006-09-15T01:41:00.000-05:00

Gem Sweater

A previous hit brought to my attention by Jonah. That guy just rocks. Why isn't he dancing with the stars?

2006-09-15T01:39:00.000-05:00

Ellam Inba Mayam - Dance Fever

Jonah Goldberg just has taste

Ok, I'm Probably Going to Hell for This

2006-09-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

**** Updated ****

But...

Kim du Toit pointed out that the ultimate invention would be to combine this:

with this:

I really think it ought to at least hold a smidgen of this:

Finally!!!!

Incidentally, Dirty Harry at GOP Vixen is asking for submissions on this sort of thing.

Cup stacking super girl

2006-08-29T10:51:00.000-05:00

Timothy Fenwick, Jr.: Do you ever get the feeling that there's something going on that we don't know about?

One of the best weekends ever

2006-08-28T21:18:00.000-05:00

I'm beat up. I have bruises on about 75% of my skin between my neck and waist. Also sunburned. Spent most of Sunday waterskiing or some version of it.

I spent the weekend at my buddy's house. This is a guy that I will defend like a member of my own family. One of my best friends. But how the fuck does a normally smart guy get such nutso political ideas? He's got full-blown BDS. He's a lawyer. Top of his class kind of guy. But I got to hear about how Israel got us to attack Iraq and they're going to get us to attack Iran. The topper was how Israel got Iran to get Syria to get Hezbollah to start kidnapping Israeli soldiers. I'm not sure how the Carlisle Group plays into this. Or Halliburton.

Speaking of your 9-11 story

2006-08-28T19:49:00.000-05:00

For whatever reason recently I was reminded of the story of Ben Curtis on the occasion of him getting into some trouble for pot. He was "The Dell kid." I say "kid" even though he was 21 in 2001. He really doesn't deserve that. James Lileks, of course, does a phenomenal job with very few words of his own. He just quotes a Boy's Life article about this Eagle Scout. I don't have anything to add. I'll just let Lileks do his thing.

You might know Eagle Scout Ben Curtis . He's that "Dude, you're getting a Dell" guy on the TV commercials. On Sept. 11, 2001, the 21-year-old from Chattanooga, Tenn., found himself in the midst of a crisis.

He was sleeping in his Lower Manhattan apartment when an airliner hit the first World Trade Center tower. His roommate, a photographer, ran to the disaster scene a few blocks away, but Ben went back to sleep, thinking the noise was a gas explosion. When the second tower was struck, he got up and looked out the window. Seeing the fire, he decided his roommate might need help.

When the first tower collapsed, Ben rushed into the subway entrance nearby to escape the flying debris. Clouds of soot poured down into the tunnel. He took his shirt off and tied it around his face to breathe.

A woman came down the stairs with a severe gash on her head. "At first I was completely freaked out," he said, "but then my Scout training came back to me." He used his shirt as a pressure bandage and helped the woman to safety.

Still chuckling at his pot bust? Fine. But we all wonder how we would have reacted that day. He knows. He can live with himself. I wish him good luck.

I wonder how it turned out for the guy. If I had to guess, he's doing alright. He sounds a good egg.

Five years

2006-08-28T19:34:00.000-05:00

Everyone has their 9-11 story. Where they were, what they were doing when they heard about it. I didn't hear about it until two o'clock that afternoon. My boy was almost two then. We were watching Barney and assorted other crap all on video tapes. At around 10 am we went to the library. I was listening to a book on tape so I didn't get any news on the radio.

Anyway. He was almost two. He's almost seven now. He's about as removed from the GWOT as I was from Vietnam, I guess. (I was born in 1972) He's started asking about 9-11 now. His understanding of "bad guys" basically comes from cartoons and video games. I'm trying to figure out how to explain it to him. I'd be really appreciative of any advice anyone has.

These are my friends

2006-08-26T01:58:00.000-05:00

A buddy of mine emailed me this picture from the Minnesota State Fair's website. His comment: "Did she take Andy Dick's carrot peeling class?"

I have sick friends.

He's back!

