The Iraq-America Freedom Alliance took out a full page ad in today's USA Today to publish a letter of thanks to the American People:
Click to see the entire ad (154K popup).
Does anyone wonder why they didn't choose to publish in the NY Times?
Hail our true friends, the Great People of the United States of America; The Freedom giving Republic, the nation of Liberators. Never has the world known such a nation, willing to spill the blood of her children and spend the treasure of her land even for the sake of the freedom and well being of erstwhile enemies. The tree of friendship is going to grow and grow and bear fruit as sure as day follows night. And the people deep down at the bottom of their hearts, they appreciate. Make no mistake about that. The people have voted today, the pulse of the street is clear, without any hesitation I would give 90% of all Iraqis are hopeful and supportive of the new government, and this is a tacit indirect yes to the U.S. which has been the prime mover of all these events. This is what the foolish fail to understand. Why is this a different situation from that for example of a Vietnam? The answer is very simple: Because, the U.S. has achieved something very popular around here; which is the removal of the Saddam regime. Those who are really against the U.S. from amongst the Iraqis have been and remain a small minority; all other forms of resentment are simply disappointment and disgruntlement resulting from the discomfiture of the present situation and will simply disappear with progress and gradual improvement.As for the enemy, he will not reap but failure and the bitter taste of defeat.
If we had elected this nut, right now, Joe Lieberman would probably be President, and Al would be on a permanent vacation in a padded chamber at the renamed Camp David Berkowitz.From e-Claire in a discussion of consumers vs. citizens in light of the F-911 garbage:
Otherwise we will live in a country run by the decisiveness of Kerry, the compassion of Hillary and the honesty of Teddy.
Chirac also had sharp words for Bush's call this weekend for the European Union to set a date to begin negotiations toward admitting Turkey. "If President Bush really said that the way I read it, well, not only did he go too far, but he went into a domain which is not his own," Chirac told reporters at the summit.Unfazed, our president hit back today:
He said that Turkish EU membership would be a "crucial advance" in relations between the Muslim world and the West because Turkey was part of both....You'll probably see the media spin this as Bush's fumbling international relations again. Then you'll see that the media will be proven wrong (again)."We must strengthen the ties and trust and good will between ourselves and the peoples of the Middle East," he said.
Bush held up Turkey as an example of a Muslim democracy.
"Including Turkey in the EU would prove that Europe is not the exclusive club of a single religion, and it would expose the 'clash of civilizations' as a passing myth of history," Bush said.
Bush knows that lucrative reconstruction contracts went to the coalition countries that helped liberate and stabilize Iraq, freezing Germany and France out of the game. Bush sees that the European economy is floundering and that German companies are looking forward to reestablishing their relationship in Iraq:
German companies exported products worth €200 million ($243 million) to Iraq in 2003. The German Chambers of Trade and Commerce (DIHK) has predicted that the volume will increase beyond that this year, though it hasn't released estimates. That's peanuts compared to the past. In 1982, before the war between Iran and Iraq, Germany exported products worth €4 billion to Iraq.Of course, Bush knows that France is in the same boat. And he knows that closer ties to Turkey would open up new business possibilities throughout the Muslim world. But it is Schroeder that is now pushing for allowing Turkey into the EU:
Germany expects the commission's report to be positive and EU members should support Turkey's application, Schroeder told reporters after he and French President Jacques Chirac met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Istanbul.See, Chirac already knows he's going to vote to let Turkey in. It's just his mouth running on automatic.
The ACLU is objecting to a ban on sports jerseys, sleeveless shirts and backward baseball caps in Louisville's new nightclub district, saying the dress code is biased against blacks and poor people.I was not aware that these items were ethnic. I guess it's time to clean out my closet -- I evidently don't have a right to wear 'em anymore.
What’s happening now as month after month of good news comes out is reminiscent of the Democratic reaction to the Reagan economy back in 1984. First, the Democrats of that era predicted that the recession Reagan inherited would persist because of Reagan’s wrongheaded dedication to cutting taxes — every believing liberal Democrat knew wouldn’t work.However, when things turned around and the economy began to pick up a real head of steam, Walter Mondale, the John Kerry of the day, pooh-poohed the recovery. He proclaimed that while the rich were benefiting from the tax cuts, the only jobs being produced as a result of the Reagan recovery were for “hamburger flippers.”
Before it was over, Mondale was promising to raise taxes and give the American people the sort of Democratic economic policies he and his fellow liberals just knew that voters craved. He lost 49 states.
Torture? Whatever it was, it worked.Reading the Sept. 11 Commission’s staff report on the genesis of the terrorist plots against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, you have to be impressed by the extraordinary level of detail the panel’s investigators have compiled.
There will no doubt be much more in the commission’s final report. But in the brief staff report, there is an enormous amount of information about what went on between Osama bin Laden and top lieutenants Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, usually known as KSM, and Ramzi Binahshibh in the long planning process that led to the Sept. 11 attacks.
There are dozens of flat, declarative sentences like these:
Now here’s a question. Where do you think the commission got all that information?
- “Bin Laden quickly provided KSM with four potential suicide operatives ...”
- “KSM taught three of these operatives basic English words and phrases and showed them how to read a phone book, make travel reservations, use the Internet and encode communications ...”
- “Binalshibh confirms that Bin Laden preferred the White House over the Capitol [as a target] ...”
- “In a mid-August phone call to Binalshibh, Atta conveyed the date for the attacks, which Binalshibh dutifully passed up his chain of command.”
- “Bin Laden had been pressuring KSM for months to advance the attack date ...”
Do you think commissioners invited KSM, Binalshibh and other al Qaeda types into the office for a bit of friendly back-and-forth while note-takers got it all down?
Emmett Tyrell says that small minds are keeping France and Germany from being world players:
Now they are sitting back and lecturing us while our coalition attempts to lift barbarism from the Iraqis, to sober up the nihilists of the Middle East and to defeat terrorism. The French and the Germans have revealed no plan, no will and no intention of bringing justice or peace to Iraq. The only evidence I have seen of their involvement in the area is long inventories of arms they sold to Saddam Hussein and catalogues of payoffs they received from the United Nations' oil-for-food scheme....As the French and Germans continue to dodder around in their moral and intellectual senescence, they are hastening the day when they move from being a topic for historians to being a topic for archaeologists.
Children who watch a lot of television produce less melatonin, new research suggests - the "sleep hormone" has been linked to timing of puberty.Scientists at the University of Florence in Italy found that when youngsters were deprived of their TV sets, computers and video games, their melatonin production increased by an average 30 per cent.
You know how you get on a list and all of a sudden you seem to be on everybody's list? I don't mind being on the lists for the RNC, "Christian Conservatives" and so on -- at least I'm in their target market (or at least in the general neighborhood). But somehow I got on a "save the amoeba" or something list and I'm getting all sorts of entreaties asking for money and warning dire consequences if I don't send something (like Cheney is going to start eating kittens). They want it so much that they don't even want me to use a stamp. Postage paid!
Now I've heard of people attaching postage paid envelopes to bricks and even an engine block once in order to make a point and get their name removed from a mailing list. Not me, I take advantage by sending junk mail back to the offending entity. And I take great delight in choosing the right junk to send to them.
Today's target is the Human Society of the US, one of the many animal "rights" groups that values the life of an animal as highly as they value the life of a human:
The life of an ant and the life of my child should be granted equal consideration.While I'm all for animal welfare organizations, animal rights groups get under my skin. So today a postage paid envelope to HSUS will go out with these items:
-- Michael Fox, Head of HSUS's Center for Respect for Life and Environment
I did this by using a script from Tempus Fugit. It was so easy and so well documented that even I figured out how to implement it.
Hat tip to The Conservate Zone
Al Gore's history of denial of the threat of terrorism is no less dangerous today in his role as John Kerry's surrogate than it was in the 1990s in his role as Vice President, a time when Osama Bin Laden was declaring war on the United States five different times.Hat tip to Bjorn, Again...
Fresh off a financial scandal, the Liberal Party lost seats, but not enough. Canadians went to the polls yesterday a kept PM Martin and the Liberal Party in power:
Voters stripped the long-dominant Liberal Party of its outright control of Parliament, but left it enough seats to take charge of Canada's first minority government in 25 years....Democrats and socialists, just like here! (One bright spot -- the Greens didn't win any seats.)Tarnished by financial scandal, the Liberals lost more than 30 seats to end an 11-year monopoly on power. In nearly complete returns, they had 135 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, compared to 99 for the Conservatives, 54 for the separatist Bloc Quebecois and 19 for the left-wing New Democratic Party.
The New Democrats, who are aligned with trade unions and advocate higher taxes on the rich, were viewed as the most likely partners for the Liberals in an informal governing coalition.
Another aspect to the election is that of the 75 seats for Quebec, separatists went from 33 seats to a total of 54 -- leading to speculation about another referendum to give Quebecians yet another shot at choosing to secede.
The Toronto Sun says:
The Liberals were battered, bruised and humbled by the campaign and the PM had to resort to an all-out assault on Harper to carry the day.Being American in T.O. points out:
I am deeply embarassed that Laurel and Hardy of the American left came up here to intervene - Ralph Nader urged voters not to regard voting NDP as vote splitting, and Michael Moore spoke out about how it is better to vote Liberal no matter how troubling that act may be.Segac's World I Know has a roundup of reaction from the press and also points out that Ranting and Roaring has a nice roundup of blogger reactions.No members of the American right pulled that stunt, but you can bet there would have been loud screaming had they done so.
Attack ads and fear-mongering work up here, as Toronto voters swallowed their outrage at the corruption of the Liberal Party and voted "for the devils they knew" who will likely form a minority government with the New Democratic Party -who are even further to the left of the Liberals
I just can't get upset about this. I want to know the kind of man that I am putting in charge of my family's destiny. I have a right to hold public servants to a higher standard, and I do. I feel sorry for the pain suffered by the children involved, but if a man treats his wife poorly then how is he going to treat the millions of strangers that employ him?
Besides, I don't know of any guys that feel any sympathy for poor ol' Jack. I mean, come on, you are married to this and you feel you need to spice things up a bit by having sex in public? Being married to the 1990 third runner up for Miss America doesn't do it for you? Geez Louise, fella! What, you're not happy coming home and seeing this waiting for you? Damn, man! What's a girl got to do to make you happy? Oh yeah -- sex while other people watch. This guy's not sick, he just has an ego the size of Clinton's!
Of course, this is only if the guy is actually guilty of wanting to have monogamous sex with his wife in somewhat unusual circumstances. We don't actually know that. We only know what Jeri alledged in her suit to divorce Jack and the denial that he made at the time and since. After all, according to Jack she was involved in an extramarital (i.e., adultrous) relationship, and thus was no doubt anxious to get out of her marriage. And Jeri's not only beautiful, she's also smart -- you don't get to be a National Merit Scholar just 'cause you have a nice body. She could have invented the story.
What is wrong with the world when the press can go after a man who wants to have sex with his wife but whitewashes a president that has an adultrous, borderline pedophilic relationship in the Oval Office? But I digress.
Drudge is reporting that the Chicago Tribune is considering suing for the release of Kerry's divorce papers. The Kerry campaign is not exactly enthusiastic:
The Kerry campaign late Sunday called any old divorce digging a game of political "gutter ball."There seems to be some question even as to the nature of the split-up. Was it a divorce or an annulment?"This is a trash hunt," said a senior Kerry source, who asked not to be named.
"No, I do not have a clue what is in the papers," explained the source. "But it is none of my business. And its none of your business, or any one's business... You're playing a game of gutter ball, Drudge."
"I would argue, adamantly, the records should remain sealed. And out of the hands of John's political enemies."
Senator John Kerry, who says he is "a presidential candidate who happens to be Catholic," received an annulment in 1998 from his spouse, Julia Stimson Thorne.Indeed, as a "good Catholic" both divorce and annulment of a marriage in which a child was born (not to mention two) should not have been considered, much less actual options available to theThorne, an heiress who once described her childhood as the stuff of "palaces, princesses and privilege", had a fortune worth around $100 million.
Given their marriage and the fact that Thorne is the biological mother of Kerry's two daughters, it is unclear how an "annulment" could have granted.
But this is just one more mystery being protected by the Kerry machine. As a Joseph Benning said in a letter to the editor, there's more than just divorce papers being withheld from the voting public:
Senator Kerry's missing divorce records do not seem as important as the other missing public records items when forming an opinion about a candidate character: Tax forms, military, and medical records.Spouse tax records must be released. Possible illegal campaign donations. Straw purchases/sales of paintings, charity funds misdirected to election campaigns, illegal loans to campaign, etc.
Military records, only limited records released. While performing those sedicious [sic] and treasonous antics after Vietnam, Lieutenant junior grade Kerry may actually have been on active duty payroll, and subject to the UCMJ!
Full release of medical records. Photographic evidence of Kerry using drugs. We don't need a drug addict running the White House.
If asking for Kerry divorce papers makes the Illinois Leader management feel better about Jack Ryan's marital relationship deception, so be it.
But don't forget other, and far more important Kerry MIA documents.
