Rightward Coffee Buzz

Gardening To-Do List For May

2009-05-15T14:53:00.001-04:00

Lady Espresso and I just love our yard and our gardens. These are photos of our stuff taken in April of "oh-nine."

Over at ivillage, found this gardening gardening to-do list for zone 5, for May. A lot of it does not apply to us, but some does, let's take a look.

* Set out cool-season annuals
* Set out seedlings of warm-season annuals
* Set out summer-flowering bulbs
* Plant fall-blooming bulbs

We have never grown seedlings in spring and don't pull bulbs in the fall. Fall bloomers sound like a great idea, but we're circling the financial wagons these days, so ideas with price tags will have to wait!

* Divide and replant crowded winter- and spring-blooming bulbs after leaves yellow

We don't have much dividing to do, but every year it seems we forget to move spring flowers, daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips, that have wandered into areas of the yard. We wait until they are done blooming, but are then distracted by other flowers and never get around to moving them. Then the next spring, it just happens again! We have a brilliant blue Salvia that is ready for dividing, but it's in bloom now. Last fall, I split a few of our Laitris plants, and their doing well!

* Plant balled-and-burlapped, container, and bare-root fruit trees

* Apply dormant spray to fruit trees before buds swell
* Spray apples, peaches, and pears that have been affected with canker problems

One of these shots is of our cherry tree, in full spring bloom, in the front yard. It's a striking little thing, and now it's just covered in green fruit. We plan to make some more wine, and see if we can make some preserves and soft drinks with it.
And I need to find out what "dormant spray" is!
We planted a peach tree last fall. I think it actually had a couple of flowers also. We're still (three years running now) trying to figure out blueberries - sheesh.

* Plant permanent ground covers
* Plant cool- and warm-season lawns

We've got some Periwinkle, Vinca vine, and English Ivy for ground cover in various areas. There's some ajuga in the rock garden that's doing pretty well, also. Our lawns have as much clover as grass. I've heard that clover actually makes a nice lawn!

* Plant bare-root perennial vegetables
* Plant seedlings of cool-weather vegetables

I love fresh asparagus. It's so expensive that we gave it a whirl in our garden. It's just a breeze to grow! Being a perennial, it's just a matter of patience before it starts growing in large bunches. The variety we have produces in the spring, so the trees aren't yet shading the area, impinging growth.

* Sow fast-growing warm-season vegetables
* Sow seeds for frost-tolerant perennials
* Sow seeds for tender perennials
* Divide and replant spring-blooming perennials after bloom
* Plant container roses

This almost doesn't reflect the "zone 5" reality that we have. This zone includes Nove Scotia, for Pete's sake, and it's just not that cold for that long around here. We've been out of danger of frost for at least a couple of weeks, and we've already been through our Hyacinths and early Tulips!!

* Plant balled-and-burlapped, container, and bare-root trees, shrubs, and vines

I would really like for this to be the year I figure out blueberries. If they can grow in Michigan, (about $2 billion annually) they sure should be able to grow here!

* Apply dormant spray to shrubs and vines
* Plant tender shrubs and vines
* Plant summer-blooming shrubs and vines
* Plant balled-and-burlapped trees
* Plant trees in containers
* Plant frost-tolerant trees
* Plant needle-leafed evergreens

We've got a couple of Blueberry starts to plant. They've been in a planter in the sunroom since we picked them up about a month ago. Pray for our blueberries! They haven't prospered under our care in the past...

Sort of a Round Up of the Indy Tea Party

2009-04-18T12:19:00.009-04:00

First, let me do this ted nugent "star spangled banner" video ... nevr thought I'd say this "Even better than Jimi!"
Outstanding...Now I wonder why I never liked Nugent?
Here we go...
The Yahoo! version of the national story was entitled "Thousands rally with 'tea parties' on tax day" but I've read elsewhere that there were over 550,000 participants across the country. The photos on this page are all mine from the statehouse lawn.

The lead paragraph is predictably snarly...

ATLANTA – Whipped up by conservative commentators and bloggers, tens of thousands of protesters staged "tea parties" around the country Wednesday to tap into the collective angst stirred up by a bad economy, government spending and bailouts. The rallies were directed at President Barack Obama's new administration on a symbolic day: the deadline to file income taxes. Protesters even threw what appeared to be a box of tea bags toward the White House, causing a brief lockdown at the compound.

Can't speak for others, but what "whipped" me up to attend was the ceaseless repititious criticism from D.C. about the Bush administration while promoting policies that are even worse. If Bush's deficit spending was SO bad - and no one is saying they were any good - then why isn't the Obama administration's four times worse?

Over at the Indianapolis Tea Party website, they are saying ...

Although the local media would have us believe we only had around 2,000 attendees at the event (which would be correct if you were counting 2 hours before the event even started!), those trained in crowd control AND the IMPD estimated our rally had somewhere between 12,000 - 15,000 Peaceful Patriots!!!! In fact, the Capital Police remarked that they were amazed at how well behaved our crowd was!! AND, what's more, our volunteers expected to spend a few hours after the event, picking up trash and cleaning the area, BUT, there was hardly ANY evidence that 15,000 people were just there!! We Patriots sure know how to party AND not make a mess!!!

Richard and I want to thank each one of you who braved the crowds, the parking, the chilly temps AND rearranged your schedules to be a part of the rally to have our voices heard together! We really were the ROARING LION!! I know most of you did not have the vantage point that we had and could not see the crowd fully, but I want to tell you I was moved to tears on a number of occasions yesterday as I looked out at the sea of faces, the signs, the red, white and blue, ....friends, we most assuredly are NOT ALONE!

.........a few paragraphs later, the article closes...

Again, on behalf of the over 100 Tea Party volunteers, THANK YOU Freedom-Loving Americans for joining us in having our voices heard. Let the non-representing representatives in Washington say, as Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said after his attack on Pearl Harbor, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

We are asleep no longer.

FREEDOM!!!

Richard & Laura Behney
Indianapolis Tea Party Coordinators

The website includes links for further action...
Indy Defenders of Liberty

...and......
The Independence Caucus

A Citizen's movement* to take
our government back from the
"Big Money" Special Interests groups...

*(...And the first to defeat a compromised incumbent!)

Someone started a comment thread for the Indy Tea at
free republic with some pictures...

related RCB post Indianapolis Tea Party

Do-Re-Mi at the Train Station

2009-04-17T14:19:00.002-04:00

I agree with the commenter who said that efforts like this should not go unrewarded. I don't knoe the story of this video but I encourage everyone to watch and forward to friends!

Sound of Music Train Station @ Yahoo! Video

espresso beans to ganas consulting

Indianapolis Tea Party

2009-04-15T23:22:00.009-04:00

This event was well put together. My congratulations to those involved, WELL done! The local press is saying the crowd numbered about two thousand. I would have been happy with two hundred, and thought the predictions by organizers of 8,000 had some other, possibly marketing, motives. I was ecstatic at the crowd. It was kind of like realizing that we really aren't alone.

I felt as natural and welcome here as I would at a church cook-out. Honestly, the only thing missing was the grill, barbeque sauce and the the buns.

It was a little cool, probably about fifty degrees, but some were on fire, some were just supplying some friendly warmth. Even "Satan" wore a hearty smile! The event organizershad printed signs that read "ENOUGH" (I got one of those - for the wife of course. Poor dear couldn't make it, flu.) But the signs were, for the most part, hand written. Some were very catchy, some caught me by surprise, all were right on the money. I saw a couple of Libertarian Party signs, otherwise, there was no party politicking.

Got some pretty cool photos - I'm gonna put together a slide show, but wanted to get some pictures up quick - blogger is threatening a "scheduled outage" soon.

I was especially surprised and pleased at the turnout among younger adults. Some brought their own young children with them. Made it all the more homey feeling.

I had a great time wandering the crowd. Everyone was very polite, and there wasn't an unfriendly vibe on the whole block. You could sense the boredom in the faces of the police crowd hanging out. We used to call that kinda' gig "easy money!"

Indianapolis
Tax Day Tea Party
April 15th

ENOUGH!

Congress, Repeal the Stimulus Packages
& uphold the Constitution of
the United States
NOW
OR we will replace every
Member of Congress starting in 2010!

Adventures In Offense and ForgivenessPt 4

2009-04-15T22:13:00.002-04:00

See here for "Adventures In Offense and Forgiveness Pt 3."
See here for "Adventures In Offense and Forgiveness Pt 2."
See here for "Adventures In Offense and Forgiveness."

In the first, God is telling me to repeat again the necessary refrain. “I am not God.” I am the small flat stone. God is and has always been the power – He is my strength and He is (and has always been) the one holding me up. And here am I, afraid that He might let go? I am not supposed to be the one holding up my being. I may have the task of inhaling and exhaling, but “breath” is for God to give, not me. To believe in my own strength is to live in terror!

In the second vision, God shows me that forward motion, especially from a stopped position (or attitude) not only occurs with turmoil, but that it depends on turmoil! And I have to recognize that it is only from my perspective only that it looks like turmoil in the first place. If the demons are irritated I will feel their awkwardness in my flesh as a strong negative sensation. Like fear. Like guilt, or hatred. In my case God is showing me is that the “churning waters” are a delightful sign of His dynamic miracle working power, so hostile to the evil of distraction that had found place In me.

My movement was first in forgiveness. It seemed for a few days that in every direction I was asking for it or offering it. That I could live peacefully without forgiving and seeking forgiveness was a lie that caused a shift in my spiritual walk. If I was going to harbor doubts about God's love for me, then I had to walk in the strength of my own flesh. Without my consent, indeed, without my knowledge, I was distancing myself from God.

My flesh has too fond a remembrance of fear, and is impatient for its return. To prevent that, I must fill my temple with the things of God. There are many wonderful “furnishings” from which to choose. God not only commands me to fear only Him, and to be of good cheer and take courage, but in the word we are given an array of armaments to choose from that Satan and his minions are defenseless agianst.

Ps 91:14 “The Lord says, 'Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;
I will protect him because he is loyal to me.
91:15 'When he calls out to me, I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him honor.”
Rom 8:2 “For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

But while God is putting thoughts of a career change in my heart, hesitations and reluctance are unwelcome spirits emanating from the wrong law. He wants me to act with courage and boldness from Him, and knowing that my persuasive abilities are His concern, they were never mine because the message is His.

Rom 8:32 “Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?”

Adventures in Offense and Forgiveness Pt 3

2009-04-11T13:40:00.004-04:00

See here for "Adventures In Offense and Forgiveness Pt 2."

See here for "Adventures In Offense and Forgiveness Pt 1."

In my abject fear that I was close to immediate bankruptcy, I not only had to deal with an out of control family budget, I had to deal with some pretty well entrenched and sadly familiar demons.

The Holy Spirit gave me at least two visions. The first was of me as a small flat “skipping stone” that had been expertly and powerfully thrown. That was it. That was my vision! I couldn't help but think that I was bound to run out of whatever energies were keeping me just above the surface. The “law” of physics say the energy must eventually disperse, I must eventually sink, and I was so certain that it would happen any second. If you've ever skipped stones across a quiet lake, you know it doesn't take long.

The next came weeks later, and thankfully I understood what was being said. The second was of the propeller of a large ship. The ship had been moored but it was now time to leave the port. The propellers are spinning furiously and with great roar and froth and churning. But the boat does not move right away. Its bulk is simply too great, and the water needs to move a great deal to get any motion out of the boat.

I don't consider the presence of water in both visions to be a coincidence, and I believe both are related.

Adventures In Offense and Forgiveness Pt 2

2009-04-11T00:03:00.005-04:00

See here for Adventures In Offense and Forgiveness; part 1.

It was many, many years before I realized I was carrying the terror around with me, and that I had to forgive him to get past it. Authority figures just scared me, especially if they came across as threatening or if they succeeded in intimidating me. It wasn't easy, though I have from a distance relieved myself of his evil by forgiving him.

Here's what is odd. It wasn't until I forgave HIM that I realized he wasn't the real culprit because, like me, he was just a kid. And fear, though it was real and sometimes debilitating, wasn't my real problem. It was given to me that I was really more upset with my dad. How could he have left me with him? I know my sister and another brother corroborated my story. Yet dad continued to leave us with the older brother. My soul was trying to grapple with betrayal. My heart had come to believe that there is no use in trying to convince anyone of anything. They weren't going to believe me anyway. My lot was to suffer quietly like a good boy.

I thought the hard work of forgiveness was over, but God was just waiting for me to open up to Him before He could work on me.

After forgiving dad, the real task began. I had to confront the God who was always aware, and yet always allowed the pain. God is God. He is in charge. He can't pretend, as mom and dad would, that He did not know. He knew, and allowed it. Is it arrogant to suppose I should forgive God?

Job 40:2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

Maybe real faith is hardest when the victory is nearest. When the revelation is most important, the obstacles will rise up in my flesh so as to seem so much more urgent. I am most likely to forget who God is when I find myself thinking He is most pleased with me. When my flaws (still mighty, still plentiful) are revealed to me – however gently – I still want to run for cover.

Job 40:8 “Would you indeed annul my justice? Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?”

Busted.

I am not God. I am not God. The repetition is necessary. I am not God. I'm sorry, Lord, I do indeed forget which of us is mighty, and which of us is needed by the other just to stand. When God brought His revelation of my forgiveness to mind He used terror. He knew exactly how to get my attention. In my careless wandering through post home-schooling life, he reminded me there is still plenty of life to live, and still some trash to take to the curb.

Adventures In Offense and Forgiveness

2009-04-10T23:58:00.002-04:00

Forgiveness is so weird.

When I was a kid, my oldest brother would baby sit for mom and dad when they went out. It was sometimes a happy evening. There would be board games, TV, and my favorite, home made popcorn. Elder brother made some very good popcorn with hot melted butter and plenty of salt.

In my memory, he was always healthy, I don't remember him ever being ill. But he was a “miracle child” of sorts. He developed polio when very young, and I'm sure my parents were scared to death for him. Certainly modern medicine played a part, but I was told the treatments that eventually cured him were very painful. Being a Catholic family, I know many prayers went up to the Father.

Perhaps that explains some of why they wouldn't listen. Not to diminish my brother's toughness in continuing with the struggle, but his cure was an answer to prayer, proof of God's awareness of their sorrow. It's my understanding that Salk could prevent the dreaded disease, but not cure it. How my brother was spared I don't know, except for God's intervention.

I don't know why my brother seemed to pick me out for torment; perhaps I was too much of a handful, a whiner, or a baby for him. Maybe having been freed from having to watch from the sidelines, he resented being put back on the sidelines for his slobbering, helpless siblings. He used to beat me up. I'm not sure if he ever really hurt me, I don't remember that. But I remember being terrified whenever my parents went out. And I remember they had a very difficult time believing me.

Townhall For Hope with Dave Ramsey

2009-04-10T22:59:00.008-04:00

The title takes you to the homepage. Lady Espresso and I will be at the presentation given at Southport Christian Church.

Connect with families across the nation for a truly radical message: HOPE.

Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that’s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for a nationwide town hall meeting and discover what’s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we’re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!

Join us for this free event April 23 at 8:00 p.m. EDT in one of the thousands of venues across the country as we stand together to reignite the fire of hope!

Citi Gas Shot

2009-04-10T17:42:00.004-04:00

Screenshot of our gas bill, I love being able to say - "Click To Enlarge"(!). Probably a typical Indiana use pattern - but methinks it reflects a high gas dollar amount. Our old house is not well insulated and the old wooden windows need extra plastic film every winter.

I didn't highlight this difference, but I like the much faster March fall-off in 2009. Actually, I was expecting a bigger savings this year because we bought an electric stove, I believe last April, to replace a vintage dual oven/six burner with large pilots.
But then the cost of gas went up by at least twenty-five per cent from 2007/08 prices. So keeping within sight of last year's dollar amounts is a good thing. I need to look at electric usage now.

My Blog's First Adsense Ad!!

2009-04-06T23:45:00.003-04:00

I finally updated this blog to the new format, so - since everyone else is - I put google's adsense on the page. Of course, for it to do any good a blog must have readers. As hard as I had to work to get the ads on the page I may as well put some effort into this thing,eh?
The process to get them kept insisting that this computer's cookies were disabled, but they weren't. I finally straightened it all out but lady espresso is going through the same thing and her cookies are resisting a "fix" even harder than mine did.
I figured I'd memorialize the event with a fireshot screen shot...

Thai and Her Kittens

2009-04-06T00:35:00.022-04:00

They called it the five mile stare.

It's the look in the eyes of the one who does not see what is right in front of them. Some believe it to be the denial of reality.

It's the look that sees what no one else sees. Some say it means the mind is trying to make sense of recent events.

The eyes are open but what is seen by the viewer is not seen by others.

I hope I don't diminish the heroism of combat vets when I say that I have a mama cat, "Thai" that has those eyes. She never used to.

But with a playful, hungry, and unbothered but demanding litter of four kittens practically "hanging" from her nipples I see similarities between the mom and the vet.

If God created anything more delightfully helpless than a feline fur ball I'm at a loss to recall it.

These kittens were screaming at pitches that piccolo players get paid grandly to execute. They are irritatingly high, but not loud.

Thai, the geatest mama cat ever, heard them immediately and demanded the photo session be considered completed.

When she comes to her senses she'll probably insist on a modeling talent agent and legal representation. She may even have a case.

Before long she'll own this blog. Well ... darn it.

She can have it.

She's always been my favorite cat, but...

Her ridiculous demands may just ruin our relationship.

another try

2009-04-05T19:38:00.011-04:00

In the post immediately below this, I expressed my dismay that the firefox add-on wasn't working, and I couldn't even show what happened because my image upload button stopped working. HEY HEY success!! very cool! Now I can give it the review it deserves...
Let me say I downloaded fireshot the second time from their website rather than firefox's add-ons page. This article's title is linked to the "screenshot studio" page, the link is about half-way down, and the one that worked for me is the one for firefox.
I first heard about fireshot here, at lady programmer. I'd add her to my blogroll, but blogger isn't working at the moment either.
(Besides, if there's money to be made in writing, it won't be - i don't think - in politics. So I may pop back occasionally, but my future is elsewhere, so I'm going to use this blog as a trial site, and start another writing site out there some where.)
Anyhow, she's got several good ideas and I may publish more of them soon. After all, I'm on vacation!! WooHoo!!
This is how she describes the firefox add-on.

FireShot takes a screenshot of the visible or entire part of the browser page then lets the user edit, upload, save, or copy to the clipboard, print email or even edit it in other external editor. Its free version is very powerful indeed for simple jobs, but if you are working on batch images then consider an upgrade.

Read more: Useful Firefox Extensions for Writing and Promoting Blogs | The Lady Programmer - http://www.theladyprogrammer.com/firefox-extensions-for-writing-and-promoting-blogs/#ixzz0BqrJRASw

(i'm going to leave in that humiliating, shameless self-promotion just because i think it's cool! It's not in what I copied so there's a command in her html that forces it?)
Anyway, another thought brings me to the app's "crop" function. There is a button on the top of fireshot's editor that draws a rectangle or an ellipse, and I mistook it for the tool that cuts up the full page down to what I want shown. THAT is called the crop tool. duh. And that's why my first image came out so tall! Another neat thing about the images is they have that "click to enlarge" thing happenin'. Mine comes up in Picasa, I don't know what happens if the reader doesn't run that program?
I know I'll use this add-on many times, so thanks to the lady programmer! My final product looks good, and I've wanted one of these thing-a-ma-jigs for a long time!
With this post, I introduce a new label...

fireshot

2009-04-05T19:21:00.005-04:00

The promise is fabulous but I'm having trouble realizing to my little site here. I downloaded a capture of this blog to my photo editor/viewer but it didn't show up in the way I cropped it. I was going to show how unusable it is, but now it won't upload...,in fact, the image upload button on my blogger editor seems to be disabled!

Unlike other extensions, this plugin provides a set of editing and annotation tools, which let users quickly modify captures and insert text and graphical annotations. Such functionality will be especially useful for web designers, testers and content reviewers.

It has a very cool editor that allows (well, is supposed to...) arrows, text boxes, even drawing - all under user control. Hope I get my image uploader back. Rats.

Cincinnati Tea Party

2009-03-17T13:32:00.003-04:00

From the Right Wing Nut Job blog, a refreshing video of the protest. Though it's a different experience for me to admire "protesters!"

The Historic 85th

2009-02-27T12:00:00.004-05:00

IPR | Wisdom From a Distant Indiana Legislature
(From an email)...

January 19947(sic) — "Indiana needs no guardian and intends to have none. We Hoosiers — like the people of our sister states — were fooled for quite a spell with the magician’s trick that a dollar taxed out of our pockets and sent to Washington will be bigger when it comes back to us. We have taken a good look at said dollar. We find that it lost weight in its journey to Washington and back. The political brokerage of the bureaucrats has been deducted. We have decided that there is no such thing as ‘federal’ aid. We know that there is no wealth to tax that is not already within the boundaries of the 48 states. So we propose henceforward to tax ourselves and take care of ourselves. We are fed up with subsidies, doles and paternalism. We are no one’s stepchild. We have grown up. We serve notice that we will resist Washington, D.C. adopting us."