2006-08-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

Jason Lewis is back in the Twin Cities. I didn't know this until yesterday. I just got done listening to him moderate a debate between Rep. John Kline and the challenger, Colleen Rowley. Jesus, Jason might as well have told the congressman to stay home. He moderated about as much as I moderated between my mouth and the frozen burrito I ate tonight. Love having the guy back in town though.

Welcome back Jason!

And the silver medal finalist is......

2006-08-24T14:01:00.000-05:00

I still don't know how Madison didn't top this list. Also... have any of these people ever been to Vegas (Vegas Baby!). I don't think this list is any more accurate than most of the lists of this nature, but still, it's nice to be remembered.

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee has been ranked by Forbes.com as "America's Drunkest City" on a list of 35 major metropolitan areas ranked for their drinking habits.
Forbes said Tuesday it used numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to rank cities in five areas: state laws, number of drinkers, number of heavy drinkers, number of binge drinkers and alcoholism.

Minneapolis-St. Paul was ranked second overall.

Second ain't half bad in this sort of competition!

Animal Rights Assholes At It Again

2006-08-24T12:32:00.000-05:00

These people are lower than frog shit.

Over at Moonbattery, Van Helsing detailed what some of the truly compassionate among us have done to a family who lost a son from rabbit flu. These people are truly sick.

It reminded me of what these people did to a local kid and to The Make A Wish Foundation ten years ago.

In 1996, Make-A-Wish arranged for Eric, of White Bear Lake, Minn., to have his dream come true. Eric Ness asked to go to Alaska to hunt the giant Kodiak brown bear.

Overnight, Eric's request made national headlines as animal-rights groups rushed to the media to publicly ridicule his last wish.

His life was threatened. Security guards led him through the St. Paul-Minneapolis airport. Newspaper reporters wanted to know if he could defend his request, as if bear hunting was something sinister.

At the time, Kodiak bear populations were high and stable. Hunting bears was a legal activity with permits limited by Alaska's wildlife agency. In fact, Kodiak bear management is still a success story today.

However, healthy bear populations weren't enough to stop the animal-rights campaign against Eric Ness. They were out to shame a young hunter, and they smelled blood.

Hollywood celebrities invited Eric to do something else, something "non-violent" for his last wish. Important wildlife "news" like that makes People magazine.

When Eric returned home (he didn't get a bear), he sat in his living room and recalled his unexpected notoriety.

He had read the newspaper stories about how awful he was for being a hunter. He had watched the protesters on television chanting and holding signs that chastised him and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"Was that painful to go through?" a visitor asked Eric.

The young man, who was weak from chemotherapy treatments, shook his bald head, "Yes." And tears streamed down his face.

Shortly after, Make-A-Wish bowed to the animal extremists, although Eric finally enjoyed a successful bear hunt, paid for by the Safari Club. Months later, Eric lost his life to cancer.

If I remember right, Alec Baldwin offered to let Eric go spend a day with him on the set of some movie instead. What a self-important ass.

2006-08-24T10:22:00.000-05:00

Reveille

A cool video for the vets out there. Thanks fellas!

It's Old, but tell him not to go

2006-08-17T19:38:00.000-05:00

Christ. One of the best bloggers around is hanging it up.

Don't let him do it. Tell him he doesn't have to post every day. Do something. The guy can fucking write.

*** Updated ***

He's Back! In his honor watch this video.

I feel like I owe an apology

2006-08-17T02:28:00.000-05:00

Never met them. Never did anything to them. But I feel like I owe the Ramsey family an apology for what I've thought for the past 10 years. I avoided any coverage of it like it was OJ, but this is now, to me, one of the most amazing things I've read. God what a shitty thing. You not only lose your little girl, but you have people like me think horrible things about you for 10 years.

I'm sorry.

Here's a link on the story.

*** Update ***

Wyatt's right about this. I still feel terrible for thinking what I thought about these people, but that doesn't mean they aren't bad people.

It is a shame that she had to endure the brutal murder of her young daughter. I would never wish that of anyone. It is a shame that she died of cancer before her daughter's (alleged) murderer was brought to justice. It is a shame that she died knowing that most Americans thought she murdered her own child.