The new Mr. Ed has his own wild ways, too. "Mr. Ed now is played by Sherman Hemsley [The Jeffersons], and he's kind of like the hip Mr. Ed," Paxton said. "He was a police horse in New York City. He likes to trample the peace-loving hippies. He's wild and crazy and fun."Yep, nothin' like a summer afternoon of trampling a bunch of dirty hippies for a real rockin' good time. I hope they carry Greenpeace signs -- I might actually watch that.
Paxton added that the pilot features computer-animated enhancements to make Mr. Ed talk. "It was really hard to train the horse to get in that exact position" for the CG, she added.Does that mean it wasn't hard to train the horse to trample hippies?
Fox has not yet picked up Mr. Ed as a series.Whoa, there's a shocker. As Advised by Wolves puts it, "They canceled Firefly for this crap?"
Full disclosure: I used to be a hippie.
Update: Aaron of Aaron's Rantblog fame directs you to see Allah's version of the note. (Caution: don't be drinking anything when you click the link!)
Turns out, the yellow cake from Niger story was true after all. It must be true because this time it's European intelligence saying so:
Illicit sales of uranium from Niger were being negotiated with five states including Iraq at least three years before the US-led invasion, senior European intelligence officials have told the Financial Times.That's what they know. They still don't know if any deals were actually made or if any deliveries took place.Intelligence officers learned between 1999 and 2001 that uranium smugglers planned to sell illicitly mined Nigerien uranium ore, or refined ore called yellow cake, to Iran, Libya, China, North Korea and Iraq.
These claims support the assertion made in the British government dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme in September 2002 that Iraq had sought to buy uranium from an African country, confirmed later as Niger. George W. Bush, US president, referred to the issue in his State of the Union address in January 2003....
But European intelligence officials have for the first time confirmed that information provided by human intelligence sources during an operation mounted in Europe and Africa produced sufficient evidence for them to believe that Niger was the centre of a clandestine international trade in uranium.
Maybe another year or two of intelligence gathering will fill in the gaps. These things take time.
In the 1980s and 1990s, many European labor unions, in response to rising unemployment, adopted the policy of "work less, work all." In other words, they obtained shorter hours (ie, more vacations) in order to keep employment up. The problem is that total compensation did not go down in proportion to the shorter hours, thus leading to an increase in pay per hour. Lower productivity and higher unit labor costs eroded firms' willingness to hire, leaving Europe with chronically higher unemployment than in the US.
Nearly 80% of Jews support Israel's policy of killing terrorist leaders; even 11.6% of Israeli-Arabs support this policy.A nice discussion follows on whether opinions regarded as "right-wing extremism" can be considered extremism if it is the majority opinion. Now I know how liberals think.Contrary to popular perception that the overwhelming majority is in favor of ceding territory, 44.1% of Jews - and 21% of Arabs, including Druze - are against handing over any part of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) even in the theoretical framework of a comprehensive peace agreement. A bit less, 39.8%, are against the dismantling of even one Jewish community under a peace arrangement. Surprisingly, 22.4% of Arabs agree with them.
Almost half - 47.7% - say that Israel must object to the establishment of a Palestinian state as a pre-condition for a peace arrangement. One out of seven Israeli-Arabs feels the same.
"I think I was arrested about 10 or 15 times by Uday," says Salim, 43, a wan-looking chain smoker, with an easy laugh that belies his harrowing journalistic past. In late 2002, he was jailed for three days after airing a caller's complaints about corruption in the provincial government north of Baghdad. "That time I was beaten 50 times," he says.Dijla is named after the original term for the river Tigris, which snakes through Baghdad. It seems to hark back to the long-forgotten past, before Hussein's iron rule muzzled free speech, and when residents aired complaints.Transparency is essential to freedom. Talk on!To Dijla's founder, however, the station is the country's future."This is a golden moment, a time when we can build institutions that will keep an eye on the government and question authority," says Ahmad Al-Rikaby, 34, who was born in Prague of emigrated Iraqi parents, and raised in Sweden and Britain.
Scientists, conservationists and timber industry representatives gathered Tuesday for a review of research conducted since the spotted owl was declared a threatened species in 1990 all expressed frustration at gaps in the existing knowledge of what is causing the bird's population to decline, and what can be done to protect it.Those damn scientists again. They'll probably suggest razing some towns or something.
"By reducing funding for scientific research," they say, President Bush and his administration "are undermining the foundation of America's future."It's getting to where I trust "scientists" as about much as "journalists".But an analysis done by the American Association for the Advancement of Science makes it quite clear that Bush has not reduced funding for scientific research. It's gone up sharply, especially at the National Institutes of Health.
Professor Thornton, of City Hospital, Nottingham, said: "Once it is born, you can't kill the baby but the law doesn't say anything about to what degree you resuscitate it."The way it is dealt with is by sensible doctors and sensible nurses keeping it under their hat and allowing the baby to pass away peacefully."
Case in point: Hollywood.
Movies with transparent political messages are being made and are marketed as "entertainment", when in reality they are as poorly based in reality as the most loathsome Nazi propaganda film. Hollywood elites are giving each other awards for "best documentary" which are proven to be facts cunningly blended with fiction, lies and misrepresentations made by those who hate America.
It has gotten so bad, the films are so monumentally biased, that the ability to be shown during campaign season is being brought into question. [A tactic that I am opposed to. We don't need government regulation, we need the people with a stake in America to make a change.]
But the people are fed up. We've had enough of the lies and distortions.
Just as the liberal media gave rise to Fox and talk radio (not to mention more than a few blogs), so now is Hollywood creating an alternate film market.
The American Film Renaissance Institute is dedicated to helping filmmakers produce films that promote American values, rather than erode them. Their next film festival will be this September in Dallas and already has ten films lined up, two of which are aimed at Michael Moore.
The first is "Michael Moore Hates America" [two movie trailers available], a $200K documentary made by Michael Wilson who is looking to make a name for himself. Hopefully he will do so by keeping to the truth and not resorting the to the distortion tactics that has made Moore loved by the left (most liberals don't mind a con artist as long as he is their con artist -- I find that most conservatives are a little more principled [no Ann Coulter cracks please]).
The second is "Michael & Me," made by Larry Elder, is specifically aimed at Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" mockumentary.
"My film is a defense of those who own guns and of the Second Amendment," said Elder, whose "The Larry Elder Show" from Warner Bros. Prods. starts Sept. 13 on CBS affiliates in most major markets.As one would expect, the Global War on Terrorism will also be a subject of films at the Renaissance
And the war on terror also is expected to be a dominant theme at the American Film Renaissance.And that's what I love about America."Liberal Hollywood has basically ignored the subject," filmmaker Jason Apuzzo said. His entry to the festival is "Terminal Island" and stars his wife, Govindini Murty, with a cameo from Irvin Kershner, director of "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Never Say Never Again." Kershner, who Apuzzo is careful to note that he doesn't share the same politics as Apuzzo and Murty, nevertheless mentored the couple in the making of their film.
"Conservative messages don't have a chance in contemporary Hollywood," Apuzzo said. "But there's another side in Hollywood. We are small in numbers but passionate."
"Terminal Island" is a black-and-white feature film about a woman being stalked by a Muslim terrorist who is himself being stalked by a bounty hunter.
"When you shop a script like this around," said Murty, "studio execs say, 'Is this about Muslim terrorists? We don't want to touch it.' "
So why have a couple of lawyers from Texas created a film festival? "I've always been interested in the cultural and political messages in film," Jim Hubbard said. "To be frank, whenever there is such a message, it's liberal. For 40 years the left has had a near monopoly, and we're going to counter that."
AlphaWife wants the hours I spent this weekend pouring over cryptic codes that work differently in different browsers back as well -- she had things for me to do!
And one more thing -- how many more years before CSS3 comes out? You've been working on it since 1998!
All that being said, light posting due to potential site redesign. I say potential 'cause this is too damn time consuming!
Police suspect arsonists were responsible for a fire at a mosque that sent worshippers running from the building on Friday, a day after vandals desecrated a Muslim prayer hall in Sydney, smearing blood on its walls and leaving pigs' heads impaled on stakes.I am disappointed in Islam (a "religion of peace") because "moderate" clerics have not stepped up to the plate in denouncing their radical brethren, but this is a totally inappropriate response. Idiocy on this scale leaves me speechless.More than 500 people were in the mosque in Melbourne when the fire broke out in the kitchen area. No one was injured, police said....
The attack on the prayer hall on Thursday was in Sydney. In addition to the blood-smeared walls and pig heads on stakes, pork offal was strewn across the hall.
The company said it is sending nine truck trailers to the military, filled with 100,000 tools and materials, including shovels, table saws, concrete mixers, safety scaffolding, power generators, light bulbs and jackhammers. The donated goods left San Diego on Thursday.Earlier this year, the company also donated $1 million, as well as a million volunteer hours by its employees, to help military families repair and maintain their homes while a family member is deployed. The company said it has more than 1,800 employees currently serving in the military effort. It has about 300,000 employees nationwide.
As they began to drop 500-pound bombs on the house, a convoy of cars rolled up to the home. A man left the house, the bombs fell, and the man was thrown to the ground.Think it knocked any sense into him? Yeah, I don't either. But it's only a matter of time for wacky-Zaquy, it's only a matter of time.He was put into the convoy of cars and the cars drove away.
The official said al-Zarqawi is thought to be the only person in that network of terrorist insurgents who travels with such a large security detail.
The man they saw fall to the ground "wasn't wearing a name tag," but they believe it may have been al-Zarqawi.
She goes on to talk about the horrible injustice that the press is doing to our troops:
I met Jerry when the visiting Vietnam Wall came to South Beach last year. He and several other vets wore Operation Iraqi Freedom patches on their leather jackets and did not hide their disdain for journalists.“Did you know we won the Tet offensive in 1968? Bet you thought Vietnam was a lost cause after you saw all those dead soldiers on Channel 2? We beat them, but you’d never know it from TV.”
That was a long time ago, I told him. Wasn’t it time to move on? He looked at me as if I was crazy.
“Why? They’re trying to do it all over again. Look at what you read in the papers about Iraq and on the network news. They’re only reporting the bad, not the good. They’re encouraging the enemy all over again. If it weren’t for Fox News and the Internet, we’d probably lose this one, too.”
I remember 1968 and Jerry’s right. For the longest time I was under the impression that we had lost the Tet offensive and I will never forget watching Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in the U.S.A., give an impassioned broadcast in which he said we were mired in a stalemate.
He said “Who won and who lost in the great Tet offensive against the cities? I’m not sure. The Viet Cong did not win by a knockout, but neither did we.The referees of history may make it a draw.”
A draw? The final statistic tallied the Tet U.S. dead as 1,864.That was a terrible toll, but it should have been put in the context of the 45,000 enemy killed. The Cronkite broadcast did a great disservice to the valiant soldiers who repelled the enemy forces.
In his “Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel,” Bui Tin confirms that the North Vietnamese suffered a devastating defeat in the Tet offensive in 1968. But they had an ally in journalists who opposed the war and knew they could win on the home front.
When David Letterman asked Michael Moore where he got his information for his “Fahrenheit 9/11,” he answered the New York Times. The audience burst into laughter and Letterman couldn't keep a straight face. Moore asked, “What's so funny?”
Bet he answered the Pace poll.
Honorable mention goes to INDC Journal for a very funny INDC Journal Interviews Andrew Sullivan *. INDC tied for second place with my submission, A Commercial Worth Shooting.
Winner of the non-Council member category goes to a popular post in the blogosphere, Protest Warrior HQ's Operation Tiger Claw -- Debriefing. If you have somehow missed reading about this brave and intelligent young man, go do it now. Amazing stuff. I wish I had had it together at that age.
Honorable mention goes to RTB member Bill Hobbs for Because I Could, an innovative fisk of the doddering dame Dowd.
The Watcher lists all entries that received votes -- peruse and enjoy.
Under the new Firearms Control Act, to be introduced next week, the public and property and gun owners will be compelled to be super vigilant or face the penalty.For one thing, Alex Holmes of the South African Arms and Ammunition Dealers Association says, if you become aware of an illegal gun or ammunition you must tell the police or face the possibility of 15 years in jail.
The final 11 of 25 coalition-run ministries relinquished include some of the most sensitive, including the defense, interior and justice ministries.[For those who didn't get it, the title of this post is a takeoff of a Rush song from 2112. But if you didn't get it you probably don't care. Oh well.]Iraqi ministers now oversee more than 1 million government workers. About 200 mainly American and British advisers will stay on as consultants.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is to formally take control of the country next Wednesday from U.S. occupation chief L. Paul Bremer, although a U.S.-led multinational force will remain for security reasons. ...
The 11 ministries turned over Thursday were: communications; defense; electricity; finance; higher education; housing and construction; human rights; interior; justice; labor and social affairs; and trade.
I'll be sure to keep a watch on Debbye's site for the results because, as the Sun hopes, there might be an upset:
The Globe and Mail has the Liberals six points ahead of the Conservatives (34% to 28%), while the National Post has the Conservatives widening their lead and likely to win 126 seats to the Liberals 95.
A Columbus woman's wish to vote for President Bush in November died with her.Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mrs. Halach and her family.In her final weeks, Pat Halach, 82, asked family members to find out whether she could vote early. She died Monday.
Her son contacted state and federal officials, but because ballots aren't finalized until September, county election officials said their hands were tied.
Her daughter, Mary King, said she remembers her mother's lifelong patriotism.