"he doesn't get off the hook"

2009-02-21T16:17:00.003-05:00

Can't remember how I came across Pundita, but I was intrigued by her criticism of a personal hero in the article," Milton Friedman doesn't get off the hook just because he's dead."
At Pundita's corner, the discussion is about Phillip Blond's Prospect article, "Rise of the red Tories." There is seen in Mr Blond's piece a potential for finding a new "middle" for political America. His is a provocative read, but I see only a little of value. I don't find harm in the ability of big business to deliver goods for less than smaller businesses can. Smaller businesses simply won't compete in those pursuits. It's apparent that it takes a great deal of capital to gather foods from around the world and deliver it for local sale. Small capital does road side fruit and vegetable stands, not Argentinian peaches and Australian beef. (Or whatever!) Besides, I think small business is already a natural political ally, and big business - especially because of big labor - has become the natural ally of the Democratic Party.

The other night CNBC aired a speech by the late economist Milton Friedman; during the Q&A he observed that whatever criticism one might have of globalization people had to remember that it had lifted hundreds of millions of people around the globe out of abject poverty.

I interject that when I mentioned his comments in my post of yesterday I wrote that CNBC aired a speech that Mr Friedman had given the other night. I have corrected the error (Milton Friedman died in 2006), but dead or alive he doesn't get off the hook.

His claim about the benefits of globalization was a sweeping statement but if we accept it at face value, what would Mr Friedman say when confronted with an American worker who must compete with the entire world by sitting in commuter traffic four hours a day and working two jobs -- just so he can afford enough in interest payments to make it to the next payday, and who has no hope of climbing out of crushing debt?

Capitalism, which supports globalized trade, is rooted in the profit motive. Would Mr Friedman ask the worker to abandon the linchpin of capitalism so that the rest of the world could climb out of poverty?

Actually, the American worker (and later - the American consumer) has been lifting the world out of poverty since WW2. Then, the US was the only game in town and the American Labor movement could have it's way with management. We've succeeded - finally - in the heavy liftng. If a nation is STILL poor it has been criminally mismanaged.
Maybe I'm missing something, but this all smacks of "I hate Wal-Mart." If what works for conservatives is the priority, then let's leave that logic to the leftists. The poor, for obvious reasons, love Wal-Mart as a place to work and as a place to shop. In my neighborhood, gasoline would cost 25 cents per gallon more if not for the rock bottom price that Wal-Mart (Murphy) charges.
Blond's statement that 73% of Britain's grocery dollars are spent in four chains is hardly frightening to me. They have figured out how to attract shoppers to their shelves, and their suppliers have figured out how to deliver more for less. That's capitalism. It works every time it's tried, and it employs and it disperses goods and services. Capitalism can be difficult as well as ruthless. "The only thing worse is everything else."
But if the point is to find a legislative balance that will provide more local competition to national brands, no sacrifice of principles in that. In Indiana, we've lost most of our local banks to the nationals due to federal changes, and however economical the "scale" seemed to be at the time, the nationals have shown themselves to be less sophisticated as survivalists than the local real estate agent.
Freedom is the point. I liked Blond's historical review liberality from monarchy to individualism, but I still see the Constitution of the US as the most radical document in history. If we legislate against big business, we legislate higher prices, and we impinge on capital formation.
The problems we are facing have a lot to do with incompetent and corrupt legislators of both parties. But if we try to make failure illegal, we will only end up making success much more difficult.

quote

shown

espresso beans to S H O W N

heh-heh

2009-02-20T11:56:00.003-05:00

From kickin' and screamin'

GOP cave in

2009-02-01T14:27:00.003-05:00

This article from PJM on global warming makes a great metaphor for the Republican party. James Lewis says that the scandalous scientific fraud has damaged real research for years to come.

But what worries me most is that the credibility of science may never recover — and perhaps it shouldn’t. Credibility has to be earned, and once it’s squandered may never be recovered. By now far too many scientists have knowingly colluded in an historic fraud, one that would put Bernie Madoff to shame. We are seeing political larceny here on a truly planetary scale.

...
It's a great compilation of the non-science reasons to be skeptical of the claims of agw proponents. Lewis points to the Stalinist accusations against the rational arguments against agw, especially pointing out the threats.
Without meaning to, I'm sure, he's touched on my thoughts regarding the loss of vision and mission of the Republican party, due to their cowardice while holding the majority in congress. They lost because they caved on Iraq. Perhaps understandable given the times and violence in Iraq. But the media invisibility and silence is a t least shared between them and the presidency.
And I speak only of their loss of credibility. They blew it and it will take years for them to build it back in this environment of media "Obamessiah" hype and control of message by the Democratic Party.

my wife sent thismade me cry

2009-01-30T15:24:00.003-05:00

I heard this song and it's my song to you :)

espresso beans to lady espresso

Aptera

2009-01-29T14:21:00.003-05:00

From a Tony Borroz article in Wired

One thing is for sure. Aptera Motors has built a car that screams "this is the future" like nothing else out there, and that's captured the imaginations of more than green car enthusiasts. It's captured the imagination of Madison Avenue.

Can Middle America be far behind?

And I love Aptera's website.

This Aptera ad is complete with goofy optimistic 60's music... I have to say, it looks a little wobbly, doesn't it? It reminds of suburbans fads of the past, like gargantuan brick bar-b-que pits or trampolines that never get used. Having the look of a small aircraft without the wings, one has to wonder how it will do in our mid-west winters. And sorry, but I don't buy the environmentally safe manufacturing methods and components. It's plastic and solar and it takes huge amounts of energy to make and propel, just like every mother mode of motorized transportation. In 30 - 50 years humanity will wonder what the heck we were thinking, the same way we now ponder past excessive coal use or, hey, Al Gore's electric bill.
Still, it is an image of a hopeful future that has been lacking lately.

PowerLine article entitled:The Hockey Stick Hoax

2009-01-25T16:49:00.006-05:00

I can't put this stuff into sentences when it really counts, but some otherwise very smart people have just swallowed this theory whole. They think it is because I don't understand the science. I'm sure there is lots of climate temperature transference physics that I could use a brush up with, but I understand human nature all too well, including the drive for dominance, and greed.

More recent scientific work has thoroughly debunked the Mann "hockey stick" analysis. It has been shown to rest on "collation errors, unjustified truncation or extrapolation of source data, obsolete data, incorrect principal component calculations, geographical mislocations and other serious defects," as well as "incorrect mathematics." There are indications, at least, that some of the errors on the part of Mann and his collaborators were deliberate--an instance of the corruption of science by politics and perverse financial incentives that underlies the entire global warming movement.

CO2 sceptics has a good set of articles, original perhaps.

espresso beans to PowerLine

Fitna

2009-01-24T09:58:00.002-05:00

Dr. Will HapperAGW Skeptic

2008-12-27T11:35:00.002-05:00

"I have spent a long research career studying physics that is closely related to the greenhouse effect", said Happer. "Fears about man-made global warming are unwarranted and are not based on good science."

Dr. Happer views climate change as a predominately natural process. "The earth's climate is changing now, as it always has. There is no evidence that the changes differ in any qualitative way from those of the past."

............

Happer's latest remarks were made yesterday, as he asked to be included in a Senate Environment and Public Works report of scientists disputing global warming alarmism. Happer joins 650 other scientists on the list, many of whom have been interviewed previously by DailyTech.

"Computer models used to generate frightening scenarios from increasing levels of carbon dioxide have scant credibility," Happer concluded.

In response to Happer's remarks, Senator James Inhofe, ranking minority member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said, "The endless claims of a consensus on man-made global warming grow less and less credible every day".

The comments section is also good.

Democrats pre-Iraq war...

2008-12-24T13:28:00.002-05:00

found on Yahoo! Answers, you tube showing several prominent democrats explaining why Saddam's WMD's are a threat to the US.

What Caused the Global Slowdown?response to yahoo answers question...

2008-12-20T12:40:00.003-05:00

I believe the US over-innovated its financial processes. Making it easier for less financially secure folks to engage in debt instruments they could not even be expected to understand. We were seeing things like "sub-prime mortgages" and "125% financing" that only made sense in specific circumstances, like a growing economy.
Making it much worse is the practice of "bundling" hundreds of thousands of these shaky debts into collateral or guarantees against other loans, and those expected debt profits are then used to guarantee still more debt. The companies that rate these securities bowed to financial sector pressure to give them higher ratings than they deserved.
When folks can buy more houses than they can actually afford, not only are there government "anti-poverty" programs lurking somewhere in the background, but there is a period of time when the market doesn't have enough inventory, and we saw the results in television programs such as "Flip This House." Prices rise so fast that people paid too much for a house knowing they could still sell it for more.
Democrats are always looking out for a way to look like they are on the side of "the poor" and Republicans - who tried to stop this - have no defense against the charge that they want grandma to eat dog food, so the process has no check.
When oil prices spiked because of (again - the expectation/speculation of) Chinese and Indian demand, the house of cards started falling apart.
Those banks that were heavily vested in sub-prime stuff collapsed almost immediately, scaring the bejeepers out of the rest who quickly tightened up lending requirements. That made it difficult for the marginally successful companies to find the survival financing they needed. Which leads us to government bailouts.
The US is the unquestioned global economic power. When we sneeze, the world catches pneumonia. Global demand for oil has plummeted to the point that speculators are yawning with OPEC threats of production cuts.
Anti-US saber rattling is purely based on oil. Venezuela has few oil customers beside the US. Russia's tough talk is all based on their oil wealth. I have absolutely no evidence, but the paranoid conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the slowdown might not have a geo-political strategic purpose as well.
News outlets are under tremendous pressure. Saying a newspaper makes money from telling us the news of the day is like saying a billboard makes money by giving us something to look at. News outlets are billboards, they make a living from advertising, not selling news. The more emotion (fear and anger) they can pour into a story the more attention they get and the more they can charge for the same 2" by 4" ad. Even under these scary economic times, news ad revenue is nose-diving for a number of reasons. They are panicking and are desperate for "bad " news to get your attention. They are going to encourage us to fear and anger to sell billboard space. This is going to be a difficult period for us. We were already too hostile with each other before this. My greatest fear is not that I'll lose my house (I might - you might) but that we'll degenerate into a bunch of mindless thugs out only for ourselves. God help us.

Andrew Bolt's column...The Ten Worst Global Warming Predictions

2008-12-19T16:05:00.003-05:00

Mostly from Australia...good stuff just click the title.

kudos to?

gateway pundit or powerline? ace of spades?

2008-11-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

The question...

When George W. stole the election in 2000, didn't the world expect us to correct the mistake in 2004?
Didn't our sister democracies expect the American electorate to correct the aberration of a stolen election in 2000?

Didn't we have to be involved in a war for George W. to be elected for the first time in 2004?

And weren't there some dirty tricks on the part of the Republicans that stole Ohio and the 2004 presidential election?

My answer...

The world has no right to an expectation regarding the US elections. Our elections (are supposed to) belong to us.

It never ceases to amaze that those who scream loudest about "globalism" are allied so closely to those who demand it.

We are an independent and sovereign nation that condemns itself mercilessly over the headlines of foreign, self-interested, tantrum driven tabloids from countries that can't even maintain civility without orwellian cctv cameras mounted nearly everywhere.

I didn't vote for him, but I hope Obama's presidency is peaceful and fabulously successful. As time allows your unfortunate case of Bush-Derangement-Syndrome to fade, I hope you too are able to recognize that the competition of ideas is what separates democracies from the tin pot dictatorships.

getting into wine with The Traveling Vineyard

2008-09-21T23:36:00.004-04:00

I even have
my own website!

Invite your friends and family over for a FREE Wine Tasting! Your personal Wine Consultant will bring the Tasting Room to your living room with five full bottles of wine for you and your guests to taste and enjoy!
Experience a variety of wines, wine accessories and a tasting lesson, complete with tasting notes and food pairing suggestions, just like world-famous wineries and vineyards! As the Host, you can earn Host Rewards and Specials based on the success of your event! It's easy, fun and informative!

2008-08-25T01:33:00.001-04:00

"This is not an opportunity to talk about difficult matters privately or in a closed environment. This is a circus. It's a national disgrace. And from my standpoint, as a black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree."

Clarence Thomas

Mrs Amoondababycupcake Tucker

2008-08-24T14:17:00.010-04:00

Little scamp got married a few weeks ago. She and her husband are so excited about their future they are planning a one year ceremony to clelbrate their wedding, which was a very private affair. I think the word "elpoed" fits their course but no one has yet used it.
Anyway, I have offered to let them use my first batch of homemade cherry wine as their table beverage. I don't know how big an affair the thing will be (next July) but Scamp's mom and dad don't have the resource's for a big to - do. Anyway, I've been thinking about the bottling and the labels, never having done this before. Up to now, I've used blue masking tape for my labels! Actually, I only have three bottles of aging wine, and I could probably just remember what's in each bottle. But I thought I'd publish what I'm working with and how it's turning out. This picture is of Amanda, my lovely daughter, and her chosen one, Tucker. I know, what hams - what posers. Anyway, my wife loves the pic and thought it would make a good background for a wine label, and she's right.
It's a fabulous photograph, and it says a lot about them both.
Using mostly online photo editor picnic, I've come up with these variations.I'm struggling with the size of the lettering and whether or not to include the words "contains sulfites" which is legally required on wine the has the compounds added. I don't know if I can put it on a back label or not.

These pencil drawings took me some time because of my unfamiliarity with picnic, but I find it a very intuitive site to use. I like "Cherry Wine Celebration" but decided others might blandly feel the object of the celebration is the two and not the wine. So, being the deferential guy that I am...

Obama's Billionaires

2008-04-14T00:49:00.003-04:00

Speaking at a fund raising event among the very richest of San Francisco elite progressives, Obama made the following statement. Can you imagine the POTUS saying something this tasteless about the Chinese or the Italians or the Saudis?

[T]he truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

The event occurred on what's known as "billionaire's row," probably the most expensive block in the world! The funniest part is that Hillary really can't jump on this because she lost her claim to authenticity a long time ago. Though with this kind of audacity, even Hillary would be allowed to call him a hypocrite.

Blogger Zombietime has lots of links to reactions, but it includes a photo essay of the mansions on billionaire's row. Nice job, actually.

Values, Morals, and Obama

2008-04-10T01:54:00.001-04:00

"Look, I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."
-- Barack Obama.

He sure has a way with words, doesn't he?? Pathetic.

Is Global Warming a Human Rights Issue?

2008-03-30T01:39:00.001-04:00

Thank goodness for the UN. At least someone is taking human rights seriously again.

GENEVA (AFP) - Climate change is now officially a human rights issue , as the UN Human Rights Council on Friday passed a resolution on the subject, recognising that the world's poor are particularly vulnerable.
The council also gave the green light for a study into the impact of climate change on human rights, describing climate change as a "global problem .. that requires a global solution".
The resolution, submitted by the Maldives and passed without a vote, also noted that the poor tend to have limited resources to cope with the impact of global warming.

No one needs to know or do anything about the growing slave trade, or "honor" killings, or open seas piracy. But in a world that hasn't seen any appreciable advance in btu content in at least ten years, you'd think someone would notice the "the poor" can't be any more affected by a non-event than anyone else.
Just in case you are one of those cretins that are still unaware of this post-modern tragedy, several cities are uniting under the aegis of Earth Hour 2008 to cut their lights, at least some of them, in order to draw attention to their own misplaced concern for the future of humanity.

"It may not sound like a classic Saturday night blow-out, but at 8 p.m. on March 29, millions of people around the world will turn off their lights to celebrate Earth Hour.
This event, sponsored by the WWF, a global conservation organization, is intended to increase awareness of global warming and spur action to combat the issue.
The movement began last year when the WWF asked residents of Sydney, Australia, to turn off their lights for an hour. So on March 31, 2007, 2.2 million people and 2,100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights. Even icons such as the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House went dark.
Electricity in many cities and countries is powered by coal-fired plants that produce carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas that human activities emit into the atmosphere. The WWF estimates that if the greenhouse gas reduction achieved during the Sydney Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year."

This article reminds the reader about the guilty rich American, doing his/her part for humanity...

Chicago - When Brian Becharas sits down to dinner with his sweetheart Saturday night, they'll eat by candlelight.
Guests at the Inn of Chicago on the city's Magnificent Mile will walk into a darkened, candle-lit lobby. And when they look out at the iconic skyline, it will look different: the Sears Tower, the Hancock Building, the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier, and some 200 downtown buildings plan to turn out the lights at 8 p.m.
It's all part of "Earth Hour," an international climate-change awareness campaign that started last year in Sydney, Australia and that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is taking global this year. Starting in New Zealand, and rolling out through dozens of cities, including Bangkok, Thailand; Dublin, Ireland; and Tel Aviv; the campaign is urging individuals, businesses, and landmarks to go dark between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Like Disco music and fears of rampant global starvation, I have no doubt that this fad will also pass. The only question I have is how much damage will occur before we lose interest in this version of calamity-chic.

Wright's Awards

2008-03-29T01:10:00.001-04:00

This problem is bigger than I thought. My impression was that this preaching was unique or contained. It may be pretty widespread in the Black church. (I used to say "black church" thinking it meant the color of the skin of the congregation. Does it mean the preaching they receive also?)
Retired pastor Wright is set to receive an award at Brite Divinity School, in Dallas, on the 29th. He was named the recipient of the award a year ago.
This article makes it plain that Wright is indeed a hero of sorts to folks in the black community of Christians.

Stacey Floyd-Thomas, director of black church studies at Brite, said Wright, like Martin Luther King Jr., represents the black church tradition in his harsh denunciation of social problems affecting the country, and said Wright's harsh criticism does not make him unpatriotic.
"Standing in the rich tradition of the African-American church, if he [Wright] is guilty of anything - this loving father, this prophetic pastor, this former U.S. Marine - is guilty of loving the United States enough to tell the truth," said Floyd-Thomas, who teaches ethics at Brite.

And later in the same article...

More than 15 black church scholars joined Floyd-Thomas and Haynes in their defense of Wright.
The Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said the public has confused moral outrage with hatred in response to claims that black preachers promote hate from the pulpit.
"In fact, it's inappropriate not to feel outrage in the face of injustice," he said.

At the bottom of the page is the nearly 45 minute video (I have only seen snippets) of the news conference at which the black bible scholars defended pastor Wright.
Personally, I'm all for outrage over moral injustice and I'll be the last to argue that the media always portrays their stories accurately. I find it odd though, that the defenders are heavy on counter-attack and weak on content. But this has a while to play out now. I think this is either Obama's inexperience showing up (that this whole scenario was allowed to go on this long) or a confirmation that he really didn't expect to get this far in his quest for the office he seeks.

2008-03-29T01:08:00.000-04:00

I had a chat with a friend at work this evening. He'll be voting for Obama. I got the distinct impression that Democrats expect politicians to lie. Bill used to say that he tried marijuana but didn't inhale, and his party thought he "handled the question" quite well. For a Democrat, truth isn't the point, it's telling the lie cleverly enough that no one challenges it.

This is the "edited" spoof on Hillary's arrival in Bosnia. Hillary "showing off her marksmanship" cracks me up every time. The video is fine but the rest of the page is unfortunately not "family friendly."

The Beijing Olympics

2008-03-10T01:35:00.004-04:00

Remember when the Olympic games were about the athletes and the sports? I've been coming across some pretty weird articles and thought I'd share.

The Beijing Olympics in August are about the Chinese gov't's

human rights abuses---this site is worth a visit just for the display of professionalism

controlling the weather---
Its cloud-seeding weapons include 6,781 artillery guns and 4,110 rocket launchers, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. The China Meteorological Administration says 4,231 flights for cloud-seeding were conducted from 1995 to 2003.

The Chinese scientists say it worked — increasing rainfall during those years by 210 billion cubic meters, enough to meet the annual needs of 400 million people. China has a population of about 1.3 billion.
(more excerpts below)

Beijing pollution,

genocide in Darfur (Spielberg actually had an effect!).

But the biggest crowds in Beijing might turn out to be for an unexpected kind of game - the digital kind.
Regarding the Olympics deal, I ask him the inevitable question: Isn't video gaming rather non-athletic?

But he unreels a rapid-fire series of comebacks:

* "This involves hand/eye coordination in the extreme. The best guys train eight hours a day."
* "You burn more calories playing 20 minutes of boxing on the Wii than in a 20-minute jog."
* "Do you get more obese playing video games or watching football on TV?"

More on their weather control program...
But the history of Chinese science projects has its quirky examples, too — like the one that promises to produce softball-size tomatoes or giant gourds by shooting seeds or seedlings into space and then sowing them back on earth.

Fifty years ago, during the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong made extravagant claims about new agricultural techniques that could lift China out of starvation. His plans to beat nature were based mostly on ideology and pseudo-science and caused widespread famine.

...............................
On the very day Chinese weather modification experts were boasting at a news conference about controlling rain during the Olympics, the country’s midsection was being pummeled by the worst snow storm in 50 years, which Chinese meteorologists failed to predict.