Having said all that, she didn't give many people much reason to believe in her or her husband's innocence. John Ramsey contaminated the crime scene by moving JonBenet's body. Patsy Ramsey's handwriting was very similar to that on the ransom note, and both were less than convincing when interviewed about the crime.

And on top of that, what kind of mother parades around her six-year old daughter covered in makeup and dressed like a porn star? Who enters their child in a pageant entitled "Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl?"

Israeli zoo animals show signs of stress

2006-08-16T15:22:00.000-05:00

The baboons got stressed, the lions got fat and zoo officials worry the antelopes might have heart attacks. After 34 days in indoor shelters, many of the animals at the Haifa Zoo got a breath of outdoor air — if not a taste of freedom — for the first time on Tuesday.

Zoo officials moved all the carnivores, bears and monkeys indoors at the start of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, both to protect them from rocket strikes and to keep an errant missile on a retaining wall from setting them loose into Israel's third-largest city.

"The lions gained weight, but they look basically OK," said zoo manager Etty Ararat as he released them outdoors on Tuesday. Hours before, the lions roared and flashed their teeth at reporters who visited them at the 3 by 2-meter- (yard) indoor cages where they were confined for more than a month.

"Baboons suffered from stress," Ararat said.

Most of all, she worried about the more fragile animals, like the gazelles, who had to stay outside while thousands of explosions went off around them.

This reminds me of a roommate I had in 1994. She was just aghast at gorillas dying in Rwanda. The people being hacked to death by machete? Not so much. Daughter of a US congressman from MN. Justice and Peace major in college. Care to guess her political affiliation? Hint, she cried a lot in November of that year.

Paraphrasing Dennis Miller, "Animal rights activists will step over a human being lying in their own piss to spit on someone wearing fur."

Or Does It Just Seem Like It?

2006-08-16T14:44:00.000-05:00

Married People Live Longer

Here's some bad news for the confirmed bachelors and runaway brides of the world: They don't live as long as married people, especially if they never get married, according to new research.

Many studies have found that unmarried adults tend to die earlier than those who are married, but most did not differentiate between those who were separated or divorced and those who never got hitched.

Thanks to Attu.

All The Way!

2006-08-16T14:04:00.000-05:00

Didn't even realize it was National Airborne Day. Thanks to Blackfive for pointing this out along with a bunch of great links and pictures.

"Did you jump?"

"A little at first."

Senseless link

2006-08-15T11:45:00.000-05:00

I don't really have a reason for linking this. I've got nothing to say on the subject. I just dig a guy who names himself after a famous gunfighter then goes to see where his most famous gunfight took place.

Does This Make Sense?

2006-08-15T09:39:00.000-05:00

Iowa’s United States Congressman Steve King told a crowd in Des Moines in June, “Illegal aliens cause the death of 25 American citizens every day…13 by drunken driving and 12 by stabbings or gun fire.”
That daily figure adds up to 9,125 deaths annually caused primarily by illegal alien Mexicans residing in America.

Anyone know where these figures come from? Why do I have the feeling this number was pulled out of a certain congressman's anus?

Lots of potential for fun

2006-08-11T14:39:00.000-05:00

Word Around The Net pointed out a website for making your own motivational posters. Someone with creativity could have a lot of fun with this. So far I've just been using it to ridicule my friends.

I assume he's on his way

2006-08-10T20:11:00.000-05:00

The Israelis know that if the Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan River, I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die.”
- Former US President Bill Clinton, July 31, 2002

I missed this yesterday at Captain's Quarters:

Iranians among Hizbollah combat dead:.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have been found among Hizbollah guerrillas slain by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, Israel’s Channel 10 television reported on Wednesday citing diplomatic sources.

It said the Iranians were identified by documents found on their bodies, but gave no further details on how many were discovered or when. Neither the Israeli military nor Hizbollah representatives in Beirut had immediate comment on the report.

Iran, like fellow Hizbollah patron Syria, insists its support for the Shi’ite guerrilla group is purely moral.

Did global warming get busted trying to knock down airplanes?