"She adored red, white and blue,'' said King, 47, of Columbus.
But I can't resist pointing out that if she were a Democrat, she could still vote in the next few elections.
President Bush's re-election campaign lumped together vocal outbursts by Democrats Al Gore, Howard Dean and others on Thursday and called them part of John Kerry's "Coalition of the Wild-Eyed."You can watch the ad here. It includes a couple of clips from MoveOn.org ads, one of which compares Bush to (you guessed it) Hitler.The Bush-Cheney campaign released a video on its Web Site that played up some of the more strident statements Democrats have made on the campaign trail and declared: "This is not a time for pessimism and rage."
The implication the Bush campaign appeared to be trying to leave was that some of the main boosters of Kerry's presidential campaign are filled with rage and perhaps a bit kooky.
The Kerry campaign said it was "unfortunate that George Bush thinks it's appropriate to display images of Adolf Hitler on his Web Site."Of course, the Kerry campaign has never said that it thought it was unfortunate that their lunatics-in-arms are running such ads, especially when we have troops in the field.
Last month we heard that the US Army is facing a bullet shorage:
The bullet problem has its roots in a Pentagon effort to restock its depleted war materiel reserve. But it has been exacerbated by the ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, where rearguard and supply units have been thinly-stretched throughout the countryside, occasionally without active duty combat soldiers to protect them.Now lawmakers are telling the Pentagon that Israeli-made bullets should only be used in training -- not in combat where they might end up in the chest of a deserving terrorist:The army's formal solicitation acknowledges that its current manufacturing abilities have been all but exhausted. 'Increasing military contingencies have created a situation where the capability to produce small calibre ammunition through conventional methods has been fully exercised,' it said.
Since the Army has other stockpiled ammunition, "by no means, under any circumstances should a round (from Israel) be utilized," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, the top Democrat on a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee with jurisdiction over land forces....Some people just don't get it.Although the Army should not have to worry about "political correctness," Abercrombie was making a valid point about the propaganda pitfalls of using Israeli rounds in the U.S.-declared war on terror, said Rep. Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the subcommittee on tactical air and land forces.
"There's a sensitivity that I think all of us recognize," Weldon told the Army witnesses, including Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, who led the U.S. Third Infantry Division that captured Baghdad in April 2003.
They should read this by Donald Sensing, and this by Raging Dave, and this by Belief Seeking Understanding.
A naturally decaffeinated coffee plant has been discovered. Coffee from the new strain could be tastier than existing decaf brews, which can lose flavour compounds when caffeine is extracted with solvents.Other caffeine-free plants have been reported, but the latest comes from the same genetic stock as today’s elite commercial strains. This means the decaffeinated trait should be relatively easy to breed into popular types of coffee.
The American government is funding the development of new technology for a polygraph machine that is capable of identifying whether a person is telling the truth, without physically attaching him to the equipment. There are also plans to develop a mat of sensors that will be used in airports to test the answers of passengers during questioning.
In short, the economy is booming. And it is doing so much faster than would ordinarily be expected after the bursting of the tech "bubble," the low point of the ordinary business cycle, a wave of corporate scandals that began in the late 1990s, and the harsh economic damage caused by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.Further, the paper regards the attack on Bush's policies as somewhat nonsensical:
That's not exactly an "attack," by any reasonable standards.Indeed.Perhaps Sen. Kerry ought to find another issue.
But more rewarding to him is the reaction from the hospital's doctors and staff.Once again it is up to a small town paper to carry the real story of Iraq:"When we delivered the equipment, the deputy medical officer was so happy," he said. "She kept explaining to us that the new equipment would help them service their people better. This, in turn, really had an impact on me."
But Hassig's favorite projects are the ones that deal with the children. He said that Blountstown residents have sent donations to Baghdad since his arrival in January and that everything he receives from them goes to the schools.
"My favorite thing is being around the children and hearing them say, 'Thanks, mister,' " he said.
Hassig acknowledged that there are some who are not satisfied with what they are doing. But it is only 10 percent of the population, he said.
"I think 90 percent or more are absolute wonderful, good people. They want their children to grow up and be secure just like you and I, and they love ice cream," he said. "That's why I refuse to let the little bit of problems with bombers affect our job," he said. "We have to do our job and do the best that we can and make an impact every day."
"Today's news is about today's bombing," Matson said Friday from Tampa. "No one is covering how there is an enormous effort to get this country on its feet. There are a million stories, such as those represented by Maj. Hassig, and the average American doesn't know it. A great country is going to emerge and people are going to wonder, 'How did that happen?'"
The reason that the Los Angeles County seal is such a big deal is not because it is a violation of the First Amendment. It is because there is a pot of gold hidden under it attracting the ACLU like honey attracts bees.Time to right your rep. I already have.A little-known 1976 federal law called the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act enables the ACLU to collect attorneys' fees for its suits against crosses, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Ten Commandments. This law was designed to help plaintiffs in civil rights cases. But the ACLU is using it for First Amendment cases, asserting that it is a civil right NOT to see a cross or the Ten Commandments....
There are thousands of Ten Commandments plaques or monuments all over the country, and lawsuits to remove them have popped up in more than a dozen states. In Utah, the ACLU even announced a scavenger hunt with a prize for anyone who could find another Ten Commandments monument that the ACLU could persuade an activist judge to remove....
Kentucky taxpayers have handed over $121,500 to pay the ACLU for its action against the Ten Commandments display outside its state capitol. Taxpayers in one Tennessee county had to pay $50,000 to the ACLU for the same "offense." The ACLU profited enormously, collecting $790,000 in legal fees, plus $160,000 in court costs, as a result of its suit to deny the Boy Scouts of America the use of San Diego's Balboa Park for a summer camp, a city facility the Scouts had used since 1915. The ACLU argued that the Boy Scouts must be designated a "religious organization" because it refuses to accept homosexual scoutmasters, and because the Scouts use an oath "to do my duty to God and my country."...
Rep. John N. Hostettler, R-Ind., has introduced H.R. 3609 to end this racket by amending the federal law that makes it possible. Most lawsuits do not award attorney's fees to the winner, and the law should not give a financial incentive to those suing to stop our acknowledgment of God, or to continue a practice or a symbol that the U.S. people have approved for decades.
Wow! How long would that take? Even with a speed loader it would have to take a few months -- or years. And they had to trade off shooters -- your trigger finger is bound to get to tired to twitch eventually.
The Browning pistol that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and sparked the crisis leading to World War I has been discovered gathering dust in a Jesuit community house in Austria.Stunning! A pistol started WW I? I thought it was some guy named Gavrilo Princip.
Silly me. I should have known to blame the inanimate object.
Today is Wictory Wednesday, the day that bloggers across this nation ask readers to help the president as he campaigns against John Kerry, compulsive liar and professional waffles server, by volunteering your time or donating money to the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign:
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Join these fine bloggers in spreading the word every Wictory Wednesday:
Bloggers, join Wictory Wednesdays simply by putting up a post like this one every Wednesday, asking your readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush campaign. Just email PoliPundit at wictory -at- blogsforbush (insert dot here) com to be added to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which will be part of the Wictory Wednesday post on all participating blogs. It's good for your eco-ranking, it's good for your traffic, and it's good for your country.
And it helps to keep a hypocritical, liberal compulsive liar and waffler out of the White House!
Soldiers with F Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry - the Brigade Reconnaissance Troop for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division - battle Iraqi insurgents in Buhritz, a suburban town just south of Baqubah, Iraq. This exclusive video was shot by M. Scott Mahaskey of Military Times.Hat tip to Advised by Wolves via Airborne Combat Engineer
In the end, the authors of the study were "astounded by the degree" of left-wing bias:
Our results show a very significant liberal bias. All of the news outlets except Fox News’ Special Report received a score to the left of the average member of Congress. Moreover, by one of our measures all but three of these media outlets (Special Report, the Drudge Report, and ABC’s World News Tonight) were closer to the average Democrat in Congress than to the median member of the House of Representatives. One of our measures found that the Drudge Report is the most centrist of all media outlets in our sample. Our other measure found that Fox News’ Special Report is the most centrist.
If I'm reading the chart correctly (last page of the study), the study found that Dr. Frist is more conservative than the average Republican, Fox News is more liberal than the average Republican and even a couple of southern Democrats, CBS Evening News is more liberal than either LA Times or the NY Times, but Tom Daschle, the "average" Democrat and Ted Kennedy are more liberal yet.
Fascinating stuff. Wish I understood more of it.
Hat tip to Half-Bakered.
"I'm optimistic that things will be better for the people there," said Sinha, 29, a reservist who returned home in March and now works as a civilian engineer at the Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, N.J.Another engineer relates his experience, but the money quote is at the end:"About 80 percent of the Iraqis are very happy Americans are there. They were glad to see me because they know I was trying to improve their lives."
Sinha said he had helped increase the flow of the long-neglected water and sewer systems in Kirkuk from about 50 percent capacity to nearly 80 percent and in the surrounding villages from about 15 percent to 50 percent. He also worked on systems in Baghdad, helping to improve their flow from 70 percent to up to 90 percent.
"There wasn't a lot of media coverage in the places like Kirkuk because the risks were higher," said Sinha, a doctoral student at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark who has degrees in chemical engineering and industrial hygiene as well as occupational safety. "The needs were greater in the villages."
Lindoerfer said reporters were missing the good news in Iraq. "It's unfortunate that all we read about are the attacks. There are a lot of people there doing a lot of good."
"Before the war, the children's parents paid for many of the schools' costs, including printing of exam papers and all the supplies for the children," Gharibawi said, but with U.S. government funds, the Iraqi Education Ministry has been able to finance school operations centrally for the first time in years...."I am optimistic," said Gharibawi, "not because education now is easy or because we have the things we need," but "simply because we have a chance." Under Hussein, "the government pretended to support the schools, but really it was the enemy of education, because education was a threat to it," Gharibawi said. "Saddam's regime needed uneducated people to support it."
The advocacy group is raising money to put an ad on Arab television, apologizing on behalf of "thousands of Americans" for what it calls the Iraqi prison torture scandal.It is no wonder that "Arab outrage" grows with Americans like these keeping the issue square in the sights of their attention span. "Focus! Focus here! Let me throw a spotlight on the issue for you!""The torture scandal continues to grow, and with it the outrage of the Arab world," FaithfulAmerica.org says on its website.
Yet somehow there are Arabs that remain "skeptical". Moreover, some have expressed the thought that Americans need to see this "apology".
That's right, Arabs remain outraged over the actions of 0.007% of Americans in Iraq, while depravation and torture is taking place in Arab prisons each and every day. Fine, I don't really care. Get all indignant while Americans quietly go about the business of rebuilding nations that you turned your backs on. We've done it before and we can do it again.
What I do care about is the poor coverage and outright misinformation campaign that American media is perpetrating on the American public. The "myths" that are created by slanted coverage and are rarely refuted outside of blogs like the StrategyPage, and the good news from Iraq that we must find out from less-than-mainstream channels like small-town papers and Townhall.
How many Americans heard remarks like these from Iraqi leaders thanking America for the sacrifices made in liberating his country?
First in Arabic and then in English, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said in his inaugural address to the Iraqi people last Tuesday that "I would like to record our profound gratitude and appreciation to the U.S.-led international coalition, which has made great sacrifices for the liberation of Iraq." In his own remarks, President Ghazi al-Yawer said: "Before I end my speech, I would like us to remember our martyrs who fell in defense of freedom and honor, as well as our friends who fell in the battle for the liberation of Iraq."Damn few, because no one except Fox News and Nightline ran the footage!
But there is more, so much more. Not only are our soldiers rebuilding power stations, water supplies, schools and hospitals, they are going above and beyond. They are voluntarily organizing vast campaigns to bring needed supplies and even a little joy to the children in Iraq and Afghanistan who have suffered so much.
There's Sgt. Hook's Operation Shoe Fly, supplying donated shoes to to Afghan children who have none. There's Chief Wiggle's Operation Give, distributing toys to children in Iraq. There are "mainstream" charities like Spirit of America which are given traction by sites manned by those associated with the military such as Winds of Change.
Americans (and Arabs) need to be reminded of the horror of Saddam's regime. He cut off hands, imprisoned and tortured men for imaginary crimes or simply "disappeared" them into mass graves, and what children didn't starve or die from lack of medical care were imprisoned.
Moveover, Americans (and Arabs) deserve to see the results the efforts of Americans in uniform rebuilding and protecting a budding democracy, and of their ad hoc charity work. The media won't shoot the footage because they don't dare carry the news.
I would like to see a one-minute video segment that goes something like this:
A 9 y.o. girl holds the hand of a man and says, "Saddam had my father arrested and we didn't think we would ever see him again, but American troops released him from prison. Thank you America."A series of short segments shot on camcorders that our service men and women have in the field, sent back to someone with some editing software, put together and posted on the internet. Guaranteed to fly around the internet to mailboxes around the world. It would get a snippet of air time on Fox News and maybe even the Tonight Show. There are enough stories to make several one-minute spots.A man says, "Saddam said I was a 'dollar trader' and had my hand cut off. [Holds arm up.] American doctors gave me a new hand ... and restored my dignity. Thank you America!"
A woman says, "Two of my children died from malnutrition while Saddam built palaces. Because Saddam is gone my husband has a job and we can buy food. Thank you America."
