Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we
are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most
frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and
fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing
small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God
that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let
our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the
same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others. - Marianne Williamson

What's a birthday post without me getting a little sappy? I watched "Coach Carter" the other day and was reminded of a passage from a book by Marianne Williamson that never ceases to inspire me when I get frustrated. One of the characters in the movie is a gang-banger who knows he has to get out of that life and sees basketball as the only way out. But Coach Carter makes him play by his rules, not by the undisciplined rules that he knows. Plus, I kept expecting Samuel L. Jackson to bust out the "English mfer, do you SPEAK IT?!?!" Decent flick that I'd recommend. Nothing too in depth, but still a decent way to spend 90 minutes of your life.

It is based on a true story and is an example of what can happen when we expect the most out of people instead of making life easy for them. Set goals for people, expect that they will have to work to reach them, and celebrate it when they succeed. And never set those goals too low. A worse failure than not achieving your goals is to set them too low and achieve them easily. Self-esteem is never greater than when you achieve something you never thought you'd be able to do.

It's tough being right all the time

Actually, it's not so tough. Hell, lots of people wish they were me, so I can't complain.

What have I been right about that the liberal media and liberal politicians are finally admitting to?

Well, let's see...the Iraq war and the surge. Is it working? Of course it is. You can see that it's working by the media's inability to really push all the bad news from Iraq to the forefront and focus on it, and instead they're focusing on bad news elsewhere. And the New York Slimes this past weekend finally acknowledged that there are lots of good things going on in Iraq, writing a complete article about how Dimwitocrats are shifting their tone on the war after seeing the successes of our troops there. Just listen to the tone of even the most liberal of the Dimwitocrat candidates and they've slowed their call for a full pullout. Funny how success is something that the Dimwits cheered against so strongly. Shows their overall love for country, huh?

Global Warming - ok, the libs still aren't turning around, but people are becoming more and more skeptical of all the doom and gloom that the advocates for it are pushing. Look at the Telegraph article (one of the more liberal London papers) today where they really slam the transparent mouthings of the Gordon Brown government to reduce carbon outputs through the banning of plastic bags. Yep, that's it. Nothing else. Doubling the flights from Heathrow and expanding the size of the airport is fine, but those evil plastic bags must be stopped.

Illegal Immigration - John McCain could have had this nomination wrapped up with a golden bow on it, with Giuliani as his VP, they could have blown away anyone the Dimwitocrats put up there. Not that it would have made me happy, but that's the way it could have gone. Instead, McCain came out in support of illegals and amnesty, contrary to the majority of the country and conservatives and he languishes behind Giuliani, Romney, and depending on the state, Thompson. Illegal immigration is the one issue where the Republicans can capitalize on the majority opinion that we need to control our borders and deport people who are here illegally. But are we doing it? Nope. Ron Paul has a common sense proposal for Illegal Immigration reform that would not only help us secure the borders, but would also give legitimate immigrants the opportunity to enter the country legally. And he does it in the right order. Secure the border, THEN reform immigration.

Jennifer Granholm = worst governor evah
If you live in Michgan you know. If not, pray to God and give him thanks that you live in a state with someone who has an IQ higher than room temperature running it. No imagination, no leadership, no initiative. Blame everything on the Republicans and conservatives because they are easy targets and the Detroit Free Press will blindly mimic whatever Jenny says.
Update on the post from over a year ago on the U-Haul economic measurement used to measure the success of a state:

26' Truck from Kalamazoo to Nashville - Dec 2007: $709 Sept 2006 - $1,326
26' Truck from Nashville to Kalamazoo - Dec 2007: $211 Sept 2006 - $318

26' truck from Kalamazoo to Orlando - Dec 2007: $1041 Sept 2006 - $1,997
26' truck from Orlando to Kalamazoo - Dec 2007: $1484 Sept 2006 - $615

It's still much more expensive to move from these cities to Michigan, but there's some discrepancy as to the prices now. Not sure exactly why..will have to look into it.

Anyway, they say that with age, comes wisdom. Could be that I'm finally getting that, or I coulda got lucky. Starting my fifth decade on this ball of mud, hopefully it's the latter.

Google

One thing I really hate are people who complain about something and when that something gets fixed, they don't acknowledge it.

As much as I hate to give them props, I have to say that Google finally came through. I'll give them the props that I've given to other sites in the past. Not the most inspirational logo, but at least they are acknowledging Veterans Day. I'll give them credit for that, since they've not at all over the past three years. At least, not on their American servers.

Economic boom times?

As much as the media would love for you to believe the stories of recession and malaise, so far, other than Michigan, the economy is still booming. Despite the slowdown in the housing market and difficulties of the sub-prime housing market, manufacturing is rolling. The week's economic releases were decidedly positive. The top story was the continuing reduction of the U.S. trade deficit, which fell for the fourth straight month in September and reached its lowest level since May 2005. Meanwhile, nonfarm productivity grew at the fastest pace in more than four years and activity in the services sector improved in October.

Now, I live in Michigan, where all this doesn't matter, since we're stuck in the 70's. 4th highest gas prices in the country (behind Hawaii, California, and Washington), highest unemployment in the country, and now joining the northeast as one of the highest taxed.

Thanks Jenny and the crew...nice work.

Gay Marriage

Honestly, I could care less whether gay people are allowed to marry or not. Why the hell should just us straight people lose 50% (or more) of our shit every time a relationship fails? Gays should enjoy that sort of horror equally with us. As well as the misery of having to deal with the same fat ass getting fatter the older we get. And waking up to the same nasty morning breath and bed-head every single morning. Welcome to it boys and girls. Enjoy it. Hell, I say MAKE 'em marry. That'll teach 'em. Fuck that bouncing from bed to bed, stuff. Get their asses in the same bathhouse every day with the same guy/girl. See how enthusiastic they are for gay marriage THEN!

Either way, the govt or some busybody down the street doesn't have any business telling me or my gay neighbor what we can do as long as it's not hurting others. And keeping with that same theme, I thought I'd post this list of reasons why gay marriage is bad.

1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Brittny Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.
7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Yep...makes sense to me....

Granholm renig on a campaign promise?

Some folks are making this to be a bigger thing than it is. In this commercial Jenny the Canuck states that she won't raise our taxes so that big corporations (read: evil corporations) will pay less. Some folks are reading that as her saying she's not gonna raise taxes. I'm not taking that meaning, but I figured that I'd let y'all figure it out yourself. Oh yeah..and I need to get that clip where she says "And in five years, you're going to be blown away" and edit it to make it look like she is saying "And in five years, you're going to move away"....because we're getting blown away Jen...thanks a lot.

Am I on crack or is this reporter?

In a story on the LA Times website, they reference Hillary's uncanny ability to raise money in areas where no candidate was successful doing so before. Specifically, they point to thousands of dollars coming from waitresses, dishwashers, and other low-paid people who live in New York's Chinatown. They attribute her success to her ability to get the community leaders behind her and get them to convince these people to donate.

Hmm...

I have another theory, call me crazy if you want....

How about, these people don't really exist and that they are merely fronts for illegal campaign donations?

Just throwing that out there. It seems that Hillary has this problem on a regular basis, as did her husband. Google John Huang, James Riady, or Liu Chaoying and do a little research and you'll see that her husband had amazing support from the Chinese immigrant community. Bafflingly high support when it comes to fundraising.

The article seems to insinuate this theory of mine, but it's obvious that the author didn't want to start another investigation, as they never come out and really say it.....

If assholes/liberals (interchangeable) are going to insist upon the 'fairness doctrine' in radio, let's have it in newspapers like the LA Slimes as well, eh?

More Ron Paul

Since I 'came out' the other day, I've had several questions both via email and in person and I thought that instead of answering them again and again, I'd rather answer them here. One, it gives me something to blog about, and two, it makes it so I don't have to repeat myself forty times.