2006-08-10T17:07:00.000-05:00

Thank God we didn't elect this man.

"Global warming" is America's biggest threat since the Cold War, according to Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who addressed an environmental conference in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

Wait, no. It wasn't SUV's that made this attempt.

Michelle has a whole lot on where the threat came from here.

Irony

2006-08-10T12:20:00.000-05:00

Ace did a piece on Time Magazine's article by JAMES PONIEWOZIK about journalists altering photos and facts surrounding the current war in Lebanon. It basically argues that the phony reporting coming out of there is being overhyped. I'm not sure if Poniewozik was trying to be ironic with this last paragraph or not.

We can argue till we pass out over Adnan Hajj's motives—politics? drama? careerism?—and those of the bloggers who pounced on the photos. In the end, they don't matter. What does matter is that every time something like this happens, the winners are the people of every political stripe who believe it's their calling to, to paraphrase another war, destroy the truth in order to save it.

I wonder if he's even aware that another journalist, Peter Arnett, invented that line during another war and attributed it to an army major.

The DCCC can suck it

2006-07-13T18:44:00.000-05:00

By now most everyone has heard about the DCCC's repellant decision to use pictures of war dead for fundraising purposes. I'm not going to bother saying how I feel about this. Uncle Jimbo already summed it up pretty well.

As usual, the Democrats think there is absolutely nothing wrong with this.

Let's take a little trip back down memory lane, though.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House approves of the Republican congressional campaign committee's plan to use a photograph of President Bush taken on September 11 as part of a GOP fundraising effort, a move Democrats call "nothing short of grotesque."

The White House photograph shows Bush aboard Air Force One, talking to Vice President Dick Cheney hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

I just want to make sure I understand. Using a picture of the president on a plane talking on the phone for fundraising; "Nothing short of grotesque." Using pictures of soldiers who gave their lives for us; perfectly ok. I just want to be clear.

Kind of a cool commercial

2006-07-13T17:44:00.000-05:00

I haven't had much to say lately. But I think this is sort of cool.

Bring Back The Human Shields

2006-06-30T00:34:00.000-05:00

Christopher Hitchens has some good ideas for how the anti-war crowd can actually do something. We all remember the good hearted souls who bravely went to Baghdad to protect Iraqi civilians from the United States hitting schools and mosques? Sure, Hussein had other plans for them and thought that they should be protecting ammo dumps and power plants, but their hearts were in the right place. Well Hussein's gone now. And now schools and civilians ARE being targetted. I think they ought to do their thing. They were very brave to "prevent" the United States from targetting civilians. I think the time has come for them to try to keep the "freedom fighters" in Iraq from doing the same. I can't see what would go wrong.

Linked to Mudville Gazette

Another Threat To National Security

2006-06-29T10:53:00.000-05:00

Wow.

Thanks to Attu.

Saint Elmo's Fire

2006-06-28T22:07:00.000-05:00

People from the '80's remember the film. Rob Lowe was in it. I'm working from memory but he had a line in that movie you sleep with some piece of ass and it's you that is fucked.

I've had friends ask me if I would do things over differently.

Not a chance.

I didn't even realize

2006-06-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

I passed a year on the blog. Give it another 6 months and I'll have a year's worth of content.

I used to read him

2006-06-21T18:38:00.000-05:00

I'm just going to quote the same exact part that Ace did because he pointed out the criticism and did so well. I can't believe I ever took this shithead seriously.

Andrew Sullivan - a man I once admired, and who is more than anyone else responsible for me entering blogging - is now writing that the difference between our side and theirs is not one of kind, but only of degree. Shame on him. This war cannot be tracked or explained on the basis of political points. The moojies kidnapped and murdered laundresses and schoolteachers and riddled civilians with bullets and slaughtered new police graduates long, long before the Abu Ghraib story broke. Abu Ghraib does not in ANY way explain or mitigate what Al Qaeda did to our two abducted soldiers. That Sullivan even tries to do so evinces a moral dysfunction bordering on degeneracy. What Al Qaeda did is an evil in and of itself, and entirely self-contained.