Leaflet Trial

2008-03-07T12:15:00.000-05:00

Leaflet Trial

2008-03-07T11:40:00.001-05:00

Obama's Advisers..."Obamanomics"Austan Goolsbee - Jeffrey Liebman - David Cutler

2008-02-21T03:25:00.003-05:00

I gotta say, Obama confounds me. It's as if he's using his liberal reputation to win the primary activists' votes, but is building a much more centrist agenda for the general election.
We know that Bill and Hillary are both DLC'ers (Democratic Leadership Council). But the DLC is the attempt by Democrats to bring the party back to the center. What the press dubbed "triangulation" was often actually Clinton throwing a McCain type maverick action into the gears of the leftist ideological machine. Do you get it? Only McCain is a "maverick" BECAUSE he's a Republican. When Bill Clinton did the same sort of maneuver, he was a "political genius." McCain is a "thorn" in the party's side, while Clinton "triangulates," when he makes an out-of-character-for-his-party type of move.
And so I think we may be in for some strange maverick triangulation with an Obama administration. Obama's chief economist is the impressive chief economist for the DLC, Austan Goolsbee.
George Will's October 4, '07 column is devoted to Goolsbee's thinking on a range of issues and it's well worth the read. Will concludes with this paragraph...

Economics is the only academic discipline that in recent decades has moved in the direction that America and much of the world has moved, to the right. Goolsbee no doubt has lots of dubious ideas -- he is, after all, a Democrat -- about how government can creatively fiddle with the market's allocation of wealth and opportunity. But he seems to be the sort of person -- amiable, empirical and reasonable -- you would want at the elbow of a Democratic president, if such there must be.

I hesitate to link to any of the leftist opinion sites, not only because of what else one might find on their web pages but also because of the language used to describe the "sellout" Obama is committing by signing these guys on to his team. (So consider this fair warning, I don't think there's anything out of the ordinary on these provided links, and the reading is interesting, but...) They are in apoplectic tailspin over the trio's ideas that SocSec might be "partially privatized," or that health-care need not be single payer (completely nationalized) or that welfare isn't good for everyone, or that free trade is a good thing. Even the the semi-official publication to the paranoid left, "The Nation," has noticed, as evidenced by this note in an article about the various solutions to the "sub-prime crisis"....

As he has done on domestic issues like healthcare, job creation and energy policy, Obama is staking out a position to the right of not only populist Edwards but Clinton as well.

Not that Obama's presidency will have conservatives in all out party mode. From the NRO's Larry Kudlow ...

This is disturbing news on the taxation front. The Wall Street Journal’s Steve Moore says Obama’s tax plan would add up to a 39.6 percent personal income tax, a 52.2 percent combined income and payroll tax, a 28 percent capital-gains tax, a 39.6 percent dividends tax, and a 55 percent estate tax. In other words, Sen. Obama is a very-high-tax candidate. Whether Wall Street has fully discounted this, I have no idea. Probably not yet. But somebody in the investor class ought to be thinking about it, because it’s not good.

Interestingly, at least two of Obama’s top economic advisors — Austan Goolsbee and Jeffrey Liebman — are highly regarded free-market economists. Goolsbee from Chicago, Liebman from Harvard. But somehow their candidate has a very punitive high-tax campaign plan for the economy.

On healthcare, the libs fault Obama's plan for aloowing folks the freedom to opt out, as opposed to Hillary's "mandate" for participation. The following speaks of economist David Cutler on healthcare.....

But then you get a Harvard economist saying this about mandates: “A better approach is to do everything possible to make it affordable and available. When it is, almost everyone will have it.”

I think by “it” he’s referring to health insurance and this is the same Harvard economist who thinks our current health care system provides “reasonable value”.

I am eagerly awaiting Cutler’s explanation of how he reconciles the “reasonable value” we are allegedly currently getting from the health care system with the presumably massive reduction in prices/costs of health care that’s going to be needed to make insurance “affordable”. I guess we’ll just be getting excellent value then!

CODA: By the way if you doubt that Democrats favor single payer then consider these two questions from the recent Gallup Poll:

"Do you think it's the government's responsibility to make sure that everyone in the United States has adequate health care, or don't you think so?"

84% of Democrats say yes. compared to 54% of independents and only 32% of Republicans

The leftist blogger has a point. We are still detail "challenged" - shall we say?

Obama's Advisors;David Axelrod

2008-02-17T20:48:00.002-05:00

If all you have is a dagger, and your opponent is a knight on a white stallion, your cause looks lost. But if you look closer, the knight's armor isn't always as solid as it looks from a distance. Those folks who can recognize weak links in the adversary's seemingly invincible polling data are called "political consultants."
This is Obama's man...

Given his rhetorical skills, Harvard Law pedigree, up-by-the-bootstraps bio and, well, his race, it is hard not to compare recently elected Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to his friend Barack Obama. Both men entered crowded primaries in which they were definitively not favored. They both inspired a kind of personal pride among supporters that is rare in politics. On the evening of Obama's convincing primary victory, the crowd and the candidate joined in chanting, "Yes We Can!" and if you listen closely to video of Patrick rallies, you'll hear the crowd chanting the very same thing. When Patrick looked into the camera in one ad and said the state's problem wasn't a "deficit of dollars but a deficit of leadership," it was hard not to hear echoes of Obama's oft-used line that the country's biggest problem isn't a budget deficit but an "empathy deficit." And in Patrick's most effective ad, he stands on a stage delivering an impassioned speech to a crescendo of applause as Obama sits on a stool just behind him, nodding approvingly, his head perfectly framed in the shot.

Which brings us to something else the two men share: David Axelrod, the 51-year-old reporter turned media consultant who was the key media strategist for both men's campaigns. He's the one who wrote those ads, framed that shot and came up with the "Yes We Can" tag line.

Axelrod has done Chicago's mayor as well as Cleveland's. He did Paul Simon's presidential bid and Elliot Spitzer's New York gubernatorial victory.

This LATimes article from Feb 15, '08...

That's the essence of the Illinois senator's message: Obama equals change; Hillary Rodham Clinton equals status quo. All else cascades from there. In this contest -- where the candidates are but a micron apart on most policy matters -- message is everything.

...

The burly 52-year-old with the drooping mustache helped put together the team working to get Obama elected. He oversees ad creation and coordinates with the campaign's pollsters. During preparation for debates, he plays Clinton.

...

Axelrod is described as Obama's answer to Karl Rove and the most powerful political consultant not on a coast. And at a time when New York Sen. Clinton is shaking up her own campaign staff, he is someone, said one political observer, who "ain't going to be fired."

These articles are little more than self-puffery, of course. Whatever the byline, they were probably written by the campaign, handed to the politics desk, and then published verbatim. They still provide a little insight to what the campaign manager believes is important, and what they want us to know about them.

Obama's Advisers;Zbigniew Brzezinski

2008-02-17T00:19:00.003-05:00

Zbigniew Brzezinski , Carter administration national security adviser, uber-globalist, author, Israel antagonist, and now Obama campaign foreign affairs consultant, recently led a Rand Corp financed delegation to Syria, of which Obama's campaign denies knowledge.
The Israeli media Ynet linked above contains the following;

Brzezinski, selected by Obama to advise him on foreign policy affairs, has taken a highly critical stance towards Israel in the past, and has defended an academic attack on the American Jewish lobby which has been branded by some as being anti-Semitic. He has previously served as a national security adviser to President Jimmy Cater.sic

It's suggested somewhere that Obama is using Brzezinski's endorsement and calling him an adviser to give his campaign the "gravitas" it lacks, and to counter the charge that Obama hasn't enough experience. It wouldn't be honest to leave Zbig out of this exposition of Obama's people, but it's either true that Obama didn't know about this Rand Corp trip, or Obama's campaign is naive to the point of being laughably out of control. It is quizzical that the "Change" advocate would call on the epitome of "same old, same old" policy expertise for advice - unless Mr Brzezinski has untried ideas, in reference with Israel in particular.
Self described "lunatic fringe" folks are very frightened of Zbig.

This is the same Brzezinski who created the Illuminati's Trilateral Commission with David Rockefeller in 1973. The Trilateral Commission is dedicated to a world government dictatorship and closely connects with other strands in the web like the Council on Foreign Relations (member: Barack Obama) and the Bilderberg Group.

Brzezinski's foreign 'policy' during the Carter administration, as he has since admitted without regret, was to entice the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in December, 1979. The idea, he said, was to weaken their rival superpower and the result was a ten-year occupation that cost the lives of an estimated 1.3 million Afghans and spawned the Mujahedin, Taliban and Osama bin Laden.

Deep breath: he's now advising Barack Obama on foreign policy ...

Obama's Advisers; Cass Sunstein and Samantha Power

2008-02-17T00:03:00.004-05:00

It occurred to me that I couldn't get through to the real Obama during his campaign. If I wanted to know who he is, I'd have to learn more about who has his ear. At some point, it is he, the real Obama, who decides, "I like the way this person thinks." One of the reasons I was warm to the idea of a Giuliani presidency, in spite of his obvious personal flaws, was that I was familiar with his advisers. I believe, unless America grows out of its media induced stupor, Obama will be the next president, so I'm going to take a look at those to whom he listens.

A noontime speech by two of Obama's policy advisers, University of Chicago law professor Cass Sunstein and Harvard University government professor Samantha Power, was delayed an hour as the two explored Virginia's rural back roads.

This is Sunstein: (domestic policy advisor)

Supreme Court appointments: Sunstein described Obama as a "visionary minimalist," who would bring balance to activist conservative justices' efforts to "constitutionalize the Republican platform," but would not repudiate opposing views.

And this is Power: (foriegn policy advisor)

Iraq: Obama is "thinking about getting American troops out safely, but having full regard for those who have come to depend on us," Power said. She said Obama has a detailed withdrawal plan for Iraq that would include giving Iraqis fair notice of American departure and soliciting Iraqi opinions as to which neighborhoods should be evacuated first.

Middle East diplomacy: Obama "has said when he becomes president that he will go on a listening tour of Islamic countries," Power said. When dealing with "rogue regimes" such as Iran's, it's "better to be in the room than lobbing verbal grenades" from afar, she added.

China: In addressing Chinese human rights violations, exploitation of African economies and threats to American business interests abroad, Obama "is not going to be uncritical," said Powers. However, "We have to get our own house in order" first. Once Obama has restored international support for the United States, "The same backlash seen against colonialism is going to be seen against China."

Another S Power Time mag article.
There are scads of stuff on these two and the many other Obama advisers out there. I picked some articles that were in their own words, rather than written about them. From these self-revealing articles however, some of the articles that HAVE been written about them are more easily judged for apparent accuracy.

The Real ID Act

2008-02-07T17:11:00.001-05:00

Found a press conference of DHS Secretary Chertoff at Biometric Bits, via the Wiki article on the Real ID Act .

This picture is for chuckles....

From the press conference...

There are really three reasons why secure driver's licenses and security standards for driver's licenses make a lot of sense. First of all, as the 9/11 Commission noted in its final report, secure identification is an essential way of ensuring that people are who they say they are. And therefore this kind of identification gives us a tremendous tool in preventing dangerous people from getting on airplanes or getting into federal buildings.

Second, secure identification happens to be a very good way to prevent illegal immigrants from
pretending to be American citizens so they can work illegally in this country. And make no mistake
about it: identity fraud among illegal immigrants is a serious problem. It harms the legal worker, it deceives the honest employer, and it destroys the privacy and the good credit of innocent Americans every year.
During fiscal year 2007, when we were conducting worksite enforcement operations, enforcing the
immigration laws, our Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made 863 criminal arrests, and
ended up charging more than 500 individuals with state and federal document fraud crimes, including
identity theft and Social Security fraud.

Third, secure identification protects all of us from the pernicious plague of identity theft. Last year, our Secret Service arrested over 4,300 suspects, including both legal and illegal workers, for identity theft crimes that totaled $690 million in actual fraud loss to individuals and financial institutions. Studies show that roughly 35 percent of these kinds of fraud cases involve the use of fraudulent driver's licenses or phony state ID cards. And in the year 2005, according to the FTC, identity theft cost American households $64 billion, and 28 percent of those incidents likely involved the use of a phony driver's license.

Secretary Chertoff emphasizes over and over that the "secure identification" created by this legislation will only replace driver's licenses, and be used to allow folks to board planes and into federal buildings. From what I've read elsewhere, the legislation does not disallow or prevent anyone (or anything) from demanding its presentation. For ex., if you want to buy a house, there will come a point in the process where your social security number is requested. You can refuse. The mortgage company is not allowed to demand it from you, but they are somehow still allowed to refuse the loan if you don't wish to comply. At least, that has been my experience.
Under this legislation (the new constitution for the european union is an easier read - i'm just repeating what i've read elsewhere here) there are no restrictions for it's use. In other words, there is no language in the bill - at all - that discusses buying or selling in any way. Whether that is good or bad, I don't know, I'm not a lawyer. But mortgage companies are already pretty darned leary about accepting anyone's "word" about their identity. You may rest assured that they WILL know - to the greatest extent that such a thing CAN be known - that the buyer is who s/he says s/he is.

So is this whole issue really a problem, or is the problem that we don't really trust our neighbors anymore? In any case, here we are six years after 9/11, and it's not so easy to fly a 747 into a building anymore.

2008-01-22T18:13:00.000-05:00

Found at RCP, an article that attempts to explain Why McCain Needs to Be Stopped By Robert Tracinski.

But that raises another, far more important question: if John McCain saves Republicans, who will save Republicans from John McCain?

The voters who support McCain over Giuliani are making a dangerously short-sighted trade. McCain is a suicidal choice for Republicans, because on every issue other than the war, he stands for capitulation to the left.

There are three big domestic issues that will be decided by the 2008 election: socialized medicine, higher taxes, and global warming regulations. The Democrats are in favor of all three--and John McCain won't stop them.

...
ok, now I'm nervous again.
...

No matter what happens, there is likely to be a huge debate in the coming years over global warming--whether it's really happening, whether it's actually caused by human beings, and what to do about it. But if the Republicans nominate McCain, that political debate will be over, and Al Gore and the left will have won it--thanks to John McCain.

And speaking of political debate, McCain is against it. The most notorious piece of legislation McCain has co-sponsored with the left is McCain-Feingold, which has the evil distinction of being the nation's first direct attack on the freedom of political speech during an election campaign, precisely when such speech is most important.

For Republicans, there is one form of suicide worse than losing the 2008 presidential election--and that is winning it with a candidate who will put the pro-welfare-state, pro-regulation left in the driver's seat of American politics. Yet that is precisely what Republican primary voters are unwittingly supporting when they vote for McCain.

Presidential Campaign Websites

2008-01-22T16:35:00.000-05:00

Today is youngest child's 21st birthday, I took this week off, and it's freezing outside, so I have WAY too much time on my hands!
From several perspectives, the look of a serious candidate's homepage is interesting. These pages represent, one has to assume, the state of the art in online marketing and dissemination of information in the "information age." What strikes you about any page in particular? Does one seem warmer or more informative than others? If someone ends up at a particular political website, should the site expect them to be friendly? Curious? Decided? A Contributor? As with all links I provide, these will open in another tab. While visiting your favorite, you can sign up for emails or drop in a few dollars.
My google search was "president campaign homepage" - interestingly, the first listing was Kuchinich's congressional page! Why would google do that to us?? Skipping that one, presenting the order as they appeared... Some have already dropped out, others should, or will soon. I included one spoof site and skipped a couple others.
Enjoy!

Hillary for President

Mike Huckabee - President

John McCain 2008

Go Hunter '08

Join Rudy 2008

Mike Gravel for President 2008

John Edwards for President

Welcome to Obama for America

Mitt Romney for President 2008

Hamster for President Official Homepage
(ed. awww, how cute!)

Ron Paul 2008 - Hope for America

Fred -08 - Friends of Fred Thompson

Team Tancredo (careful, this wouldn't load for me)

Kuchinich for President

Is Anyone Else REALLY Uncomfortable With McCain??

2008-01-21T02:47:00.000-05:00

Conservative Columnist George Will has never been easy with the Iraq war. He's not a neo-con (strictly a foreign policy term). It's why he hasn't had much sway with the administration since 9/11. That may also be part of why he isn't enamored with McCain's run for the presidency. Will realizes he's not "on the same page" with many Republicans on the war, but on most other issues I rely on his depth and insight. He doesn't seem fond of McCain, and for many reasons, I agree.

One reason I am uncomfortable with McCain is found in the word often associated with him, that being "Maverick." Are we so uncomfortable with what we've so strongly believed for thirty-five years that we now need a maverick to tell us where we've been wrong? I for one don't believe the Republicans are the ones who need it. If the nation is going to move toward bigger and more expensive and more controlling and intrusive, I can't for the life of me think of an agreeable way for a REPUBLICAN to get us there. That's not a maverick, that's a Democrat!!

If you are unfortunate enough to have a brain hard-wired for political control, the prize of Wash, DC is simply to big to concern yourself with niceties like ethics, or truth. The ones in control define these things for the "masses," and us common folk will just follow. McCain insists that he'll never lie to us, I say, that in itself IS at least a stretch!

Well, now that we have this huge monstrous behemoth of a centralized government, how comfortable are we with a "Maverick?" When it comes to his promises for the selection of a SC nominee, can we trust him to pick the sort he promises? ESPECIALLY since the sort he promises would probably rule against McCain's most controversial legislation?

And why don't Democrat "mavericks" ever run for president? Does anyone think the media would assign one any credibility at all?

Enough of my rant, here's some of Will's, from 1/20 column "Waiting for Straight Talk "

Republicans are supposed to eschew demagogic aspersions concerning complicated economic matters. But applause greets faux "straight talk" that brands as "bad" the industry responsible for the facts that polio is no longer a scourge, that childhood leukemia is no longer a death sentence, that depression and other mental illnesses are treatable diseases, that the rate of heart attacks and heart failures has been cut by more than half in 50 years.

When McCain and Joe Lieberman introduced legislation empowering Congress to comprehensively regulate U.S. industries' emissions of greenhouse gases in order to "prevent catastrophic global warming," they co-authored an op-ed column that radiated McCainian intolerance of disagreement. It said that a U.N. panel's report "puts the final nail in denial's coffin about the problem of global warming." Concerning the question of whether human activity is causing catastrophic warming, they said, "the debate has ended."

Interesting, is it not, that no one considers it necessary to insist that "the debate has ended" about whether the Earth is round. People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues.

"all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator"

2007-09-24T21:59:00.000-04:00

At American Digest, a line-up or reactions to Ahmadinejad's speech and Columbia University President Bolliger's surprisingly critical introduction.
I thought it was typical American leftward university PC'ism to have invited the Iranian hustler. The line that all the world's problems are either America's (Mcbushitler) fault or made worse by her intervention (though we saw during the 90's how well NON-intervention worked out). I was actually surprised that the political right made such a stink, it's so expected of this part of the contemporary culture. I felt that if it is opposed by the political right, then that made inviting Ahmadinejad all the more righteous to a left leaning institution. It looked to me that after the invite was delivered, it became apparent that perhaps it wasn't the wisest move. There could have been one big reason, there could have been several smaller reasons.
Maybe the realization that the U S Military is still looked at with respect by the students, even if they hate the commander-in-chief. Maybe the wealth of their parents found the economically foolish attitude that favors enemies of the nation to be beyond stupid.
It was a Columbia U student group that invited the Minutemen to speak several months ago, and then the rest of the student body violently trashed their "right" to speak freely without much administration concern. It is righteous if it is anti-right. Unless it's just not right.
Whatever the reason, Columbia extended an invitation to speak. But when the invitee arrived, Columbia Chancellor Bollinger gave the Iranian leader a verbal thrashing that was just plain rude. I would have no problem if the president were allowed to speak and then in the q & a was completely toasted with the questions. It's not that difficult to reveal a lying hypocrite and bully.
Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch , quoting an AP story, thinks Bollinger looks good and Ahmadinejad looks ignorant and wimpish. Gateway Pundit , live blogging the speech, thinks the Columbia audience took a hit, looking like typical collegiate, immature morons.

"SO FAR... Not a peep from the audience. Not one peep!
The audience is his to lose. He has them in the palm of his hand.
They are cheering him on now!
Good Lord!
* * * * *

They are cheering the genocide promoter again.
This country is in worse shape than we realized.
Now, Ahmadinejad is lying about the treatment of non-Muslims in Iran.
(More applause)
...
Mahmoud is explaining that the Iranian nation is a victim of terrorism.
Mahmoud says his government was the first to fight terrorism.
How sad... He is shifting the blame for terrorism on the US and the audience is eating this crap with serving spoons.
How very sad.
The schools in this country are failing miserably.

Mahmoud is pushing for more research on the Holocaust and the audience is not saying a word- not a peep.

"Serendip concentrates more on his comments about gays and women.

"In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country. We don’t have that in our country. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who has told you that we have it."
...
But as for women, maybe you think that maybe being a woman is a crime. It’s not a crime to be a woman. Women are the best creatures created by God. They represent the kindness, the beauty that God instills in them. Women are respected in Iran."

We in the U S set ourselves up for this kind of circus by trying to continue the charade of being "fair to all." You can't on the one hand try to perpetuate that concept (whether it's actually possible or not) and on the other derogate Ahmadinejad's position as President of a major Middle Eastern power. If one invite's another to one's house, one shant insult the other once the other arrives. Now, whether you SHOULD have invited him in the first place is an entirely different matter.