A doctor says, "Since the liberation of my country I finally have medicine to save the lives of the children of my village. Thank you America!"
A man holding a soccer ball says, "Odai tortured players when the lost a game. Today our team is getting ready to play for the Olympics without being afraid. Thank you America."
A boy, perhaps 12, says, "I was put into the children's prison because I said Qusai looked like a monkey. I did not see my family or even the sun for 2 years. Then American soldiers opened the doors of the prison and we were all free. Thank you America."
A woman says, "My sons disappeared ten years ago and were finally found in one of Saddam's many mass graves. I have found peace and have the freedom to say out loud that I hate Saddam. Thank you America."
A man says, "For the first time in my life, the school at which I teach has chairs for all the students and books that have facts rather than Saddam's propaganda and lies. Thank you America."
A woman says, "Saddam executed my husband and charged me for the bullet. He imprisoned and tortured two of my sons until American soldiers rescued them. The horror has stopped. Thank you America."
Fade out to waving flags of US and Iraq side by side with voice-over: "The people of Iraq recognize the tremendous sacrifices that America made in liberating their nation, and wish to say [voices in unison], Thank you America."
Now there's a commercial (or three) worth shooting. And sharing with our Arab brethren.
Now Prager explains why Americans are hated, and why we should consider that hatered a badge of honor:
Either America is evil and hatred of it is merited, or America is a decent country and the haters are evil.A nice analysis that even throws in a brief bit of French bashing in at the end (apologies to my French-based readers, but I really love a good bit of French bashing). Read the whole thing.The correct explanation is so obvious that only one who already hates America or who is simply morally confused would choose the first.
To assess the veracity of this, all one need do is compare America -- a country that has liberated more people from tyranny than any other, and which has been a place of refuge, tolerance and opportunity for more people from more backgrounds than any other in history -- with those who hate America.
Militant Muslims hate America. These people include the Taliban of Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and other Muslim terrorists, the Islamic regimes of Iran and Sudan, members of Hamas and the many Palestinians and other Muslims who support it.
Now, what types of people are these, and what societies have they made or seek to make?
Eight months of blogging has taken its toll, as I am now a full-blown, 100%, true-blue, through-and-through Neoconservative:
Neoconservatives…
Well, I couldn't ask to be in better company.
"Fahrenheit 451" takes its title from the temperature at which books burn. Moore has called "Fahrenheit 9/11" the "temperature at which freedom burns."This either sounds like the height of flattery (imitation and all that) or an outright ripoff, depending on your point of view. Bradbury's point is that no one asked him -- they just took his title and theme:
Bradbury, who is a registered political independent, said he would rather avoid litigation and is "hoping to settle this as two gentlemen, if he'll shake hands with me and give me back my book and title."I'm pulling for Bradbury, especially as Moore waited too long to do anything about the title of the movie -- it opens "world-wide" on June 25th. That would be next Friday.
Gallup runs a retrospective poll on the Clinton eight-year reign of dishonor and depravity that will forever stain the history of a great nation presidency:
Clinton scores relatively well in comparison with other recent presidents when Americans are asked how his presidency will go down in history. Still, Americans have rated Clinton's handling of the presidency slightly lower in recent years than right before he left office.One would think that the myth would grow stronger as people forgot what a prick he was, but that is not the case. So much for that whole "legacy" thing.
Clinton's retrospective job approval ratings in 2002 actually ranked toward the bottom of the list of the most recent presidents:
Goodness, ranked lower than Carter? I'd slit my wrists!
A couple of other tidbits:
But my favorite quote of this whole deal comes from a Dem:
Andrea Parron, of Harmony, R.I., a self-described "bleeding-heart Democrat," said given the choice of Clinton or Bush, "I'd take Clinton back in a heartbeat. But I would kick him in the groin so he could keep his mind on business."
Iraq's interim prime minister on Sunday defended a U.S. missile attack on the city of Fallouja that left 22 people dead and said he planned to restructure Iraqi security forces to help battle a stubborn insurgency...."We know that a house which had been used by terrorists has been hit," Allawi told reporters. "We welcome this hit on terrorism anywhere in Iraq."
The Giving USA annual report said donations by individuals, estates, foundations and corporations totaled $240.7 billion in 2003. Researched by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, the survey showed a 2.8 percent increase over 2002, when giving amounted to $234.1 billion.Anyone want to blame the Bush tax cuts?Adjusted for inflation, donations rose only 0.5 percent in 2003, hovering at about the same rate of growth of 0.6 percent in 2002.
But the estimated contributions amounted to 2.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product, falling just short of the nation's all-time charitable giving high of 2.3 percent of GDP in 2000.
"Charitable giving above 2 percent of gross domestic product is one demonstration of our nation's renewed commitment to the good works done by charities and congregations," Henry Goldstein, chairman of the Giving USA Foundation, said in a statement.
Goldstein attributed last year's increase to a higher household net income, a stronger stock market and improved corporate profits.
Update: I only thought Bill Hobbs was predictable. He actually blamed the Bush and Reagan tax cuts.
Democrats in Sarasota and Manatee counties are seething over recent mailings that accuse Democrats of "historical atrocities and discrimination" against blacks to keep them in bondage.Heh. Sounds like a damn fine idea to me.The four-page mailing, written by an organization calling itself the Black Political History Education Project, calls on Democrats to apologize for their party's actions dating back to the Civil War.
... she drives a car with a Choose Life license plate.I love watching the socialist party self-destruct."It's a problem," declares Delray Beach activist Andre Fladell, who says he's fielded "a number of calls" from Democratic pooh-bahs wondering about Hearn's abortion stance.
"It has to do with my personal faith," Hearn says of the license plate. She opposes abortion but says the issue has nothing to do with appraising property or her challenge of incumbent Gary Nikolits....
She says two Democratic leaders, whom she wouldn't name, have voiced concern to her about her license plate.
"They thought it would be better if I took it off my car until after the election," Hearn said. "This is what discourages honest people from running for office."
InflationData points out this chart that tracks gas prices over the last 24 years, but adjusted for inflation:
It isn't even as high as the war spikes.
Hat tip to Advised by Wolves via Airborne Combat Engineer.
First, the Democrats are long on promises and short on delivery. Big education has resulted in a plethora of failed schools, teachers too frightened to discipline and ever-decreasing test scores for ever-increasing dollars. The rise of the welfare state has dragged too many down into a pity pool of victimization, entitlement and death of ambition. Affirmative action has created resentment, fueled the fires of victimization and entitlement while producing very little result other than an over-representation of African-Americans in sinecure government positions. Anti-logging movements resulted in thousands of acres of wildfires that burned the western half of the nation several years running. Anti-drilling movements have driven up the price of energy and made us ever more dependent on foreign oil while pouring government money into things like windmills have resulted in little more than dead eagles. Keeping social security in the government's hands is bankrupting the program and making our retirement a risky proposition indeed.
If someone knows of a single liberal agenda that has been successful, please let me know, for as far as I can tell there are none. They have destroyed the economies of their strongholds (e.g., California and Detroit). Union numbers are shrinking and even the NEA is accepting radical concepts like vouchers because the populace is fed up. Rhetoric doesn't work forever in the face of abject failure.
Second, the values associated with the Republican party are those that are core to those that are embedded in the culture of minorities. A strong family, hard work and ambition, valuing human life, reverence for God. These are the things that immigrants bring with them. These are the qualities that black Americans used to grow up learning, and yearn to regain:
Bishop Jones, the black patriarch of the Christian Tabernacle church in Philadelphia, lamented: "Our family values are Republican, our social values are Republican. We think Republican, but only a few of us have the nerve to vote Republican."
Change is slow, yet it is heartening to see it beginning in earnest. Even in California, there is less than an 8% gap between Democrat to Republican registered voters. With strong support for Israel and a deep understanding of the kind of man it takes to confront true evil, the thought of Jews for Bush is becoming increasingly common and 40% of the Jewish vote a very acheivable goal this November.
Throughout the south, there are more black Republicans running than ever before. [Here in Tennessee, black Republican Dr. Jesse Cannon is gunning for Democrat speaker of the house Jimmy Naifeh and is doing darn well.] Republicans are working that angle in constant outreach programs, programs that may get traction with spokesmen as passionate and effusive as Don King. Last week I finally saw the movie Barbershop, a comedy of, by and about African Americans. This movie gained notoriety when it was revealed that one character claimed that Rosa Parks was just doing what any number of other black people were doing at the time but she became famous because she was a secretary at the local NAACP office. But my favorite part was when someone reacted with, "Don't let Jesse Jackson hear you say that!" to which the character replied (with feeling), "Fuck Jesse Jackson!"
Now that wouldn't have happened a decade ago. As the song says, the times, they are a'changin'.
As one Hispanic Republican in California noted:
"You know that in politics, the pendulum swings," says Miss Coronado, a pianist and a member of the Orange County Board of Education. "And it will swing this way, and that's when you will see more Republican Hispanics running for the higher offices. For a long time, they were school board members and things like that. Not anymore."
| U S A | B e l g i u m | D e n m a r k | F r a n c e | G e r m a n y | I t a l y | H o l l a n d | S p a i n | S w e d e n | S w i t z | U K | |
| Clothes Washer | 90 | 88 | 74 | 88 | 88 | 96 | 89 | 87 | 72 | 78 | 88 |
| Dishwasher | 53 | 26 | 36 | 32 | 34 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 31 | 32 | 11 |
| Microwave | 86 | 21 | 31 | 19 | 36 | 6 | 22 | 9 | 37 | 15 | 48 |
| Radio | 99 | 90 | 98 | 98 | 84 | 92 | 99 | 95 | 93 | 99 | 90 |
| Television | 98 | 97 | 98 | 95 | 97 | 98 | 95 | 98 | 97 | 93 | 98 |
| Clothes Dryer | 82 | 39 | 30 | 12 | 17 | 10 | 27 | 5 | 18 | 27 | 32 |
| Vacuum Cleaner | 99 | 92 | 96 | 89 | 96 | 56 | 98 | 29 | 97 | 93 | 98 |
| VCR | 83 | 42 | 63 | 35 | 42 | 25 | 50 | 40 | 48 | 41 | 69 |
| Personal Computer | 40 | 22 | 30 | 20 | 20 | 14 | 25 | 11 | 29 | 23 | 25 |
| Phones per 100 people | 63 | 46 | 61 | 56 | 49 | 43 | 53 | 39 | 68 | 61 | 50 |
| Cell phones per 1000 | 12.4 | 23.2 | 157.3 | 23.8 | 42.8 | 67.4 | 33.2 | 24.1 | 229.9 | 63.5 | 98.0 |
| TVs per 1000 | 776 | 464 | 536 | 579 | 550 | 436 | 495 | 490 | 476 | 461 | 612 |
| Autos per 100 | 57 | 41 | 31 | 42 | 49 | 51 | 38 | na | 41 | 44 | 3 |
... For several centuries Europe led the world in terms of prosperity and progress. As little as a hundred years ago, much of the American continent was virgin wilderness. Today, a hundred years later, the USA has completely overtaken Europe to become the unrivalled [sic] leader of the world economy. Most Americans have a standard of living which the majority of Europeans will never come any where near. The really prosperous American regions have nearly twice the affluence of Europe. It is worth reminding ourselves what this means. In these regions the average American can get exactly twice as much of everything as the average European. Which goes to show the importance of an economic policy to stimulate growth.A few comments are in order. First, I would have been interested in the DVRs per 1000 rather than VCRs. Second, I would have been interested in the number of households with high-speed internet access. Third, on the subject of cars this or this hardly compares to this or this. Finally, how in the name of all that's holy do you live without a microwave?
July 26
35 years and one day earlier, Ted Kennedy stood before a judge and, with head hanging down, whispered a strangled "Guilty" plea to a judge during a seven minute trial for an act that left Mary Jo Kopechne dead, and for which Kennedy received a suspended two month jail sentence.
No jail time was imposed; the only official sanction Kennedy ever suffered was the temporary loss of his driver's license.Never mind -- the drivers license was five months expired at the time of the accident anyway.
He likes the clean look of fixed-width columns. I, however, believe that people who invest money in larger monitors should be rewarded by allowing them to get more content on the screen at once. In addition, it allows those with more years on this humble Earth to increase font size and keep things legible.
Anyone have another opinion?
They go in threes. Reagan, Ray Charles. Who would you LIKE to see third?So far, the results look like this:
| David Blane | 1.8% | |
| The a--hole who cut me off in traffic | 5.4% | |
| Britney Spears | 7.1% | |
| Bill O'Reilly | 7.1% | |
| Saddam Hussein | 21.4% | |
| Ted Kennedy | 57.1% |
Read 'em both, and then go see all entries that recieved a vote over at the Watcher's site.
When times are bad men lust for women with big busts, but when the economy is booming men prefer smaller breasted women.
So goes a theory of social psychologist Dr. Terry Pettijohn.
Researchers in America examined photos of actresses and pored over back issues of Playboy to see whether there was a correlation between attraction and national prosperity.Hey wait a minute! How do I get that job? "No, really Honey -- I have to read this. It's for work!"
