fireshot

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.

Time to say hello!

I've Been Visited!!

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??!!

Dagney's Rant

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

The Rutherford Institute

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.

What's With The Military Violence In Iran?

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!

French Elections 2007 Welcome To My Blogroll!!

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.

Saddam's Kitty

I haven't laughed this hard in TOOOOO long! Enjoy . My wife likes cats, so I went ahead and posted this cute kitty. The title is weird, though. It's called "Saddam's Kitty." I don't get it !?!

espresso beans tocats candles wine and chocolate

The History of Religion

I love the internet.
Floating about this a.m. I came across patterico's and found an enticing bit of historical musing of past wars in Iraq. I see these things occasionally and am often disappointed that upon learning that the point is "Bush Lied-People Died" or somesuch. I investigated only because I like patterico. (I like AcutePolitics, also, but was thrown off by the name "Teflon Don.") It is a wonderful sketch of realization of the immensity and grandeur of Iraqi history. This is patterico's entry that I found and this is the acute politics article that he linked to. This soldier gets it. And he helps me to get it with him. Great stuff.

This region is steeped in history. We walk on it; we breath it in. Eons of history surround us, infiltrate us, and turn to dust beneath our feet. The ashes of countless cultures, civilizations, and rulers dreams lie under the earth. With each breath, I inhale a few molecules of the dying gasp of Cyrus II, the Persian "Constantine of the East". In the howling wind I can almost hear the cries of a countless multitude dying on killing grounds that bridge across the ages. The same wind carries the red dust that might yet hold a few drops of blood from the battle at Carrhae- the first, crushing defeat for Rome's red blooded legions. Under my heel, a speck grinds into dust: the last grain of sand that remains of the Hanging Gardens at Babylon that are now known only in legend. Some of the world's oldest religions tell us that somewhere in this ancient Cradle of life, God himself breathed on this dust, and it became man, the father of us all. Whatever path we take here, we walk on history.

A commenter responded with this site of video historical maps. I found this one most interesting at the moment but there are many others that I'll be going back to see. Check out maps of war

The Rummage Place Blog

My wife's ebay store and auction area has its own blog now...she's so cool and I'm the very luckiest guy in the world...I'm sooo proud of her. It's and extra expense to put a picture on her store, but of course she can put pics on her blog at no charge...makes a lot of sense. Gonna put her blog link under hers at top left, but you can get there from here also! Happy Hunting!!

Welcome To My Blogroll!

I'm welcoming a blog to my roll, called "And you thought YOU were cranky?" and recommending all to take a look. She had this pic, with comment, and of course, I fell over.

At a press conference this morning, a renowned 'beltway insider' confirmed that an archeological team from the National Geographic Society digging in Washington DC have unearthed the 17,000 year old bones and fossilized remains of what scientists now believe to be the very first politician.

As of this moment, her first article is an amusing story about her two cats, the next is a scorching demand for an end to the Nifong nonsense in the Duke Lacrosse rape case. My kinda writin'.

Grande Conservative Blogress Diva -- 2007 Nominees

Gay Patriot's blog awards --

espresso beans to Anchoress

Welcome To My Blogroll!!

The Nose On Your Face is a welcome and comfortable conservative area to hang out. Priceless satire and parody.

“The soccer mom is the most dangerous cultural trend in the United States since crack cocaine,” said Audrey Theisen, Senior Researcher at the Center for Marketing Research. “We’ve discovered that, underneath that pleasant smile and Banana Republic wardrobe, is a drug-addled, ladder-climbing narcissist.”

TNOYF: "Cynthia, thanks for agreeing to talk to us. Last time we spoke, you were training at a local McDonalds. Why the switch to Burger King?"

McKinney: "I'll tell you why. Cause Ronald McDonalds is a racist f%$#ing clown, that's why. I had a little situation with a customer, and they were all over me, assuming that I was wrong. The black woman is always wrong. Then, when I tried to bring a little excitement to the place, they shut me down. So I came here--Scuse me. DO YOU WANT SOME $#%!ING FRIES WITH THAT, OR DO YOU THINK MAYBE YOU'RE FAT ENOUGH?"

Does Jamil Hussein Exist?

This is a tricky area for mainstream news outlets. American reporters seem to be terrified of the prospect of actually writing about Iraq FROM Iraq ... so they do what they can with local (Arab) reporters. But a reporter with an agenda is useless to those of us who simply want the unspun story. The Associated Press has used a local "stringer" by the name of Jamil Hussein as a source for several stories, relatively unnoticed before now. But he's the center of a firestorm now that sensational allegations of Shiite revenge attacks have surfaced, with Mr Hussein named as a local police captain and one of the sources. He may have remained unnoticed but fore other details of the story, regarding mosques that had been attacked. Unfortunately for the AP, the US military says none of the mosques show ANY damage except for one - of four - that has the almost negligible damage resulting from a molotov cocktail.Confederate Yankee and Michelle Malkin have been following the story at least as closely as anyone, and there are many more fascinating details to the story....From Yankee...

Police Captain Jamil Hussein was then silent for 28 days until November 24, when he was cited five times describing the now familiar series of claims that Shia militamen immolated six Sunni men. Those claims have been disputed by the Iraqi Police, Interior Ministry, Iraqi Army, and even the responding unit of the Baghdad Fire Department which put out the one minor mosque fire that actually existed of the four that the Associated Press claimed were attacked.

....And from MM....

Jamilgate isn't just about Jamil Hussein, I hope Mr. Jordan understands. Hussein is just one piece of the six burning Sunnis puzzle. Allah raises questions about the hospital morgue the AP identified as the one where the bodies were taken and the unidentified workers who appeared and disappeared from AP's accounts. Maybe we'll learn more about this, too.

espresso beans to powerline

Wizbang's 2006 Weblog Awards

Voting for The 2006 Weblog Awards is now open. This is the master list of voting links that you can use this to navigate to the voting booths for each of the 45 categories.

This was the lead article atWizbang when I dropped by. You know there MUST be some things that can be adequately labelled "good" going on in Iraq. It simply can't all be so gruesome.

By all appearances, this sheik was a legitimately good guy, stepping forward and doing his best to bring peace to Ramadi. Those appearances were confirmed three days ago when the local insurgents mounted an all out campaign to kill or humiliate the sheik, his family, and as many of his fighters as they could find.

espresso beans to powerline

The Fifth Annual Warblogger Awards (For 2006)

The round-up of best blogs from right wing news .

In order to recognize the excellent work some of our fellow bloggers have been doing, RWN has put together the "5th Annual Warblogger Awards". More than 235 bloggers were invited to vote for their favorite blog in numerous categories and 41 responded.

A neat part of these "best of" compilations is this...

You can see results from previous years by clicking the links below.

espresso beans to lgf

In 2006 - The Best Blogs