Why do I support Ron Paul when he voted against the Iraq war?
Well, I figure that in today's political climate against the war, no one is going to come out in SUPPORT of the war. It's political suicide with the way that the major media has brainwashed the majority of the population. Yes there are candidates whose beliefs run more closely to mine in regards to the war, but that's only one aspect of the political spectrum and with so many other things out there to discuss. Additionally, Dr. Paul's vote against the war was more a statement upon the expansion of the Imperial Presidency and the power that the legislative branch is giving up to the executive branch rather than a vote against the war per se. Additionally, Dr. Paul is against the use of the military as president clinton did, as a police force in Serbia et al, as am I.
However, this IS the one stance that eventually may cause me to rethink my support at some time in the future. His moderation of his opinions from 2002 have been his saving grace in my eyes.

Do you really expect him to win?
Not at all. But wouldn't it be a kick in the teeth to both the Republican and Democratic parties if he did? Someone who is against the entire government support structure that the two major leeches off the government teat getting elected would cause a major outcry in DC from those who have made their careers on retaining one portion of the electorate or another based upon governmental reliance. What I do expect is that the major candidates will be forced to talk about and address the positions of Dr. Paul. If he brings enough influence to the table during the primaries, he will be able to influence the platform of the Republican party and perhaps swing it back to the limited-government party that it was under Ronaldus Magnus. Much unlike the current fat, bloated, disgusting mess of a party that it has become over the past 10 years. I don't blame President Bush for this, although he's allowed it to happen. It's the so-called Republican leaders in congress who have never met a federal program they didn't like. And unfortunately, President Bush had forgotten that he could veto things during these spending sprees or was afraid of what the NY Slimes would write about him if he did.

Do you really agree with the other groups that support Dr. Paul?
Anyone who asks this question obviously doesn't either know me or hasn't read much of this blog. Of course not. Truthers are morons. Anyone who believes that the government committed the atrocities of 9-11 needs a big-assed sign that they must carry to warn others that that they are in the presence of someone with an IQ lower than room temperature. And racist groups are generally ignorant white/black/hispanic/whatever trash. That would be TRUE racist groups, like the NAACP, KKK, Black Panthers, La Raza, etc. Not groups that are labeled racists by liberals because they espouse ideas of equality as opposed to favoritism based upon race.

How much have you donated to Dr. Paul's election effort so far?
None of your damn business. Want to know? Look up my name in the FEC records.

What do you agree with Dr. Paul on?
Gun control, federalism, the UN, immigration, border security,

'nuf said

After reading, researching, and doing a lot of looking around, I've found my candidate. His chances of winning are pretty slim, especially since major media has largely ignored him, but he's the guy that would put this country on the track that we need to be on. He's the only true conservative in the field, and by conservative I don't mean bible-thumper. I mean my kind of conservative.


So, the official WTHIWWY Blog endorsement goes to:

Got nothin else to add

Google Sucks - Yep, back to that

So much for 'don't be evil'. Google's supposed company motto is apparently 'don't be evil, unless it helps your political pals, then hey, go for it".

Google has banned ads purchased by a committee to help re-elect Susan Collins (R)ino, ME. Apparently she has become a target of Moveon.Org and they've helped her opponent raise over $250,000. But when Senator Collins attempted to purchase ads on Google to rebutt the attacks, Google said that they would violate trademarks, copyrights or some other such nonsense and wouldn't allow them.

Funny how Google allows ads that denigrate all kinds of others like Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, President Bush, et al, but has zero problem banning advertising that attacks their buddies at Moveon.Org.

I can't say it's censorship because only the government can censor people's RIGHT to free speech. Google can truly choose who they want to sell advertising to, being an independent corporation.

However, perhaps next time you're doing a search, you'll choose Yahoo, Dogpile, or some other less obviously biased search engine.

Yep... Google Sucks

Politician = decreased IQ

I'm not sure what the hell goes on with someone once they go into politics, whether it's the constant input from people who weren't smart enough to get elected in the first place or being forced to just smile and nod when some whackjob from some special interest tries to buy their favor. Constantly worrying about the next election rather than doing what is right is what has gotten this government into the shape they're in currently. And I'm not just talking about DC, although they're the epitome of this, state governments do the same thing. Michigan is a particularly nasty state for this. The idiots in our state government have the gall to think that closing down the state government would be second only to a nuclear explosion in the greater Detroit area in terms of catastrophe (actually the entire rest of the state would have to think a couple seconds before choosing between the two, but then we'd realize that we'd end up getting saddled with the costs of the cleanup anyway, so may as well go with #1).

Unfortunately the bozos in Lansing came up with a last second compromise and were able to avert a government shutdown. I was really cheering for the shutdown, to show people how little our government actually does for the people. To show how much of your billions of tax dollars are being pissed away on stuff we could do without. Stuff that we were prepared to do without for weeks, according to many political pundits, if the idiots in Lansing didn't work out a compromise.

Some compromise...raise taxes AND cut spending. Great. We pay more and get less. yeah, that seems about right for those idiots we put into office. Although remember, we're the ones that voted for them...so who's the real idiot?

Little Friday funny

A Japanese doctor says, "Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, And have him out looking for work in six weeks."

A German doctor says, "That is nothing. We can takea lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him out looking for work in four weeks."

A British doctor says, "In my country medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in Another , and have both of them out looking for work in two weeks."

The Canadian doctor, not to be outdone, interjected,"You guys are way behind. We took a woman with no brains, sent her to Michigan where she became Governor, and now half the state is out looking for work."

Hillary-care part 1

Matt Drudge has a link on his site to an article where Hillary states that she said she could envision a day when "you have to show proof to your employer that you're insured as a part of the job interview — like when your kid goes to school and has to show proof of vaccination," but said such details would be worked out through negotiations with Congress.

Funny how the Klintons can envision a day when you have to show proof that you have health insurance to get a job, but can't envision a day when you have to show proof that you're legally allowed in the country.

And people are eating it up....

Socialized medicine

For those of you who know me, or who have at least read a damn word in this blog, you know that I view socialized medicine as pretty much the end of the US as a leader in the world and the climactic point of the marginalization of this country as a free country.

Hillary-care was announced yesterday, and my wife, who is a physician and is about as disinterested in politics as any human being I know, lost her damn mind. The funny thing is, for someone who really doesn't like politics or the whole process, she had some spot-on observations. Her biggest point was 'freedom'. Whomever presented the plan said that it was not unlike requiring people to have car insurance, but that they were going to require people to have health insurance. I'm not a big fan of the prior, but I'll be damned if I'm going to have the government tell me I HAVE to have health insurance. If I wasn't old and decrepit, I'd drop my insurance just out of spite. And yet, the funny thing is that people just think that this will be 'free'. John Edwards says that his program will be paid for by rolling back all the tax cuts given to the rich. Except that it wasn't just the rich who got tax cuts during the Bush tax cuts. Additionally, they define 'rich' as making over $200k. While that is a good chunk of change, that's not rich. Rich is "I can go fly to Europe when I show up at the airport whenever I want". 200k is hard working, motivated upper middle class.

However, one thing I do know is that this is going to be a HUGE impact on the budget. Taxpayers think they have a burden now, just wait until Obama/Hillary/Barbieboy care gets implemented...jesus....

And don't get me started on why it is that medical costs are so high. Between Barbieboy and his fellow ambulance chasers and the ultimate bureaucracy that IS hospital administration, it may actually BE more efficient run by the government...and that's not sarcasm.

Deja Vu all over again

No, I'm not talking about the strip club, although that'd probably be a much more interesting post than this one, probably.
So I find myself in the strange, but repeated position of butting heads with management once again, after a transition. Perhaps I expect too much from people who get hired to leadership or C-level type positions and that puts them in position to fail my expectations immediately. Perhaps I have some sort of deep down feeling that I could do better and as a result start them off with a deficit. Either way, this is the third time in my professional life that I've had an issue with upper management where I've actually thought "man, I'm seriously going to get fired if I'm not careful with this email/comment/phone call". And the third time in my professional life when I've said "screw it, I gotta do what I think is the ethically/morally right thing"...

So if I post on Monday/Tuesday quoting that great philosopher Britney Spears, "oops I did it again", you'll have some sort of idea as to wtf happened.