Maybe if the captured soldiers were a married gay couple, Sullivan would just be capable of cutting our troops an even break. But I doubt it even then. I don't think Sullivan could muster a full-throated condemnation of the sadistic vermin who did this unless they first converted to Christianity and enrolled in Bob Jones university.

As they say, go read it all. Seriously. Jason absolutely fucking nails this. Go read it all.

Cindy... go to Mardi Gras.

2006-06-21T18:25:00.000-05:00

She's nuts. She hates America. She's ugly. And with a worse personality.

Nice cans though.

The Missing Soldiers

2006-06-20T14:01:00.000-05:00

Even though you could see this coming, this just makes me sick. I hope we find the worthless fucks who did this.

Missing Soldiers -- Geneva Conventions

2006-06-19T14:57:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to tread very lightly here because I'm talking about real people with real families out there. I can't help but think that this is going to end badly. When, and I do think it's when not if, this happens and these souls are mistreated or killed, who will be the first elected official to say that it happened because of Abu Ghraib or Gitmo? Who will be the first to say that the kidnapping murderers did this because WE didn't apply the Geneva Conventions to illegal combatants?

It will be as predictable as day following night. Bush or Rumsfeld will be to blame.

*** Update ***

Mark in Mexico gives a nice roundup of those who are already going with this. Amazingly, someone actually thought to include Hadji Girl as part of the reason these men were tortured and murdered.

Jeff G at Protein Wisdom handles this much better than I could ever hope to.

The Monsters Strike Again

2006-06-12T14:58:00.000-05:00

Blackfive has up a great picture of one of our inhuman beasts in uniform.

If that wasn't bad enough... there's this story.

They followed their Christian principles and helped save a Muslim baby.

Now a humanitarian organization upholding the legacy of a famous Jewish girl is honoring the Georgia Army National Guard soldiers who shuttled Baby Noor out of the slums of Abu Ghraib for medical treatment in America.

"That's the way things ought to be," said 1st Lt. Jeff Morgan, a Douglas County engineering inspector who is one of eight soldiers who will receive the Spirit of Anne Frank Outstanding Citizen Award in New York on Monday. "It's a very special thing.

"Normally National Guardsmen would not get such an award," Morgan said. "It's an honor."

The Anne Frank Center decided to recognize the Georgia soldiers because their actions were in line with the legacy of the Jewish girl who perished at the Bergen-Belsen death camp under Nazi Germany, said the center's development director Mary Geary.

Soldiers of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment discovered Baby Noor last December during a raid of the baby's home in impoverished Abu Ghraib. When Army doctors determined the Iraqi infant was born with severe spina bifida and needed immediate surgery to survive, Morgan decided to do all he could to fly Noor to Atlanta.

Charlie Company soldiers brought the baby, her grandmother and father to Camp Liberty near the Baghdad airport and arranged for their transportation to Atlanta.

The beasts!

2006-06-12T14:20:00.000-05:00

Hooked On Feeling

I know this is old, but really does Hasselhoff ever GET old?

In Limbo

2006-06-05T19:28:00.001-05:00

I've talked about some personal stuff in the past, but I've tried to refrain from doing so as much as I can restrain myself from doing so. I just went out on my first date in 7 years. I'm glad that nervousness sometimes comes across as chivalry.

"Are you married?" Tough question at this point. I want to be honest, but not have to get into the swamp of explaining shit. I'm still not sure how far away the legal divorce is going to be. I haven't worn a ring since the day I found out my wife was cheating on me. I know this isn't exactly blogospheric gold, but I've decided to use it as my own personal Dear Abby.

Any advice is appreciated.

Why Do They Hate Us?

2006-06-01T13:49:00.000-05:00

I read this article by Pat Buchanan a couple of days ago.

“Why do they hate us?” So stunned Americans asked, after 9/11, when we learned that across the Arab world, many were saying, “The Americans had it coming.”
For a textbook example of why we are hated, consider Gaza and the West Bank. There, a brutal Israeli/U.S.-led cutoff in aid has been imposed on the Palestinians for voting the wrong way in a free election.
Immediately after Hamas’s victory, Israel halted the $55 million a month the Palestinian Authority received as its share of tax and customs revenue. Israel demanded Europe and the U.S. also end all aid to the PA until Hamas renounces terror, recognizes Israel, and disarms.
President Bush, though he was conducting a worldwide crusade for democracy and had urged that the Palestinian elections be held and Hamas participate, obediently complied. For months now, U.S. and European aid to the PA, half its budget, has been halted.