They found that women with mature facial features - smaller eyes, larger chins and stronger faces - were popular during recessions, while baby-faced actresses did well during booms.Pettijohn also included actresses in his study and found that the trend held true. In the prosperous 80s "fresh-faced stars" Sissy Spacek and Sally Field both won Oscars for Best Actress. But in the early 90s, when times were a bit gloomier, "mature-looking" Emma Thompson won Best Actress and the "cold-eyed temptress" of Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone, became popular.They concluded that Playboy's playmates of the year - academically referred to as PMOY - are likely to be taller, heavier and more mature-looking during hard times. They are smaller, more curvaceous and have bigger eyes when the economy is thriving....
Pettijohn said: "When times are difficult it seems we prefer types who are strong; independent and mature individuals who can take care of themselves, and possibly of us. When times are good, we're looking for people to have fun with - a fun-loving, big-eyed individual."
Note: The following is not work safe!
Leave it to The Sun to perform a corroborating study of their own.
We tested his theory by matching Page 3 beauties with UK economic and stock market figures. And we found his boob and bust theory really stacks up.
Only a few individuals around the country, including international financier George Soros, Hollywood screenwriter Stephen Bing and Cleveland insurance executive Peter Lewis, have donated more to political groups this campaign season than the Rappaports, according to the Center for Responsive Politics and TRKC Inc., which both track political contributions.Click the links and you'll see that all the individuals giving the most are giving exclusively to Democrat politicians and liberal causes.
Combine this with the fact that the media is engaged in a distraction campaign to keep the American public hoodwinked.
It's going to take a lot of individual donations to combat that kind of money and to get the truth out, but there is hope.
Today is Wictory Wednesday, the day that bloggers across this nation ask readers to help the president as he campaigns against John Kerry, compulsive liar and professional waffles server, by volunteering your time or donating money to the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign:
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Join these fine bloggers in spreading the word every Wictory Wednesday:
Bloggers, join Wictory Wednesdays simply by putting up a post like this one every Wednesday, asking your readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush campaign. Just email PoliPundit at wictory -at- blogsforbush (insert dot here) com to be added to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which will be part of the Wictory Wednesday post on all participating blogs. It's good for your eco-ranking, it's good for your traffic, and it's good for your country.
And it helps to keep a hypocritical, liberal compulsive liar and waffler out of the White House!
When the plant reaches full capacity in the fall, it will process 10 dump trucks of leftovers, one tanker truck of blood, and one tanker truck of discarded restaurant grease every 24 hours.Hat tip to non-blogging Advised by Wolves
Finally, a web site sponsored by Kerry's wife's money praises Hizbullah's martyrs and their widows. Meanwhile, Bush's foreign policy seems to be still working as Syria to cancel prohibition on recognizing Israel. Hmmm, who are the voters going to trust?
Syrian president Bashar al-Asad took power in 2000 when his father died. He didn't expect to take over from his father (he was trained to be an ophthalmologist) but his older brother was killed in a car accident so Dr. Bashar became heir. Although he promised economic and political reform when he took power, Bashar's fumbling efforts have been mainly in the economic arena to date; support for terrorist organizations remains undiminished.
And what great support it is: the headquarters of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine are all in Syria. Hezbollah (an organization formed in 1982 with Iranian backing) is headquartered in Lebonon (which is under Syrian control) and has offices in Damascus. The recent earthquake in the Iranian city of Bam provided a convient method of resupplying Hezbollah: cargo planes left Syria loaded with humanitarian aid for the earthquake victims and returned loaded with weapons that were trucked to Hezbollah.
Like the French, Syria also had dealings with Saddam. In exchange for $35 million, Syria agreed to harbor Iraqi scientists and hide more than a little WMD -- most of which ended up buried in Lebanon's Bekka Valley (a theory with support from a number of sources, including weapons inspector David Kay in Congressional testimony, as well as Israeli intelligence and -- at long last -- the CIA).
Further proof comes from Sudan as it scrambles to appease our stern president and get economic sactions lifted: the tiny African nation has ordered Syria to remove the missles and chemical weapons that Syria has stored there. In addition, there is the recently foiled attack on Jordan with chemical weapons that came out of Syria -- chemicals that must have come from Iraq as Syria does not posses the capability of producing them.
Then there is the tale of Syrian human-rights activist Nizar Nayouf who was imprisoned and severly tortured for nine years in a Syrian prison. Released in 2001 thanks to intense international pressure (including France) and a Papal visit to Syria, Nayouf was allowed to seek refuge in France where he renewed his activism.
"Refuge" in France is evidently a strange concept. Late in 2003 Nayouf was denied permission to travel to Washington where he was to appear as a speaker on the subject of how people suffer under the Ba'athist regime. As a matter of fact, Nayouf was "advised" not to speak out against the Syrian Ba'ath Party by French officials -- resulting in a disturbing silencing of an important human rights voice, but a voice that would prove embarrassing to French politicians who continue to cozy up to despots.
Earlier this year, Nayouf revealed that he was in possession of three documents that he said connected Syria, France and Iraq to hidden Iraqi WMDs and to election bribery. The documents had been smuggled out of Syria at the behest of a Syrian intelligence officer. While he was being questioned by French authorities, Nayouf's apartment was broken into and 3 CD-ROMs were stolen:
A map showing possible locations of Iraqi WMDs in Syria was purportedly among the documents taken, as well as information regarding two billion dollars that had been deposited by Saddam Hussein into a number of Syrian and Lebanese banks prior to the fall of his regime. The CDs also allegedly contained information describing the establishment of a fund for the reelection of Jacques Chirac by the deposed Iraqi regime via the office of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri, not to mention a list of dissidents and political organizations in Syria that received funds from the intelligence apparatus stationed in the Iraqi Embassy in Paris. Colonel Heprarb, for his part, has categorically denied any DST involvement in the burglary. But clearly, as stated by Julien Dumond in Leparisian on February 5, the “burglary” seemed suspiciously like an intelligence-gathering mission.Clearly, Syria continues to be the terrorist nexus of the world (in fact, it is even more "terroristic" than before the liberation of Iraq as Saddam's WMDs are now secreted around the countryside and some of his billions reside in Syrian banks). The administration knows this and has been taking steps to set up a confrontation. An examination of those steps reveals how really, really good this administration has become in handling delicate foreign affairs.
Last fall Congress passed a bipartisan initiative called the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, or SALSA. The president's implementation of restrictions allowed by that act has been, in a word, masterful.
The somewhat strange mix of sanctions applied to date have one explicit message: here's a little pressure but be careful -- there's more where that came from, a lot more:
Specifically, President Bush's executive order does the following:These sanctions allows US energy companies to continue to operate, but lets them know that they do so at their own risk and gives them time to disengage. More importantly, it was a gentle way to put the EU on notice that dealing with Syria is going to be just as bad an idea as it was to deal with Saddam.
- Prohibits the export of military and dual-use items to Syria, except as needed for national security purposes (a redundant provision, as such exports are already banned because Syria is on the State Department's list of state terrorism sponsors).
- Prohibits the export and re-export to Syria of most goods, excluding food and medicine. Bush is expected to exercise partial waivers of this ban, allowing the Department of Commerce to license exports of certain goods, such as telecom equipment (so as to promote the "free flow of information" in Syria).
- Prohibits commercial air services between the United States and Syria by Syria-owned and controlled aircraft. Aircraft owned or chartered by the Syrian government would still be allowed to enter American airspace for official business. [Note: there are no Syrian commercial flights to America.]
- Freezes assets and property of individuals "who are determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to be or to have been directing or otherwise significantly contributing to" Syria's sponsorship of terrorist organizations, development of WMD, occupation of Lebanon, or efforts to undermine stability in Iraq; and prohibits US citizens from engaging in financial transactions with them.
- Requires that US financial institutions (banks, mutual funds, etc.) severe correspondent accounts with the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria (CBS) and its Beirut-based subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank.
The sanctions have had mixed success so far. Syria, of course, puffed up, condemned the sanctions and then said they wouldn't affect anything -- a theme echoed by Arab and European media alike. Syria followed with an agreement to reopen Fatah offices (Yasser Arafat's private terrorist body) in Damscus.
Soon reality sank in, as evidenced by Syrian Trade and Economy Minister Ghassan Rifai's comments about the "negative impact" the sanctions will have on the economy and that they were not "a good sign at the moment when the country is moving towards an economic opening and to attract investment."
This month, Syria is making overtures of peace towards Israel (although the administration rightfully remains wary).
While the US is imposing sactions on Syria for continued support of terrorist organizations and the occupation of Lebanon, France is pushing the EU towards signing a major trade agreement with Syria. Britain and (surprisingly) Germany, however, are holding out for tougher language in the anti-WMD clause. This could be because of changing EU policy or to support America -- but more probably is a mixture of both (Schroder has been more concilitory lately).
The Middle East Intelligence Bulletin nails it with this statement:
In light of continuing talk in America and Europe about a "trans-Atlantic divide" in Middle East policy, it is ironic that the strongest aspect of the new sanctions regime would seem to be the Bush administration's coordination with EU governments in drafting it. The Europeans may object in principle to unilateral American sanctions on Syria, but once the Bush administration pledged to implement SALSA they moved quickly to reinforce US pressure - had the sanctions been too tough, they might have hesitated to do so.This, of course, is precisely the kind of international finesse that Kerry and the media says that Bush is incapable of, and it is too complex and subtle for even friendly media to attempt to communicate to the American public.
To those of us who pay attention, however, it is yet one more example of why Bush absolutely must be reelected.
[Obligatory French Bashing Wrap-up]:
The French-Syrian connection has a twisted and sometimes shadowy history. There are rumors that won't go away of "enormous" contributions to Chirac's reelection campaign by Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad (just as there is increasing proof of contributions accepted from Saddam Hussein). Continued French support of a regime that tortures political prisoners and has more than a few mass graves of its own is very troubling indeed.
His campaign rests on a three-legged stool. The first leg is that Bush is a job destroyer; but the economy has created almost 1m jobs in the past three months, and is probably adding more than 10,000 every day.The second leg is that Bush has antagonised America’s allies and is isolated. The 15-0 Security Council vote to recognise the Bush-backed Iraqi government saws that leg off.
The final leg is that the Bush tax cuts have been a disaster. But Reagan’s death has reminded everyone that the late president’s tax cuts helped to end the recession he inherited from Jimmy Carter, just as Bush’s cuts kept the Clinton recession short and mild.
It has not been a good week for the president’s foes, here and abroad.
ENGLAND fans will be allowed to smoke dope before Sunday’s crunch clash with France — to keep them calm.Police deciding which laws to enforce is taking power away from both the legislature and the judiciary. That aside, this makes a lot of sense.Cops in Lisbon plan to crack down on drunk supporters while turning a blind eye to those spotted puffing on a spliff....
“Alcohol makes fans fight. But cannabis smokers will be shaking hands and singing along together.”
Dutch police used a similar policy in Euro 2000 and England’s hooligan element were too stoned to fight.
A Lisbon police spokeswoman said: “If people cause a problem through drugs and become a menace then police will take action. But when this doesn’t happen why should the police be the ones making the fuss?”
"I think there's been an exaggeration," Mr. Kerry said in January when asked whether he agreed with most Europeans that President Bush "has exaggerated the threat of terrorism."Kerry today:"There needs to be a refocusing," Mr. Kerry said.
"John Kerry spent this week talking about the security challenges before our nation, and what we need to do to make our nation stronger and safer," campaign spokesman Chad Clanton said. "These terrorist threats are very real, and more must be done to address them."Mr. Kerry called the prospect of a nuclear attack by terrorists "the greatest threat we face today."
"The question before us now is what shadowy figures may someday have their finger on a nuclear button if we don't act," he said in one of a series of speeches in which he accused Mr. Bush of not taking the threat of terrorism seriously enough.
An Associated Press survey of 788 registered voters conducted Monday through Wednesday shows that while they may be gaining confidence in the economy and Bush's performance, 57 percent said the nation has lost jobs in the last six months. The Labor Department has reported just the opposite — nearly 1.2 million jobs gained in half a year.The media is engaging in a distraction campaign by focusing on the actions of a handful of soldiers in a prison, terrorist attacks and the Scott Peterson case. The closest they come to discussing jobs is articles giving legs to the offshoring myth.
This is in spite of the fact that in this highly polarized and politicized day and age, more Americans are paying attention to "hard news":
Overall, 31 percent of Americans pay "high attention" to hard news — a genre which includes international issues, politics and business — up from 24 percent in 2000. Fifty-six percent pay "moderate" attention to hard news, compared to 63 percent four years ago.Mainstream media had best be careful, however. The same poll showed that liberals, moderates and conservatives are all growing "increasingly cynical towards the news media".
Contrary to popular belief, Americans are not stupid.
But in most people in the study, the headache pain itself triggered these symptoms, he found. And in a smaller group of people, symptoms of allergic rhinitis, such as a runny nose, actually triggered a migraine.The most used medications were over-the-counter pain relievers followed by antihistamines. Only 10% used triptans:The misclassification of headaches can have a long-term impact on quality of life, as people are less likely to receive the most effective treatment, according to Eross.
Although triptans were used the least, people who took them were most satisfied with the treatment, according to Eross.He noted that people in the study had been experiencing what they thought were sinus headaches for an average of 25 years.
Eross encouraged people who think they are having sinus headaches to ask their doctor if they might have a migraine. In many cases, it may be a good idea to see a headache specialist, he said.