I work for an IT outsourcing company in an unwinnable situation. They came into a hospital where the employees were happy and comfortable with their positions. They weren't pushing the envelope from a technical standpoint, nor were they in the stone-age. But this company came in and introduced tons of processes and administrative overhead that these people were not used to. Were they doing any sort of documentation or if they had any sort of actual processes in place, this wouldn't be so bad, but they didn't. Truly, even now, with the processes in place from the new company, they're either bypassed or completed minimally/begrudgingly.

They had a Watchguard firewall in place which had been advertised as having content filtering. However, it didn't. They had a Surf Control box in place at one time, but it was about as stable as Carrie on prom night, so it didn't do its job. A network engineer decided to bring in Bluecoat proxy/filtering to set up some stability and content filtering after having dealt with a number of porn issues. Funny thing with technology, the Watchguard melted down before we had an opportunity to fully test and implement the Bluecoat with a smooth transition. So we had a 9 month period where anyone could go anywhere on the Internet without any sort of authentication, and a four month period where they could do it without any filtering. Now we have a 12mb connection to the Internet, so just imagine the amount of porn I was getting calls about from managers.
So we finally implement authentication AGAIN (Watchguard required authentication) and people act like we've pissed in their eyes and called it lemonade. It's gone so far that our CIO wants to white-list the entire basic profile and allow anyone to go there without authentication. That would allow anyone to surf for hours without stop and keep HR/IT from being able to tell supervisors what they're doing...a huge thing for many supervisors, since I've gotten a lot of email asking "When are we going to be able to have reports again!?!?!" Additionally, the CIO seems to think that since no other hospitals in the parent hospital organization require authentication to the Internet, we shouldn't either. First of all, WRONG you frickin moron, lots of them do, I can list them for you, and second, didn't your momma ever teach you the whole 'if everyone is doing something it still may not be ok for you to do it' concept?

This is way longer than I wanted it to be, but suffice it to say, there's been some emails, ones where I've had to sit and re-read what I've written to ensure that I'm not insulting his mother too badly...

Should be an interesting day on Monday.

wow

Three weeks between posts....

Either I've been really busy or I've decided that blogging isn't that important.

Probably a little of both. Finished my 5th of 6 classes for my masters of information assurance, and that took some major time the first couple weeks of August. One more to go...

Watched Hotel Rwanda tonight...man, depressing movie, especially when you consider it's based upon a true story. But definitely shows the complete and utter worthlessness of the United Nations peacekeeping forces....what a waste of energy.

Gotta love those Chinese products huh?

In yet another attempt to kill Americans, Chinese manufacturers have created children's toys with an excessive amount of lead in them, and the toys are now being recalled.

Am I the only one seeing a pattern here? We move all our manufacturing off-shore to China because it's cheaper and now we get stuff like this.

They poison our dogs with tainted dog food, poison our pigs with tainted pig food (will of course eventually reach our digestive system...mmmm...ribs, bacon and other yummies). They add cardboard to egg rolls in order to make them cheaper, cardboard that has been softened with a chemical that shouldn't be consumed by people. They export toys with lead paint like the popular Thomas the Tank engine, jewelry with excessive amounts of lead, faulty baby carriers that result in babies falling out and getting bruised, getting skulls cracked and hospitalizations, and exploding air pumps that have resulted in 13 lacerations including six facial injuries and one to the eye.

And my wife wonders why it is that I constantly look for the 'MADE IN ____' label on the things I buy.

Not saying that the stuff made here in the good ol' USA is that high a quality sometimes, but I can guarantee that I don't have to worry about it having cardboard instead of pork in it...or lead, melamine, or anything else, without that being on the ingredients list.

A little free advertising

I finally found a store that I can get behind. Seriously, they have the best shit in town. And you don't take it in the rear when you buy stuff there. They're not number one, but they're definitely number two.

Ok, I'm done....

For those of you in the Mount Pleasant area, or who have attended CMU, this place is right there on Mission.

Love it.

wtf

So, when you get old, apparently you start falling apart.

First, I was playing basketball (yes, for those who know me, this is an amazing feat in itself. Basketball to me was always the sport boys played while the men were busy playing Hockey, but I digress) and came down hard on the side of my foot, spraining my ankle. Had some bone bruises, but mostly was ok as a result.

Unfortunately the hobbled walking that I did, as well as the crutches, seemed to awoke a rebellion in my lower back as it seems that it doesn't want to listen to the signals from my brain to chill the hell out. Spasms have pretty much knocked me out for the last three days or so. It's been tweaked for a while, but I must have done something over the last week or so to fire it up, as there is a full on civil war going on around the kidney area and a wide band thereabouts.

I sent in negotiators from Darvocet and Flexeril, but they only seemed to knock me out. Stretches and exercises that I used the last several back problems don't even make a dent.

Someone, please, declare a jihad on me so I can strap a belt to myself, and go running into a mosque.....

all in the name of jihad and backspasms of course

More immigration

Not only do we have an illegal immigration problem, but we have an illegal immigration employer problem, as well as an illegal immigration employer facilitation problem. These frickin people should be behind bars.

This is akin to holding a conference to tell someone how to embezzle money and not get caught.

As heard about on Rush today

Welcome Home

Nice.....

Denver, how did you become Berkley?

In an attempt to out-liberal Berkley CA, Denver has recently decided that they wanted to be the hippie, tree-hugging, bicycle riding, capital of the world.
The mayor there has proposed that instead of allowing the market to decide where people live (or, God forbid, the PEOPLE to decide), he wants to institute higher insurance rates for the amount of driving that people do. This would, in his mind, penalize people who live in the suburbs and of course force them back into his city (becoming Denver taxpayers again, as opposed to suburbanites). Of course, he's billing it as an environmental thing, to lower emissions from the vehicles that drive the additional miles, but we all know that it's not that at all.
Additionally, Denver is going to charge their residents more money to dispose of their garbage, recycle, and a number of other things. Users of large amount of electric or natural gas will be charged extra as well.

My question is this: Will this have any affect at all, environmentally? Or will it merely cripple the city, by forcing companies to relocate to the suburbs because quality employees won't want to drive into the city (for multiple reasons, not the least of which is the insurance hike)? The companies would have to pay employees more to compete with suburban companies because of this additional cost to the drivers. Additionally, how many people in Denver can barely afford to live their now, and the additional cost of utilities and garbage disposal may force them elsewhere as well. And how many poor people do you think live in energy efficient homes? So those poor people, who I am sure that the Denver mayor campaigned that he 'cared' about so much, will be the ones penalized the most, because they live in older homes that may not be as efficient, where they may have to use space heaters to keep warm (horribly wasteful) will be charged extra for using more electricity than some rich families that can afford to purchase new, efficient furnaces, insulation, windows, etc.

Typical liberal socialist stupidity. Make everyone pay for the agenda of a select few, while those select few barely sacrifice at all.

One other thing....

The warmest years on record in Denver? 11/12 were before 1990. Coldest morning in 50 years? June 8, 2007

Yep, that's some global warming going on out there.

Careful, may get frostbit from all that global warmin

Subsidizing Illegal Alien tuition

In response to the comments, I did a bit of research.

What I'm assuming that the commenter was referring to, when referencing the subsidization of the illegal's college education, is that illegal aliens are allowed to attend state schools in nine different states (California, Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma Texas, Utah, and Washington) at in-state tuition rates.

This means that legal US residents, who happen to live in other states, have to pay more than someone who is in the country illegally, which is discrimination against US Citizens and violates the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

So, this great new Immigration Reform bill will probably contain other laws that will not be enforced, just like the last one, and the one before....which explains pretty clearly why it is that most conservatives are against it. It also explains why it is that the Bush administration's approval rating is as low as it is. The 'base' is actively being alienated by this horrible bill, and is responding appropriately.

Same crap, different day.

God Bless Texas

Don't know if this is an urban legend or not, but Dr. Ken forwarded it to me and I found it clever, so it works either way:

T. Bubba Bechtel, a part time City Councilman from Midland, TX, was asked on a local live radio talk show the other day just what he thought of the allegations of torture of the Iraqi prisoners. His reply prompted his ejection from the studio, but to thunderous applause from the audience.