Is Pat Buchanan actually arguing that we should be giving foreign aid to a terrorist organization? I never realized he was such a proponent of foreign aid before. I wonder if it has anything to do with who the Palestinians' enemies are?

Yes, he's right. We did urge free elections. That doesn't obligate us to send them money even if they decide to elect a hostile government. They were free to elect terrorist thugs. Now they are free to accept the consequences.

The Palestinian people need to come to grips with this. If they want to expend their energy hating the West, then they can continue to live in their cesspool that isn't westernized. It reminds me of the line from the movie The Life of Brian.

Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

Taiwan didn't spend fifty years plotting ways to blow up people in Red China. They concentrated on building things. Making things. Things like money and prosperity. Maybe if the Palestinians spend the next fifty doing that instead of things like this, they won't live in such a shithole.

Fatah’s own Al Aqsa Brigades, took it upon themselves to make a favorable impression and today was the day they kicked off their public relations campaign.
How did they launch it? Did they bake cakes or distribute sweets to Israeli children? Nope. Did they send messages of good cheer accompanied by kegs of lemonade and vats of hummus? Nope. Did they blow kisses and smile fondly at Israeli passers-by while burying their weapons underground never to be seen again? Nope. Nope. Nope. They launched their campaign by killing a man in broad daylight, and then his alleged lover/mistress/girlfriend in broad daylight. I know what you’re thinking, you’re asking yourself whether this is an effective PR approach. That’s a valid question and I believe the Palestinians went out of their way to make this event truly unique and exemplary of what would happen in their ideal single state.

Also one other thing on the Pat Buchanan article. He wrote, "“Why do they hate us?” So stunned Americans asked, after 9/11, when we learned that across the Arab world, many were saying, “The Americans had it coming.”"

I for one don't remember asking that after 9/11. I remember asking, "How many bombs, missles, bullets, artillery shells, mortar rounds, and mines do we have?" I remember asking, "How long will it take the navel-gazing, 'let's find a way to blame America for this,' isolationist crowd to find a way to say this was America's fault?"

Every time I hear that question it makes me think of someone seeing a Klan lynching and asking, "Why do they hate blacks? Maybe if blacks just did a few more things that Robert Byrd approved of, the rednecks wouldn't hate them so much."

Thanks to Ace for pointing out the story of the murdering thugs.

Merle Haggard is a fucking idiot

2006-05-17T01:41:00.000-05:00

Bush has outlawed blogging. Sounds sort of stupid coming from a blog that is till online, right?

I know this is from 2002, but I just saw it. Merle Haggard is a fucking idiot.

"We had more freedom and voice of opinion in 1960 in San Quentin than we do now on the street," he says. "We can't say anything now like we could back then. Little by little, we've allowed them to take our freedoms away. Prior to September 11, the U.S. was the last place without M-16s in the street, and now we'll join the rest. We were in better shape 24 months ago than now. Never before have I been afraid to speak out. In the last few weeks I have."

Of all the celebrity pronouncements and blather, this might be the stupidest I've seen. That is a stiff competition. This is like those idiots standing on the side of the street LOUDLY proclaiming their right to free speech has been taken away.

I can only assume that Mr. Haggard was taken away in the middle of the night to be tortured for his speaking against the government.

Seriously... look at his words. Anyone reading this rather be in San Quentin in 1960 or anywhere in America in 2006? This might be the stupidest thing I've ever read.

Watch this... George W. Bush is a stupid douche-monkey who likes to diddle children. Rumsfeld eats goat shit. Cheney licks the toilet seats in bath houses.

Know what's going to happen to me as a result of saying that. NOTHING.

That's me speaking "truth to power." Courage.