One of Canada's unmanned spy planes crashed Saturday, damaging the remote-controlled aircraft so badly it will likely have to be returned to its manufacturers in France for repair.
Mr Berlusconi, speaking from the US where he is attending the G8 summit, said: "We noted not all Italians were aware of the hours within which they could exercise their right to vote.As high voter turnout generally favors the Right, it is not surprising that the Left is crying foul, accusing the government of invading citizen's privacy. They have filed suit and estimated that the text messaging initiative cost $6.9 million. That would mean that the messages cost either 12 or 23 cents each, depending which total number you use. You can send junk mail cheaper."This initiative was needed to inform the Italian people and make life easier for them."
They were imprisoned in a house in Ramadi (search), west of Baghdad, until Tuesday, when they heard helicopters approaching. The door was then blown in, kicking up a dust cloud and knocking the hostages to the ground."When I opened my eyes, I saw American soldiers," he said. "They said, 'Don't worry, we are Americans.' They held our hands and we ran to the helicopter — I will remember that for the rest of my life."
"It was fast and unexpected. They did it perfectly," Kos said.
The United Nations has determined that Saddam Hussein shipped weapons of mass destruction components as well as medium-range ballistic missiles before, during and after the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003.Hmmm, haven't really seen that in the "mainstream media". Shocking.The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission briefed the Security Council on new findings that could help trace the whereabouts of Saddam's missile and WMD program.
After six years of regulations and restrictions that have cost builders, local governments and landowners an estimated $100 million, new research suggests the "threatened" Preble's mouse in fact never existed. It instead seems to be genetically identical to the Bear Lodge meadow jumping mouse, which is considered common enough not to need protection.'Nuff said.
The policy of granting drivers licenses to illegal immigrants (and terrorists) has proven to be downright unpopular, so Tennessee will begin issuing "driving certificates" in place of licenses. These are to be used only for driving and have printed right across the face "not valid for ID". This has thoroughly confused everyone from law enforcement agencies to banks and insurance companies.
First is the issue of legality:
''There's a question about Tennessee's ability to tell other states, other police departments, private businesses, and even the federal government what they can or cannot accept as an identification,'' said Tyler Moran, policy analyst with the National Immigration Law Center, an immigration advocacy organization.Insurance companies are attempting to determine whether they can accept the certificates, as are airlines:''The result is going to be massive inconsistencies in how this document is interpreted across the country and even within the state of Tennessee.''
Another purpose of the law was to prevent certificate bearers from boarding airlines. Southwest Airlines said it would not accept the driving certificate as ID; other airlines, such as Continental and American, weren't aware of the new law when contacted this week.And of course, law enforcement in and around Tennessee is deciding what to do:
In Tennessee border states such as Arkansas, where officials had heard of the document, officials also were making up their minds about what to do with it.In other words, the "driving certificate" is a useless waste of taxpayer dollars.''They would be allowed to drive, but they might be arrested for being here illegally,'' said Mike Munns, administrator of the state's Office of Motor Vehicles.
Since they began clustering against the conservative counter-reformation that Ronald Reagan inaugurated 24 years ago, lefties have developed a self-destructive streak of blind hatred.Vilification of John Howard is probably without Australian historical precedent. Castigation from the Left of the government's Nazi persecution of illegal immigrants surely takes some of its inspiration from Howard hatred. Gough Whitlam stirred little passion when, as Indo-Chinese refugees fled south, he declared that Australia would not tolerate an invasion of "Asian Balts".
I believe some of the biased reporting of the Iraq war is motivated by non sequitur leftie hatred of George W. Bush for supporting prayer in schools, opposing affirmative action and abortion, cutting taxes instead of increasing government services.
"In my search for a vice-president, I considered many qualified men and women," Kerry said, announcing his decision at Boston University. "But one man stood apart from the madding crowd as brave, honest, and full of life. One man displayed a true desire to change America for the better—not through political maneuvering, but through hard work. That man was me, 35 years ago."From The Onion's Kerry Names 1969 Version of Himself as Running Mate.Kerry said he was inspired to nominate John Kerry of 1969 by, of all things, a photo in a magazine.
Go see all entries that recieved a vote over at the Watcher's site.
He went on to say he wished the current president, George W Bush, had died instead, according to the paper.This remark sparked a flurry of internet activity, including a record number of hits on the local paper that reported the incident. Americans are, understandably, a little outraged. Well, most Americans.
Morrissey has not issued any comments but his spokesman said that the show was not recorded so the remark could not be confirmed and
But as far as we can tell, Morrissey was just alerting the audience to the fact that Ronald Reagan had died. He then simply followed that up with his comment about George Bush, which was his own opinion. He is no stranger to controversy.Story 2: Comedian and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel was on the half-time show of the Detroit Piston's NBA finals game to plug his show. Talking to ABC sportscaster Mike Tirico, Kimmel joked:
"This is just a plug. I have nothing really to say. I'm glad the Lakers are winning (at the half) because besides the fact that I'm a Lakers fan, I realize they're gonna burn the city of Detroit down if the Pistons win, and it's not worth it."Evidently, a lot of people are still touchy about the 1967 12th Street Riot, 5-day, $22 million affair in which 43 people died, 1,189 were injured, 7,000 were arrested and more than 1,400 buildings were burned. Or maybe the rioting/burning/looting that took place after the 1984 Tigers won the world series.ABC broadcaster and Ann Arbor resident Mike Tirico objected immediately, saying, “Hey, hey, hey, be careful. That's my home state.”
Kimmel looked a bit stunned at Tirico's objections, then backtracked a bit by saying analyst Tom Tolbert's eye-popping plaid suit should instead be burned.
The news director of the local ABC affiliate WXYZ is Andrea Parquet-Taylor (is that part French?) piled on the outrage bandwagon with:
An apology is not going to cut it at all. We're not going to accept that from him. He owes this community much more.No word on what that "much more" would entail. Perhaps crawling over broken glass ala Garofalo? Never mind -- she never fulfilled that promise.
What is Kimmel's punishment for joking about a city that regularly engages in rioting and mayhem? His show is pulled from ABC coast-to-coast.
ABC made the decision to pull Wednesday night's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" from affiliates nationwide shortly after the program was taped that night in California.Kimmel dutifully hung his head and issued an apology:Grace Gilchrist, general manager of Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ, said the taped show featured more disparaging remarks about the city.
"Frankly, we were shocked. We thought it was uncalled for," Andrea Parquet-Taylor, WXYZ's news director, said of Kimmel's remarks.
"What I said about Pistons fans during halftime was a joke, nothing more. If I offended anyone, I'm sorry," he said. "Clearly, over the past 10 years, we in L.A. have taken a commanding lead in post-game riots. If the Lakers win, I plan to overturn my own car."The French chick is incorrect -- Kimmel followed up a funny joke with another funny joke. Still, Kimmel issued yet another apology:Parquet-Taylor said Kimmel's apology wasn't an apology at all.
"He tried to turn it into another bad joke," she said.
When you're 2,000 miles away from a city you've never lived in, it's hard to understand the sadness people feel from something that happened in their town -- even if it happened many years ago. It was never my intention to cause anyone pain. I was trying to make a joke and I'm sorry it resulted in anything other than laughter.USA Today covers the story of not one, but two apologies with the headline: Kimmel apologizes for Detroit remarks ... sort of.
And how do they cover the story of an unrepentant celebrity singer that wished our president dead? With the headline: Morrissey's alleged Bush remark sparks Internet furor.
What liberal media?
Ray Charles, who battled childhood poverty, blindness and heroin addiction to help pioneer soul music and become one of America's most enduring musicians, has died at the age of 73, a spokesman said.Charles died at 11:35am (local time) at his Beverly Hills home from liver disease complications.
Family members and his manager were present, said Jerry Digney, his long time publicist.
He was born Ray Charles Robinson on Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, the first child of Aretha and Baily Robinson. His father was a mechanic and a handyman; his mother worked at a sawmill. They moved to Greenville, Florida, when he was an infant.It was the height of the Depression and Charles recalled how poor his family was in his 1978 autobiography, ``Brother Ray'':
``Even compared to other blacks...we were on the bottom of the ladder looking up at everyone else. Nothing below us except the ground.''
Charles contracted glaucoma at the age of six, and it eventually left him blind.
Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries and defying easy definition. A gifted pianist and saxophonist, he dabbled in country, jazz, big band and blues, and put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble childhood in the segregated South.In his own words:"His sound was stunning - it was the blues, it was R&B, it was gospel, it was swing - it was all the stuff I was listening to before that but rolled into one amazing, soulful thing," singer Van Morrison told Rolling Stone magazine in April.
Originally, soul music had a strong element of the church, of spiritual music. It had a gospel music feeling, and then it incorporated the sound of blues music. That's soul's makeup: the fusion of gospel and blues, all mixed up together. It's the crossover of those forms of music that makes soul unique....At first I got some criticism for playing soul music. Women sent me letters, accused me of being sacrilegious because they could pick out that gospel music was being incorporated into something that went beyond the sound they heard in church every week. They didn't realize at first how spiritual soul music could be....
And there were people who objected to soul being played on the radio because of the depth of feeling in the music. Some people thought it was too suggestive, and some thought it was just plain vulgar. But the feeling that comes through in the music --that's the essence of soul -- the word itself tells you that.
Talk about coincidence, here's a bit of trivia you won't read in the mainstream press:
Charles performed at Republican national conventions during Ronald Reagan's years as the party's leader.
Gunmen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took control of the Ghari police station just 250 yards from the Imam Ali Shrine, witness Mohammed Hussein said. The station was looted and police cars were burned.Some question the commitment of Iraqi's to the idea of democracy and the security of their streets. Imagine becoming a policeman in a nation in which that automatically makes you a target for every disgruntled terrorist (and there are a lot of them). Heroism takes many forms."We sent a quick-reaction unit to assist the policemen defending the station, but they were overwhelmed by al-Sadr fighters," Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi said. "We will solve this problem as soon as possible. We will ask for the help of the Americans, if necessary."
*The United States is the second-largest security force in Iraq.
Melba King was a 22-year-old nursing student in Des Moines in 1933. She was walking home one autumn night when a mugger came up behind her with a gun and demanded her money.They didn't meet again until 1984, at which time Reagan added to the story:At that moment, Ronald Reagan -- who was a Des Moines radio sportscaster at the time -- came to her rescue. Reagan pointed a .45-caliber revolver at the robber from the window of his second-floor rented room.
"And he said, 'Leave her alone or I'll shoot you right between the shoulders,'" King told KCCI.
Reagan scared the man off and calmed King's nerves. Then, the future president said he would walk King home.
This is the first time I've had a chance to tell you the gun was empty. I didn't have any cartridges. If he hadn't run when I told him to, I was going to have to throw it at him.That's my kind of president.
While you're out surfing, be sure to stop by Spiced Sass because Zee has a hilarious post on the homicide-bomber gathering that recently took place in Iran.
And Hog on Ice exposes yet another liberal lie: AIDS money under Reagan. (Can you say $5.7 billion?)
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to adopt a U.S.-British resolution that formally ends the occupation of Iraq on June 30 and authorizes U.S.-led troops to keep the peace.The world press is all abuzz about the "unanimous vote":
| Votes Cast | Number of Occurances | |
| 10-1-4 | Once | |
| 11-1-3 | Once | |
| 12-0-3 | Twice | |
| 13-0-2 | Once | |
| 14-0-1 | Once | |
| 14-0-0 | Once | |
| 15-0-0 | 62 times |
This is not an unusual amount: 62 resolutions were passed unanimously in 2002 and 51 were passed unanimously in 2001 So the longer Bush has been in the White House, the more international cooperation there has been!
It sounds like Bush is doing pretty well, but many resolutions are about things not concerning terrorism and US security. I don't remember reading about too many "Bush victories" in the UN, so what were some of these "unanimous votes"?
Read it and be enraged!
The ACLU is threatening Los Angeles County with a lawsuit to force it to remove a tiny cross from its official seal.County officials say the cross represents the Spanish missions, which are part of California's history.The ACLU says that a logo representative of history does not matter because "some members of the public find it offensive."They add that it would be expensive to redesign the county seal, which was designed in 1957 and appears on most official county property: walls, documents, water bottles, uniforms, cars and trucks.
On Friday, the ACLU gave the county two weeks to eliminate the seal.
"What is the message that it sends?" said Ramona Ripson of the ACLU. "What that message is to everyone in California is one of Christianity, and we are a state of diverse people."
Yes, and I imagine some members of the public find the representation of a cow offensive, as California is home to a large Buddhist population. And I imagine some members of the public find the representation of the oil well offensive, being home to a huge Luddite population. And I imagine some members of the public find the representation of a Spanish galleon offensive, what with all the raping and killing and pillaging that went on. And I imagine some members of the public . . . well, you get the idea.
In other news, the ACLU is suing the city of San Antonio, Texas to force it to change its name. "San Antonio" means "Saint Anthony" in English, and as every good Catholic knows St. Anthony was in Italy during a Turkish invasion and was given the choice of converting to Islam or dying. Anthony led eight hundred men who refused to deny their faith and were massacred by the Muslim invaders.
Now what could be more divisive than that?