"If hooking up an Iraqi prisoner's scrotum to a car's battery cables will save one Texas GI's life, then I have just two things to say":

"Red is positive" - "Black is negative"

Memo to NYT writer Jodi Kantor:

Hey Jodi, I realize that you work for the NYSlimes, and you're not really expected to write fairly about conservatives or even write a 'puff piece' about them. It's your job to expose their wicked, evil, sins and as a NYSlimes reporter, you're gonna.

So, why is it that your not-so-subtle, blow-job of a piece on Obama wasn't nearly as critical? Just curious...

Oh, and Jodi?

You got a little on your chin there.....

Iraq

As I've not blogged about Iraq in a while, I've felt a jonesin' to do something, but just couldn't figure out what exactly to write. This past weekend I received an inspiration. The inspiration was named Corporal James.

Corporal James had just come back from Iraq about a month or so ago. He was attached to a local reserve unit and was finishing up his second tour in Iraq. I noticed his short hair and tatoo in a watering hole I had visited for dinner and walked up to thank him for his service. I bought him a beer and he thanked me for the support (and the beer!) and we began to discuss the military, his experiences there, and how he was shocked at the lack of support and lack of reporting of the positives that have happened over there. Additionally, he was irritated at the confining rules of engagement and much of the bureaucracy that has somehow taken hold there. He wasn't a complete rube, he understood the cynical nature of politics and the like, but he said it seems like many of the people who should be on the side of the military weren't, like the officers who were more worried about their careers than the success of the mission.

It reminded me of the many discussions surrounding Vietnam and how the politicians took the war from the military and made it a political football rather than a military action. How the media's continued harping on the death toll and the protests took away from what should have been a successful military campaign. I told him about the 'Big Lie' that Joseph Goebbels theorized about during the Nazi era, where if you tell a lie so unbelievable enough times, and grind it into people's unconscious, they'll eventually begin to believe it. He agreed that the Democrats and the media, as well as many Republicans have bought into the big lie and were fooled by it.

His main point? "Shut the hell up, let us finish our jobs and come home to our loved ones"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Semper Fi, Corporal

Do as I say.... pt 2

A California state senator was involved in a two car accident yesterday. Why do I care? Why is this news?

Well, the senator was reaching for her cell phone when it was going off and ran into the other vehicle.

Again, why should we care? Lots of people do this, just because she's a state senator doesn't make it news.

Well, it's news because this particular state senator led the charge to make it illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving, punishable by a $50 fine.

Edwards speaks to something he knows nothing about

And that would be poverty.

Yes, John Edwards spoke last fall at University of California Davis, in front of a crowd of 1700 students and faculty about a subject that he seems to think that he knows a lot about: Poverty. However, let's face it, Barbie doesn't know jack about poverty. He likes to fashion himself as the "everyman's candidate", but how many 'everyman' pays $400 for a hair cut? Oh yeah, that'd be his former running mate, John Kerry.

And did Edwards do this speech for free, preferring to donate his normal appearance fee to the local poverty relief centers or a homeless shelter?

Hell no. The $55,000 he received for giving a speech on POVERTY, went to his bank account.

Typical politician. Do as I say, not as I do.

Please someone, anyone, take these empty suits out and push them under water until the bubbles stop.

Amnesty. Plain and simple

While I've not actually read the bill, since it was written in secret and is over 1000 pages according to those who have, the people who have read it, say that the new Senate immigration proposal includes a new 'Z Visa', which rewards people who have broken the law and entered our country illegally by allowing them to stay.

During the last amnesty bill, during the Reagan years (one of the few things I disagreed with the great Ronaldo on), everyone who opposed illegal immigration was promised that it would tighten the borders, help to lower the numbers of illegals in the country, and gain control over who entered, both legally and illegally. In actuality, that amnesty bill did the exact opposite. We have more people in this country illegally from a larger number of countries than we ever have in the history of our nation (and anyone who comments about how the settlers were illegals on indian land, I'll hunt you down and scalp you...idiot).

Plain and simple, if people are here illegally, they MUST be sent home, to go through the process the correct way. I don't CARE if the process is horribly slow and brutally oppressive. You want to live in the greatest country in the world, it's worth the trouble.

And hell, if Hillary or Obama get elected (or worse, Edwards), it'll give you experience on how to deal with their health care system.

No more illegals. No more amnesty.

Equal treatment under the law my ass

Don Imus calls a bunch of rough-looking basketball players from New Jersey "nappy-headed ho's" and it's headline news, cover of Time sorta stuff. He draws protests from the black community including the camera whores themselves Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He of course eventually gets fired for saying it.

Opie and Anthony talk about raping the sitting Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, who herself is black as well, and yet, where's the outrage?

Oh yeah, that's right...she's not really black. Because she works for a Republican and is conservative herself, she's lost all blackness. She is now a 'house negro' in the words of that master of intellectual discourse, Harry Belefonte.

Think that this story will make headlines like Imus? Think again.

Polls, lies, and statistics

I don't know said "Lies, damn lies, and statistics", but that pretty much describes the recent binge of news pointing out that President Bush's approval numbers are dismal, down near the patron saint of liberalism, Jimmy Carter. However, what every one of these stories don't tell you is that congress' approval rating is equally as low. Nancy Pelosi's crew is sitting at about 35%, while Bush is around 32%, a statistical dead heat.

But of course, since the Congress is controlled by the media's buds, that story is probably hidden on page H-47.

Baffling....

I don't know if I'm reading this article correctly or not, but it seems as if it's saying people who have children with Down's syndrome want to make sure that the population of people with Down's maintains at a stable level.

Now, I guess I can understand their logic, if there are less people with Down's, there will be less support for them from the government and I truly believe that this is part of the role of the government, to take care of the folks who can't take care of themselves.

However, it just strikes me as odd that they would be arguing against the ability to lower the population of people suffering from Down's as well as the families struggling with supporting their loved ones with it. I mean, if you live through it, you'd think that you wouldn't want others to have to suffer through the same issue. The point of the article is more that women who are told before birth that their child is going to have Down's, they have an abortion.

Funny that out of the blue, the NYSlimes is suddenly anti-abortion.

Here comes the call for gun control....

I don't think that the bodies in Virginia Tech were cold before Teddy Kennedy took the opportunity to start pining for that old song, gun control. The fat bastard didn't talk about how his gun control has already taken the guns out of the hands of the people that may have stopped the massacre before it became a problem. Remember, Virginia Tech, because it is an educational institution, is a 'gun free' zone. Guns are not supposed to be allowed on campus. Had a student been allowed to have a carry permit, and been carrying, this would be a backstory hidden in the small print of section C of the NY Slimes. Because if that were to happen, the story would be 'Gun Carrying Hero saves Students from Psycho'. And we can't have that can we?

So, be on the lookout for Teddy, Diane Feinstein, and the rest of the anti-gun whiners to start calling for hearings on gun control, laws, etc.

And they'll jump in front of any TV camera that is live to promote that stupidity.

White guilt?

I've been thinking about this whole Obama candidacy for a bit now and listened to some opinions of folks who are also wondering about Obama's popularty. I'm not sure who first advanced the idea that his popularity is based upon the fact that he's telegenic but that's not it. And it's definitely not his politics. He's only outdistanced by whack-job Kucinich when it comes to being left-leaning.

Examples? Of course:

Believes that the Bush tax cuts aren't working. Nevermind that every single state in the union, excepting Louisiana and Michigan (don't get me started again), have some of the lowest unemployment since the early 90's, inflation has been tame and businesses are profitable, despite the changes that are taking place in our economy caused by globalism and the influence of international competition. People have more money in their pockets, and apparently that's bad.

Against the death penalty and believes in alternative sentencing rather than making people pay for the crimes they commit. Because we need more criminals on the street.
Believes that all students should be given a free college education as long as they maintain a B average. Because all that spare money in taxpayer pockets is only being wasted.
Voted to raise the CAFE (average fuel economy of a fleet of vehicles that a company makes) to 40mpg rather than letting the market sort it out. Because people aren't smart enough to buy cars that use less gas when it's $3.00 a gallon. Also voted against drilling in ANWR, to ensure that gas REMAINS $3.00 a gallon, thanks Obama.
Voted yes on a free trade agreement with Oman, a country on the Arabian penninsula that has been known to fund terrorism as well as being ruled by a dictator/king but voted AGAINST a free trade agreement with Central America to keep their citizens in their countries, rather than having them cross the Rio Grande and come here.
Believes that healthcare is a right...aka supports governmental takeover of the healthcare system.