Time to say hello!

2007-07-09T14:13:00.000-04:00

Obama Shows Christrian Deference and Respect (Not)

2007-06-25T12:43:00.000-04:00

Once again my impeccable
timing is on display.
This article appeared June 24th,
but I've got a cache of blogs on the
burner waiting to be dispatched.

It's been said that when people realize how far left Mr Obama truly is, he'll quickly lose his appeal for possessing a Bobby Kennedy-type eloquence. I've wondered if that would pan out but Mr Obama just proved it with his junk references to the Christian Right. All (em) is mine...

The speech by Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate and member of the 1.2-million member denomination, dealt with the link between faith and politics

(as opposed to what right leaning Christians do - which is to demolish the much vaunted "wall of separation" between church and state!)

The phrase, "link between faith and politics" is repeated three times in the article.

"Our conscience can't rest so long as 37 million Americans are poor and forgotten by their leaders in Washington," Obama said. "We need to heed the biblical call to care for `the least of these' and lift the poor out of despair. That's why it's not just a policy issue when we fight to expand the Earned-Income Tax Credit and the minimum wage. If you're working 40 hours a week, you shouldn't be living in poverty."

In the United States it is possible to have the grandest income and still not be able to buy a decent meal. It comes down to how well you budget. I know a few hispanic immigrants who work 80 hrs a week, make less than the national median, and are still grateful for the oppurtunity to send money home.
It's can be very uncomfortable to watch those with higher incomes seemingly enjoy the rich life. Which is why class envy works so well for Democratic politicians in the first place. But the world knows poverty. The U.S. and most of the west does not.
In the west, Robin Hood IS the Sheriff of Nottingham. Stealing from the rich to give to the poor is not only a safe and legal practice, it's considered a societal step UP from getting a decent education and providing for your own family.

"Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked," the Democratic presidential candidate said in remarks prepared for delivery before the national meeting of the United Church of Christ.

"Hijacked?"

I think it's helpful that Obama brings this up. His speech to the United Church of Christ convention in Hartford, Conn, is probably the strongest evidence that the Christian Church in America is at a frightfully weak point in its history. Democrats have proven time and again that the American people are dangerously ignorant of their own Constitution. It looks now that they will do the same for America's ignorance of the Bible.
Which is good. Perhaps Christians will then get serious about what their faith is supposed to be about - the offer of eternal life to a dead generation. I firmly believe that Christians belong in the public arena. But when a denomination that ordained its first openly gay minister 30 years ago and has been pro-abortion as long as the word's existed complains of "moral outrage" and "division" caused by the right, can we help but wonder if the word "Christian" has outlived its usefulness?

"Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us," the Illinois senator said.
"At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design," according to an advance copy of his speech.
"There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich," Obama said. "I don't know what Bible they're reading, but it doesn't jibe with my version."

My my, where to start? The wealthy are paying higher taxes than ever, and the cuts were across the board, which our democrat candidate fails to mention. And by the way, if we complain about the rich getting more access to the gov't, then perhaps we shouldn't expect them to pay for so much of it.

Iced Coffee Anyone?

2007-06-23T19:55:00.000-04:00

A Japanese Street Magician puts on a show for the crowd. The images tell the story so the audio, in Japanese, is not necessary. But occasionally, you hear English words, which makes it fun.

espresso beans toLady Espresso

Next Yon Installment

2007-06-17T14:33:00.000-04:00

Was reviewing the results of the Watcher's Council over at the Glittering Eye. In an earlier post about msm bias and hysteria, I concentrated on public issues the media was actively trying to influence.

The news talkers suffer from urgency inflation. They must show that the merely problematic is a disaster. Anything unexpected is a "setback." A setback, then, is a "problem." A problem, as stated, has become a disaster. For example, the storm named "Katrina" was a disaster. But, while the response to it was organizationally difficult, there was plenty of heroism to go around. The storm was the disaster, not the response! But a "problem" can draw a bigger audience than a "setback" can. A disaster draws more viewers to the advertising platform than a "problem" does.

The are other kinds of manipulation. One is the media trying to play down or ignore the plain truth, such as with heroism or success in the Iraq war. I was reminded of this in the most recent M. Yon report, Death or Glory Part II of IV: Into the Desert With the Queen’s Royal Lancers Armed with plenty of great pictures, his commentary is just great.

Despite the British press reports that make their own soldiers out to be cowering on bases in Basra, truck after truck of them here were in high spirits. News flash: Those reports are false. Derelict media coverage is another aspect of this war British and American soldiers share, and it rankles here in the southern part of Iraq as deeply as it does everywhere else. Practically no one writes about the Brits down here. Important pages in history remain unwritten, while policy decisions are based on the public perception that all is lost here. That this public perception is based on what I have called “The Green Gator Phenomenon” is an irony that is noted, but not appreciated.

He adds to the subject of bias by acknowledging psychological/emotional baggage, or "truths" we carry around with us. Things we "know" are true, but are not true in fact. His example is of a person, who standing right next to an alligator (all of which are black when wet and gray when dry,) will often say, even insist, that the gator is green, because that is the color popular culture assigns to the animal. Micheal Yon convincingly demonstrates the importance of the phenomenon in understanding the public perception of the Iraq conflict.
As far as "public perception" goes he's correct of course. But the gator did not convince "perception" - the media did.
Mr Yon's article is accompanied with plentiful pictures and deserves not only attention, but our gratitude.

espresso beans tothe glittering eye

Why Would I EVER Ask You To Watch An Al Gore Movie?

2007-06-16T01:27:00.000-04:00

In 15 yrs, "An Inconvenient Truth" will be as revealing of Gore's shrunken character as this.

The tape discussed on The Rush Limbaugh Show. A 1992 speech: Gore condemns President Bush for "blatant disregard for brutal terrorism, a dangerous blindness to the murderous ambitions of a despot."

This is Vice Presidential candidate Al Gore ripping the first Bush administration apart - because of Saddam's ties to terrorism!!! In 1992, and they did nothing, absolutely nothing about it...(sigh)

What's Wrong With The Media?Tony Blair's Answer

2007-06-14T13:43:00.000-04:00

"...it is in all our interests that the public is properly and
accurately informed."
Tony Blair
Prime Minister, Great Britain
12 June, 2007

I'm of the opinion that the most destructive force in America today (besides the
teacher's unions, of course) is the way in which we are informed. The means by which our news is delivered is a disgrace and getting worse.

I find it amazing that Exxon-Mobil is not allowed to comment on the subject
of carbon emissions because they produce the product that results in those
emissions. By that standard, we should not allow the news outlets to comment
on the news! They DO have a motive to lie and exaggerate, you know.

People seem to think that the news is there to present the news. Not so. The companies we earnestly want to trust with informing us on current events is beholden to corporate pressures the same as Walmart and Ford Auto. The business of any information medium is advertising. They present a billboard upon which companies may present their wares to an interested (usually) audience.

A lot's changed since I was in school, but the tangent in the study of Psychology that studied how people are influenced was called "Applied Psychology." You'd be surprised what they think of you in that line of work. You use your emotions to make decisions. You use your intellect to justify your decisions. If one can manipulate your emotions to their advantage, then one can own the decisions you make.

The news talkers suffer from urgency inflation. They must show that the merely problematic is a disaster. Anything unexpected is a "setback." A setback, then, is a "problem." A problem, as stated, has become a disaster. For example, the storm named "Katrina" was a disaster. But, while the response to it was organizationally difficult, there was plenty of heroism to go around. The storm was the disaster, not the response! But a "problem" can draw a bigger audience than a "setback" can. A disaster draws more viewers to the advertising platform than a "problem" does.

They do this for at least two reasons.

To set you up for the next ad.

To put you in the mood to stay where you are.

There are of course, unintended consequences.

They must have anger.
They must have fear.
They will accuse, shame, place blame and instill guilt.
They will use our greed and other desires in their use of celebrity.
They will call good evil, and evil good.
And many, if not most of us, will believe them.
Their most precious assett is their credibility. In the process of throwing all these negative emotions around, they will divide us. We will treat each other with the suspicion that the corrupt deserve. We will believe our neighbors are as vicious as serial killers. Our corporate leaders want to kill their own kids with devastating pollutants, and our political leaders are moronic nimrods so malleable in the mesmerizing will of evil "handlers."

I don't have any answers. All I know is that the media is becoming more and more hysterical over time, trying to keep up their audience numbers so they can charge advertisers the same fees as they did 5 or 10 years ago. It is affecting the way they tell the news.

The potential for harm is staggering. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been the greatest friend we've had for the last 10 years. He was Clinton's closest ally as well as G Bush's. He's on his way out, and has offered his opinions on how the media has changed. It's a good read. Add this to their
natural leftist bias and it starts to look like a "disaster."

espresso beans to newsbusters

A Carbon Emissions Tax That Makes Sense

2007-06-13T13:49:00.000-04:00

Economist Ross McKitrick has written a logical answer
to the dilemma of AGW in the Financial Post, part of Canada.com.
Title and sub-title are

Call their tax

Why not tie carbon taxes to actual levels of warming?
Both skeptics and alarmists should expect their wishes to be answered

He points out that the most recent computer models forecast a warming trend that will make itself known early in the area known as the tropical troposphere, and posits a tax based on the temperature increases, if there are any, that will occur there. Temps, according to the models, will rise in that part of the atmosphere only as a result of excessive carbon dioxide increases as opposed to fluctuations in solar activity.

The IPCC predicts a warming rate in the tropical troposphere of about double that at the surface, implying about 0.2C to 1.2C per decade in the tropical troposphere under greenhouse-forcing scenarios. That implies the tax will climb by $4 to $24 per tonne per decade, a much more aggressive
schedule of emission fee increases than most current proposals. At the upper end of warming forecasts, the tax could reach $200 per tonne of CO2 by 2100, forcing major carbon-emission reductions and a global shift to non-carbon energy sources.

Global-warming activists would like this. But so would skeptics, because they believe the models are exaggerating the warming forecasts. After all, the averaged UAH/ RSS tropical troposphere series went up only about 0.08C over the past decade, and has been going down since 2002. Some solar scientists even expect pronounced cooling to begin in a decade. If they are right, the T3 tax will fall below zero within two decades, turning into a subsidy for carbon emissions.

While I understand the reasoning behind the "science" of AGW, I more fully "get" the manipulative hysteria. The proposed tax is exquisitely formulated to make the side that is more accurate happy.

Under the T3 tax, the regulator gets to call everyone's bluff at once, without gambling in advance on who is right. If the tax goes up, it ought to have. If it doesn't go up, it shouldn't have. Either way we get a sensible outcome.

But the benefits don't stop there. The T3 tax will induce forward-looking behaviour. Alarmists worry that conventional policy operates with too long a lag to prevent damaging climate change. Under the T3 tax, investors planning major industrial projects will need to forecast the tax rate many years ahead, thereby taking into account the most likely path of global warming a decade or more in advance.

I was not aware of the "tropical troposphere" early warning, probably because it
tends to break the sense of urgency needed for emotional manipulations which the
press depends on to sell advertising. This tax clearly depends on all sides
agreeing that the climate change computer models be accurate on this point.
Not that this would ever happen.

espresso beans tonewsbusters

pres impresses prague, prances before princes that pricked the depraved...

2007-06-10T14:56:00.000-04:00

For much of my life, the word "dissident" meant

Someone who hates those things for which Americas stands
Someone who loves what America says it's about but is sadly driven to killing innocent people because America is full of hypocrites
Socialism will be really cool when it takes over the U.S. - all we have to do is show everyone how awful the U.S. really is!!

S H O W N

In this room are dissidents and democratic activists from 17 countries on five continents. You follow different traditions, you practice different faiths, and you face different challenges. But you are united by an unwavering conviction: that freedom is the non-negotiable right of every man, woman, and child, and that the path to lasting peace in our world is liberty. (Applause.)

This conference was conceived by three of the great advocates for freedom in our time: Jose Maria Aznar, Vaclav Havel, and Natan Sharansky. I thank them for the invitation to address this inspiring assembly, and for showing the world that an individual with moral clarity and courage can change the course of history.

I know the president believes this. I believe he will be recognized as one of them someday.

espresso beans to powerline

Coffee Art -- Who Knew?

2007-06-06T01:11:00.000-04:00

I've Been Visited!!

2007-06-05T14:42:00.000-04:00

One of my very favorite bloggers, Kobayashi Maru , stopped by for a visit and left a surprisingly nice comment on this post about a medical study on coffee. I paid him a visit to see if I could find an appropriate place to thank him for his generosity and found that he wasn't nearly finished! Looky!! This looks better on his blog because

Its. Not. Mine.

I'll skip the article quotes cause this ain't about the other article -- it's about me!! Here's the MONEY stuff on his article!!

Yet More Reasons Why Global Warming Hysteria is Silly
Having recently repaired our beloved capuccino maker, I've had to work really hard to stop myself at two double espressos each morning, especially as the typical rainy/cold New England June sets in (it's 50-something and pouring this morning). Thus it was with a smile and jittery typing fingers that the title of this Indiana-based blog caught my eye in perusuing the KM referral statistics: "Rightward Coffee Buzz: christian, conservative, caffeinated". I love it! Started last October, RCB notes in an inaugural post an ability to "...drink four pots of coffee everyday and keep it up forever." Well, OK then. That's just a little rich for my blood but hey, whatever works. Welcome to the blogroll, RCB.

That's a roundabout way of delivering a hat tip for RCB's tracking down the NZ meteorologist's reference I'd noted in passing in my 'Mouths of Babes...' post on Kristen Byrnes last week.

Now how cool is THAT??!!

Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) "Does anybody know how small that number is?"

2007-06-01T17:17:00.000-04:00

I've been away for a while but I've been paying attention, particularly to AGW and Finance/Economics/Business articles - saving them when I thought they'd still be relevant when I returned to writing. The AGW stories have stayed current because the only variable is to how many skeptics will be allowed to contribute to the conversation, if one could call it that. So the headline "Global warming debunked" The Timaru (New Zealand) Herald article of May 19, 2007 by Andrew Swallow caught my eye. Highlights...

Climate change will be considered a joke in five years time, meteorologist Augie Auer told the annual meeting of Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers in Ashburton this week.

...

Water vapour was responsible for 95 per cent of the greenhouse effect, an effect which was vital to keep the world warm, he explained.
"If we didn't have the greenhouse effect the planet would be at minus 18 deg C but because we do have the greenhouse effect it is plus 15 deg C, all the time."
The other greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide, and various others including CFCs, contributed only five per cent of the effect, carbon dioxide being by far the greatest contributor at 3.6 per cent.
However, carbon dioxide as a result of man's activities was only 3.2 per cent of that, hence only 0.12 per cent of the greenhouse gases in total. Human-related methane, nitrogen dioxide and CFCs etc made similarly minuscule contributions to the effect: 0.066, 0.047 and 0.046 per cent respectively.
"That ought to be the end of the argument, there and then," he said.
"We couldn't do it (change the climate) even if we wanted to because water vapour dominates."

...

"The Greens are really going to go after you because you put out 49 per cent of the countries emissions. Does anybody ask 49 per cent of what? Does anybody know how small that number is?
"It's become a witch-hunt; a Salem witch-hunt," he said.

The biggest surprise here ie that even in NZ they use the cliche "Salem witch hunt."

DSL Speed Test

2007-05-31T23:04:00.000-04:00

Lady Esspresso and I have been having some trouble with our SBC Yahoo DSL service. She called and asked for help, and they sent a very likable technician. He did find a bad cable to the modem from one of our two office computers, and that sped things up very nicely until a few hours after he left. Unfortunately, that's the way it's been going for us for a while...fast then slow then still slower then fast again.
The best thing we got out of the kind and competent man's visit was the knowledge that there are websites that can measure the speed of our connection. He had me Google "dsl speed test" and pick out "Speakeasy Speed Test" from the google of available sites. So now we have an answer to the question......"Is it just me or is this thing slower than Vermont maple syrup in January?

Rex Lex Wrecks

2007-05-03T23:53:00.000-04:00

From What "Pool" Did This Judge Come?
This is such an abuse of power, position and trust, that one is almost tempted to wonder why it doesn't happen more often. There is a saying that goes, "A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge." It could not be more true, and in this case, it could not be more destructive to the reputation of his profession.
A 65 million dollar lawsuit for a missing pair of pants.

According to court documents, the problem began in May 2005 when Pearson became a judge and brought several suits for alteration to Custom Cleaners in Northeast Washington, a place he patronized regularly despite previous disagreements with the Chungs. A pair of pants from one suit was not ready when he requested it two days later, and was deemed to be missing.
Pearson asked the cleaners for the full price of the suit: more than $1,000.
But a week later, the Chungs said the pants had been found and refused to pay. That's when Pearson decided to sue.

Lawsuits in America are no longer about seeking "Justice." It is about getting the case over with as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Anyone can sue anyone else for any reason, and the person being sued has to foot the bill for his defense whether the case is decided favorably or not.
Once sued, unless you can get the presiding judge to drop the case for any reason, your defense will be extremely expensive for any reasonably middle class income earner. Meaning, if you can't get the judge to drop the case and the person suing you won't "settle," you may well be paying for that defense for the rest of your life.

The lawsuit was filed by a District of Columbia administrative hearings judge, Roy Pearson, who has been representing himself in the case.

The defense attorney's name is Chris Manning.

Much of Pearson's case rests on two signs that Custom Cleaners once had on its walls: "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Same Day Service."
Based on Pearson's dissatisfaction and the delay in getting back the pants, he claims the signs amount to fraud.

The article rounds out with a few paragraphs of astounded judges and attorneys, outraged at Pearson's actions.

And former National Labors Relations Board chief administrative law judge Melvin Welles wrote to The Washington Post to urge "any bar to which Mr. Pearson belongs to immediately disbar him and the District to remove him from his position as an administrative law judge."
"And former National Labors Relations Board chief administrative law judge Melvin Welles wrote to The Washington Post to urge "any bar to which Mr. Pearson belongs to immediately disbar him and the District to remove him from his position as an administrative law judge."

"There has been a significant groundswell of support for the Chungs," said Manning, adding that plans for a defense fund Web site are in the works.

The web site isn't operational as of this writing, but it represents all that is right with America and I hope the South Korean (presumably legal)immigrants get all the help they need. It's just a shame we've allowed arrogant lawyers to double-speak the rest of us into thinking justice was ever their aim.

Of Course Coffee Is Good For You!!

2007-05-03T00:53:00.000-04:00

I can't help but wonder how much we waste on hopelessly stupid research like this.

Dr. Lenore Arab of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA also took part, presenting results of a review of nearly 400 studies investigating coffee consumption and cancer risk.
There's evidence, Arab noted, that the beverage may protect against certain types of colon cancer, as well as rectal and liver cancer, possibly by reducing the amount of cholesterol, bile acid and natural sterol secretion in the colon, speeding up the passage of stool through the colon (and thus cutting exposure of the lining of the intestine to potential carcinogens in food), and via other mechanisms as well.

It's tasty. It was never supposed to be thought of as good for anything other than a jolt.

It Makes Too Much Sense

2007-05-02T23:52:00.000-04:00

It's like getting sued for trying to help a victim of a car accident. In litigation crazy America, our reps actually had to write a law that said you can't sue someone for trying to save your life!!
Now, in a slightly different application is the same logical question - "Should we allow citizens of the United States to be sued for reporting suspicious behavior on a fully fueled jet passenger aircraft?" (For those who can't stand the suspense, the answer is "NO!")
"The Flying Imams" as they are called, are not a troop of circus artists. They are a group of Muslim leaders who, after attending a meeting of folks with like minds and rank in Minneapolis, boarded a flight and promptly made jerks of themselves, frightening the passengers. An Arabic speaking passenger, not among the Imams, overheard their conversations and was among those who reported the odd behavior to the flight's operators.
"The Flying Imams" contend that the passengers over-reacted and were motivated more by irrational fear and racism than with any real threat. The Imams were removed from the flight. Which, I guess, hurt their feelings. The identities of the passengers who spoke up were wisely withheld, so they are known in the incident as "John Does." The Imams have sued the John Does.
It's become a federal issue, and Speaker Pelosi is being lobbied by her Republican colleagues to offer protection for people who report to authorities behavior like what was on display.

"We cannot afford to wait any longer to protect individuals who seek to do the right thing by speaking up to prevent a terrorist attack," more than a dozen Republicans wrote to Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, today in a letter obtained in advance by The Washington Times.
The legislation responds to a lawsuit filed by six Muslim imams after they were removed from a Nov. 20 U.S. Airways flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix for suspicious behavior. The lawsuit was filed on March 12 and also named as defendants any yet-unknown "John Doe" passengers who reported the imams' behavior.
"This represents a startling precedent, one that could freeze the very behavior law enforcement has encouraged," the letter said.

Of course, the Democrats are the "bridge builders" of American politics. (They even went and engaged in photo ops with Assad of Syria, when he wasn't too busy watching sports events with the Turkish PM, whom American Democrats had recently snubbed for Turkey's refusal to acknowledge their pesky Armenian issues.) Being politically correct and projecting just the right image is far more important to them than any flirtation with "Justice."