</sarcasm off>
Raging Dave took second place with a heart-wrenching entry, My Shame. Exultate Justi took third with Of Rememberances, a post about Memorial Day activities.
Iraq the Model took first place for non-council members with Pictures, pictures, pictures, in which the newfound freedoms of Iraqis are exhibited. Dean's World took second place with Overcrowded Planet?, a mind-blowing look at one of the many liberal lies.
Read them all. Then see all the entries that received a vote over on the Watcher's site. Then, if you're a blogger, take advantage of the Watcher's offer to participate in next week's contest.
According to Clear Channel News, supermodel/actress Rachel Hunter (now 35) is a big Bush supporter. Rachel is from New Zealand and cannot vote in the election, but says she would vote for Bush:He has done what needed to be done because if Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden had their way, none of us would be around in 10 years.You have to admire this very conservative gal!Clinton had a lot of tea parties with celebrities, but [right after] his term, somebody flew two planes into the Twin Towers. What do you want - somebody who keeps your children safe or somebody who throws nice tea parties?
Ronald Reagan's fragile widow rested her head on her husband's flag-draped coffin and whispered, "I can't believe it" as she gave in to her grief.Her tears flowed yesterday after she emerged for the first time since the former President's death to begin a week-long farewell.
And as Nancy Reagan publicly showed her heartbreak, details of her final private moment with the love of her life were revealed last night as one of deep sorrow and miraculous surprise.
The former First Lady believes her long-suffering husband recognized her when he stared into her eyes for an instant before taking his last breath, his daughter Patti Davis writes.
"It was the greatest gift he could have given me," the former First Lady told her family.
Sobbing, shaking and knowing death was imminent, she held her husband's hand about 1 p.m. Saturday as he inhaled deeply and opened his eyes for the first time in five days.
While most thought Alzheimer's disease had robbed former President Reagan of all his memory, the last look he gave his wife was one of deep acknowledgment, Davis writes for People magazine in its upcoming edition.
"At the last moment when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother. Eyes that had not opened for days did, and they weren't chalky or vague," Davis recalls. "They were clear and blue and full of life. If a death can be lovely, his was."
Davis and her brother Ron were standing next to their father's bed when the astonishing interchange between their parents took place.
"In his last moment he taught me that there is nothing stronger than love between two people, two souls," Davis writes. "It was the last thing he could do to show my mother how entwined their souls are and it was everything."
The former President died just before Michael Reagan entered his father's room, but he said the look on Nancy Reagan's face revealed she had been given a gift even as she began to mourn her loss.
"His last earthy look was at his wife, his next look was at the face of God," Michael Reagan told People.
Three Italians kidnapped in Iraq almost two months ago have been rescued in a mission by military special forces.A Polish man abducted a week ago was also released. All four men are said to be in good health. ...
The US military commander in Iraq, Ricardo Sanchez, said some of the kidnappers had been captured.
The effort to get Reagan's face on the ten-dollar bill has been around for quite some time, thanks to the folks over at the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project.
Well, the effort is back, with alternative plans of putting his face on the $20 bill or even half the dimes:
USA Today reported Tuesday that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to sponsor legislation in the Senate to have Reagan's image replace that of Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first treasury secretary, on the $10 bill.Meanwhile, an effort is underway in the House of Representatives, led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), to put Reagan's face on the $20. ...
A change would require majority votes in both houses of Congress. In the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, passage of a bill seems achievable, according to Washington sources. In the Senate, however, cloture rules would allow the Democratic minority to block any legislation.
Proponents of Reaganized money, however, are proposing an alternative to paper money: coins. Unlike decisions about notes, coinage can be changed at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. ...
The idea of removing Roosevelt from the dime altogether in favor of Reagan had enough opposition, even from Nancy Reagan, to be dropped, USA Today reported. But the Gipper's fans think giving equal time to Reagan and FDR strikes an appropriate compromise.
An Ohio state representative wants to see President Ronald Reagan's image added to Mount Rushmore.I would love a double win in South Dakota this year: Reagan on Rushmore and Thune beating Daschle!Rep. Ron Young, R-Painesville, introduced a resolution Monday requesting Congress to add the former president's image to the South Dakota landmark. ...
"During the years of President Reagan, America laid to rest an era of division and self-doubt. Because of his leadership, the world laid to rest an era of fear and tyranny," Young said. "I conceived this idea some time ago, and had this resolution drafted and ready to introduce because I can think of no better way to honor the Great Communicator than to have his image added to Mount Rushmore."
"Great communicator" was invented to tell us he was "just an actor" who delivered ghost-written speeches. That was before Democrats discovered that Barbra Streisand and Alec Baldwin are political geniuses. Reagan was a dunce, they said - and they're still saying it about conservatives. It's a common delusion among left-wing intellectuals: I'm smart, therefore anyone I disagree with is stupid.Short but excellent column.Reagan punctured that bag of gas with pinpoint humor. He showed us that intellectuals without any moral vision are as useless as empty peanut shells.
No one felt the full force of Ronald Reagan’s political might more than Walter Mondale, who was buried under a 49-state landslide when he ran against Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. And like President Carter and the other Democrats who opposed Reagan before him, Mondale learned the hard way not to discount Reagan’s political skills.No Walter, you did not underestimate the political skills of Ronald Reagan. You misunderstood the American people and underestimated their comprehension of complex issues and vision in voting for a man that possessed moral clarity and lived according to principles that matched their values.“I’ve often been asked if I underestimated Ronald Reagan, and I say I sure did,” the former vice president and Minnesota senator said yesterday as he paid tribute to the late president as someone who had “a special touch” for instilling a sense of confidence in the American people and for moving the nation in a new direction.
And 20 years of public education, removing God from every facet of our public lives, and an endless stream of moral-destroying sitcoms and movies has not changed it.
The Left wants to believe that Bush is another Carter, when the heartland knows that Bush is far more similar to Reagan. Advantage: Bush. Landslide in 2004.
A database designed to match handguns in New York state to crime scene evidence has not solved a crime more than three years after its debut.The liberal solution? Why, just keep doing it of course!
Proponents of ballistic databases say New York's system is still relatively young and that it could take years before new, legally purchased guns are used in crimes.One and a half million dollars a year -- for absolutely nothing. Kinda reminds me of the liberal answer for welfare reform and public education. "It doesn't work, but let's just keep throwing money at it anyway!"
The priest, a devout Catholic, began his homily by saying,
John Kerry is a crook. John Kerry is a liar. John Kerry is a fraud. John Kerry is an adulterer. John Kerry is one of the worst Catholics I have ever met. But - compared to Ted Kennedy - He's a saint.
Being American in T.O. covers the Canadian perspective quite well.
A Little More to the Right posts the entire text of Reagan's farewell address, while American RealPolitik chose to post his Berlin Wall speech.
Maroon Blog has a number of excellent entries from a Historian's point of view.
Spot On offers a personal perspective:
My parents were from two different areas of the Soviet Union. My mother was from Kuybyshev, now called Samara. My father was from Lvov, now called Lviv, in the Ukraine. My mother became a teacher and my father a doctor. ...They got to America in the late 70's. Carter was president. It was gas lines, inflation, weakness on the international front. And still, they were overjoyed to be here.BoiFromTroy has an extensive list of blogger reactions and a tribute of his own:Then, in 1980, Ronald Reagan gripped their imaginations and hearts. He was energizing, tough and most important to them: he saw the Soviet Union for the evil place that it was. I can't say it enough, to those who never experienced Communism, it might be this flawed system that was further corrupted by bad leadership.
Loved and hated, Reagan led the country and the world from a period of malaise and discontent to one of hope and opportunity.Right Wing News follows suit with a list of blogger reactions as well as a personal tribute:
Reagan was like a bigger than life hero from one his movies. He showed up when America and yes, even the rest of the world, needed him most, saved the day, and then rode off into the sunset, leaving all of us with a "debt of gratitude" that we could never fully repay.The Politburo Diktat has an extensive list of blogger posts.
Bastardsword gives a fascinating account of how Reagan faced down the Soviets, and his appointment of Casey to head up the CIA:
Some of what Reagan did was simple, yet masterful, such as playing up that cowboy image. The reason he did is because when he was first campaigning our people in Moscow found out he terrified the Russian generals, with all of his cowboy talk and SDI, so Reagan always played to that image. Many Democrats still derisively refer to him as "the cowboy" without realizing he had a reason and a purpose for it. We wanted their generals shaking in their boots.Cavalier's Guardian WatchBlog:
His policies, however, were not what endeared him to the American people. It was his personal warmth and sense of humor, which he kept even in the worst circumstances. When he was shot by would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. in 1981 and was rushed to the hospital, he looked around at the surgeons and joked, "I hope you're all Republicans." When he awoke to find his wife Nancy at his side, he told her, "Sorry, I forgot to duck."Just A Girl recounts meeting the president:
His handshake was firm. His eyes sparkled as his eyes made contact with mine - and his smile, genuine and warm as he thanked me for all the hard work of making his visit possible.Jed from Boots and Sabers:
He showed us that we were better than everybody else, and we shouldn’t be ashamed to think so. Ronald Reagan instilled a sense of pride and duty in me that will stay with me for the rest of my life.. Opinari:
I knew it was coming. But I don't know that I was quite ready to say goodbye. That is how I feel right now as I learn that Ronald Wilson Reagan, the greatest president of my lifetime, has passed away.Rex Hammock has a personal and touching story:
The more I witnessed up close the finger-in-the-air approach to policy that most politicians practice, the more I came to appreciate that Reagan actually had some beliefs about which he would not compromise. I also came to appreciate his ability to know when there was no more negotiating room and the exact time to compromise, and then, with artful savvy, declare victory.Peter Schramm of No Left Turns knew Reagan, working for him from the campaign for governor to the president's administration:I became a fan.
Ronald Reagan was the political antidote to this shrunken view of America. He reminded us that we stood for something great, that we were made of sterner stuff than the nay-sayers implied. He not only made the right arguments and proposed sound policies, but his very person, his character, was such as to make it entirely believable. This was an entirely American man.Free Will has a personal anecdote and a couple of extracts from other's comments.
Bane Rants has an honest and mixed look at Reagan:
I was in the military when RR was sworn in, and his policies began to take effect. The comparison between RR's and Carter's regime was like night turning into day. We went from grey, faceless drones, bent-backed under the weight of communism, to Red White and Blue Patriots quite literally overnight. It swept all of society, not just the military.Pejmanesque has an extensive post:
Of course, Reagan's legacy should not end by just being measured by its Cold War accomplishments (though those accomplishments are surely the defining feature of the Reagan legacy). After three failed Presidencies and one caretaker government--that of Gerald Ford's--Reagan proved to a doubting public that the Presidency could be made to work again.Sgt. Stryker has an anecdote of his own.
He ended the Cold War. He governed over one of the most prosperous times in American history. He made America believe it was great again. He pulled us from the depths of one of the darkest times in our history and made us proud to be an American.Michelle at A Small Victory does her usual execellent job:
I have never been more comfortable than I am here in Reagan's World, where pride in your country is a good thing, where hope always remains, where the future is something to look forward to and not fear.Dean's World:
I voted against Ronald Reagan in my first vote for President in 1984.Belmont Club sums it up with this:In retrospect, I was a fool.
The man who won Cold War died today. He couldn't take it with him, but left his legacy to billions of human beings. He was characterized as an idiot, an automaton and charlatan by many of his critics. Yet none of his detractors, however polished and poised, have changed the world so profoundly as this one man.Kitty Litter:
Reagan changed America. No longer was the word American an ugly word. We began displaying Old Glory with pride. We were proud to admit we were Americans.The Black Republican:
Ronald Wilson Reagan now belongs to the ages, but the world still belongs to us, the living. I don't think that I would be out of line to say that President Reagan would not want us to spend to much time or energy praising him, for he considered himself just a simple man doing what he thought was right.Captain's Quarters says farwell:
Pundits at the time, and worse yet since, have branded Reagan as a simple man (or a simpleton) who won by huckstering the US into thinking happy thoughts, but optimism was a key component of Ronald Reagan -- and people knew it.andCoupled with a strong belief in individualism and personal liberty, Reagan literally changed the nature of American politics in a single election cycle.
No reading of a listing of the positive changes attributible to President Reagan (Martin Luther King Day) can fully explain the effect of this man. His wit, his generous nature, his style, his vision, his consistency and a thousand other descriptive words can highlight aspects of his character, but only fail to capture the entire man, he was an original and we don't have a word that fully appraises his value. He was Reaganesque, a new word that fits only him, the defintion of which is lengthy and complex, yet as simple as, sincere.Marginal Revolution lists some of Reagan's accomplishments, including:
Reagan also deserves great credit for standing up to the air traffic controllers thereby sending a strong signal that the country would not be taken hostage by the labor unions as had happened and continues to happen in much of Europe.Silent Running tells us to move foreward:
We who are lucky enough to live in the Free World have an obligation to see Ronald Reagan's vision through to the end. President Bush may have inherited the leadership, but the task belongs to all of us.Mullings has an anecdote as well as a few words of tribute:
Ronald Reagan died on Saturday. He has now "slipped the surly bonds of earth"; and we pray, "touched the face of God."Tomfoolery makes some interesting points:We believe in our hearts and in our souls that God, feeling Ronald Reagan's touch, turned toward him, smiled, and said, "Welcome."