Now, he IS taking a page out of the book of Clinton, running to the center, trying to portray himself as more conservative than he is, so that he'll appeal to the middle of the road voters. But truly, he's even more liberal than Hillary, which is scary.

So, what is it? White guilt.

You heard me. White libs, white moderates, etc, look at him as the opportunity to assuage their collective consciences by supporting him. Media and the civil rights industry (you know, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the ACLU, et al...billions of dollars spent in that industry) have given everyone the impression that they have taken advantage of institutionalized racism or are actually racists even if they've never even thought the 'n-word' or displayed any racist tendencies. So, how better to show that they're 'really not racists' by voting for a black man? Do they agree with what he believes in? Do they even KNOW what he supports?

Doubtful.

But that's how sheeple are. Baaaaah....let's follow the flock.

Morons.

Detroit News Editorial

The guys at the editorial board at the Detroit News are starting to sound like me, as the headlines of their latest editorial suggests "An iPod for every kid? Are they !#$!ing idiots?"

The Dimwitocrats in MI have suggested that money be set aside to buy every school child an MP3 player, supposedly to help them download lessons and listen to them. Yeah...that'll work. Almost as good as those plans where kids were bought laptops for schoolwork and they turned around and sold them...nice work Dimwits

Another actor for President?

Fred Thompson, famous for his role in Law & Order, other roles in manly movies such as Hunt for Red October, Die Hard 2, and Necessary Roughness, has rapidly grown a large contingent of folks who support him for president.
On March 11, during an interview with Chris Wallace, he mentioned that he was seriously considering a run. His numbers went immediately into double digits, while Rudy and Mitt have seriously stalled.

Can an actor with conservative chops be elected president? I mean, the guy was rated an 86% by the American Conservative Union for his votes for smaller government, lower taxes, etc. The only reason that he wasn't 100% was due to votes for the McCain Feingold election reform law. That in and of itself may cause me not to vote for him, but not much else. I liked him as a US Senator and was seriously disappointed when he decided not to run for a third term four years ago.

So, could Fred win? Guess we'll see, but since my first choice, Newt, doesn't look like he's running, I may have to take a close look.

10 years later....

And Roy STILL gets rocked...as well as Lemeow:

How is this not illegal?

People all over are complaining that Mitt Romney is doing something that is possibly unethical by giving student fundraisers a 10% commission on every dollar they raise. Basically, if a student raises $1000, they get $100. Seems like a reasonable thing to me, considering the amount of money that many fundraisers get in salaries, it's nice that Mitt wants to throw some dough the student's way and according to various sources, completely legal.

However, Hellary has agreed to pay off the debt that was run up by the Tom Vilsack for President campaign (WHO!?!?...yes, I know who, just emphasizing my point), to the tune of approximately $400,000.

Wow..what a charitable person. Seriously. I mean, I'm sure there was no quid pro quo right? No way that she did it for a specific cause or anything. Just the goodness of her heart. Right?

Um.....

No. In the same press conference where that was announced, Vilsack also announced that he was endorsing Hellary. The campaign also emphatically denied any connection between the two events.

Man, didn't see that one coming.

One down, many more to go. Better start checking Fort Marcy Park for bodies....

Hillary = $6 million woman?

Eat your heart out, Lindsay Wagner. Hillary raised $6 million in a week.

It took $6,000,000 to just rebuild you....

Guess we know who the real robot....I mean, Bionic woman is don't we?

and it's the Republicans who are for the rich? Seriously?

Hypocrisy

Back a few months ago, beginning of the year, President Bush put out an order to fire several US attorneys. These positions serve at the leisure of the President and if he decides he doesn't want them any longer, they're gone. It's the benefit of being the head of the executive branch, that you get to pick and choose at least SOME of the people who work for you. President Clinton actually fired all 93 people in this positions during his term, so it shouldn't be that big a deal.

However, Dimiwitocrats, in their desperation to find something, anything, even if it's something that most citizens could give a flying rats ass about, to discredit the administration, are making a huge deal about this being politically motivated.

Well, no shit Sherlock. You figure that out all by yourself or did you have to have mommy spell it out for you.

All federally appointed positions are political. Duh. Of course these individuals were appointed through a politically motivated method. That's what happens when you WIN. You get to make appointments. And when you lose, you don't. Or in the Dimwitocrats case, you lose, you complain to the media and hope no one actually does any research.

Lucky for them, no one in the media is willing to question them.

And hilarity ensued....

Ok, so I've been negligent with my postings of late, lazy even. Busy is an excuse, but not a very good one. So hopefully, the following videos will keep y'all entertained until I can come up with something amusing to talk about...something that gets me sufficiently fired up to want to blather on for more than just a paragraph or two:

Hilary Hot? Are you kidding me?


The shot heard 'round the world, aimed straight at Hilary:


Hilary's fake accent:


Bill Clinton tried to kill Santa!!

9/11 confession

Only the pillowbiters on the left wing could look at the confession by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of several terrorist attacks, as an opportunity to bash the CIA and American government.

Who the hell cares if some murderous thug terrorist is tortured? He didn't seem to give a rats fat ass when he was blowing up clubs in Bali and torturing the people there, or beheading Daniel Pearl.

Screw him. May he burn in hell.

FINALLY!!

And from the "Jesus, about time you asswipes got on board" department, the NYSlimes finally publishes an article critical of Al Gore and his "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE HORRIBLE SCREAMING DEATHS!!!" campaign.

They actually include people who are not necessarily activists screaming for government funding to study the concept of global warming (translation: your tax dollars to pay them to take the temperature and measure ice). Real live scientists, not just drum-pounders.

There is a significant amount of information out there that shows that yes, the earth is warming, but the argument is whether it's caused by us, or just a natural swing of temperature, or whether it's caused by increased solar activity. Either way, for someone to make as much political hay as has been made by Gore over an issue like this, just amazes me. Obviously, fooling the Hollyweirdos isn't tough, being that they are a simple minded bunch. However, proving this to people who actually perform scientific activities and they have to PROVE things, is a bit more difficult.

Whew

Man, life is so much better now that the Democrats are in charge. The war is over, poverty is solved, everyone has healthcare and jobs, and there are hugs available for free on every corner.

Or not.

Funny how leadership is so easy for those doing the criticizing in the minority, but once they're given the power, they can't seem to get anything done because they're too busy bickering about how they're going to do it. Nancy Pelosi's first 100 days have come and gone with nary a whimper. And did you see any NYSlimes articles about her utter failure to pass anything that she said she was going to pass in her first 100 days?

Heck no.

Ah well, just more fuel to the fire.

Oh and boog? F U

Slow blogging

Apologies all around for not doing much in the way of blogging lately. If anyone has been paying attention to the geek-news around, you would know that an ugly new virus showed its head last week. It infected the offices of various governmental departments as well as the computers of CNN. Well, lucky for me, we got hit with it too.

That is how cutting edge and cool we are. We get viruses before the AV companies even have a fix for them.

So I've been spending many many hours over the last two weeks playing 'whack-a-mole' with the stupid thing. And just when I think I have it nailed, it rears its ugly head again last night, causing me to spend 6 additional hours at work from 5pm-11pm yesterday.

So happy....just so so happy.

I swear to God, if they catch this guy who wrote this, I will remove his scrotum from his body and sew it to his chin. At least then people will know what they're getting ready to deal with when they see him coming.

Veterans Hospitals

I've said from the beginning that our vets deserve better. The VA is a joke, has been a joke for a long time. Veterinary hospitals treat their animals better than vets get treated at the VA. Finally, the Walter Reed scandal is bringing this to light. Yes, it's an Army hospital and there's a difference, but truly, there isn't. I've been in both, military hospitals and VA hospitals, and if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

Of course, it'll be blamed on President Bush, but let's get real. This started back in the 70's when Jimmy Carter gutted the funding for the Veterans Administration. That's when the VA and military hospitals started heading toward the crapper. Granted it wasn't exactly great anyway, being one step short of socialized medicine, but if you want to see government-run healthcare, look no further than a military hospital or a VA. Y'all sure you want those idiots telling you when you can and cannot have an x-ray?