The Honey Bee "Die-Off"

2007-05-02T18:47:00.000-04:00

We are experiencing an odd and somewhat scary vanishing act in our honey bees. We're not alone in the world, (I've found reports involving England, Brazil and Taiwan) but scientists don't even know if the disparate events are related.

Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of the nation's honeybees could have a devastating effect on America's dinner plate, perhaps even reducing us to a glorified bread-and-water diet.

I've been hearing reports of this for weeks, but I find the uncertainty in the discussion distracting. If I'm not the one looking for answers then the ideas and theories are just speculation and suspicions. But this story has had precious few facts. The big theory a couple of weeks ago was that cell phones were suspect. This week it's parasites or some disease. The evidence is strong.

A quick experiment with some of the devastated hives makes pesticides seem less likely. In the recent experiment, Pettis and colleagues irradiated some hard-hit hives and reintroduced new bee colonies. More bees thrived in the irradiated hives than in the non-irradiated ones, pointing toward some kind of disease or parasite that was killed by radiation.
The parasite hypothesis has history and some new findings to give it a boost: A mite practically wiped out the wild honeybee in the U.S. in the 1990s. And another new one-celled parasitic fungus was found last week in a tiny sample of dead bees by University of California San Francisco molecular biologist Joe DeRisi, who isolated the human SARS virus.

The 90's, though, represent a recent decade and I can't remember any mention of it. Perhaps I've just forgotten or maybe the latest Clinton scandal simply overtook it's place in the news. This article by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer,
mentions other similar episodes in the more distant past, and seems to give the impression that it's not yet time to panic.
The article also includes the required enviro-nut expert...

Pulitzer Prize-winning insect biologist E.O. Wilson of Harvard said the honeybee is nature's "workhorse — and we took it for granted."
"We've hung our own future on a thread," Wilson, author of the book "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth," told The Associated Press on Monday.

Anyway, the Texas A&M UniversityEntomology Dept. has this for us...

CCD symptoms and beekeeper actions on suspicion of CCD are outlined below.

1. In collapsed colonies (dead colonies):
a. The complete absence of adult bees in colonies with no or little build-up of dead bees in the colonies or in front of those colonies.
b. The presence of capped (sealed) brood in colonies
c. The presence of food stores both honey and bee bread (pollen)
c1. Which is not robbed by other bees
c2. When attacked by hive pests such as wax moth and small hive beetle, the attack is noticeably delayed.

2. In cases where the colony appears to be actively collapsing (dying):
a. An insufficient workforce to maintain the brood that is present.
b. The workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees.
c. The queen is present.
d. The cluster is reluctant to consume provided feed, such as sugar syrup and protein supplement.

What I Like And Dislike About Giuliani

2007-04-26T11:45:00.000-04:00

Largely because of McCain-Feingold, (which denies free speech rights to issues organizations in the months leading up to elections - when the issues are most important) Senator McCain simply has no credibility with the conservative base of the Republican Party. As impassioned as his defense of the war on terror is, and as much as I appreciate ANYONE's defense of that under-reported important issue and viewpoint, McCain has already lost his most valuable asset as a national spokesman. Enter Giuliani, who has no similar problem on the war. At a New Hampshire "town hall" meeting Tuesday night, Rudy impressively handled citizen's questions regarding the war, and the president's prosecution of it. When the Democrat/media driven issue of the war somehow causing an abridgement of rights arose,

"Just about every personal right has been abridged in the war on terror," he said. "When will you say that's as far as I will go?"

Giuliani did not waste time or effort with his answer - with glorious attitude -

"I think you have grossly exaggerated the case," Giuliani responded. "And you didn't point out the other fact, and that is we haven't been attacked and we've been safe."
He defended the administration's domestic wiretapping program, tough interrogation techniques and the USA Patriot Act.
"So, no rights," Capodice said.
That drew a sharp retort from Giuliani: "That's hardly no rights!" he said. "You have more freedom than anyone in this world has ever had — and no one has taken that from you!"

While I can't vouch for the literal value of his statement, the fact is that whatever limitations there are to our constitutionally guaranteed rights have mostly been imposed by Democrats and politically liberal Supreme Court decisions. (Notable exception is the previously mentioned McCain-Feingold) Political-correctness, hate-speech, deprivation of the right to life of the unborn, are just a few of the many examples of the rampant fascism of the Democrat agenda. They simply cannot see the wisdom in the adage, "Be careful what you hope for!" Hate speech is a very dangerous lasso around our freedoms that is now being used by Muslims to keep Americans from discussing the serious threat their religion WILL someday present. Democrats desire a world where we are free - not TO BE what we want - but free from pain! Imagine a world free from struggle? Impossible so long as people are human...but there I go on my rant!! (((Focus! Giuliani!)))
Rudy of course loses it (his credibility) when he gets into issues not having to do with 9/11...
Some folks think that the tenth amendment only applies to the second amendment

Last week, after the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech, Giuliani said it "does not alter the Second Amendment" and emphasized state-by-state gun control measures, which contrasted with his past enthusiasm for a federal mandate to register handgun owners.

Imagine state-by-state "religion controls" or state-by-state "equal protection" controls, and you quickly see how silly is his - and liberals/democrats/media - approach. On the other hand, there is no mention of any medical procedure anywhere in the constitution, and so those legal/social issues SHOULD be approached on a state-by-state basis as directed by the tenth amendment. Which is why the 1973 abortion decision in Roe v Wade is such an abomination under the law, even if one CAN accept 45 million dead babies by now.
If Fred Thompson gets into the action, I'll vote for him. If not, then my primary vote will go to Huckabee - I like him, plus it's a sympathy vote for being Bill Clinton's Lieutenant Governor Indiana has no say in the primaries anyway - and my vote in the election will go to whoever runs for the Republicans.

French Election: It's Sarkozy and Royal

2007-04-23T00:31:00.000-04:00

I can't vouch for its reliability, (I'm not inclined to put much faith in anything that uses the words "world" and "socialist" in its title) but this article from the World Socialist Website attempts to put some perspective into the results from yesterday's first round contest that are at least plausible. What I know from other sources, (been following as closely as the scrolls on CNN and FOX would allow) is adhered to in this account. The high turnout (wow - 85%!) and the general descriptions of the two winners are what I've been reading all along. It is an interesting article...
The author doesn't much like the term "extreme left," seeming to find "radical" the more desirable term. Maybe it's in the translation?

While the radicals are running after Royal, Royal is running after Sarkozy. This was the case during the campaign preceding the first round, when Royal tried to prove that she is as nationalistic and devoted to law and order as her right-wing opponent. And it was the case in the night after the election.
Sarkozy, who is aware that he might loose the election if he is seen as too much of a polarizing figure, paid respect to his adversary and called for a “dignified” campaign and a “debate on ideas,” while at the same time insisting that he and Royal represented two diametrically opposited perspectives.

Maybe it's time for the French to have the role the press can play in a national conscience revealed to them. It appears from this distance that the French press generally is much more open about their left-leaning political position than their American counters are. Could it be time for the folks to experience a shift to the right? The government bureaucracy that Chirac et al leave behind probably be as difficult to get along with for Sarkozy as the American Government was for Reagan, and is for Bush, so it's silly to expect any radical departures in policies. But it could be interesting to see the reaction to a "fascist" (his propaganda label - what a surprise! how original!) who turns out to be a decent guy and capable leader! If Sarkozy were to win, which may be likely, and if the French press is as childish as their American counters are, he should expect quite the vicious backlash indeed...

This time, the radical left made it clear from the beginning that they favoured a victory of Royal and regarded their own campaigns only as a means of pressuring the Socialist Party candidate to the left. Discussions on a “useful vote”—i.e. voting for the candidate most likely to defeat Sarkozy in the second round—dominated the public debate in the last days before the election.

Of course, maybe Sarkozy IS Mussolini - how would I know - but the American opposition to Reagan had us wondering if he wasn't determined to put mushroom clouds over every city in the western world! After the VietNam debacle brought on by Harvard "whizkids" (Johnson) and "what's-a-constitution" criminals (Nixon) and "if-only-we-tried-to-understand" coddlers (Carter) -- America was indeed ready for Reagan...I hope France gets that for which she seems to be ready.
America could afford to sleep through her socialist Clinton years. As much as I'd love to see a woman president, we can't afford another head-in-the-sand nap. That, unfortunately, is where (I think) France has been for too long.
F E 2007 has been a delightful help through this unfamiliar terrain for me, and though he'll be around at least till May 6th for the final tally, I'll go ahead and say "Magnifique! merci beaucoup!" (which is my French vocabulary in it's entirety)

ABC Finally Shows Some Stuffing - (It Was Probably An Accident!)

2007-04-19T23:31:00.000-04:00

"A television news outlet makes sense" read the headline.
"Go with it!" shouted the gruff old producer around the wet end of his stogie. He was one of the last who could still remember when telling the truth had at least SOMETHING to do with journalism.

Nah...none of that has anything to do with this Newsbusters find - except that I got jazzed reading it! ABC News Consultant Slams Media Over Video of Va.Tech Killer

Michael Welner, an ABC News consultant and a forensic psychiatrist, appeared on Thursday’s "Good Morning America" to slam the media for gratuitously airing videos sent by deceased mass killer Seung-Hui Cho. Welner even referenced the network frenzy over fired radio host Don Imus by saying, "Just listen, if you can take Imus off the air, you can certainly keep [Cho] from having his own morning show."

Earlier in the segment, Welner gave an impassioned plea for the networks to stop airing the killer’s footage:

Michael Welner: "If anybody cares about the victims in Blacksburg and if anybody cares about their children, stop showing this video now. Take it off the internet. Let it be relegated to YouTube. This is a social catastrophe. Showing the video is a social catastrophe. I promise you the disaffected will watch him the way they watched 'Natural Born Killers.' I know. I examine these people. I've examined mass shooters who have told me they've watched 'Natural Born Killers' 20 times. You cannot saturate the American public with this kind of message."

It may be the murderer's secret why he sent the vids to NBC, but it's certainly no secret why he sent A PACKAGE to a TV NEWS outlet. Assuming he was able to comprehend anything logically, he would have known TV-News doesn't have the self-restraint of a new born puppy!
"everybody else pees on the floor so why can't we?

Harry Reid Is "Lost"

2007-04-19T20:08:00.000-04:00

Iraq is a war that we not only can win, but have to win. What will make that impossible is the same Kennedy/Kerry - esque creeps who demanded America lose in Viet Nam. This pair of articles found on Drudge . Iraq war is 'lost': US Democrat leader

"I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week," Reid told journalists.
Reid said he had delivered the same message to US President George W. Bush on Wednesday, when the US president met with senior lawmakers to discuss how to end a standoff over an emergency war funding bill.
"I know I was the odd guy out at the White House, but I told him at least what he needed to hear ... I believe the war at this stage can only be won diplomatically, politically and economically."

I can only wish someone will think to ask him
(a) "What 'wars' in the past have been "won diplomatically, politically and economically?" and
(b) Do you think the slaughter of millions of S Vietnamese had NOTHING to do with the fact that the Democrats cut funding and supplies to their U.S. allied Government?...

But Reid drew a parallel with former US president Lyndon Johnson who decided to deploy more troops in Vietnam some 40 years ago when 24,000 US troops had already been killed.
"Johnson did not want a war loss on his watch, so he surged in Vietnam. After the surge was over, we added 34,000 to the 24,000 who died in Vietnam," Reid said.

This as moronic a statement from a John Lennon wannabee as I've ever encountered. Johnson "surged" with troops but considered the war an Allied operation of "containment" directed at the Soviet Union. The involvement of South Viet Nam was incidental until Nixon's "Vietnamization" program, that was somewhat successful in preparing the South's Army to take over the fighting. Neither Johnson nor Nixon, in decisions that only a Harvard/Stanford "whiz kid" could understand, would attack areas of neighboring countries harboring VC and NVA activity. The Soviets so cowed them that they wouldn't even allow the US Air Force to attack the lethal Soviet anti-aircraft batteries.
If the leader of the Senate had said we waited too long to regain control of Baghdad, he'd have found plenty of heads nodding in unison. But if the pitiful U.S. congress wants the U.S. military to fail in Iraq, then their allies are Al Queda and the Muslim insurgency, not the people of Iraq, or of the U.S. for that matter. The enemy and the Democratic party are both using the same talking points for pete's sake.
But there is hope still for the Democrats that the American people will never hear about the bloodbath that will follow their cut-and-run "strategy." That's is one comparison with Viet Nam that WILL hold true.
The press coverage on this minor exchange between the Senate Leader and the president is classic also. Reid makes a ridiculously inaccurate historical statement, no fact checking, no questions, and the president's party supposedly "struggles" to cope.
U.S. Republicans battle charge Iraq war is lost

Asked to compare Iraq to Vietnam, a war that still weighs on the American psyche three decades after it ended, Bush told an Ohio audience a premature U.S. withdrawal from Iraq could lead to chaos and death the same way war broke out between Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
"After Vietnam, after we left, millions of people lost their life. My concern is there would be a parallel there," Bush said, adding that "This time around, the enemy wouldn't just be content to stay in the Middle East, they'd follow us here."

...

Many lawmakers believe serious talks toward a compromise will not take place until after a veto. Then, they say, there could be fresh legislation that would have "benchmarks" to gauge Iraq's progress instead of withdrawal timetables.

...

"I can't begin to imagine how our troops in the field, who are risking their lives every day, are going to react when they get back to base and hear that the Democrat leader in the United States Senate has declared the war is lost," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.

These are adequate responses, but Republicans are still in charge of our foreign policy. They ought to sound more like they understand that and assertively articulate their positions.

V.T. Gunman's Note

2007-04-17T14:11:00.000-04:00

A note left by the gunman at V.T. is gaining attention .Killer's Note: 'You Caused Me to Do This'

Cho Seung-Hui, the student who killed 32 people and then himself yesterday, left a long and "disturbing" note in his dorm room at Virginia Tech, say law enforcement sources.
Sources have now described the note, which runs several pages, as beginning in the present tense and then shifting to the past tense. It contains rhetoric explaining Cho's actions and says, "You caused me to do this," the sources told ABC News.

I don't understand the shaved serial numbers on the handguns used. It seems to imply that he intended to escape. He very well could have if the first killings satisfied his rage. But the note suggests it was going to end the way it did.

Cho, according to law enforcement officials, had entered the country through Detroit with his family in 1992, at the age of eight. He last renewed his green card in 2003. As of yesterday, his home address was listed as Centreville, Va., and the university reported he was living in a campus dormitory, Harper Hall.
Cho's parents live in a townhouse development in Centreville, a suburb of Washington. They own a dry-cleaning shop nearby. Police searched their home last night. On Tuesday, no one was answering their door.
One neighbor, Marshall Main, describes Cho's parents as quiet and polite. Neither Main nor another neighbor recalled seeing the son in recent years.

This is as tragic for the killer's family as it is for the families of the innocent students. A shocking, tearful incident for all concerned...and for many not as involved. Another article repeats this sentiment from the S. Korean Gov't, where Cho's family ids from:

South Korea's Foreign Ministry expressed its condolences, and said South Korea hoped that the tragedy would not "stir up racial prejudice or confrontation."
"We are in shock beyond description," said Cho Byung-se, a ministry official handling North American affairs. "We convey deep condolences to victims, families and the American people."

Does anyone think being Korean had anything to do with this? What would make them think to say something so weird?

Previous story:Heroism in V.T. Tragedy

Heroism in V.T. Tragedy

2007-04-17T10:56:00.000-04:00

I think the best way to do this will be to do a series of shorter articles and keep them linked.
Some details are finally being revealed about yesterday's shooting that devastated Virginia Tech.

Ballistics tests show one gun was used in two attacks on the campus Monday morning — at a dormitory were two people were killed and in a classroom building where 31 people, including the gunman, died locked inside, Virginia State Police said.

Cherry-picking quotes from this AP article...

Cho was in the U.S. as a resident alien with a residence established in Centerville, Va., but living on campus in Harper Residence Hall, the university said.
Two law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of because the information had not been announced, said Cho's fingerprints were found on the guns used in both shootings. The serial numbers on the two weapons had been filed off, the officials said.

...

Erin Sheehan, who was in the German class near Calhoun's room, told the student newspaper, the Collegiate Times, that she was one of only four of about two dozen people in the class to walk out of the room. The rest were dead or wounded, she said.
She said the gunman "was just a normal-looking kid, Asian, but he had on a Boy Scout-type outfit. He wore a tan button-up vest, and this black vest, maybe it was for ammo or something."

...

"We can only make decisions based on the information you had at the time. You don't have hours to reflect on it," Steger said.
The 9:26 e-mail had few details: "A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and are investigating."

This Jerusalem Post article, thanks to powerline,
Israeli professor killed in US attack.

As Jews worldwide honored on Monday the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, a 76-year-old survivor sacrificed his life to save his students in Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech College that left 33 dead and over two dozen wounded.
Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter when the man attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio.
Several of Librescu's other students sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he had blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said Librescu's son, Joe.

Liberals Now Link Imus To Conservatism!

2007-04-15T21:29:00.000-04:00

"Media Matters " is to conservative radio what The Media Research Center is to liberal bias in the mainstream media. I have placed both in the "info sources" blogroll.
Media Matters thinks the firing of Don Imus ought to be just the beginning of a broader termination of other radio broadcasters. The only problem with that is that Imus was to the left on many more issues than not, and all the other radio personalities listed as "racist" or "sexist" are all suspiciously conservative. That's the sad part of the Imus saga, he thought he was one of the accepted/protected class because he's a liberal and raised a LOT of money, especially for children's cancer charities. Not one of his "friends" or any of the folks he helped to make big bucks stepped up to offer anything resembling a defense. And it didn't take long for them all to abandon him.

It's not just Imus
On April 11, NBC News announced that it was dropping MSNBC's simulcast of Imus in the Morning in the wake of the controversy that erupted over host Don Imus' reference to the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." The following day, CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves announced that CBS -- which owns both the radio station that broadcast Imus' program and Westwood One, which syndicated the program -- has fired Imus and would cease broadcasting his radio show. But as Media Matters for America has extensively documented, bigotry and hate speech targeting, among other characteristics, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity continue to permeate the airwaves through personalities such as Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Michael Smerconish, and John Gibson.

Keith Olberman or Jesse Jackson could call Rush any name they want (and they do) and no one would lift an eyebrow - because Rush is a public figure. He's in the public eye and it's quite normal for us to form an opinion of him, and our right to express that opinion is not only protected, but EXPECTED. He INVITES one and all to form an opinion about him. Same with Rosie, Anna Nichole, or Al's Franken and Sharpton. The Duke Lacrosse and Rutgers Women's Basketball teams are different stories. They don't do what they do as professionals or to draw attention. They are amateurs in their sports. Criticism is protected under the constitution but so is a company's right to disengage sponsorship.
A corporate sponsor isn't normally obligated to any length of time to continue their relationship with a given program. But if they are going to place ads on a program like Imus in the Morning they know what to expect. So a new standard, of sorts, has been set.
Regardless of any attempt to make Imus's a conservative gaffe, it's ridiculous to go there. Certainly the left is so reliant on the simplistic liberal/good - conservative/bad view of reality that they have no choice but to distance themselves and try to associate Imus with Rush or Neil Boortz. The stunning speed with which the media judged the three Lacrosse players and allowed the Sharpton/Jackson sphere of the "perpetually offended" to take out Imus reaffirms my desire to distance myself from the left in any case. Those folks are crazy. The dangerous kind.

Al Sharpton: The Democrat's David Duke

2007-04-15T20:07:00.000-04:00

I came across this link to a Jeff Jacoby article about the race hustler, Al Sharpton. Jeff is a great writer and I don't link enough of his stuff anyway, but really I just need a record I can quickly grab when needed. In light of the Imus and Duke LaCrosse stuff, it will still be handy.

espresso beans to michelle malkin

Juncture of Events: Apology for Eugenics, Defending Abortion

2007-04-14T17:02:00.000-04:00

At first I thought that I'd merely learned something new about my Indiana home state's past. We apparently were the medical community's cutting edge at the beginning of the last century, and made what we now acknowledge were huge mistakes.
There were several pages of Yahoo! search results for the AP-Ken Kusmer article, almost all of which were titled "Indiana Apologizes For Role In Eugenics." The Fort Wayne (Indiana) News-Sentinel thought this was catchier..." Indiana apologizes for its sterilization of ‘imbeciles.’ "
Whilst looking around for names and places mentioned, I somehow came across a NARAL letter protesting "Bush's Abortion Ban." I'd never heard of it, surprise, because there is no such thing.

I care a lot about what the Supreme Court has to say about President Bush's Federal Abortion Ban. The same day I decided to terminate my pregnancy, lawmakers gathered in Washington, DC to discuss the ban, which could outlaw abortion as early as 12 weeks and has no exception for a woman's health.

The South Dakota legislature passed a law in 2005 requiring abortionists to advise their patients that the "procedure" will end the life of a human being. Planned (un)Parenthood won an injunction to delay enforcement until a court decides whether or not to allow the law. PP's objection is not that the statement is untrue, but that it infringes on the "free speech" of the doctor. That's the scary "Bush Abortion Ban."