Everyone else is talking about it, I might as well, too

2006-05-17T00:44:00.000-05:00

Immigration.

I know almost everyone is going to disagree with me. I don't care. I'm certain that my views have been colored from where I live and by my long time experience working in a restaurant, but I cannot get myself to care about illegal immigration.

I know lots of people do care. I'm not one of them. And the people who care, care A LOT.

I'm of the opinion that if someone is willing to travel 2,500 miles to work their ass off as a busser or to pick lettuce or whatever... he's exactly the guy I WANT in this country.

Here's what I do care about. I don't want our national security resources to be expended on chasing down guys named Pablo and Guillermo. I want them to be used killing guys named Ahmed and Muhammed. I don't want National Guard units being activated and used to prevent smuggling. It will be just as effective as we have been at preventing drugs from being smuggled into the country.

Yes, I'm aware that there is the possibility that terrorists could slip across our border. I'm also aware that if catching them at the border is the plan, then we are fucked. Kill them where they live, not where we live. Don't try to sift through a million gardeners that you happen to catch in order to find the man with the plan. Use the resources and kill that Jihadist piece of shit BEFORE he comes here.

I also find the arguments about national security to be terribly disingenuous when it comes to people talking about sealing the border. Wait thirty seconds and they will talk about jobs and whatever else. Their argument isn't about national security, it is about illegal aliens and the policy on THAT.

Yes, illegal immigration is a problem. It's a matter of priority. Car theft is a problem, too. That doesn't mean I want the national guard dealing with it.

Juan Williams brought me back

2006-05-15T03:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, I think I have more stuff to say, so I decided to give this another shot.

I have Juan Williams to thank.

I watched Fox News Sunday tonight on Tivo. I had to rewind the thing three times to make sure I heard him right. I still haven't been able to find a transcript, but I'm certain I've got this close.

He actually argued that there should be an open debate about NSA/CIA programs like secret prisons, wire tapping of our enemies and other intelligence operations. Everyone think about that for a moment.

Why should we stop there? Why not have an open debate about nuclear missle design and where to deploy troops? As Juan argued, should we shut down a democracy just because there's a war?

I'm just astounded.

Thankfully Brit Hume was there to make a great point. Are we at war or aren't we?

Every single person who nitpicks these intel programs, everyone who whines about Abu Ghraib, everyone who bitches about Gitmo should be asked that question. I guarantee, for every one of those people asked, their answer will have a "but" in it.

Done, at least for awhile

2006-05-03T14:29:00.000-05:00

I just don't have anything to say anymore. I may be back at a future date, but I may not.

Way over my head

2006-04-25T04:32:00.000-05:00

I am WAY over my head with this stuff but this seems to me to be sort of a big deal. Or it would be if it were a bunch of Republicans doing it. There has been a group of people working for the CIA, State, and probably Defense who have been actively working against the elected government of the United States.

See.... they are smarter than George Bush. We all know how stupid he is. They have told us that for years. They are certainly smarter than us stupid voters out here. After all... he won the election because of homophobes (or because of Diebold or something). Why would you care about what those people think? According to CNN:

McCarthy admitted to multiple unauthorized contacts with journalists [multiple? are you kidding me? Did she know about the NSA thing?] after failing a polygraph test, one of "dozens" conducted at the CIA since January of personnel knowledgeable about compromised programs, sources said. Those who took polygraph tests included CIA Director Porter Goss and the agency's inspector general, John Helgerson, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

A congressional aide said that prior to the public revelation that a CIA employee had been fired, the intelligence committees were only told the person was a 61-year-old female in the inspector general's office.

I hope this bitch is promised a death in prison unless she tells who else was subverting our government.

Twinky.... uh you had no right to make Poland or other nations targets of Al Qaeda and less likely to be the allies of the US that you "multilateral" fuckheads have been screaming about since 2002.

Find them all. Please let a couple of them be Senators. Hey, MBNA start looking for a new guy.

And for all you people who say she had no choice but to go to the press...

Two congressional aides -- one Democratic, one Republican -- both told CNN they knew of no attempt by McCarthy to speak to intelligence committee members about any concerns about CIA activities.