Since I'm on this subject though, for once I agree with Carl Levin. His recently emailed his constituents about the scandal (I've sent him plenty on various subjects so I'm sure I'm on a list somewhere)

In light of your previous correspondence, I thought you would be interested
in knowing about the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, which I
chaired, on conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on March 6,
2007.As you may know, a recent series of Washington Post articles described
deplorable the living conditions, the failure to account for, and the
bungled administrative processing of injured troops in an outpatient status
at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. New reports indicate that these
problems are not confined to Walter Reed. Unfortunately, they exist
elsewhere in the military and VA medical systems. Our nation has a moral
obligation to provide quality health care to the men and women who put on
our nation’s uniform and are injured fighting out nation’s wars. This
obligation extends from the point of injury, through the evacuation from the
battlefield, to first class medical facilities in the United States, and
ends only when the wounds are healed. Where the wounds cannot be
healed, we have an obligation to provide quality care throughout the lifetime of
the veteran.

So, you have to give him props for that anyway. Even if he's a damn socialist.

But you heard it here...you want to see health care under a socialized system, just go to a VA or military hospital. Not that current hospitals are models of efficiency mind you, but they still tend to be head and shoulders above their governmental-run counterparts.

Staying with the Geek theme...

...And now for something completely different

Tech Republic has an article that discusses the various icons of geekdom and what OS they would use.

Vader is a Mac user....

Why does that not surprise me?

Walk the Line

First off, I've been a Johnny Cash fan since I was big enough to stand up and hold a microphone that my Grandfather brought home from work at ElectroVoice and say "Hi, I'm Johnny Cash"....

But having said that, I didn't go out to see the movie 'Walk the Line' in the theatres. I had heard that it portrayed June as much more of an angel than she was, and Johnny much worse than he was...plus the whole 'don't have time' thing.

I finally saw it on a flight to Hawaii a year ago and I really liked it. I've since bought it, and watched it on HBO on occasion as well. I'd recommend it to anyone, including those who don't necessarily like country music, because it shows a history of the way music used to be made and how the industry worked back in the day. Plus the characters in the movie are extremely interesting. And Reese Witherspoon is hot, I don't care who you are.

But to get to my point....

I was listening to the iPod this morning and two Johnny Cash songs came on in a row, and the only person I could picture singing them was Joaqin Phoenix....

Is that wrong?
Damn movies.....

YouTube stuff

Just a couple of vids from YouTube:

1. Talked about this long ago, good to see Rush on the bandwagon:


2. Imagine.....

John Edwards=Barbie without the brains

Does this buttmunch even LIVE in the real world? Does he have any sort of inkling as to the dangers to American interests that exist around the world? Does he ever step out of his little white-bread, protected, ambulance-chasing bubble?

I don't think so.

Recently in a speech in Hollyweird (which may explain some of the brainlessness, but probably not), Barbie called Israel the biggest threat to world peace that exists today.

WHAT?!?!?!

So Ahmedinijad, who has actively pursued nukes so that they may be used for jihad, he's not the most dangerous. And China, who has developed the technology to shoot down satellites, they're not the most dangerous. Russia, who seems to be bringing back the ghosts of the cold war, waking up Stalin, and threatening to begin building medium range missiles again, they're not. And Kim Jong Mentally Il isn't either, even though he already has nukes and a complete lack of medication.

Yep, Israel. Those relatively peaceful folks off the Mediterranean who suffer the slings and arrows and stones of the Palestinians on a regular basis (along with the homicidal bombings), as well as Syrian and Iranian supported attacks from their north border via Lebanon. These people who have turned what was a desert wasteland into a productive piece of land, they're the most dangerous. These same people who lead the world in intelligence gathering models, information technology, and information technology security, they're the ones who are the most dangerous threat to world peace.

Perhaps Barbie was misquoted. Perhaps he was noting the Jews penchant for strange foods, such as gefelte fish and borscht, and he meant whirled peas.

Nah, Barbie couldn't be that clever if someone wrote it for him.

Wow!

Next time you're in an airport you are almost guaranteed to see a member of our military there(those of you who are there regularly know this). Make sure you shake their hand, thank them for their service, or welcome them home.

This guy knows how to do it:

Looking bad....

Republicans who are hoping that a candidate emerges from the pack to step up and bitch-slap Hillary/Obama are likely to be extremely disappointed. I really realized this during my morning shower when my wife was complaining how pathetic life is going to be with Hillary in the White House and wondering why it was that the Republicans couldn't come up with a (in her words) "decent candidate".

Well, honestly, there are several 'decent candidates' out there.

-Newt Gingrich is a good man, extremely intelligent and will be skewered as the architect of the 'contract ON America' by the media. You think the left-wing whackjobs were nuts after GWB, just wait until Newt starts showing up on the Presidential radar. Right now, he's my guy, if for no other reason but because he makes the liberals crazy.

-Mitt Romney is an extremely articulate guy, who got elected twice in the liberal state of Taxachusetts. This is the home of Senators Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dummer, so to do that as a Republican shows some major electability. However, his change of heart regarding several social issues will come back to haunt him as the media plays that up. Of course, any changes of heart by Dimwitocrats will be shown as learning and maturing. His changes will be shown as 'waffling' or kow-towing to the 'Christian Right' (a concept that exists in the minds of conspiracy theorists and media types)

- John McCain. Media darling for his 'maverick' ways and willingness to criticize the current administration and suck up to various Dimwitocrats. Also a major disaster for this country if ever elected. Doesn't have the support of most Republicans who see him as a spineless sell-out for his pact with 6 other Republicans and 7 Dimwitocrats to ensure absolutely nothing productive came out of the Senate during 2005-2006 session. Would also do absolutely nothing to secure the borders. Talk about your miserable failure? Oh yeah, a McCain presidency would be that and more.

- Rudy. Everyone has a soft spot for America's Mayor. Everyone except the libs who would like to see his hard core attitude toward crime and punishment, taxation, and other sorts of social positions be hidden by his liberal attitudes toward abortion and gun control. He'll be a tough sell, given that most primary voters are more conservative than not, and those positions will be hammered on by his opponents. A Gingrich/Giuliani ticket would be interesting for it's contrast. Georgia/New York connection, plus a true Reagan conservative paired with a more moderate Republican on some issues. May be a winner, but I doubt it.

- Everyone else. Brownback, Tancredo, et al just don't have the name recognition yet. It's possible that they could do it, I mean, did you know who Bill Clinton was in 1990? No, unless you lived in Arkansas or were named Paula Jones, you didn't. And he did it.

Should be an interesting next couple of years for us political junkies.

Outside the Wire- DVD

Disclaimer: I am not receiving anything from this movie, website, producer, or anyone related to this production. Hell, I wish I was.

Outside the Wire, as mentioned on hotair.com today looks to be an amazing documentary. One that shows the real Iraq war, not the one that these desk jockey pogues who like to imagine themselves with a clue would like to portray. The one that is dirty, dangerous, but yet rewarding and something that the real men and women of America, the ones that still have the intestinal fortitude to stand for something are willing to volunteer for and die for.

Every member of congress should watch this movie, each of the candidates running for president should be required to watch this movie, and somehow we should raise enough money to send Cindy Sheehag and every member of Code Pink a copy of this movie as well.

No, I've not seen it, but I ordered mine today. Order yours and an extra copy (no, you bastard, don't copy it...save that technology for stealing movies from those commies in Hollywierd). The trailer looks better than most of the movies getting ready to come out this summer 'blockbuster' season.

If you're not outraged, you're an idiot

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CBS= See B.S.

Since we don't have nearly enough pregame hype before the Super Bowl already, the morons at SeeBS have decided to create a military tie-in with the Super Bowl. They are going to stage a football game in Iraq amongst the troops stationed there. They're going to provide them with Colts and Bears jerseys and stage a touch football game.