(A) lower court said the legislation infringes doctors' First Amendment rights by requiring them to promote the state's ideology on an "unsettled medical, philosophical, theological, and scientific issue, that is, whether a fetus is a human being."
It is this injunction that the law's supporters are seeking to have overturned. Earlier, a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit upheld the lower court's injunction, but now the full 11-judge panel will rehear the case.

Humanity has shown over and again that it will run into trouble every time it tries to differentiate between "human beings" and "persons." The United States had its issue with slaves and Germany with Jews (and others with a "life not worth living"). Eugenics tried to eliminate our responsibility to "imbeciles and paupers," as does abortion with the unborn. Instead of regarding our less fortunate brethren as guilt-inspiring, party-ending burdens, scripture reveals them to be God given opportunities for doing good deeds. Then Governor Hanly, devout Methodist by all accounts (in 1905 that meant something), should have seen that.
The lower court mentioned above does the same thing that Roe did in '73. We are, of course, only interested in what science and medicine have to say about the facts as they are known regarding any surgery, including abortion. The subject is obfuscated by the insertion and elevation of irrelevant opinions from the fields of "philosophy" and "theology" as if any other law on our books depended on pastor jimbo's acquiescence. The question in Law isn't whether the baby is a human being, it's whether the human being in the womb is a "person" and worthy of rights under the constitution. The '73 SCOTUS disingenuously asserted that since theologians and philosophers and scientists and doctors couldn't agree on when life begins then all we can do throw up our hands leave it to the doctor and the patient. Never mind that by the time we know something is in there, it's a human being, and it is definately alive.
Few of us can escape the charge of being offensive or burdensome to someone else. If an unborn child can be separated from personhood, if an "imbecile" can be likewise separated, if also a Jew or a Gypsy or a pauper, black skinned or Chinese or homosexual, then who can't?
Which brings us full circle back to eugenics. The unfortunate thing for its promoters was that the patient survived, and can as a "person" press charges.

Coleman was 17, married and eager to have children when she learned the truth about her surgery.
"Oh gosh, I didn't want to live. I hated my mother. I hated everybody that did this to me," she said.
Coleman sued her mother, the doctor and the judge in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and resulted in a landmark 1978 decision granting judges immunity in official actions. Duh!!

A shock worthy of Imus! Lawyers, judges and politicians exempt themselves from the more fearful consequences of their playground activities! Amazing.

Race Hustling: When Will We Recognize The Manipulation?

2007-04-13T11:58:00.000-04:00

I don't get enough time top listen to Rush these days. Just some driving time, usually to work. The other day he spent some time discussing the Rutgers Women's Basketball Teams' insult. He received a call from an African-American woman from Cleveland, I don't have a transcript and I can't remember her name. But she impressed me very much. Very peacefully, yet also assertively, she spoke to how her joy is hers to possess. She eloquently told of raising her children, (whom she would not have allowed to attend that press conference - though I don't know how she would have prevented it!) to understand that they are in control of their own destiny. The line I remember, however imperfectly, was "Don Imus does NOT carry my joy in his pocket, and it is not for him to steal." This was in response to the news conference the team gave in which it was stated that the team's incredible season, struggling against very far-fetched odds - had all come down to "nappy-headed ho's" rather than the celebration of their hard earned and victorious season close. The theme of the conference was, whatever the target of any speaker...Imus, network greed, racism...whatever the target, "it has stolen our joy."
Don Imus gained his reputation by insulting, mocking, and berating targets that "polite" America looks up to. When the Rutger's team beat their vaunted opposition, (also a majority black team) he called them "nappy-headed ho's" because he wanted the other team to win. This is to Imus, what is called his "shtick" - that is, his signature verbal riff - for which his audience seeks him out on their radio dial in the first place. It's why they listen to him. Immaturity has no racial boundaries, and no American, iconic or unfortunate has ever been safe from his belittling attentions. If I knew about him, surely most of America did.
Indianapolis isn't much better. The Bob and Tom Show " started here. If they are syndicated to a station near you, on behalf of central Indiana, I apologize.
We don't have an Imus franchise station, but he has been simulcast for years on MSNBC. Whenever I've been unlucky enough to catch some of his program, he sounded much like any other liberal moron and I kept looking for a more suitable program.
No one defends what Mr Imus said as good or honest or right or true. That's not the point I wish to comment on.
If MSNBC wants to drop his simulcast , that's a business decision for them to make. Same for CBS, who have suspended his show for a couple of weeks, or for good. That's not the point, either.
The point I wish to make is that these were comments made by a man who has found a niche in the media and gets paid to make outrageous statements. As out of line as his comments were, he has apologized profusely. After all, he, and far too many "Euro-Americans" get their cultural education from the drug-sex-violence culture of the rap underground, which has gained acceptance from his audience anyway.
MSNBC and CBS can hire and fire Imus a thousand times and it won't change anything.
The culture that needs changing is the one that gave us words like "nappy-headed" and "ho" and uses with impunity the "n" and "b" word from which people like Don Imus receive their permission to use it in the first place. THAT culture is a sub-culture of the African-American community that too many are still trying to cover up with a "boys will be boys" attitude.
The rest of America has made quite impressive progress in race relations. White racists are no longer immune to the castigation of their peers by race. They still exist, but they speak in whispers, only to select confidantes. They are weak and still losing strength. I firmly believe that Imus had no idea that anyone would actually take his material seriously. Why should they? No one has for thirty years, why start now? Lady Espresso and I have been surprised, not by support for the Rutgers team and their predicament, but by the support we've seen on Shoutlife for people like "Rev" Al Sharpton and "Rev" Jesse Jackson on this issue. It is long past time that Black America see the problem that really exists in their own back yard and stand up to their own promoters of immaturity and race hustling. It is not news that sells the advertising that the various media crave, it is controversy.Where is our Christian moral outrage over "Piss Crist" or the sculpture of Jesus in chocolate, with his genitals exposed. Why are we SO incensed by a shock jock's shock? and not by the cowardly self-exaltation of antagonist atheists?

His Story Is "Too Positive"

2007-04-11T00:46:00.000-04:00

I can't help but feel sorry for Great Britain. Actually, this is a story about all of Europe, but this article provides a useful metaphor through the use of one hero that will never be known. There are some tragedies that you can't help but watch, but you don't want to get caught peeking. This spectacle with the BBC canceling a program "because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq" is a heartbreaking admission that the BBC's audience hasn't anymore a clue than the BBC does about their own dismal, sharia-infected future.

Amid the deaths and the grim daily struggle bravely borne by Britain's forces in southern Iraq, one tale of heroism stands out.
Private Johnson Beharry's courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle's crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross.

"Bush Derangement Syndrome" is now a contagion of global consequence. What Europe doesn't get, though, is that if Iraq falls, they, or their children will live under Islamic sharia law. If the trouble, sacrifice, and guidance of the most prosperous and powerful nation in the history of the planet isn't enough to grant them the chance at freedom, then the only possible conclusion is that Muslims generally simply reject the entire concept of liberty. If that is indeed the fate of Iraq, then the Muslims worldwide will follow that example. No one will step forward to risk anything for Muslims in Egypt, or Indonesia, or even France. And that's the rub.
Muslims - in EUROPE - are conceiving at a rate that is between three to six times the rate of Europeans! In thirty years Europe will have an ethnically ARAB majority.

quote

espresso beans to S H O W N

No!! Not The CHRISTIANIZERS!!!!

2007-03-30T22:23:00.000-04:00

The originator of this YouTube video calls him/herself " Always Kafir," defined by Muslims as "a person who refuses to submit himself to Allah (God), a disbeliever in God." The link is to his YouTube page, and the videographer has a few vid's available. This short intro is from the YT page.

According to Al-Jazeerah's interview with Sheikh Ahmad Al Katani, the president of The Companions Lighthouse for the Science of Islamic Law in Libya, In every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity. Everyday, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity.

Always Kafir presents this five minute clip of a lengthier interview with Sheikh Katani, mentioned earlier. The clip is encouraging to a Christian, reading the whole interview transcript is infuriating! Christians are slaughtering the innocent Muslims, and the Belgian gov't has funded the purchase of 30,000 Somalian children from desperately poor families, and exercised similar atrocities all over Africa in order to accomplish this exodus from the Muslim faith! He gives an odd "clarification" to the words "evangelism" and "christianization."

The concept of evangelism: is inviting the non-Christians to the Christian or Nazarene religion, and this is the right of every Christian and the right of every believer to call others to his faith. However, we are talking about a different matter; which is Christianization. Christianization means the following: preparing plans, and executing these plans and evolving these plans to change Muslims into Christians by taking advantage of the ignorance and poverty (of the people) and whatever necessitates from similar circumstances.

From what follows in the interview, it seems to me that the word "plan" as used in the above paragraph should probably have been translated as "scheme" or "conspiracy."

What happened is that in the days of Emperor Hela Silasi who used to force Muslims to bow to the Christian, and if he refused then he was whipped 45 lashes and jailed between 2 and 5 years. In the year 1948, a massacre occurred at the hands of the Amharic tribes; the Amharic being Christians and collaborators, who continued to slaughter Muslims for 7 months and perform the most horrific acts imaginable. For example they deprived them from the most basic human rights, to the point that they mutilated the male Muslim’s reproductive organs so that no more Muslim children would be born. Ethiopia was rewarded after all these horrific acts; rewarded by being made the head quarters of the African Unity League.

Now, nobody will say that Emperor Haile Selassie (as spelled usually) was a great guy. All agree he was a brutal dictator, even those who respect Ethiopia's modernization during his reign. His real name was Tafari Makonnen. He became a young prince, or "Ras." His title, along with his first name gave the Bahamian religion "Rastafarians" their name. (They somehow came to the conclusion that he was, and remains God.) The Emperor claimed Christianity, but the Sheikh's reference is the only one that I can find that accuses him of treating different groups unequally. It may well be that Arabs or Muslims resisted his efforts to bring Ethiopia into the 20th century more than other groups. He may have responded unkindly, as dictators tend to respond to the resistance, but that would have had a simple remedy, no?
In any case, the thought that his reign or brutality had anything to do with "christianization" is insane. Ethiopia was and remains a majority Christian nation. So much for Ethiopia, on to Nigeria where a missionary "forced" a Muslim ruler to "move" the Brit.

Nigeria’s population is 120 million people, 70% of whom are Muslim. In the 1960’s a British missionary came and declared that he will Christianize North Nigeria, the majority of whom are Muslim. As a result, Ahmad Banulo (from the leaders of the Muslims) was forced at the time to move him to Lagos the capital. As a result the butcher Arorese, that was present at the time, eliminated all the Muslim rulers and killed Ahmad Banulo, why? Because he merely dared to move this missionary who declared that he wishes to Christianize North Nigeria.

A couple of things: a) whether "the butcher Arorese" was such a jerk or was just successful, you'd expect a few other references on the web. Nothing. The Muslims have a thing with English spelling, I know, but there ought to be something. Nothing! Just this interview.And it's the same for Ahmad Banulo! Notice he doesn't even identify the notorious "Christianizer?" The entire interview is like this!

In another country, Zanzibar, is an Arabic African nation and I am not saying Muslim. Zanzibar was always connected to the Sultanate of Oman (in the Persian Gulf). Concerning Zanzibar, there was a priest by the name Julius Niriry, president of Tanzania, who annihilated 20,000 Muslims (male and female) with a military force lead by a chicken thief. This thief was imprisoned for being accused of stealing chickens; he was released and asked to command the military brigade that annihilated 20,000 Muslims.

A CHICKEN THIEF creamed mighty Allah's believers? Come ON!!

espresso beans to lady esspresso!

Global Warming's Economic Happy Face!

2007-03-28T01:23:00.000-04:00

All of a sudden there's gold in them thar nooks and crannies buried under the melting Arctic. Now the question is how much damage will the sudden wealth and attention do to the "ancient culture" of the Inuits and the Sami? I think they'll be fine.Riches await as Earth's icy north melts

HAMMERFEST, Norway - Barren and uninhabited, Hans Island is very hard to find on a map. Yet these days the Frisbee-shaped rock in the Arctic is much in demand — so much so that Canada and Denmark have both staked their claim to it with flags and warships.
The reason: an international race for oil, fish, diamonds and shipping routes, accelerated by the impact of global warming on Earth's frozen north.

The AP article doesn't want anyone to think they've forgotten the "catastrophic" aspects of the subject, no one wants to make the Gorniacs angry. But it's about time we saw some of the potential of the era we may be entering, if the trend continues. The opening of shipping lanes is called "priceless" and compares the economic impact to that of the opening of the Suez Canal!

Over at NRO, warming skeptic James S Robbins says " Hooray for Global Warming!"

But if the world is warming, I say “bravo.” People in most parts of the globe should have no objection to a warmer, wetter climate. If the aliens were watching they’d conclude we were making our planet more habitable on purpose.

And this is cute!

Anyway, get with it Democrats, where is your traditional love of public works? Rising ocean levels will keep the government in the sea wall business for decades.

If you ever have the pleasure of passionately disagreeing with a pervasive cultural norm, such as the religious belief in man-made global warming, do so by all means - go for it! You will find a level of sarcasm you never thought you had. I try hard to keep mine in check, the introvert in me wins that one. Mr Robbins does not have that problem...

Think of the other advantages the Left is ignoring. A warmer wetter world could very well mean more rain forests — hence more biodiversity! We are supposed to value that for some reason, right? And if the ice caps melt and we get more ocean, well that just means more habitat for whales doesn’t it? And warmer climates might reverse the migration pattern in this country away from the frigid liberal northeast towards the warm conservative south. Imagine Massachusetts and Vermont gaining seats in Congress and then tell me how bad global warming is.

And these are my exact sentiments on this...

So if we see global warming for the beneficial trend that it is rather than a looming threat to life and limb, none of the “solutions” being proposed by the alarmists are necessary. There is no challenge posed by a slow-rolling phenomenon like global warming that cannot be overcome; and when deserts start blooming, blizzards stop hitting, and you are enjoying the surfing at your beach house in upper Newfoundland, you won’t care what caused global warming, you’ll just thank goodness it happened.

Some Global Warming

2007-03-26T10:59:00.000-04:00

That Al Gore has trouble with the truth is fairly well established. His "An Inconvenient Truth" has scared the bejeepers out of enough folks though, that responses fall on frightfully deaf ears. Manipulation is much easier if fear, guilt, and contempt can be planted in a willfully ignorant mind. Intimidation is the tool of the weak argument.
It's not that difficult to recognize the behavior. I have survived a tornado, I know the definition of "urgent." Global Warming is a tactic against those who are stridently, and believably vocal about their opposition to any sort of globally dominant entity for the purpose (it is my belief) of establishing a globally dominant entity. They are fools following idiots, liars, and opportunists.
There is a State Rep from Gore's home state of Tennessee, Stacey Campfield of Knoxville, that is embarrassed enough to have put together a resolution, that he sadly will not enter, that gives a little perspective to the global warming scare. Just a couple paragraphs of a fairly lengthy document...

WHEREAS, An Inconvenient Truth never acknowledges the indispensable role of fossil fuels in alleviating hunger and poverty, extending human life spans, and democratizing consumer goods, literacy, leisure, and personal mobility; and

WHEREAS, An Inconvenient Truth never acknowledges the environmental, health, and economic benefits of climatic warmth and the ongoing rise in the air's CO 2 content; and

espresso beans to alphapatriot

Dagney's Rant

2007-03-23T22:03:00.000-04:00

Found a wonderful blog via the comments section at Iraq The Model. Dagney's Rant describes itself in the header ... "This is where I will put my upsets, resentments, reasonings and logical commentary on why liberalism is a threat to the United States of America!
Dagny Taggart is a character from Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", but she was also my teacher. She taught me the fallacy of my liberal upbringing. If you are a liberal, you may see some of the fallacy of it here, too....unless you're braindead!"
At the time of my visit, the lead article was the one linked.

Hiram Revels, First Black Senator, Served 1870-71, Filling Mississippi Term of Jefferson Davis

It is as informative (and true) as it is startling! DR recounts (her?) trip to the truth, and even credits Rush.

My original reason for starting to blog was that I'd been lied to as a student. I'd been told that the civil rights legislation was due to the Democrats. How did I learn I'd been lied to? It began in 1989 when I started listening to Rush Limbaugh. I originally listened to him because I liked to argue with him....until one day he said that the Republicans had pushed for civil rights legislation for decades before it was passed. It wasn't until the 1960's that the civil rights tide began to turn. Having been raised by conservative Roosevelt Democrat parents, and having been schooled in Southern California, of course I'd been taught that it was entirely the donks who had engineered this history making legislation. So when I did my own research to refute Rush's allegations, and learned he was entirely correct, I was livid! If there is one thing I cannot stand, it is being lied to...even once! I felt like I'd been lied to my entire life! So with that in mind, I am going to post that letter again.

What follows is "An Open Letter to the Democratic Party" and it's just slpendid. Being rather lengthy but worth the full read, I'll just excerpt, and encourage folks to take a look....

Whereas the Democratic Party has never apologized for their horrific atrocities and racist practices committed against African Americans during the past two hundred years, nor for the residual impact that those atrocities and practices and current soft bigotry of low expectations are having on us today,

Whereas the Democratic Party fought to expand slavery and, after the Civil War, established Jim Crow Laws, Black Codes and other repressive legislation that were designed to disenfranchise African Americans,

Whereas the Ku Klux Klan was the terrorist arm of the Democratic Party, and their primary goal was to intimidate and terrorize African American voters, Republicans who moved South to protect African Americans and any other whites who supported them,

DR left a comment at ITM, and said good-bye with this sign-off...
"Thank you, Brothers-of-my-Heart, for your continual education of my fellow Americans. It gives me hope for both your country and mine."

espresso beans to ITM

You Tube, 1984, The Democratic Party

2007-03-22T13:25:00.000-04:00

The creator of this ad has been "outed."
Internet video sensation indeed.

"It's true ... yeah, it's me," said Philip de Vellis, a 33-year-old strategist with Blue State Digital, a Washington company that advises Democratic candidates and liberal groups.

The name attached to this Hillary "response" is "obamaloveslieberman"

I think we're in for quite a few "whoppers" this cycle.

It's my belief that the reason the "Big Brother" scenario of the many available conspiracy theories has such holding power flows directly from the "nanny state" mentality of the Democratic party.
It's absurd to believe that we can tax the bejeepers out of the rich to pay for our entire two trillion dollar government, (complete with "free" benefits for the rest of us) expect them to smile and hand it over without a whimper, and expect nothing in return. If we are going to insist that they (the conspiratorial "they") pay for it, then they are going to own it.
It's equally absurd to try to arrange for this massive government to provide huge and expensive benefits for the entire population without tight controls over the use of those "bennies." If there is an erosion of rights, (I believe there is) that is the cause. If you can provide for your own, you are free and independent. If you can't, or won't, you are an obliged dependent.
What is delicious about this is that the promoters of the one-world welfare state are battling each other trying to prove that the opponent is more terrifyingly one-world-ish.
Doublespeak at it's finest.

The Rutherford Institute

2007-03-18T17:53:00.000-04:00

It has happened before, that I'll find something on the web to which I respond, and I find myself thinking the response I'm writing would make a decent blog post. I was following links regarding the war protests and counter-demonstrations in DC over the past week. Touching down briefly at anti-war "Micheal Rivero's What Really Happened" and saw a linked excerpt titled "The Late, Great American Nation." I read the tease and clicked on, and was amazed with where I landed. It was the website of The Rutherford Institute, a legal defense foundation devoted mostly to religious freedom constitutional cases. I am familiar with it and its founder, John W. Whitehead, because it was his first book, "The Second American Revolution" that most opened my eyes to the Christian "genesis" of much of the thought that inspired the Constitution. It was such an inspiration to me, and for my Christian walk, and toward our journey through homeschooling. Of particular importance to me was his exposition of the historical perspective in the question of "Rex Lex, or Lex Rex?" (The King is the Law - or - The Law is the King?") While the country is indebted to Mr. Whitehead for his defense of liberty, and while I agree that he cannot allow himself to be viewed as one closely aligned with what's commonly known as "The Christian Right," (whatever that is), what I saw on this website was a complete surprise to me.

We live in a fundamentally different country since 9/11. Not only do many Americans view their government with suspicion, but how their government views them has drastically changed.
A perfect example of this took place last fall. Prior to the elections that transformed the makeup of Congress, the Bush Administration pushed for the inclusion of two stealth provisions into a mammoth defense budget bill. The additions made it easier for the government to declare martial law and establish a dictatorship.

Apparently, the "pre-transformation" congress liked th idea of a dictatorship. Attorney Whitehead represents cases to the Supreme Court for pete's sake. He wants us to believe that HE is afraid of a Bush-Cheney dictatorship? Does this constitutional "scholar" not know that martial law is a constitutionally advocated, temporary and responsible step to take in a national emergency? It does not equate with a "dictatorship."

Since the days of our Founding Fathers, when King George III used his armies to terrorize and tyrannize the colonies, the American people have understandably distrusted the use of a national military force to intervene in civilian affairs, except in instances of extreme emergency and limited duration.

Hence, as a sign of the Founders’ concern that the people not be under the power of a military government, control of the military was vested in a civilian government, with a civilian commander-in-chief. And the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 furthered those safeguards against military law, making it a crime for the government to use the military to carry out arrests, searches, seizure of evidence and other activities normally handled by a civilian police force.