There will be a lot of historical revision in the next few weeks. The collapse of the Soviet Union will be told as "inevitable," as if it were the natural course of history instead of because of Reagan's hard-line towards them.Serenity's Journal has a few words:
So much to say about this fine man but I’d rather keep my thoughts to myself. What I will say is that he brought a bright ray of hope to a very young girl who thought that there just may be no future for us. I will always be grateful to former President Ronald Reagan.Aaron's Rantblog lists some excellent quotes.
Insults Unpunished remembers:
Perhaps the moment that cemented my affection for him was the Challenger disaster. I would be graduating from high school in a few months and knew full well what was going on in the world. Again, in a moment of crisis, he was able to talk to the American people in a way that acknowledged the tragedy but allowed us to keep moving forward.Useful Fools covers how the Left is responding (hint: "predictably"), as does Balloon Juice and Hootinan and damnum absque injuria.
Hawken Blog covers the New York Times' shameful coverage.
We all know Reagan's legacy, from the Iran-Contra affair to the funding of the Nicaraguan military in which over 200,000 people died. The groundwork for the move steadily to the right happened with the Reagan administration. People want to elevate him to some mythic level; they have their own reason for doing that.Ronald Reagan was loved and revered by many. To use your position to utter such unkind words at this moment in time is more than just thoughtless or unkind; Glover seeks to denigrate the man and sully his memory, which is the kind of repugnant behavior that we have come to expect from radical liberals.
Glover might think to wait for a few days so as not to interject his politics into the lives of grieving family and friends. But compassion such as that is beyond the realm of a zealot such as he.
However, this did get me to thinking: what will be my reaction when Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter die? In order to not intrude at an inopportune moment, I just want to say here and now:
How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
-- Ronald Reagan - Remarks in Arlington, Virginia, September 25, 1987
Reagan's courageous eight years of leadership changed everything. "Tax cuts for the wealthy" energized the economy, enabling the rebuilding of the military and funding of the infamous Star Wars program that was a primary cause of the Soviet Union's demise. He is credited with saving the Republican party and transforming American conservatism "from an intellectual movement into a political revolution".
He truly let America be America, restoring pride in our nation and returning moral fiber to our policies.
A president's legacy is often not felt until years, or even decades, after the end of their administration. Just as FDR's New Deal spawned Lyndon Johnson's Great Society long after Roosevelt's death, Ronald Reagan's legacy made Bush 43 possible.
Tax cuts to counter a deepening recession? It worked in Regan's time and it has worked today. Clear talk of an "evil empire"? It clearly identified a formidable and frightening enemy, just as "axis of evil" has today. A return to traditional values and prayer in (gasp) schools? Today we are seeking faith-based initiatives and protection for the unborn.
Reagan blazed the trail, we are but following it.
Ronald Reagan's legacy continues today in the Ronald Reagan Ranch, which teaches young people the "principles of freedom, limited government and respect for traditional American values like patriotism, courage and personal responsibility." In memory of the great man, stop by if you can and make a donation.
Today I honor a man who served as an example to everyone with the words he used while standing on the sands of Omaha Beach on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day:
We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.
-- Ronald Reagan - June 6, 1984
God Bless You, Dutch. May you walk with the angels throughout eternity.
Note: the best Reagan quotes can be found here.
The "rampaging mob" was armed only with wooden clubs, while the U.N. has over 10,000 troops stationed in the tiny nation.
"They entered, and there were very many of them," Toure said. He said U.N. forces fired in self-defense, adding: "We regret this deeply because our mission was to establish peace in the country but we were left with no choice."Whether or not the action was necessary is not the issue here. Imagine the outcry if American forces were to shoot at a mob in Iraq. The press would be all over it and world leaders would loudly and repeatedly denounce our actions. John Kerry would be shouting that Bush should be held personally responsible for the murder of innocent civilians.State radio put the death toll at the U.N. base at five.
Yet what do we hear about the U.N.'s actions? [crickets chirping]
Just an observation . . .
Iraqi police have captured a close aide to al Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the captive is cooperating with investigators, the U.S. military said Friday.
Experts believe North Korea had introduced the mobile technology to make communications convenient but later realised the device caused floods of foreign culture into the reclusive country
Since that time they've tried such high-profile names as liberal wacko Phil Donahue (who lasted a mere six months), newly-conservative funny-man Dennis Miller (who is still on but struggling), and loud-mouth tennis great John mcEnroe (who has yet to start).
But now MSNBC sinks to a new low, a low so incredibly low that no one can possibly climb out:
Rev. Al Sharpton is joining CNBC as a political commentator for its coverage of the upcoming Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the network announced Thursday.Look for the entire network to be on the auction block before the end of the year.The outspoken civil rights leader and former candidate for the 2004 presidential nomination will share his views on "Capital Report," "Dennis Miller" and the new "McEnroe" (scheduled to premiere in July), among other CNBC shows.
You see, the Democrats' Four Horsemen of Hope - John McCain, Ralph Nader, Iraq and Terrorism - appear to be failing them. Originally there were five horsemen, but Economy, with its henchman, Jobs, turned on them faster than Heinz-Kerry could say, "Teresa, where's the checkbook?" Positive economic numbers have forced even USA Today to run stories on the amount of jobs the Bush recovery is making. So Economy was given the boot.Short and full of equally fun phrases -- read the whole thing.
According to a new survey, only 12 percent of local reporters, editors, and media executives are self-described conservatives, while twice as many call themselves liberal. At national news organizations, the gap is even wider - 7 percent conservative vs. 34 percent liberal.Self-description is a minor point; the real disconnect is evident when comparing the social values that journalists have with those of the general public:
The sample of 547 journalists and executives in a wide range of print and broadcast organizations, found that 88 percent of those surveyed at national media outlets think society should accept homosexuality; about half the general public agrees. And while about 60 percent of Americans say morality and a belief in God are inexorably linked, only 6 percent of national journalists and executives surveyed believe that.Jeff Dvorkin, the NPR Ombudsman, takes a gander at the poll and comes out with some very predictable rhetoric:
Not surprisingly this has been grist for conservatives because it confirms the impression that journalists are overwhelmingly liberal compared to the public in general.Ah yes, it can't be the fault of media for failing to hire conservatives. After all, they are working so hard to encourage minorities (remember Jason Blair?) so it is obvious that diversity is a sought-after goal.This is only a small portion of the study. But it is likely to follow news organizations around for the rest of the political year like Marley's ghost. For some, Bush's rise or fall in November will be inextricably linked to this poll.
And that leads to some serious concerns about the Pew poll as well.
No, the results are hard to swallow so it must be the poll that is flawed, not our hallowed institution of journalistic integrity (now there's an oxymoron for you).
This poll seems to me to be an example of how to keep journalists on the defensive in an election year. That may not have been the intention of whoever commissioned this study. But it certainly will be an outcome -- unintended or otherwise.Here it comes, whining as familiar as "I can hate America but still be patriotic!" Poor journalist -- he's going to be so restrained as a result of this poll!
This "ombudsman" continues to say that Pew is a "highly respected polling organization" and then turns around and begins telling Pew how to do a better study! The arrogance exhibited in this piece of writing is almost beyond comprehension!
The media and its management have an obligation to maintain a skeptical and adversarial role to whatever party is in power. This poll could discourage that by implying that journalists will always let their personal politics trump their professional obligations.Yes, and what about when Clinton was playing "hide the cigar" with an intern in the oval office? Remember that behavior much less objectionable than his would have landed any Marine corporal in Leavenworth, and one would expect to hold the Commander-in-Chief to a higher standard. Where was this "adversarial role" then?
Oh yes, it was towards the congressmen that sought to hold that man to a standard befitting the office.
NPR should lose its status as a tax-deductible institution immediately.
Come to Philadelphia. Get your history straight and your nightlife gay.Sorta gives a whole new meaning to "The City of Brotherly Love", doesn't it?
[Sorry -- I couldn't resist and as I haven't seen anyone else say it, I just had to.]
I read My Shame by Raging Dave and instantly empathized.
I read Memorial Day Reflection and was thoughtful.
I read The Ultimate War Sim by David Wong and was wryly amused.
I read Overcrowded Planet? from Dean's World and was envious of his common-sense approach to exposing another liberal lie.
I read Kerry Gets It Wrong by the California Yankee and was impressed that (1) someone in California and (2) a damnyankee* is able to so clearly and scholarly present the case for Bush's foreign policy.
I read these posts thanks to my fellow Watcher's Council members and am the richer for it. I recommend that you read them all.
* I was 12 years-old before I learned that "damn" and "Yankee" were two different words, but I occasionally backslide.
Last month, Thompson penned a compelling article on courage and leadership during the war, as given by presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
If you haven't already read it, I recommend that you do. I can't believe I missed this one.
Although no Democrat is predicting that Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle will lose his re-election battle, the fault lines of a potential leadership struggle within the Democratic Caucus are already visible. A Daschle loss would set off a scramble to succeed him as leader, as well as contests for other leadership posts. ...Politics is indeed a dirty business.Democratic sources ran through a variety of scenarios that could bring such Democratic stalwarts as Sens. Harry Reid (Nev.), Christopher Dodd (Conn.), Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) into open conflict.
Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who has seen his share of leadership contests as a former majority leader, said Democrats were already developing campaign strategies to succeed Daschle.
Asked how the jockeying would proceed, Lott replied, “It’ll be subtle. You just watch who’s sitting next to people. There’ll be a couple of people that just start making a couple little moves.”
There are currently more than 10,000 underground military facilities in more than 70 countries, including more than 1,000 underground facilities on both sides along the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Pentagon reports estimate that more than 1,400 underground sites are known or suspected to be sheltering weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles, or military commands.So it is not surprising that the military does not agree with Kerry -- nor did the Clinton administration:
The commander of U.S. Strategic Command, Adm. James Ellis, stated recently that a military requirement does exist for the study of these kinds of weapons, traced back 10 years to the Clinton administration when STRATCOM and the Air Combat Command both issued a mission needs statement for a method to defeat these hardened and buried targets. Since then, the Quadrennial Defense Review, the Nuclear Posture Review, the Defense Science Board, and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have all identified a need for study to go forward.Kerry insists that he would do everything Bush is doing, only better. But:Gen. Richard Myers, in a May 2003 briefing, explained that a nuclear bunker buster could minimize the threat from biological or chemical weapons at an enemy site.
The Democratic senator had the unfortunate timing to insist he would do a better job working "with every country to tighten export controls, stiffen penalties, and beef up law enforcement and intelligence sharing" on the day Russia announced it had become the 15th core member of Bush's Proliferation Security Initiative, which is supported by more than 60 countries. Bush credits the PSI with leading to "the unraveling of A. Q. Khan's nuclear network," which showed its "potential to end a program that threatens us all."Heh!
Keeping teenagers in high school until 12th grade typifies how out of step our traditional public high school system has become with regards to meeting our children's needs and preparing them for a changing world. California State Superintendent of Education Jack O'Connell admitted as much recently when he said that our high schools "are not adequately preparing our students for college, the workplace, or to become effective citizens in our participatory democracy."Read the whole thing -- the man offers some excellent points. And if that puts you in the mood to abolish some things, William Safire makes an excellent argument for abolishing the penny.Some of the immediately needed changes to our high school system include the following:
Eleventh and 12th grades are obsolete and should be eliminated.
The U.S. is the only developed country in the world that continues to herd all its students through virtually the same program until they're 18. By 16, students have clearly demonstrated whether their future lies with a traditional liberal arts college program or job-specific vocational training.
Sen. Ted Kennedy and the state's 10-member congressional delegation sent a letter to the mayor's chief convention planner asking that downtown subway service be made free during the convention week.
But above all, Leidinger worked as a healer, in a tent on the barren base (there was one tree on the base besides a Christmas tree made of coat hangers), performing routine, as well as life-saving, surgery on accident victims, people with shrapnel wounds, as well as men and women with everyday medical problems. He treated US military, Iraqi civilians, Iraqi police, as well as EPWs (enemy prisoners of war).Read the whole thing.Calm under stress, Leidinger said it’s necessary “to control your fear.… I knew I could get killed, but I felt why I’m here is to help the people, to try and maybe make a little bit of difference. And ultimately what it’s for is to make a safer world for our kids. So our kids don’t ever have to witness some of the things we’ve seen. Ultimately, that’s what it’s about.”
He believes the war is “absolutely worthwhile,” and that the continuing violence is a result of “the growing pains of a free society.” Adding that “freedom is not free,” Leidinger believes that if the U.S. and its allies can establish a democratic Iraq, it will stabilize the Middle East.
Another soldier is home and talking a little:
He admitted he was concerned about the American media reports from Iraq. "I try not to watch the news right now," he said. "I get too angry."
Microsoft has been granted a patent on the double-click by the US Patents and Trademark Office. The patent, number 6,727,830, was granted on April 27.An abstract of the application says: "A method and system are provided for extending the functionality of application buttons on a limited resource computing device. Alternative application functions are launched based on the length of time an application button is pressed. A default function for an application is launched if the button is pressed for a short, i.e., normal, period of time.
"An alternative function of the application is launched if the button is pressed for a long, (e.g., at least one second), period of time. Still another function can be launched if the application button is pressed multiple times within a short period of time, e.g., double click."