Now, I don't know about any of you, and whether you've been in a combat zone or not. But when I was in one, the last thing I wanted to see was some civilian pogue coming toward me with a camera and microphone, looking to advance their career by twisting the words of a poor slob from West Bumfart Texas to fit their agenda. I'd rather face enemy fire. At least you KNOW what their agenda is.

Seriously, wtf are these assbags thinking? Oooo...I'm sure the military will just LOVE us if we let them play football for our entertainment. I'm sure that the Roman emperors who 'let' the christians fight the lions for their entertainment thought that as well.....

And I agree with the guy from the site listed above. The real hard-chargers, the guys who SHOULD get the red-carpet treatment, won't be able to participate. Those are the guys who will be out on patrol, killing the bad guys to make sure that these pogues from SeeBS can get their sorry fat civilian asses back to their hotels safely.

Wanna do something for the troops SeeBS? Get the hell out of there, let them do their jobs, report the truth instead of the crap that supports your dumb-assed opinions and maybe, just maybe, get them several big-screen TV's, a satellite dish, a hundred pounds of the best damn steaks you've ever had and leave them the hell alone.

If it wasn't for CSI, I don't know why anyone would even think about watching that sorry assed excuse for a network.

Michigan- where the government can parent better than you

The state of Michigan is pushing a requirement which will force parents to either get their daughters vaccinated against HPV, or require a letter from a physician stating that they have refused the vaccination, but have been counseled regarding the risks, for all girls entering sixth grade. Now I'm not against the vaccine. However, I am against a nanny-state, or some bureaucratic pogue telling me what is best for MY children. Thus, I wrote this letter to the editor of the Kalamazoo Gazette, and will also be copying it to my state Senator and Representative, as well as that worthless piece of flesh we have occupying the governor's office right now:

Once again, the government's desire to intrude into citizen's private lives has caused an introduction of legislation which takes away individual's right to make an informed and PRIVATE decision.

The recent effort by the legislature in Michigan to force parents to provide documentation showing that girls have been immunized against the human papilloma virus invades the decision-making process of parents in the lives of their children. While the ultimate goal of this legislation is honorable, requiring some sort of registration of the children who have received or have declined the vaccination equates to a scarlet letter of sorts. What business is it of the schools if my child has been educated as to the risks of HPV? I can see a requirement for chicken pox, measles, or some other disease that is contracted through casual contact or via touch. However, there is only one method of being infected with HPV and decisions surrounding that activity are something best left to parents, the child, and their pediatrician.

Are we also going to require that the boys entering sixth grade receive this same education? Since the transmission method requires activity between a boy and girl, it would seem logical to vaccinate boys as well. In addition, recently a published report in the latest Obstetrics and Gynecology journal recommendeds that boys be vaccinated as well. HPV has been linked with penile, anal and neck cancer in males.

Thus, not only does this legislation invade the private relationship between parents, pediatricians, and their children, but also discriminates against boys, who not only transmit the disease, but have their own share of intrusive diseases that result from this virus.

I am not arguing against this vaccine. In fact, if a vaccine is eventually developed for boys, I will have both my children vaccinated immediately. However, that is my choice, not one that should be forced upon me by a self-righteous government which has decided that it can parent my children better than I can.

Most ethical legislature in history.....or not

Again, Harry Reid is out there, buying land for a percentage of it's value and it's not splashed all over the evening news, or getting any play on CNN/PMSNBC/CNBC, etc.. Were it Newt Gingrich spending his money to buy land in Bullhead City, Nevada for $166/acre, we'd have expert witnesses, two hour specials on 20/20 or Nightline decrying the deal and complaining that this is why Republicans just shouldn't be given power.
The whole story? Reid was in a partnership with a pension fund, controlled by a friend of 50 years, where they jointly owned the 160 acre parcel in Bullhead City, a rapidly growing area of NV. Property there is going for about $2000/acre, but Reid was able to buy out control of the property from the pension fund for $166/acre.
By the way, the long-time friend is the owner of a lubricants distribution business. Six months after the deal closed, Reid introduced legislation to "address the plight of lubricants dealers who had their supplies disrupted by the decisions of big oil companies". Coincidence? Oh of course it was.

No way this was quid pro quo....

After all, this IS the most ethical legislature in history.

John Kerry is a coward

Now that John Kerry has announced that he's not going to seek the presidency in '08, he apparently feels he can speak much more freely. He probably feels the same freedom that Al Gore felt shortly after the 2000 election where he spouted off all kinds of stupidity that will eventually come back to haunt him if he ever decides to run for the presidency again. That is, if the blog-world can actually get it out there without massive whitewashing from the big media types.
Kerry decided to go to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, (pronounced DAH-vos, just in case you wanted to know how much more intelligent you are than the media types that were mis-pronouncing it) and spout off about how America is generally ignorant, walked away from Kyoto, isn't helping with AIDS, and other mis-informed liberal type ignoramus talking points. So, let's address them one by one, just in case you've not had an IQ above room temprature over the last 10 years (kinda like Kerry and his buddies):
1. Kyoto- the Bush administration did not walk away from Kyoto. In 1997, the Senate voted 95-0 to NOT support any treaty that did not include binding targets for emissions as well as timetables for developing as well as industrialized nations. Gore and Joe Lieberman said that the Senate would not even consider the treaty until participation by all nations were part of it. Thus it was never submitted by the Clinton administration, because a fight in the Senate may have affected poll numbers and we can't have that if we're a Clinton.
President Bush does not support Kyoto for the exact same reason. China, the number two emitter of carbon dioxide on pace to surpass the US in about 5-10 years, has not, nor will they ever, sign the Kyoto treaty. Additionally, President Bush feels that it would put additional strains on the manufacturing economy in the US. This is a feeling shared by a large number of economists as well.
2. AIDS - President Bush supported spending more to help Africa fight AIDS than the previous three presidents combined. $15 billion. That's a lot of condoms.
3. Then the idiot signs an autograph for Mohammad Khatami, former 'president' of Iran. That'd be the same Mohammad Khatami that executes gay people for being gay. How open minded of you Lurch..nice work

And another....

pMSNBC.com now has an article about the idiots at discount-mats.com. Of course they try to play up the sympathy card and the 'Americans are stereotyping idiots' card, by mentioning the company is owned by a muslim and supposedly had received death threats since this incident.

Again, calling bullshit on this one as well.

Why is it that whenever someone does some silly-assed public stupidity, they go into hiding and receive death threats? BS. That idiot in Chicago who interfered with the catch that Chicago Cub Moises Alou was getting ready to make to end the inning? Death threats/Hiding.

C'mon MSNBC, get some balls and get the employee on the horn. The employee that was supposedly fired, but who mysteriously still hasn't been indentified. Of course when he/she is, they'll go into hiding because of death threats......

Pfizer cuts jobs?! What a shocker!?

Shocked. Shocked I say.

That was the response by the Dimwitted governor of the state of Michigan when Pfizer announced that they were cutting around 2100 jobs from the Ann Arbor area laboratories. Pfizer was doing a major cost restructuring and instead of relocating work to Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo, two large Pfizer sites, they chose to relocate FROM Ann Arbor. The reasons? Well, in it's rush to buy up other drug companies, Pfizer was left with way too much capacity in the form of labs and research and legitimately felt they needed to cut some of these to remain competitive. Two years ago the cities of Kalamazoo and Portage felt the hit, losing around 1500 jobs, mostly in the well-paying research and development area. This time around, we're only losing around 200, and the most of those will be around until their projects end, giving them the chance to find other work or other projects within Pfizer.

However, the shocker to this story is that the governor's office had zero clue. None. No idea whatsoever that these cuts were coming. Now, you say that even if they did know, Pfizer has excess capacity and has to cut somewhere, right? And there's nothing the governor could have done?

I call bullshit on that one.

When businesses relocate to Michigan, Jenny from the block is right there with cameramen in tow to ensure that the photo-op isn't missed. But when they cut, she's "shocked". So which is it Jen? Do you have the power to get businesses to stay and expand or don't you? And are you responsible for these losses or aren't you?