However, with the inclusion of a seemingly insignificant rider into the massive defense bill (the martial law section of the 591-page Defense Appropriations Act takes up just a few paragraphs), the Bush Administration has managed to weaken what the New York Times refers to as “two obscure but important bulwarks of liberty.” One is posse comitatus. The other is the Insurrection Act of 1807, which limits a president’s domestic use of the military to putting down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion where a state is violating federal law or depriving the people of their constitutional rights.

The next two paragraphs comprised the teaser from 'whatreallyhappened.com' that caught my attention initially - does it make you roll your incredulous eyes the way it did me? (EM mine)

Under these new provisions, the president can now use the military as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, disease outbreak, terrorist attack or to any “other condition.” According to the new law, Bush doesn’t even have to notify Congress of his intent to use military force against the American people—he just has to notify them once he has done so. The defense budget provision’s vague language leaves the doors wide open for rampant abuse. As writer Jane Smiley noted, “the introduction of these changes amounts, not to an attack on the Congress and the balance of power, but to a particular and concerted attack on the citizens of the nation. Bush is laying the legal groundwork to repeal even the appearance of democracy.”

The main reason we do not want the military patrolling our streets is that under martial law, the Bill of Rights becomes null and void ED: no need for constitutional lawyers?. A standing army—something that propelled the early colonists into revolution—strips the American people of any vestige of freedom. Thus, if we were subject to martial law, there would be no rules, no protections, no judicial oversight and no elections. And unless these provisions are repealed, the president’s new power will be set in stone for future administrations to use—and abuse.

Uh-huh...Not that our military has anything to fear from its own citizens! Anyone remember Oklahoma City? As one who resolutely believes that the home of fascism in America is within the Democratic Party, I have no glee over these changes in the law. If any current political party uses, as Whitehead says the King of England did, "armies to terrorize and tyrannize the colonies" it will not be the Republicans. Or the Christian Right. (Whoever they are.)
Follow the link above to read how Whitehead becomes even more conspiratorial injecting "Halliburton" and even the dreaded Clinton-era-militia-minded "detention camps" into his paranoid rant - you didn't really think they were for illegal immigrants - did you?
Anyway, my disappointed response...

The question in my mind after Hurricane Katrina was, "Hey Louisiana, what did you expect - that the United States Military would invade Louisiana?" All these months later, with no coherent response from its critics, the president gets the message. "Yes, you were supposed to invade Louisiana to save them from their incompetent and corrupt Democratic leadership." If citizens are going to elect organized crime syndicates to state office, then it will be up to Washington DC to save them from themselves when its discovered that money for civil projects has for years been systematically skimmed. That's why the mentioned language was inserted into the defense bill.

I was a precinct committeeman in Indianapolis in the mid to late-eighties. Had a conversation with a Democrat counterpart that I will never forget. I was trying to warn him that politics is cyclical, and that even though the Democrats had controlled congress and the courts for the best part of fifty years or more (at that time) - the time was surely coming that republicans would become a majority party. My concern for both of us was that all the powers the courts had taken from the states and given to the feds were then going to be in the hands of a Republican majority. His only reponse was "Well, we'll just have to see to it that it never happens."

Well, it happened, despite his party's arrogance. And now, since from Bangor to San Diego we've been screaming that the U.S. military's response to Katrina was too slow, we'll see how long it takes during the next crisis...

I haven't heard much about the Rutherford Institute since those days either. That's when I got a rather contrarian exposure to the Constitution of The United States from Whitehead's "The Second American Revolution." I was absolutely inspired and moved to take action by it. It's gratifying to see that you are continuing the fight for religious freedom in our courts. Although I can hardly contain my disapproval, not that it will matter to you, that you pretend not to know why the defense budget contains what it does. The funniest thing is, while I can find all manner of print items for sale at The Rutherford Institute's website, I can't find the book that started it all for me.

"The Perfect Moral Storm of Our Times"

2007-03-17T18:01:00.000-04:00

The two opening paragraphs from the bio provided at his website will suffice...

Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., serves as the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary-the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world.
Dr. Mohler has been recognized by such influential publications as Time and Christianity Today as a leader among American evangelicals. In fact, Time.com called him the "reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S".

Dr. Mohler didn't invent the idea of being able to predict homosexuality in an unborn child, or even instigate the conversation about the possibility of being able to re-direct genetic tendencies toward a heterosexual life. In the past, I've been fairly familiar with the Southern Baptist Convention. However, I've never heard of Dr. Mohler, and can't affirm the credentials that Time, Inc would bestow.
But a recent (Mar 14) Mohler-authored article, titled, Is Your Baby Gay? What If You Could Know? What If You Could Do Something About It? has received some attention for bringing to light some recent research into the possibility of biological causations of homosexuality and the reactions of others writers. And it's not just the "causations" that has folks buzzing about...the researchers think they may soon be able to reverse the unborn's tendencies.

For some time now, scientists have been looking for a genetic or hormonal cause of sexual orientation. Thus far, no "gay gene" has been found -- at least not in terms of incontrovertible and accepted science. Yet, it is now claimed that a growing body of evidence indicates that biological factors may at least contribute to sexual orientation.
The most interesting research along these lines relates to the study of sheep. Scientists at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station are conducting research into the sexual orientation of sheep through "sexual partner preference testing."

The article continues with descriptions of the research on rams that show that only a bare majority of male sheep are entirely hetero, and the cause is not environmental.
The question of course, is - "does this make homosexuality natural, and if natural, then "normal?" - and if natural and normal, then morally acceptable?" The answer may be for each parent to answer. If you KNEW that, if you do nothing, your still unborn son would mature with a sexual preference for other men, would you interfere if you could? It is already perfectly legal, with the help of many past gay activists (bedroom privacy), for the mother to abort that child for that reason. Mohler's article quotes another magazine article that puts it this way...

"A woman is told that her unborn baby boy is gay. This woman and her husband consider themselves to be liberal and tolerant of homosexuality. But this is not about homosexuality now; it is about their baby boy. The woman is then told that a hormone patch on her abdomen will "reverse the sexual orientation inscribed in his chromosomes." The Sunday Times [London] predicts that such a patch should be available for use on humans within the decade. Will she use it?"

A question I can't find addressed anywhere is, "Would future parents face legal challenges from their children if they could have changed their child's homosexual tendency, but didn't?"
A search for some other opinions on all of this shed light on why the experiments center on sheep. I found this at Exodus International, first quoting an earthtimes.org. item... (my emphasis)

NEW YORK: Experiments conducted by scientists to change the sexuality of homosexual sheep have drawn ire from gay and lesbian activists. They are afraid the efforts could lead to extinction of homosexuality in humans.
The experiments have been approved by the government as farmers complained they are financially affected when one in 10 rams, on average, is gay. After extensive studies of the brains of the homosexual rams, scientists at the Oregon State University have been able to identify the processes that influence their sexual orientation.

This article actually makes the point that it's the homosexual rights activists that don't like the direction to which this research is heading, but they are also the ones who've been demanding that homosexuality be shown to be biologically based.

The scientists said their research is confined to reducing or eliminating gay sheep. Charles Roselli, a biologist leading the research team, said sexuality has been an under-studied subject because of political concerns.
"It's a touchy issue. In fact, several studies have shown that people who believe homosexuality is biologically based are less homophobic than people who think that this orientation is acquired," he said.

The article by Dr. Mohler is well done and highly recommended. He lists important reminders for all Christians, including that all of us are created in God's image, and a biological explanation for the temptation toward homosexual relationships does nothing to change that. Nor does it change the sinful nature of homosexuality. As a favorite pastor once told me, "No one ever went to hell because he was a homosexual. If ever there was a homosexual that was sent to hell, it was because he did not know Jesus Christ as his personal saviour. The same reason anyone else was ever sent there."

Almost, but not quite off topic, Dr. Mohler also brings up another related ethical dilemma, that of "Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis." So far it is of concern only to those utilizing in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Another search led me to a 28 page pdf that discusses the genetic detection procedure in some detail.
All is great stuff, sure to keep you thinking well into the next decade, and beyond.

This Week's Funnies

2007-03-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

I've collected a few cultural stories that have a humorous side to them. For instance, I think it's nice to know that some in the U.S. military can still call a politically incorrect spade an "immoral" spade. His apology seems to be directed at the fact that he should have stayed on script, not that he said what he believes.No apology from Gen. Pace for gay stance

After a flurry of condemnation Tuesday, Pace issued a statement acknowledging that the Defense Department's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays is a sensitive subject and said: "I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views."
The military lets gay men and lesbians serve if they keep their sexual orientation private. Commanders may not ask, and service members may not tell. More than 10,000 troops, including more than 50 specialists in Arabic, have been discharged since President Clinton signed it into law in 1994.

It's not a given, but probable that "specialists in Arabic" refers to Muslims. Homosexuality is supposed to be a forbidden act among them, and perhaps that's why they joined the coalition forces. Of course, if you're "lucky" enough to be of some importance or influence in a Muslim country, it's an entirely different scenario.
Left unsaid in this piece is any analysis of timeframe in the numbers it mentions. Or any possible other employment oppurtunities for said "specialists in Arabic." If I spoke Arabic and knew the culture, I might find plenty of incentive to want to leave the Army pay grade and work for Halliburton or Blackwater and perhaps make a killing. Or perhaps as a volunteer Army Arabic specialist in 2001-02, I didn't consider the possibility that I'd go to war against Iraq seriously enough. Perhaps others can think of reasons why someone would WANT to leave the military that also have nothing to do with being gay.
And then, there's every reason for a descendant of the mighty, historically important Persian empire to be embarrassed about the current administration in Iran. That a loosely historical comic book style portrayal of the Greco-Persian wars is thought to be an attack is simply paranoid. I would think that Frank Miller ought to be very proud for the mention, though. Iranian official lashes out at Hollywood movie "300" for insulting Persian civilization

Shamqadri was quoted as saying "following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and cultural authorities in the U.S. initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture," adding "certainly, the recent movie is a product of such studies."

My bold, obviously, that's the funniest projection of fascist ideology I've ever seen. Living in an oppressed, tightly controlled society, this propaganda rings true to the Iranian reader. If they had any idea at all how unregulated "Hollywood and cultural authorities" are in America, they'd wonder how we've managed to survive.
The best is saved for last. No comment is necessary.Frostbite ends Bancroft-Arnesen trek

MINNEAPOLIS - A North Pole expedition meant to bring attention to global warming was called off after one of the explorers got frostbite. The explorers, Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen, on Saturday called off what was intended to be a 530-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean after Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of their electronic equipment.

....

Then there was the cold — quite a bit colder, Atwood said, then Bancroft and Arnesen had expected. One night they measured the temperature inside their tent at 58 degrees below zero, and outside temperatures were exceeding 100 below zero at times, Atwood said.

....

Atwood said there was some irony that a trip to call attention to global warming was scuttled in part by extreme cold temperatures.
"They were experiencing temperatures that weren't expected with global warming," Atwood said. "But one of the things we see with global warming is unpredictability."

Secular Islam Summit

2007-03-08T12:42:00.000-05:00

The democrats in America don't easily take "no" for an answer. Over the years they have perfected the political tactic sometimes called "the shotgun approach." In this short-term strategy for gaining political strength, a slew of usually contradictory, unrelated and brainless ideas are "shot" full force through a friendly media to gauge reactions from the public. The far left likes all of them so their poll numbers are only mediocre early. But the media blast is repeated with nauseating regularity (think "re-deploy the troops")until a few ideas find homes in the minds of a large enough poll sampling that a mandate can be claimed by the owners of that idea. I could probably be talked into the timetable, but not if the intention of pulling all the troops out. That's simply head in the sand denial.
This is happening now with the Iraq "time line" idea being pushed by house democrats, with Murtha being the mouth. From AP:

WASHINGTON - In a direct challenge to President Bush, House Democrats are advancing legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the fall of next year. Democratic officials who described the measure said the timetable would be accelerated — to the end of 2007 — if the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki does not meet goals for providing Iraq's security.
The conditions, described as tentative until presented to the Democratic rank and file Thursday, would be added to legislation providing nearly $100 billion the Bush administration has requested for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even Lady Espresso believes it's time for Iraq to defend Iraq. I believe this pellet of scattershot will strike its target. So, I have an inclination and a couple recommendations. I don't think the Islamists have finished what they started on 9/11, so my initial inclination is to buy weapons and ammo. I've been through this thought process before, though. I'm going to think about it.
My recommendations would be to:a)get as much "punch" out of the Baghdad surge as is possible. People are war weary and want the soldiers home if this is all the progress the military can show. This would be a good time to pull UBL and Mullah Omar out of the Himalaya's butt.
b)instill as much insecurity in muslims about the value of their religion as possible. Personally, I subscribe to the view that "moderate muslim" is an oxymoron. But to encourage the growth of such a religious entity could do to muslims in our century what corruption and political ascendancy did to christians during the Reformation / Enlightenment era. (Come to think of it, there are some neat similarities.) This video came from following links from powerline

This is a movement worth trying to encourage, and I hope the administration can be shown its value!

espresso beans to powerline

M'Lady Esperesso and I Are Wining Again!

2007-03-06T14:51:00.000-05:00

The Indiana Wine Fair - April 28, 2007 has become something of a tradition for the two of us since our kids "ran" off to college. We've camped at Brown County State Park in the past, we'll probably do that again this time, but we are talking about a hotel, too.

FACT: Indiana wineries attract 800,000 visitors annually and generate some $33 million in revenue to the state every year. Wine acreage has increased 300% in the past fifteen years, and wine sales have increased 78% in just the last five years. It’s obvious that Hoosiers love their wineries!

We're so impressed with the local wineries, and it's nice that local grogers are stocking their stuff! Check out the links throughout the page, especially the bottom. Interesting info!

What's With The Military Violence In Iran?

2007-03-04T01:20:00.000-05:00

There are stories from press outlets that, though fascinating, I hesitate to chat about because not enough is known to form opinions. This entry from Gateway Pundit is such a case. Gateway Pundit: More Clashes in NW Iran- 16 Guard Members Killed in Fighting GP's article is lengthy for the breadth of it's sources but simply reiterates the story's core many times. I'll lift excerpts from two sources GP used to give the gist...

Orumiyeh, 28 Feb - It is reported that, in a clash with guerrillas that broke out in the course of an operation conducted by the Iranian military in the Soma Biradost area near the city of Orumiyeh in East [Iranian] Kurdistan, at least 16 Village Guards and Revolutionary Guards have been killed, and three guerrillas have also lost their lives.
According to information obtained from Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) sources, the Iranian military launched an operation against the guerrillas on Monday in the Soma Biradost area near Orumiyeh. It has been learned that the battle that broke out during the operation, in which hundreds of Revolutionary Guards and Village Guards took part, lasted for hours.

I read this and was reminded of the backing the Afghans received from the U.S. in their war against the Soviets. Well, I am allowed to hope! It's not necessarily us, though, it certainly could be the Iraqi Kurds themselves. That would confuse me because a few weeks ago the U.S. military busted up a supposed "diplomatic mission" of (what turned out to be) Quds commanders from Iran in Irbil, an Iraqi Kurdish city, that seemed to rile the heck out of the Shiites and the Kurds. I'm familiar with the Kurd political parties PUK and PKK, but I've not heard of the PJAK mentioned in Pundit's story. That could well be the source of my confusion. This version from IranFocus sorts that bit out for me...

An Iranian Kurdish rebel group said it had shot down the aircraft, the Brussels-based Kurdish news agency Firat said.
It said the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an Iranian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is fighting Turkey, shot down the helicopter with a shoulder-held missile, killing eight soldiers and capturing one.

What a hoot if it was Soviet made!

Various Iranian Kurdish rebel groups have fought a low-level conflict against Tehran for many decades claiming neglect and discrimination by central government.
Iran operates an ageing fleet of aircraft mostly dating from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Still, I'd like to think that the U.S. intelligence and military are telling Ahmedinejad that we have some tricks up our sleeves and that we know the standing of the mullocracy is feeble to their subjects at this point in time. We may not be able to invade, we may not have the cohones even to bomb their oil facilities or nuclear sites, but we don't have to. Their unemployment rate is higher than the 11% the Iranian government claims. Unrest toward the bullying and failing Ayatollahs is very widespread especially with the non-Persian and non-Shiite population. Iran looks strong only to the ignorant. They could do some damage to be sure, but they have to be careful, they know how precarious their position can quickly get. This incident is one of a few that I'm aware of over the past couple of weeks. Whoever is behind these events is targeting the Revolutionary Guards. Another Iranian media source says...

A senior PKK terrorist commander was killed by IRGC forces in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh on Monday.
In continuation of a series of military operations recently carried out in Orumiyeh, West Azarbaijan province, by the Islamic Revolutionary Gurads Corps (IRGC) forces, to wipe out the separatist terrorists in the northwestern region of the country, a leading commander of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) known as Dr. Afagh and two other terrorists were killed and several others were injured, BAZTAB reported from Orumiyeh.
Afagh, one of the three top PKK commanders in Iran, was active in several Iranian northwestern cities who is said to be responsible for the killings of the innocent civilians and Iranian military officers in the area.

Again, this could be a simple case of Iranian vs Iranian, but I think it's not likely. This region of the planet has more cloak and dagger double back antics than the uninvolved could possibly sort out without a guide. Which brings me back to my original sentence. How can we possibly form any opinions about how the military is handling the Iranians or the Syrians or Musharraf, for that matter? We haven't got a clue. That's my problem, but here is an example of someone who doesn't let the unseen and unknowable diplomatic machinations slow them down. I think that if the U.S. State Dept wants to tell the Iranian Diplomats to shove it over dinner, that's okay with me. That may not be what's going on, but I'm allowed to hope!

Do We Need Socialized Health Care?

2007-03-03T02:08:00.000-05:00

M'Lady Espresso is always on the lookout for commentary blogs that she thinks I may be interested in. She found Mormon On Politics and sent it to me today. I thought I'd find a new persective on Mitt, but instead found a remembrance of a "once mine" attitude on socialized health care. Like Mop, I'm not crazy about the prospect of Jack Murtha writing my daughter's health plan, or Obama writing mine. But unlike Mop, and I guess, many Republicans, I DO think it's time conservatives and free-market types get off their "collective" butts on this issue. This is the graph that attracted my attention --

A much better plan for the individual and the employer is catastrophic insurance programs coupled with healthcare spending accounts and some prescription plan (which might just bet Walmart). Catastrophic plans cover, after the large deductible, those rare health cases that the average person cannot afford -- cancer treatment, heart surgery, and any extended hospital stay.

I'm sorry, but when simple, but expensive tests are necessary for the medical crew to avoid lawsuits, there is no distinction between a "simple" shortness of breath and, let's say just hypothetically, a serious stroke. My comment to Mop ---

I think it's a little deeper situation that deserves more analysis. Think of all the small businesses, the sole proprietorships. I have to admit that the biggest disappointment I have with the current administration (and the previous congress)is the lack of movement in this (health insurance) area. It's as if they are conceding the issue to the socialists. When a market based plan was so sorely needed, they just ignored it. It's not good enough to say "It's a perk, get over it if you're not worthy." I work for a large property management company, don't earn much as far as wages are concerned, but the health plan effectively DOUBLES my income. I have an oppurtunity to start my own business, but the lack of a prescription plan terrifies me! A $40 co-pay can easily turn into a $200 a month way of life - and three or four of those prescriptions could bankrupt anyone. For me, there's ways around these problems, my medicals are not that serious (if preventing a heart attack isn't serious). What I can't understand is that if my company can negotiate a health insurance plan for it's employees, why can't a state negotiate one, or several, for it's citizens? Can you help me with that?

"This week, I spoke to a young, married husband and father of three. He works for a small business (<10 people). They do not offer health insurance. He self insures himself and pays for a catastrophic policy ($5000 deductible)."

You would have done well to include a link to that insurer's website. Your friend may have found something that the rest of us haven't, or your friend may be in for a big surprise when he needs care. $5000 will pay for the first 20 minutes of emergency care - I haven't been able to find anyone willing to pick up the rest.

Rob

I am not for any plan that puts any government in CONTROL of my health plan. I want to pay my doctor for my health care, my hospital for my ambulatory care, and my neighborhood Walgreen's for my prescriptions. But these things are getting way too expensive to simply chalk up to "find some other way" kind of answer. When an MRI will bankrupt me, but my wife needs one, does anyone expect me to say "NO?" Is bankruptcy the only answer for us in that situation? Do you understand how many bankruptcies are medically induced?

Muggings Gone Weird!

2007-02-23T12:36:00.000-05:00

When I come across a word that has unusual spellings, I have memory tricks that remind me how to spell it. "I" before "E" except after "C" and all that. I remember the spelling for the word in the title by saying "we are weird," because in this case, the "E" comes befors the "I."
The gang in this story must have felt the whole scene going downhill very quickly.
The wrong old folks tour group to mess with...

The American, who is about 70 years old and retired from the military, put the 20-year-old in a head lock and broke his clavicle after the suspect and two other men armed with a knife and gun held up their tour bus, said Luis Hernandez, the police chief of Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose. The suspect, Warner Segura, was later declared dead, apparently from asphyxiation.