I say she is and here's why:

Over the last four years, she has done absolutely zero to make Michigan a more business-friendly state. Nor has she had the intestinal fortitude that it takes to stand up to the unions and tell them that for the state to continue to go forward they're going to have to back the hell off. The state legislature eliminated the Single Business Tax, a regressive penalizing tax that many businesses pointed to as a singular reason why they wouldn't come to Michigan. Instead of welcoming that with open arms, she begrudgingly signed the law because she knew that if she didn't her opponent in the election would use that as an example that she doesn't know what's good for business.

The cost of doing business in Michigan is so high that companies are relocating in droves. It almost feels like the late 70's/early 80's again where you drive down the street and 7 out of 10 houses on the street have 'For Sale' signs in front of them. In those days I was a paper boy. As I would deliver papers, it was nothing for me to have a regular turnover of customers because so many people were leaving.

I think Jenny was in Canada then, but Michigan's anti-business environment was just about as bad then as it is now.

Those who do not study the past, are doomed to repeat it.

And now Foxnews

Foxnews has picked up the baton about the mat company dissing the troops. Interesting how the CAIR wannabe idiot has to turn this around on the government and the troops, as opposed to the disrespect shown to the guys fighting for the right for this idiot to speak his mind.

But I guess that could be expected from those jackasses. Smile at you while stabbing you in the back at the same time.

Speaking of Crowe....

Thanks to Ja-man, I have another person in my corner with the same attitude toward those idiots.

Hope they go belly up....

First of all, my last post was my 500th...that's a lot of writing for someone who doesn't like to write. Guess when I'm venting my spleen it's an ok thing to do.

Anyway, I received this email from a friend of mine (thanks Billy), and was initially skeptical, but went to Snopes.com and they semi-confirmed it, so I'm going with it.

****************************************************
From: SGT Jason Hess
Sent: Tue Jan 16 3:25
Do you ship to APO addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for who ships to APO first.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: contact@discount-mats.com
"Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 9:44 PM"
Subject: Re: Feedback: from discount-mats.com
"SGT Hess,"
"We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."
Bargain Suppliers
Discount-Mats.com
************************************

Wow. Where do I start?

Well, first off, these idiots apparently have been read the riot act by a number of people because their website is down (Says 'technical difficulties'...yeah, right) and there are no phone numbers to contact them from that site. Oh, but yer buddy Jeff here has your back. Just go here for a cached version of their site (yes, google is sometimes good for SOMETHING).
You can email them at contact@discount-mats.com OR better yet, call them at 414-736-8394.

Their mailing address is Bargain Suppliers 3259 S.106th Street, West Allis, WI 53227, just in case their email address doesn't work any longer.

I'll just add these guys to my list of companies I hope go out of business. United Airlines, Gateway Computers, Crowe Chizek, Smith and Wesson, and now Bargain Suppliers.

Buckle your seatbelts Michigan

It's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Jenny 'from the block' Granholm has created a special commission made up of political hacks and wannabees to take a look at the 'budget challenge' (as she likes to refer to it) and see what can be done. Typical gutless move. Let's not make decisions and move forward. She'd much rather be able to pawn off any tax increase on this commission. And do not mistake this move, there WILL be tax increases. Whether it's a doubling of the fees paid for deer licenses, increase in beer taxes (oh sweet Jesus no!), or any other increase in taxes, there will be increases. Because it's not in the DNA of Dimwitocrats to actually cut government.
As much as many in the state like to demonize former governor John Engler, that's one thing he definitely had zero problem with, cutting government. The only issue I had with his cutting was that he only privatized portions of the government, still leaving the government to manage the contracts. Bah. Let private enterprise take care of things and get the government out of our lives.
Stop pissing away my taxes and cut the fat Jenny. Of course to cut the fat would mean to cut much of the subsidies that Wayne County (read: City of Detroit) gets currently, which would be cutting her own political throat.

Oh, and let's take a look at the people who will be on this special commission shall we?
-Bill Milliken, a former Republican governor...I say Republican with his name and the bile rises up in the back of my throat. He's about as Republican as Lincoln Chafee. He also presided over some of the worst years in Michigan history, economically. Yep, he's a winner.
-Jim Blanchard, a former Dimwitocrat governor...If Bill Milliken's years were the worst, Jimmy's were next in line. Most regularly used term during newscasts during Blanchards tenure was "More Michigan jobs will be lost when ______ plant closes at the end of this week/month/year"
-Frank Kelley - former Attorney General for the state of Michigan. This guy sat in the government for 30-something years and he's going to be making decisions as to how to make cuts? Oh, and didn't do jack about deadbeat dads, corruption in the city of Detroit (remember Coleman Young?), or a multitude of other things that he just let slide during his tenure.
- Lou Anna Simon and S. Martin Taylor...regents for Michigan State and U Michigan respectively. I'm sure they'll advocate large cuts in funding for higher education....NOT
- Joe Schwarz - former congressman, kinda Republican, who was defeated because he wasn't really one. As liberal as he is, I'm not surprised that he'd be on Jenny's pick list.
- Don Gilmer- Kalamazoo County administrator and former state budget director. The token conservative on the committee and lone bright spot. However, when asked if he'd support tax increases he said he'd consider it. Yeesh, some bright spot.

Hang onto your wallets folks, when these types of people get together, it can only be bad news for the Michigan taxpayers.

Heil SanFrancisco!

So, Republicans trample on civil liberties? It's the Republicans fault that amendments 1-7 have been used as toilet paper by so many judges throughout the land that they're rapidly becoming quaint little historical afterthoughts?
Bull.
Typical whiny-assed hysteria. Do you feel any less free now than you did 6 years ago? Is there anything you cannot do now that you could do 6 years ago (and for those of you getting up in age, I don't mean run a 5+minute mile)? Sure, I can't bring explosives on a plane, but I couldn't do that before. I can't talk about hijacking a plane, but again, legally I couldn't do that before. I have to be searched before getting on a plane. Not sure what civil right is violated here since I don't remember the founding father mentioning air-travel in their various and sundry books and letters written before and after the adoption of the consitution, but let's go with it.

Then there's freedom of speech. Have the Republicans been the biggest violators of what can and cannot be said, written, and discussed? Hell no. Yes, they objected to Janet Jackson's breast being shown in prime time and responded with some knee-jerk regulatory and legislative reaction. But let's face it, no one wants to see her breasts, especially in prime time. Howard Stern? Seriously, don't get me started on that jackass. Democrats AND Republicans both have had their share of fining him.

Then we have this. In that bastion of personal freedom (not) and hotbed of liberalism and Dimwitocracy (capital D, not the real democracy), San Francisco, they're requiring that local bloggers who provide free mention of a candidate and get more than 500 hits register and pay a registration fee.

Oh, but WE'RE the threat to free speech.

Lies, Lies, Politics, and Lies

Dimwitocrat campaign promise #459,598: Make government more transparent. Make sure that when an 'earmark' is passed that it is easily displayed to the world and that the public can easily point fingers and laugh at some idiot congressman from West Buttcrack New York when they add in $1,700,000 in tax dollars to build a museum of dried earwax from famous people, for the Earwax capital of the world.

'Hey, something I actually agree with the Dimwits on', he says, awaiting the crack in the earth to form and swallow him up.

I hated the way the Republicans had become the Democrats of the 70's and 80's, spending money like drunken sailors on every little pet project and doing it in the dead of night so that the people didn't know what was going on. Granted, I'd say that 80% of the people couldn't even tell you what an earmark WAS, but still, that 20% of us are really passionate about those idiots not spending my tax dollars on preservation of the worlds largest ball of dryer lint in BumFalls Montana.

So, HairyReed, Dancing Nancy, and the others promised that they'd make things more transparent and pass a rule that required that all earmarks in appropriations be disclosed. However, the so-called rule that Dingy Hairy wanted passed would have only forced disclosure of 5% of the earmarks passed in the last year. 5%. That's 534 of 12,852. Luckily one of the few fiscally conservative Republicans left in the Senate, Jim Demint from South Carolina forced an amendment to require a much broader disclosure.

Yep, Dimwits are all about government transparency. We can see right through them.