Had to invent a new "label for this post." "Weird" will do.

What Does "Support The Troops" Mean?

2007-02-19T00:15:00.000-05:00

If I said "I support the Indianapolis Police Dept.," and meant it the way we hear it said by congressional democrats, what would it mean?
From the "Outside The Wire" blog: Let Them Win

Friday, 16 February 2007
At the gym, running on the treadmill, watching cable news.
It is obvious supporting the troops means whatever you want it to mean.
As John Podhoretz wrote for NRO--
Nobody who actually supports the troops says "I support the troops" any longer. The words "I support the troops" are now solely for those who oppose what the troops are doing.
Of course, when two opposing sides of a debate use the same language, the coopting side usually wins.
Therefore, it is incumbent for one side--the victory caucus--to develop a different message.
I propose something simple, that can fit on a bumper sticker, and is unequivocal in meaning:


Support the Troops:
LET THEM WIN

Well, it didn't take long for it to become a reality.

What, Exactly, Is The So-Called "Grim" Message?

2007-02-18T17:58:00.000-05:00

Finally, I found an article that shows that the security sweep in Baghdad is having some effect. Unfortunately, the AP is having a hard time keeping their relief at continued violence covert. Controversy sells advertising, peace does not.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militants struck back Sunday in their first major blow against a U.S.-led security clampdown in Baghdad with car bombings that killed at least 63 people, left scores injured and sent a grim message to officials boasting that extremist factions were on the run.

I hadn't heard that Operation Law and Order was supposed to produce immediate and permanently positive results. I know the Iraqi's did not share expectations that absurd.

The attacks in mostly Shiite areas — twin explosions in an open-air market that claimed 62 lives and a third blast that killed one — were a sobering reminder of the challenges confronting any effort to rattle the well-armed and well-hidden insurgents.
Instead, it was the Iraqi commanders of the security sweep feeling the sting.

Not to mention the families of about sixty murdered civilians, and several dozens more wounded. This article refers to one of the more depressing Iraqi newspapers, Azzaman , in keeping with the general attitude that AP projects. On Azzaman's English site, there is no article related to the Baghdad murders on Sunday, the 18th. Note the date is Wednesday, the 14th. Also note that Azzaman originates in southern Iraq.

Azzaman, February 14, 2007
Car bombs and insurgent attacks have shaken Iraqis’ faith in the new Baghdad security plan which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki unveiled today.
The plan which has divided Baghdad into 10 security zones has cripple the Iraqi capital, with traffic congestions and no-go areas making it almost impossible for many government employees and workers to reach destinations.

Iraq The Model, living and blogging in Baghdad - getting his information from neighbors , local media and the Al-Sabah newspaper - had a completely different take.

The most significant and encouraging development is certainly this report from al-Sabah:

"Brigadier Qasim Ata, an authorized Baghdad Operation spokesman, told al-Sabah that for the 3rd day in a row dozens of displaced families are returning to their homes. 35 families returned in Madain, 7 in hay al-I’ilam and small numbers of families in various districts of Baghdad."

Later reports in the local media indicate that the total number of families that returned home is as high as 130 families across the city, including several families in the, until recently, hopelessly violent district of Hay al-Adl.

...

The progress made so far invites hope and optimism, but it’s still too early to celebrate. Terrorists will keep trying to carry out attacks similar to those in Sadriya or Shorja. They want sow as much death and destruction as they can in order to shake the people’s confidence in the security plan. Such criminals attacks are still quite possible in Baghdad, but even if happen we must not let that stop us from pursuing the objectives of our efforts to stop the death and deterioration, to turn the tide and make progress.

Nobody in Iraq thinks this is a picnic, but many see the sacrifices as a step through determination and into a self-governance that was won at a high price.

French Elections 2007 Welcome To My Blogroll!!

2007-02-18T16:32:00.000-05:00

The blog post below attracted the attention of Boz of the site: "French Élection 2007 - A French election from an American perspective. " He's done an impressive job with his site and is following the French process closely. I think I might detect a slight bias for the Socialist Party candidate, which, if it exists, is not the slightest bit over-bearing. There's a button labelled "dummies" for people who think that all elections are just like ours in the U.S. That was my most appreciated spot! He's a welcome addition to my blogroll, and I'll be back to see the site often. Apparently there is a televised q & a session featuring candidate Royal that she's counting on to rebuild support for her campaign.
His article today is "Do they know what they're getting into?" Boz links a uk timesonline article revealing the feelings of guilt national leaders must face for devoting so much time to governance that their families suffer.

The British paper The Sunday Times is running a quite disturbing article on the private life of the Chirac family, and how his rise to power affected his daughters and wife, complete with affairs, mental illness, and suicide.

The psychology of successful leadership would make a fascinating study. I left this comment with him:

No, they don't know. One of the most frustrating qualities of a good leader is the necessity to wear blinders. They make a decision and can't look back or re-visit - their focus is implementing the plan. They believe honestly that they are born with a purpose, and as you point out, believing sometimes makes it so. Unfortunately, the focus requires that there are areas outside that don't get nearly the attention they deserve. All that said, I think they can be way too hard on themselves. Would Chirac's life have been less chaotic if he'd been shunted away from politics? Chidren turn out "wrong" even if brought up with loving caring and intelligent parenting.
Thanks for your comment at rcb- I've blogrolled you so I'll be back. Very timely stuff, and especially glad you thought of us "dummies" - very useful!

rob

And his response:

rcb, I agree with the whole "born with a purpose", especially with Nicolas Sarkozy. He has been running for president literally since 20.
I don't know if your going to enter the American political fray over the next few years as our campaign gets underway, but this French election is a great preview: same issues, same fears about immigration and globalization. I would advise Hillary and McCain to watch closely.

Quotes That U.S. Military Moms Love

2007-02-18T02:42:00.000-05:00

Found a dandy list of United States Marines quotes at lubbock marine parents, folks so obviously proud of kids in harm's way, you can't help but say a prayer as you browse the sight! We are so proud of you!! I just went ahead and stole the entire article, it's that good.

I've been building a collection of quotes about and by Marines and our military for a while. Lots of us Marine moms like to have quotes in our signature lines on the message boards. That's where I got many of these. I'll start with the most popular quote (at least among the moms).

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."
- Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, 1985

"Marines are about the most peculiar breed of human beings I have ever witnessed. They treat their service as if it were some kind of cult, plastering their emblems on almost everything they own, making themselves up to look like insane fanatics with haircuts to ungentlemanly lengths, worshipping their Commandant almost as if he were a god, and making weird animal noises like a bunch of savages. They'll fight like rabid dogs at the drop of a hat just for the sake of a little action, and are the cockiest sons of bit**es I have ever known. Most have the foulest mouths and drink well beyond man's normal limits, but their high spirits and sense of brotherhood set them apart and, generally speaking, the United States Marines I've come in contact with are the most professional soldiers and the finest men I have ever had the pleasure to meet."
- an anonymous Canadian citizen

"People sleep peacebably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
- George Orwell

"You have earned the title "Marine" upon graduation from recruit training. It wasn't willed to you; it isn't a gift. It is not a government subsidy. Few can claim the title; no one may take it away. It is forever yours."
-Tom Bartlett, Leatherneck Magazine

"The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank GOD for the United States Marine Corps."
- Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945

"I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold."
- 1st Lt. Clifton B. Cates in Belleau Wood, 19 July 1918

"Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share."
- Ned Dolan

"I am convinced that there is no smarter, handier, or more adaptable body of troops in the world."
- Prime Minister of Britain, Sir Winston Churchill

"Being ready is not what matters. What matters is winning after you get there."
- LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC April 1965

You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth- and the amusing thing about it is that they are.
- Father Kevin Keaney
1st Marine Division Chaplain, Korean War

"We steal the Eagle from the Air Force, the Anchor from the Navy, the rope from the Army, and on the Seventh Day when God rested, we overran his perimeter and stole the Globe, and have been protecting our shores ever since."
-USMC

"It is physically and morally impossible to support the troops but not the war. That is a coward's way of saying he/she hopes we lose. Either support our forces in their efforts to win or support our enemies. One cannot choose between the two."
-Steve Clayton

"As Marines, our message to our foes has always been essentially the same...'We own this side of the street! Threaten my Country or our allies and we will come over to your side of the street, burn your hut down, whisper in your ear 'Can you hear me now?' ...and then secure your heartbeat.'"
-Colonel James M. Lowe

espresso beans to jarhead john

Trio Of French Elections Articles

2007-02-17T19:35:00.000-05:00

Up first is a BBc profile of Nicolas Sarkozy. I'm certainly no expert on any european politics, and my interest is less than "passionate," but still it does rouse my curiosity because the American left seems to view them as the road we should be on.
Sarkozy is of the same "center-right" political party as current president Jacues Chirac, though the two suffered a falling out several years ago. This article begins with controversial immigration comments regarding muslim youths and unemployment - the 9% rate would be intolerable in the U.S. but apparently thought of as evidence of a lively economy in socialist France.

Even those on the left in France admit Mr Sarkozy is a formidable political force.
He has shown strong protectionist instincts - pouring state funds into saving the ailing French company Alstom. Yet he also promises to make the French less scared of economic success.
He is often described as an Atlanticist, but he too was against the war in Iraq. He is not too keen on the old Franco-German alliance - but upset new EU members by saying those with lower taxes than old Europe should not receive EU subsidies.

Interesting way to put it, don't you think? "...promises to make the French less scared of economic success." Most of what I see suggests Sarkozy will be the next President of France. His opponent on the left, Segolene Royal, is showing some rookie errors.

One by one, several French writers and intellectuals are making the startling confessions. After decades as committed leftists, they are defecting to the right — many saying they've lost faith in Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal.With just 10 weeks to go until the election's first round, Royal still has no platform. She has made gaffes on international affairs, and her popularity with intellectuals and ordinary voters alike has slipped, leaving conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy at the top of the polls.

And so, as the Aussie TheAge puts it, are the French battle lines drawn . This has all the tense anticipation of any American cycle I've witnessed! This is a excellent summary of the main party candidate choices available to the average French voter. They seem to know change is necessary, but who can know who best to trust to usher them in?

The paradoxes of Mr Sarkozy are central to the campaign because they are in part the paradoxes of France. If he wins, as the polls predict, will he make a "rupture" with 30 years of French policy, as he promises to do? Will his election or that of his main opponent, the Socialist Party's Segolene Royal, be a moment of change or simply the survival of the status quo under a new name?
...
Ms Royal would be France's first female leader; Mr Sarkozy the first president with an immigrant parent (his father was Hungarian). When Ms Royal decided to run she had no networks or allies in her own party. The old men who led it — known as "the elephants" — didn't respect her. But voters seemed to like her idea of listening, embodied in her interactive Desires for the Future website and 6000 town meetings run by her team. Unpredictably, she embraced some conservative ideas, such as boot camps for young offenders. The media loved her.

Well now, "fickle" isn't just the American media?

Will Israel Do Something About Iran Nukes?

2007-02-14T01:52:00.000-05:00

I looked around the GulfNews website and found that, no, they don't refer to the capital of Iraq as "Occupied Baghdad." The article reports the words of an Israeli official, "ultra-rightwing Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman."

Occupied Jerusalem: Israel will have to confront the perceived nuclear threat from Iran on its own, the country's ultra-rightwing Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman said yesterday.
"We will have to face the Iranians alone, because Israel cannot remain with its arms folded, waiting patiently for Iran to develop non-conventional weapons," he told public radio when asked about a possible Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear installations.

The Dubai paper also provides an informative link to a pdf page describing the Israeli Arrow missile program.

The test is being seen as a message to Iran as it continues to
press ahead with its nuclear programme.

These questions, what will Israel do, get answered in forums far from the ears of the press. One can't help but think that some conversations are going on at some level. I don't see Armageddon but an unprovoked Israeli response would not work out well for them. Of course, if the Americans did something, Israel would still be blamed. (We do everything they tell us, you know).

Why Bush Lost America's Trust -- Accusation Fatigue

2007-02-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

Too much lying by activist jerks, some working for the gov't. Some twist and spin in the press like the article below... too little response by the White House. ... (all emphasis mine)

WASHINGTON - Sworn testimony in the perjury trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has shone a spotlight on White House attempts to sell a gone-wrong war in Iraq to the nation and Vice President Dick Cheney's aggressive role in the effort.

In 2003 there was nothing "gone wrong" about the Iraq war except that it was plain that the Democrats - in disagreement with it - were taking a bath in opinion polls. As important as polls are to politians, that's a call to arms - so they went on their own covert campaign to smear all of America's best efforts. And if the "effort" had to be made, why shouldn't it be an aggresive one?
...

The drama being played out in a Washington courtroom goes back in time to the early summer of 2003. The Bush administration was struggling to overcome growing evidence the mission in Iraq was anything but accomplished.

The "mission" at the time was to depose Saddam and install a democracy and an ally in the gwot. The American military had just accomplished a part of that, and there's no reason the President shouldn't have offered his thanks and encouragement.
...

The claim about weapons of mass destruction that was used to justify the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 had not been supported. Insurgent attacks were on the rise. Accusations were growing that the White House had distorted intelligence to rationalize the invasion.
Trial testimony so far — including eight hours of Libby's own audio-recorded testimony to a grand jury in 2004 — suggest that a White House known as disciplined was anything but that.

Someone could remind this journalist that "claims" and "accusations" do not constitute evidence. It should go without saying that at some point, a little evidence of what this journalist is reporting is needed. The word of a reporter with a spin for sale is not taken for granted to be truthful. The report's author is as much as admitting that the press has no idea what it's talking about regarding the level of "discipline" present at the White House.
One could go on and on throughout this junk, but it's apparent to me that this is another example of "controversy sells" rather than reporting honestly...which is too boring. The Wilson scandal may prove that Libby had something to hide, or not. The real scandal here is Wilson is an employee of the US State Dept, and a partisan liar.

How Are The Democrat(ic)s Going To Get Out Of This?

2007-02-11T00:54:00.000-05:00

The problem for Democratic leaders is that they know darn good and well that the terror war in Iraq is a very serious matter, and that their large, vocal, but hysterically paranoid grassroots has no clue.

On her first visit in a decade to the state that helps kick off the 2008 White House race, Clinton told voters in New Hampshire that Iraq was a challenge
because of "the arrogance and incompetence of our administration in Washington."

That's one way to put it!! Another, more truthful way to put it would be' "shut up you pipsqueaks!! The Islamic fanatics are causing the deaths in Iraq and we're the ones trying to bring justice and prosperity to a region of the planet that desperately craves the benefits of democracy for their children!" Do I think any candidate will put it like that? Duh. I would, and I'd get, if anything, a kick in the head for it.
More inspiring, but also weightless, is Barack, who announced his run for the White House today. The theme he chose, (chosen?) was strange, given the violent days in which we live.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) announced his bid for president Saturday, a black man evoking Abraham Lincoln's ability to unite a nation (that line has sooo many problems! Has this journalist been told that Lincoln was a Republican?) and a Democrat portraying himself as a fresh face capable of leading a new generation...
...
He tied his announcement to the legacy of Lincoln, announcing from the building where the future 16th president served in the state Legislature.
"We can build a more hopeful America. And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a house divided to stand together, (kinda' like telling Jack Bauer to "relax!") where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America," Obama said. His voice rose to a shout as he spoke over the cheers from thousands who braved temperatures in the teens.

I like Mr. Obama, he reminds me of Bobby Kennedy. His politics won't impress me, and I think he may regret running so early in his career, but I've been wrong before, twice, I think...
Edwards has a lot of support, including my Iowa gramma, but my stand is closer to Sen Biden's on him and Hillary ...""I don’t think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about." And here's Biden on Hillary's Iraq plan: "nothing but disaster."

"Legislator: I'll Stand Up For Pea Shakers"

2007-02-09T00:12:00.000-05:00

Right here in Indy.
Now, there are campaign promises, and there are...moronic statements made to the press. I don't know what shaking peas is all about, but the actual title of the Channel Six News article gives just a hint...Police: Senator Defended Illegal Gambling During Raid

INDIANAPOLIS -- A state senator tried to persuade officers to ignore an illegal gambling operation as they raided it last week, Indianapolis police said.
Police said state Sen. Glenn Howard went to the site -- 1410 Roache St., a home that investigators said was hosting "pea shake" games -- during the raid Friday night and talked to the officers.

I'm a little speechless here, but indyernie attended a Town Hall Meeting at Broadripple HS and spoke with leading Sheriff's Dept (before the merger) folks.

Colonel Forestal told me that beginning Jan.1, that all illegal gambling would be investigated.
This is interesting, I have talked to LEOs

(law enforcement officers -- not the astrological sign)

and I hear the same comment from all of them. The LEOs state that they have been told to stay away from the pea shake houses.

Another graph from the story caught my eye...Glenn Howard, D-Indianapolis told 6News'Jack Rinehart:

"I said if they stay in the community and give back to the community, I will stand up for them. That's exactly what I've been doing," the senator said.

"Give back to the community...??" Methinks the Hon. Senator Howard (D-Indianapolis) believes that means to support HIS campaigns. The accompanying photo shows the Senator wearing a baseball cap with the words "I Love Jesus" on the brim.
Sometimes we in Indiana trade chuckles with folks in Kentucky over who is more backward. We win.
IndyU's article is short, but has commenters on both sides of the "bart/brizzi" thang!

LEOs, if Bart won't do his job, Brizzi will. Indyu's sources told it today that Brizzi has filed charged against Lance Howard for illegal gambling! Maybe this is the start of something big! Indyu hopes so!

Over at wxnt's blogs , Abdul has some interesting info...

Police did make arrests and confiscated more than $5,000. In addition, there was an “elaborate video security” system there but it is unclear whether there were any tapes taken.
If there were tapes, it will be interesting to see who was on them. This could be the start of something big.

For some folks, a good nights rest would be plenty big - Channel Six...

Some people who live in the neighborhood of the raided home told 6News that the gambling attracts gun crime, trash, traffic and loud noise.
"We're trying to revitalize this neighborhood," said one resident whom 6News didn't identify, "and we can't do that as long as these illegal houses are allowed to be here."

espresso beans to indyernie

I Will Find A Place For This Link

2007-02-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

My darlin' wife, who, for the purposes of this blog has been playfully tagged as "lady espresso," sent this link to me. The first thing that I found absolutely stunning was that somehow she had found a website called Clean Home Journal! Don't know about you, but this ought to be a splendid aroma!!

Imagine waking up every morning to a fresh whiff of chocolate in your garden! Believe it or not, there are plants that actually smell just like chocolate. And because their scent becomes heat activated at different times, you can enjoy a fresh chocolate scent morning to late afternoon—if you plant accordingly. To enhance the experience, add some plants with leaves that look as velvety as chocolate, plus others with scents that complement the aroma of chocolate.

Following the lnks, I discovered Marie Lincoln and Bill Schlicht, owners of Chocolate Flower Farm in Langley, Wash., the proprietors of which have combined their passions for chocolate and gardening! This is such a great idea! As reported in the Seattle Times Pacific Northwest Magagine

I wandered the art and antique shops of Langley, quaint buildings painted in sea green, brick red and mustard yellow. In front of one store, a garden planter boasted a metal art sign stating words: “Live, laugh, love, eat chocolate.” The planter also contained a flurry of chocolate-colored flowers and I wondered if I had arrived at a candy store. The luscious scent of chocolate drifted toward me when I stepped inside.
But this wasn’t a candy store. Instead, I had stumbled across a garden store devoted to chocolate. The intoxicating fragrance came from a chocolate-scented candle. The store offered other specialties, such as chocolate teas, chocolate soaps and cocoa mulch made from the cocoa bean.

With the Chocolate Flower Farm closing for the winter, gardeners can still indulge their temptation by visiting the “Garden Shed” gift shop on First Street.

espresso beans to m'lady espresso

Dissent at the Times

2007-02-08T18:30:00.000-05:00

Snagged this YouTube from milblogs...[Greyhawk](Link in title...)

Via NewsBusters; New York Times Baghdad reporter John Burns talks Iraq with Tim Russert:

He's on dangerous ground - another Times reporter was recently publicly humiliated after committing a lesser thought crime.

Cartoons at The Ryskind Sketchbook

2007-02-08T15:26:00.000-05:00

On target political cartoons with excellent commentary. Check out his "favorites," funny!

NOAA and NASA Want Antarctica To Melt

You don’t hear much about the ozone hole any more. Has it gone away? Nope. NOAA and NASA say in 2006 it was bigger and deeper than ever.
But wait, you say, we implemented the Montreal Protocols in 1989, eliminating ozone depleting CFCs. Kofi Annan called the Protocol, “Perhaps the most successful international agreement to date.” CFC concentrations have been falling since 1995. How can the ozone hole be worse?
It’s not worse, says NOAA, it’s better. It’s just that you can’t see how great the Protocol is working because colder than average temperatures in the Antarctic mask the benefit. Cold weather “result[s] in larger and deeper ozone holes, while warmer weather leads to smaller ones.”
Colder in Antarctica? Al Gore told me it was melting! Al Gore told me there was consensus. Consensus!

espresso beans topowerline